F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.36 (05-Sep-1994) +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS | | _ | +1-519-570-4176 | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | Small animal psychology and | | (_| /_) | Spiritual guidance Department: | | _`@/_ \ _ | Rev. Richard Visage 1:163/409 | | | | \ \\ | | | | (*) | \ )) | Editors: | | |__U__| / \// | Donald Tees 1:221/192 | | _//|| _\ / | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 | | (_/(_|(____/ | Tim | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Submission address: editors 1:1/23 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MORE addresses: | | | | Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Tim Pozar -- pozar@kumr.lns.com | | David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411, deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org | | submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | For information, copyrights, article submissions, | | obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq | | please refer to the end of this file. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Table of Contents ======================================================================== 1. Editorial (rush job again, sorry)............................. 2 2. Articles...................................................... 2 A Few Comments about the FidoNet in Hong Kong............... 2 talk a bout a transfiguration whoooa!....................... 3 Since I'm crashing you...................................... 5 Not-the-Husky Tower,........................................ 7 A reply to James Ankuda..................................... 8 Ascii art................................................... 9 What Price for Cheap Mail?.................................. 14 3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 16 FidoNews 11-36 Page: 2 05 Sep 1994 ======================================================================== Editorial ======================================================================== Check out GenMSG by GK Pace at 1:374/26, which makes PGP easier to use with FidoNet technology and includes a nice text file about privacy. Even i can understand the docs, so it must be easy to use. i am relieved that the Rev. Visage has arrived safely in Calgary, despite many alluring distractions threatening to daunt his vigilance in his holy search for the lost CRP. Our accountant is finding his expense account submissions to be greatly entertaining. [we'll discuss this later, k?]. Apologies are offered to S.C. Martin Wong for any mistakes made by me while typeing in his article submission. What a rush it was to get an actual paper letter in the mail box all the way from Hong Kong! Thank you! Although, i am very sorry to hear that there are still absurd restrictions against the use of local languages in local echos. Wierd. It's almost 11:30. Tick, tick, ... ======================================================================== Articles ======================================================================== A Few Comments about the FidoNet in Hong Kong By: S.C.Martin Wong - Martin_Wong@HKMHBR.MHBRGRP.COM Before you read this passage, please excuse me my English writing skill is so very bad. Because I am only sixteen years old very small BBS system operator in Hong Kong.(6:700/760). I joined FidoNet for 6 months. I read a lot of echomail in FidoNet. I discovered two very serious problems in FidoNet Hong Kong (Zone 6, Region 700). Problem 1) In FidoNet Hong Kong local echo, user not allowed to use Chinese. Problem 2) FidoNet Hong Kong has two NC! According to FidoNet Policy 4, English is FidoNet official language. In international echo, only allow user use English is right! Because English is international language. But in local echo, not allow user use Chinese is so very unacceptable! Because most BBS user in Hong Kong is Chinese or oversea Chinese, include me. Hong Kong BBS user English writing skill is very bad (like me). I read mail in local echo is so very hard because Hong Kong BBS user usually use incorrect grammar or spelling in their message, but no person to correct their mistake. I don't know what they said in the mail. I think local echo message will not send to another country. Allow user use Chinese in local echo (not include local sysop echo, because some BBS sysop in Hong Kong is foreigner!) is very FidoNews 11-36 Page: 3 05 Sep 1994 reasonable! Because most BBS user are Chinese, make more BBS user read and write message easily will make more BBS user using Fidonet Hong