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        A Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) file for the newsgroup
                    S O C . C U L T U R E . N O R D I C
                        *** PART 1: INTRODUCTION ***
                                      
   
    Index
                  1.1
                         An ASCII map of Scandinavia
                  1.2
                         So what's this FAQ thing anyway?
                  1.2.1
                         A notice to spaghetti publishers
                  1.2.2
                         What are FAQs?
                  1.2.3
                         Who are the net.gods and goddesses of s.c.n?
                  1.2.4
                         Why are all the names and stuff garbled? - about
                         the Nordic alphabets
                  1.2.5
                         What should I know about copyright laws and the
                         Usenet?
                  1.3
                         Welcome to soc.culture.nordic!
                  1.3.1
                         What sort of a group is s.c.n?
                  1.3.2
                         What's all this flaming about?
                  1.3.3
                         Well, are there any positive things about this
                         group?
                  1.3.4
                         Whatever you say. So, what sort of postings are
                         o.k. in here?
                  1.3.5
                         What about cross-posting?
                  1.3.6
                         What languages are welcome in
                         soc.culture.nordic?
                  1.3.7
                         What should I do when someone posts a flamebait?
                  1.3.8
                         I have this bridge in Stavanger that I'd like to
                         sell...
                  1.4
                         Looking for a Nordic girl-friend?
                         - How do I say [ ... ] in your language ?
                  1.4.1
                         Contacts through the Net
                  1.5
                         Complaining to a person's postmaster - how, when
                         and why?
                  1.6
                         The soc.culture.nordic drinking game!
                  1.7
                         Which are the related newsgrops? ...
                  1.7.1
                         ... in international hierarchies?
                  1.7.2
                         ... in Nordic hierarchies?
                  1.7.3
                         @ What about mailing lists?
                  1.8
                         What are the Nordic Graphemes?
                  1.8.1
                         How are these represented in Usenet postings and
                         E-Mail?
                  1.8.2
                         Pros and cons of the different representations.
                  1.8.3
                         How do I set up support for 7-bit ISO-646
                         representation?
                         ({|}, [\])
                  1.8.4
                         How do I set up support for 8-bit ISO-8859-1
                         representation?
                         (åæðíøöþúý..., ÁÅÄÆÐÞÉÍÓØÖÚÝ...)
                  1.9
                         About measures and figures
                  1.9.1
                         Why is it advisable to use the metric system in
                         s.c.n?
                  1.9.2
                         How long is a Nordic mile?
                  1.9.3
                         A warning about decimal commas and delimiters
                  1.9.4
                         All XXXs are YYY, ain't that so?
     _________________________________________________________________
   
   
   
Subject: 1.1 An ASCII map of Scandinavia

   Well, if you can't recognise your own country/province/suburb/house on
   the map (Iceland is tricky!), blame the American Standard Code for
   Information Interchange, not me. :-)


+-----------------+---------------------------------------------------------+
| ***       **    |                                                         |
|****  *********  |                      ARCTIC SEA       Nordkapp          |
|  *****ICELAND** |                                     ////                |
|   R************ |                            //   //////////++++++        |
|  *************  |                           /  //////////////+++++++++++  |
|    ********     |                       L// ///////////####/++++++++++++++|
+-----------------+                      //  ////..###///####+++++++++++++++|
|                                          ////:::::###########+++++++++++++|
|                                        ///.:::::::::##########++++    ++++|
|     ATLANTIC SEA                    /////::::::::::::########++++++       |
|                                    ////::::::::::::::#########+++++++     |
|   %                              /////::::::::::::::  ########++++++++++++|
|  F% %                           /////:::::::::::::   ###########++++++++++|
|                              ///////.:::::::::::    #############+++++++++|
|                           //////////:::::::::::   ###############+++++++++|
|                         ///////////:::::::::     #####FINLAND####+++++++++|
| Capital cities:         ///NORWAY//:::::::::     ###############+(Russia)+|
|                         //////////::::::::::.    ##############+++++++++++|
| C = Copenhagen          ////////O:::::::::::::    ##########++++   +++++++|
| H = Helsinki             /////// ::::SWEDEN:::: #A  ###H       +++++++++++|
| O = Oslo                 /////    ::::::::::S:           +++++++++++++++++|
| R = Reykjavik    NORTH            ::::::::::      + ++++++++++++++++++++++|
| S = Stockholm     SEA       %      :::::::: .:   ++ +++++(Estonia)++++++++|
|                           %%%      :::::::  :G        ++++++++++++++++++++|
|             DENMARK -->  %%%%%  %%% :::          ++   ++++++++++++++++++++|
| Islands:                 %%%%  %%%C     BALTIC  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
|                           %%%        B%  SEA    ++++(Latvia)++++++++++++++|
| L = Lofoten Isl.          ++++                 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
| B = Bornholm              +++++++    ++++++  +++++(Lithuania)+++++++++++++|
| F = Faroe Isl.  ++++  ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
| G = Gotland    ++++++++++++++++++++++++(Poland)+++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
| A = Aland    +++++++++++++(Germany)+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
|             ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++|
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+

