Subject: 5th Anniversary of alt.ascii-art
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art,alt.ascii-art.animation

 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
 "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""


         /" "|" |_|     /\  |\ | |\ | "|" \ / [" |") ("  /\  |") \ /
         _)  |  | |    /""\ | \| | \| _|_  V  |_ |"\ _) /""\ |"\  |


         /"\ ["     /\  |  "|"    /\  (" /' "|" "|" _  /\  |") "|"
         \_/ |     /""\ |_  |  o /""\ _) \. _|_ _|_   /""\ |"\  |



 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
 "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" cfbd98""

                _   _   _        _
               | |_| | (_)  ___ | |_   ___   _ _   _  _
               |  _  | | | (_-< |  _| / _ \ | '_| | || |
               |_| |_| |_| /__/  \__| \___/ |_|    \_, |
                                                   |__/      29/8/98

 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
 "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""

From: allenk@ugcs.caltech.edu (Allen Knutson)
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
Subject: Historical precedent for ASCII art?
Date: 21 Jan 1994 07:11:02 GMT
Message-ID: <2hnv68$5qf@gap.cco.caltech.edu>

Historically, have there been other forms of art that are akin to
ASCII art, in using to create pictures a standard set of shapes not
designed for it?  All that occurred to me are some of Dali's great
tricks, where several people form a skull and that sort of thing,
but it's not quite the same.

Perhaps a typesetter like [casts invocation] Kibo would know?
Allen K.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
From: pk6811s@acad.drake.edu
Subject: Re: Historical precedent for ASCII art?
Message-ID: <1994Jan21.092347.1@acad.drake.edu>
Date: Fri, 21 Jan 1994 15:23:47 GMT

In article <2hnv68$5qf@gap.cco.caltech.edu>, allenk@ugcs.caltech.edu
(Allen Knutson) writes:

> Historically, have there been other forms of art that are akin to
> ASCII art, in using to create pictures a standard set of shapes not
> designed for it?  All that occurred to me are some of Dali's great
> tricks, where several people form a skull and that sort of thing,
> but it's not quite the same.


Quilts, cross-stitch, colored sands, colored brick and tile, mosaic
tile, colored corn, kids' toy blocks, hand-held string figures, ...

Give people something to work with and they will make art.

My 'thing' is domino pictures, done much like the pixellated ascii
except using complete sets of dominos.  A 6' by 4' picture of an
astronaut made of 40 sets of double-nines is on display at the Dial
Center at Drake University.

Paul Kline
pk6811s@acad.drake.edu

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: peekstok@u.washington.edu (Anna Peekstok)
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
Subject: Re: Historical precedent for ASCII art?
Date: 21 Jan 1994 20:53:43 GMT
Message-ID: <2hpfcn$590@news.u.washington.edu>

>Historically, have there been other forms of art that are akin to
>ASCII art, in using to create pictures a standard set of shapes not
>designed for it?

There's a tradition in classical painting (i.e., Renaissance and
after) of making up faces and figures out of vegetables, kitchen
implements, etc.

Anna Peekstok
<peekstok@u.washington.edu>

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: jorn@MCS.COM (Jorn Barger)
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.pictures.ascii,alt.ascii-art,
alt.ascii-art.animation,alt.ascii-art.pixellated
Subject: META A brief history of ascii-art groups on netnews
Date: 13 Mar 1994 13:24:54 -0600
Message-ID: <2lvpa6$jca@Mercury.mcs.com>

In article <wVT5ic6w165w@mindvox.phantom.com>
on alt.binaries.pictures.ascii,
Sandro Sherrod <oobleck@mindvox.phantom.com> wrote:
>Whats the difference between here and alt.ascii-art? With the exception
>more posts over therE?


A brief history of ascii-art groups on netnews:

Rumor has it that there was an ascii-art group on alt years ago,
that failed for lack of interest.  No evidence has turned up,
though.  The main purveyor of fine ascii-art-archives during the
early 90s had been Steven Sullivan, in his postings to rec.humor.

Alt.config folklore says proposals for a new group had been coming
up every few months, for some time before September 1993, when the
discussion that led to alt.ascii-art began.  Resistance in
alt.config was intense, led by Tim Pierce who argued that ascii-art
was binary and belonged in the alt.binaries.pictures.* hierarchy.
He got a lot more support on this than seems credible, in
retrospect.

After a month of pointless hassling, the gordian knot was cut by
Joel Furr newgrouping alt.ascii-art.  It was generally agreed that
alt.arts.ascii would have been the better choice (to keep the number
of new first-level hierarchies down), but the group took off pretty
quickly, so we decided to go with it.... except after a month, when
it became clear a lot of sites weren't getting a.a-a, Tim took the
opportunity to newgroup a.b.p.ascii, along with a request to rmgroup
alt.ascii-art, already a thriving subculture!

