F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.10 (07-Mar-1994)
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 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. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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Table of Contents
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1. Editorial..................................................... 1
2. Articles...................................................... 2
Unnecessary Expletives...................................... 2
Mercury Network............................................. 2
Small Article about swiscon/eurocon......................... 6
Dying Boy Needs Cards ... NOT!.............................. 7
New Network in Town......................................... 9
3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 11
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Editorial
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FidoNews 11-10 Page: 2 07 Mar 1994
With International women's week coming up, Max is up to her
eyeballs in getting ready for an art show. So her I am, stuck
with the editorial.
The snooze is relatively tame this week, with only one
article chastising us for content. As Max went out the door,
she said "I want to reply to that ... next week". So that will
have to wait.
A couple of new networks are announced; one in Britain and
one down in Florida. I could never quite figure out why Florida
is such a hotbed of BBS activety. I mean, up here in Canada it
is so cold all winter that we woosies need an indoor activety
all winter. But down there it is WARM. Why all the indoor
stuff? MMM. Applies to California as well, I suppose.
Anyway, here is the snooze. I am going to head out to the
gallery and give Max a hand hanging stuff.
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Articles
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Unnecessary Expletives.
I was reading the February 21, 1994 (Vol 11 No 8) edition
of Fidonews and was shocked to see the use of an inflammatory
word in the editorial. If you're wondering what word, go back
and read it for yourself. There are many young users who read
Fidonews. I've always enjoyed reading Fidonews, but this type
of language is totally unnecessary. On our board, we try to
maintain a family type atmosphere and when a young user or
anyone else can go to the bulletin menu and read this type of
trash does not give Fidonet and the BBS community a very good
image. I hope that in the future that the editors will delete
these unnecessary expletives.
Robert Robertson 1:3607/5
[email protected]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Mercury Network
by Nick Jay 2:441/6
As a regular reader of the 'Snooze' for about 6 months now, and
having seen several articles over a period informing everyone
about OTHERNETS, I'd just like to take this opportunity to tell
everyone about a great 'new' network that is in operation here
in the UK. It's called Mercury and has nothing to do with the
telco of the same It was originally set up by Steve Woodmore, a
FidoNet SysOp, in order to create a network that was both
friendly, free of politics and policies and one that would give
people total freedom of comms, choice of conversations, topics
and expression.
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 3 07 Mar 1994
It started small but now has almost 200 participating nodes in
the UK alone. There are also many other users and points and the
network has grown in size and scope ever since. There are
currently around 150 echoes, catering to all needs and although
some of them are currently being dropped through lack of
participation, others are being imported from the States to
replace these, via the VNet/VBBS network in the USA and Canada.
A new RC in the Netherlands/Holland has also recently joined
With spain, Germany and France to follow soon. it is hoped that
this will continue to expand and encompass even more
international countries than are already contributing and
enjoying the network.
To give you all an idea, here is a list of the echoes that are
currently available to Mercury Network users:-
ADULT_HUMOUR Adult sex-type jokes and chat
AGA_AMIGA Amiga graphics and animation tips
AMA_RADIO General amateur radio chat
AMIGA_SOFT Amiga software news and advice
BARREN Help with Barren Realms Elite BBS door game
BBS_DOORS Discussion of BBS doors and interfaces
CAPITAL Capital PUNishment - witty puns and jokes
DR_WHO General discussion of TV programme Dr.Who
DS9 Deep Space Nine the TV programme
ELVIS_SIGHTINGS Spotted Elvis lately?
GENE Worldwide geneology discussion
GO_HMMM Things that make you go Hmmm!
L_CALL UK <-> US general chatter
MBEYOND 21st century and beyond
MBIKE MotorCycle news and discussion
MBLENDER Blender magik and rituals
MBOOKS Books and literary chat
MBOOK_SHADOWS Book of Shadows
MCD_ROM CD ROM Discussion and Information
MCHAOS_MAGIK Chaos Magik
MCHESS Chess playing tips and strategies
MCLOUD Living in a cloud
MCOLLEGE College bound students
MCOLL_LIFE College life and chatter
MCOMICS Comics {Cards, Books, Cartoons}
MCYBERPUNK Talk of the cyberpunk movement
MDEEP Deep thought and lateral thinking
MDEUTCH Deutch Fur Alles - German chatter
MDEVIL Satanism and the devil
MFALCON Falcon 3.0/Fighting Tiger
MFLAMING The War Room - flames and swearing!
