F I D O N E W S -- Vol.12 No. 2 (09-Jan-1995)
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| 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 |
| | | \ \\ | |
| | (*) | \ )) | Editor: |
| |__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] |
| 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..................................................... 2
2. Articles...................................................... 3
An International Aid Campaign for FidoNet!.................. 3
Dear Reverend Visage,....................................... 4
Finding Message Bases the Users Will Use.................... 6
Subject: Gary Wilkerson..................................... 7
Subject: FidoNet Hong Kong Goes To The Dogs!................ 9
Backbone Echo Changes [Nov-Dec]............................. 11
From:
[email protected] (Tony Seifart)............ 13
Reply to Advert of IM_HELP.................................. 14
Upcoming Area Code changes.................................. 14
North American Area Code Changes............................ 16
dr.mdm.em................................................... 24
3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 24
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 2 09 Jan 1995
========================================================================
Editorial
========================================================================
We have a problem here at 221/192. People send us mail
under all sorts of names ... letters to "Don", "Max", or
"Fidonews". Unfortunately, none of those names exist as users
of this BBS.
Before editing the snooze, Ex_Libris BBS operated under
quite stringent privacy rules. I had it set up so that
*nobody*, including myself, could read mail not addressed to
them. With the snooze, I had to change that. Mail was being
lost as nobody saw letters not addressed to a specific person.
So I changed it so that the sysop (Max or I) could read all net
mail.
The long and the short of it is that I am changing it back.
I do not *want* to see anybody elses mail, and for all that one
says about the enter key, if it is scrolling by you cannot help
but see the letters. So from this point on, mail to the snooze
is going to have to be addressed to "Donald Tees", "Sylvia
Maxwell", or "Editor" for us to get it. "Editor" is set up as
an alias, and will get to both of us. All three names are as in
the nodelist. Netmail not addressed to one of the three will
simply sit in my message base until it scrolls off the end a few
weeks later.
Speaking of the page down key, I have been reading a
terrible lot of posts over the past few weeks screaming about a
certain fundamentalist being allowed back into Fidonet. Funnily
enough, many of them are by the same people that scream loudest
when someone suggests us censoring the snooze.
I am not a fan of Steve Winter. He has been the source
of much unpleasantness here. Nevertheless, I find that I
agreed strongly with Mr. Peace, and his statement regarding
allowing Mr. Winter back in. His statement that inclusion in
the nodelist is not contingent upon social acceptability rang
true. It is a statement that truly expresses the spirit of
Fidonet.
Twit filters are common. Dropping an echo is a simple
thing. Maybe we should all remember just what this net is about,
and put Mr. Winter behind us.
On a final note, I was thinking this week that I keep
hearing the term "fidogods", used in the sense of "the people
that run the net". Now anybody that has been around for a bit
realizes that nobody runs the net: it just keeps going through
the fudges of 32,000 people. However, it would be nice to learn
a bit more about the people that do some of the work.
I am therefore asking for a volunteer. I want somebody to
start writing to "fidogods", and start a series of articles
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 3 09 Jan 1995
about the people in fidonet. Short bio's. If we can get a
volunteer, and people are not too shy, then we could start
running one per week as a feature. Anybody up to it?
========================================================================
Articles
========================================================================
An International Aid Campaign for FidoNet!
You Can Contribute to FidoNet's Growth Worldwide
A Call for Help
Since the day I worked to start up the Latin American franchise of
FidoNet back in 1987 while living in my home town of Buenos Aires,
Argentina, I have been involved in numerous projects related to the
network, from acting as Zone coordinator for two years, to helping
the network expand throughout numerous countries during the several
years after I stepped down.
Recently, I was able to get in touch with a sysop in the city of
Guantanamo, Cuba, who wants to join FidoNet and begin a network of
FidoNet systems throughout the island. However, the financial
difficulties they face, which he described, are like none I have
heard before in almost seven years of fidonetting.
There is an absolute lack of computer equipment in Cuba to support
the installation of FidoNet nodes. There are, however, machines at
the general public's reach, that can be used to communicate with
bulletin board systems. The BBS in Guantanamo that would like to
join FidoNet runs on an XT clone with 640K of RAM, a 20 meg hard
drive and a 2400 baud modem with MNP5.
Remembering that the first two 9600 modems we installed in Zone 4
were donated to us when we couldn't acquire/afford them in
Argentina (one of them was TJ's old Trailblazer, put to much better
use after hanging around in his garage for a while), I phoned Gamey
Garcia (the ZC4) and we decided to appeal to everyone in the general
FidoNet population who can and wishes to collaborate with the start
up of FidoNet in beleaguered Cuba.
