From: *@eli.users.panix.com   
      
   In alt.ascii-art, Daniel Berger wrote:   
   > Anyone using XPN as a client? It underlines everything between _and_ for   
   > me. Which screws up ascii arts. Anyone knows how to turn this off?   
      
   Several clients do that. And other effects. I've never used XPN, so I   
   don't know how to disable it there.   
      
   *Bold* (with asterisks)   
   /Italics/ (with slashes)   
   _Underlining_ (with underscores)   
      
   ObAA: Here's a bit of practical ASCII art I did several years ago.   
      
   One of the wheels on my bike had become fairly badly warped.   
   Investigation revealed a broken spoke. So I called up my friend   
   Marc, who is much better at bike repair than I am, and talked   
   to him about it.   
      
   The general theory is that the spokes alternate going to the left   
   and right side in the center, so when one is loose or broken the   
   tightly attached spokes from the other side pull the rim in that   
   direction.   
      
    _   
    /' '\   
    |. .| <- Tire   
    \~/ <- Rim   
    T <- Spoke nipples   
    |   
    .^, <- Spokes (two, overlapping at top)   
    | |   
    .| |,   
    | |   
    [===] <- Axel   
      
   Above, the wheel in cross-section. Below in profile (imagine it to   
   be rounded instead of straight -- I'm being lazy with the ascii-art).   
      
   Key: ! nipple of broken spoke   
    T nipple of incidental spoke   
    7 nipple of spoke to tighten   
    Y nipple of spoke to loosen   
      
    #^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#^#   
    INFLATE TO 85 PSI   
    _____________________________________________________   
    T Y 7 Y 7 ! 7 Y 7 Y T   
    | | | | | | | | | | |   
    | | | | | | | | | | |   
    (a) (b) (c) (d) (d) (c) (b) (a)   
      
    a: loosen a very little   
    b: tighten a little   
    c: loosen a little   
    b: tighten most (1/2 turn or so)   
      
   All fine in theory, in practice it is easy to lose track of   
   whether clockwise or counterclockwise is tightening, and what   
   needs to be done to what spoke. Marc told me that he had never   
   successfully 'trued' a wheel himself. He always made things   
   worse.   
      
   I managed to keep myself from being confused by using a Sharpie   
   (permanent felt tip marker) to note on the rim what needed to be   
   done for each spoke. So after about twenty minutes of planning   
   and work my wheel is a lot more balanced.   
      
   Elijah   
   ------   
   finds sharpies indispensible   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)   
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