F I D O N E W S -- | Vol. 9 No. 39 (28 September 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: Yup ................................................ 1 2. ARTICLES ...................................................... 3 How To Find That File -- ARCHIE-like file server .............. 3 Where is FidoNet? ............................................. 4 WorldPol Credits - An Apology ................................. 11 THE TRUTH ABOUT "WorldPol disclaimer" ......................... 11 Take Me Off That List! ........................................ 13 FidoNet region 25 (UK) exemption policy ....................... 14 FidoMess : An Appeal To Rationality ........................... 18 More Florida disaster info .................................... 20 New BIDBOARD Echo Conference .................................. 24 New JOBSNOW109 Echo Conference ................................ 25 A New Echo for Suprafax Modem Users ........................... 25 New USAFA and USAFAAOG Echo Conferences ....................... 26 The Vegetarian Echo ........................................... 27 The only genuine "One God" Christian Network .................. 27 3. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .......................................... 29 FidoNews 9-39 Page 1 28 Sep 1992 ====================================================================== EDITORIAL ====================================================================== Editorial: Yup by Tom Jennings (1:1/1) A rather full and interesting issue this week. Since it's rather long (30 pages) I'll keep my blather rather short. If it does what they are saying it does, and I have no reason to doubt it, an amazing new functionality may be coming to FidoNet: file servers, like the Internet's ARCHIE. You want a file, but don't know where to find it? On the Internet, what with a million? hosts (nodes!) keeping track of who has what file is... daunting at best. ARCHIE is a program and system that creates a distributed database of lists of files. Systems taking part in ARCHIE keep a specially-named and formatted list of the files available on that system, and various ARCHIE servers go gather those lists together occasionally. When a user queries ARCHIE, it can tell you where files you ask for can be found. JVArcServ (see article) apparently does at least some of this. I haven't seen it work, but I hope it goes places. (I always dreamed of using our echomail mechanisms to do similar things; each "message" could be a nodelist update, a file list, etc, and systems receiving the "conference" could process each message then delete them, for nearly zero overhead. But I digress.) Good luck, and I hope to see this or something like it in place in FidoNet! * * * * * For the record: I have not in the past, do not now, nor will I ever endorse any "policy" (sic) project, of any revision, nor do I endorse any of those authors other works, past present and probably future, including other, possibly unrelated projects. I have never worked with authors, well-meaning as they are, and I certainly never lent more than a polite opinion on anyone's projects when, and only, asked. Responding to informal questions, by the way, is not reason enough to include my (or anyone elses) name within anyone's document in any way, for or against. The above is true of just about every project I've been asked to take part in in FidoNet. I'm hardly singling anyone out. And doesn't have anything to do with the merit of the project. I have too many projects of my own. FidoNews 9-39 Page 2 28 Sep 1992 If someone ever claims "...but Tom Jennings supports it!" Please do me, and yourself, the favor of asking me, here at 1:1/1 or 1:125/111. Here's the AMERICAN HERITAGE (Sorry non-USers, once again!) partial definition of the word 'credit': Credit: ... 1. Belief or confidence in the truth of something; trust. 2. The quality or or state of being trustworthy. 3. A reputation for sound character or quality; standing; repute. 7. (Usually plural) An acknowledgement of work done, as in the production of... or book. All of the 20+ senses of the word have similar meanings. Be careful when you list someone in your "credits" section that you actually have their permission. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-39 Page 3 28 Sep 1992 ====================================================================== ARTICLES ====================================================================== John A. Vink 1:250/318 JVArcServ - a server to locate specified archives. JVArcServ was first announced in FidoNews Volume 9 Number 25. Now the beta testing has been completed and a release version is available. JVArcServ eliminates your woes in trying to find a certain file, and eliminates the "does anyone have such and such for file request" questions in the echos. JVArcServ is based on the InterNet utility Archie designed at McGill University in Ontario, Canada. This utility allows users to locate programs available via anonymous FTP from sites around the world. Since there are thousands of anonymous FTP sites around the world, each one holding several gigabytes of software, this utility was a great sigh of relief. There are now eight Archie servers in operation today. FTN networks can sometimes give operators the same problems. There is lots of software out there available via file requests. The question is just "where?". The server keeps a specially formatted version of each fidonet system's file list in the network. Users can then ask questions such as "Where is this filename," "Find this description," and "Does anything match this keyword?". Some other interesting commands are also available such as "List nodes and zones covered by this server" and other such questions. JVArcServ was programmed to be automated. It will allow new nodes to join automatically through netmail, and new file lists will be automatically requested each month. The sysop running the server will only have to set it up once and then forget that it exists. The idea behind JVArcServ is that one node in each net will run the server and maintain file lists from every other node in the net. The server will only be useful with the cooperation of all the sysops in the net to register with the server and keep undated versions of the formatted file lists. JVArcServ and the file compiler also implements a routing system in the event that a node is long distance from the server. When the node registers, it can ask that its file list be requested from a different node. In this case, the node creating the file lists would send its file lists to this second node where it is to be requested from. FidoNews 9-39 Page 4 28 Sep 1992 JVArcServ is available from 1:250/318 with the magic filename JVARCSERV. An echo for users and technical support for JVArcServ has been created and it is available from 1:250/318 as well. JVArcFC V1.06, the program which creates the specially formatted file lists, is also available from 1:250/318 as JVARCFC. This program is also included in the JVArcServ archive. If you are interested in JVArcServ, if you have any questions, or if you want to set it up for your network, just send me netmail and I'll be happy to help you out. The server is now running at 1:250/318. To try it out, send netmail to "JVArcServ", and in the body of the text include the line "HELP". ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Where is FidoNet? John S. Quarterman jsq@tic.com Copyright (c) 1992 MIDS This article originally appeared in Volume 2, Number 6, (June 1992) of Matrix News, the monthly newsletter of Matrix Information and Directory Services, Inc. (MIDS). For further information, contact MIDS: Matrix News Matrix Information & Directory Services, Inc. (MIDS) mids@tic.com +1-512-451-7602 fax: +1-512-450-1436 1106 Clayton Lane, Suite 500W Austin, TX 78723 U.S.A. FidoNet is one of the most widespread networks in the world, going to countries other networks haven't reached yet. It is inexpensive, usually using MS-DOS and dialup connections. Yet it is capable, making more efficient use of modem connections than probably any other network technology, and supporting worldwide discussion groups, called echomail, in addition to person-to-person mail. But where is FidoNet? No one has really known for sure. By definition, all FidoNet nodes (fidos) are listed in the FidoNet nodelist, and FidoNet is defined by the contents of the nodelist. This articles examines the nodelist of Friday 19 June 1992 for geographical information. The information in the article is about FidoNet as shown in the nodelist. If your geographical area does not appear in the article, this is probably for one of three reasons: 1) your node is not registered (registering would fix this); 2) there is a bug in my methodology (I want to know about it); 3) the article doesn't focus that small (perhaps later). FidoNews 9-39 Page 5 28 Sep 1992 The nodelist does not include much information. Each node has one line, like this: ,42,Bink,Portland_OR,Randy_Bush,1-503-297-9043,9600,XA,CM,LO,PEP,V32,GUUCP The commas are field separators. The first field (empty in this example) starts a zone, region, local net, Host, or denotes a private space (with the keyword Pvt). The second field (42) is the node number, and the third field (Bink) is a name for the node. The fourth field (Portland_OR) is a geographical notation, and the fifth field (Randy_Bush) is the name of the owner. The sixth field is a telephone contact number, and the other fields are technical information used by software in making connections. The geographical information in field four is not completely dependable, since it is intended for use by humans, not by programs, and it also varies in format per geographical region. In the United States it usually includes a two character postal state abbreviation, and in Canada a provincial abbreviation. But elsewhere this field may or may not contain a country, province, or city name. The telephone number in the sixth field is actually the most dependable piece of information, because software must use it to make connections. But how to convert a telephone number into geographical information? Theoretically, it should be easy, since there is a separate telephone country code for almost every country. Practically, finding such a list is problematic. Fortunately, Randy Bush had the beginnings of such a list, and gave it to me. I also picked all the telephone country codes out of the source text of my book, The Matrix. Other telephone country codes could be deduced rather easily from the FidoNet nodelist itself, because field four often contains the name of the country, which could be matched with the telephone country code. The form of country names varied a bit, but it was straightforward to compare some obvious permutations against the ISO 3166 list of countries with standard two and three letter country codes. If the same telephone country code occurs several times with different nodes with the same country name and in the right general geographical part of the map, it seems likely that that is the correct telephone country code for that country. (Later checking against the UUCP map, the domain registry, and telephone directory services indicated all the matches were correct.) This method yielded locations for all but 22 country codes in the nodelist. These remaining 22 codes were resolved by calling an MCI operator and asking her. After we gave up on country code 8, she located the rest. There is no telephone country code 8, by the way, but someone omitted 46 for Sweden, leaving an area code of 8 looking like a country code. Fortunately, this kind of error is remarkably uncommon in the FidoNet nodelist, presumably because these numbers have to be parsed by software. There was one example each of 1-816 (Missouri) and 1-510 (California) being accidentally listed as telephone country codes 816 and 510. But there are no such country codes. Most area codes in the United States and Canada similarly do not make sense when interpreted as country codes. FidoNews 9-39 Page 6 28 Sep 1992 Two telephone country codes, 1 and 7, are particular problems. Telephone country code 1 is used for both the United States and Canada, plus many Caribbean islands. Canada has nineteen area codes, so it was easy to type them in from a telephone book. The Caribbean islands were a bit more of a problem, since they are all in the same area code, 1-809. There are FidoNet nodes in both Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, so it was interesting to separate them. This was possible by picking out local exchanges by essentially the same method of comparing fields four and six of the nodelist as was used to obtain country codes. For example, both 1-809-724 and 1-809-783 are for San Juan, Puerto Rico, and 1-809-776 is for St Thomas, Virgin Islands (U.S.). One could argue that both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are part of the U.S., so this separation wasn't necessary. But Puerto Rico often likes to be considered separately, and 1-809 also includes independent countries, like Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Bahamas, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Trinidad. None of these are in the FidoNet nodelist yet, but their local exchanges can be added as they appear. The Dominican Republic does appear in the UUCP map, so we already know that 1-809-530 is for that country. Also in North America, Greenland has its own telephone country code, 299, and of course 52 is for Mexico. Telephone country code 7 was for the former Soviet Union, and is still in use by the Confederation of Independent States (CIS) and the Baltic States (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia). Fortunately, many nodelist entries for nodes in the former Soviet Union include the name of the specific republic in field four, and these could be compared directly with ISO-3166 country names. Most of the other node listings include a city name, and all but a few of these were found in an atlas. Area codes in the former Soviet Union are quite orderly by geography (unlike area codes in North America). They run more or less west to east, in numeric order, as shown in Table 1. Table 1 does not show the actual area codes used for geographic location of FidoNet; instead it shows the leading digits, to give an impression of the ranges used in the different countries. The software used for locating hosts uses specific area codes, not ranges. Three CIS republics do not show up with telephone numbers in any network maps I have seen: Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyztan. In anticipation of network nodes appearing in those republics, I asked another MCI operator, who called information in each of those republics and discovered the area codes shown in Table 1. Kaliningrad (East Prussia), Russia 7-011 Lithuania 7-012 Latvia 7-013 Estonia 7-014 Belarus 7-015 and 7-017 Ukraine 7-03 through 7-06 Moldova 7-0422 Russia 7-07 through 7-30 7-34 through 7-35 FidoNews 9-39 Page 7 28 Sep 1992 7-38 through 7-86 Georgia 7-883 Armenia 7-885 Azerbaijan 7-892 Kazakhstan 7-31 through 7-32 Kyrgyztan 7-3312 Turkmenistan 7-3632 Uzbekhistan 7-3712 Tajikistan 7-3772 Table 1: Area code ranges in the republics of the former Soviet Union. The FidoNet nodelist has some redundancy and missing information. A single node may appear several times, so that it can be listed with several names or functions. But the telephone number has to be unique, so we just sort by telephone number and eliminate duplicates that way. Some telephone numbers are listed only as Unpublished. But the nodelist is organized roughly by geographical regions, so an unpublished telephone number is likely to be very similar to the one before it, and we make that assumption. FidoNet recognizes six major geographical zones as part of its basic organizational structure: Zone,1,North_America Zone,2,Europe_etc Zone,3,Oceania Zone,4,America_Latina Zone,5,AFRICA Zone,6,ASIA Some splinter networks using FidoNet technology do not appear in the nodelist. These include z89, z102, z44, and z320. These are not recognized as part of FidoNet. They are sometimes known as SchismNets. Since they do not appear in the nodelist, we do not examine them here. Table 2 shows the distribution of FidoNet nodes by country, according to the FidoNet nodelist. 