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Newsgroups: alt.cult-movies From: hobson@mpr.ca (Darryll Hobson) Subject: Alien FAQ Message-ID: <1993Mar25.171813.11884@mprgate.mpr.ca> Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd., Burnaby, B.C., Canada Date: Thu, 25 Mar 1993 17:18:13 GMT Lines: 641

Just to get things rolling here... this is the first (draft) version of the Alien FAQ... Most of the information has come from me, however I have received some support from a few users.

If you have anything to add (we need ALOT more info about ALIEN^3) feel free to E-mail me...

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& & & & ALIEN, ALIENS and ALIEN^3 & & & & Information and Frequently Asked Questions & & & &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

A word about the information provided in this FAQ:

With the exceptions of my own contributions, this FAQ has been assembled by the material supplied to me through Email and public-access messages that I've scavenged off the internet. Information that is contributed is often paraphrased and combined with existing (other users') info. For this reason, I've decided to include a list of "contributors" at the end of the FAQ which will not be specific, but will still give credit to all those who've helped.

- Darryll Hobson (hobson@mprgate.mpr.ca)

The _ALIEN_ trilogy has been the target of many long and frequent discussions on the internet. It wasn't until an exhaustively LARGE discussion regarding plot-holes in _ALIEN^3_ (spanning both alt.cult-movies and rec.arts.sf.movies) that the need for this FAQ became aparent. The contents of this FAQ are not "carved in stone" so if you have proof to support or deny anything that is stated, please bring it to my attention.

Ideally, this FAQ will be posted monthly to: alt.cult-movies rec.arts.sf.movies

However (as with the contents of this document) I am open to further suggestions and recommendations.

WARNING: This FAQ contains spoilers.

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CONTENTS

Movie synopsis..........................................................1 What is an Alien?.......................................................2 Who is [character/director]?............................................3 Detailed descriptions of scenes that were "cut".........................4 What different versions of each movie are there?........................5 Was there any merchandise?..............................................6 Memorable quotes........................................................7 Plot problems and loopholes.............................................8 Technical problems......................................................9 Trivia..................................................................10 Frequently asked questions that have pretty SOLID answers...............11 Frequently debated topics...............................................12

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1. MOVIE SYNOPSIS

_ALIEN_ (Color, 1979, Rated R) In deep outer space the crew of a commercial spaceship make an unscheduled landing on a barren and desolate planet for engine repairs. They encounter a pulsating organism which attaches itself to one of the crew members and reproduces within his body to become the deadly ALIEN. As each of the crew members is slain by the creature - one by one - the final confrontation between the last surviving crew member and the Alien culminates in an explosive conclusion. 116 minutes. [quoted from the 1984 CBS/FOX Video release]

_ALIENS_ (Color, 1986, Rated R) Sigourney Weaver returns as Ripley, the only survivor from mankind's first encounter with the Alien. Her account of the Alien and the fate of her crew is received with skepticism - until transmissions from space colonists who have since settled on the Alien's planet abruptly stop. Determined to end the recurring nightmares of her terrifying ordeal and to completely exterminate the deadly creature, Ripley joins a team of high- tech combat vets sent to investigate the disappearance of the space colonists! Approx. 138 Minutes. [quoted from the 1992 CBS/FOX Video release]

_ALIEN^3_ (1992) (Color, 1992, Rated R)

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2. WHAT IS AN ALIEN?

This section discusses what we know about the Alien life-form; it is entirely based on facts that are provided to us in each of the movies.

* NOTE: Many users firmly believe that there are "worker" and "soldier" aliens; there is also some theories that the aliens use the DNA of their hosts to help them adapt to their environments, however unless someone can verify any of this with quotes from any one of the movies, the issues will be dealt with in section [12], frequently debated topics.

