F I D O N E W S -- Vol.10 No.37 (13-Sep-1993)

F I D O N E W S -- Vol.10 No.37 (13-Sep-1993)
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| A newsletter of the | |
| FidoNet BBS community | Published by: |
| _ | |
| / \ | "FidoNews" BBS |
| /|oo \ | +1-519-570-4176 1:1/23 |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | Editors: |
| | | \ \\ | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 |
| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
| |__U__| / \// | Tim Pozar 1:125/555 |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Internet addresses: |
| |
| Sylvia -- [email protected] |
| Donald -- [email protected] |
| Tim -- [email protected] |
| Both Don & Sylvia (submission address) |
| [email protected] |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies and other boring but important details, |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
========================================================================
Table of Contents
========================================================================

1. Editorial..................................................... 2
2. Articles...................................................... 3
Out of bounds............................................... 3
National Online Media Association........................... 5
CONTROLLING ECHO ACTIVITY, cont'd........................... 7
Updating Nodelist Flags..................................... 8
A short revisit to the archiver question.................... 8
Re: WORD OF WARNING!!!!!!!!!................................ 10
IMUS in the Morning ECHO.................................... 11
1:170 XAB. My views........................................ 12
RAH Celebrates Its "Paper" Anniversary...................... 12
The Hypothetical Hypocritical Hypochondriac ZC.............. 15
Mail from Tom Jennings...................................... 16
"ZIP: Correction; BIGBRO: Addition; INDRANET: Bigger"....... 17
Some Responses to Last Issue................................ 18
"TITLE of Article, POLICY 4"............................... 19
3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 20
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 2 13 Sep 1993

========================================================================
Editorial
========================================================================
We are running a bit behind today, so this will be a short
editorial. (no sighs of relief, please).

There is an article called "A short revisit ..." regarding
archivers, that bears a note of explanation. In it, Mr. McMahon
notes that we refused to print an article. That is not quite
true. The article in question (in fact all of Mr. McMahon's
articles) bore no resemblance to ARTSPEC.DOC whatsoever. Now
when that normally happens, we curse a tad, then proceed to
reformat the article, put a title in, etc. That is what we did
with the first three articles by Mr. McMahon, and this last one.
However, the article in question contained a couple of pages of
tables that were all too wide to print, and to simply justify the
text would not have made sense. We therefore netmailed him, and
asked him to set it up in a format that did not require vast
amounts of work by ourselves.

Judging by this week's article, he did not get that netmail.
It was routed, as our phone bill cannot stand all the snooze
correspondance going out crash. Perhaps the fact that he runs
as a point has something to do with that. However, our policy
is to print everything we get that has to do with the net.
["hey, whaddya mean, POLICY.....policy ? WHAT policy ?]

We did get some heart warming and inspiring mail lately. One
person wrote indicating playful enjoyment of trying to guess
which editor wrote what. Personally, i like to think of these
editorials as a microcosm of FidoNet in the sense that whatever
gets written by us is generated by a wide range of types of
dialogue. We don't always agree about much, other than the
importance of producing the snooze. I think what we come up with
together is better than what we would produce in isolation.

Partly in response to readers' mail about the format of the
Snooze, i'd like to again raise the idea of publishing the
Snooze in two formats: one to be read only by people in a
visually pleasing format which could change depending on what
gets submitted, and another to be read only by machines in a
strict format according to specs [yet to be formed] so that door
programmers can have something practical to work with. With two
formats, human readers won't be bothered by restrictions made
necessary by door programs, and programmers can have a free hand
in creating ways of mounting the snooze. Both formats could be
sent around just like the one is now.

In persuing the topic of e-zines and their potential, you
might pleasantly anticipate a forthcoming series of articles by
several people that responded to last weeks editorial.

Oh yes, sorry that this editorial is so long. The other
editor added to it.
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 3 13 Sep 1993

========================================================================
Articles
========================================================================
Out of bounds.
By:Nils Hammar
2:205/601@fidonet
[email protected]
[email protected]

From my opinion, there are several topics in fidonews that are
out of bounds right now.

1. The compression war.
Why fight about the best compression program, there will be a new
better program next week, and every program doesn't run on every
platform. I'm looking for a mailer for VMS 5.3 right now.

2. The use of pirated/hacked/whatsoever software in fidonews.
If you use the tool for daily work and somebody claims money
for it - Pay!

3. ZC:s, RC:s and NC:s that are annoying, excessively annoying or
breaking the law. I don't care if sysop John Doe is in conflict
with Albert Einstein III in Z1 when I'm in a calm part of Z2.
There are better ways to solve problems like that than having
a flame war here in the world wide fidonews.

What I would like to see is more about the social and cultural life
of the sysops and their friends around the world. Some people in
Z1 (and other parts of the world too) are often confusing Sweden
with Switzerland for example.

(For those who don't know, Switzerland is right north of Italy,
while Sweden are north of Germany and west of Russia)

I am living in Sweden, less than 100 kilometers south of the
polar circle. This will place me closer to the north pole than
Fairbanks in Alaska! But any snow isn't expected until late October.

For those who wonder about reindeers, Yes we have those animals here,
but they aren't running around in the streets! Only on the roads,
especially when there is a lot of snow, since it's easier to run
on the road then! We also have a lot of other animals running around
here, like elks and bears, and even a few wolves, but they are very
rare. This sunday the hunting season for elks started (so I woldn't
recommend you to run out in the woods in the early morning in a dark
suit...)

