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From: design15@chem.eng.ce.su.oz.au (John Murray)
Subject: Re: Reminder - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Message-ID: <design15.2.2F975261@chem.eng.ce.su.oz.au>
Summary: Contents of, and how to get hold of the comp.ai.genetic FAQ
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References:  <Reminder_796266004@cm.cf.ac.uk>
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 1995 06:36:19 GMT
Xref: glinda.oz.cs.cmu.edu comp.ai.genetic:5665 comp.ai.alife:3111

In article <Reminder_796266004@cm.cf.ac.uk> David.Beasley@cm.cf.ac.uk (David Beasley) writes:
>From: David.Beasley@cm.cf.ac.uk (David Beasley)
>Subject: Reminder - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
>Summary: Contents of, and how to get hold of the comp.ai.genetic FAQ
>Date: Mon, 27 Mar 95 01:00:08 GMT

>A message from the comp.ai.genetic FAQmaster.

>This message is for people who are (relatively) new to this newsgroup.

>There is a `Frequently Asked Questions list' (FAQ) for comp.ai.genetic,
>titled "The Hitch Hikers Guide To Evolutionary Computation". This
>contains a vast amount of information, primarily aimed at newcomers.
>The guide is in six parts, and is posted to the net (comp.ai.genetic,
>comp.answers and news.answers) every three months. (The last posting
>was on March 20th, the next is due on June 20th.)

>If you'd like a copy, and can't wait that long, it can be retrieved from
>various archives in various ways. Details below.

>If you have information which could usefully go into the guide, send it
>to me. All contributions/help welcome.

>If you have any questions which you'd like to be answered in the FAQ,
>post them to comp.ai.genetic first. If any sensible answers are
>forthcoming, I'll include the information in the FAQ.

>FAQ Table of Contents
>---------------------

> Part1
>     Q0: How about an introduction to all this?
>     Q0.1: What is comp.ai.genetic all about?
>     Q0.2: How do I get started? What about USENET documentation?

> Part2
>     Q1: What are Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs)?
>     Q1.1: What's a Genetic Algorithm (GA)?
>     Q1.2: What's Evolutionary Programming (EP)?
>     Q1.3: What's an Evolution Strategy (ES)?
>     Q1.4: What's a Classifier System (CFS)?
>     Q1.5: What's Genetic Programming (GP)?

> Part3
>     Q2: What applications of EAs are there?
>     Q3: Who is concerned with EAs?
>     Q4: How many EAs exist? Which?
>     Q4.1: What about Alife systems, like Tierra and VENUS?
>     Q5: What about all this Optimization stuff?

> Part4
>     Q10: What introductory material on EAs is there?
>     Q10.1: Suitable background reading for beginners?
>     Q10.2: Textbooks on EC?
>     Q10.3: The Classics?
>     Q10.4: Introductory Journal Articles?
>     Q10.5: Introductory Technical Reports?
>     Q10.6: Not-quite-so-introductory Literature?
>     Q10.7: Biological Background Readings?
>     Q10.8: On-line bibliography collections?
>     Q10.9: Videos?
>     Q10.10: CD-ROMs?
>     Q10.11: How do I get a copy of a dissertation?
>     Q11: What EC related journals and magazines are there?
>     Q12: What are the important conferences/proceedings on EC?
>     Q13: What Evolutionary Computation Associations exist?
>     Q14: What Technical Reports are available?
>     Q15: What information is available over the net?
>     Q15.1: What digests are there?
>     Q15.2: What mailing lists are there?
>     Q15.3: What online information repositories are there?
>     Q15.4: What relevant newsgroups and FAQs are there?
>     Q15.5: What about all these Internet Services?

> Part5
>     Q20: What EA software packages are available?
>     Q20.1: Free software packages?
>     Q20.2: Commercial software packages?
>     Q20.3: Current research projects?

> Part6
>     Q21: What are Gray codes, and why are they used?
>     Q22: What test data is available?
>     Q42: What is Life all about?
>     Q42b: Is there a FAQ to this group?
>     Q98: Are there any patents on EAs?
>     Q99: A Glossary on EAs?


>How to get hold of the Guide
>----------------------------

>The guide is available in PostScript format (good for printing out,
>about 90 pages), and as plain text (6 files, each about 50k). A HTML
>version is also accessible on the World-Wide Web.

>(i) By anonymous FTP.