Eggs - eggs are initially created inside a queen alien and go through a development period inside an extended abdomen/egg-laying-sack. When an egg is fully-developed it leaves the queen's abdomen (via slimey tube) and stands on its own (indicating that there is a definite "up" side and "down" side to the egg). The egg itself is a leathery object [...it's full of leathery-objects; like eggs or something... Kane (Alien)], translucent and approximately 1.5 feet tall. According to a scene that was cut from _ALIEN_ these eggs could also be "constructed" by a regular alien and an organism (which would undergo some sort of metamorphosis) however, this concept was not supported (nor denied) in _ALIENS_ and _ALIEN^3_.

Face-huggers - hibernating inside one of these eggs is a parasite, commonly refered to as a face-hugger. When a viable host is brought near a closed egg (either by curiosity, or being cocooned and held in place) it triggers the "contents" of the egg to come to life. The egg opens and the face-hugger launches out at the organism and attaches itself by wrapping a long "tail" around its victim's neck and using long spider-like legs (like a spider, the face-hugger has 8 legs) to firmly grip the organism's head. The face-hugger controls the amount of oxygen its host receives and puts the victim in a comatose state while it reaches down the host's throat and lays an egg. In order to ensure that the job can be completed with little outside interference, the face-hugger has concentrated acid for blood (as a self defense mechanism) and can strangle its host with its tail [...it's not coming off without tearing his face off with it. Dallas (Alien)] After the egg is planted in the victim's body, the face-hugger leaves the host (who will soon re-gain conciousness) and dies. [...he's got an outer layer of protein poly-saccarides, has a funny habit of shedding his cells and replacing them with polarized silicon which gives him a longer resistance to adverse environmental conditions. Ash (Alien)]

Alien - the alien begins its life by bursting from the chest of its host. At this stage in its development it has a small cranium, tan-colored skin and is susceptable to fire. As the alien matures, it sheds its skin (similar to a snake), its cranium becomes elongated and it has a hard, dark outter shell (exo-skeleton). The mature alien has concentrated acid for blood and a higher tolerance to fire. One distinguishing feature of the alien is that it has two mouths, one inside the other.

The Queen Alien - little is known about her. There is a real "What came first, the chicken or the egg?" issue here. From _ALIEN^3_ we know that a queen alien can be born in the same way as a regular alien which would indicate that the queen must've come from an egg, however what could lay the eggs? (More discussion is cited in section [12] frequently discussed topics) Some things that we do know about the queen: she has a much larger cranium than the usual alien and is slightly taller (approx 2 feet). The queen has the ability to create and lay eggs (through the use of the extended abdomen) and she has the ability to survive without the extended abdomen.

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3. WHO IS [CHARACTER/DIRECTOR] ?

If you seek further information about the cast or creators listed below, check out the rec.arts.movies movie database package which is available via anonymous FTP to boulder.colorado.edu in the pub/tv+movies/lists directory.

_ALIEN_

Director: Ridley Scott Writer: Dan O'Bannon Composer: Jerry Goldsmith Director of Photography: Derek Vanlint

Cast: Ellen Ripley [Sigournie Weaver]: third in command after Dallas and Kane. J. Lambert [Veronica Cartwright]: navigator. Ash [Ian Holm]: science officer of the Nostromo crew, an android. Parker [Yaphet Kotto]: an engineer (black). Kane [John Hurt]: one of the crew; the alien bursts from his chest. S. E. Brett [Harry Dean Stanton]: an engineer. Dallas [Tom Skerrit]: captain of the crew. Alien [Bolaj Bodejo] [Helen Horton]: voice of the Nostromo computer.

_ALIENS_

Director: James Cameron Writers: James Cameron, David Giler (story), Walter Hill (story) Composer: James Horner Director of Photography: Adrian Biddle

Cast: Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver]: Cargo loader, gets assigned (by choice) as an advisor for the mission to LB-426. Sergeant A. Apone [Al Matthews]: sergeant, ground commander. Corpral D. Hicks [Michael Biehn]: only soldier that survived. Private W. Hudson [Bill Paxton]: cracks alot of jokes. Private J. Vasquez [Jenette Goldstein]: uses a smart gun. Private M. Drake [Mark Rolston]: uses a smart gun. Corporal C. Ferro [Colette Hiller]: dropship pilot (wears sunglasses). Private D. Spunkmeyer [Daniel Kash]: dropship co-pilot and cargo loader. L. Bishop [Lance Henriksen]: Android; science officer. Carter J. Burke [Paul Reiser]: Company advisor. Private R. Frost [Ricco Ross]: Black soldier. Private T. Crowe [Tip Tipping] Corporal C. Dietrich [Cynthia Scott]: Medic. Lieutenant S. Gorman [William Hope]: Controls the marines from the APC. Private T. Wierzbouski [Trevor Steedman] Rebecca Jorden [Carrie Henn]: Newt.