The tide of opinion turned against Tim at this point, and a rmgroup
for abpa went out, resulting in sites that carried both, neither,
*and* just one or the other-- but abpa has pretty well withered,
while a.a-a has grown to where a split has been seriously discussed,
and over-hasty newgroups posted for:

alt.ascii-art.pixellated (by people wishing ascii-gifs would go away)
and
alt.ascii-art.animation (ditto for ansi animations)

a.a-a.p seems to have vanished, but a.a-a.a gets occasional posts
and may well be revived at some point.  I wouldn't mind trying to
move the asciigifs over to alt.binaries.pictures.ascii, since it's a
group that won't go away...

The plan for the future, now, is to create a *moderated*
rec.arts.ascii (Bob Allison has volunteered to moderate).  Anyone
with experience proposing and creating a moderated big-7 group, or
other constructive ideas, should write Bob or me...

jorn

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Subject: Re: META A brief history of ascii-art groups on netnews
Newsgroups: alt.binaries.pictures.ascii,alt.ascii-art,alt.ascii-
art.animation,alt.ascii-art.pixellated
From: Colin_Douthwaite@equinox.gen.nz (Colin Douthwaite)
Message-Id: <Colin_Douthwaite.3yr9@equinox.gen.nz>
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 21:01:47 +1300

Jorn Barger (jorn@MCS.COM) wrote:

JB> A brief history of ascii-art groups on netnews:

JB> Tim took the opportunity to newgroup a.b.p.ascii, along with a
JB> request to rmgroup alt.ascii-art, already a thriving subculture!

JB> The tide of opinion turned against Tim at this point, and a
JB> rmgroup for abpa went out, resulting in sites that carried both,
JB> neither, *and* just one or the other-- but abpa has pretty well
JB> withered,


Aah...thanks...now, _at last_, I understand why
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii has not been utilised for large
postings; animations; binaries; uuencoded items etc. - it is all
part of a historical private war amongst net.personalities.
All very sad and counter-productive, and (mercifully) unknown to
most of us.


JB> I wouldn't mind trying to move the asciigifs over to
JB> alt.binaries.pictures.ascii, since it's a group that won't go
JB> away...                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
    ^^^^

:-)  Well that's a start ( and quite an admission too ). Looks like
     both Joel Furr _and_ Tim Pierce were winners in the end.


JB> The plan for the future, now, is to create a *moderated*
JB> rec.arts.ascii (Bob Allison has volunteered to moderate).

Whose plan, and whose future ?

Perhaps it really _is_ the answer to create such a moderated group
so that those who are dissatisfied with alt.ascii-art can pursue
their moderated interests in the new moderated group and leave
alt.ascii-art free for those who enjoy it and manage to live with
it's irritations.

From what I have seen of the moderated groups they tend to be dull
and restrictive and soon lead to more dissatisfactions than those
expressed in "open" newsgroups. How many folks want to submit their
stuff to a moderator and have it ignored or rejected ?

For all its faults and irritations alt.ascii-art has already become
a very successful newsgroup having a very high signal-to-noise
ratio. How many of the 4,400 newsgroups on Internet can you say that
about ?

It will be sad to lose the input of talented posters who move to
such a moderated group but I suspect that alt.ascii-art will survive
very nicely.....because it clearly meets a need.


The saga continues........

   .
  /:\
  |:|
  |:|
  |:|
  |:|      __
,_|:|_,   /  )                       *_   _   _   _   _   _   _   *
  (Oo    / _I_                       | `_' `-' `_' `-' `_' `-' `_'|
   +\ \  || __|              ^       |                            |
      \ \||___|              |       |  LONG LIVE  alt.ascii-art  |       |
        \ /.:.\-\            |  (*)  |_   _   _   _   _   _   _   |  \^/  |
         |.:. /-----\        | _<">_ | `_' `-' `_' `-' `_' `-' `_'| _(#)_ |
         |___|::oOo::|      o+o \ / \0                            0/ \ / (=)
         /   |:<-T->:|       0'\ ^ /\/                            \/\ ^ /`0
        |_____\ ::: /          /_^_\ |                            | /_^_\
         | |  \ \:/            || || |                            | || ||
         | |   | |             d|_|b_T____________________________T_d|_|b
         \ /   | \___                /                            /
         / |   \_____\           /                               /
         `-'                 /                                  /
_________________________/               -unknown-            /____________



---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                            ==============
                             LATER  NOTES
                            ==============

|  The unmoderated newsgroup, alt.ascii-art, was created by Joel Furr
|  in September 1993.