One thing that is special with Sweden is that anybody may leave the
road by foot (or any unmotorized veichle) without permission of the
landowner.

This right has however some limitations. You may not disturb the
growth of whatever is growing in that area, you shouldn't make a fire
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 4 13 Sep 1993

unless it's completely necessary and it must be completely fireproof.
You may not use live trees to anything unless it's an emergency.
(It's also a bad idea trying to make a fire with a living tree -
it would only create a lot of smoke without any heat)
It is also not allowed to disturb the animals more than necessary
if you are out walking. Any gates that you have to pass must be closed
when you have passed, since it wouldn't be any fun for the owner of a
hundred cows or sheeps trying to find them in the woods.

One thing that I would recommend you if you want to visit Sweden as
a tourist is to do it by train, foot or by bicycle. It's possible to
rent bicycles in some parts of Sweden, especially the island Gotland
(which have a lot of history. (On a few maps Gotland might seem to be
Russian, but that's not true.)

The major city of Gotland, Visby has a stone wall that is about 800
years old and several other buildings of the same age.
Gotland is a very nice part of Sweden for a person that has even the
slightest interest in history. It was one of the largest commercial
marketplaces in northern europe during the middle age.
There are also a lot of beaches all around Gotland if you like to
take a bath or only being lazy.

If you like sailing, it is also a good idea to take a trip to Sweden,
but you have to watch out in some parts, since some areas around the
coast are military restricted areas, and a good navigation equipment
is also recommended, since if you are sailing to Stockholm, you will
find out that you are in an archipelago (did I get that right) that
is one of the largest in the world. The correct number of islands
wasn't stated until the 20th century. If you are going to count all
islands, you will have to use more than one summer! :-)

If you are a dirt bike rider, you would probably want to visit the
Gotland grand national, which is celebrating it's 9th anniversary
this year in November. This is a REAL dirt bike race with between
1200 and 1500 participants starting at almost the same time!
Somebody said that this is the worlds largest dirt bike race counting
the number of participants. Since everybody starts at almost the same
time, it's possible for anybody to compare themselves with the world
champions in this game (and a lot of them are here). If you are afraid
of real dirt - stay out!
There are several classes in this race. A few are here: 125cc, 250cc,
500cc and 4-stroke.
Some years ago, the oldest participant was over 70 years!
Anyone interested may contact me, and I will try to pass you some
more information.

If your native language is english, don't be afraid of coming to Sweden,
the majority of the swedes understand english, but are often afraid of
speaking english (me too:-))!

If you come from the US, you will probably find Sweden rather cheap
right now, since our currency is rather weak compared to the US dollar
and the japanese Yen.

FidoNews 10-37 Page: 5 13 Sep 1993

There are a lot of other special attractions here in Sweden to hang on
too, but I have chosen a few here, and I hope that you who read this
also writes an article that choses a few goldies about your country
that you think is nice to know to the world.

(Excuse me if my english are confusing in some parts. It's hard to
explain some things in a non-native language.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

National Online Media Association

National Online Media Association (NOMA)
by Jerry Seward, 1:2613.333

A new BBS trade association, the National Online Media Association
(NOMA), was formed at ONE BBSCON '93. The press release on NOMA
follows this short introduction.

To facilitate the dissemination of this information throughout the
Fidonet community, the In*Touch Fidonet/Internet gateway will be
converting this internet mailing list to a Fidonet echomail conference
called NOMA.

If you're interested in receiving this information in echomail format,
please contact me at 1:2613/333 for feedsite suggestions.

NEW BBS TRADE GROUP FORMED

NOMA
NATIONAL ONLINE MEDIA ASSOCIATION

Contacts: Phill Liggett
[email protected]
(203)233-3163

Lance Rose
[email protected]
(201)509-1700

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

A new trade association, the National Online Media Association (NOMA),
was formed at ONE BBSCON '93 in Colorado Springs on August 27th, 1993.
NOMA comprises BBS operators, Internet service providers, and other
online media and services.

NOMA's mission is to act for the BBS and online service industry on
matters of national importance by creating an industry presence in
Washington, D.C. and other means; assist its members at the state and
local levels; educate the public on the unique social, business and
legal roles of BBS's and other online services; establish appropriate
industry standards and guidelines; promote business development in the
industry; and maintain and provide access to resources and industry
information for use by the public and the industry.
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 6 13 Sep 1993

An 11 person Organizing Committee was elected to develop a proposal
for NOMA's charter, bylaws, membership requirements, structure, and
form of leadership. The proposal is to be completed and distributed
within the BBS and online services industry by November 30th, 1993.

Discussion areas are being set up immediately for those interested in
participating in NOMA's early development. An Internet mailing list
is available to all those interested at [email protected] (subscribe
to [email protected]). A conference area is also being made
available on the Delphi national information service.