Kong. Another serious problem in FidoNet Hong Kong is FidoNet Hong Kong has two NC. FidoNet Hong Kong was made by Louis Chan and another foreign sysop in Hong Kong. Then Louis Chan was Hong Kong FidoNet NC. But Louis Chan is so very busy man, he usually not read the message and do not do management work in FidoNet Hong Kong. Some sysop hope change the NC, then some sysop elected Chris Leung to do the NC. In this time, Louis Chan said he is the NC, some sysop disagreed it. But Louis Chan said reason is more important than legality. Now, I don't know who is the true NC. I hope Hong Kong FidoNet sysop read this passage, they can think how to make FidoNet Hong Kong better than Now. S.C. Martin Wong Hong Kong Man Hing Book Room, System Operator in British Hong Kong (6:700/760.0@FidoNet.org) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Tom Jennings Re: talk a bout a transfiguration whoooa! > may i please put this in snoozie? Um, did I answer you already? My computer is senile and cannot remember. Yes is the current answer. > Tom Jennings writes: > I know exactly what I want my building to look like. I don't care abou stuff like rooms or value or wood or concrete or steel. It needs a place in back with dirt. It cannot be flat. There is a particular combination of pale light brownish grass that everything dies into in the semi-arid high-desert (newly raised sea bottom) that most of the West coast (or north america) is. There must be a pile or iron for plants to grown in, old tangled rusted on top but filthy with 40 year old caked grease down amongst the weeds where you go to grab them to clean up the yard on odd five year intervals, and when you realize just how heavy, filthy and tangled the iron objects really are you give up (pulling your hand back, think layer of old grease, dirt, dead grass, cobwebs and dead bugs, hot thread of a sore muscle you pulled on a little too hard at the wrong angle and a bright white and red scrape on your bare shin where the cast iron steering gear rose and fell at an unpredictable angle when you tugged at the pile). That's what smart plants wrap themselves in to FidoNews 11-36 Page: 4 05 Sep 1994 get away from thoughts of lawnmowers or even human interest in their existence. > > I want to take up again my practice of putting unwanted vegetable sexual parts into the dirt outside the kitchen. In our last warehouse 666 Illinois st I did this. Friends live there now so I get to visit. There is 3rd year stunted corn, big pile of peppermint, inedible green beans, wild flowers, and an avocado tree nearly 6 feet high and six feet wide with a 2 inch diameter trunk! It can't have sex though, only masturbate, because it's the only avocado tree around. > > In the impentrable scrabble in the corner of the parkin lot I scraped out a tiny hole to bury my old lizard in. There is now a giant fennel growin on top of it; this has no bearing to the lizard buried there, as fennel grows everywhere here anyways and the lizard had no water or flesh in it's 2-foot long body (strange beast; the sort of animal that makes you wonder about existence itself. It requred 105 degree temperature, ultraviolet radiation, it ate only bugs and mammals, and drink literally no water. It would urinate after eating mice. It was utterly solitary, apparently approaching one of it's own to mate in some violent ritual. It was flatly terrified of all and any humans, even me, who fed it reliably. Nearly all animals lke me, even wild ones. It lived in it's intensive care station at the end of a 40 foot hall way, and would bask on it's electric rock under the 100 wat red heatlamp and blacklight bulb; as I approached, it would rise up on all four legs, hiss, and **BOLT** at high speed under its rock pile to peer at me until I left. The only thing that would bring it out while I was aroun was a small white mouse dropped into it's cage, which caused it to speeed out, grab the mouse with no unnecessary motions, suffocate the mouse and inhale it. Utterly no cruelty, nor recnognition of the mouse. Strange beast. It actually grew abou 6" and gained about half a pound of weight, the vet at SPCA was furious I was able to buy one, he explained the rather extreme requrements for it's survival and assumed I would not meet them. So when we moved to 666, and it no longer was the solitary occupant of 120 sq ft of dark hallway, and had to be within visibility of humans most of the time, and it stopped eating. It lost weight. After a month of this, I simply couldnt take it any more. A lizard expert (sic) told me that lizards hibernate/sleep when