Kook of the Month Award Rules

*Yes, even something like this has to have rules...*

Table of Contents

Kook of the Month Award
Clueless Newbie of the Month Award
Hook, Line & Sinker
Victor Von Frankenstein "Weird Science" Award
The Gene Spafford Memorial "Usenet Samaritan" Award
The Golden Killfile

Kook of the Month Award

 [taken in part from the alt.usenet.kooks FAQ and Matt Legare's KotM page.]
Every month since April 1994 (with a short hiatus in Nov-Dec 1994), the readers of alt.usenet.kooks have nominated and voted for a Kook of the Month. This award is intended to recognize great achievements in the field of kookery, although (disclaimer) no psychological diagnosis is intended or implied by the award; the fact that a group of net.posters think that someone's ideas are bizarre does not imply that that person is mentally disturbed in a clinical sense. 

/Them's the basics/
*Now for the specifics...*
  1. Nomination: All nominations must be posted to alt.usenet.kooks. In order for a nomination to be considered valid, it must be seconded by another person, and at least one unedited sample posting from the nominee must be reposted to a.u.k. The nomination period ends at the end of the month.
  2. Voting: All votes must be collected through email to daemons@uiuc.edu. The voting period lasts from the end of the previous voting period to 15 days after the end of the nomination period.
  3. Results: Results will be posted to alt.usenet.kooks and to the Results page when/if they have been tallied. 
    /BTW, we're busy, so don't expect us to get back to everything very fast/
  4. Eligibility Limitations: No one is eligible to be Kook of the Month who... No one may nominate or vote for a Kook of the Month who...

Clueless Newbie of the Month Award

 The CNotM award is dedicated to the celebration of those who, having entered the Information Supermetaphor, haven't got the faintest idea what to do. These enterprising souls differ from the run-of-the-mill newcomer by not letting their lack of savvy, knowlege, social skills, or grasp of reality keep them from doing What They Think Is Right.

Whatever the hell that turns out to be. 

*Remember, this is for the _inspired_ newbies*
/Spammers?  They're a dime a dozen.  We're talking about the ones that
try to defend their spamming, or (better yet) spam their apologies/excuses/
*We're also talking about those net.gods that, for some reason, forgot
that they really weren't supposed that thing fifteen times to six groups
a piece*
/It's a monument to not just a big 'oops', but a big 'oops' that they
should know better than to do - but they do it anyway, even after being
warned/
*And therefore it's a beautiful award*

/And now comes the rules.../
*Notice how similar they are to the KotM rules*
/There's a reason for that/
*What?  Server-side include?*
/Nope.  Laziness/
  1. Nomination: All nominations must be posted to alt.usenet.kooks. In order for a nomination to be considered valid, it must be seconded by another person, and at least one unedited sample posting from the nominee must be reposted to a.u.k. The nomination period ends at the end of the month.
    • You may not nominate yourself.
    • None of the Above is always on the ballot.
  2. Voting: All votes must be collected through email to daemons@uiuc.edu. The voting period lasts from the end of the previous voting period to 15 days after the end of the nomination period.
    • Limit one vote per person.
    • You may not vote for yourself.
  3. Results: Results will be posted to alt.usenet.kooks and to the Results page when/if they have been tallied.
  4. Eligibility Limitations: No one is eligible to be Clueless Newbie of the Month who...
    • a ...has not posted any Usenet articles during the current month; 
      /This still excludes regional newsgroups.  And so does the next one -
which is why they're there/
    • b ...has not demonstrated a lack of knowledge about Usenet on at least one Usenet newsgroup; 
/Actually, I guess the bigger deal is that a lot of the rules there were
removed.../
*People _can_ win it twice, but it'd be pretty stupid of 'em*

Hook, Line, & Sinker

 Dedicated to the few, the proud, and those with Too Much Time, the HL&S Award goes to the Truly Inspired or Truly Blatant troll.

"Trolling", if you're wondering, is the act of posting something blatantly untrue, inflamatory, or otherwise wacko with the intent of getting unwary people to follow-up the article. 