MGENERALLAW General law discussion and help
MGET_ODD Don't get even get odd!
MGROUND Aviation groundschool - for beginners
MHACK How to hack a computer system...
MHATE_JOB I hate my job
MHI_FI Hi-Fi Equipment news and discussion
MHOMECOOK Home-cooking recipes and ideas
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 4 07 Mar 1994
MLAWENFORCE Law enforcement discussion
MLIVING_LARGE For those who weight in at 18+ stones
MOS2_CONF General OS/2 conference
MOS2_DOORS Running BBS doors under OS/2
MOS2_PROG OS/2 programming help
MOS2_REXX Rexx programming under OS/2
MOS2_RTABLE The famous OS/2 round table
MOS2_SUPPORT Beginners help for OS/2
MOS2_VSWINDOWS OS/2 versus Windows
MPAGAN General Pagan chat
MPC_PILOTS Armchair PC pilots and flight simulators
MPENPAL UK <-> US penpals conference
MPHOTO Photography discussion and news
MPROTOCULTURE Japanese anime conference
MRAYTRACE Raytracing - multi platform
MSPACE Space conference and news
MSTRATEGY Tips for strategy game players
MSUB_NEW Announcement area for new subs available in Mercury
MSUPRA Supra modems news and advice
MTEACHERS Teachers advice and chat
MTHIEVES Thieves and thieving conference
MTRUE_CRIMES True crime stories
MVAMPIRE All about vampires and their victims
MVGA_PLANETS Help and tips for players of BBS game VGA planets
MVIGILANTE Vigilante discussion
MWAR Talk of war worldwide
MWARGAMES Discussion of hit novel WarGames
MWAVE Computer wave news
MWORSHIP Satanic worship and more Satanism
MYELLOW Virtualnet yellow pages conference
M_AA Alcoholics anonymous
M_AACLOSED AA Closed meetings
M_ACCLOSED ACOA Closed meetings
M_ALT Alternative music
M_ANSIART ANSi art
M_ANSIMUSIC ANSi music
M_ASKCOPS Ask a cop - legal issues
M_ASTRO General
M_AUTOCAD Autocad discussion
M_AVIATE Aviators
M_CAP Combat-air-patrols
M_CCLANG Future of the C and C++ programming languages
M_CCPROG C and C++ programming hints and source
M_ERIS Eris Goddess of Discordia
M_EXPERTS Ask the experts - any subject
M_GAP The gap between kids and adults
M_GHOSTS Ghosts and other supernatural beings
M_GRIDIRON US Football news and chat
M_HHGTTG Talk of Douglas Adams' Hitch hikers
guide to the galaxy novel
M_INCENSE Incense oils, concoctions and brews
M_INDNEWS US and worldwide industrial news
M_INTERNET Internet help and advice
M_JOKES Light hearted jokes of any nature
M_KWIK Questions that go unanswered..