it gets really cold, and the least awuful way to kill them is to put them in a box, in the freezer. They sleep. Then freeze to death. I puzzled the ramifications of this contrast for a long time.) I always wonder about it's skeleton, should I go dig it up. > > My friend Erika has a little house in Santa Fe. Her and her boyfriend Scot have a chaotically controlled garden. She has a large patch of Datura. It really is a > > > > -- > > World Power Systems -- San Francisco CA Tom Jennings -- tomj@wps.com -- World Power Systems -- San Francisco, Calif. > > FidoNews 11-36 Page: 5 05 Sep 1994 Subject: Since I'm crashing you... From: Sheila Lennon (1:323/109.2) Thanks for bringing up ascii art in the Snooze. I'm just starting to play with it -- haven't gotten beyond cluttered type experiments yet, though. (: We have a lot of ANSI online, but there's not enough b&w. (Nevertheless, I'm window-shopping a color scanner, want to get my local artist friends' work online and seen, maybe even put it up on the Planet Connect bird. All this is possible now.) I doodle in meetings, and sometimes doodle online. TheDraw's docs are impenetrable, and the colors wrong for me, so sometimes I doodle ascii. Here's a cartoon: Magic cowpet: @*, <(...)> |""=""=""| _-_-_ `{o o}' //// // \ ]_|_[ |||| \\./ ( O ) \\\\ ""| |"" \\\ +++ ";; / ( ( \ ~~ < ) ) > (()) , /^\ /^\' / \ ( '0÷^÷0~~@' \ o / '`'(o)``, `===*+*== ',',',' ,^*', || || !! !! <> <> FidoNews 11-36 Page: 6 05 Sep 1994 and a found object: TIFFANY ANYONE? by Carolyn Stewart (~) (' `) ).( (`_~_ _ _~_') /` / | \ '\ / --- /----|----\ --- \ /_____ /_____|_____\ _____\ ` / | \ ' `------/-------|-------\------' `- - - /- - - - | - - - -\ - - -' ` /.\ | /.\ | /.\ | /.\ ' ` \~/ | \~/ | \~/ | \~/ ' `\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /' ` ` ` (_`___`_) ` | ` ` ) ( | ) ( * ( ) ( ) ` ' ` ' ` ' ` ' ` ' ` ' ` ' ` ' `. .' ) ` ` ( ( ~ ` ~` ~ ) ------------------` ~ ~ ~ ~ '-------------- ` ` ` ` ' ' ` , ' ` . ' ` . ' ' ` ` ' ' Carolyn Stewart ... [dignified silence] --- msgedsq 2.1 Origin: - Art of the Possible - Providence (401) 421-2218 (1:323/109.2) FidoNews 11-36 Page: 7 05 Sep 1994 Not-the-Husky Tower, Revisionist Street Name, Calgary, Alberta My Dear Doctor Logger, Forgive my tardiness in responding to you, but unfortunately, Ms. LaBamba sat upon the laptop in which 163/409 is housed, and the moisture did some irreparable harm to the internal modem. I was however, able to acquire one of those big suction-cup mama accoustic coupling devices (at an adult supplies emporium) and it seems to have restored my communications. I'll avoid mentioning what Ms. LaBamba purchased at the Adult Shoppe, but I must say I had no idea that they had motorized such things. My arrival here in Calgary was closely timed to coordinate with that of fall breezes, so I anticipate that the leaves shall soon begin to fall nearly as fast as Hubs in net250. Calgary is a beautiful city, I know this because all Calgarians tell me so. I am perched high above the city, in a structure first built by Husky Oil to brandish an unmistakably huge concrete middle finger in the general direction of Toronto (which responded with a slightly larger version of the same thing). Husky's disappearance after the oil patch rush days of the 60's and 70's, along with many of its brethren -- due to a plethora of mergers, corporate shenanigans and American trust companies -- almost certainly makes this city the world champion in changing corporate logos on its buildings. What was once an oil town has now, as evidenced by the occupation of the majority of the locals, turned its industrial might to the manufacture of bolero ties and silver collar tips for western shirts. Oh, yes, and the beauty of Calgary -- from the squallid mud pit of the stampede grounds in which is perched the sway- backed Saddle Dome, to the smoky horizon where I'm told you could see the mountains if only half of British Columbia were not in flames -- is the urban core which is vacated by night, surrounded by brown, permanently dead, grass. It's very picturesque, so I'm told. But indeed, where else can you find people who perform country line dances on the sidewalk. Were this outbreak of culture not inspirational enough, one can wait around for a 'chinook', which evidently is a warm breeze that Calgarians are proud of. This clearly is a place of serious cheap thrills, Logger. Or at least it is now, since last night Ms. LaBamba discovered the minibar, emptied same, and promptly went out on the town, wearing the suction-cup mama accoustic coupler, and little else. Be