   
   



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

Subject: 1.2 So what's this FAQ thing anyway?

   This is the so called Frequently Answered Questions (FAQ) file for the
   Usenet newsgroup soc .culture .nordic. Its purpose is to introduce new
   readers to the group, provide some general information about the
   Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland) and to
   cover some of the topics frequently discussed in the group.
   
   It is organized in seven parts, this introduction and then one part
   each covering Norden in general, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and
   Sweden. Since the texts have grown rather extensive, these parts are
   posted to the news group, and to the soc.answers and news.answers
   groups, with rather long intervals. Then there are appendices. The
   appendices will be posted even less often, if at all.
   
   
   
  1.2.1 A notice to spaghetti publishers
  
   A spaghetti publisher [n.] is one whose philosophy at publishing is to
   throw it to the wall and see if it sticks. Recently, they have been
   busy putting out badly written Internet books, often exploiting FAQs
   and other copyrighted material available in the net. Please realize
   that this FAQ is:


 Copyright © 1994 & 1995 by Antti Lahelma
             1996-1998 by Antti Lahelma & Johan Olofsson,
             all rights reserved.

   It may be freely distributed in impermanent, electronic media (the
   networks that form the Internet, Usenet & FidoNet), provided that the
   content is not edited and the URL (or From:-header) and
   Last-modified-date are included. Including it in a commercial
   collection or compilation (such as a CD-ROM), or publishing it or
   parts of it in printed form without the expressed, written permission
   of the author is illegal.
   
   The editors, author, and contributors do not assume any responsibility
   for errors or damages resulting from the use of the information
   contained herein.
   
  1.2.2 What are FAQs?
  
   "FAQ" is an acronym for "Frequently Answered Questions". (Or
   Frequently Asked Questions, some would say.) These are documents on
   various topics, forming a veritable library of free information,
   usually put together by voluntary enthusiasts in order to answer
   certain questions that constantly come up in some newsgroup (hence the
   name). They are periodically posted to their home newsgroups and
   (usually) to news.answers, and archived at numerous sites, some of
   which were listed above.
   
   There is no guarantee of the accuracy of the information, but usually
   they are reasonably reliable because of the "social control" of the
   newsgroup(s) in question. For more information on FAQs, where they are
   kept, why they are written, how to write one yourself, etc., see the
   "FAQ About FAQs" at
   .
   
   This FAQ, like many other soc.culture.*-FAQs, isn't really a proper
   list of frequently asked questions and their answers; it's more of a
   fact-file or an introduction brochure than a traditional Usenet FAQ,
   although some Q&A:s are included and hopefully more will be added in
   future.
   
   In some cases an author is noted for a portion of this FAQ. In other
   cases the text is compiled from several authors' contributions in the
   group. Intermediate forms occur. This has some detrimental
   consequences for the coherency of the faq - the good thing is that
   different Nordic opinions often get represented.
   
   The language in these articles is without doubt colored by the fact
   that almost all writers have other mother tongues than English - and
   so it will remain. Nevertheless: proposals for more idiomatic wordings
   are always cordially welcomed.
   