The members of NOMA's Organizing Committee are:

Phill Liggett - Chairperson
[email protected]

Joe Balshone
[email protected]

Celeste Clark
BBS #: (805)520-2300

Pat Clawson
[email protected]

P. Victor Grambsch - Secretary
[email protected]

Tony McClenny
BBS#: (703)648-1841

Robert Pataki
[email protected]

W. Mark Richmond
BBS#: (209)685-8487

Steve Sprague
[email protected]

Jim Taylor
[email protected]

Bill Wilt
[email protected]

In addition, three advisors agreed to assist NOMA's Organizing
Committee:

Mike Godwin, Esq.
[email protected]

David Johnson, Esq.
[email protected]
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 7 13 Sep 1993

Lance Rose, Esq.
[email protected]

For further information, please contact Phill Liggett, (203)233-
3163 or Lance Rose, Esq., (201)509-1700

Mailing Address: NOMA
c/o Phill Liggett
Solutions, Inc.
89 Seymour Avenue,
West Hartford, CT 06119
END

JERRY SEWARD | FidoNet 1:2613/333.0
In*Touch Consulting Services | InterNet [email protected]
5 Spicewood Lane | UUCP rutgers!ur-valhalla!rochgte!jerry
Rochester, New York 14624-3717 | FAX: +1-716-461-3169
USA | Voicemail: +1-716-234-9069
- - - - - - -

----------------------------------------------------------------------

CONTROLLING ECHO ACTIVITY, cont'd

Just to follow-up on my article titled CONTROLLING ECHO ACTIVITY...
AND ELIMINATING MODERATOR CENSORSHIP in FidoNews 10-35, I'd like to
thank those of you who have replied to me by NetMail, and suggest
the formation of an informal working group to study the whole question
of using content codes instead of a fixed list of echos. If this
were the InterNet, I'd probably set this up as a mailing-list or mail
reflector, so that contributions from anyone would be sent out to
all the members of the group. In fact, I may do that anyway, if there
seems to be enough interest shown by people with InterNet access.
But meanwhile, here on FidoNet, the answer is probably an echo. Can
anyone recommend an appropriate one?

So far, the responses I have received on this subject have been quite
positive, and I will post a summary of our discussions at a future date.
Anyone who would like to contribute or comment is invited to contact me
at one of these addresses:

Doug Wilson @ 1:351/220 -- FidoNet
[email protected] -- InterNet
[email protected] -- FidoNet via InterNet

Thanks,

dpw

FidoNews 10-37 Page: 8 13 Sep 1993

Updating Nodelist Flags
Re: Updating Nodelist Flags
Chris Farrar (1:246/20)

In issue or two ago, there was an article regarding updating flags
on some entries in the nodelist, specifically the HST, H14 and H16 flags
to reflect the current "State of the Art" flags. There is only one
problem with this. A large number of systems are using FrontDoor
2.02/NC by Joaquim Homrighausen. FrontDoor 2.02 won't recognize the H14
and H16 flags as indicating an HST modem. By updating all nodes to
these flags, before the mailers are capable of recognizing and acting on
the flags, will hinder, not help, communications in FidoNet.

While talking of nodelist flags, I would also like to propose that
we create 2 new flags for the nodelist, which I propose be CID and NBL.
As most people in Zone 1 are aware, Caller ID is springing up as an
optional feature of most phone companies. The flag CID would be used to
indicate that a node is using Caller ID, so those with privacy fetishes
would know not to call them for fear of their number being recorded
(even though in most cases they gave out their phone number when they
first called the BBS). The companion flag, NBL, would be used to
indicate that the system will not accept calls from people who block
their number from being displayed. This would easily let people who
want to hide their numbers to using routing commands to always route
mail to nodes with NBL flags.

Chris Farrar

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A short revisit to the archiver question.
Shawn McMahon
1:206/1701.666

I submitted a new article, in which I re-did my previous tests of various
archivers on Fidonet mail, with all the valid concerns expressed to me
corrected.

The Editors of Fidonews have chosen not to print it; no problem.

They've also chosen not to respond to netmail asking why; no problem.

Here's a quick breakdown of the contents:

I took out HAP, added ARJ 2.41, and used a whole week's worth of mail to
build a larger packet. I corrected a couple of typos that made my results
irreproducible with the command-lines given.

Everything came out in the same place on the list.

ARJ 2.41 in maximum compression mode created larger archives than PKZIP
2.04g in default; PKZIP 2.04g in maximum compression mode ran faster than
ARJ in default. ARJ still remained in the same place on the list, however.

FidoNews 10-37 Page: 9 13 Sep 1993

I had hoped to publish this one last large article, then update it
incrementally as new archivers became available to me; that appears not to
be about to happen anytime soon.

There's nothing I can do about it; I'm not a listed node at present, so
there's little I can do about the Editors ignoring my mail. I won't sweat
the small stuff, however.

If anybody wants a copy of the test, lemme know and I'll netmail it to you.

BTW, informal testing of Info-ZIP's ZIP-compatible archiver shows that it's
REALLY slow, but actually produces slightly smaller archives than PKZip
2.04g. It fits in the chart just below PKZip.

With luck, I'll be a full node again soon; if so, I'll make an effort to
have every possible relevant archiver for every system on-line, and test all
the MS-DOS (and, by that time, OS/2) ones in as scientific a manner as
possible. I'll make those results available via a magic name, and see if I
can't work out some kind of deal with the Editors for a periodic (yearly?
bi-yearly? Netmail me if you care) update article.

Again, I must reiterate; the standard is only there for dealing with people
you haven't dealt with before. The first time you send somebody netmail,
ask him if he supports your favorite archiver. My system supports every
archiver I tested, except HAP which I shouldn't have tested in the first
place.

