There is, of course, the alt.devilbunnies archive, lovingly maintained by our very own Snowhare. This award-winning site can be found at http://www.devilbunnies.org. Other ones that I know of include:
There are currently fifteen Supplements to the FAQ, each of them detailing one aspect of the war. All are relatively short. They are:
| Supplement | Title | Posted |
| One | The Devilbunnies Address List | Twice Monthly |
| One A | Who's Who: The Fudds | Twice Monthly |
| One B | Who's Who: The Bunnies | Twice Monthly |
| One C | Where's Where | Twice Monthly |
| Two | Bunny hunting technology | Twice Monthly |
| Two A | Moxie | At author's discretion |
| Two B | NoCoAnDBHQ | No |
| Three | Evil Bunny technology | Twice Monthly |
| Three A | Nanotechnology | No |
| Three B | Morph Armor | No |
| Three C | The Bunny Virus | No |
| Three D | Bunny Transportation | No |
| Three E | Squirrels | At author's discretion |
| Four | Ancient history of the Bunnies | Twice Monthly |
| Four A | Recent history and timeline | Not yet written |
| Five | The Ferrotti FAQ | Twice Monthly |
| Five A | The Ferrotti Language | No |
| Six | Other Fun Stuff | Twice Monthly |
Supplement four A is also under construction at the moment.
That is a mystery better left to the great scientific minds of our age. But there is much speculation, many rumors, and lots of debate. According to Patrick Tufts <zippy@opal.cs.brandeis.edu>:
"...alt.devilbunnies was created pre-1991 by some clueless or inspired user at Brandeis (near Boston MA) and became the local chat group. The name "devilbunnies" comes from a song by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. Brandeis had NEARNet cut off the alt.devilbunnies news feed since they didn't see the point in paying for national distribution of a local group. Or they just didn't like the name. Or something. To this day, brandeis.devilbunnies is the University's catch-all discussion group."
Jym Dyer (jym@remarque.berkeley.edu) mentions that:
"Berke Breathed used the word "Devilbunnies" in a Bloom County strip around 1983, several years before the Thrill Kill Kult song (1989). Before that, of course, it was cooked up by Berke Breathed as a secret message played backwards on a heavy metal record (or perhaps it was a Debbie Boone record, I forget) somewhere in Bloom County: "Devilbunnies! I snort the nose, Lucifer! Banana, banana!" Or something to that effect.
If you have any more rumors, myths, or facts about the creation of alt.dbs, please let me know!
Cool! As of this update, alt.devilbunnies has been featured in several magazine and book articles. A partial list is:
* Internet World, Jan 1995, p42. "Most Fabulous FAQs" We win! We win!
* WiReD, July 1994, p66. A short article about fringe (FRINGE!?!) groups.
* Mondo 2000, July (?) 1994, issue 12, p35. A two sentence mention under the "Top 20 most interesting newsgroups." (thanks to A. Ryder!)
* The Cyberpoet's Guide to Virtual Culture, in part III. Written by the guy that wrote the Mondo 2000 article. Thanks again to Andy Ryder.
* The Internet Yellow Pages. One paragraph, under "Bizarre stuff."
* Planet Internet by Steve Kimmer. One page, plus pictures of Devilbunnies!
* @discovery.ca. A Canadian TV show, the alt.dbs WWW site and FAQs were included in Kate Halloway's "Top Ten Best of the Internet" feature. http://www.discovery.ca (thanks to Neil DeBoni!)
* My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult's album Kooler than Jesus features the song "Devilbunnies" (track 2). It's sort of a Techno-dance mix.
* The Net After Dark, by Lamont Wood, under Way Out There in the Net Fringes: UFOS, Alien Possesion, Dark Conspiracies, and Other Madness chapter (p.267) (thanks to Ryan Olson)
* The Best of the Net, edited by Seth Godin, p100-1. He reproduced much of the FAQ, and he forgot to mention my name in the credits. However, I recently got a very nice email from Mr. Godin in which he humbly apologized, so all is forgiven. If you can find a copy of this book, purchase it multiple times. =:)
* NetChat, p 113 (Thanks to Simon Miller) A veritable dossier, under "Bizarre Humor."