   Of course, since unlike most soc.culture.*-FAQs it -- instead of a
   single country & culture -- attempts to cover five, the articles can't
   go very deep or it's size will get simply too overwhelming. The
   self-evident exception is topics which has been very thoroughly
   discussed in the newsgroup.
   
   The s.c.nordic FAQ is still young (started by Antti Lahelma 24th of
   May 1994, the compilation was continued spring 1996 by
   Johan Olofsson), pretty much just a skeleton despite its size. It
   lacks much information that should be there, some of the more
   irrelevant parts may get deleted, corrections will be made, etc. It's
   not a finished product; FAQs aren't static. It'll get better with
   time, but your (yes, your) help is required; if you have anything in
   mind that could be added to the FAQ don't be shy to contact us
   (Antti Lahelma & Johan Olofsson), you don't have to be a pro or expert
   to write something. This is addressed especially to all you Norskies
   out there. :-)
   
   (A major part of the work to maintain the FAQ consists of tracking
   changed addresses to referred www-documents. Links to "personal"
   pages, i.e. to pages with a "~" in their url, have proved to be
   particularly prone to stop working after some time, why such links
   only exceptionally will be made.)
   
   All contributions, corrections and suggestions are warmly welcomed.
   Flames aren't.
   
   The latest version of the FAQ can be obtained at the world wide web at
   URL: .
   
   Other sites where the files can be obtained (however maybe not the
   very newest version - and without the few illustrations and extra
   tables of the www-version above - and maybe slightly distorted due to
   the conversion back and forth between html and normal text format?)
   are:
   
in Europe:






in North America:







in Asia:



...or by sending an e-mail request to your nearest mail-ftp service.

   
   
  1.2.3 Who are the net-gods and goddesses of s.c.n?
  
   These are some of the people who have helped and provided material for
   the FAQ:
   
                The Unofficial Asgard of Soc.Culture.Nordic
                                      

 Ruth M. Sylte
 Antti Lahelma
 Jan Böhme
 Ahrvid Engholm
 Arne Kolstad
 Einar Indriðason
 Kari Yli-Kuha
 Eugene Holman
 Jacob Sparre Andersen
 Halldór Árnason
 Lars Aronsson
 Gunnar Blix
 Stan Brown
 Lee Choquette
 Gunnar Davíðsson
 Hiski Haapoja
 Mauri Haikola
 Malte Lewan
 Nils O. Monaghan
 Tor Slettnes
 Kurt Swanson
 Björn Vennström

   Big thanks to all of you. And apologies to anyone I may have
   forgotten.
   
   Special thanks to Jens Christian Madsen for providing a lot of help
   with the Danish part of the FAQ.
   
   In reality, of course, there's only one true Goddess, but that's
   another story...
   
   
   
  1.2.4 Why are all the names and stuff garbled?
  
   The Nordic alphabets contain letters that aren't in the English
   alphabet and consequently may cause problems with viewing if your
   system hasn't been properly set. In this document, they are typed in
   the ISO-8859-1 multi-lingual 8-bit character set, also known as
   Latin-1, which is the most available of the 8-bit character set, and
   also the standard for hypertext HTML documents.
   
   If your system strips the 8th bit, they may appear for example as the
   letters {fedv}, which can be quite confusing, making e. g. some Nordic
   place-names appear different from what they should be. In case 8-bit
   characters don't show well on your screen, please consider testing
   another setup.
   
   Here's a short guide to the most common of the letters:
letter      description
-+--+-      -+--+--+---
  ä         'a' diaeresis
  æ         'ae' written as a single letter
  ö         'o' diaeresis
  ø         'o' with a slash through it
  å         'a' with a ring above it
  ð         "eth"; a vertically mirrored '6'
            with a slash through the tail
  þ         "thorn"; a 'p' with the vertical
            line extended above the loop


There are capital letters also
==============================

  Á         capital A-acute (á)
  Å         capital A-ring (å)
  Ä         capital A-diaeresis (ä)
  Æ         capital AE-ligature (æ)
  Ð         capital eth (ð)
  É         capital E-acute (é)
  Í         capital I-acute (í)
  Ó         capital O-acute (ó)
  Ø         capital O-slash (ø)
  Ö         capital O-diaeresis (ö)
  Þ         capital thorn (þ)
  Ú         capital U-acute (ú)
  Ý         capital Y-acute (ý)

  ---> PLEASE NOTICE <---
  
   If the above letters aren't displayed correctly, read the GRAPHEMES
   FAQ by Tor Slettnes on how to view them (in part 1.8 of this document,
   where also a direction to their pronunciation is included).
   