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 5 07 Mar 1994
M_MADNESS Enter madness
M_MAGIK Spiritual conference general chatter
M_MATTERS Compulsory echo for UK Mercury sysops
M_MEDITATION Meditation and crystals
M_MERCENARY Soldier of fortune
M_MILCHAT US military chatter and views
M_MILNEWS US military news
M_MILPEOPLE US military people
M_MOUNTBIKE Mountain bike chat and advice
M_MYCOMP My Computer is better than yours (Fido gated)
M_MYTH Mythology/Folklore conference
M_NET Mercury UK general user and sysop chat
M_NEWS Admin FEEDBACK ECHO
M_OP_SYS Computer networking professionals
M_PARADOX Paradox PC database support DOS & Windows
M_PCSECURITY Advice and news on PC security
M_PRAT Discussion of works by Terry Pratchett
M_SCIFI General science fiction chatter
M_SERENE Emptiness and serenity
M_STARTREK Startrek the TV programme
M_TASUP Worldwide Transamiga BBS software support
M_TEEN Mindless teenagers chatter
M_TEENWORLD The teenage world
M_TELEPHONY Telephony and phreaking
M_TNG Startrek The Next Generation TV programme
M_TREK.WRITERS Startrek story writers advice
M_UFO UFO sightings and discussion
M_UKGENE UK geneology enquiries
M_UNIX General Unix users lounge
M_UNIXTIPS Unix operating system tips and techniques
M_UNIX_FRONTIER Unix: the final frontier
M_USMIL US military general talk
M_VBI Visual Basic help and source DOS and Windows
M_VETERAN War veterans from any war
M_VIRUSDET Computer virus news and views
M_WARGAMES Wargaming (Computers)
M_SMEG Discussion of cult TV series Red Dwarf
M_FILESUK UK file distribution and location queries
M_CHESSUK General UK chess discussion and tips
OLD_FARTS Over 30s hiding place
ONLY_AMIGA Only the Amiga will do the job
PLEASURE_PALACE Sex related chatter (MODERATED)
PMO Things that really piss me off
POV_RAY Persistence of Vision PC raytracer support
PRO_WRESTLE Professional wrestling news
RIP R.I.P graphics and BBS software interfaces
SEX_STORIES Got any good sex stories?
TA_TALK Transatlantic chatter
As you can see, there are many varied echoes available and
something to interest everyone. The adult areas are limited but
are also strictly controlled so that only people *known* to be
over the age of 18 are allowed access to them and are also
moderated by VNet/VBBS from where they are imported. There are
other echoes being added all the time, one of the latest being
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 6 07 Mar 1994
my own M_PRISONER echo which aids discussions on the television
programme of The Prisoner, that starred Patrick McGoohan and is
so popular on both sides of the Atlantic.
People are able to start their own echoes if there is a topic
that isn't already available and these can be UK only areas or
internationally gated, as the person wishing to start it so
desires. We allow psudonyms or handles in *all* the echoes and
hi-Ascii, Ansi and sigs are also freely allowed, subject to
reasonable limitations of course.
There are no rules and no official policies although, of course,
like *all* networks, there have to be guidelines that need to be
adhered to in order for things to run smoothly but they're
extremely easy and very
As I write, Mercury is looking for a Regional Co-ordinator from
America and/or Canada to start feeding directly from Steve in
England. They will have *full* administrative leeway to run
their side of things totally as they wish with no interference
from anyone else, subject of course to the guidelines. They
would be expected to run .FTN software and to poll the UK
perhaps 3 times a week to exchange mail. If you are interested
or would like any further information or details, or may even
know someone suitable, then please contact either Steve Woodmore
(2:440/410) or myself. I'm sure Steve would be most grateful to
hear from you. I know I would. :-)
Thank you kindly for your attention.
Be Seeing You!!
Nick Jay
FidoNet: 2:441/6
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Article about swiscon/eurocon
From: Ruedi Kneubuehler (2:301/520)
Dear Fidonetter,
as you might know, the next CON will be held in Switzerland,
therefore called SWISSCON/EUROCON.
The same procedure as every year, we are looking for speakers.
We are interested to have speakers, that can tell us something
about new technologies that could be implemented whithin
FidoNet. We think, that a lot of fellow sysop are interested in
knowing how the future could be.
That can be:
How does Usenet News transport work, would it be a benefit for
FidoNet, to use that method of transfering and distributing huge
Echomailpackets.
Any other not yet known Method, how to transfer and distribute
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 7 07 Mar 1994
huge mailtraffic.
New packetproposals, that solves all outstanding problems in one
stroke.
New transferprotocols that uses both channels for ISDN
connections or any kind of TCP/IP over seriallines or any other
brandnew invention.
If you have special knowledge in such technologies and are
willing to be speaker, please send a netmail to Ruedi
Kneubuehler 2:301/520 or
[email protected], describing your topic.
Any other question concerning SWISSCON/EUROCON, can be routed to
2:2/1994.
Hope to see a lot of you in switzerland joining the SWISSCON, we
will have a lot of fun... :-))
Thanks for taking time and reading this Mail.
ruedi:- oe.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dying Boy Needs Cards ... NOT!