* .Net -- All You Need to Know About the Internet, p.159. "Them darned rabbits." (Thanks to Simon Miller)
* AOL's Internet for Windows, pg 111 (used as an example of FAQs). (Thanks to David Susman).
* Australia's PC Magazine, January 1996, includes a "Roadmap to the Internet Underground. Look under "Subversive." (Thanks to Devious).
* January 1996 Internet World, in Jerry Pournelle's article. Something along the lines of "As long as you don't waste all your time reading alt.devilbunnies..." (Thanks to Snowhare).
* In January of 1996, alt.devilbunnies was reviewed in AOL's "Newsgroup Scoop," thus precipating the much-feared AoL Onslaught (tm)! (Thanks to Chris Curtis).
* January/February 1996 Oracle Magazine. Editor Julie Gibbs gives us a brief mention in her editorial. (Thanks to Steve Butler).
* The British magazine NetUser, reviewed of "Weird Web Sites:""Strange as it may seem, but a whole Web site has dedicated itself to teaching people about these Devil Bunnies, who apparently are going to take over the Earth. (...) It's plain and simple - this site is brilliant. OK, it's fictional, but the humour, brilliantly written text and content (bunny pictures, sounds, etc.) make it really good fun..." (review by: Simon Lovell, rating given by NetUser: 5 stars - the possible maximum rating...) (Special thanks to Andreas!)
* Spotted in an article titled "Spam In A Can" regarding the scientology war, in the magazine "internet.au" regarding alt newsgroups: "To say that here, nothing is sacred, is to understate by some orders of magnitude the philosophy behind newsgroups like alt.devilbunnies or alt.pave.the.earth." (Thanks to Roger Lee!)
* INTERNET Australasia, vol 2 iss 10, November 1996, "Usenet is literally teeming with groups that are stupid or irreverent, but groups that manage to keep up a steady flow of nonsense in a carefully orchestrated format are rare." It follows with a nice and very accurate review! (Thanks to Heidi Kneale)
* Internet Underground, April 1996 (volumn 1 issue 5), there is apparently an interview with me in their FAQ portion. Funny... I don't remember doing an interview! (Thanks to Rob O'Hara!)
* The 1997 Page-A-Day Whole Internet Calendar, May 24th: "NOT JUST FLUFF: President Carter went fishing and was attacked by a crazed rabbit. It was such big news that folksinger Tom Paxton wrote a song about it. Well, these crazed rabbits still live on the DevilBunnies Web Page, the weird and hilarious Web version of that famous Usenet group dedicated to wiping out the Fudds of the world. Visitors should pwoceed with extweme caution."(Thanks to Alik S. Widge!)
* In June of 1996, the alt.devilbunnies archive (www.devilbunnies.org) was selected as a "Wonder of the Web." You can find us listed at: http://web.wt.net/~psherr/fun_sites.htm (thanks to Melissa Fullerton and Paul Sherrill of P&M's Late Night Links).
* Devilbunnies can be found in the comic strip "Freefall," by Mark Stanley Published in Yarf! Magazine. Thanks to Mark Stanley and Remus Shepherd.
* Moore, Dinty W. The Emperor's Virtual Clothes: The Naked Truth about Internet Culture. Page 13: "... There are new groups being created every day, and the list of topics is truly exhaustive: ...devilbunnies... Name any subject that interests you and chances are very good that some group on Usenet is discussing it right now. Chances are even better that they disagree."(Thanks to Anne Michelle Forbes!)