15688 100% Hosts in FidoNet map 8153 52% United States 1386 8.83% Canada 1084 6.91% Germany 596 3.8% Netherlands 584 3.72% Australia 497 3.17% United Kingdom 446 2.84% Sweden 368 2.35% Hong Kong 267 1.7% Italy 207 1.32% Taiwan 207 1.32% Denmark FidoNews 9-39 Page 8 28 Sep 1992 199 1.27% Russia 169 1.08% Finland 147 0.937% Belgium 109 0.695% Spain 100 0.637% Brazil 94 0.599% New Zealand 84 0.535% Czechoslovakia 84 0.535% Switzerland 84 0.535% Austria 82 0.523% Singapore 78 0.497% Israel 72 0.459% South Africa 66 0.421% Ukraine 60 0.382% Argentina 41 0.261% Lithuania 41 0.261% France 34 0.217% Philippines 28 0.178% Greece 25 0.159% Portugal 20 0.127% Thailand 20 0.127% Luxembourg 19 0.121% Poland 19 0.121% Norway 18 0.115% Estonia 18 0.115% Bulgaria 17 0.108% Puerto Rico 16 0.102% Japan 15 0.0956% Hungary 12 0.0765% Yugoslavia 12 0.0765% Macau 12 0.0765% South Korea 11 0.0701% Malaysia 11 0.0701% Ireland 11 0.0701% Belarus 10 0.0637% Latvia 8 0.051% Moldova 8 0.051% Iceland 6 0.0382% Mexico 6 0.0382% Chile 5 0.0319% Indonesia 2 0.0127% Virgin Islands (U.S.) 2 0.0127% Turkey 2 0.0127% Kazakhstan 2 0.0127% Greenland 2 0.0127% Georgia 1 0.00637% Zimbabwe 1 0.00637% Zambia 1 0.00637% Senegal 1 0.00637% Mauritius 1 0.00637% Kenya 1 0.00637% Ethiopia FidoNews 9-39 Page 9 28 Sep 1992 1 0.00637% East Germany 1 0.00637% China 1 0.00637% Botswana Table 2: FidoNet nodes by country. Figure 1 shows FidoNet nodes by continent and country, from west to east and north to south, starting with North America and Latin America, moving through Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. FidoNet goes to quite a few countries in Africa. There are some curious omissions: nothing in India or the Persian Gulf states, for instance. Norway has fewer hosts than the other Nordic countries. Otherwise, FidoNet nodes seem to be most prevalent in industrialized countries, varying with population, among no doubt other factors. ^ | North_America: | United States | F Canada | F Greenland | F Latin_America: | Mexico | F Puerto Rico | F Virgin Islands (U.S.) | F Chile | F Brazil | F Argentina | F NW_Europe: | Germany | F France | F United Kingdom | F Ireland | F Netherlands | F Belgium | F Luxembourg | F Northern_Europe: | Iceland | F Denmark | F Norway | F Sweden | F Finland | F Southern_Europe: | Portugal | F Spain | F Italy | F Greece | F Central_Europe: | Switzerland | F Austria | F FidoNews 9-39 Page 10 28 Sep 1992 Yugoslavia | F Eastern_Europe: | East Germany | F Poland | F Czechoslovakia | F Hungary | F Bulgaria | F Estonia | F Lithuania | F Latvia | F CIS: | Russia | F Ukraine | F Belarus | F Moldova | F Georgia | F Armenia 0 Azerbaijan 0 Kazakhstan | F Uzbekistan 0 Turkmenistan 0 Tajikistan 0 Kyrgyztan 0 Middle_East: | Turkey | F Cyprus 0 Israel | F Kuwait 0 Bahrain 0 United Arab Emirates 0 Saudi Arabia 0 Africa: | Egypt 0 Tunisia 0 Senegal | F Ethiopia | F Kenya | F Mauritius | F Malawi 0 Zimbabwe | F Zambia | F Botswana | F South Africa | F South_Asia: | India 0 Pakistan 0 East_Asia: | China | F South Korea | F Japan | F Hong Kong | F FidoNews 9-39 Page 11 28 Sep 1992 Taiwan | F Macau | F South_East_Asia: | Malaysia | F Singapore | F Indonesia | F Philippines | F Thailand | F AUNZ: | Australia | F New Zealand | F +-----------------------------------------------> 5 94 1,084 FidoNet Hosts, Worldwide Copyright (c) 1992 MIDS Austin, Texas F: FidoNet (FidoNet nodelist, 92.06.19) Figure 1. FidoNet Hosts, Worldwide ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Jerry Schwartz 1:142/928 WorldPol Credits - An Apology I have heard that some folks were upset at their inclusion (or exclusion) in the "credits" section of the WorldPol proposal. I am very sorry for this, and would like to apologize to everyone involved. When I typed that section, my intent was to include the names of all of those whose thoughts, comments, and previous writings contributed to the development, and in some instances the actual wording, of WorldPol. I should have made it clear that not everyone listed supported the document, as written or in any form. In point of fact, no one had read the published version because it was a reworking of the previous draft which I did and passed to Pablo Kleinman for submission. Again, I apologize for not making that clear in the document itself. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Pablo Kleinman THE TRUTH ABOUT LAST WEEK'S "WorldPol disclaimer" Fighting possible "DAMAGE" by doing actual "DAMAGE" FidoNews 9-39 Page 12 28 Sep 1992 The very prominent disclaimers on last week's FidoNews deserve a clear explanation. Not only because of the truth in what has been written, but also because of the bad-intentioned allegations, false insinuations, and un-truths that have been issued along with it. I wish to publicly apologize to Tom Jennings (private apology was sent last Sunday night by mail) for publishing his name on the list of credits. Although Tom and I did have an exchange related to FidoNet policy a couple of years ago or so, when his name first appeared on the WorldPol credits (I was then living in South America, the exchange took place through net- mail), he asked me a few months ago to please remove his name from the list of credits, taking into consideration the actual weight of his name in the network and his little participation in the process. I agreed to do so. The last draft, however, was not written by me but by another participant of the WorldPol development, Jerry Schwartz, who got the list of credits from me. I forgot to remove Tom's name from there. Mea culpa. It was an involuntary error. But of the long disclaimer, that's all the truth I was able to discern. The rest, does not consist of more than simple defamatory rhetoric. It is simply not true. First of all, Tom's insinuations of "dishonest means" are absolutely false. I agree that "the process is the goal" and I do "practice what I preach." By version 3, there is very little input from myself in the document, limited only to the incorporation of democracy/elections and an anti-discrimination statement. The rest comes from the current policy doc and from all the input by the different persons listed in the credits. Even my grammar errors that for some people made the document "unacceptable," have all gone. FYI, here is the list of credited individuals and the form in which they participated: Raul Artaza, several voice conversations Don Benson, WorldPol echo Bill Bolton, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol Steve Bonine, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol Randy Bush, one voice conversation and two netmails Billy Coen, several voice conversations and netmail Phillip Dampier, netmail Jack Decker, netmail David Deitch, WorldPol echo Daniel Docekal, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol Ron Dwight, netmail and full review of the doc with changes Luis Garcia-Barrio, WorldPol echo Hector Gomez, one voice conversation and one netmail Tomas Gradin, revised proposal (sent by Ron Dwight) Jackson Harding, netmail Rob Hoare, netmail Jesse David Hollington, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol Alejandro Hopkins, several voice conversations FidoNews 9-39 Page 13 28 Sep 1992 Glen Johnson, netmail Daniel Kalchev, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol Raymond Lowe, netmail Rick Moore, echo discussions about WorldPol, netmail Bob Moravsik, netmail George Peace, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol Vince Perriello, FidoNews editorials, netmail Bob Satti, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol, netmail Jan Stozek, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol, netmail Erik van Riper, netmail Matt Whelan, RegCon echo discussions about WorldPol Gustavo Zacarias, several voice conversations Only those whose input was actually included in the doc, at least partially, have been named. Those that did not participate have NOT been named, and NOWHERE in the document does it say that the people that are actually being THANKED there do actually support the document. Indeed, if I was to list supporters/endorsers of the document, I'd have a long list of fine sysops without resorting to lies or adding names. The point is that, as I said, the list of credits was a simple "thank you note" to those that, in agreement or disagreement with the basic philosophy of the proposal, took minutes and hours of their time to give their feedback and propose modifications. As absurd as it may sound, the credits section -which explicitly states that is going to disappear as soon as the document is adopted- seems to be, by far, the most "controversial" part of the whole document. Not