|  The moderated newsgroup, rec.arts.ascii, was created in June 1994
|  with Bob Allison ( Scarecrow ) as Moderator.

|  In July 1996 Don Bertino took over as Moderator of rec.arts.ascii
|  with Allen Mullen as deputy moderator.

|  On 23 Dec 1996 the last posting from the moderator, Don Bertino,
|  appeared in rec.arts.ascii and since that date the newsgroup has
|  had little or no traffic.

|  On 20 Mar 1998 Don Bertino, the rec.ascii.arts moderator wrote:
|  "I'm still here. :)  People are posting way too little..  Of
|   course, Bob pulled the "best" of a.aa and reposted it r.a.a  So
|   it's basiclly a best of newsgroup..  Something to be tried."


========================
   Traffic Statistics
========================

                               +-- Messages per month
                               |
                               !      +-- Percentage crossposted
                               |      |
                               |      |     + Propagation:
                               |      |     | how many sites
                               |      |     | receive this group
                               |      |     | at all
                               |      |     |
                               |      |     |      +-- Share:
                               |      |     |      |   % of news readers
                               |      |     |      |   who read this group.
                               V      V     V      V

                            Feb 94
alt.ascii-art                733      2%    36%   1.4%


                            Mar 95
alt.ascii-art                600      8%    47%   1.0%
alt.ascii-art.animation      128     32%    35%   0.2%
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii  307     42%    37%   0.5%

rec.arts.ascii               217     13%    53%   0.3%

                            May 95
alt.ascii-art                413      9%    48%   0.7%
alt.ascii-art.animation       96     15%    36%   0.2%
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii  200     49%    37%   0.4%

rec.arts.ascii               180     11%    55%   0.3%

                           Sep 95
alt.ascii-art                905      8%
alt.ascii-art.animation       61     34%
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii  110    100%

rec.arts.ascii               309      5%

                           Oct 95
alt.ascii-art               1062     26%
alt.ascii-art.animation      152     16%
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii  123    100%

rec.arts.ascii               282     18%



                           Feb 96
alt.ascii-art                788     15%
alt.ascii-art.animation       53     12%

rec.arts.ascii               274     35%

                           Apl 96
alt.ascii-art                804     15%
alt.ascii-art.animation       74     76%

rec.arts.ascii               185     24%

                           Jun 96
alt.ascii-art                707     29%
alt.ascii-art.animation       89     68%
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii  104    100%

rec.arts.ascii                35     65%


                           Jul 96
alt.ascii-art               1100     23%
alt.ascii-art.animation       95     54%
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii  187    100%

rec.arts.ascii                81      9%

                           Aug 97
alt.ascii-art               1373
alt.ascii-art.animation       49
alt.binaries.pictures.ascii   78


---------------------------------------------------------------------------


    From: jorn@mcs.com (Jorn Barger)
    Newsgroups: rec.arts.ascii
    Subject: Talk: Why I like ascii art
    Date: 11 Sep 1995 17:26:51 -0500


    [Here's a little essay someone requested, by email]

    Wherever you look in computer journalism, the emphasis is always
    on faster computers and more memory and more colors... and more
    money!

    So, when people write about the future of the Internet, they're
    always dreaming of real-time video links, multimedia, virtual
    reality, etc etc etc.

    But for me, what's greatest about the Internet is how efficient
    it is at transmitting *text*.  For the same 30 kilobytes you
    could use for a small GIF on the WWWeb, you can just as well
    transmit *fifteen typewritten pages* of text. (It's not even 'a
    picture is worth 1000 words'-- it's more like 5000, or better!)
    And a videolink uses millions of times as much bandwidth as
    would an email conversation...

    And ascii text is also the lowest common denominator that allows
    *everyone* on the net to share data-- people are starting to
    extend email to include graphics and fonts, but these attempts
    exclude the majority of users, and we haven't begun to see these
    formats (like MIME) posted to netnews...

    So the ability of ascii-art to include images in email and
    netnews postings could be a very useful technology... if only
    word-processors included a simple set of commands for drawing
    ascii shapes, or pasting together layers of ascii 'clip art'!

    My efforts in exploring ascii-art have been an attempt to see
    how much is possible, in representing, eg, maps, or human faces.
    I find that if you devote a great deal of time to it, you can
    create some very rich images... so it ought to be possible
    someday to have rich libraries of clip-art that everyone can
    easily integrate into their text files-- if only the word-
    processors are revised to make this easier.

