F I D O N E W S -- | Vol. 9 No. 32 (10 August 1992) The newsletter of the | FidoNet BBS community | Published by: _ | / \ | "FidoNews" BBS /|oo \ | (415)-863-2739 (_| /_) | FidoNet 1:1/1 _`@/_ \ _ | Internet: | | \ \\ | fidonews@fidonews.fidonet.org | (*) | \ )) | |__U__| / \// | Editors: _//|| _\ / | Tom Jennings (_/(_|(____/ | Tim Pozar (jm) | | | Newspapers should have no friends. | -- JOSEPH PULITZER ----------------------------+--------------------------------------- Published weekly by and for the Members of the FidoNet international amateur network. Copyright 1992, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact FidoNews. Electronic Price: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . free! Paper price: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00US For more information about FidoNews refer to the end of this file. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ..................................................... 1 Editorial: That's not funny! .................................. 1 2. ARTICLES ...................................................... 3 Welcome to the FidoNet Olympics ............................... 3 OH NO OH NO OH NO ............................................. 5 Micromanagement in FidoNet .................................... 8 Democracy ..................................................... 9 Teenagers in Fido ............................................. 10 Problems with getting node numbers ............................ 12 Region 19 ..................................................... 12 Network Quoting Manners ....................................... 16 Unattended Hub Fix ............................................ 17 More Binay Nodelists .......................................... 17 (Improper article format -- no title) ......................... 19 A_THEIST Echo now on Backbone! ................................ 20 Fidonet DNDGAME Echo .......................................... 21 HOLYSMOKE Echo is available on the Zone 1 Backbone! ........... 21 Forward Into the Past! ........................................ 23 Ecclesiastical Proclamation ................................... 24 Limbaugh Religious Festival Proclaimed ........................ 25 Limbaugh Recognized ........................................... 26 Get your Special Title or Proclamation Now .................... 27 3. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .......................................... 28 FidoNews 9-32 Page 1 10 Aug 1992 ====================================================================== EDITORIAL ====================================================================== Editorial: That's not funny! by Tom Jennings (1:1/1) This is the Funny Issue of FidoNews. Ha ha. OK, it was short notice, announced only last week. But I did get two very funny things. The second one will probably generate some ill will unintentionally from people with (1) no sense of humor and (2) people who will take it seriously. A lot of this issue is decidedly not funny, though it's not a response to my call for funny things from sourpusses. It's also a largish issue. It may also be the last "fun" FidoNews for a long time. Stay tuned. But this is another story. GRIPE MODE ON: With the odd address of 1:1/1 I get every damned screwed up message in the world. Will the person with the TICKTALK program stop sending me TIC announcements about files received at 96:1/1!!! I've had it -- I am going to simply start embarrassing people in public here until the offender start checking their installations and stop the constant flow of nonsense mail. I don't mind one-time screwups, it's the week after week deluge caused simply by not watching what you are doing. GRIPE MODE OFF: It's funny how life goes. I've been working at being a full-time computer dropout (burnout is more like it) for about five years now. My income has plunged to what most people would consider the poverty line. Quite voluntarily. I've cut my overhead to amazingly low levels. It's not that I don't like money (I'll take all I can get like anyone else) it's just that I can't do the computer-programmer thing any more. No longer do companies want employees; they want you to live their life, quite literally. Attend company social events, work 60 hrs/week, etc etc. All on their terms. (At Apple, my last "real job", I was told about "team playing" whenever I did something unusual. If you didn't attend the mandatory baseball game visits, bowling etc you got vibed out. I quit.) The line between "work" and "life" has been blurry since 1980 for me, but this past year it's taken on a decidedly strange texture. I used to get paid to make other people money and products; I can no longer do that. It literally was making me sick. My allergies and asthma was getting worse, and I was angry and stressed out all the time. Jobs literally steal your time, energy and life. My asthma is now gone -- gone -- when all the meat-mechanics said I would take their debilitating drugs all my life. Lying ignorant arrogant scum. Solution? Remove all the stress and bad influences from my life. Sounds like a pat response, but it's hard and was a very radical (look it up) move. It took six years. I'd never go back! FidoNews 9-32 Page 2 10 Aug 1992 But now in between occasional software and radio jobs, I spend an incredible amount of time doing... I really don't know what to call it. It's not technical, ie. pure programming. It's not managerial, no one works for me. FidoNet stuff, like FidoNews. Too many things at our house (an intentional community of six to eight plus inner-circle). Volunteering for the Computers, Freedom and Privacy conference. Speaking to a bunch of diverse groups about FidoNet, BBSing and BBS networking. Firefighting and handholding and instigating and informing people and nebulous projects in FidoLand (about 20 hours a week's worth of messaging, easy). Getting my local non-techie friends connected to the world of computers and telecommunications. Trying to get started managing and expanding a local internet network. Take care of filling orders for my various publications (net income: $25/month). It's a lot of work. I had convinced myself that I was getting out from all this CRAP computerism. It was driving me crazy. A brief look around and it's obvious I am not doing that. I have managed to get rid of my "previous life" so I guess I did the right thing. (Only I got rid of all my income-producing jobs too! Oh well, can't have everything.) It merely turned into something else. I guess I don't mind. It is worth it I guess. I don't like being considered a repository of ancient history (most of my speaking things are about FidoNet, most of which consists of history) -- I'm not that old dammit, and I haven't felt any older than when I was 20. It's very weird. While the idiocy and flaming drives me nuts, and the idiocy pushes my patience sometimes, it is usually worth it in some non-tangible way. The bottom line is I'm "online" now an absolute minimum of four hours a day. About half my traffic is through the internet. As soon as I can find a tape interface card (Everex EV831) I'm going to install unix on my 386 box, and get a direct internet feed (part of a larger project, partly in exchange for services from me...) Don't worry, I will still run a DOS BBS and do FidoNews as always. Networks are no longer a toy or hobby, it is an absolutely indispensible part of life. It's both good and bad. The creepy people who want to control your choices for their own ends are in FidoNet too, and "regular ole sysops" can no longer sit back and just play techie games, no matter what justification you might have. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. This has been a year for change, in my life and the world. I think the Fidonet is about to undergo a rather rapid and violent change -- hopefully for the better long-term. We'll see... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-32 Page 3 10 Aug 1992 ====================================================================== ARTICLES ====================================================================== Welcome to the FidoNet Olympics by Dave Bealer (1:261/1129) The echoes are kind of quiet these days. Maybe everyone is glued to the Olympics Triplecast. For those of us that aren't, why not have our own Olympics on FidoNet? Here is a summary of suggested events: }} Local BBS Events {{ >> 14.4K Protocol Negotiation << The winner is the first user who can stay awake during the entire protocol negotiation sequence between a V.32bis modem and a tin can. >> 110-step Registration Hurdles << The gold medal goes to the user who completes the "simple" registration procedure in the shortest time. Contestants are advised not to wear glasses or contacts while competing in this event, as they might interfere with the online laser retina scan. >> Modern Hexadecimalon << Competitors attempt to break 16 different FidoNet policies and/or draconian local sysop rules in a single logon session. >> Download Ratio Balance Beam << Users attempt daring massive downloads without (hopefully) losing their download privileges. >> Door Exercises << The gold goes to the user who can enter and play the most door games in a 45 minute logon session. >> Echolocation << The winner is the user who can find the echo he is looking for in the fewest BBS accesses. }} Echomail Events {{ >> Verbal Gymnastics << You won't believe how these competitors can twist and turn the English language into almost unrecognizable shapes. >> Greco-Roman Thread Wrestling << Wrestling for control over the direction an echo conference thread will take. Moderators are ineligible for this event. FidoNews 9-32 Page 4 10 Aug 1992 >> Marathon Messaging << Contestants enter 75 messages in a single echo in one session. Each message must have at least three lines and at least one line must be original (not quoted). The one who enters the 75 messages in the shortest time wins. Penalties will be assessed for each message which actually pertains to the topic of the echo. The use of offline readers is prohibited. >> Power Quoting << The winner will have made the longest continual quotation with the shortest vaguely pertinent reply. The current world record is 382 lines of quotes with a five word reply. >> Tagline Topping << Medals are awarded in the following categories: Annoying, Childish, Funny, Gross and Stupid. There is also a special all-around medal for the tagline which best combines all five attributes. >> Volley Message << The gold medal goes to the first pair of correspondents who nest their quotes so deeply that the leading initials force the message text off the screen entirely. >> Platform Diving << Each contestant ascends to the soapbox and attempts to make insulting comments about everyone and everything in FidoNet. Timing is critical, as the competitor must dive off the platform before his/her access to the net is revoked. >> Heavyweight Ego Lifting << In this event the posturing which procedes the lift can be more important than the lift itself. >> Full Contact Flaming << What would a FidoNet Olympics be without its symbol, the flame? }} Sysop Events {{ >> 5 MB Packet Toss << The gold medal goes to the Sysop whose system can dearchive, toss, sort, link and julienne a 5 MB mail packet in the shortest time. >> Echo Looping << The winner is the Sysop who can cause the most dup-loops in the most different echoes in one day of operation. >> Synchronized Polling << The winning Sysop pair will be the one whose systems synchronize their polls to each other the longest (without getting through). FidoNews 9-32 Page 5 10 Aug 1992 After the events are over everyone will be hanging out at the Olympic Village BBS, chatting online about the competitors who failed their drug tests. And we won't have parted with $125 for the privilege. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- F I D O C O N N E W S -- | Vol. 92 No. 1 (8 August 1992) The newsletter of the | FidoCon BBS community | Published by: \ / | \ .---------. / | "FidoConNews" BBS |---------|___________| (214)881-2627 | |-----------| FidoNet 1:1/92 |---------| | '---------' | /|xx \ | (_| /_) | Editors: _`@/_ \ _ | Brief and Msged | | \ \\ | (bs) | I only watch television. | -- Chancey Gardner ----------------------------+------------------------------ Published occasionally by hetereosexual Americans. You may consider this stolen copyrighted material for which no one will bring charges. Sort of like speeding. Table of Contents ----------------------------------------------------------- Editorial.......................................... 1 Tax Games and Fidocon '92.......................... 1 Fidocon '92 Registration........................... 1 New Echo Needs Backbone Support.................... 1 A Day in the Life.................................. 1 Version List....................................... 1 FidoCon News Information........................... 1 ----------------------------------------------------------- Editorial: RC's Resign Due to technicalogical advances in modem speeds and call connect rates, the RCs are no long necessary as a buffer between the many networks and the ZC. All 400 or so nets in Zone 1 will henceforth send their nodelist segments directly to the ZC's system. Further, the reduced levels of appeal for policy complaints will insure a more timely response to such conflicts, and help to promote a more congenial atmosphere in which to pay long distance bills for echomail. FidoNews 9-32 Page 6 10 Aug 1992 Most importantly, FidoCon will revert to once every 6 months because it will be such a snap for the ZC to decide on the venue by himself. The editors of FidoCon News wish to applaud these policy changes and we support the candidacies of these leaders in the upcoming election season. Be sure to attend the special elections and policy seminar at this year's FidoCon. /* a note from Thom Jenkins : what the tarnation was that all about ?? */ ----------------------------------------------------------- Tax Games and Fidocon '92 It's always tax time and speaking of tax evasions, your entire trip to Fidocon '92 is at least tax free under the rules for business travel expenses. You can deduct the cost of this conference as one of many items : sales expense, professional organization, subscriptions... the list is endless. Over on Schedule E, there's a section 179 where you can deduct the cost of computer equipment up to $25000 dollars. Around here that's plenty, I think, per year. Use some of it to buy neat stuff at Fidocon '92. There must be plenty of businesses that don't use it all, and you could find one if you didn't have one yourself. You start adding up sales tax, and tax on non-income and it gets to be a healthy chunk. ----------------------------------------------------------- Fidocon '92 Registration FidoCon '92 FidoCon '92 September 4-6 Summit Hotel PO Box 550542 1-800-899-3585 Dallas, TX 75355-0542 The