_ALIEN^3_

Director: David Fincher Writers: Larry Ferguson, David Giler, Walter Hill, Vincent Ward (story) Composer: Elliot Goldenthal Director of Photography: Alex Thomson

Cast: Ellen Ripley [Sigourney Weaver]: sole survivor of the Sulaco, shaves her head, carries the next alien queen embryo in her body. Bishop [Lance Henriksen]: android and (in a different roll) head of the company. Clemens [Charles Dance]: the doctor. Golic [Paul McGann]: ????

Assorted prisoners (their real names): Ralph Brown Niall Buggy Carl Chase Philip Davis Charles Dutton Christopher John Fields Brian Glover Peter Guinness Leon Herbert Clive Mantle Holt McCallany Pete Postlethwaite

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4. FILMED SCENES THAT DIDN'T APPEAR IN THE THEATRICAL RELEASES.

_ALIEN_

Near the end of the movie, Ripley finds Brett almost completely transformed into an egg and Dallas cocooned to be facehugged when the Brett-egg hatches.

_ALIENS_

Scene where a small group of colonists (including Newt's father) receive Burke's orders to explore the derilict space craft and they return with a facehugger.

Ripley brings up information about her family. Ripley discovers that her last relative (a daughter that was about the same age as Newt, last time she'd seen her) has died of old age. There is a large view-screen that shows a picture of Ripley's daughter (who has a striking resemblance to Ripley)

Before the encounter between Ripley, Newt and the face-huggers in the med lab, Hudson and Hicks set up two sentry guns in the halls outside their "barracade" and watch (through cameras that are on the guns) as an onslought of aliens get slaughtered. Just as the guns are about to run out of ammo, the aliens break off their attack and Hicks says, "That held them off, for now." [Imediately after this, the fire alarm went off in the med-lab and they ran to rescue Ripley and Newt]

_ALIEN^3_

Any scenes? I can think of alot of stuff that SHOULD'VE been cut!

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5. DIFFERENT MOVIE VERSIONS.

_ALIEN_ 1 video - standard. 2 discs - standard and special version containing a seperate section with the cut scenes, photos and several design drawings, including drawings by Moebius, Ron Cobb and H.R. Giger.

_ALIENS_ 2 videos - standard and directors cut, containing cut scenes put back into the movie. 2 discs - same as videos.

_ALIEN^3_ 2 videos - standard and a making of. discs - probably only standard movie.

[more?] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6. MERCHANDISE

_ALIEN_

Novel - H.R. Giger's _ALIEN_ upon which the movie was based. Movie Novelization - by Alan Dean Foster (contained scenes cut from the original movie) The Alien Puzzle - came in a plastic egg, the puzzle was approx 1 foot tall and it was a detailed image of the Alien.

Alien - video game - this was software written for the Commodore 64. The game was low-budget, a quotation on the title screen said "We live as we dream - Alone". However I have no idea what its relevance was?

_ALIENS_

Movie Novelization - by Alan Dean Foster Action figures: Ripley, Apone, Hicks, more?? Alien figures: An alien that squirts water out of its mouth. A different figure that explodes when you hit it, and has an extendable neck. Aliens - video game - software for the Commodore 64. Very entertaining, followed the movie's story line closely.

Arcade game: Aliens. Didn't follow the movie at all, however it used some of the characters (Ripley, more??)

_ALIEN^3_

Movie Novelization - by Alan Dean Foster

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7. MEMORABLE QUOTES

In some cases, the circumstances around which these quotes occur will be given so the reader can get the "full effect" of the moment.

