F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.36 (05-Sep-1994)

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 -- [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. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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 - [email protected]

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/[email protected])

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

From: Tom Jennings <[email protected]>
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 -- [email protected] -- 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 - [email protected]

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! <sniff sniff sniff> 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, [email protected]
Tim -- [email protected]
David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411
sylvia -- 1:221/194, [email protected]

(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

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Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1994 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication
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OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
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PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
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INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
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"the pulse of the cursor is the heartbeat of fidonet"...
-- END