only there is last week's overtly aggressive article on FidoNews to deal with, but others that participated in previous policy efforts claim that they should be listed in the credits on WorldPol, when they never participated in the actual WorldPol discussions. All this is silly. I will ask Jerry to REMOVE THE CREDITS SECTION ON THE NEXT RELEASE OF WORLDPOL, or at least to publish the list of contributors only by netmail request from each person. I'm sure he'll agree. Again, my apologies to Tom and anyone else who felt harmed by appearing on the credits. It is, I believe, very clear that there were no dishonest intentions nor means behind the publishing of the names. For any questions or comments (my cholesterol level is up lately so no shit please) I'm available by mail, as usual. -Pablo 1:102/631@fidonet 57:49/22@intlnet.eur pablito@fido.lu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-39 Page 14 28 Sep 1992 Take Me Off That List! by Phillip M. Dampier (1:260/228) I join with several others in stating publicly that I cannot support WorldPol and I do not appreciate my name being used within said document. In my handful of years in Fidonet, both as an individual node and as a Net Coordinator for one of the larger nets in Fidonet, I have come to hold little respect for long, drawn out policy documents. In my experience, existing policy documents are enforced unevenly or not at all, and aren't worth the paper they are sometimes printed on. I'm not sure this will ever change, regardless of what policy we end up adopting in the end, because Fidonet operates in a hobbyiest environment. I am very much for individual nodes having the power in this network instead of entrenched *C's who continually stand in the way of Fidonet's growth, for their own personal, petty, power mongering. So many, we have seen, have completely lost touch with the nodes they are supposed to serve. WorldPol does some positive things, but falls into the trap of turning into a document the size of a typical speech by Fidel Castro. The "keep it simple, stupid" rule has been forgotten. In fact, this document is SO HEAVY, if you dropped it in the ocean, it would rise coastal tides. Another case of Global Boring. :-) Therefore, I want it known by all that I cannot support WorldPol as-is and my name appearing at the end of the document should in no way construe my support of it. Should WorldPolLite ever be created, with 60-70% fewer words and none of that bitter aftertaste so typical of the usual policy proposals, I'll take a look at it. Best of all, we can be assured that such a document will be "cholesterol free," just like the package of Gummy Bears I observed the other day at my local corporate cinema. Bon appetit! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONET REGION25 ( UK ) EXCEPTION POLICY ======================================== Issue : Draft D.1 Date : 19 September, 1992 INTRODUCTION. FidoNews 9-39 Page 15 28 Sep 1992 The REGION25 Exception Policy is to be used in conjunction with the document known as the FidoNet Policy Document ( Policy 4 - v4.07 ) and details the exceptions to that document applicable to FidoNet REGION 25. In the event of that document being changed, this Exception Policy will be used in conjunction with whatever succeeds the above-named policy document; all references to Policy 4 or version 4.07 of Policy should be taken to read as references to whatever is the current Policy document then in force. When the policy document in use is changed, this exception policy document will be updated, to correct the references made, but until it is, it will not be rendered invalid or obsolete. This exception is only for the reasons given and should these reasons become invalidated, this exception to policy is also invalidated. The exception is being granted for the technical reasons defined here and not for any other purpose. Refer to section 5.6 of Policy 4 for further information on Geographic Exceptions. GEOGRAPHY & GEOGRAPHICAL NETWORKS. Although Region25 has a basic geographical layout, Region25 has a number of Local and Long Distance telephone carriers whose charging structure does not lend itself to be in the best interests of the sysops in terms of least cost within Region25 when certain sections of Policy 4 are applied. These sections are identified and interpreted below. 1.3.2 Geography para 1. - Two networks may cover the same geographic landmass in the UK, however, where possible this is to be avoided if not based on the technical limitations that this exception applies to. para 2. - Network boundaries are not based on local call areas but by the technical rationale. It is not, generally, based on personal or social factors. 3.5 Be a Member of the Area Administered para 1. - A Co-Ordinator of a network must be a member of that network. 4.3 Assigning Node Numbers para 4. - This is to be done in consultation with the node concerned and other Network Co-Ordinators as applicable at the time. 5.1 Responsibilities para 3. - The Regional Co-Ordinator will only assign network numbers. No boundary definitions will take place. 5.3 Encouraging the Formation and Growth of Networks para 3. - If you have several independent nodes in your region, FidoNews 9-39 Page 16 28 Sep 1992 you should encourage them to form a network. 5.6 Geographic Exemptions para 1. - This document is to be considered as a detailed documented and approved exception to this paragraph. 5.7 Overseeing Network Operations para 4. - If a network grows so large that it cannot reasonably accommodate traffic flow during the Zone Mail Hour, the Regional Coordinator can direct the creation of one or more new networks from that network, however, these networks must be cost effective for the sysops involved. The above modifications to the identified sections do not make this exception a geographic free-for-all. Cost consideration to all sysops is, of course, of paramount importance and should be adhered to at all times. GENERAL NETWORK PROCEDURES Because Geographic restrictions on networks within the UK have been relaxed by virtue of the UK telephone companies structures, another force comes into play here. As one of the advantages, and strengths, of FidoNet is the diversity of nodes in any given net, no network is to become a 'specialist' network, ie. although extreme examples, they will highlight the case against 'specialist' networks such as "Whites Only Network", "Neo-Nazi Network" or an "Adults Only Network". The application of a prospective node, to join any network within the UK must be based on whether this node can meet the technical requirements of operation. It is not to be based on any of the following items from the non exhaustive list : Sex, race, creed, colour, sexual/religious/political persuasion(s), group association or membership, and computer equipment used. This does not, however, confer on any existing or prospective node the right to carry material, in files, bulletins or messages, that would otherwise be deemed to constitute excessively annoying behaviour. If a 'specialist network' can be proven to exist, then it will be the Region Co-Ordinator's responsibility to dismantle this network, in which case each of the nodes in that network will be transferred to another network of their own, individual choice. A new network can only be created when at least 12 nodes wish to form that new network. If, in order to reach that minimum number of nodes, an existing network falls below 12 nodes, then the request can be denied at that time by the Regional Co-Ordinator. FidoNews 9-39 Page 17 28 Sep 1992 'Network Hopping' is forbidden unless for a technical reason, or the irremediable breakdown of civilised communications between the Net Host (and/or Net EchoMail Host) and the node; in this latter case, every effort should have been made by the parties concerned to resolve their differences before a net transfer is requested. A node may change its network number only for the reasons stated above and only with the approval of both of the involved Network Co-Ordinators. The Regional Co-Ordinator may 'require' a node to change its network number but only for technical reasons. At least eight weeks should elapse between successive transfers of a node's network; if this proves unacceptable to the node or to the node's current Network Co-Ordinator, the node is to be given independent status within the Region. This exception does not allow for 'Personal or Social Networks'. This exception is only for technical reasons, or the resolution of irreconcilable disputes. INCORPORATION & AMENDMENT Any changes to this policy must be voted on by the sysops of Region 25 as well as the Fidonet Zone 2 Zone Co-Ordinator and the International Co-Ordinator. Section 1, Para 2 of Policy 4 indicates that the International Co-Ordinator does have the power of veto. The FidoNet, Zone 2, Zone Co-Ordinator does not, under this Exceptions Policy, have the power of veto of any changes to this policy. The mechanism for this will be a 'one sysop, one vote' system. The Region Co-Ordinator (RC25) will ask for volunteers as a returning officer (RO) <... etcetera - details of voting procedures omitted ...