From: akwy@mundil.cs.mu.OZ.AU (Alan Kin Wah YIM)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.hongkong,soc.culture.taiwan,soc.culture.china,aus.students.overseas
Subject: HONG KONG PICTURES ARCHIVE - official announcement
Summary: Establishment of HKPA - a collections of Hong Kong related pictures
Keywords: HKPGCS, HKPA, hongkong, pictures, GIF
Date: 4 Sep 92 19:05:45 GMT
Article-I.D.: mundil.akwy.715633545
Expires: Wed, 30 Sep 1992 14:00:00 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, University of Melbourne, Australia

HONG KONG PICTURES ARCHIVE (HKPA)
=================================
OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT - ESTABLISHMENT OF HKPA
=============================================
 
I would like to announce the second phase of re-structuring the various
collections of Hong Kong related pictures in nok.lcs.mit.edu ftp site.
 
From now on, the whole collections of Hong Kong related pictures will
be known as the HONG KONG PICTURES ARCHIVE (HKPA). The structure of HKPA
is as follows:
 
HKPA ------- HKPA.MISC ----- HKmisc.index
        |               |--- README.DONORS
        |               |--- <other notices & readme files>
        |               |--- <*.gif pictures available>
        |
        |--- HKPA.POPSTARS ----- HKstar.index
        |    (formerly       |-- README.DONORS
        |     HKPGCS)        |-- GUESSING.GAME
        |                    |-- <other notices & readme files>
        |                    |-- <*.gif pictures available>
        |                    |-- guess --- <pictures of unknown popstars to
        |                                   be figured out>
        |
        |--- HKPA.SCENIC ----- HKscenic.index
        |                  |-- README.DONORS
        |                  |-- <other notices & readme files>
        |                  |-- <*.gif pictures available>
        |
        |--- HKPA.<future category1>
        :       ................
        |--- HKPA.<future categoryN>
 
So there are 2 categories currently under HKPA:
 
Hong Kong Pictures Archive - Popstar Collection (HKPA.POPSTARS)
- in ftp directory /pub/hongkong/hkpa/popstars
 
Hong Kong Pictures Archive - Scenic Collection (HKPA.SCENIC)
- in ftp directory /pub/hongkong/hkpa/scenic
 
In addition, there is a generic archive called
Hong Kong Pictures Archive - Miscellaneous Collection (HKPA.MISC)
which accepts pictures of other un-specified categories.
 
HKPA.***** is called a subdivided archive.
 
Inside each subdivided archive, there are few special text files of
informations. The common ones are the following:
 
HK****.index    List of pictures available in a subdivided archive
README.DONORS   Rules and how to contribute pictures for a particular
                subdivided archive.
 
There are other information files for each subdivided archive. Both
temporarily & permanently.
 
Please note that HKPGCS is now replaced by HKPA.POPSTARS. The directory
/pub/hongkong/gif in nok.lcs.mit.edu is now as /pub/hongkong/hkpa.
 
MIRROR FTP SITE FOR HKPA.POPSTARS
---------------------------------
The duplication of HKPA.POPSTARS file base is located in:
 
ftp site: nic.funet.fi
directory: /pub/pics/gif/pics/tv+film/HKstar
 
This site is situated in Finland. Users in Europe are encouraged to obtain 
pictures from nic.funet.fi, in order to reduce the net traffic in 
nok.lcs.mit.edu.
 
WHAT KIND OF PICTURES DOES HKPA WANTED & ARE THERE?
---------------------------------------------------
Virtually all kinds, as long as it is related to Hong Kong. Pictures
which aren't fitted into the existing subdivided archive will be put to
HKPA.MISC.
 
WAYS TO OBTAIN PICTURES FROM HKPA
---------------------------------
1) ftp access (by using the command "ftp". It's usually available if
   your Unix/VMS account is connected to Internet.)
2) ftp mail server (which access ftp sites & get files for you; commands
   are sent & files are received via email.) Use this service ONLY if
   you don't have access to ftp in your account.
3) alt.binaries.pictures & alt.binaries.pictures.misc newsgroups (where
   new incoming pictures are posted there.)
 
REASON OF RE-STRUCTURING
------------------------
The reason behind this re-structuring is to allow a more flexible and
neat handling of any future expansions of this archive. Such as addition
of a collection of another picture category. It is now in terms of
establishing a new subdivided archive. The idea is similar to that in
Usenet. i.e.: When someone wants to establish a new newsgroup. For HKPA,
a volunteered organizer can assign a name for the new subdivided
archive in the format of:
 
"Hong Kong Pictures Archive - <The name you want> (HKPA.<category title>)
 
It is best to bound as many terminologies as possible to one standard
for all subdivided archives. Such as the format of documents (a header
containing the standard archive name format in particular), the kind
of information text files in the archive (at this moment HK****.index
& README.DONORS are compulsory for all subdivided archives). This is
to maintain the neatness & unity of HKPA. 
 
We apologise for the hardship of getting used to the new names HKPA &
HKPA.****. However, it should be the time for us to get more organized
as the collections become bigger.
 
WHERE CAN I READ THE NEWS ON HKPA MATTERS?
--------------------------------------------------
All news on HKPA including news on new pictures available are posted to
soc.culture.hongkong. New pictures are also posted to alt.binaries.pictures
and alt.binaries.pictures.misc, in multi part uuencoded form.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST FOR HKPA
----------------------------------------
It will be available in the middle of this month in soc.culture.hongkong.
It is effectively a "user manual" for HKPA. Please read it before asking
us any further questions.
 
Thank you for attention.
 
Enjoy,
Alan of HKPA.POPSTARS.
 
Crew members of HKPA:
---------------------
Thomas Wong <twong@civil.ubc.ca>        (also HKPA.SCENIC & HKPA.POPSTARS)
Alan Yim <akwy@mundil.cs.mu.oz.au>      (also HKPA.POPSTARS)

VERY IMPORTANT PERSONS FOR HKPA:
--------------------------------
William Ang <ang@theory.lcs.mit.edu>
John Ho <john@jho.com>
Kauto Huopio & other GIF admins of nic.funet.fi
<gif-adm@nic.funet.fi>
 
and the people who helped us before.