deadline for check/money order payments has been reached. Call the 800 number to get your credit card info taken care of on Monday, August 10th. For more information, call John Summers at the FidoCon '92 Hotline 1-800-899-3585. ( 8 am to 5 pm CST ) Registration forms in FidoNews, available everywhere. Send netmail to Ron Bemis (1:1/92) or Henry Clark (1:124/6119) or for crying out loud, call MY 214-881-2627 BBS 2400 8 N 1. ----------------------------------------------------------- New Echo Needs Backbone Support FidoNews 9-32 Page 7 10 Aug 1992 Hey, my REC cut my link to the ZEC conference, so I'll put this in FidoConNews instead : AREA FIDOCON92 TITL Fidonet Zone 1 Conference 1992 DESC FidoCon '92 September 4-6 Summit Hotel in Dallas, Texas. DESC Registration information 1-800-899-3585 (8am - 5 pm CST). DESC Echo is for everyone with input to planning/ arrangements. DESC PO Box 550542 Dallas, TX 75355-0542 MOD Ron Bemis, 1:124/6119 PASS Public TOT 100 VOL 20/Week DIST BACKBONE PATH 1:124/1113 <> 124/6119 <> 13/13 Status : waiting response from 1/201. ----------------------------------------------------------- A Day in the Life Hi. I'm Albert Witsbang and I run The Brick BBS at 19/187. I wanted to write and tell you what a normal 16 year old sysop thinks is good and bad about FidoCon '92. First of all, no way will my folks let me go. Not only the cost but the attendance by so many adults of questionable moral standing. They think I'll come home and be sick for a week and miss school. But of course, I can dream about going, and if I was there, I'd certainly want to meet the founders, the movers and shakers of Fidonet. They would let me drink all the beer I wanted. I'd be free to do as I pleased and act all grown up. Maybe I'll steal Dad's Buick and a credit card and come anyway. But then, I'd get caught and probably lose my teen line, thus ending my Fidonet membership ( well maybe I could sneak online for ZMH ). It's so cool to have a Fidonet node number. Well, Mom's yelling for me to come to dinner, so I'll get this routed off to 1/1. Can't call direct or Dad will ground me for the toll charge. After dinner, I'll go over to Peanut's house and check out his new copy of Alley Cat for OS/2. ----------------------------------------------------------- Version List Refer to last weeks referral. FidoNews 9-32 Page 8 10 Aug 1992 ----------------------------------------------------------- FidoCon News Information SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoConNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file FARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoConNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable from 1:1/92 as file "CLOCK$". "FidoCon News" and the dog-with-diskette being pummeled by a large circus tent mallet are trademarks of Thom Jenkins are used with permission. Asked what he thought of Western civilization, M.K. Gandhi said, "At least they eat regularly". /* ED NOTE: What in tarnation was that all about?! */ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Micromanagement in FidoNet By: Erik VanRiper, erik@pdnfido.fidonet.org After reading this past weeks FidoNews, and reading Pablo K's article, along with Tom's "editorial", I have to agree with Pablo. Not to take sides, but one of the major reasons I left FidoNet was the amazing layer of micro-managment that exists in the upper echelons of FidoNet. I was shocked and amazed at the blatent abuse of power here in Net 107 (of which I only reside in, but do not partake in), right on through to the *[E]C level of Region 13. I STILL get about 5 calls a week from local people asking "what should I do..." or "how can I..." or "do I have to..." about simple Net operations, EchoMail, and Netmail in particular. I additionally receive a few (2 or 3) calls a week from FidoNetters around the globe wishing solutions to their problems. In the ways that I disagree with Pablo, I will no go into, as I have already strayed from my original thoughts (probably for the better). But, the main thing that I see WRONG with FidoNet today is this: FidoNews 9-32 Page 9 10 Aug 1992 *C's do not know/care what they are doing. They hold positions of respect, and coordination. For the most part, this is not being done at all, or correctly. These people that have been elected (or appointed) are not educated, and are not educating their nodes in the finer art of FidoNet. This is a big problem. Several years ago, I started the Programmers Distribution Network. That File Distribution Network was meant to share information pertaining to an important aspect of FidoNet - Development. In some respects, it succeeded. In other areas, it failed. Maybe instead of offering up another layer of "government" in FidoNet, FidoNet should look into "testing" those that want to hold / continue to hold positions in FidoNet. Maybe being a bit more democratic about the way these people achieve power would be a change for the better. Maybe I will come back to FidoNet and find it a much nicer place to be when I was there. The one lasting thing about my computer that I am having a hard time giving up (for personal reasons, and technical ones as well) is my domain. You see, I now run a free Public Access Unix system. But, I need a way to get mail out to the rest of the world (like this message). So, until the technical problems are worked out, my computer still remains (in theory) a part of FidoNet. That will change. My heart, however, will always be in FidoNet, and that will NEVER change. Good Luck. /* Erik */ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Nicholas Williams @ 2:251/24 Democracy in FidoNet? I read with interest a recent article in FidoNews, by a sysop in Zone 1 (Pablo Kleinman) commenting on how there were elections in Zone 2 for RC positions. FidoNews 9-32 Page 10 10 Aug 1992 This precedent has, however, been recently been broken in the recent selection of the RC for Region 25 - the UK, and I feel compelled to tell the other sysops across FidoNet of the 'happenings' within our region, I will attempt not to draw conclusions - despite my own strong point of view - and will instead leave you to decide. Paul Blitz, the most popular candidate in the election in Region 25, resigned, and chose Stephen Cole - the NC for 251 and also second elect - to become caretaker RC until a proper election could be arranged and take place. The expected election, was, however, not to take place. Ron Dwight - Z2C, decided instead that he would place Noel Bradford - NC and NEC in Net 257 into the position of RC. This action has provoked a great deal of angry response in Region 25, exacerbated by the new RC's refusal to read the regional administration echo, and directly resultant from this at least two sysops have left FidoNet - and a number, including myself, are seriously considering it. Various reasons were put forward for the choice of Noel Bradford as RC (who has previously stood for the position of RC in elections and consistently been one of the less popular candidates), including that Noel's unpopularity would be to his advantage as RC, and also - since he was chosen by the ZC rather than elected by the Region as a whole - he would not have a mandate that he would have to stick to! Given the nature of this logic, it may surprise you to learn that these were reasons proposed by Ron Dwight - Z2C - himself. Also among his quoted aims was 'to wake you up'. Again, I will not comment but leave you to make your own decisions as