If you want your echomail in your favorite format, then get it from somebody
who supports that format. As for your nodediffs; give your hub a break, ok?
If he can't give it to you in ZIP format, then get it from somebody else.
If you want that extra couple of percent compression on it, get a life!
Jeez, it's only a couple of seconds.

BTW, just for the record; despite what Carlos Bazan said, saving 45% on
files that are several megs in size isn't 1%, and it isn't 10k, and it isn't
insignificant. Nor do even a dozen articles on the subject add up to
thousands of echo messages a day. I didn't pluck that 45% out of a hat;
that's about the average savings OVER ARC of all the top archivers I've
tested. The extra couple of bytes saved by using Squeeze or Hpack instead
of ARJ or ZIP may be irrelevant; the extra megs saved by using SOMETHING
other than ARC, and thus literally THOUSANDS of dollars on some systems,
certainly IS relevant. I'm obviously not the only person who thinks so, or
the Snooze wouldn't be shipped LHArced.

FidoNews 10-37 Page: 10 13 Sep 1993

By: Fais Nasir
To: All *Maximus* Sysops
Re: WORD OF WARNING!!!!!!!!!
+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| WARNING TO ALL MAXIMUS SYSOPS! READ THIS! VERY IMPORTANT!!!! |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

There is a very easy way for a user to crash your Max board...!
Tonight, it was brought to my attention by Ming Ho (1:250/526). One
a couple of occasions, a Maximus board known as "The OH! Zone"
(non-Fido BBS) was crashed by the user issuing the following
commands; first, they would use the yell option, and then for the
reason, they put:

%16,%f,e.t.c

Although the "e.t.c" part more than likely means nothing, the "%"
means a lot to Dos. I have thoroughly tested this on my system. It
*does* work. There is a simple solution for it however (which I've
also tested).

To avoid this hassle, edit your "Yell.Mec" (or whatever file your
system invokes when the user presses 'Y' from the Main Menu) and
change the line that reads:

[log]+User yelled about "%J".

to read:

[log]+User yelled for you.

The reason you do this is because if you don't, there will be an FPU
error. Much like as in a programming language, Dos cannot store the
wrong data-type in a wrongfully declared memory region. It has no
'type-caste' precautions built-in to it and consequently doesn't know
how to handle a statement such as above, i.e. the reason it's
crashing is because the user is making an illegal call to the memory
regions of the machine-- this is why the system crashes, and you
*must* hard-boot it!

I urge all sysops to make these changes as soon as possible. If you
must log the reason, then use the [store] or [write] statement, do
not use any codes with the "%" sign in them. There are other ways to
log it if you like, I would pursue those avenues if a reason to chat
is absolutely essential for you to know even when you're not there.

I would now like to thank Ming Ho and Raffi Shahinian for bringing
this problem to my attention, and also to Ming Ho for testing it out
for me.

I have the user name, and his telephone number (although it's
probably fake). He has tried to log onto my system with different
names etc. now. I will release this information to any sysop that
feels they require it, or I could post it in this echo. I just
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 11 13 Sep 1993

wasn't sure if I was being 'fair' if I put all of his information in
this echo.

I hope that this message is of some help to you (of course it is!).
By the way, this does not exempt OS/2 users either.

-- Fais Nasir
[ATRIBBS] - Conversations UnLimited.
1:250/718

P.S. Please forward this message to all Max sysops everywhere.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

IMUS in the Morning ECHO
by Anthony Grillo
1:272/94
IMUS in the Morning ECHO

I will be moderating a new echo available from 1:272/94 discussing the
phenomenon known as the "I" man.

The "I" man is John Donald (Don) Imus the original shock jock that has
captured the commuting audience of the New York Tri-State area for the
last 20 years. He originally broadcast on 660 AM radio on the flagship
station of the NBC network, WNBC. 50,000 watts on a clear channel
frequency that can be heard over a multi-state area. A few years ago
NBC sold the transmitter to a fledgling and struggling sports station
WFAN. WFAN began broadcasting on the 660 AM frequency and is now the
top billing station in NY. Of course IMUS the egomaniac takes all the
credit.

The "IMUS in the Morning Show" can be heard from 5:30am to 10:00am
Monday to Friday. But you don't have to tune to 660 AM if your in the
following areas.

Boston, MA Providence, RI Scranton, PA
Tampa, FL Washington, DC

The NATCOM satellite is carrying the program for radio stations that
want to broadcast the show. If you in one of the above areas check the
AM or FM bands for the show. Most stations pick the show up starting
at 7am. More stations will be coming on the air in the following
months and we will announce them on the echo.

Listen in and laugh as IMUS lampoons, politicians, TV personalities,
newspaper reporters and callers while he talks to them on the air.

So give it a try. Call the Monroe Electronic Mall 1-914-783-0992 or
request an echo feed from 1:272/94.
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 12 13 Sep 1993

1:170 XAB. My views

By: Todd Basnaw. 1:170/911
Another 1:170 sysop talks.