* R.E. Berg, the Publisher, editor and copyboy of The Globe-Guardian says: "Unless our position is unexpectedly overrun by Devilbunnies, the Globe-Guardian will add a link to your site in March. We want to do our part to end the worldwide menace presented by these wascally wabbits. Check Missing Links: http://www.globe-guardian.com
* Your Personal Net Guide by Michael Wolff. Page 166, under the FUN & GAMES: Humor section, subsection "Newsgripes."alt devilbunnies --A fantasy realm where users interactively construct a new reality online. Fudds -- self-appointed defenders of humanity -- hunt down bloodthirsty rabbits world wide... Patience and a high tolerance for nonsense are required for participation in this highly social environment. Once you're initiated, however, you're free to steer the action in pretty much any direction your fantasy might roam. (Thanks to the CTfH).
* The Sacramento Bee's Webby reporter Bridgette Perdue wrote a brief explanation back in 1997... "There is a subculture in society that has remained hidden and secret for hundreds of years. They have lurked in the shadows clad in Stetson hats and plaid hunting jackets. They can be seen wielding axes wildly in the local park at what appear to be hordes of cute bunny rabbits..."
* The Spectacular Spiderman, issue 256, April 1998 has on its front cover a maniacally-laughing woman wearing pink-and-white rabbit-ears, riding a huge rabbit-shaped robot. The title of the story is "Rabbit Fire". (Thanks to Karol Burnett)
* The new "Rough Guide to the Internet and the WWW" has alt.devilbunnies mentioned under humour on page 346. "alt.devilbunnies: They're cute but they want our planet" (Thanks to ed!)
* Lena Falkenhagen wrote a paper on the Devilbunnies community, which can be found at http://www.fbls.uni-hannover.de/sdls/schlobi/index.htm follow the "Sprache und Kommunikation im Internet" link. It is a PDF file, and it is in German. You need to click on "HAL" in the left menu bar, the third dot point is what you're looking for (HAL-3), then hit the "Download HAL-3.PDF" link. Her paper is also quoted in a university textbook: Jens Runkehl, Peter Schlobinski, Torsten Siever "Sprache und Kommunikation im Internet, =DCberblick und Analysen" Westdeutscher Verlag GmbH, Opladen/Wiesbaden, 1998 ISBN 3-531-13267-9
* In GURPS Villains, a role-playing supplement, one of the villains, designed for use with GURPS Bunnies and Burrows, is a rabbit called 'White Spot'. He's a herbalist who experiments on his warren-mates, making them bigger and smarter with each passing generation. A sidebar on his activities casually mentions that he may be the reason for reported sightings of "devil bunnies". (Thanks to Geoff Brent).
* From the Gatecrasher roleplaying game- http://www.fudgerpg.com/gtcrasher: "Hey, Kids! Summon your own Fuzzy Bunny! Just draw a circle on the ground and say these words..." - ad in Supernatural Entity Monthly, probably completely unrelated to a sudden spontaneous infestation of Demon Bunnies.
* Airing on Tuesday, May 15 2001, CSI (Crime Scene Investigation) had a woman running out of the house filled with sinister bunny statues, rabbit pictures on the walls, and a man lying dead in the house in a pool of blood. Don't tell us how it ends!
* Cheapass Games produce, among others, games entitled "Devil Bunny Needs a Ham" and "Devil Bunny Hates the Earth". Go check out http://www.cheapass.com/ -- they're actually a lot of fun!
What about Devilbunnies in the Real World(tm)? Are there any stories about that?
Of course! The most famous, of course, is the story of former US President Jimmy Carter, who was fishing one afternoon when a strange and fierce-looking bunny jumped into the water and began swimming towards him. President Carter began to row his boat away, and the rabbit gave chase! Sadly, the story ends tragically. President Carter escaped with his life, and his toes, intact. This is documented at http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_019.html. There are other stories as well, though!
* Hoaxes and Scams by Carl Sifakis tells the story of Mary Toft, an 18th century englishwoman who repeatedly gave birth to several litters of bunnies, having been raped by a giant bunny. (Thanks to A. Weitzman)
* Bunny Burrows Bring Train Chaos: "The 18.20 to Warren Hill has been cancelled due to Flopsy, Mopsy and Cottontail." You may think this is a childish excuse for more delays on the trains but rabbits really have been causing commuter chaos. Railtrack, which manages Britain's 11,000 miles of line, says bunnies are busy burrowing under their embankments. And the growing 37.5 million rabbit population is threatening services, adds New Scientist magazine. (By John Ingham in the Daily Express of March 6, 1997) (Thanks to Lucky!)
