fix up the jargon a bit

[wiki.git] / doc / zephyr.mdwn

diff --git a/doc/zephyr.mdwn b/doc/zephyr.mdwn
index 2dc6fcba46a5ac6f07f28ccc8d1203389d3c7e27..4798513961758ebf5fb1c34930538e904f76a679 100644 (file)
--- a/doc/zephyr.mdwn
+++ b/doc/zephyr.mdwn
@@ -86,6 +86,20 @@ instance with the -i option to zwrite:
 A message without an instance specified will default to the instance
 “personal”.
 
+You can send zephyrs to individuals (as opposed to classes) with:
+
+    :zwrite USERNAME
+
+### Aside: zephyr triplets
+
+All messages are actually sent to a "zephyr triplet" -- a class, instance, and recipient. Subscriptions are also made to zephyr triplets. The recipient can be either "*" -- to indicate a broadcast message -- or a specific individual.
+
+When sending, the default class is "message", instance is "personal", and recipient is "*". `zwrite` supports sending to arbitrary triples with `:zwrite -c CLASS -i INSTANCE USERNAME` -- the two examples above use the defaults for the parts that aren't specified.
+
+For subscriptions, the class must be specified. You can specify all instances on a class with "\*", or specify just one instance. You can only sub to recipient "\*" or your own personals (indicated by "%me%").)
+
+### Common classes
+
 Some common classes include:
 
 <strong>help</strong>:
@@ -114,8 +128,10 @@ If you spend enough time on Zephyr, you'll begin noticing some strange
 phrases and words being thrown around.  Some of these include:
 
 <strong>i,i foo</strong>:
-> picked up from CMU zephyrland and means "I have no point here, I
-> just like saying:".  Sometimes people simply use quotes: `"foo"`.
+> USENET saying picked up from CMU zephyrland that expands to "I have no point here, I
+> just like saying:".  Sometimes people use
+> [scare quotes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scare_quotes) (e.g. `"foo"`) 
+> for similar purposes.
 
 <strong>mix</strong>:
 > If somebody accidentally sends a Zephyr to the wrong class or
@@ -128,22 +144,34 @@ phrases and words being thrown around.  Some of these include:
 > You may see an instance change from `-i foo` to `-i foo.d`.  This
 > indicates a deviation or tangent from the the original topic.
 
-<strong>starking</strong>:
-> Answering a question or replying to a topic to a topic several hours
+<strong>.q</strong>:
+> Simiarly, `.q` at the end of an instance name indicates a quote.
+
+<strong>to Stark</strong>:
+> To answer a question or replying to a topic to a topic several hours
 > (or days, occasionally) later. The term originates from Greg Stark,
 > who would often reply to zephyrs hours or occasionally days later
 > without seeing if anyone had answered yet, or worse, if the instance
 > had moved on to an entirely different topic.
 
 <strong>ttants</strong>:
->  Literally, "Things That Are Not The Same".
+> Literally, "Things That Are Not The Same".
 
 <strong>prnf</strong>:
->  Literally, "Pseudo-Random Neuron Firings".
+> Literally, "Pseudo-Random Neuron Firing".
+
+<strong>eiz</strong> or <strong>eip</strong> or <strong>else</strong>:
+> Instances used to comment on discussions on other classes in Zephyr without
+> linking to the original source for reasons of privacy or discretion. "eiz"
+> means "Elsewhere in Zephyr", "eip" means "Elsewhere in Personals".
+
+<strong>eim</strong>:
+> "Elsewhere in Meatspace"; instance used to comment on events not on Zephyr.
 
-There are many other acronyms that are used; if you don't know what it
-means, try using the `whats foo` command at an Athena terminal. If you
-don't have the command, run `add sipb` first.
+There are many other acronyms that are used; if you don't know what it means,
+try using the `whats foo` command at an Athena terminal. If you don't have the
+command, run `add sipb` first. Alternatively, running the single command
+`athrun sipb whats foo` works as well.
 
 ### Zephyr Etiquette
 
@@ -182,5 +210,4 @@ to your `~/.environment` file if you use `tcsh` or
     ZEPHYR_CLIENT=false
 
 to your `~/.bash_environment` if you use `bash`. This will cause your
-shell to launch the `false` executable instead of `zwgc` which does
-nothing.
+shell to launch the `false` executable instead of `zwgc`, thereby disabling it ('false' does nothing).