Cerebus Yahoo!Group FAQ
The Cerebus Yahoo!Group can be found on the internet at:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerebus/
This FAQ can be found on the internet at:
http://www.cerebusfangirl.com/yahoo/faq.php
or at the Yahoo!Group address above under the files section.
What is the Cerebus Yahoo!Group?
It is a mailing list with an internet viewable posting archive started by Mark Simpson of Page45 Comics. As the description says is “all about the comic "Cerebus the Aardvark," creator Dave Sim and related subjects (including a wide range of social, political and religious discussion).” This group has been “name checked” by Dave Sim in the final Cerebus phonebook, The Last Day, and Dave calls the group members “Yahoos”. The group averages close to 2,000 messages a month on a multitude of topics. If this is your first time looking at the list and you are overwhelmed about all the posts, you can change the way your message delivery / viewing options (see below). If you are discouraged about all the “off topic” posts, then please post an on topic post! We are always willing to discuss Cerebus, answer any Cerebus questions (or at least give you our answer) or ramble on about why we think the Animated Cerebus portfolio should be considered “canonical”.
Does Dave Sim actually post on this group?
Dave did post one night, but decided that an internet mailing list was not the place for him. He also did the "5 Questions with Dave" for one ReRead and occasionally someone will post something from a fax with Dave.
So is Gerhard a list member?
Yes, Gerhard is a member and does post when he has the time and something to say.
What is Dave's 5 Questions (+ 1 wildcard)?
During the second ReRead the group asked Dave a series of 5 questions about the phonebook being read and one "wildcard" question per month. That ReRead has since been concluded, and all the Q&A sessions can be found at the links below.
Where can I see the past answers to Dave’s 5 Questions?
Go to the files section for the group:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerebus/files/
and click on “Monthly Q&A” for rich text formatted files. The files are also available as html or word documents at the Cerebus Fangirl Site at:
http://www.cerebusfangirl.com/artists/talkindex.php
and scroll down until you see “Dave has answered some questions for the Cerebus Yahoo!Group” with a listing of all the past questions and answers.
Posting Pictures or Files to the Cerebus Group:
Group members can post files and pictures to the group. When you go to the group's website, you'll find links for the group's photohosting:
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/cerebus/photos
and files section:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerebus/files/
Cerebus Yahoo!Group viewing / message delivery options:
The group can either be viewed via email (see message delivery options below), over the internet or both. When viewed over the internet, the group almost acts like a bulletin board, letting the viewer select which message she wants to view one at a time.
Changing your Cerebus Yahoo!Group message delivery option:
To change your message delivery option, sign in to the group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerebus/
Click on ‘My Groups’ in the upper right hand corner, click on ‘Edit My Groups’, and then click on ‘Message delivery’ and select the option you would like:
- Individual Messages: Each message / post is sent to your listed email address
- Daily Digest: 25 messages / posts are combined in one email to your listed email address.
- Special Notices: Special announcements sent by the group moderators only.
- No Email: No messages / posts are sent to your email.
- SPAM is posting “unsolicited bulk electronic messages” to the group and will be deleted and result in banning.
- Please feel free to post anything that you think will be of interest to other group members, all topics are open for discussion.
- Off topic: Any post that doesn’t deal with Cerebus, Dave, Gerhard or the group’s policies is considered off topic. Any post that is off topic must have the label OT in the subject line to differentiate it so people who only want to read on topic posts can skip the OT posts.
- Policy posts: Any post that deals with the policy of the Cerebus archives should be labeled “POLICY” in the subject line for easy reference.
- Meta posts: Any post that deals with the Yahoo!Group and its rules should be labeled "META" in the subject line for easy reference.
- For Sale / Ebay posts: Since there is such a wide variety of comic fans and collectors in this group, posts about eBay auction or items for sale privately are permitted (preferably involving Cerebus, Dave Sim or Gerhard). However, it is important that any such posts be labeled as "FOR SALE" or "EBAY," followed by a brief description of the item for sale - for example; EBAY: CEREBUS STATUE, or FOR SALE: MOUSE GUARD SET - to avoid confusion (and please make an effort to provide any useful information such as auction start/end times, and contact information for private sales). More importantly, if you make NO OTHER CONTRIBUTION to the group beyond posting items for sale, such posts will be considered soliciting and will not be tolerated per the "SPAM" rule. The moderators make every effort to weed out potential spammers before being allowed to join, so any new member joining and immediately posting FOR SALE items and NOTHING ELSE will be subject to suspension/banning. Please use some common sense. While we would prefer to keep things "loose" to encourage user interaction and exposure to new works that may be of interest, a proliferation of FOR SALE posts causing a disruption of the group will result in more stringent guidelines prohibiting ANY such post.
- Extreme/Disruptive Behavior: At the moderators' discretion, any member may be suspended or banned due to extreme behavior which is disruptive to such a level as to make the forum unusable. Examples of such behavior would be: flooding the group with blank emails, completely UNPROVOKED and EXCESSIVE attacks (provoked attacks and confrontations will not be stopped unless the previously mentioned levels of disruption are reached - such a situation has yet to occur), and death threats (it is impossible to create a complete list as each situation has the potential to be unique). Said behavior will not be determined to be EXTREME by moderator discretion alone, but with the added input of group members so that at least a majority of actively posting members think suspension/banning is the best course of action until an alternate solution can be discussed and/or reached. If a suspension is put into effect, length of term will be determined by the moderators.
- The Posting Limit Rule:
- SECTION A. Group members are limited to 25 posts per day/350 posts per month. If upon significant news affecting the Group that results in a higher number of On Topic messages, the Moderators may at their discretion temporally suspend this rule for On Topic posts for as long as they see fit. If they decide for a temporary suspension of the rule, they should notify the Group via a list announcement.
- SECTION B. First violation of this rule will result in a warning. Second violation of this rule will result in a warning. Three violations within a 6 month period will result in a 1 month ban from the Group. Upon return to the Group, three violations within a 6 month period will result in a 6 month ban from the Group. Upon subsequent return to the Group, three violations within a 6 month period will result in a permanent ban from the Group.
- SECTION C. To the extent that this rule results in a single permanent ban, this rule will then end, and the necessity of it's existence will be revisited at a later date.
- Anyone violating yahoo!group's guidelines and / or yahoo!'s TOS will be subject to a warning (first offense), suspension (second offense), banning (third offense) and the post could be deleted - since it could get the group deleted / deactivated by Yahoo. Depending on th seriousness of the offense, the poster could be subject to a banning without a warning or suspension.
What if the group temporarily malfunctions?:
From time to time the Cerebus Yahoo!Group temporarily malfunctions and no posts will be delivered to the website or via email. When this happens, you can check the following website for updates:
http://groups.google.com/group/cerebus-yahoo-alert-group
This is a Google group that will serve as the “emergency broadcast network” for when the Yahoo!Group temporarily malfunctions. A notice will be sent out to those Yahoo!Group members who join the Google group and select the email option. The Google group will only be used to sent messages of the Yahoo!Group’s temporarily malfunctions and when the group is back up. To become a member of the Google group, send one of the moderators a message using the email address you want invited to the group.
Cerebus Yahoo!Group moderators:
The Cerebus Yahoo!Group moderators can be found by signing in to the group at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cerebus/
And clicking on ‘Members’ and then click on ‘Moderators’. JEFFTUNDIS is Jeff T, CTOWNER1 is Lenny and MEOWWCAT is Margaret. If you have any questions, then you can send them an email by clicking on the “Send message” button below their name.