* Mugg Rootbeer has an advertising slogan: The Foam Goes Straight to your Brain. As part of this campaign, they've played this commercial on both television and radio: (Thanks to Nite Rise)
There was a little bunny,
Who had the cutest face;
His ears would flop around,
As he hopped from place to place.
And if you see this bunny,
You best run for your life,
Because this bunny rabbit
Has teeth as sharp as knives.
He hops and hops and hops;
This bunny's on a mission --
Terrorizing countries
With his dreadful disposition.
This bunny wants MEAT.* There is in existance something called "Anti-Cute Powder." The warning on the label reads: (Thanks to lfrench106@aol.com) Warning: May be fatal to small children and animals. May cause some toys and books to spontainiously combust. May short out televisions to certain chanels and/or shows. Keep out of reach of children. Do not use in closed spaces, may cause major local enviromental damage. Health Warning: Do not ingest or use without total body protection. If not fatal, may cause extream Mania or Depression.
* Gillian Richards & Kevin Farley report from News of the Wierd, 7/14/97 "Residents of a quiet Boston suburb can sleep peacefully once again. Snowball, the pet rabbit that terrorized them for two weeks, has been nabbed. The energized bunny attacked at least three adults and one child. "Society is safe again," said Police Officer William Foster." [Ashland, MA]
* From Newsweek: "[Japan] In the past year, more than 100 rabbits at Japanese schools have been found brutally slaughtered. Police are puzzling over whether the slayings might have been inspired by the infamous beheading of a Kobe boy by a teenager earlier this summer; the suspect's history of killing pets was well publicized... Police are stumped, and investigations continue." (thanks to Alik Widge).
* "First the antitrust suit. Then the AOL-Netscape merger. Now - bunnies? A few years ago, someone discarded a few domesticated rabbits near Microsoft's Redmond campus. For some reason others followed suit. Before you could say "Evil Empire," the furry ones multiplied (surprise, surprise) until an estimated 1,000 bunnies roamed several acres of raw land and office park. While they're cute to look at, they've become something of a menace. Not only do they bravely beg for handouts, they have a knack for getting run over by cars..." (Thanks to Smokey)
* The Wells Blue Bunny Ice Cream plant in LeMars, Iowa exploded, with a force that even surprised local firefighters. Although the surrounding community needed to be evacuated for several hours, there was only one minor injury as a result of the incident. http://dailynews.yahoo.com/headlines/local/state/iowa 28Mar1999 (Thanks to Remus Shepherd!)
* ABC News reports that a genetically modified rabbit named Alba has been created as part of an artist's exhibit. The rabbit, having been spliced with fluorescent jellyfish genes, glows bright green in the darn and under a black light. http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/science/DailyNews/rabbit000918.html
* The World Carrot Museum (http://www.carrotmuseum.com) goes a long way toward explaining the GFP Bunny Project (http://www.ekac.org/gfpbunny.html). The glowing green bunny must have found out what the Carrot Museum already knows: carrots make excellent lasers (http://website.lineone.net/~stolarczyk/laser.html#contraception). Thanks to ed!
* A new surf spot in Tassie has been highlighted in the media. Its not for the faint hearted or the enthusiastic newbie as average waves measure in excess of 7 metres. The deep ocean currents hit a shallow shelf off shore and cause huge waves which break onto jagged rocks. Surfers have been injured here. Some badly so. Some surfers have nearly lost their lives. The name of this killer surf region? Fluffies Reef. (Thanks to SandyPaw Ozbun!)
If you know of any others (no matter how trivial!) please email me and I'll include them. Also, if you have the spare time, would you mind sending a copy of any of these articles to me? Thanks!