to the suitability of this logic. If you would like to know more, you can write netmail to me at the above address; or, alternatively to: Ron Dwight @ 2:2/0 Noel Bradford @ 2:25/0 PS> Flames > nul or the latter two addresses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Donald Tees Ex-Libris BBS, Windrush Farm, 1:221/192 (Ontario, Canada) ... have no problem what-so-ever with me being a teenager, but, referring back to my friend, he was trying to get help setting up a BBS program and got absolutely no response, even though five sysops in the net were running it, and he is certain the message went out. FidoNews 9-32 Page 11 10 Aug 1992 I read Andrew Grays's article from issue 931, and enjoyed it. I must also say, at the begining, that I quite agree with him ... there is no justification for age discrimination. But on the matter outlined above, I am afraid that I have little sympathy. Let me outline my own experiences. I am 45 years old, and have been a computer professional all my adult life. When I got involved in BBSing to the point that I decided to put up a board, I first downloaded POLICY4 and read it. It seemed quite clear; the test of competancy required for fido is to get a board up and running to the point that you can apply for a node number by E-mail, and receive the number back the same way. Next step. I downloaded several software systems, and about 10 megabytes of documentation. I read it all. I then set up a board, tested it, and asked for a node number. I received it. At no time was I in touch with anybody in fido via any technology but electronic. I was never asked for my age, nor would any member of fido have any means of knowing my age. That was about two years back. Since then, I have been asked on several occasions to assist someone in setting up a board. The first two times, I did just that. I set them up a board. On both occasions, after I spent some seven or eight hours setting them up and teaching them the basics, they lasted less than a month. I have come to the conclusion, over time, that the way I did it was the best. It took me over a month to get things the way that I wanted. At the end, however, I understood how it all worked, and did not need to annoy others with rather basic questions. The other persons in the net also were not put to the annoyance of setting up links and routing files to a board that was run by a sysop of marginal competence and dedication, nor the annoyance of removing those same links a month later. Currently, I view giving a potential sysop excessive help as a disservice to both the net and the sysop. That reluctance has nothing to do with age discrimination, but is based on the knowledge that "there is no royal road to learning". One has to gain knowledge by oneself, it cannot be handed to you. In conclusion, the paragraph of Andrew's that I quoted at the beginning of this article ends thusly: "He finally figured it out on his own a couple weeks later." Exactly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-32 Page 12 10 Aug 1992 Problems with getting node numbers By: Rob Butler @ 1:124/3109 on August 7th 1992 After reading Andrew Gray's article about teenagers having difficulties with getting nodenumbers assigned (FNEWS931), I was reminded of the situation here in net 124. It was near on a year and a half ago that I applied for a net number here in 1:124. At the time, I was 19, and had already been a sysop for two years, and had been in Fido for a year (over in net 393, about 40 miles away.) It was the end of the semester, so I moved back to the 1:124 area in anticipation of getting up again soon. I sent a netmail message to 124/1, as well as sending email from on his board itself. Well, two weeks passed, and I hadn't heard anything, so I repeated the same procedure, netmail and email. Another two weeks, and still nothing. I again repeated the same, as well as leaving email to a few of the local hubs (there are seven or eight here in the area). After a week, I still hadn't heard anything, so I began raising a serious stink dropping off at least one netmail and one email to each of the hubs in the area, and after about a week, received a rather rushed phone call from 124/3000, as well as a netmail apology from 124/1. I figured that I had merely been overlooked (as was the case from the contents of the netmail apology I received.) However, over the course of the next two months, I heard similar stories from other people that had had their own share of problems getting a node number assigned. But, by that time I was already entrenched into Fido again, and was starting school in the fall again, and just let the subject slide. Recently (within the last month or so) one of the local hubs was ushered into the 124/1 place as the last person resigned (which by the way, no one I have talked to so far had any choice over who was "elected".) I didn't think much about it, since I have my own administrative duties in three other networks I distribute. However, my point (Sean Peoples), who I have been feeding since last December, recently decided that he too wanted to get a "full" Fido address. In the last few weeks (four to be exact) I've heard him complain about 124/1 and the inability to get his node number assigned. This person is also a teenager (16 to be exact.) So far, he has sent four requests for a node number. So, it appears that not only is there a "discrimination" of sorts against teenagers in Fidonet, but that it is also happening across several parts of zone 1. My question is "why?" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Aaron Goldblatt 1:130/85.1 Region 19 FidoNews 9-32 Page 13 10 Aug 1992 In response to comments made by Pablo Klineman and tomj last week I did some crude analysis (by hand) of the Region 1:19 segment of NODELIST.213. I chose R19 because that's where I am, and that's the area with which I'm most familiar. BTW, El Paso is in Region 19. :) For those of you not familiar with the region structure in Zone 1, it's pretty simple. Each region is a geographic region of the United States and/or Canada. There are 10 distinct regions, numbered 10 through 19. Region 19 includes just four states: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. The RC is Henry Clark, in Dallas, Texas. Nice guy. I found that there are 47 nets in Region 19, including Net 19, the regional independent nodes. I didn't have the patience to sit and count individual sysops, so I just went with addresses. In the 47 nets there are a total of 1459 addresses (including /0s, hubs, and other duplicate nodes), an average of 31 addresses per net. Not bad, for one of the largest regions in FidoNet. How does this relate to division of the region, as suggested by tomj? Or, if we take the idea one step farther, what about division of some of the larger nets? Well, let's jump a little deeper with our pencil-and-paper calculations. Here's the address-per-net breakdown by net. It's given in faithful net/node notation, where the net is the net number, and the "node" number is the number of addresses. 