_ALIEN_

< Kane starts choking, this starts the scene where the Alien bursts from his chest> "What's the matter man, the food ain't THAT bad?!" - Parker

"You still don't know what you're dealing with do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility [...] I admire its purity, a survivor; unclouded by conscience or delusions of morality." - Ash

_ALIENS_

< Ripley tells the story of why Burke tried to impregnate her and Newt with alien eggs > "I say we grease this rat-fuck son-of-a-bitch right now!" - Hudson "You know Burke, I don't know which species is worse; you don't see them fucking each other over for a goddam percentage!" - Ripley

< Gorman orders the troops to disarm all their weapons before the first alien encounter > "What the hell are we supposed to use man, harsh language?" - Frost

< The dropship crashes > "Well that's great, that's just fuckin' great man, now what the fuck are we supposed to do? We're in some real pretty shit now man [...] That's it man, game over man, game over! What the fuck are we gonna do now? What are we gonna do?" - Hudson

< After Ripley rescues the remaining troops with the APC and suggests that they nuke the sight from orbit, Burke tries to stop this plan > "Hey maybe you haven't been keeping up on current events, but we just got our ASSES kicked pal!" - Hudson

< Hudson asks Vasquez if she's ever been mistaken for a man, to which she replies... > "No, have you?" - Vasquez

_ALIEN^3_

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8. PLOT PROBLEMS AND LOOPHOLES

_ALIEN_

- Parker and Lambert are collecting coolant for the shuttle's life support systems when the alien does them in. They filled up a cart full of the stuff but (when Ripley discovered their bodies) didn't take the cart with her to the shuttle. The missing coolant is ignored in the outcome of the movie despite Ripley having NO chance of surviving without it (let alone 57 years as revealed at the start of _ALIENS_)

_ALIENS_

- Are we really to believe that, having lost contact with an entire colony, the Colonial Marines send a warship out with only ONE PLATOON of soldiers?

- Why doesn't anyone stay on board the Sulaco? (it is interesting to note that even in _ALIEN_ nobody stayed on the Nostromo when the shuttle went down to the planet's surface.)

- What infantry platoon in its right mind would enter an enclosed space carrying flamethrowers?

- What kind of pilot would leave her aircraft wide open and unguarded in an unsecured area? (referring to the first dropship)

- Just how has Newt survived all this time? The aliens seem to have no problem getting around in the air ducts?

- How does the queen know how to use an elevator, and how does she know what floor to get off at?

- Why does Ripley attempt to climb out of the pit after the queen has been "vacuumed" out of the Sulaco? Why doesn't she just close the doors?

- From a scene that was cut from _ALIENS_ (possibly the reason why it was cut): Why do the aliens just throw themselves at the sentry guns, instead of using stealth like in _ALIEN_? Furthermore, there was only 157 colonists, which means that there was (at most) 157 aliens. The sentry guns had 250 rounds each, 500 rounds in total (about 4 bullets per alien) This would almost be enough to kill all the aliens!?

_ALIEN^3_

- How did the eggs get on the Sulaco?

- Consider - here's a prison planet: is anyone really going to spend money on hideously expensive space travel in order to send these guys to some far-off solar system?

- Although aliens seem to be affected by fire (from a flame thrower), they have a strange tolerance to molten lead?!? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------

9. TECHNICAL PROBLEMS

_ALIENS_

- After the Sulaco arrives at LB-426, a computer screen displays the last names and first initials of each of the crew members. There are two problems with this: Hudson isn't on the list, and Ferro's initial is "C" (although, later in the scene, Vasquez says (to Ferro): [...hey Mira, who's Snow White?])

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10. TRIVIA

_ALIEN_

- The alien's habit of laying eggs in the stomach (which then burst out) is similar to the life-cycle of the tsetse fly.

- The images that the computers display during the Nostromo's separation from the Mother ship as well as some images used near the end where Ripley is setting up the shuttle to blast off are re-used in _Blade Runner_ (also directed by Ridley Scott)

- Much of the dialog was ad-libbed.