>USA:
>        ftp alife.santafe.edu                   (ENCORE default node)
>        cd /pub/USER-AREA/EC/FAQ
>        binary
>        get hhgtec.ps.gz                        (gzipped postscript)
>     or
>        mget part?                              (text version)

>   or
>        ftp ftp.krl.caltech.edu                 (ENCORE mirror site, CalTec)
>        cd /pub/EC/FAQ
>        <then as above>

>   other ENCORE mirror sites in the USA are:
>        ftp.cs.wayne.edu        cd /pub/EC      Wayne State Uni, Detroit

>ASIA:
>        ftp ftp.cs.cuhk.hk                      (ENCORE mirror site, Hong Kong)
>        cd /pub/EC/FAQ
>        <then as above>

>EUROPE:
>        ftp ftp.dcs.warwick.ac.uk               (ENCORE mirror site, UK)
>        cd /pub/mirrors/EC/FAQ
>        <then as above>
>   or
>        ftp ftp.Germany.EU.net                  (ENCORE mirror site - Germany)
>        cd /pub/research/softcomp/EC/FAQ
>        <then as above>
>   or
>        ftp lumpi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de
>        cd /pub/EA/docs
>        <then as above>                         (postscript version only)

>AFRICA:
>        ftp ftp.uct.ac.za                       (ENCORE mirror site, South 
>        cd /pub/mirrors/EC/FAQ                  Africa)
>        <then as above>

>Elsewhere:
>        ftp rtfm.mit.edu
>        cd /pub/usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic
>        mget part?                              (text version)

>(ii) By email server

>        If you dont have ftp access, you can retrieve the FAQ by email
>        server (this will probably be slower than ftp). Simply email a
>        message to: 
>                mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
>        containing the lines:
>                send usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/part1
>                send usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/part2
>                send usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/part3
>                send usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/part4
>                send usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/part5
>                send usenet/news.answers/ai-faq/genetic/part6
>                quit

>(iii) By FTPmail
>        
>        Method (ii) can only retrieve files from the MIT FAQ archive.
>        There also exists a general purpose FTP-by-email service. The
>        "ftpmail" service is installed on several sites to allow
>        transmission of FTPable files from almost anywhere. To get
>        the PostScript version of the FAQ from "lumpi", for example,
>        send a message to:
>                ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com
>        containing the lines:
>                reply <your-own-e-mail-address-here>
>                connect lumpi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de
>                get pub/EA/docs/hhgtec.ps.gz
>                quit
>        where <your-e-mail-address> is e.g. foo@bar.edu

>        The following sites serve "ftpmail" requests:

>       (USA)     <ftpmail@decwrl.dec.com>
>                 <ftpmail@sunsite.unc.edu>
>                 <bitftp@pucc.princeton.edu>

>       (Europe)  <bitftp@dearn>
>                 <ftpmail@ftp.uni-stuttgart.de>
>                 <ftpmail@grasp.insa-lyon.fr>
>                 <bitftp@plearn.edu.pl>
>                 <ftpmail@doc.ic.ak.uk>

>(iv) World Wide Web HTML Version

>        Tom Fine at Ohio State University maintains a large archive of
>        FAQs, many converted to HTML. If you want to browse the FAQ via
>        WWW, the URL address to look up is:

>http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/ai-faq/genetic/top.html

>(v) By gopher

>        The University of New Brunswick, Canada, keeps many FAQs,
>        accessible via gopher. The 6 parts of the FAQ (text format) can
>        be found in the directory:

>        gopher://jupiter.sun.csd.unb.ca/11/FAQ/comp/misc

>(vi) Retrieval problems

>        If you cant get through to an ftp site, try again at other
>        times of the day. If you still cant get through, consult your
>        local System Admin person. The same applies to general
>        questions about how to use ftp, email, newsreaders, etc: ask
>        your local guru :-) Please *DONT* ask me to send copies of the
>        FAQ by email. Also, please dont send me messages asking if the
>        above information is correct ;-)


>Decompressing the gzipped postscript files.
>-------------------------------------------

>The GNU project (un-)compression program gzip(1)/gunzip(1) is available
>from various sites around the globe (use BINARY mode for transfer!), e.g.: 

>AFRICA: ftp.sun.ac.za:/pub/gnu
>ASIA: utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp:/ftpsync/prep, cair.kaist.ac.kr:/pub/gnu,
>  ftp.nectec.or.th:/pub/mirrors/gnu
>AUSTRALIA: archie.au:/gnu
>BRASIL: ftp.unicamp.br:/pub/gnu
>CANADA: ftp.cs.ubc.ca:/mirror2/gnu
>MIDDLE-EAST: ftp.technion.ac.il:/pub/unsupported/gnu
>EUROPE: irisa.irisa.fr:/pub/gnu, src.doc.ic.ac.uk:/gnu, ugle.unit.no, 
>  ftp.win.tue.nl:/pub/gnu, ftp.denet.dk, ftp.informatik.tu-muenchen.de,   
>  nic.switch.ch:/mirror/gnu, nic.funet.fi:/pub/gnu, ftp.luth.se:/pub/unix/gnu, 
>  archive.eu.net
>USA: gatekeeper.dec.com:/pub/GNU, wuarchive.wustl.edu:/mirrors/gnu, 
>  ftp.uu.net:/systems/gnu, prep.ai.mit.edu:/pub/gnu, ftp.hawaii.edu:/mirrors/gnu

>David Beasley     (david.beasley@cm.cf.ac.uk)
>Department of Computing Mathematics                               __o 
>University of Wales College of Cardiff                            \<, 
>PO Box 916, CARDIFF   CF2 4YN, UK            ___________________()/ ()___ 