>. Incorporation / Ammendment of this document is achieved by a >50% 'yes' vote of all votes cast, this includes the 'abstain' votes. <... Electoral appeal procedures ommitted ...> While there is room for argument, on purely logical grounds, about any cost or other routing/network-expansion efficiencies that geographical net topologies might achieve, discussion about them is not what this particular article (number two of three) is about: if those who are convinced that geographical networks are unequivocally desirable have made it their business to implement them then this article assumes that to be OK PROVIDED it it is done in a way which does NOT impose on either the goodwill or checkbooks of ordinary nodes in the net (and/OR their users). I'll refer specifically to the statistics for Z2 Region 25, where over 75% of the nodes are currently within their "correct" geographically determined Net, about 20% of those "incorrectly" listed would be happy to change to a geographically "correct" Net immediately, the nodelist as a whole is growing by about 150% annually, and during the course of a year about 20% to 25% of the nodes listed in the first month are no longer listed by the twelfth month (i.e. are down, have moved, etc). FidoNews 9-39 Page 18 28 Sep 1992 But the point being made is general across the network as a whole. Basically, a refusal to list any non-conforming nodes that becomes operational from some given non-retrospective date seems to be a reasonable way to proceed, as the fact that most Fido nodes already belong to the appropriate Net when coupled with (a) a NON-coercive encouragment for existing non-conforming nodes to change to their geo-appropriate Nets, (b) the current rate of expansion of the nodelist, and (c) the current rate of attrition from the nodelist, means that in a relatively short time the proportion of non-conforming nodes in the Region will be minimal (if current trends continue, less than 2.5% in three years and less than 0.5% in five). Given such a trivial degree of non-compliance resulting from a fairly laissez-faire approach to "enforcement", it seems that if it was good enough to assign folks ABC/XYZ in the net months or years ago then it is good enough to live with the consequences of that until altering them is no longer a matter of disruption and inconvenience for THEM. At best the change to another Net is time-consuming and often quite expensive business, but when coupled with authoritarian coercion or unannounced nodelist tampering it becomes offensive and poisonous: it is NOT the message to send to nodes who were ALLOCATED their node numbers by a *C structure to which they did not belong, and who then keyed software to them, set up email addressing with correspondents worldwide based on them, and so on, even if the *Cs involved "SHOULD" have been allocating numbers differently to begin with. Authors: Peter Burnett Paul C. Dickie and the other readers of the UKEPOL echo. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- By David Rye 1:3649/0 Something To Do, or Something To Prove In every human endeavor there will always be conflict and strife. Pretty simple statement to make, another matter entirely to DO something about it. In the time that I have run a BBS (first started one about ten years ago) I have noticed a few things about people when then use an electronic medium such as FidoNet to communicate. They are very rude. No duh, eh? Well, when we try to get together and do something to improve the net, there are going to be arguments. Each person in the conversation knows "the one and only right way" to implement each thing they are talking about. In a face to face contact with another co-worker you might get mad and yell, but chances are not great that you would insult them so badly that it would come to blows. How many times have you slugged a co-worker? Chances are that it's not too often that you do, or you would be working somewhere else. Now, in comparison, how many times would you have slugged another user/sysop if they were in the same room? Ah ha, I see the figure differs. So let's look at what happens as a result of this. FidoNews 9-39 Page 19 28 Sep 1992 There have been many tries to implement new policies/tech specs/ methods of organization into FidoNet (and other nets). What causes them to fail? Because these proposals are without any socially redeeming value whatsoever? Because they are shortsighted, stupid or prejudiced towards a certain type of user/ sysop? No, most of the time it is because of the simple fact that people have so many different reasons for wanting to participate in FidoNet. Some sysops enjoy the feeling of membership in such a large group of people, or they enjoy the "computer power" available when so many computers are linked together. Some sysops enjoy the way that information can be distributed without having to resort to "mainstream" ways to get thoughts or concepts "published". Some users are simply looking for help, or a friendly chat with people who hold similar interests. For whatever reason that people enjoy FidoNet, you can make a fairly sure bet that it's not exactly the same for any two people. When these people see an attempt to change this structure from which they obtain some sort of pleasure "They Get Upset!". When you combine the rudeness that can occur in computer vs. face to face contact, and the "TGU!" syndrome, very, very, very bad things are going to occur. When I get on the scene of a shooting there are likely to be people who (1) Are upset and (2) Have a different focus on what to do next. My priorities are different from the bystanders and from the police. I try to treat the patient and also to avoid getting major chunks of my body from leaving in an untimely manner. This is easier for me if I have less people around me to work against. Most people would agree that more is going to be accomplished in a meeting with five people of two different opinions as opposed to a meeting with fifty people of twenty different opinions. If you don't think that this statement is true, try attending your next County Commission meeting when new taxes are being discussed. This same "real life" situation is only made worse by the semi-anonymous nature of net or echo mail discussions. At best you end up with no consensus, and at it's worst you end up with flaming that should bring to mind a place where pitchforks and pointed tail sharpeners are the best selling items. So what can be done? You want the truth, or you want the sugar coated version? There is not much that can be done about people getting very hostile when someone rudely criticizes their viewpoint. The only possible thing that would help with that is for EVERYONE to remember that there is another person at that end of message marker. While it's true they probably can't bash your head in for what you say, their desire to do so will cause any valid point you made to be ignored by the vast majority. As to trying to integrate the opinions of every single member of FidoNet into a single "policy" which determines how every little detail of net operations is conducted... well, forget it. Remember studying the history of agreements that "outlawed" war? One possible way to cut down on conflict is to allow more local autonomy in the net structure from the net level down. Allowance of local network policies that don't interfere with ZMH compliance, but do allow the net itself to decide on coordinators and mail policies is one way to keep Joe