F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.33 (15-Aug-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 --
[email protected] |
| Sylvia --
[email protected] |
| Tim Pozar --
[email protected] |
| David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411,
[email protected] |
| submissions=>
[email protected] |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq |
| 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
A few comments after one year out of Fidonet................ 2
Subject: Denis McMahons Article............................. 5
KART RACING ONLINE!......................................... 5
dare_<l>ink mdm em_ilia<d>.................................. 6
3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 6
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Editorial
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 2 15 Aug 1994
This weeks issue of the snooze is quite short: only four
articles. The editorial is going to be short too<S>.
A couple of the local sysops in our net met yesterday for a
confab on PGP and a few beers. Turned out to be lots of beers,
supper, and about 12 hours of conversation on dozens of topics,
but we did make a few decisions about PGP.
By this time next week, a PGP key will be available for both
Max and I. While it does not make much sense to send encrypted
articles to the snooze, it does seem to make a lot of sense to
encourage digital signatures. We are not going to publish the
digital signatures or keys accompanying articles, but in the
future we will note which articles were accompanied by either or
both. We will set up a library for them, and make them
available for FREQ. When a digital signature was included, we
will check it and note the fact.
Also, over then next week or two, I hope to rewrite artspec.
I am going to include specifications for a machine setup
version of the snooze for door/hypertext systems, and hatch it
out with the snooze. I am not sure yet if the machine
specification version will be hatched out in the same file echo,
or if we should create a new one. Using the same area seems
simpler, but objections and opinions should start now.
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Articles
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A few comments after one year out of Fidonet
A FEW COMMENTS AFTER ONE YEAR OUT OF FIDONET
by Jack Decker -
[email protected]
I haven't been reading Fidonews for a while. I don't much care to
read profanity, and for a while there was a lot of it here, so I just
stopped reading for a while. A word to the wise - you may believe in
the freedom to express yourself however you want, but if you want
people to read what you write and give it the consideration it
deserves, consider not using profane language. After all, others
have the freedom to stop reading at the first profanity that they
encounter in your article, and some will.
Anyway, I had a little time last night so I decided to FTP some
recent issues of Fidonews from ftp.fidonet.org, and see if anything
has changed since when I was in Fidonet. How time flies - it's been
almost exactly a year since I received my last Fidonet mail packet.
It appears that things have changed, all right - for the worse! The
power mongers are still harassing decent sysops. The size of the
nodelist and the geographic restrictions are still thorns in the side
of Fidonet. And then, we have Steve Winter.
Yes, Steve Winter. If you are branded as "false christian scum" by
Steve Winter, consider yourself in good company, because you are
FidoNews 11-33 Page: 3 15 Aug 1994
probably doing something right. Steve purports to be a follower of
the Bible. Well, here's something he must have overlooked:
"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ... Do not
repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the
eyes of everybody. ... Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave
room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I
will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is
hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In
doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be
overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Excerpts from
Romans 12:14, 12:17, and 12:19-21)
Now, I do not purport to know what Steve Winter is thinking. But let
me raise just one possibility. Suppose that he were not a Christian
at all, but rather an anti-Christian of some sort? What would be the
best way to discredit Christians? One way would be to pretend to be
one of them, and then go around spreading the most hateful messages
you can, cursing anyone who dares to disagree with you, and in
general make yourself as obnoxious as possible, all while claiming to
be the only _true_ Christian on the net. I am not saying that this
is what Steve is doing... he may, for some reason (that I cannot
fathom) honestly believe that he is a true Christian and that his
actions are somehow serving the cause of Christ. But, on the other
hand, in my own mind I am willing to entertain other reasons for his
actions, since he certainly doesn't seem to be following any
Christian teachings that I know of.
I was cursed and damned to Hell by Steve Winter quite some time ago,
for daring to point out some glaring errors in his doctrine. While I
definitely believe in Hell and do not want to go there, I am quite
confident that Steve Winter doesn't have the power or authority to
send me there. I have a feeling that in the end, all the curses he
has thrown at others are going to wind up coming right back upon his
head, especially given that he is in direct violation of the
Scriptures by cursing anyone. And I truly believe that I would be in
much greater danger of Hell fire were I to follow Steve's teachings,
and his example of dealing with others.
That's really all I wanted to say, except for one other thing. Some
folks have wondered why the nodelist is not fragmented, so that
sysops only have to receive the segment for their zone or region. If
you wonder why no one has taken this proposal seriously, bear in mind
that a great deal of Fidonet software actually checks the nodelist to
see if a node exists, and will refuse to send outgoing mail to what
it considers a non-existent node. Now, that situation could be
changed by the software authors, BUT bear in mind that if you are
ever allowed to send mail to unlisted nodes, then the threat of being
removed from the nodelist suddenly becomes less imposing.
I think that some of the control freaks are VERY apprehensive about
the size of the nodelist, because they know that there is growing
momentum to do something about it, and any solution that is more than
just a band-aid on the problem requires that sysops only be required
to maintain a partial nodelist, which implies that you cannot block
FidoNews 11-33 Page: 4 15 Aug 1994
outgoing mail just because a node is not listed in your copy of the
nodelist. That further implies that an NC could in fact assign node
numbers to nodes that aren't listed in ANY nodelist, and they could
still send and receive mail. And THAT, of course, means that there
could be nodes in the net that don't comply with the geographic
requirements of POLICY 4. Oh, the horror of it! Folks might
actually be able to spend their time communicating with each other,
rather than wasting their time fighting with the dictatorial
coordinators in the net (who, no doubt, just love being able to pick
fights with others. They were probably schoolyard bullies in their
youths).