Introduced by:
Canadian Hoax Interception Project (CHIP) @ 1:250/730
Following up on the "Make Hoaxes Fast" of FNews v11#9, it should be
noted for the record that the disease young Craig Shergold had was
misidentified in that article. CHIP regrets the incorrect detail,
although the general story is there.
"Make Hoaxes Fast" (with correction made) is available for file
request at 1:250/730 under the file HOAX.ART, for future reference.
Here is a Usenet posting that explains the Craig Shergold story in
good detail. Please pass this along wherever hoaxes can happen:
[Usenet item follows...]
from alt.folklore.urban ...
From:
[email protected] (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: dying boy needs cards FAQ. Clip and save!
Date: Mon Feb 21 09:42:25 EST 1994
Organization: The Ohio State University
Lines: 93
clip and save!
-Jon
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 8 07 Mar 1994
--------------------------------------------------------------
From:
[email protected] (Gene Spafford)
Newsgroups: news.announce.important
Subject: DO NOT SENT ANY {GET WELL, POST, BUSINESS} CARDS TO CRAIG
SHERGOLD!
Date: 17 Feb 92 19:43:21 GMT
Organization: SERC, Department of Computer Sciences, Purdue Univ.
If you call the ``Children's Make a Wish'' foundation, you will find
that they are not soliciting any form of card for Craig Shergold or
anyone else. Better yet, if you call the Guinness people (US
publisher is "Facts on File" @ 212-683--2244 ext. 336), you can get
this same story confirmed. You will also find that they will no
longer endorse or support any effort to break this record.
Many years ago, Craig Shergold had a brain tumor, believed inoperable.
He sought to set the Guinness record for get-well cards. The call was
well-publicized, and he did, indeed set the record (consult a recent
edition of the book --- he has received in excess of 16 million cards
to date; he officially set the record as of 17 Nov 1989).
As part of this whole story, his plight caught the attention of John
Kluge, the US billionaire, who paid for Craig to come to the US and
receive specialized treatment. As a result, Craig has recovered
completely from his tumor. He is also no longer seven, but well into
his teens (you can see how out-of-date the request for cards is from
this -- it's like circulating a letter encouraging people to vote for
Carter for President).
The problem is that the mimeographed sheets and letters seeking cards
for Craig have continued to be circulated. As a result, cards
continue to pour in to the post office for Royal Marsden Hospital in
England. Worse, the appeal has mutated into various other versions,
such as an appeal for business cards, one for postcards, and another
version that appeals for holiday cards.
The Shergold family has publicly appealed many times that people cease
to mail them cards and letters, and that no more appeals be made on
their behalf. One easily accessible way to verify this is with the
article on page 24 of the 19 July 1990 NY Times. People Magazine wrote
an article about it on June 1, 1991, page 63. Even Ann Landers has
carried an item on this [6/23/91], but people still keep trying to send
cards. Both Guinness and Royal Marsden have repeatedly issued press
releases asking people to stop circulating requests for cards, as they
are creating an undue burden on both the hospital and the postal
service.
The Guinness people have discontinued the category to prevent this
kind of thing from ever happening again, and are doing their utmost to
kill any further mailings. The Royal Marsden Hospital is at a loss
what to do with the cards that continue to arrive --- most are being
sold to stamp collectors and paper recyclers, and none go on to Craig.
This appeal for Craig, as well as many urban legends, regularly appear
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 9 07 Mar 1994
on electronic bulletin boards around the world, and in many
organizational newsletters and bulletins. It is both heartening and
unfortunate that there are so many well-meaning people who continue to
propagate these stories. It is too bad that so many people are
unwilling to verify their information before passing such things
along, especially when a simple phone call will suffice to do so. In
this case, opening a recent copy of a book carried by nearly every
library and bookstore would illuminate the situation.
If you would still like to do something for a dying child, consider
making a donation to a charity such as UNICEF or to the International
Red Cross (Red Crescent, Red Magen David). Many thousands of children
are dying daily around the world from disease and starvation, and
countless millions more are suffering from the ravages of war, famine,
disease, and natural disaster. Think how many of them might be helped
by the millions of dollars in postage spent on cards to Craig
Shergold.... Addresses (in US) are:
UNICEF American National Red Cross
1 UN Plaza 17th & D Streets
New York, NY 10017 Washington, DC 20006
Attn: international children's aid
[Also, I encourage you to save this announcement, in either electronic
or hard copy form, and to post it to any bulletin board you've seen the
original plea on. If you see it in the future, as you probably will,
you can attach a copy of this announcement. Wouldn't it be great to
finally kill this story, which spreads like a virus?]