    But (alas!) the word-processor designers seem preoccupied with
    GIFs and MPEGs and WAV files...


    jorn barger
    chicago, illinois, usa
    sept 11 1995


--------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "J. Melusky" <whatfer@u.washington.edu>
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
Subject: Re: Why *is* it called ASCII Art ?
Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 12:54:18 -0700
Message-ID:
<Pine.A32.3.92a.960521124351.148939A-100000@homer13.u.washington.edu>

On 20 May 1996, Ken West wrote:
> The ASCII.art FAQ mentions that
> >  Before computers, ASCII art was made on typewriters,
> > teletype machines (5 bit), and was created typographically.
> > There are even tee-shirts with the :-) smiley.

> This raises a couple of questions:
> 1.  What was it called when done on typewriters  (before ASCII
> code was invented)?

Well, according to Andrew Belsey, who posted to this group awhile
back, he says that there is a book available called:

Typewriter Art, edited by Alan Riddell (London, 1975) ISBN
0-900626-99-2


> 2.  Why is it called ASCII art now?
> Now, with the prevalence of PCs, using ASCII characters, someone
> has decided that this character-based art is to be called ASCII
> art.  When you think of it, once the characters are on paper, or
> even on a screen, the fact that they possibly were orginally stored
> with 5 or 6  or 7 or 8 bits inside some computer memory has nothing
> to do with the art itself;   so, can someone clarify how the term
> "ASCII art" came about?  And is there any rationale behind the fact
> that it clearly HAS come about?  regards, Ken West

It wasn't just someone who popularized the phrase ascii-art. It was
all those who voted in alt.config. A year ago I subscribed to
alt.config and discovered that 100 votes plus a lot of convincing to
create a new Usenet group. I wish I was around to be a lurker back
then but hey they made a good vote of it! Maybe Scarecrow knows more
about the alt.config story? I don't even know if alt.config is still
there? Ahhh break time is over.  take care, Jon

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: "R. Crawford" <rcrawford@geocities.com>
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
Subject: Ascii, the hard way
Date: Fri, 21 Feb 1997 04:59:17 +0800
Organization: Canada Internet Direct, Inc.
Message-ID: <330CBB25.5A44@geocities.com>
Reply-To: rcrawford@geocities.com

Looking thru an old magazine (1960 and we won't mention which one),
I came across an amazing ascii artist. Here's the article that went
with the pictures (48K .gif to follow under Subject=Hard way .gif):

All day Guillermo Mendana Olivera works as a stenographer in Leon,
Spain; every night he types pictures. Samples of his work shown here
are, moving clockwise: typings of Ike, of Mendana himself, a detail
from a picture of a church, and the Puerta de Alcala in Madrid.
Each picture takes about 70 hours. Mendana uses small o and x and
periods, dashes and commas. He starts with a paper covering all but
a sliver of a photo; as the paper moves down he copies a line at a
time.

Imagine, on a typewriter! No software to comvert .bmp's. No easy
corrections or fancy font tricks. They didn't even have white-out
then. This man deserves recognition in the ascii art world!

I'm trying to track him down thru family or friends on the net.  If
I can, maybe I will post more of his work.

If you have a problem with your news reader and .gif's, you can see
the gif at http://mypage.direct.ca/r/rcrawfor/ascii_bg.gif

Long live .txt!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Dave Bird---St Hippo of Augustine <dave@xemu.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
Subject: Re: History of ASCII Art [Question]
Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 19:04:10 +0000
Message-ID: <LkGRukAqAtNzEwPT@xemu.demon.co.uk>

In article <19970324054800.AAA18942@ladder01.news.aol.com>, spunk1111
writes:
>I "discovered" ASCII art about 1 1/2 years ago... I'm curious as to
>its background. I have yet to see anything written about it in a
>textbook.  But I have heard that it was around in the 60s- of course
>not like it is on the internet today. Someone also mentioned to me
>(a long time ago) that they used to create pictures on the keypunch
>computer cards... who was it?

Ascii art has been around as long as I have.  There were large
"character shaded" pictures around on lineprinters when I was
at university in the 70s: usually either nudes or mickey mouse.

Someone posted that there had been "typewriter art" since
typewriters were widespread -- 1920 or so, I think.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Matthew Thomas <mpt26@spamfree.land>
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
Subject: Re: Netly News article
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1998 22:53:51 +1200
Message-ID: <358F893F.154A@spamfree.land>

Jorn Barger wrote:

 <URL:http://cgi.pathfinder.com/netly/article/0,2334,13735,00.html

> Microsoft handed down a bizarre pronouncement earlier this week,
> declaring that ASCII art is dead.

> Jorn Barger, the author of the 1994 FAQ, had a different tip of the
> day for Microsoft when contacted for a response: "Sophisticated Net
> users create tables and graphs and indenting and centering and
> borders -- all requiring a monospaced font." He wants the software
> Goliath to resist a temptation of its own: "Microsoft feeds on
> software bloat. Even if they recognized 'appropriate technology'
> they'd still be driven to suppress it." And what's "cool in its
> day"? "If Bill Gates keeps setting his applications' default font to
> proportional, then his users will continue looking dumb when their
> e-mail and Net news postings don't wrap properly!"

