Revision as of 08:29, 14 July 2003

Internet Standard Footnote Notation

Internet Standard Footnotes are footnotes that may be given without need to be referenced, thus saving bandwidth and effort, and therefore save time and money. Now that is it proven to be a very good idea[1], let us continue.

All footnotes should be short, simple, and relate a clear and obvious point which are not tied into a single in-joke or method of communication. ie, They should be as usable on usenet as on IRC, and not alude to another joke (though they may be acceptible if the footnote makes sense even without knowing the joke). Lastly, there should not be too many footnotes.

The standard ratified (in common usage) footnotes are listed as follows.

[1] No, not really.
[2] Yes, really.
[7] The g is not silent, it should be pronounced.
I am of course very well aware that dictionaries and most native
English speaking people disagree, and would rather pronounce,
for instance, gnome[7] with a silent g, but they are wrong to do so,
since the gn-words[7] are much more boring that way.

Proposed footnotes (use is encouraged, but are not yet ratified)

[3] This is a troll.
[4] Well, almost.
[5] Well, mostly.
[6] Ooo.  Spooky.
[8] ObRef

[42] There is no hidden meaning

As ISFNs become popular, it is recommended that this site be referenced so as to spread the good word. Just put a for all footnote info, check this URL at the end of the message where people would be looking for footnote information anyway. :)

We hope the meme will grow and one day become a "15 minutes of fame" internet meme. (or maybe an AprilFool RFC) :)

Note regarding ratification of proposed footnotes: Ratification is taken to have occured when the footnote is used in an online document (for eg, a FAQ), or is found to exist in the wild in usenet posts. The use of proposed footnotes is encouraged.

ISFN was begun by the afda froup. ISFN is named in accordance to NINS