As someone pointed out, Tom Jennings is really the only person who
actually has the power to do something about these abuses, but he
believes in total anarchy so he refuses to touch it. Well, what you
are seeing is the result of anarchy. At best, things slide along for
a while but it only takes one or two real jerks to gum up the works
and make life miserable for a lot of people (at least their life on
the net). I think in a way, though, that those who believe that
Fidonet is anarchistic are deluding themselves. Portions of it are
pretty free-wheeling, but documents like Policy 4 are not indicative
of an anarchy. I think that either true anarchy (no policy document
at all) or a democratic form of government (where things are voted on
from below rather than mandated from on high) would be better than
what Fidonet has now, which in my opinion is quite possibly the worst
of all worlds. Just my opinion, which probably doesn't count since
I'm no longer in Fidonet.
In closing, I have a question. I have on occasion seen mentions of
Fidonet echoes being made available via the Internet, but not on any
formal basis. I am curious to know if there is any way to obtain
Fidonet echoes, even if only on a read-only basis, via the Internet.
It would seem that this would be a natural thing to do, but I'll bet
the power-mongers oppose it because they would see it as a another
loss of control. Still, I wonder if you will ever be able to telnet
directly to a Fidonet BBS from the Internet, and read Fidonet echoes
that way. Technically, this should be quite possible, but
politically??? Anyway, if you know of a way to do this, please send
me e-mail at my Internet address.
Jack
Jack Decker | "What were once options are now mandates!"
[email protected] =or=
[email protected] ("o", not a zero!)
"Why are insurance companies allowed to discriminate against certain
classes of people, when no other business can get away with it?"
FidoNews 11-33 Page: 5 15 Aug 1994
Subject: Denis McMahons Article
From: Michael Seneco (1:141/536)
Hi Donald and Sylvia,
First, as a note, I think your both doing a great job
sorting through and dealing with the muck. Kinda like that NASA
Robot that got stuck in the Volcano in Alaska this week. Your
doing a good job.
However, also like to robot, you now need someone to pull
you out of the mud.
I am inclined to agree with my esteemed fellow sysop Denis
McMahon from zone 2. It's time to remove the snooze from the
mud. The snooze should be an avenue and venue to exchange ideas,
information and other items of genuine use to sysops.
However, this little recent delve into the `mud pit' has
proven another need, the need for a National Enquirer type of
electronic weekly newspaper. Ya know, like a supermarket type
rag for those, `less worthy' articles.
So anyway the purpose of this is little typing frenzie is to
encourage the snooze to leap from the mud pit!, Hose themselves
off, and electronically print wothwhile articles!! Ya know,
republician stuffed shirt type stuff!!!
And anyone else who might be interested in publishing an
alternative type of weekly or bi-weekly can contact me at
1:141/536 and maybe we can get something together.
I would even accept submissions from Steve Winter... or
Winters.... or summer, or summers.... whoever!!!!
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KART RACING ONLINE!
KART RACING ONLINE!
by Ray Killough, FidoNet (1:3612/63), CIS (71720,173)
Kart_Racing Moderator
The Kart_Racing echo is now available throughout Region 18! Why not
join us in exchanging technical information, race announcements and
results, introducing new products and much more. Any message related
to the topic of Kart Racing is encouraged.
The main goal of the echo, which originates from Serendipity BBS in
Pensacola, FL is to promote the organized sport of kart racing.
We welcome folks that are interested in finding out what it's all
about to those who have been at it awhile. By the way, this is a
bona fide motorsport and not the same thing as going down to your
FidoNews 11-33 Page: 6 15 Aug 1994
local concession track for a few laps on a rental kart. There are
many classes of karts, from slow to FAST and affordable to well...
Actually this is about the most economical form of motorsports
available to the average person.
This sport is unique in that it attracts a wide range of age groups.
There are those from 8 to 80 who actively participate. It is also
very much a family oriented sport, much like little league baseball
only instead of mom and dad sitting on the bleachers they too can
participate. Of course, the classes are divided so kids and adults
aren't necessarily racing against one another. And safety is the
number one concern of all! Strict rules must be adhered to and no
one is allowed on the track without a safe kart and the appropriate
personal safety equipment. Some of the faster classes of karts are
easily capable of speeds in excess of 100mph, yet the number of
serious injuries remains surprisingly low.
As soon as the message/user base builds to a healthy number, we have
plans to distribute the echo to Region 10. Our long term goal is to
then have it available on the National Backbone.
Please give us a try! As Moderator of the echo, if I can be of any
assistance please contact me at either address above.
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dare_<l>ink mdm em_ilia<d>
Q: what do you do with obstacles?
A: walk around them, regarding them as sculptures
Q: yeah-but- Zakiya Hooker sez to not let obstacles get you down, ]
rather get down with the obstacles.[
q: like sculpture in progress
Q: Does it bother you that fido net may change whole lots,
technically and soon?
A: nope. gotta like it. fidonet isn't a bunch of specs anyway.
fidonet is people. as long as the mail gets 'round somehow, we're
us. or you, and me, but we are. the "them" got lost in traffic.
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Fidonews Information
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 7 15 Aug 1994
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT 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:
sylvia -- 1:221/194,
[email protected]
Rev. Richard Visage -- 1:163/409
Don -- 1:221/192,
[email protected]
Tim --
[email protected]
David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411
(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews
128 Church St.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2H 2S4
max & Don voice: (519) 570-3137
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Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
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should now mail to
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 8 15 Aug 1994
previously listed address.
SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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-- END
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