*It's a lost art*
/Nik and I are pretty damned good at it, but.../
*Remember, the real test is 'did the other guy put out more effort responding
to it than I did writing it?'*
/Actually, there's plenty of better descriptions; we just like that one/
  1. Nomination: All nominations must be posted to alt.usenet.kooks. In order for a nomination to be considered valid, it must be seconded by another person, and contributing evidence of the troll must be reposted to a.u.k. The nomination period ends at the end of the month.
    • You may not nominate yourself.
    • None of the Above is always on the ballot.
  2. Voting: All votes must be collected through email to daemons@uiuc.edu. The voting period lasts from the end of the previous voting period to 15 days after the end of the nomination period.
    • Limit one vote per person.
    • You may not vote for yourself.
  3. Results: Results will be posted to alt.usenet.kooks and to the Results page when/if they have been tallied. 
    * *sigh* We should've just made a 'standard rules' section*
/Would've taken too much work; I think we're better off this way/
  4. Eligibility Limitations: No one is eligible to win the Hook, Line & Sinker who...
    • a ...has not posted any Usenet articles during the current month; 
      /We've bent this one a little in the past/
*If they're trolling people from outside of Usenet, all's the 
better...*

Victor Von Frakenstein "Weird Science" Award

 Awarded to the idea, organization, or concept that is So Damn Crazy It Just Might Work, and that's about all there is to say about it! 
/Well, besides the rules/
*Which are pretty basic - you've got the basic nomination/voting rules...*
/Plus you've got 'the organization must be in some way related to Usenet'
thing, but we're not going to standardize that one/
*Simple stuff*
  1. Nomination: All nominations must be posted to alt.usenet.kooks. In order for a nomination to be considered valid, it must be seconded by another person, and at least one unedited sample posting from the nominee must be reposted to a.u.k. The nomination period ends at the end of the month.
    • You may not nominate yourself.
    • None of the Above is always on the ballot.
  2. Voting: All votes must be collected through email to daemons@uiuc.edu. The voting period lasts from the end of the previous voting period to 15 days after the end of the nomination period.
    • Limit one vote per person.
    • You may not vote for yourself. 
      /Or your organization/
*Unless you really don't like them*
  3. Results: Results will be posted to alt.usenet.kooks and to the Results page when/if they have been tallied.

    The Gene Spafford Memorial "Usenet Samariatan" Award

    (aka the "Spaffie")

    Not everything here is directed toward the "special people" on the USENET. There are some folks out there who do a heck of a lot for the net in general, and usually don't get any recognition at all. This award, named after the man who spearheaded the Great Renaming that tried to make order out of the chaos that is USENET newsgroups, seeks to honor those who do a lot for what is considered to be "just a ^%%$%$& hobby". 
    *This is known as the 'please elect me!' award of the votewranglers*
/Unfortunately, it was only around for a little while before Matt left.../
*Anyway, there aren't really many rules here either.  Figure out why on
your own*
    1. Nomination: All nominations must be posted to alt.usenet.kooks. In order for a nomination to be considered valid, it must be seconded by another person, and contributing evidence must be reposted to a.u.k. The nomination period ends at the end of the month.
      • You may not nominate yourself. 
        /Can we say 'doubly important'?/
      • None of the Above is always on the ballot.
    2. Voting: All votes must be collected through email to daemons@uiuc.edu. The voting period lasts from the end of the previous voting period to 15 days after the end of the nomination period.
      • Limit one vote per person.
      • You may not vote for yourself.
    3. Results: Results will be posted to alt.usenet.kooks and to the Results page when/if they have been tallied.

    The Golden Killfile

     This is the "lifetime achievement award" of the group. In brief, this award goes out to those who, through perserverence, tenacity, and too much free time, have made a name for themselves on Usenet by, well, making a name for themselves on Usenet. That's it, that's the only requirement. This award (originally dubbed the "Purple-Assed Baboon Award") goes to them what see the Usenet as their chance to be famous, and go about it in the Most Annoying Way Possible. 
    /And as a special bonus, winners of the Golden Killfile are often
prominently displayed in the Dungeon!/
*That's pretty well random, though...Tim is fickle...*
    1. Nomination: All nominations must be posted to alt.usenet.kooks. In order for a nomination to be considered valid, it must be seconded by another person. The nomination period ends at the end of the month.
      • You may not nominate yourself.
      • None of the Above is always on the ballot.
      • Evidence *should not* be posted as part of the nomination process.
    2. Voting: All votes must be collected through email to daemons@uiuc.edu. The voting period lasts from the end of the previous voting period to 15 days after the end of the nomination period.
      • Limit one vote per person.
      • You may not vote for yourself.
    3. Results: Results will be posted to alt.usenet.kooks and to the Results page when/if they have been tallied.
    4. Eligibility Limitations: No one is eligible to win the Golden Killfile who...
      • a ...has not already won the Kook of the Month Award;
      • b ...has already won the Golden Killfile;
      • c ...was nominated and seconded for the Golden Killfile in the previous month.
      No oone may nominate or vote for the Golden Killfile who...
      • a ...is a previous Kook of the Month Award Winner.
    Back to the Kook of the Month Awards
    Maintained by the Daemons (daemons@killfile.org)
    Last updated: January 3, 1996