- Only John Hurt and the crew knew exactly what was going to happen during the stomach-bursting scene, so reactions are totally genuine. Veronica Cartwright gets hit in the face by some "blood" (visible in the movie), and is quite shaken. When Scott called "cut" at the end of the scene, the cameraman turned around and vomited. The script originally had Cartwright's character (Lambert) the hero of the story, but after this incident, Sigourney Weaver's Ripley became the hero.

- The Nostromo was a commercial towing vehicle, its cargo: refinery processing 20,000,000 tons of mineral ore.

- According to _ALIENS_ the Nostromo is worth 42 million dollars (cheap in comparason with one of the U.S.'s Space Shuttles!)

- Although it has nothing to do with _ALIEN_, Sigourney Weaver's real name is Sarah.

_ALIENS_

- Adding up the estimated time that Bishop makes (for getting the drop ship down to the planet) gives a total of 180 minutes (3 hours), however the fussion reactor is not going to blow up for another 4 hours. Ripley says "It's going to be close..." but they actually have a full hour to clear the base.

- There were 157 colonists on LB-426 [...you were responsible for the deaths of 157 colonists... Ripley (Aliens)]

- Ripley was in hypersleep for 57 years.

- Ferro has "(Fly the Friendly Skies)" written on her helmet.

- An ammunition clip for the M-40 pulse rifle holds 95 rounds.

_ALIEN^3_

- Aparently, this movie went through 14 script changes [can anyone verify this?] Some of the writers involved were: Eric Red (The Hitcher), Renny Harlin, David Twohy (Warlock), Clive Barker, David Cronenberg, Richard Stanley (Hardware), Vincent Ward, Ridley Scott (speculation??).

- Prior to its release, _PREDATOR II_ came out in the theaters (which had an almost identical story to the original idea for _ALIEN^3_) near the end of _PREDATOR II_ we see a trophy case of different skulls, one of which is the skull of an alien.

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11. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

_ALIEN_

Q: Why is there a self-destruct button on the Nostromo? A: The "emergency destruct system" exists probably to protect company secrets in case the Nostromo is hijacked by a competator. (this would be a similar principle to espionage: when an enemy spy gets caught, he takes poison to kill himself so he cannot be tortured into giving away secrets)

Q: The crew is awakened early out of their hypersleep to explore the planet from which the beacon is being transmitted, HOW early are they awakened? A: 10 months as indicated by Lambert (after the shuttle returns to the Nostromo)

_ALIENS_

Q: Why did Ripley risk life and limb to save Newt, but didn't give a second thought to Dietrich and Apone? A: In the theatrical version of the movie, it can be said that Ripley knew exactly where Newt was because of the locater band she was wearing, thus making rescue of Newt plausible. A better reason exists, however it was cut from the theatrical release; the scene where Ripley discovers that her daughter has died of old age (refer to section [4] on cut scenes) reveals to us that her daughter was relatively the same age as Newt the last time Ripley was with her. We can see the parallels between Newt and the daughter that Ripley had lost.

Q: How can Ripley hang on during violent vacuum decompression while the much stronger alien queen can't?! A: The alien queen fell in the pit and the HEAVY cargo loader fell on it, hence the queen probably took alot of damage from that fall. Also, Ripley had her arm wrapped around a step in the ladder where as the queen only had a finger-hold on Ripley's boot, when Ripley's boot slipped off her foot, the queen had nothing else to hold onto.

_ALIEN^3_

Q: How did the face-huggers get on the Sulaco? A: The truly factual answer is that the audience wasn't supposed to question it. Use your imagination. (several theories exist, some of which are stated in section [12] frequently debated topics)

Q: I remember seeing a trailer for _ALIEN^3_ that was really different than the movie? A: This is true. Quite awhile before _ALIEN^3_ was finally released, there was a "coming soon" trailer shown in several theaters. This trailer indicated that some aliens made it to Earth and there was going to be a massive encounter. Unfortunately, the writers ditched the movie idea upon release of Predator II (due to the similarity in plot) and decided to find a new story for _ALIEN^3_.