19/38 388/38 3804/7 106/156 389/15 3805/22 117/32 390/18 3806/16 124/170 391/33 3807/16 130/87 392/8 3808/12 147/115 393/9 3809/4 160/94 394/7 3810/4 170/94 395/19 3811/17 380/15 396/42 3812/10 381/29 397/21 3813/11 382/118 398/4 3814/8 383/20 399/13 3815/6 384/14 3800/15 3816/9 385/12 3801/9 3817/17 386/8 3802/12 3818/7 387/93 3803/9 3819/5 Remember, we're talking total number of addresses, not total number of sysops. But the nets I'm going to use as my examples are so large/small that it doesn't really make much difference. FidoNews 9-32 Page 14 10 Aug 1992 I'm going to focus on four nets in particular: 106, 124, 130 (Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth, Texas, respectively), and 3809 (El Dorado, Arkansas). I picked these four for three principal reasons: o 106, 124, and 130 together could almost carry any regional election if every node voted the same way o 3809 is, by contrast to the other three, tiny o I know 124 and 130 best 'cause that's where I live There's a definite advantage to big nets: cost. In Dallas and Fort Worth, the vast majority of inbound backbone echomail flows through one system. Mail fund contribution is voluntary, and cooperation is good enough that a dedicated mail system has been set up built from donated parts and money. Overall participation is poor, but it gets the job done for both nets. Both nets share echomail because of favorable local dialing conditions. There's a big disadvantage, too: personal relationships. Lemme 'splain. Take a look at 106. 106 has 156 individual addresses in it. It's not as large as 124, but serves as a better example because there is no nodelisted Hub structure in 106 like there is in 124. Let's say the net wanted to have a meeting of some sort, to decide in person some bit of net business; say, they want to elect an NC. You need to rent a small auditorium to accommodate 150 people at such a meeting. How many are you going to know on a first-name basis on sight? You're going to need name tags, or you're going to have to like repeating your name an awful lot. The election of an NC can get done, of course, but it's a little unwieldy. [The last two NCs of 124, though, were elected at pizza parties, so I dunno if any of this makes any difference.] FidoNet was started to enhance personal communication, to provide a means for people to talk to one another and get to be friends. Can you do that easily with 150 strangers in a room? Now let's say that Net 3809 needs to elect a new NC. There are three members of that net (remember, the figures above are addresses, not sysops). They can set up a time and date, and meet at a restaurant and discuss any net business over a pizza and pitcher of beer (food and nectre of the FidoGods!). Which would you prefer? I'd go for the pizza and a Coke (I'm not old enough to drink beer). :) Back when I first became a point in 130, three or four years ago, I could recognize the names of the sysops in 130 on sight. If you gave me the name of a guy, I could tell you whether or not he's a sysop or not. I liked it -- it was a mid-sized net, and mail sharing with Dallas made things run (fairly) smoothly. FidoNews 9-32 Page 15 10 Aug 1992 There are almost 100 addresses in 130. A few months ago we started assigning 3-digit addresses (Dallas, by contrast, has had 4-digit addresses for as long as I can remember). It came as quite a jolt to me when Dewey Thiessen, NC at the time, said he was doing it because we were running out of two-digit addresses. I hadn't realized the net was that large. Now, when I look at the nodelist, I don't recognize half of the names on it. I used to make it a point to call each BBS as it was added to the list and say "Hello, my name is...welcome to FidoNet, the monthly pizza party is at...the local sysop's echos are...if you need help, just ask!" I don't do that anymore -- I can't recognize new sysops from old ones anymore. I don't know a lot of the sysop's names anymore, and I don't like that feeling. I wonder if Tracy Perry (N124C) feels the same way about Dallas... There's another drawback to large nets. Ever tried to conduct a net-wide poll? If you have more than a few nodes, hub-routing is a must, and book-keeping is a nightmare. In the last NC election conducted in Net 130, 21 nodes voted (famous last words: "I'm just wondering what I did to get 17 people mad at me!"). That can be done with paper and pencil. Wanna try running something like that in Dallas? Voter turnout is likely to be no better, but in the off-chance that a large percentage of the net votes, it can become a big problem very quickly. Such polls can be done, no doubt, through good use of the hub system, but why not break everything down to small enough chunks where people can know each other as names and faces again instead of just numbers? And there's a third drawback: information distribution. I was on vacation at the time, but I can just imagine the problem of keeping everyone up to date on the status of the last Great Zone 1 Missing Linefeed Flap (a missing linefeed in a NODEDIFF broke about a quarter of the systems in North America, resulting in a REAL MESS). With three or four solutions to the problem floating around, information distribution becomes critical -- otherwise you could wind up distributing an entire nodelist. Not a good thing. In large nets, where many sysops either don't carry or don't read the sysop informational echos (NET130-type thing...every net has at least one), such distribution has to be by netmail, again, unwieldy at best. In places like El Dorado, Arkansas, all that needs to be done is pick up the phone and say, "Hey, John, the NODEDIFF broke my system. Here's what you do!" (* BTW -- I'm not picking on the Z1C or anybody else by bringing up this event...it just serves the purpose as an example. *) In short: While we're at breaking up regions and rearranging the structure of the Zone (something that I don't think will come about anyway), we should consider breaking up some of the bigger nets, too. 106, 124 and 130 come to mind... Mail distribution between nets can still be cooperative (the 124-130 arrangement is proof that it CAN be done), and is highly desirable if two nets are within local calling distance. But smaller nets make for a more personable, friendly atmosphere. Geographic divisions can still exist, of course, but the FidoNews 9-32 Page 16 10 Aug 1992 old long-distance divisions of nets need to fall by the wayside to make for better management of information, mail, and people. And make way for better communication. Which is why FidoNet was brought into existence in the first place. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Network Quoting Manners From: Allen Prunty on 1:2320/110 I would like All sysops to consider posting this on their bulletin boards for your users to see. It seems as if 90% of all messages that you read in the echos are mostly quotes nowdays. Quoting is wonderful for jarring some scatterbrain like me into remembering what the heck the message is refferring to. but in many cases over-quoting is not that necessary since most BBS's have message threading/linking capabilities anyways. It's my pet peave to be reading a message that scrolls something like 20/30 lines of quotes from five messages back including origin lines from all quoted messages only to see at the bottom a two word reply like "Yeah Right". Some users simply take it for granted that the net is free. Sorry -- NOT!!! --- Here's a bulletin I have cooked up about Quoting. -=-=-=- Quoting with manners 1. Please do not quote origin lines from other systems. It is not necessary and causes sysops around the world to pay more long- distance charges for their echomail. 2. Please quote only what is necessary to jarr the memory of the recipient. There is no need to quote entire messages since most BBS's have a thread feature which allows you to trace back older messages. 