--
Professor Gene Spafford
Dept. of Computer Sciences
Purdue University
W. Lafayette IN 47907-1398
[email protected]
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New Network in Town
by John Creamer
New Network in Town
Join One Of The Fastest Growing Networks Of The 90's METALNET!
MetalNet Zone 75 is now Based In Orlando, Florida and Is Currently
Looking For Region Coordinators, Hosts, Hub And Nodes Across The
Globe!!!! No Individual Will Be Refused! For More Information
Please FREQ METALNET From The Following Network Address:
Fido 1:363/198
NO ONE WILL BE REFUSED!
Here Is A Listing Of Conferences Currently Offered!
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 10 07 Mar 1994
MetalNet Echomail Conference Listing Updated January 1, 1994
New Echos & Suggestions Are Always Welcome And Are Encouraged!!
Conference Name Description
MN_4SALE Online Yard-Sale for Computer Users
MN_ADULT Adult talk, must be 18+ for access
MN_ALTER Alternative Music
MN_AMIGA Amiga discussion area
MN_B&B Discuss Beavis & Butt-Head topics
MN_BBS Tech support for all BBS Software
MN_BBSADS BBS advertisement area
MN_BRE Barren Relms Elite dicusssion area
MN_CBOOKS Comic Books discussions
MN_CDROM CD ROM discussions
MN_CHAT General Chat area
MN_CLASSIC Discuss Classic Rock
MN_CLASSICL Discuss Classical Music
MN_CONCERTS Discuss upcoming concerts
MN_COUNTRY Discuss Country Music
MN_CPRO Discuss C & C++ Programing
MN_DEBATE Place for Heated Debates
MN_DOORS Discuss BBS Door Programs
MN_DRDOS Discussion on DR Dos
MN_ECHO Additions, deletions, changes to conference list
MN_ENETS Discuss other Echomail Networks
MN_FILESRCH File Search area for hard to find programs
MN_HMETAL Discussion on Heavy Metal
MN_HOSTS Discussion for Net Coordinators Only
MN_HSM Discussions on High Speed Modems
MN_HTECH Discussions on hardware problems
MN_MAILER Discussions on Mailers, tossers, scanners
MN_MOVIES New Movie Review area
MN_MTLNWS For posting of MetalNet Newsletter
MN_MUSICIAN Musicians discussion area
MN_NET407 Discussion in Net407 Only
MN_NEWBBS Discussion area for new BBS users
MN_NODELIST Additions, deletions, changes to Nodelist
MN_OS2 OS/2 Discussion area
MN_PASCAL Discussion on programing in Pascal
MN_POL Politics debating area
MN_RAP Discussions on RAP Music
MN_REGION400 Discussions in Region400 Only
MN_REGIONS Discussions for Region Coordinators Only
MN_RIP Discussions on RIP Graphics
MN_RPG Role Playing Discussion area
MN_SCARDS Sports Cards collectors discussion area
MN_STECH Software technical discussion area
MN_SYSOP Discussions by MetalNet Sysops Only
MN_TEEN Discussion area for Teens
MN_TOP40 Top 40 Music discussion area
MN_UNIX Discussions on Unix Systems
MN_VIRTUAL Virtual Realty Discussion area
MN_WEAPONS Weapons & Guns Discussion area
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 11 07 Mar 1994
MN_WINDOWS MicroSoft Windows discussion area
MN_WRITERS Discussion area for writers
This Network Has Just Started As Of September 1993.
INTER-BBS BARREN REALMS ELITE,
Is Offered To Any Member Wishing Its Involvement. If You
Have Any Questions, Please Netmail Or Reply To This Advertisement...
Thank You!
John Creamer
Zone Coordinator
MetalNet Headquarters
Orlando, Florida
Fido # 1:363/198
----------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
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" 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
128 Church St.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2H 2S4
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
FidoNews 11-10 Page: 12 07 Mar 1994
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, 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.fidonet.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,
M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea".
-- END
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