Sysop from trying to strangle Mike Sysop in the next state for trying to shove some moronic new policy down his FidoNews 9-39 Page 20 28 Sep 1992 throat. The modularization of nets would allow single in and out points for mail in a standard fashion, while allowing a diverse array of methods of actual generation of that mail. This would also cut down on the need for non-*C sysops to carry a full nodelist. If they wanted the info for a specific node they could request it in a manner to similar to file requests. Simpler routing could be achieved in this method also. Ask anyone who produces mail software what they would give to be able to drop half of the crud that is in existing message structures. There are many problems in FidoNet. As FidoNet grows they are only going to get worse. Something has to be done before it collapses under it's own weight. But while discussing these problems with others try to remember that rabid arguments and antagonistic statements do nothing to solve the problem you are talking about. Take some time, and if some moron treats you like ditchwater because of your opinion just remember not to waste your time with them anymore. Nothing makes me as likely to stop reading an echo conference as mindless flaming. Since I have been guilty of it myself before (and most likely will be baited into it again) the only thing I can do is to try to keep reminding myself that I'm trying to do something, not prove something. Futher discussion concerning this is encouraged. I'm available at 3649/0 CM, and even flames are welcome. I've got several files of the more amusing flames I've received in the past, and this article should provide me with hours more of similar entertainment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- By Rich Veraa 1:135/907 If you read Michele Stewart's article a couple weeks ago, you know a little about what this area was like when Hurricane Andrew passed. I spent that night in the nursing home where I live in North Miami, and it was certainly a night to remember (though I'd rather not). Mostly, I was worried about my best friend, a cockatoo named Lovey, who lives twenty miles south of here at the famous attraction, Parrot Jungle. Power and phone service was interrupted for a week, and finally I heard that Lovey and all the birds were okay. I travel with the County's Special Transportation Service for the handicapped, and I went to Parrot Jungle to see Lovey yesterday as soon as STS was back in service -- last Saturday. The van had to pick up two other people on the way, so we went by a roundabout route. We passed some old frame houses that have been abandond for twenty years and which looked ready to fall apart at any moment, and the seemed to have been unaffected by the storm, looking no better or worse, while newer houses had roofs torn off and sagging walls -- further evidence that "they don't build 'em like they used to." . As we drove through residential ares where there was little damage, the houses still looked odd, and it took a while before I realized it was because the windows were open, having no electricity for air conditioning. Open windows are a novelty around here. FidoNews 9-39 Page 21 28 Sep 1992 One of the passengers we picked up lived in a strangely unused-looking house with an overgrown lawn and no curtains. The driver had to help the woman get her wheelchair down the front doorstep, and another step by the driveway. "It's a nuisance to have no ramps." the woman said when she was in the van. "Why don't you have ramps?" I asked. "It's not my house," she said simply. "Mine got blown down in the storm." I suppose she's repeated that explanation enough times in the past few weeks that she's immune to the import of it -- but she spoke of losing her house as casually as if she'd lost a handkerchief. How resiliant is the human spirit. There's a lot of that around here. As we travelled south, evidence of damage got more frequent. Street signs were askew, boarded windows appeared, and huge piles oof debris lined the sides of the road. As we turned in to Parrot Jungle, there were the usual piles of broken branches, but the entrance way looked familiar. Within, the usual gang of macaws and cockatoos sat on their perches around the entrance and along the windows of the restaurant. But the scene was uncharacteristically bright and the birds seemed open and vulnerable. Above, where a thick canopy of high foliage once blocked the sky, there was nothing but a few gaunt leafless trunks. It was strange to see so much of the sky there. My friend Lori happened to be by the entrance when I arrived, and she took me on a quick tour before we went to get Lovey. About a third of the lower Jungle is still closed, and probably will be for some time -- it's all an impenitrable mass of tangled broken vegetation. The areas that are clear are pathetically empty. Parrot Jungle is a good-sized piece of proprty to begin with -- but it's skillfully laid out so as to seem much larger. A visitor could wander about all day long and travel miles without ever seeing the same scene twice, and though it's situated on Red Road, a major thoroughfare, the heavy foliage deadened traffic sounds, and gave one a sensation of peace and isolation. Now, though, you can see the trucks roaring past behind the east aviaries. The same is true everywhere. The Parrot Bowl Theater was undamaged, but not it's geodesic dome -- once nearly invisible -- now dominates every vista. The many buildings, too, were largely unharmed, but now are intrusively visible. Painted dark green and screened by foliage, most visitors never saw them. Now the square bulk of the heavy equipment barn and shops dominates the north side of the Jungle. And everywhere there is blue sky and hot sun where there was cool shade. The new danger is that the ground plants that survived the hurricane -- jungle plants adapted for shady rainforest floors -- will be burnt by the sun now that the canopy is gone. There was concern also, that the birds might suffer from the insolation, but so far they appear to be doing all right. Some of the birds have been moved around because of damaged facilities, but by and large they, at least, are back to normal. One change in the bird life that's been made is that the famous Parrot Jungle free-flying macaws -- that ranged several miles around, and returned to their cages at night -- have all been clipped, as the area is so drastically changed, and construction so distracting, that they'd be likely to get disoriented and get into trouble. The plan now is to start letting them out as "free-walking" birds at first, and after they've FidoNews 9-39 Page 22 28 Sep 1992 gotten acclimated to the "new" jungle, to let them start flying as their feathers grow back. Buildings and birds were well insured -- but as I've said those received little damage. Uninsured losses are estimated at $1.5 million -- plus any losses from reduced business that might result if the tourist trade doesn't recover quickly. Lori and I got to the education center -- originally built as a security officer's cottage -- on the west side of the Jungle. It had been screened by undergrowth with a curving path to the door. Now there was a tangle of flattened branches to be pushed aside, and a crooked ramp to the door. I was glad to have my new powerful wheelchair. The education center was the worst-damaged building. A tree fell through the roof of one of the offices (the one I use when I'm there) and the furniture in it was ruined. The carpet is still soaked. My XT computer is now piled with other equipment in the main classroom. The night of the hurricane, Jeff, the chief horticulturist, stayed in the building and saved the equipment and files that were in that room and watched out for the birds. Lovey lives in the bird room (formerly a garage) with six or eight other birds in individual cages. At the storm's height, the other birds cowered silently in their cages, but Lovey screamed continuously, so loud Jeff couldn't hear the wind. Since then, Lovey's been very nervous and nippy, taking chunks out of several people who tried to handle him. There's a step down to the garage, so I had to wait by the door as Lori went to get him, and I called, "Hi, Lovey," and he spun around and began bobbing at me. Lori brought him to me and he burrowed his head