This is my first article here. I never had a reason to write before now.
As mentioned by Tim Winters, this IS a hobby. Everything about networking
and BBS's will always be a hobby, but some people JUST DON'T GET IT.
Jason Garcia isn't the first person Bruce Bodger has attempted to
harass (XAB) about the registration discussion. When I first started
out in Fidonet, Bruce decided to harass me too. Telling me to register
RA or else. I finally got tired of it and switched over to EzyCom.
If this isn't XAB, then I'm not sure what is. I was finding "warnings"
in my mail folder every day for a week until I switched!
What I don't understand is WHY they are being allowed to harass people
about registration when it has nothing to do with the network.
If they don't like it, then they need to take it up directly WITHOUT
getting ANY network involved!

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed, but there's been a rash of drop-outs
from the 1:170 zone because of Bruce Bodger and JB Graham. I agree
with Mr. L's suggestion. Warnings won't work with these two and they
think they're GOD around here.
Any comments are welcome in MY mail folder. 1:170/911. Todd Basnaw

----------------------------------------------------------------------

RAH Celebrates Its "Paper" Anniversary

RAH Celebrates Its "Paper" Anniversary
by Dave Bealer (1:261/1129)

One year ago something new hit the online world. Random Access Humor
(RAH), the first electronic magazine dedicated to personal computer/
communications humor, debuted on 9/1/92. RAH pokes fun at draconian
sysops, goose-stepping moderators, and twits in all their infinite
variety.

RAH is a great experiment, one that appears to be succeeding. The
list of official RAH distributors has expanded from five systems, all
in North America, to almost 60 systems on three continents. Best of
all, the official distribution sites are just the tip of the RAH
iceberg. Only 5% of the responses to our first reader survey came
from listed systems. This indicates total RAH distribution of around
1,200 bulletin board systems worldwide.

These sysops (and their users) are attracted to RAH's irregular
features, like The Twit Filter, the Grunged Glossary, and the RAH
Humor Review. Articles by resident crazies Greg Borek, Rob Novak,
Ray Koziel, and the maddest hatter of all, yours truly, are also
quite popular.

RAH is available in ASCII Text and READROOM.TOC format. The latter
format supports the popular Readroom BBS Door. Dozens of boards
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 13 13 Sep 1993

around the country (including such insignificant operations as
EXEC-PC and Channel 1) use the Readroom Door to allow their users to
read electronic magazines (emags), including RAH, online. Readroom
can be used with any BBS software package capable of generating a
DOOR.SYS drop file.

RAH is distributed on the following file echoes each month:
NEWSLETR (SDS), and EP-MAG (EPubNet). Both of these echoes ride the
Filebone. RAH is available (Text only) to Internet users via
anonymous FTP from: nic.cic.net
dir: pub/nircomm/gopher/e-serials/alphabetic/r/rah

RAH is also available at the following FidoNet boards:

-= AUSTRALIA =-
Victoria
The Flying Circus Highett 3:635/555 61-3-532-5224 V.32bis

-= CANADA =-
Ontario
Typecast BBS Kingston 1:249/107 (613) 545-9148 V.32bis

-= ICELAND =-
The Vision BBS Keflavik 2:391/20 354-2-14626 V.32bis

-= NETHERLANDS =-
BIB Aalten Aalten 2:283/401 31-54-3774203 V.32bis
BBS Sussudio Denhaag 2:281/517 31-70-3212177 HST/Dual
TouchDown Hoofddorp 2:280/401 31-2503-24677 HST/Dual
Bommel's BBS Schiedam 2:285/800 31-10-4700939 V.32bis
Pleasure BBS Utrecht 2:281/705 31-30-934123 V.32bis
Datanet BBS Voorschoten 2:281/101 31-71-617784 V.32bis

-= SLOVENIA =-
R.I.S.P. Ljubljana 2:380/103 38-61-199400 V.32bis

-= TURKEY =-
SoftCom Online Istanbul 2:430/1 90-1-2572790 HST/Dual

-= UNITED STATES =-
Alabama
J & J Online Chickasaw 1:3625/440 (205) 457-5901 V.32bis

California
Automation Central San Jose 1:143/110 (408) 435-2886 V.32bis
The Software Station Saugus 1:102/1106 (805) 296-9056 V.32
Marin County Net Sausalito 1:125/55 (415) 331-6241 HST/Dual

Florida
The Software Cuisine Miami 1:135/57 (305) 642-0754 V.32bis
Worlds Imagined BBS Ormond Beach 1:3623/10 (904) 677-9562 V.32bis
Flamingo Ventures Pensacola 1:3612/320 (904) 478-7716 V.32bis

Idaho
Phantasia BBS Boise 1:347/25 (208) 939-2530 V.32bis
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 14 13 Sep 1993

Illinois
The Crossroads BBS Chicago 1:115/743 (312) 587-8756 HST/Dual
The Loonatic Fringe Elk Grove 1:115/542 (708) 290-8877 V.32

Indiana
Digicom Evansville 1:2310/200 (812) 479-1310 HST/Dual

Maryland
Wit-Tech Baltimore 1:261/1082 (410) 256-0170 V.32bis
Outside the Wall Baltimore 1:261/1093 (410) 665-1855 V.32
The File Exchange Cockeysville 1:2617/104 (410) 628-7243 HST/Dual
Pooh's Corner Fells Point 1:261/1131 (410) 327-9263 V.32bis
The Puffin's Nest Pasadena 1:261/1129 (410) 437-3463 HST/Dual