To which Bill would reply: `If the so-called "sophisticated Net
users" were posting and e-mailing in HTML, *like they should*, they
wouldn't *need* to use a monospaced font to create tables and graphs
and indenting and centering and borders -- *and* they'd be able to
include *real* graphics in their messages'.

To which Jorn and a chorus of a.a-ers (PeteCasso excepted, I think)
would reply: `But only a minority of people can read messages sent
in HTML, and besides, it's a ridiculous waste of bandwidth'.

To which Bill would reply: `Well, if they were all using
Microsloth's Outloop Excess, *like they should*, then they would be
able to view HTML messages'.

To which the aforementioned sophisticated Net-users would reply:
`Use a *Microsloth* product? ...


oooooooooo.               oooo                     oooo
`888'   `Y8b              `888                     `888
 888     888  .oooo.       888 .oo.    .oooo.       888 .oo.    .oooo.
 888oooo888' `P  )88b      888P"Y88b  `P  )88b      888P"Y88b  `P  )88b
 888    `88b  .oP"888      888   888   .oP"888      888   888   .oP"888
 888    .88P d8(  888      888   888  d8(  888      888   888  d8(  888
o888bood8P'  `Y888""8o    o888o o888o `Y888""8o    o888o o888o `Y888""8o

oooo                     .o. .o. .o.
`888                     888 888 888
 888 .oo.    .oooo.      888 888 888
 888P"Y88b  `P  )88b     Y8P Y8P Y8P
 888   888   .oP"888     `8' `8' `8'
 888   888  d8(  888     .o. .o. .o.
o888o o888o `Y888""8o    Y8P Y8P Y8P '

[Roman.flf]


Thus speaketh the *1998* FAQ:
----
    People use ASCII art for a variety of reasons, some of which are:
    *   it is the most universal computer art form in the world --
        every computer system capable of displaying multi-line text can
        display ASCII art, without needing to have a graphics mode or
        support a particular graphics file format;

    *   an ASCII picture is hundreds of times smaller in file size
        than its GIF or BMP equivalent, while still giving a good idea
        of what something looks like;

    *   it is easy to copy from one file to another;

    *   it's fun to do!

 ----And: ----

    But before you start, a word about fonts. For ASCII art you
    should use a fixed-width font [see Question 4], because every
    type of computer system is guaranteed to have one, and that
    after all is one of the main reasons ASCII art exists -- because
    everyone can view it. Different fixed- width fonts do vary
    slightly in the height of the characters, but for most drawings
    this doesn't matter that much.

    DON'T try to post pictures drawn in a proportional-width (ie
    non-fixed-width) font: even if you specify the exact font you
    used, the chances of other people being able to read it are
    pretty slim (even `standard' proportional fonts such as Times
    New Roman can vary in width from computer to computer).

----

Anyway, well said, Jorn!

Yours in fixed-width
-- __
  /_/\   Matthew Thomas, who wasn't interviewed by anyone :-)
 _\_\/_  http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/ (Site for sore eyes)
/_/\/_/\ ASCII ART FAQ: http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/art/ascii/
\_\/\_\/ <-- If this looks weird, you should be using a fixed-width font


---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Donovan <bakd@gwtc.net>
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art
Subject: Re: Question 'bout ascii-art
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1998 10:27:45 -0600
Message-ID: <35AB8701.357C@gwtc.net>

Well, a few months ago, we were discussing the oldest method or form
of ascii art. The one I came up with that has held up has been
poetry.  Centuries ago, they wrote poetry in the shapes of things.
And it was the consensus of our newsgroup (at that time) that this
must have been the oldest form of ascii art. Of course it wasn't
called ascii art.

Joan seems to be the only one who can ever remember the name of that
kind poetry.

              HELP JOAN...FOR THE 10TH TIME!!!!  LOL

Anyway here is a modern-day example of such poetry:


                                        The Dolphins' Way,
                      In Me          Aspirations of the living
                   sea The dolphins do move within    me The aura of
                     their soul, I feel deep down To be in the water
                        and not on ground Sifting through the
                          ocean, an expressing show Communi-
                        cation of a song and a blow Pro-
                     tecting even those not of their
                  kind They ask nothing in return,
             they do not mind The most gracious
          and unselfish of all that wander I
      wish to swim with them, nothing   could
    be fonder The dolphins mean so     much
 to me, you see I need to thank      them,
for showing us how to be                           (Donovan 1997)

I hope this will help you a little bit with the origination of ascii
art. Of course when computers came along that is when it became
popular and got it's name. But as a group we all agreed that this
form of poetry was probably the thing that started it all.