3. If possible... try to re-format the quotes to look neat. This is easily done with offline mail readers. Please remember... when you abuse the quoting features of some BBS programs, sysops around the world will pay for the echos. If everyone in the FIDO network would use the quoting features more sparingly... the cost to import echomail would drop. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-32 Page 17 10 Aug 1992 by Donald Tees Ex-Libris BBS, Windrush Farm, 1:221/192 (Ontario, Canada) One of the more vexing problems of a BBS is what to do when on holidays. No one really wants to announce over a network "my house is empty for two weeks, do not worry if the BBS does not respond". That problem is even worse if the BBS is a hub and others rely on it being operational. Recently, I installed a computer at the 6700 foot mark in a mine. Getting to it takes five hours --- and costs several hundred dollars worth of man hours. The problem is similar, and our solution may be of interest to the rest of the net. We built a box containing a real cheap 1200 baud modem. The only requirement of the modem is that it have a ring LED. Fastened to the LED is one bit of a single board promable microchip. The microchip controls, through a second bit, an optically isolated 10 amp AC circuit. The PC is plugged into that. When we detect that the PC is hung for any reason, we dial a combination into the the second line attached to the cheap modem. The combination is a programmed ring combination --- let it ring 3 times, hang up, wait, dial and let it ring 5 times, hangup, wait, etc. The correct combination lock cuts power to the PC, waits thirty seconds, then turns power back on. The reset cures about 95% of all problems without a service call. Now I recognize that using a modem is overkill, but one must remember that a purchased modem also carries the right to plug it into the telephone line. It also comes with a power supply, and is cheaper to buy than to build. If there are hardware gurus in your net, such a box can be a easily built and lent out to sysops. The RC a can be given the combination, and your home voice line used to trigger the unit. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Binary Nodelist AGAIN... Another suggested binary nodelist format: Number,Namelen,Name,Sysoplen,Sysop,Phone#,ModemType,Flags,[#/!xx,Gxxx, Uxxx], Fields are not delimted. Neither are lines. All integers are unsigned unless stated otherwise. All 16-bit integers are given in Intel format (LSB first) Number is a 16-bit integer giving the node, net, region, or zone number. Namelen is a 8-bit integer giving the number of characters in the name of the system. Sysoplen is an 8-bit integer giving the number of characters in the sysop's name. Name and Sysop are the system name and sysop name respectively. Phone# is the phone number in BCD(*), with dashes or plusses translated to $A, and a $F FidoNews 9-32 Page 18 10 Aug 1992 terminating the string. ModemType is a byte giving the type of modem as stated below: First nibble is BPS Second nibble is modem flag 0 = 300 0 = No flag 1 = 1200 1 = V.21 if baud=300, MNP otherwise 2 = 2400 2 = V.22 if baud=1200, V.42 otherwise 3 = 4800 3 = V.29 10 = HST 16800 4 = 9600 4 = V.32 11 = MAX 5 = 14400 5 = V.32bis 12 = CSP 6 = 16800 6 = V.33 13 = PEP 7 = 19200 7 = V.34 14 = TurboPEP 8 = 38400 8 = HST 9600 15 = H96 9 = 115200 9 = HST 14400 The BPS rate as given in the first nibble is the effective speed as rated by the manufacturer under best-case circumstances. This includes compression at max possible compression. Flags is a 3-byte string which is a bitmap as given below: Bit: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Byte 1: MO CM RE LO PVT DWN HUB RGN Byte 2: ZON NET ERR HLD Uxx Gxx #xx !xx Byte 3: <---Reserved---><--FREQ Abil--> MO means that the system is for Mail Only CM means that the system can recieve Mail 23hrs a day RE means ???????????????????????????????????????????? LO means that the system only accepts mail from systems in the nodelist. PVT means that the system is private, in which case the phone number (which in a St. Louis nodelist would be given as "-Unlisted-") is given as simply a $FF. DWN means that the system is Down HUB means that the system is a mail hub RGN means that the system is the start of a Region ZON means that the system is the start of a Zone NET means that the system is the start of a Network ERR means that the system's entry is incorrect. Software should check to see if the address of the system it is running on has this flag asserted, and if so, notify the operator. HLD means that mail for this system should be Held Uxx means that there is a Uxxx field Gxx means that there is a Gxxx field #xx means that there is a #xx field. THIS CANNOT BE USED WITH !xx !xx means that there is a !xx field. THIS CANNOT BE USED WITH #xx Bits 0-3 of byte 3 are reserved Bits 4-7 of byte 3 indicate the X? FREQ level supported, as determined by the following table: |--------------------------------------------------| | | Bark | WaZOO | | | Bit 4 | Bit 5 | Bit 6 | Bit 7 | | |---------------------|---------------------| | | File | Update | File | Update | | Flag | Requests | Requests | Requests | Requests | FidoNews 9-32 Page 19 10 Aug 1992 |------|----------|----------|----------|----------| | XA | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | XB | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | XC | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | | XP | Yes | Yes | No | No | | XR | Yes | No | Yes | No | | XW | No | No | Yes | No | | XX | No | No | Yes | Yes | |--------------------------------------------------| The #/!xx field is a list of the zones whose mail hours the system supports, in BCD, 2 zones to a byte, terminated with a $F. Gxxx is the Gateway field and is given as a string, the first byte of which is the length of the rest of the string. Uxxx is the user information field and is given as the Gxxx field is. A suggested index format would be to store the byte offsets of the beginning of each record but I leave that to the individual software developer. (*) BCD, for those of you not familiar with the term, is a way of putting decimal numbers into binary. Instead of converting the whole number to binary, the first digit is converted to a 4-bit binary code, and then the second digit is also. The two 4-bit codes are then combined to make a byte. Since there are only ten digits, codes 10 thru 16 are free for control codes. Acknowledgements: Many thanx to Bjorn Stenberg, who helped me with the first versions of this format, and to Brian McCormick who contributed most of the ideas used here. Compliments, arguments, death threats, flames, and rotten vegetables should be directed to me at 1:3639/4@fidonet.org. Dave Bliss ---------------------------------------------------------------------- LE_CLUB - The FidoNet Veterans Club ----------------------------------- Le_Club is a social echomail conference that aims to bring together FidoNet oldtimers. The echo is not restricted in any way, except that it is only open to FidoNet sysops, and not to BBS users. Still, it is recommended for those that have been in the network for at least two years, although the more novice sysops are welcome to come, see, and participate. FidoNews 9-32 Page 20 10 Aug 1992 Le_Club is a species of electronic FidoNet "con." It is the place to talk about how each of us got started in the network, to remember how things were back then and, why