Michigan
007LZ Southfield 1:120/636 (313) 569-4454 V.32bis

Missouri
Abiogenesis Kansas City 1:280/310 (816) 734-4732 V.32bis

New Mexico
High Mesa Publishing Los Lunas 1:301/1 (505) 865-8385 V.32
Paula's House of Mail Los Lunas 1:301/301 (505) 865-4082 HST

New York
The Shop Mail Only Flushing 1:2603/203 (mail only) V.32bis
The Wall-2 Middle Village 1:278/612 (718) 335-8784 HST/Dual

Ohio
Village Online Yellow Springs 1:110/210 (513) 767-7896 V.32bis

Oklahoma
H*A*L Muskogee 1:3813/304 (918) 682-7337 V.32bis

Oregon
Bitter Butter Better Tigard 1:105/290 (503) 620-0307 V.32

Pennsylvania
Cyberdrome Philadelphia 1:273/937 (215) 923-8026 V.32bis
Milliways Pittsburgh 1:129/179 (412) 766-1086 HST/Dual

Texas
Incredible BBS Burleson 1:130/82 (817) 447-2598 HST/Dual

Utah
Vital Signs Midvale 1:311/20 (801) 255-8909 V.32bis

Virginia
Data Empire Fredericksburg 1:274/31 (703) 785-0422 V.32bis
Flying Dutchman Newport News 1:271/237 (804) 595-9383 V.32bis
The Time Machine Newport News 1:271/236 (804) 599-6401 HST/Dual

Washington
Spokane Online Spokane 1:346/20 (509) 327-8540 V.32bis
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 15 13 Sep 1993

Dragon's Cave Tacoma 1:138/198 (206) 752-4160 V.32bis

Wisconsin
The First Step BBS Green Bay 1:139/540 (414) 499-0659 V.32bis

Full information and all back issues of RAH are always available for
Wazoo/EMSI file request (except ZMH) from the RAH publication system:

The Puffin's Nest Pasadena, MD. Sysop: Dave Bealer
FidoNet> 1:261/1129 (410) 437-3463 16800 (HST/Dual)
Current RAH Issue (text format): FReq: RAH
Current RAH Issue (Readroom format): FReq: RAHR
Back Issues of RAH: (text) FReq: RAHyymm.ZIP
(RAH9209.ZIP for premiere issue)
Back Issues of RAH: (Readroom) FReq: RAHyymmR.ZIP
(RAH9302R.ZIP and later only)
Complete Writers Guidelines: FReq: RAHWRITE
Complete Distributor Info: FReq: RAHDIST
Readroom BBS Door: FReq: READROOM

The Puffin's Nest also carries a wide selection of electronic books,
magazines and electronic publishing tools. Access to TPN is free.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Hypothetical Hypocritical Hypochondriac ZC
George Dorn

Please note that the story that follows is pure fiction, and any
similarity between the persons described and any persons who are
currently or have in the past breathed the mixture of gases that we
generally refer to as the atmosphere of the planet Earth are totally
hypothetical. This will become immediately apparent to all readers
as there has never been, to my knowledge, a female ZC. Perhaps it's
time we rectified that as well.

The person described herein may be considered a hypocritical
hypochondriac, and if any particular ZC thinks the story applies to
them in some way, well maybe they're paranoid as well. ;-) Is mental
instability a basis for removal of a *C I wonder?

Once upon a time, there was a ZC out in FidoLand, and she upset the
SysOps in a Region in her Zone, by assuming the RC post of that
Region, even though she didn't live in the Region.

Then, when she had finished that, she decided to ignore the wishes
of the SysOps in another Region in her Zone, when they complained
about reorganisation, because reorganisation was "Policy Compliant",
and indeed although there was a lot of suggestion that she was
involved in the reorganisation, she said that anyone who said she
was involved was a liar, and she would sue them and get lots of
money from them for their nasty lies.

Next she said that a SysOp who said he was going to get a legal
judgement on the application of Policy in another Region was a
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 16 13 Sep 1993

blackmailer. She then removed the RC, and installed herself in the
RC post as she didn't live in the Region and it meant the SysOp
couldn't sue her, and was generally bossy as all women are.

Then she said that anyone who threatened another sysop with court
action was a blackmailer and was XAB.

Now it so happened that some SysOps didn't like what she did, and
they wrote Articles in FidoNews complaining about her behaviour, and
she saw these, and she was mightily angry, and she ranted and raved
and threatened the SysOps with XABs and Court Actions (remember, she
said that a threat of court action is Blackmail) and she wrote nasty
letters to the editors of FidoNews, and she made the bold SysOps who
had put their names to their articles retract their statements, and
she went purple with rage and had apoplectic fits because other
people had written articles anonymously and she couldn't make them
retract those articles.

So, the moral of this story is simple, and is there for all to see,
do not upset the whinging woman ZC lest she have a purle fit and
suffer a stroke or some other such illness through her bad temper.

George Dorn
pp Sysops in Brazil, Germany, UK and Beta Antares.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Mail from Tom Jennings

> nobody talks to me about randomness. i think we need more
> randomness. That's what happens when change happens by
> somebody else.

YES!!

(Even when it's someone else taking your money (long circuit I'm
thinking of, not robbery).

