Bored by Newbies?
Lost in a flamewar?
Tired of trolls?

Get Riposte!

 

What is Riposte?

 

Riposte is a Usenet Content Enhancer (UCE, for short).

Now, 'What is a Usenet Content Enhancer' you may ask?

As more and more people get on the internet, newsgroups tend to get inundated by people who can't write, don't know what to write or don't bother to write anything worthwile. Thanks to the average mindless usenet-idiot the general quality of postings seems to go down and down.

A Usenet Content enhancer is a program which takes care of that problem. Consider it your usenet cleaning lady.

The usual response to clueless newbies is either to ignore them or to get angry. Neither of these strategies seem to work very well: what happens is that a rotten posting will only generate a heated discussion amongst the people on the newsgroup about how rude one should be or not be.

The makers of Riposte think that setting the right example is a much more productive solution. And that's where Riposte comes in.

 

So how does Riposte work?

 

Riposte is a program which automatically enhances the quality of a lousy posting. It allows you to upgrade both style and content of the message you are replying to, so the Clueless Newbie who posted the original message can read, learn and evolve and become a better human being.

 

Features:
 
Riposte comes equipped with several plug-in language modules. At the moment English, French and Dutch are supported. Modules for German, Spanish, Portugese and Japanese are under development.
Riposte allows you to enhance in several styles, from scholarly to motherly, from succinct to elaborate.
Plug-ins for wisecracks, one-liners and dictionaries will be available for download from our downloadpage soon. You can also incorporate your own text modules which can be generated with the included 'Customize Riposte' utility.
At the moment Riposte is only available for the MacOS operating system. A Windows 95/98 and Linux version will be available in the very near future.

 

Example

Here's an example of what Riposte will do. Other (real life) examples of riposted postings can be found in the alt.usenet.riposte newsgroup.


Note: Riposted postings can be recognized by the 'hashes' or #-marks in the subject line.

 

From: "Postmaster" <postmaster@peghole.com>
Newsgroups: alt.alt.alt.alt.alt, alt.usenet.riposte
Subject: Re: # $$$Make money fast$$$ #
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1998 04:46:25 GMT

### This article has been judged deficient in spelling and/or content ###
###         It has been processed and enhanced by Riposte(TM)         ###
###      Look at the bottom of this posting for more information      ###

#The original posting by ex_indigo@my-dejanews.com:

> Dear Freind

>     Are you interetsed in making money fast easy and quick. 
> Do you want to get 5,000+ a month. all thease great things 
> for free no money included Than send an envelope with $10
> to these five peoples:
> TRUST ME IT COULD CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!!  


#The improved and riposted message:

Dear Friend,

Here's an interesting game:

Finish the next five numbers in the following string: 
5 25 125 625 3125 15625 78125 ... 

If you do this in front of the mirror each morning until you
have reached the total population of the earth your life 
(and that of your friends) will improve dramatically.

--
the postmaster

 
###        This article was composed with the aid of Riposte(TM).     ###
###           Riposte is the Ultimate Usenet Content Enhancer.        ###
###   More information on http://www.peghole.com/riposte/about.html   ###

 

Pricing and availability

Riposte is a 10 US Dollar Shareware application. A fully working 30 day demo is available.


More information on downloading Riposte