a good chap, would you, and advise Sylvia that my tab may be a little higher than usual for my stay in Calgary. I must convey my concern, I've not seen a trace of our missing RC here. Evidently, the deteriorating accuracy of the nodediffs FidoNews 11-36 Page: 8 05 Sep 1994 would indicate that he's not managed to surface even briefly. I fear the worst, Logger, and I shall continue on my voyage east, just as soon as I can get Ms. LaBamba off the roof of this tower. I shall report in just as soon as I arrive in Winnepeg. If all works well, you'll find f'attached a number of "Giant Army Worms" who are famous locally for their ability to decimate whole fields of canola. As your spiritual advisor, might I suggest that you send them down to our friend Korolory in net 250? I'm sure he'll need them for Hubs. Religiously Yours, Rev. Richard Visage Spiritual Advisor, Region 12 Minibar Plunderer, Motorized Device Fancier. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A reply to James Ankuda by Steve Boisvenue (1:167/319) Nope, it's not what you think. I suspect you've had quite a few nasty letters from religious fanatics by now, but this isn't one of them. In fact, I agree with most of your points. I applaud you for speaking your mind so freely and openly. Personally, I believe in setting your own values and beliefs, then going out in search of finding an organized religion that conforms to your beliefs. Not the other way around. I agree that anyone who reads a book, such as the Bible, and decides to base his life around it is weak. There is not one book that exists that could change my mind about my beliefs, or have such a strong effect on my mind. Since you mentioned how some religious members harrass citizens, I might as well add some examples. 1 - I have had people comming around, door to door trying to give me the Bible and a lecture about the church. I don't know if you have any of those people in your area, but I am frequently visisted by representives of the local church who litterly put their foot in the door to stop me from slamming it in the face. At one time, I had to carry through a threat to call the police in order for them to leave. 2 - At the airport . . . Thousands of people, including me, are constantly running around the airport, trying to catch their flight. There's always guys trying to talk you into joining their religion. The ones sitting at a table are okay, it's easy to just keep walking. But others tend to follow people around screaming in their ear about the end of the world, the good news, or some other "extremely important" item. FidoNews 11-36 Page: 9 05 Sep 1994 I'd say the church is the biggest and most organized hate group in the world. It has fascist qualities, and is clearly anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-euthanasia, anti-contrasceptives, anti-free speech and sexist. The list of the church's false claims is enormous: 1- They claim homosexuality is unnatural, which can be proven to be false with any trip to the zoo or into the wild. 2- The church denies the fact that the world is over-populated, and continues to loby to ban abortions and the use of birth controll. 3- They want to ban euthanasia (mercy killing\right to die) in order to "protect God's will." Yet, they support almost any medical act to prolong the lives of, or revive people who would otherwise be dead. 4- Women are still denied any high-level positions in the church. 5- The church is still activly lobbying for forced prayer in American schools. Those are the facts . . . how blind are those who refuse to see? Steven Boisvenue - Fido 1:167/319 - Steve.Boisvenue@hyperwave.mtlnet.org NOTE TO EDITOR(S): I hereby give my permission for FidoNews to edit my submission in any way necessary, including cutting sentinces and/or paragraphs, correcting grammar and spelling. Via WILDMAIL!/WC 4.00* 1:167/300.0, Aug 30 1994 at 03:04 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Ascii art by Dave Aronson (1:109/120) Finally, another ASCII (NOT ANSI!) Art Aficianado! It has long been one of my favorite mediums (media?). Some scorn its lack of color or motion, and the restricted character set, but that makes it UNIVERSAL, which IMHO is far more important. Below are some of my creations. You may sprinkle them into the News as you see fit, with credit. Or if you so desire, you may make an article out of this message. May as well open with the opening screen of my BBS, slightly modified to fit in a msg w/o getting rewrapped: FidoNews 11-36 Page: 10 05 Sep 1994 iIi # A Hail, citizen! iIi |||| __#__ Ave! | Centurion Circus Maximus |||| ___ Oy Vey! \__) /.