   The Latin-1 character set is commonly used in s.c.nordic and some
   other newsgroups; you will need it anyway in order to be able to
   properly follow them. In the future it will probably become the
   standard set all over the Internet. Setting it up is no big job, and
   you'll be in the forefront of progress if you do! :-)
   
   [ However, the Latin-6 (ISO-8859-10) character set would strictly
   speaking be more appropriate since it covers also letters neccessary
   for the Saami and Greenlandish languages. ]
   
   
   
  1.2.5 What should I know about copyright laws and the Usenet?
  
   Don't worry, you don't have to wade through law books, but there are a
   few basic things it is good be aware of. First of all, all material
   posted to Usenet, no matter how irrelevant or unimportant it may seem,
   is automatically copyrighted unless it is unambiguously declared to be
   public domain.
   There does not have to be any kind of copyright notice, although a
   notice does strenghten the protection a bit, nor does there have to be
   financial interests involved. That the author posts it to the net
   (equivalent to publishing it in a newspaper) does not mean that he or
   she is giving it away for for anyone to use and exploit as they
   please. Most countries of the world have signed the Berne convention
   on which these principles are based, so there isn't very much
   variation in the legistlation from one country to another.
   
   There are, however, two doctrines that make possible e.g. quoting the
   material in your own article, reposting it, and most of the other
   standard Usenet procedures, without violating the poster's copyright:
   "fair use" and "implied license". Because there are few precedents, it
   isn't fully clear yet how these apply to Usenet, or if e.g. the
   possible implied license of net articles extends beyond the net;
   obviously, these laws weren't made with the internet in mind. But it
   seems obvious that if for example you wish to publish something posted
   to the net in printed form, you should contact the author first.
   
   Posting someone's private e-mail without permission, on the other
   hand, is not only immoral and a serious breach of netiquette, but is
   also less likely to be acceptable as fair use, and can hardly be
   considered as having implied license to publish. In addition to
   violating copyright, it can also get you in legal trouble over issues
   such as invasion of privacy and public defamamation. You can refer to
   someone's mail to you and you can summarize the content, but you
   should never post it without permission.
   
   Of course, these things are highly theoretical (at least so far) and
   you shouldn't expect to have to worry much about them. But it's a good
   thing to be aware of, should you e.g. make an enemy out of some
   notorious kook who could attempt to harass you with legal procedure.
   Such things have been known to happen. For more information e.g. on
   the fair use and implied license principles, read the Copyright FAQ by
   Terry Carroll, (available at
   ), or the
   more compact FAQ called "10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained" by
   Brad Templeton.
   

[ the sections above are available at the www-page
  http://www.lysator.liu.se/nordic/scn/faq12.html ]

   
   



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

Subject: 1.3 Welcome to soc.culture.nordic!

   
   
  1.3.1 What sort of a group is it?
  
   If you're interested in the Nordic countries, and don't like having
   your mailbox littered up with messages from various mailing-lists,
   soc.culture. nordic is probably the best choice for a discussion forum
   you will find in the whole Internet. It is far from being perfect, of
   course; but then, few Usenet newsgroups can be described by that
   particular adjective.
   
   You may find that discussions here are not always on as profound
   topics as you might have hoped for, that certain threads never really
   die even though every imaginable argument has been presented already
   hundreds of times, that these threads may, if they coincide, suffocate
   almost all other discussion in the newsgroup.
   
   You will find that there are hotheads who preach absurd gospels and
   cynics who perceive themselves as "net vets", considering it their
   divine right to flame newcomers who happen to ask the wrong questions,
   and that there is a good deal of US-bashing, Sweden-bashing,
   Norway-bashing and Finland-bashing (but curiously no Denmark-bashing
   :-), going on most of the time. If you've believed in the "official",
   idealized picture of harmonious Nordic friendship, you may be badly
   disappointed. We don't always act sensibly, we're not always nice to
   each other, we can be tedious, nit-picky, boring, annoying,
   quarrelsome, and in general quite stupid. Sometimes. But not most of
   the time, I think. Read on.
   