Q: Was the human Bishop really human or was he also an android? A: As I recall, someone (Ripley?) hit him in the side of the head and he started bleeding red blood (around his left ear). Since the androids depicted in the trilogy have white blood, this Bishop is probably human. (it is too speculative to theorize that the company has made a red-blooded android since _ALIENS_)

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12. FREQUENTLY DEBATED TOPICS

* NOTE: I've included some of the more plausible theories given for some of these topics. This section is not complete, and it is (ideally) not biased.

* Did the little face-hugger critter actually do so much damage to the * Sulaco that the ship decided to EJECT the hypersleep capsules?

- it is conceivable that the face-hugger got killed/crushed by an automated system (while the crew was asleep) and the concentrated acid for blood caused some serious damage to some key systems on the Sulaco.

* Alien intelligence. Although they have a large cranium, can they really "think"?

- It's not immediately obvious just how intelligent an alien is, in alot of cases, they'll kill potential hosts when they could just as easily capture them. (from _ALIEN_: Parker, Lambert. from _ALIENS_: Burke, Ferro, Spunkmeyer. from _ALIEN^3_: all the prisoners?) this would indicate that the alien is not intelligent. - In _ALIENS_, when Ripley is in the "hive", several aliens filter in to attack her; Ripley threatens to flame the eggs and the queen waves them off. This would indicate that the aliens can communicate and ARE intelligent.

* Alien physiology. There's more questions than answers...

- What does the alien use for energy, does it eat? if so what? - Does an alien work like a battery, using electricity for it's energy (suggested by the acid blood)? - Is there a notion of "soldier" and "worker" aliens? The alien in _ALIEN^3_ seemed to act/look different than the aliens in the previous movies. This alien could be a "worker" with the task of protecting the queen until she has a chance to mature. (this would explain why the alien does nothing but kill the prisoners instead of cocooning them for later embryo implantation) - There is an argument against the "worker" alien notion. The aliens that were in the "hive" at the end of _ALIENS_ would likely be classified as "workers" however they stood upright and looked no different than the rest of the aliens. - Do aliens use their host's DNA to help adapt/grow to survive in their host's environment?

* Where do the aliens come from, were they genetically engineered?

- The aliens are so well at adapting that they would almost have to be genetically engineered. - The aliens could be a parasite of the galaxy. They serve as much purpose as a mosquito does on earth. - Aliens could be a vastly evolved race, hence the adaptability.

* How did the eggs get on the Sulaco?

- When Bishop was preparing to crawl down the service tunnel to pilot the dropship down, he told Ripley that it would take (in total) approx 3 hours. Earlier in the movie, it was established that the place was going to blow up in approx 4 hours. This left Bishop an extra hour during which he could have: fetched 2 eggs and hidden them. While Ripley was rescuing Newt, Bishop could've then returned to pick up the eggs and put them in the drop ship. He'd then fly back to pick up Ripley and give some bogus story to cover up why he was late. Of course, Bishop had no idea that Ripley was going to rescue Newt, so it is unlikely that he'd hide the eggs and plan on picking them up later. - Another theory is that two face-huggers got on the dropship when the queen got on. However, they would've probably made their move on Ripley/Newt prior to them going into hypersleep. - Yet another theory is that the queen laid two eggs on the Sulaco while Ripley was going to get the cargo lifter. However, it doesn't seem that the queen's physiology would accomodate this AND it would be unlikely that she'd be able to lay two eggs in a well concealed place (such that Ripley wouldn't find them) during the split seconds that the camera is not on the queen.

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SOURCES

Pretty much everybody (sorry to those who I've missed) that has contributed to this document in some way, shape or form be it conciously or un-conciously (if you've posted some relevent information on the internet, maybe YOUR name is here too):

S.N.Gouldsworthy@durham.ac.uk (Simon Gouldsworthy) cn@hplb.hpl.hp.com (Colin Needham) welter@fwi.uva.nl (Richard Welter) bssbc3gsd@dct.ac.uk (Grant Doig) rogerc@compnews.co.uk (Roger Crow) zmartin@eskimo.com (Zachary Martin)