Substantial changes in San Fransicko. Lots of businesses closing. People
on the street. Etc. But also -- lots of "boho" type places, instead of
charging $7 for a shitty breakfast in a "boho" punk neighborhood, umm,
the bridge & tunnel crowd no longer has in interest in slumming for fun.

Instead, they're actually *becoming* punk grunge cafes with homemade
stuff because, its all people can afford (will buy) and instead of fake
dirt, it's real dirt.

The TV subsume/consume culture can seemingly vampirize any potential
threat, be it punk, Seattle grunge, rock'n'roll, whatever. However
there's two things that don't work in that scheme (eg. show up at
Macy's)

ACTUAL sex and DIRT.

Sex, they approach from all angles, but real SEX is sticky, smelly,
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 17 13 Sep 1993

slippery, and seeing two people FUCK ... looks silly! It's goofy! One of
the utterly LAST things people want to do is NOT LOOK SERIOUS. Sex also
means dirt (...) and bodies (scary!) and touching, and... the insides od
their heads, the worst of all.

DIRT is... the antithesis of Western culture. You could measure "class"
by the amount of dirt tolerated. No one wants it. A dirt "look" might
sell -- the Seattle grunge thing, ripped jeans, all that -- but ACTUAL
dirt is like SEX.

The crustcore punx have dirt as their central theme. Actual, crusty,
filthy, filth. There's even crustcore music. I am not kidding. I love
the crustcore kids. There are small crustcore enclaves, that hop trains
(really) and hitchike, and now overlap the Rainbow family (check out one
of their gatherings sometime, though you'll likely not lik ea lot of the
crowd it is an amazing even nonetheless). A lot of them are castoff
fuckup kids.

San Fran in places (that I like) is developing a comfortable layer of
well-worn dirt. It is Authentic dirt. Not for looks. It's the dirt of
sex, the kind you don't mind. Like the crud that accumulates in drawers,
corners, etc. It only grosses you out when its SOMEONE ELSES DIRT! Like
moving into a new apartment, the dirt in drawers is somehow... icky. But
your own dirt, who notices?

(Maybe this is behind why the Normals HATE ALL DIRT -- THEY ARE ALIENS
EVEN TO THEMSELVES!!!)

A local "hip" restaraunt, the New Dawn, used to attract the art school
kids, out-of-town wannabees and such.. it's a sort of trashed out
restaraunt, with "kitchy" decorations, bad paintings, pervert art, bad
food, etc. It was of course over priced and populted with hipsters. NO
MORE! They're open later, for dinner, and have a $1.98 breakfast
special, after 3pm! The food still sucks, but now they have real punks
and locals eating there.

People also seem to be getting more tattoos and other line-drawing
decorations; it's like, it doesn't matter any more. I'm not gonna be
able to be a Bank Teller during the day anyways, so what the fuck what I
look like, I might as well like it.

I like these lines being drawn. Assuming we hav to have the other part,
ie. poverty on the rise. It's wartime, is all. I have no doubt the
Normals will not win.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"ZIP: Correction; BIGBRO: Addition; INDRANET: Bigger"
Stanton McCandlish, NitV DataCenter (1:301/2) +1-505-246-8515

Some updates for stuff that was reported in previous issues.

The UNZ51D3X.EXE (DOS version of InfoUnZip) was corrupted and
has been replaced with UNZ51D3X.ZIP. Note that it's .ZIP, not
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 18 13 Sep 1993

EXE, so you'll still need PKUnZip to extract it. "Why would I
want it anyway"? Well, it will do things that PKUnZip won't,
like zip subdirectories by default instead of by special switch,
etc. Pretty neat. FREQ magicname ZIPS to get a short listing
of all the Zip/ UnZip archivers I have available for various
platforms (Atari, Mac, Amiga, Unix, DOS, OS/2, etc.)

*** *** ***

There's now a new one of the "BIGBRO" files, which contain info
on the US govt.'s Clipper/Capstone/Skipjack encryption scheme
(it has builtin backdoors for "law enforcement" snooping, and
the plan will only succeed if they OUTLAW all other forms of
cryptography), and other threats to your privacy, plus all sorts
of analysis, commentary, letters to send to congress, etc etc.

The new one is BIGBRO4.ZIP. You can FREQ the whole "set" as
magicname BIGBRO, or just get the individual files as
BIGBRO.ZIP, BIGBRO2.ZIP, BIGBRO3.ZIP, and BIGBRO4.ZIP. You do
not have to be Fido nodelisted to FREQ these files, 24 hrs.
Note: the full set is between 700 and 800k. BIGBRO4.ZIP is about
350k or so.

BigBro4 has a lot of info on the PKP-RSADSI scandal with NIST
(over DSA/DSS encryption licensing and bogus monopolistic
patents on properties of mathematics. Besides that, there's
some info on CPSR, EFF-Austin and other groups, analysis of
Clipper from both sides, and more.

*** *** ***

IndraNet, a small-but-growing OtherNet (FTSC and QWK), which has
NO policy, NO coordinators, and NO moderators, where freedom of
speech reigns, now has hubs in 9 states and 5 countries. Get in
on it now! FREQ magicname INDRANET.

Tha-ba-tha-ba-that's all folks!
- S.McC.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Some Responses to Last Issue
Stanton McCandlish NitV DataCenter 1:301/2

In "Change Nodelist Archiver Rebuttal", David Johnson 1:244/117 says:

".ZIP - an unzip package is available for every machine that I know
of, but the corresponding .zip create requires more memory than is
available on ALL machines.. Will both the Create and UnCreate run in
64K is probably a reasonable criteria for determine whether or not a
specific archiver will be used."