not, to talk about the future each of us envisions for our dear FidoNet. It is also the place to socialize with other "names" we have seen for long but with whom we were never in touch, and of course, to simply talk about the weather, share happy experiences as well as tales of dupe loops, bombing runs and why not, thunderstorms messing around with the phone equipment. :) There is absolutely no room in Le_Club for politics or flames. Many of us have had differences with others -ranging from small discussions to full-fledged flame wars- throughout the years, but we MUST leave them out of the echo. In addition to this, Le Club is not a technical echo, there is the conference NET_DEV that is more appropriate for technical matters. There will be no moderator in Le_Club, other than the persons in charge of periodically posting the echo's guidelines and participation statistics, also known as the hosts or "Logkeepers." By getting linked to Le_Club, you are committing yourself to being friendly towards everybody, and to refrain from starting hapless episodes. We believe it is still possible. Henk Wevers, Noel Bradford, Pablo Kleinman LOGKEEPERS ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Christopher Baker Rights On! 1:374/14 A_THEIST Echo Available A_theism means free of religion in the way a_political means free of politics or a_sexual means free of sex characteristics or drives. With that in mind and ever cognizant of the continued pressure of religion to intrude itself into our government and its operations, the A_THEIST Echo is provided to inform and alarm and hopefully wake up the sleeping and too long silent majority to the peril on our doorstep. It is now a Zone 1 Backbone Echo Hosted and Moderated by Rights On! [1:374/14] and Christopher Baker [card carrying member of American Atheists, Inc.]. Initial links may be obtained from your local Backbone source connection. Zone 3 is being fed through 3:681/857 and Zone 2 through 2:241/6001 via a Gate at 1:374/14 until direct links can be made to those Zones via the international Backbone links. The Zone 3 Hub sends it into Zone 6. FidoNews 9-32 Page 21 10 Aug 1992 The Echo is open to anyone who can discuss, without proselytizing, the extreme desirability of maintaining the absolute separation of State and church in this country as provided for in our Constitution. A sample of the first few messages and the statement of purpose of the Echo is available as A_THEIST.ZIP from this system anytime except 0100-0130 ET and Zone 1 ZMH [USR HST V32 online] if you wish to get an idea of whether to commit disk space to the Echo. An archive of the past traffic from the Echo is also available as A_ECHO1.ZIP, A_ECHO2.ZIP, and A_ECHO3.ZIP, A_ECHO4.ZIP, etc. It has been on the Backbone for months. Ask your Backbone connection to get it for you! The complete info is available in the current ELISTnnn.XXX file available from your NEC or REC or here. [Request ELIST.] I hope you will join us or ask your Sysop to request a link via their regular Backbone connections! TTFN. Chris ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The National Fidonet Dungeons and Dragons Gaming Echo Introducing the DNDGAME echo for the playing of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons familly roleplaying games! Similar to the ADND echo, DNDGAME is also for roleplaying game playing, but where ADND allows discussion, DNDGAME discussions are allowed only in the sister echo, DND. Another difference is that the ADND echo has a waiting list for running games. DNDGAME is not a full echo, yet! This echo is brand new and is not distributed on the backbone at this time. We are looking for a few good GMs and players along with some kindly Sysops to help up get this echo running! For distribution information, please contact Rob Richter at 1:292/49. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Frederick Leff Styx Allum Out in the Styx, 1:152/20 FidoNews 9-32 Page 22 10 Aug 1992 HOLYSMOKE Echo is ready and waiting! HOLYSMOKE is now a Backbone Echo that originally sprang forth from Out in the Styx of Oregon. It is carried on the Zone 1 Backbone and sent into Zones 2, 3, and 6 via 2:241/6001 and 3:681/857. HOLYSMOKE is Moderated by Frederick Leff on 1:152/20. It is Hubbed out of Zone 1 by 1:374/14. If any of you or your Sysops are interested in obtaining this Echo, you or they should contact their regular, Backbone Echo source! HOLYSMOKE now appears in FIDONET.NA as of 26 Jul 92. HOLYSMOKE is an Echo for debating the merits/demerits of religions of all kinds in a friendly but contentious way. It is open to anyone who cares to argue or cajole without proselytizing or personal attacks. Wear your NOMEX undies! The Echo is now fully activated and waiting for those with an interest in fire or brimstone or a bucket of cold water. The complete rules are posted regularly in the Echo and are available in the current ELRUL archive published at 1:1/201. Come and join us in the great debate! Frederick Leff, Moderator Styx Allum, Host 1:152/20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- * CISANet and TQOTD_SUPPORT Echo CISANet and TQOTD_SUPPORT Echo by Cal Gardner, 1:247/99 Are you tired of the same old online games? Do you think your users are ready for a change? ISA, Inter-Stellar Annihalation is door software written by Eddie Karsai and James Hargrave of British Columbia, Canada. This is the hottest in Inter-BBS software. For those of you unaware of the multiple features of doors written with the Inter-BBS capabilities, you are in for a surprise. This relativly new game ISA, allows you to many things against players on other boards through Fido compatable messages. This was the key to create CISANet. So far, the net has rapidly grown. CISANet allows you to add boards to your ISA game accross Canada and the United FidoNews 9-32 Page 23 10 Aug 1992 States through the marvels of message routing. And it all works fast and very efficient. If you are interested in joining CISANet or just wondering what ISA is all about, freq the following files from 247/99: ISA_005.ARJ (ISA) and CISANET.ZIP. Now also available from 247/99 for users of The Quote of The Day. An echo has been created for users of TQOTD. If you are interested in receiving this echo, send NETmail to me at 1:247/99. Regards, Cal Gardner. Air Waves SuperBBS, 1:247/99@FidoNet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Dave Aronson Medieval Echo, Coming Soon to a Backbone Near You -- IF You Help Us! The MEDIEVAL echo, established in 1988, is about the arts, sciences, politics, attitudes, lifestyles, religions, other beliefs, etc. of the medieval era, aka the Middle Ages, and of the various societies devoted to its study and re-creation or re-enactment, such as the Society for Creative Anachronism, Markland Medieval Mercenary Militia, Great Dark Horde, Kingdom of Acre, Regia Anglorum, etc. The main emphasis is on Europe, but other cultures are studied too. You're now probably thinking it's a bunch of stuffy academes discussing dry history lessons, right? No! Sometimes there is discussion of who did what when where why, but usually it is how-to instructions on a wide variety of skills, recreational event announcements and reports, songs, stories, poems, and other on-topic chat. There are now about two hundred boards in it, all over the USA and Canada plus sometimes Australia and Europe. This includes Fidonet and some other FTNs, plus GT-Net (where it is known as "Life in the Current