-.-.\ / | and his twin brother \__) <<< >>> / | | |'o o`| / | Senator Gluteus Maximus | | | o o | / | | | @ | | welcome you to | | | @ | | | \`---'/ | .------|>o------. | | \`---'/ ` `==)___(==-\ A | T I D M A D T | ` `---)___(---. \ ||M M|| \ H `---------------' \ | | \/`'MM MM`'|\ \ H (These Initials Don't \/ | | | M M M | \ \H Mean A Da*n Thing!) | _-.___.' | | M M | \ H |(____| | |===(*)===| \() USR DS Modem (16.8k HST, 28.8k v.34) | \ | |HHHHHHHHH| H (closed 4-5 AM EST, 5-6 AM EDT) | \ | |HHHHHHHHH| H | \__/ |HHHHHHHHH| H Member of Fidonet, SurvNet, | | |VVVVVVVVV| H Keshernet, Reshet, Syndicate-Net, \ ___/ | | | | H Paul Revere Net, and MedievalNet \__--~| | |_| |_| H |_| |_| (__| |__) H Using Maximus 2.01wb under OS/2 2.11 (__| |__) I used to have the centurion all by himself, under a stone arch, with a portcullis behind him, but didn't keep it. From an online courtship (the infamous Courtship of Therica from the Rialto): | __ ---'---,---<@ |/~~ / O\_ ---'---,---<@ .--. .--./~~ ( _< ---'---,---<@ / \ / \ )_( ---'---,---<@ ( \/ ) / \\ ---'---,---<@ \ / / | | ---'---,---<@ \ / / / / ---'---,---<@ \ / / / / ---'---,---<@ \/ / / / |/ ---'---,---<@ /\ / ////\// ---'---,---<@ |/ \ / // || ---'---,---<@ ~~ \/ /\\\ ---'---,---<@ (Yes, that's one dozen longstem roses.) Darn, I can't find the basket full of assorted flowers I did, and I know there was more, but I don't think I hung onto everything. The bird was later modified to resemble a parrot, for use as a logo for Bruce Feist's POLLY BBS project, but I can't find that version. FidoNews 11-36 Page: 11 05 Sep 1994 Inspired by the thought of netmailing someone money: .--------------------------------------------------------------------. | .-- FEDERAL REVERSE NOTE .-- | | |_ ...... THE UNTIED STATES OF AMERICA |_ | | __) `````````` ______ B93810455B __) | | 2 ___ / \ 2 | | /|~\\ / _-\\ \ __ _ _ _ __ | | | |-< | | // \ | |_ | | | |_ | | \|_// | |- o o| | | | `.' |__ | | ~~~ | |\ b.' | | | B83910455B | \ '~~| | | | .-- 2 \_/ ```__/ .... 2 .-- | | |_ ///// ///// //// \__\'`\/ `` //// / //// |_ | | __) F I V E D O L L A R S __) | `--------------------------------------------------------------------' One never knows when some generic little pictures will come in handy! I've seen the thumbs in various places; Leroy Pyle says he snagged the _ _ .-. |-. .-| .-. _ _____ .-. | | | | | | .-. ( | |--' ()_) | | | | | _ _ | | | | | ___\ \ | ()__) | | | | || | | || | | | | (__() `-| | ()___) | |' | | `| | (___() | |-. ()__) | / \ | (__() | \ \ \ / \ / (_()__.--| |_) \_____/ \_____/ Two versions of "hold your tongue", the first being sideways because I was originally trying to create an emoticon: O \__.-.-.-.-. O O @ | | | | | | O /~~| | @ |______.' \_____/ __|___| | ___) | ___) | ___) \______) The star looks better in printed form (6 LPI, 10 CPI, at which a slash is darn close to 60 degrees) than on a typical screen (~4 LPI, 10 CPI): /\ O / \ O O O O | | O O O O / /\ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ________/ /__\_\________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | \ ____/ /___________ / | | | | | | | | |_| | | | | | | | | \ \ / / \ \ / / |_| |_| |_| |_| \_/ |_| |_| |_| |_| \ \/ / \ \/ / \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ | \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ \ \/ \ \/ | | | | | | | | | /\ \ /\ \ \ \ \ \___|___/ / / / / /\ \ / /\ \ \ \ \_______|_______/ / / / /__\_\______/ /__\ \ \ \___________|___________/ / /_____________/ /______\ \_______________|_______________/ \ \ / / | \ \/ / | \ / / \ \/ .' `. _.-~_______~-._ And what a thing to put near them!: /\__--~~~--__/\ ||\ /|| |/|(O) (O)|\| \ .---. / \ ( o o ) / \/`---'\/ `-|||-' --- oink! `-' FidoNews 11-36 Page: 12 05 Sep 1994 Continuing in the animal vein: |(.) (.)| \ / ) ( / \ ( \_/ ) | | | No, I don't mean pussy, get your mind out of the gutter! It's just not quite complete yet. Here it is in full: /\_-~~~-_/\ | | |.|(.) (.)|.| || \ / || || ) ( || || / ___ \ || `'( \_/ )`' | | | \__/ \__/ ---- Arf! Arf! Arf! || | || `| | |' `---' Those who hang out on a certain echo I moderate should recognize the first and might remember the second (don't ask, very inside joke): _____ _-~.'|`.~-_ / / | \ \ / / | \ \ |---+---+---+---| |~-_ \ \ | / / | ~-_ \ \ | / / |||||| ~-------| |~-_~-_~.|.