64K? Maybe someone took that joke about the Timex Sinclair
seriously... At any rate, all that's needed is to get the InfoZip
source code, and strip out everything that is not essential for the
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 19 13 Sep 1993

mail use of a ZIP archiver (such as passwording, encryption, ZIPing
directories, etc etc. Just the basics. I'd suspect the result would
fit into 64K quite nicely.

In "Open letter to ZCs and the IC", Joaquim Homrighausen 2:270/17
says:

"I'm sure I'm out of line, have used all the wrong examples, gotten
the picture wrong, and everything else that can be said about this
message.. so, with all due respect, GMAFB."

I for one wouldn't say you are out of line; you have interests to
protect like anyone else. However, the thrust of your argument seems
to rely on the following:

"It is stated over and over again that FidoNet is an amateur network.
In which case, what does the US (or any nation's) justice system have
to do with an amateur network? A copyright is a copyright. It is not
a grey area of definitions that can be judged or interpreted by means
of personal opinions, or is it?"

I hate to point it out, but that's doublethink. Copyright is a law
issue, nothing more nothing less. Your idea seems to amount to "What
does the justice system have to do with Fido? Except of course when
it comes to copyright." I'd also like to point out that copyright law
differs from country to country, so in many cases it IS a grey area.
I have to firmly agree with those who decry the Garcia Incident as a
load of crap, on the grounds that until Mr. Garcia, or anyone else,
is actually convicted, they are not guilty. Beyond that, I also
question the wisdom of kicking someone out of the net for such an
infraction in the first place, for a lot of reasons.

This is not to say I support piracy, as someone or other accused me
of doing previously. It's just my opinion that the issue of piracy
is not one which Fido need concern itself with, there being things
like legal systems to deal with it already. Last I looked this was
supposed to be a NETWORK, not a government or software registration
enforcement agency. Oh well. As for the matter of people pirating
YOUR "warez", perhaps you should look into software methods of
preventing it. Anything but using Fido as a copy-protection
mechanism.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

"TITLE of Article, POLICY 4"
Dan Mancuso, Another BBS?, 1:301/0, NC301

Dear Friends...

(I wanted to start off friendly)

Recently, one of the Sysops here in Net 301 decided to express his
opinion to the Fido World... I was unaware this article was planned,
and in fact as of the writing of this reply, I have not even read it.
My reply has nothing to do with the content of that article.
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 20 13 Sep 1993

I decided to put this short note in FidoNews to ask folks a favor...
Please take the time to read POLICY 4 a little closer before you
start asking, requesting, or demanding a NC remove or otherwise take
action against a sysop for having an opinion.

I think most folks would be rather surprised at how little real power
is afforded to an NC (or RC for that matter) As I read it, an NC can
remove a node only if it becomes technically incapable of properly
moving NetMail (note: this does not include echomail, unless it
interferes with the movement of NetMail.) Oh, I suppose if you read
through the examples you could find other example of where an NC
could take advantage of his/her position...

All I want to say on the matter is: Unless a sysop is somehow
interfering with the proper operation of FidoNet, do not ask an NC to
take action. The NC's function is to maintain the NodeList for his
network, distribute the nodediff, FidoNews, and policy updates, and
NOT to be the Network BABYSITTER

In Net301, we had a history of seemingly serious problems between the
sysops of our network... My solution to the 5 year problem was the
simplest I could think of... I eliminated the "Official Net Echo"
and the arguments, disgust, and so on, went completely away! It
appeared to me that mosty of the percieved problems were imaginary.
and after the removal of the echo where all the flaming took place,
Net 301 has become a quieter, and much friendlier place...

Perhaps some of you can learn from this... if not, Please try to
limit your complaints to that which really make a difference. As
some of you noticed (those who netmailed me asking me to take action
against Stanton McCandlish) have discovered, I have a tendancy to
ignore those types of messages, unless they have technical merit. So
many messages were recieved and still continue to arrive, that I felt
this was the easiest and quickest way to let people know what kind of
action I was planning to take.

Thank you for listening!
Dan Mancuso, Another BBS?
BBS 505-255-3623 FAX-505-255-8210

----------------------------------------------------------------------

========================================================================
Fidonews Information
========================================================================

------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------

Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, Tim Pozar
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello,
Tom Jennings

IMPORTANT NOTE: The FidoNet address of the FidoNews BBS has been
changed!!! Please make a note of this.
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 21 13 Sep 1993

"FidoNews" BBS
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS)
Internet addresses:
Don & Sylvia (submission address)
[email protected]

Sylvia -- [email protected]
Donald -- [email protected]
Tim -- [email protected]

(Postal Service mailing address) (have extreme patience)
FidoNews
172 Duke St. E.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2H 1A7

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 1993 Sylvia Maxwell. 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.)

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 [email protected], not the
FidoNews BBS. (Be kind and patient; David Deitch is generously
volunteering to handle FidoNet/Internet questions.)

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.

Asked what he thought of Western civilization,
FidoNews 10-37 Page: 22 13 Sep 1993

M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea".
-- END
----------------------------------------------------------------------