If you find out anything older more factual please let us know here!
*S* Also please post a copy of your paper on here so that we may
read it.  *bigger S*

Peace,

Donovan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Colin Douthwaite <cfbd@southern.co.nz>
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art,alt.ascii-art.animation
Subject: History
Date: 17 Aug 1998 01:15:43 GMT
Message-ID: <903316543.458387@mnementh.southern.co.nz>

In several ways the last 2 years have seen some interesting
developments in the history of Ascii Art and the newsgroup
alt.ascii-art.


Joan Stark has emerged as a very talented, and by far the most
prolific Ascii Artist to date, easily surpassing the collections of
Row; Targon; Susie Oviatt; Normand Veilleux and Allen Mullen.

In 1998 Joan earned a prestigious award from Geocities.com for her
Website on Geocities as well as many tributes and accolades from
those who see and enjoy her excellent work.


             .{{}}}}}}.
            {{{{{}}}}}}}.
           {{{{  }}}}}}}}}           Joan G Stark
          }}}}} _   _ {{{{{   Undisputed queen of ascii art.
          }}}}  6   6  {{{{
         {{{{{    ^    }}}}}
        {{{{{{\  -=-  /}}}}}}
        {{{{{{{;.___.;}}}}}}}
         {{{{{{{)   (}}}}}}}'
          `""'"':   :'"'"'`
        jgs      `@`



Then we have seen the emergence of Pete Casso with his creation of a
new subgenre of "Stein Characters", second only to the well-known
"Silly Cows" genre in Ascii Art, and by far outstripping the other
known genres of Sheep; Owls; Koala Bears, and Luke the Spook.

 The two basic characters were Birdstein and Frogstein...

              _==_
              ( ">            oo.
             (> )>           (-  )
              ^^              " "
           Birdstein       Frogstein


Followed by an ever growing number of other Steins:

01WW5WWW10WWWW5WWW20WWWW5WWW30WWWW5WWW40WWWW5WWW50WWWW5WWW60WWWW5WWW7072
02                                                                    02
03  The 'steins Hall of Fame                                          03
04  by Pete Casso 970920                                              04
05                                                                    05
06     .  +  .                                                        06
07      \^|^/                                                         07
08       .oo                                                          08
09      (  -)         Frogstein, King of the Pond                     09
10       " "                                                          10
11                                                                    11
12        +                                                           12
13      \^^/                                                          13
14      ( ">                                                          14
15      (> )>         Birdstein, Queen of the Sky                     15
16       ^^                                                           16
17                                                                    17
18     (\    /)                                                       18
19     (:\oo/:)                                                       19
20      (  -)         Pegastein, head in the clouds ...               20
21       " "                                                          21
22                                                                    22
23          .oo                                                       23
24     .''''  -)      Sphinxstein, feet on the ground ...             24
25    (__)_)__)_)                                                     25
26                                                                    26
27                                                                    27
28        /(                                                          28
29     /\(oo)/\       Ghostein, a frequent visitor from Heaven        29
30     \      /                                                       30
31                                                                    31
32                                                                    32
33        ,,                                                          33
34       ( "> w                                                       34
35      ,(> )>|       Devilstein, a frequent visitor from Hell        35
36     (  ^^                                                          36
37                                                                    37
38                                                                    38
39        /(                                                          39
40     (\( ">         Roosterstein, the musician in the barnyard      40
41      `(> )>        Often called PeteHovenstein by his fans         41
42        ^^                                                          42
43                                                                    43
44         ,,                                                         44
45        (@@         Owlstein, the wisdom dispenser                  45
46       (> )>        Often called Onestein by his admirers           46
47        ^^                                                          47
48                                                                    48
49        ,,                                                          49
50       ( "/         Dragonstein, who sired the Loch Ness monster    50
51        )\`                                                         51
52        /                                                           52
53                                                                    53
54       _==_                                                         54
55       ( ">                                                         55
56       (>,)>        BrusselsBoystein, who has a cute squirter       56
57        ^^                                                          57
58                                                                    58
59    .         .                                                     59
60   .)\       /(.                                                    60
61  .) ,\ @.@ /, (.                                                   61
62  .) - (,-,) - (.   Draculstein, appearing as a vampire             62
63  .) '/     \` (.                                                   63
64   .)/       \(.                                                    64
65    '         '                                                     65
66                                                                    66
67        ,())                                                        67
68      ,(   ">       Mousestein, who does a great job                68
69     (  " "                     in scaring evil witches away        69
70                                                                    70
71WW5WWW10WWWW5WWW20WWWW5WWW30WWWW5WWW40WWWW5WWW50WWWW5WWW60WWWW5WWW7072

Note:  Pete is now marking his Stein cartoon drawings as Copyright (c).