Middle Ages") and sometimes WWIVnet (the gate is currently down, but when it is up we link with their "Known World Herald" echo). Traffic is typically about 20 to 40 messages a day. I would like to put MEDIEVAL on the backbone, including outside of Z1. If it is of interest to you, PLEASE ask your NEC to ask the REC to ask the ZEC to put it on the backbone (or whatever your regional procedure may be). The DEADLINE (already extended) is August 15, so your sysop FidoNews 9-32 Page 24 10 Aug 1992 requests should be in about a week earlier, so HURRY! If it doesn't work, you can still contact me to find a feed.... For more information, freq MED_AD.ARC, MED_TOP.ARC, MED_LST.ARC, and MED_RUL.ARC, which are the ad, topology (link) map, participating BBS list, and (draft) rules, here at 1:109/120.0, any time outside Z1MH. -Dave Aronson Sysop, 1:109/120.0 Moderator, MEDIEVAL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Holy Cloakroom (1:3800/6) CHURCH OF ELVIS E C C L E S I A S T I C A L P R O C L A M A T I O N WHEREAS there is just no limit to the amount of commentary that must be made by Rush to assure Excellence in every aspect of life on this planet, and WHEREAS to try to cover it all in one simple Ecclesiastical Proclamation would be as futile as the election of Elmer Fudd to the presidency of These United States, and WHEREAS we can thus at the very least give this guy his own Holiday for the purpose of doing him the Honor he so richly deserves, expects, and receives from those who know the Truth, THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED that the Fourth Day of July, from this date unto eternity be hereinafter and forever known as RUSH LIMBAUGH DAY as the beginning of an official Church festival of days known as the DITTO DAYS OF SIGNIFICANT PURPOSE which shall commence thusly and run until and including Sundown on the date known as Ditto Wednesday, hereinafter declared to be the first Wednesday after the first full moon after Rush Limbaugh Day, in and for the Church of Elvis Universal Life Church, to be hereinafter and forever an honor and tribute to FidoNews 9-32 Page 25 10 Aug 1992 The Reverend Rush Limbaugh, UPAR (Universal Philosopher of Absolute Reality) Wherefore unto I have set my hand and caused to be affixed the seal of the Church of Elvis this 4th day of July, 1992 s/ C. A. Jennings Bishop C.A.Jennings, D.D. Church of Elvis International Headquarters Attest: Charles Feduccia Diocese of Baton Rouge ULC P.O.Box 64575 **************************** Baton Rouge, LA 70896-4575 *with Seal thereon embossed* (504)927-0447 **************************** CompuChurch International Headquarters The Holy Cloakroom 504-927-4509 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Holy Cloakroom (1:3800/6) CHURCH OF ELVIS E C C L E S I A S T I C A L P R O C L A M A T I O N WHEREAS there is just no limit to the amount of commentary that must be made by Rush to assure Excellence in every aspect of life on this planet, and WHEREAS to try to cover it all in one simple Ecclesiastical Proclamation would be as futile as the election of Elmer Fudd to the presidency of These United States, and WHEREAS we can thus at the very least give this guy his own Holiday for the purpose of doing him the Honor he so richly deserves, expects, and receives from those who know the Truth, THEREFORE BE IT PROCLAIMED that the Fourth Day of July, from this date unto eternity be hereinafter and forever known as RUSH LIMBAUGH DAY FidoNews 9-32 Page 26 10 Aug 1992 as the beginning of an official Church festival of days known as the DITTO DAYS OF SIGNIFICANT PURPOSE which shall commence thusly and run until and including Sundown on the date known as Ditto Wednesday, hereinafter declared to be the first Wednesday after the first full moon after Rush Limbaugh Day, in and for the Church of Elvis Universal Life Church, to be hereinafter and forever an honor and tribute to The Reverend Rush Limbaugh, UPAR (Universal Philosopher of Absolute Reality) Wherefore unto I have set my hand and caused to be affixed the seal of the Church of Elvis this 4th day of July, 1992 s/ C. A. Jennings Bishop C.A.Jennings, D.D. Church of Elvis International Headquarters Diocese of Baton Rouge ULC P.O.Box 64575 Baton Rouge, LA 70896-4575 with Seal (504)927-0447 CompuChurch International Headquarters The Holy Cloakroom 504-927-4509 Online Ordination ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Holy Cloakroom (1:3800/6) Featuring Online Ordination C H U R C H O F E L V I S International Headquarters * Baton Rouge Louisiana This is to certify that RUSH LIMBAUGH has been granted the special title FidoNews 9-32 Page 27 10 Aug 1992 -- Universal Philosopher of Absolute Reality -- This 4th day of July 1992 P O Box 64575 C O E Baton Rouge LA Signed: C.A.Jennings, D.D. S E A L 504-927-0447 Bishop of Baton Rouge I H Q ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Holy Cloakroom 1:3800/6 NOW'S YOUR CHANCE! Be the first on your system to display your official Church of Elvis Special Title, Sainthood, or Ecclesiastical Proclamation. ASCII versions will be transmitted to any Fidonet Address, with "Suitable for Framing" editions being sent SnailMail to you. Donations of $5 for special titles or Sainthood, and $10 for Ecclesiastical Proclamation (your copy on approval) should be made payable to: CompuChurch International Headquarters Diocese of Baton Rouge Universal Life Church P.O.Box 64575 Baton Rouge, LA 70896-4575 [All funds U.S., drawn on U.S. Banks] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-32 Page 28 10 Aug 1992 ====================================================================== FIDONEWS INFORMATION ====================================================================== ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ---------------- Editors: Tom Jennings, Tim Pozar Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello "FidoNews" BBS FidoNet 1:1/1 Internet fidonews@fidonews.fidonet.org BBS (415)-863-2739 (2400 only until further notice!) (Postal Service mailing address) (have patience) FidoNews c/o World Power Systems Box 77731 San Francisco CA 94107 USA Published weekly by and for the Members of the FidoNet international amateur electronic mail system. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews. FidoNews is copyright 1992 Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact FidoNews (we're easy). OBTAINING COPIES: FidoNews in electronic form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and via uucp. PRINTED COPIES mailed may be obtained from Fido Software for $10.00US each PostPaid First Class within North America, or $13.00US elsewhere, mailed Air Mail. (US funds drawn upon a US bank only.) BACK ISSUES: Available from the following sources (and possibly others), via filerequest or download (consult a recent nodelist for phone numbers). Back issues are *NOT* available from FidoNews 1:1/1. FidoNet 1:102/138 FidoNet 1:216/21 FidoNet 1:125/1212 FidoNet 1:107/519.1 2400 bps: +1-201-473-1991 9600 bps HST: +1-201-473-2853 FidoNews 9-32 Page 29 10 Aug 1992 Internet ftp.ieee.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonew/fidonews SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable from 1:1/1 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are used with permission. Asked what he thought of Western civilization, M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea". -- END ----------------------------------------------------------------------