   One of the purposes of this FAQ is in fact to decrease the amount of
   flaming and the frequency of the same old threads; if you're a
   newcomer, please read through at least this part of the FAQ (the rest
   is up to your tastes), and you may be able to avoid some of the most
   common mistakes made by new SCNers (e.g. posting a flamy article
   condemning Norwegian whaling, or taking part in the never ending
   arguments about the position of the Finns and their language in
   Sweden. :)
   
   
   
  1.3.2 What's all this flaming about?
  
   Sometimes the group may seem like a battle-ground, but don't be too
   alarmed by it. The Nordic countries are, in spite of everything, like
   a family; not a One Big Happy Family of Nations, no, just any old
   family with its small quarrels and fights. They just tend to grow out
   of proportion when we have no real problems or crises to fight about.
   There are no great feelings of hatred between the different
   nationalities, few historical traumas, our prejudices about each other
   are pretty harmless, and so forth. We might have some Big Brother or
   Little Brother complexes -- at least we like to accuse each other of
   suffering from them -- but mostly we just like to make some noise and
   get some attention. If the quarreling annoys you, don't hesitate to
   use your kill-file; it's simple! (If you don't know how it's done,
   check the "kill file FAQ" which used to be posted regularly to
   news.answers).
   
   Don't leap into heated discussion without seeing something of how it
   started. (It is common to have a second "wave" of people enter a flame
   war and rehash old issues, which annoys the original participants.)
   Not everyone is always saying what they mean. Some people use irony,
   which can be much more obvious from reading the context, than from a
   single post. If you're not sure, don't respond.
   
   Even as it is, however, s.c.n is in fact a very calm and flame-free
   newsgroup compared to many other groups in the soc.culture.*
   hierarchy, parts of which, unfortunately, have deteriorated into dark
   pits of rampant flamewars, hatred, and nationalism gone berserk. Among
   these, s.c.n is like an oasis of peace and harmony.
   
   
   
  1.3.3 Well, are there any positive things about this group?
  
   Absolutely. After the possible initial shock :-), I think you will
   find many. For one thing, you will no doubt find that people in s.c.n
   are very helpful; post a question, and you're likely to get several
   long, detailed and well thought out replies that will answer
   everything you asked for, and probably also a whole lot of things you
   didn't ask for and weren't really even interested in. All five
   nationalities are well (some more, some less) represented by natives
   in this newsgroup, who have first-hand information on everything that
   goes on in their countries, things that news agencies won't tell you.
   There are many people who post valuable information on their own
   initiative, just to serve the group. Many of them also have a www home
   page, which you may want to visit.
   
  1.3.4 Whatever you say. So, what sort of postings are o.k. in here?
  
   Despite all our helpfulness, please keep in mind that we're not
   walking encyclopaedias; you might take the trouble to check your local
   library before posting a very basic question to the group. Any tourist
   guide will probably answer the question "Hello, I'm coming to visit
   , what should I go and see?" better than we will, and
   a tourist guide won't get annoyed with you if you happen to be the
   23rd person to have asked the same question this week. If you ask for
   the answers to be emailed straight to you instead of being posted,
   bear in mind that the polite thing to do is to post a summary of the
   replies to the group if they might be of a general interest (of
   course, nothing prevents you from subscribing to the group, posting
   the question, following the group for as long replies are likely to be
   posted, and then unsubscribing). A quick "Hi, what's the meaning of
   life, the universe and everything? --Please email all replies to
   someone@somesite, thanks-and-bye" isn't going to get very a
   enthusiastic reception. To increase your chances of getting replies,
   try to be specific; explain your interests, and what exactly it is you
   would like to know.
   
   This applies to other types of questions as well (and after all,
   although questions about travelling are OK in soc.culture.nordic, this
   isn't a rec.travel group; travelers might consider posting to
   rec.travel.europe instead, or checking out the rec.travel archives at
   . At the very least, read through the relevant parts of
   this FAQ and see if you can find an answer here. Try to save those
   questions for the group to which you know you won't be able to
   (easily) find an answer in the books.
   