~_-~_-~| |::::::_-------|:. | ~-_~---~_-~ | |:::_-~ :: | ~-_-~ | |_-~ __::__ | |-_ _-| | | :: | | | | | | | More crud, |_::_| | | | | | | sweetheart! |____| \_/ | | \_/ | | \_/ (sigh, gotta be legal... the first item is a registered trademark of Mensa.) FidoNews 11-36 Page: 13 05 Sep 1994 And under all this, what more appropriate than: _________________________________________ |_________________________________________| |_________________________________________| | | | | / | | \ | | | | / | | \ | | | | / K I S S I N ' | | F O O L ! \ | | | | / | / \ | |/ | / / \ \ | | | | / / \ \ |_______________________| |_______________________| |_______________________| |_______________________| _________________________________________ |_________________________________________| |_________________________________________| | / \ | | | | | | | | | `-_ / \ \ _-' | ~-_ | | | _-~ | | ~-_ | | | _-~ | \ -_| \ |_- / \ \ | / / \ \ | / / ~-_ \ / / _-~ ~-_ | | _-~ ~--_|_____________|_--~ _______________________________________ |---------------------------------------| `--_ _--' | ~-_ _-~ | \ ~-_ _-~ / \ -_ _- / \ \ / / \ \ / / `-_ \ / _-' ~-_ | | _-~ ~-__|_________|__-~ Drawing the contents is left as an exercise for the reader. And in closing, the closing screen of my BBS: .-. .-. | .-. | | | | | | ___ | | | |/ _ \ ___ | /o\_'||.' o `. | \=/ /|| `---' \ ___// \ \____/ (`__') `--.____.--' . . . Be seeing you! FidoNews 11-36 Page: 14 05 Sep 1994 What Price for Cheap Mail? Jason Bennett, 1:116/4, Hub 1:116/6000 The advent of Planet Connect last year marked a turning point in the history of the backbone. Simply put, Planet Connect's handling of the backbone is the worst crisis Fidonet has had to face in many years. The reduction of the backbone from a smooth, volunteer-run mail transfer system to an unreliable, commercialized mess is a study in amateurs attempting to become Z1EC through numbers. Let's begin at the beginning... Last summer, the hubs in net 116 were told of the imminent arrival of a savior, the greatest thing to happen to Fidonet since Tom Jennings wrote Fido v1.0. That worshipful entity was Planet Connect, a company that would deliver all the mail and files you could eat at a fraction of the current cost. If it sounds as though PC were made up to be a god, that's not far from the truth. Planet Connect, so it was claimed, would deliver all the mail and files the net could consume for a mere $30 a month, plus it would soon have (cover your face in reverence!) UseNet newsgroups! The cheers from the net could be heard for miles around. Although a few hubs and nodes questioned the technology and spirit behind the service, these horrible people were quickly hushed by the resounding cheers of "cheap mail!" It took a few months to get mail delivery from PC off the ground, but by January 1, 1994, net 116 had accomplished three important goals: 1. It had driven off one of the best NEC's the net had ever had. 2. It had formed a group of the majority of the net who lusted after mail and files for $2 a month 3. It had formed another, smaller group who had a landline feed from George Peace The NEC left simply because he saw the writing on the wall. He knew that with the advent of PC, denying anyone a feed to a backbone echo would be impossible, as that person could always get his own dish to receive it. Tracking down dupe-loops inside the net would be impossible, and PC would in general make the job more hassle than it was worth. His responsibility would remain the same, but his ability to enforce the rules and do his duty would be greatly curtailed. Coupled with the fact that he was no longer needed to get the backbone, he wisely resigned his post. Our new NEC has, fortunately for him, not had it too badly. The potential for disaster, however, is still there. Things continued merrily along until June, when two more important events happened: FidoNews 11-36 Page: 15 05 Sep 1994 1. The landline co-op dissolved over the cost (too few people, unlike before PC) and split into two groups, one that got its own satellite and one that was left out in the cold and forced to get a satellite feed. 2. The PC distributor for net 116 began to get increasingly irritated over the state of PC, namely that the feed was overloaded and the error rate was too high. As it stands now, things are in flux. The current PC feed is stepping down in October because of the state of the PC feed and the time it takes to get the mail done right (not done, as most nets are doing it, done right). This leads me to the point of all this, the decidedly negative effect Planet Connect has had on Fidonet. Before Planet Connect, the mail was transmitted along telephone lines between volunteers who (literally) sacrificed their machines for the cause of Fidonet. These people cared that the mail got through every single