A very recent development has been the emergence in alt.ascii-art of
programmers who have written useful Ascii Tools.

ASC2PIC.EXE - by Martin Atkins converts Ascii pictures back to
              photographic style images. Especially useful for
              viewing those large multi-screen Ascii pictures.

RESIZE.EXE  - By "Stile" which allows simple percentage reduction or
              enlargement of Ascii pictures by removing or adding
              characters. Very useful for trimming widths of
              pictures of 80 or more columns which overlap the
              screen or cause line wrapping.
              Works best on block-style art ( as illustrated )
Original:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$uu"""""``   `"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$u"``                 `""u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$u"`                           `""u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$P"                   .,ed$$$$b.       "u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$'                   ,d$$$$$$$$$$$b.      $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$u"`               .,ed$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$b     `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$ec          ..,ed$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P"```"4$b    `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$'          $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$',d$$$be$$b.   `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$'          ,$P'.,,,,.`u$$$$$$$Pd$$$$$$$$$$$b   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$           $$e$$$$$$$b,`u$$$$$$`""""uu$$$$$$   `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$b          $$$$$$$u"` ,d $$$$$$$$$b.,e.`$$$$b   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$          $$$$$',d$ed$$ $$$$$$`u4$$$P',$$$$P  .$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$b         $$$$$.`u$$$P'd$$$$$$b. ..,e$$$$$$  .$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$ eee,.   $$$$$$$e,.,e$$$$$$$$$$e`$$$$$$$$$. $E$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$.`$$$$$ee$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$'d$$$$$b`$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$,`$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,.`"$$$',$$$$$$$P',$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$e.`"u$$$$$$u$$$$$$$uu"'..., .,eeee$$$P',e$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,`"u$$$e,`"4$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P,d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$   $$$$$$be$$$$$$$$b,.,d$$$$$$',$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$e.`"u$$$$$$u"',d$,`$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$be,,,...,ed$$$$$,`u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P',db`u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ `""uu$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P',$$$$   `"u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P' `u$be,.`"uu$$$$$$$$$$P'.e$$$$$P      `""uuuuu$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$uu"`     `$$$$$$be,..`"uuP',ed$$$$$$$'                   `"""u
uuuuu"""``             `$$$$$$$$$$$$b, d$$$$$$$$$'
                        `$$$$$$$$$$P',e.`"u$$$$$P
                         `4$$$$$$P',`$$$$',.`"uu'
                           `"uuu"`,$b.$$'.$$$$$$
                            `$$$$$$$$Pd$b,`$$$$P
                             `$$$$$$$'$$$$,`$$$'
                              `$$$$P',$$$$$,`$$
                               `$$$',d$$$$$$,`$
                                `P',d$$$$$$$$,`

Reduced to 95% by RESIZE.EXE:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$uu"""""``   `"$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$u"`                 `"u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$u"`                         `""u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$P"                  .,ed$$$$.       "u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$'                  ,d$$$$$$$$$$b.      $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$u"`              .,ed$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$b     `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$ec          .,ed$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P```"4$b    `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$'          $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$',$$$be$$b.   `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$'          ,$'.,,,,.`u$$$$$$$Pd$$$$$$$$$$b   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$           $$$$$$$$$b,`u$$$$$$`"""uu$$$$$$   `$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$b          $$$$$$u"` ,d $$$$$$$$b.,e.`$$$$b   $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$          $$$$',d$ed$$ $$$$$$`u$$$P',$$$$P  .$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$ eee,.   $$$$$$e,.,e$$$$$$$$$$`$$$$$$$$$. $E$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$.`$$$$$ee$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$'d$$$$b`$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$,`$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,.`"$$',$$$$$$$P',$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$e.`"u$$$$$u$$$$$$$uu"'..., .eeee$$$P',e$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$,`"u$$e,`"4$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P,d$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$   $$$$$be$$$$$$$$b,.,d$$$$$',$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$e.`"u$$$$$u"',d$,`$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$be,,,...ed$$$$$,`u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P',db`u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ ""uu$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P',$$$$   `"u$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$P' u$be,.`"uu$$$$$$$$$P'.e$$$$$P      `""uuuu$$$$$$$$$$
$$$$$$$$$$$$uu"`    `$$$$$$be,..`"uuP'ed$$$$$$$'                  `"""u
uuuu"""``            `$$$$$$$$$$$$b, d$$$$$$$$'
                      `$$$$$$$$$$P',e."u$$$$$P
                       `4$$$$$$P',`$$$',.`"uu'
                         `"uuu"`,$b.$$.$$$$$$
                          `$$$$$$$$Pd$,`$$$$P
                           `$$$$$$$'$$$,`$$$'
                            `$$$$P',$$$$,`$$
                              `P',d$$$$$$$,`



ASCTOOL.EXE - Compiled for MS-DOS by Colin J. Randall from old C
              code written circa 1993 by Joshua Bell. It will rotate
              a picture through 360 degrees in 90 degree intervals
              and is most useful in simple horizontal reversals.