in my chest for a moment, then ran up my right arm, around the back of my neck, and down my left arm to burrow into my chest again. Then he repeated the dance a couple more times. We went back out, and I had to move very slowly over the rough ground. Lovey, who needs a pedicure, held on painfully tight as my chair clambered over fallen branches. Then we went to see the primate area and the petting zoo, which suffered little damage. At 2:30, they have a raptor demonstration on the lawn, and fly a peregrine falcon and Mickey, a young (4 years) bald eagle. We decided to watch it from a shelter by the flamingo area so Lovey wouldn't have to get too close to the raptors. But that was still _much_ too close for Lovey. He erected his crest and frantically butted me with his beak until I went all the way on the other side of the hill. I tried to sneak back to get a glimpse of the eagle, but Lovey wouldn't have it. When the hawks were safely back in their cages, we went back down and stopped in the shade next to the gift shop. All this time, Lovey'd been somewhat edgy. He'd come down to my lap to be petted, and then, after a few seconds would run up to my shoulder to look around, and I could feel him dig his nails in for a good grip at every unexpected sound. So I parked my chair facing the back wall and let Lovey onto my lap, where there'd be a minumum of distraction. I began scratching and fluffing up the down under his wings. Soon he began preening his tail and the wing opposite the one I was scratching under. He hadn't been grooming himself and was full of dander and old powder. I began to work through his crest, scratching the dander and rubbing the sheaths off some new feathers. FidoNews 9-39 Page 23 28 Sep 1992 This was the best part of the day, just sitting and grooming, and I finally could tell that Lovey was fully relaxed at last. After about a half hour, I turned around and Lovey, now groomed and looking neat and handsome, sat on my shoulder, preening my beard and eyebrows. It was a wonderful moment, after all the tension he'd been under since the storm. I have a stainless steel bird dish mounted on my chair and had filled it with water, but Lovey still hasn't figured out that it's for him, but I dipped my fingers into it and let him lick the water off. He seemed to enjoy that, and cleaned my fingernails as well. It was well past 3:30, and STS would be there to pick me up at four, so I decided to take Lovey for a little ride to end the afternoon. We went past the posing area, where Raoul arrays tourists with macaws for photographs. Raoul, who hadn's seen me in a year, came over to say hello and tried to pet Lovey, but Lovey dug his nails into my shoulder and ducked away, evading his touch, then relaxed as I moved away. We passed the Senior Psittacine Village, where Lovey had lived last year. Lovey paid it no attention -- perhaps because it's been repainted and looks considerably different. But as soon as the training arena -- where Lovey lived last spring -- came in sight, he took off and ran up the path in the opposite direction. I turned around and stopped as he climbed back up my chair. I took him back the way we'd come, and past the parrot bowl and aviary row. He was calm again, and I turned to approach the training arena from the opposite direction, and again he took off as soon as he saw it. When Lori had told me that they'd put him there, I was sure he wouldn't like it, since he's so afraid of other birds, and apparently he really hated it. Then I took him back to the education center, and Lori was prepared for a major confrontation over going back in his cage, but he went quietly. He was satisfied. The STS driver took a different route and I saw more damage. We went past the beautiful estates on Old Cutler Road, but couldn't see anything because the debris was piled ten feet high on both sides of the road. It was like driving down a canyon. We went north on I-95, which is elevated most of the way, and we could see all the roofs with missing tiles. Pressed flat on every roof was a twisted mess of wires and rods that had been a television antenna. We passed a young couple in swimsuits repairing their roof. In other news, Lori's horse still hasn't showed up. It was gone the morning after the storm, which had ripped off the barn door. The stall was destroyed, probably by the horse in a panic. She's optimistic, though, and feels that if she'd been killed or injured, she'd have heard something. She thinks the horse is in someone's paddock that has no phone -- or is just too busy fixing up after the storm to try to find the owner of a stray horse. The horse is well identified with lip tattoos, though, and eventually will turn up. Lori needs a new roof, one exterior wall needs to be rebuilt, a couple windows need to be replaced, and there's a lot of water damage. But they count themselves lucky the place is still standing and all their birds are fine. FidoNews 9-39 Page 24 28 Sep 1992 So that's the news from the sun and fun capital of the nation. Thought y'all might be interested... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New BIDBOARD Echo Conference by George Falcon Sysop, 1:109/446 (301) 277-BBS1 (2271) 6231 Baltimore Avenue Riverdale, MD. 20737-1020 Voice (301) 277-9572 I have a small computer consultancy in Riverdale, Maryland, and I read Computer Reseller News (CRN) on a regular basis. CRN has had for quite some time a regular column called Bid Board, which lists federal government agencies' requests for proposals (RFPs) for personal computer hardware, software, and accessories. CRN recently added another column for commercial RFPs. While this is a valuable service, and while I'm sure CRN staffers do the best job they can, the information appearing in these columns doesn't always appear in time for small firms to mount the effort necessary to respond to these RFPs by their deadline dates. As someone who's been around FidoNet for about six years, on and off, it occurred to me that the sysops and users of FidoNet systems might like to have the opportunity to read RFPs like these, and might also be able to pass along to interested parties the information necessary to respond to these RFPs by their deadline dates. I decided to start the BIDBOARD echo conference to enable representatives of federal, state, and local governments, nonprofit organizations, and commercial firms to post their personal computer hardware, software, and accessories RFPs, as well as their upcoming systems analysis and programming contracts. It is my intent that no other type of message should appear in this echo, and that each message must contain information enabling those interested in responding to these RFPs to respond outside the echo. I intend to enforce these rules very strictly. The rules files are contained in the file BIDBOARD, available for file request here. Those sysops interested in participating who've read the rules, agree to their conditions, and who're willing to poll this system until there's enough traffic to justify a request for placement on the "zone echomail backbone" should notify me via netmail. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-39 Page 25 28 Sep 1992 New JOBSNOW109 Echo Conference by George Falcon Sysop, 1:109/446 (301) 277-BBS1 (2271) 6231 Baltimore Avenue Riverdale, MD. 20737-1020 Voice (301) 277-9572 I have been reading for quite some time the nationally distributed JOBS-NOW echo conference, and have read several messages discussing the possibility of splitting the conference into smaller, geographically oriented conferences. There are, of course, people who are willing to relocate to any area to work in a field they enjoy, or for a company they respect. For those who'd prefer to look for positions in the Washington, D.C. area, however, the "pickin's" in the JOBS-NOW echo are fairly sparse. In response to this, I asked in our local sysop echo conference if anyone would be interested in carrying an echo designed as a "spin-off" of JOBS-NOW, just for job openings in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The response was overwhelming. After some discussion, the NC, NEC, and local hubs decided that the echo would probably be a Good Idea, and so now we have JOBSNOW109, named after our net, Net 109. JOBSNOW109 is an echo to hold only one-time job openings (no vague "opportunities for unlimited income potential" or multi-level marketing messages, please), and only where the primary work location is the Washington, D.C. area. It is my intent that no other type of message should appear in this echo, and that each message must contain information enabling those interested in responding to these job openings to respond outside the echo. I intend to enforce these rules very strictly. The rules files are contained in the file JN109.ZIP, available for file request here. Those sysops interested in participating who've read the rules, agree to their conditions, and who're willing to poll this system until there's enough traffic to justify a request for placement on the "zone echomail backbone" should notify me via netmail. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- by Wayne Boyd (1:153/763@Fidonet.org) Vancouver, B.C. There's a new echo that has just started up for users of the Suprafax v.32bis and v.32 modems, and it's called, appropriately enough, SUPRAFAX. This echo is not presently on the Fidonet backbone, but may eventually (hopefully soon) achieve that status. For now you would need to make an arrangement with me via netmail to pick it up. FidoNews 9-39 Page 26 28 Sep 1992 After purchasing my Suprafax Modem, I quickly realized the need to have a dedicated Suprafax echo dealing with problems, solutions and support for this fine fax-modem. Here's where you might learn exactly what initialization string is best for YOUR modem, or why your modem doesn't hang up the phone (the problem I'm having at present, argh), or how to send a receive faxes with your Supra. You can read what other people say, and offer suggestions to neophytes like me. It is our hope that Supra Corp themselves will want to support the echo and participate in it, but this is not confirmed at present. Rumors have circulated that they would be interested in such an echo. Here's how to get a feed for the echo: Best to ask your NEC or NC to request it from me, and you can get it from him (if you aren't him in the first place!) Or if that isn't possible, then you can request it from me directly. All echomail for long distance nodes will be placed on hold and you would have to poll several times a week (at least) to pick up your mail. Sound fair? So see you in the new SUPRAFAX echo. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New USAFA and USAFAAOG Echo Conferences by George Falcon Sysop, 1:109/446 (301) 277-BBS1 (2271) 6231 Baltimore Avenue Riverdale, MD. 20737-1020 Voice (301) 277-9572 I have been an associate member of the Association of Graduates of the U. S. Air Force Academy (USAFA AOG) for a number of years, having gone there in the summer of 1976 with the new members of class of 1980, the first class to permit the attendance of women. Attending the U. S. Air Force Academy was a great honor for me, and I look back on those days as some of the most enjoyable and most challenging of my life. The USAFA AOG, in its quarterly publication, "Checkpoints", helps keep members of the different classes informed on the whereabouts and well-being of their classmates through the columns written by the class scribes. The Register of Graduates, published far less frequently, lists all graduates, and publishes, with the permission of the individuals, their current address and other pertinent information. As a sysop who started out in FidoNet in 1986, I realize the great potential this network has to bring people with common interests together despite considerable geographic separation. Since Air Force people, like those of the Other Branches, are dispersed throughout the globe, I thought it might be beneficial to them to have another communications channel... one which might permit them to stay in touch more regularly, with a shorter response time than letters or magazines. FidoNews 9-39 Page 27 28 Sep 1992 To offer this service, I'm starting two new echo conferences called USAFA and USAFAAOG. Not all alumni of the U. S. Air Force Academy are members of the AOG, so I'm going to offer one echo (USAFA) for discussions of the Academy in general, and another (USAFAAOG) for discussions related more directly to the Association of Graduates itself. It is my intent that no other types of message should appear in these echoes. I intend to enforce these rules very strictly. The rules files are contained in the files USAFA.ZIP and USAFAAOG.ZIP, available for file request here. Those sysops interested in participating who've read the rules, agree to their conditions, and who're willing to poll this system until there's enough traffic to justify a request for placement on the "zone echomail backbone" should notify me via netmail. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- The Vegetarian Echo Tag: VEGAN Moderators: Linda Martin 1:214/19 and Ed Weinberg 1:140/490. 1. The purpose of this echo is to provide a forum for exchange of ideas, information and recipes of interest to vegetarians or those interested in becoming vegetarians. 2. Topics can include: Vegetarian Food and Recipes Lacto-Ovo or Vegan Diets Reasons for Becoming Vegetarian Health Advantages/Disadvantages Living as a Vegetarian in a Meat Eating Culture Where to Find "Cruelty Free" Products Great Vegetarian Restaurants, Books, Periodicals Whatever else pertains to vegetarianism... East Coast nodes: Netmail Ed Weinberg of Extract! at 1:141/490. 9600b. West Coast nodes: Netmail Linda Martin of Camphor Fountain at 1:214/19. 2400b. In beween? Take your pick! If you have a high speed modem and want a *fast* transfer, netmail: Barry Kapke of Body Dharma Online at 1:125/33. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Steve Winter 1:227/150@FidoNet Please spread this info around. Thanks!! FidoNews 9-39 Page 28 28 Sep 1992 'The sun never sets on the PRIME network' -={ PreRapture(tm) International Message Exchange }=- With nodes in USA, HONG KONG, SINGAPORE, BELGIUM, RUSSIA?, BULGARIA, PORTUGAL, CANADA and growing. PRIME is the Only Christian computer network in the world. * Both Religious (Christian) and non-religious conferences. * A wholesome, family oriented network with a strict policy against profanity, lewdness, obscenity etc.. Features echos on educational and technical topics. * Elaborate Bible Discussion and Debate * False Preachers Exposed * 919-286-3962 * 919-286-3606 * 919-286-3266 * 919-286-4617 * 919-286-2100 Using USRobotics Dual Standard Modems V.32bis-14,400 / HST-16800bps * FREQ PRIME.ZIP from 98:98/1 or 1:227/150@FidoNet for network kit * No religious requirements for participation! This should work as a private nodelist (PreRapture BBS was illegally dropped from the FidoNet nodelist by corrupt FidoNet officials) : Zone,98,PRIME,Durham_NC,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3962,9600,CM,HST,V32b ,1,PreRapture,Durham_NC,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3962,9600,CM,HST,V32b ,2,PreRapture_2,Durham_NC,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3606,9600,CM,HST,V32b ,3,PreRapture_3,Durham_NC,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-3266,9600,CM,HST,V32b ,4,PreRapture_4,Durham_NC,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-4617,2400,CM,MNP ,5,PreRapture_5,Durham_NC,Steve_Winter,1-919-286-2100,2400,CM,MNP ---------------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 9-39 Page 29 28 Sep 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. Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is copyright 1992 Tom Jennings. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or FidoNews (we're easy). OBTAINING COPIES: The-most-recent-issue-ONLY of 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 Internet. PRINTED COPIES 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 FidoNet nodes 1:102/138, 1:216/21, 1:125/1212, 1:107/519.1 (and probably others), via filerequest or download (consult a recent nodelist for phone numbers). INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.ieee.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. If you have questions regarding FidoNet, please direct them to fidoinfo@fidoinfo.fidonet.org, not the FidoNews BBS. 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". FidoNews 9-39 Page 30 28 Sep 1992 "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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------