day. If one of these people knew that h e could no longer handle the job, more often than not he gracefully resigned, leading to a smooth transition of duties. Today, we have Planet Connect, where if your lucky you'll receive two-thirds of your mail on any given pass. Planet Connect not only cannot transmit the mail, they can't even process it right. Every day, bundles come in out of order, or with skewed date/time stamps (MO1 is at 8:30, MO2 is at 7:45), or with tons of dupes (I've seen more duped-out message bases in the past month than I've seen in years), or even with all three! How far we've come with technology! Another effect PC has had on Fidonet is, instead of small nets having to get only a little of the backbone, they get pieces of all of it. I've heard of more than one small net who get 75% of their daily mail, but wouldn't F'Req it because of the cost involved. A message entered no longer is guaranteed to get to all the recipients. Care to play Russian Roulette with your message? Further, with all the cries of "cheap mail!," has anyone actually counted the cost? Let's take net 116 for an example. Before PC, our bills (for a 50-person co-op) ran $180-$200 a month, picking up all the large echos (FOR-SALE, GENEALOGY) and a good portion of the backbone. Each person paid about $2.50/month (after various contributions). Today, we pay $1 a month, saving $1.50/month, but our PC connect is not being fully subsidized! This does not even count the initial cost of the dish, another large investment. Today there are 8 dishes in our net, paying a combined $450/month for PC service, plus F'Req's, plus initial cost. Where is the cheap mail? Additionally, instead of brave volunteers transmitting mail, we have a commercial company as the effective Z1EC. Now, I'm not going to argue that this is against policy, as that is an unwinnable argument. It is, however, a bastardization of the real spirit of FidoNews 11-36 Page: 16 05 Sep 1994 Fidonet, the spirit of people coming together for a common purpose, to talk to each other. We work together, fight together, laugh together, and mourn together. But with the advent of PC, that spirit fades just a little. Sure, we can still communicate with each other (assuming the mail actually makes it through), but no longer do we sacrifice for one other. In this age of "cheap mail!" we no longer have to work to get a feed, we can just sit at home, happy that we're only paying $30 for a chance at mail packets. Finally, with this vast centralization of the backbone, do you ever wonder what would happen if PC were to go down? It did happen only a few weeks ago (lightning strike, they say. From clouds that were 200 miles away at the time.) No one could get Fidonet mail for a day, and later that week their mailer went down, blocking anyone from sending replies back (meaning there was again no mail). What happens if PC suddenly folds one day? Where will your mail come from? I hope I've been able to shed a little light on the true effect Planet Connect has had on Fidonet. I'm sure I'll get tons of mail praising PC for all the "cheap mail!" it provides, but just consider this: what price does Fidonet (and you) pay for your cheap mail? ======================================================================== Fidonews Information ======================================================================== Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar Tom Jennings "FidoNews" BBS FidoNet 1:1/23 BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS) more addresses: Rev. Richard Visage -- 1:163/409 Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411 sylvia -- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca (Postal Service mailing address) FidoNews 128 Church St. Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2H 2S4 max & Don voice: (519) 570-3137 FidoNews 11-36 Page: 17 05 Sep 1994 Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international volunteer 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 1994 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors. OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue 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 by sending SASE to the above paper-mail address, or trade for copy of your 'zine. INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the previously listed address. 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 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it. "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission. "the pulse of the cursor is the heartbeat of fidonet"... -- END