              Original:

                o  o  o  TOOT  TOOT  o  o O  O
                               ,_____  ____    O
                               | PMD \_|[]|_'__Y
                               |_______|__|_|__|}
             ===================oo--oo==oo--OOO\\====================


          After ASCTOOL.EXE:

                                O  O o  o  TOOT  TOOT  o  o  o
                              O    ____  _____.
                              Y__`_|[]|_/ DMP |
                             {|__|_|__|_______|
         ====================//OOO--oo==oo--oo===================

These new tools are all good additions to the old well-known Ascii
tools such as ASCGIF and GIFSCII, the GIF to ASCII convertors.


Last but not least, a new FAQ Writer and Maintainer appeared in late
1997 in the person of Matthew Thomas. He modernised the old Allison
and Barger FAQs, taking into perspective the rapid rise of Windows
and modern web browsers like Netscape and Outlook Express, and the
new generation of Net users - the "Pointers & Clickers" who may not
have much knowledge of how the Net works and possibly no desire to
go to the trouble of learning about it all.


                ,a@@@@@@@@@m.
              ,@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@.
             J@@P':..    ..:`W@        Matthew Thomas
             @@@':;;..  ..;;::@)   FAQ Author & Maintainer
             \@!:<#OK>::<4O#>.@
             |.::"??";  `???.:"\
             `._::..:_ee_...::_/
                \:..______,::/
                 \::..  ...:/
                  `-:____:-'mt-3


Ascii Art and its newsgroups can only benefit from the input of
talented people like those above who have made significant
contributions.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From mpt26@spamfree.land Thu Aug 20 03:39:36 1998
From: Matthew Thomas <mpt26@spamfree.land>
Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art,alt.ascii-art.animation
Subject: Re: History
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1998 00:11:49 +1200
Message-ID: <35DAC105.AE270BBC@spamfree.land>

Colin Douthwaite wrote:
>
> In several ways the last 2 years have seen some interesting
> developments in the history of Ascii Art and the newsgroup
> alt.ascii-art.
>
> Ascii Art and its newsgroups can only benefit from the input of
> talented people like those above who have made significant
> contributions.

       ,.  _
       |J /J
     ,') n F
     |( __J.                      ,-----------------------------------.
     |  `- ]                     | `Let us therefore  brace  ourselves |
    _> .:;J                      | to  our  duties,  and  so bear our- |
   |  ``"'.                      | selves that  if  ASCII  art and its |
   )_'  _,'                      | Usenet groups last for  a  thousand |
  ,MMMMMMF         ,..___,.      | years,  men  and  women  will still |
  MMMMMMM          MMMMMMMJ      | say, `this was our finest hour'.    |
 JMMMMMME          MMMMMMMML      `. ,--------------------------------'
 MMMMMMM[       ,aJhmmmmmmmmMMM.   |/
JMMMMMMM[      `"*MMM**H*MMMP*"    /
MMMMMMMME        (,-=ms:mn-J'     '
MMMMMMMMMn_  mt-2 :._.'_\:.J
YMMMMMMMMMO+n._   `;:`---(.[
 "*MMMMMMMMhh++MMMLhn;;::.J.
   "*MMMMMMMMO+O"*OMMM++-"'.Mhm,.
     "*MMMMMMMO+++`**MMMP**"'MMMO,
       "*MMMMMOO+++OOMhMh   YM\OOO
         "MMMMMOO++OO`MhOO\/MMM\+/L
          |MMMMMOO++OO`MhOO\OMMM\+||
          JOMMMMMMOOOO.MMMO+\**OM\|JL
          FOMMMMMMMOO.'MMMOO+A+OMM|OO,
         /OOMMMMMMMOO*!MMMMOJ+\+O'|MOL
        /++OOMMMMMMo |M\MMO/m==|+O|OMM
       '">++OOOMMMMM/MMM"-"O++oAO+|OMOh

--
   .._o  Matthew Thomas
 ..://\/ http://cantua.canterbury.ac.nz/~mpt26/ (Site for sore eyes)
..:_/\   <-- If this looks a mess, change your font to Courier
  ..:/   Linux. Because life is too short to reboot.

 __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __
 "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" "" ""