   But take our answers with a decent grain of salt. Most likely, we'll
   say both yes, and no, and maybe, and I don't know, and buzz off,
   and...
   
   When you do post, please try to keep it somehow related to Nordic
   matters. Sure, the group is unmoderated, so no one can control what
   you write. And it's not like you have to force the discussion on
   Nordic tracks if it should digress into something else. But
   nevertheless, as the name of the group implies, this is a group for
   discussing Nordic culture in all its forms; not American
   abortion-laws, Bill Clinton or Jesus. Keep this in mind when you start
   a new thread.
   
   Please don't expect us to do your school research papers or other
   home-work for you; some newbies out there might be enthusiastic enough
   to dig the information for you, but most of us will just be annoyed
   and make fun of you. Also, if you're looking for 'gender-based
   penpals', be advised that you'll most likely become a center of amused
   or annoyed (depending on the day, but it'll be embarrassing to you
   anyway) attention and you'll probably be sorry that you didn't post
   your message to soc.penpals instead, where it belongs. :-)
   For more on this favourite s.c.n topic, see section 1.4.
   
   
   
  1.3.5 What about cross-postings?
  
   If only possible, avoid them. They generate threads that immediately
   lose whatever connection to Nordic culture there may initially have
   been, and it's very difficult (read: impossible) to get the people in
   other newsgroups to remove s.c.n from their Newsgroups-lines. These
   threads have a life of their own and can go on and on for months until
   everyone in all the involved newsgroups is sick and tired of them, yet
   somehow they just keep continuing. If you want to post your message to
   several groups, an intelligent thing to do is to trim the Followup-to:
   header to direct replies to one group only. The headers of your
   article could look like this, for instance:
   
       Newsgroups: soc.culture.nordic,soc.culture.burma,soc.culture.kuwait
       Subject: What's foobar in your language?
       Followup-To: sci.lang

   Remember to mention in your post that the follow-ups have been
   redirected so that people will notice it (otherwise there'll always be
   those who don't). If you're cross-posting to only a couple of groups,
   you could also consider posting it as separate articles instead. Use
   your own judgment as to what's going to be the least annoying and/or
   bandwidth-consuming method.
   
   You should, of course, keep these things in mind when you post a
   follow-up to cross-posted thread. The article might be in place in
   soc.culture.nordic, but take a look at the Newsgroups-line anyway:
   does it contain newsgroups where the thread clearly does not belong
   to? If yes, simply remove them. If you feel it doesn't belong to s.c.n
   either, set a proper Followup-To: line to your reply.
   
   If you want to cross-post a request or start a new cross-posted thread
   read both newsgroups for a month or two (a year would be safer ;-)
   before doing so.
   
   Don't start cross-posted threads without more justification than the
   subject being "related" to both groups. You should understand the
   culture of both "electronic communities".
   
   Why this?
   It is much easier to be misunderstood, misunderstand the context, and
   generally get people unhappy with you if you start a cross-posted
   thread or follow-up to an article posted to two newsgroups.
   
   If you say something controversial or questionable, you can expect to
   get negative responses. If you cross-post and are new to one or both
   groups, you are more likely to offend someone unintentionally.
   This is not recommended as a pleasant way to introduce yourself, or to
   get answers to your questions.
   
   Threads posted to many unrelated newsgroups (with the rare exception
   of announcements), are often flame-baits and may deserve to be
   ignored.
   
   
   
  1.3.6 What languages are welcome in soc.culture.nordic?
  
   English, naturally, is the most common choice, but threads in Swedish,
   Danish, Norwegian, Sámi, Finnish, Icelandic and Faroese are all
   perfectly suitable for the newsgroup. A fact is, however, that such
   threads don't appear very frequently in s.c.n. There are several
   reasons for this. First of all, not all Nordic languages are mutually
   intelligible; while Danes, Norwegians and Swedes could discuss with
   each other with only some difficulty, many Icelanders and Finns would
   be left out of the discussion (even though all Finns and Icelanders
   have studied one obligatory Scandinavian language at school it doesn't

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