In the first stage of this aid project, what we need is to collect
equipment to be sent to our contact in Cuba, a researcher and
pioneer sysop at the National Academy of Science, who is presently
setting up the first FidoNet node in the island. He will also act
as a distribution point there to forward whatever material we can
get to them, to other people who wish to install nodes in the
island.
The kind of equipment we need is in many cases considered outdated
or "slow" to many of us but would be of immense value to these
folks in Cuba. Stuff like 286 motherboards and RAM, hard drives,
modems that you no longer use, are the kind of equipment you could
donate to help FidoNet get started in Cuba. We will be assembling
a first batch of hardware in the coming weeks, and will send it to
them so that they can put it to good use.
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 4 09 Jan 1995
In a second phase of this donation effort, once these guys have at
least one system with a bit more processing and storage capacity,
we will try to get a few generous FidoNet software developers to
donate software to this and other Cuban sysops who really can't
afford it.
It will perhaps be interesting for you all to know that this
donation campaign is being organized with absolute disregard of the
politics that may affect Cuba or other countries. FidoNet has been,
for a decade now, an independent, volunteer-driven organization and
this will be the same in Cuba as it's being set up. This donation
campaign is an opportunity for all of us to really show what the
FidoNet spirit is, of free communication, goodwill and cooperation
amongst ourselves.
As I mentioned before, most Cubans are virtually isolated from the
rest of the world due to the hard economic conditions they are
living under. I couldn't help but ask the sysop in Guantanamo, a
scientist, what he makes for a monthly salary, and it took me a
little while to understand that the $2.31 he makes are not hourly
or daily, but MONTHLY. These people have the knowledge and will to
participate in our electronic community, and there is a way for all
of us to help them join us!
If you're interested in collaborating in any way with helping to
the installation of FidoNet in Cuba please let us know. You can
write to me at 2:343/111, or to Gamey Garcia at 4:970/1. Those in
Zone 1 can also find me at 1:10/100.
Thanks a lot for reading this, and hope you can contribute to this
effort!
Pablo Kleinman, 2:343/111@fidonet
Barcelona, Spain
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Snoozgods,
Please indicate that the following article is submitted by
Charles Herriot of 1:163/110 so that poor Dallas isn't
confused again. It arrived, reeking of krill and kelp, which
probably means that it has spent too long floating on the
tides. Roll 'da flic, Sylvia....
Swamp Swine Magazine,
Shuckmagosh, Ohio
Dear Reverend Visage,
It has been a slow week for news in this part of Fidoland.
This is surely just the calm before the storm as we
patiently count down the deathwatch on Rick "Half of you go
to that net, half to the other, and the rest of you come
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 5 09 Jan 1995
with me" Johnston's last 38 days in office. This, of course,
assumes that Bob "Bob" Satti doesn't intervene to make
Johnston RC-For-Life. I would discount the probability of
this happening were it not for that fact that Bob "Bob"
Satti clearly needs at least one other person in Fidoland
who appreciates his lowslung approach to genius.
Net250 has refused a nodenumber to a BBS operated by The
Heritage Front. Who'd had thought that the happy band of
fanatics in net250 would suddenly become discerning in the
choice of company they keep? I didn't snicker, really I
didn't, when I heard that net250 refused admittance on the
grounds that The Heritage Front was prone to disseminate
hate literature. This is surely a sign that no one in
net250 actually reads their own venomous ravings in their
sysop echo.
Since I am already three paragraphs into this puppy, and
have probably lost the interest of both people who actually
read the Snooz, it is safe to insert a shameless
non-commercial plug for the BURL echo. To those who may not
know this, when we are not dynamiting fish in a barrel in
the regional echos, occasionally we produce works of fiction
which are serialized and sent out as echomail. A new epic is
about to begin on January 15th. Discriminating sysops may
wish to netmail the sysop of 1:163/110 and insist upon
receiving a feed. (Special note to Johnny "President of
Commodore Computer Club" Hart : Dear Heart, even though the
tagname is BURL, this is *not*, I repeat *not*, an echo
devoted to reminiscing about the late Burl Ives so please
withhold your sniveling about off-topic messages.)
Dooya think that you could be a bit more selective in your
choice of xmas presents? I am sure the lawn will be a much
happier lawn when spring arrives, but the sixteen truckloads
of sheep manure that were deposited on my doorstep has made
the neighbours jealous. As a token of my appreciation, I am
sending over a small flight of Carmelite nuns carrying badly
tuned acoustic guitars.
I must go, Visage, your secretary is keening in a most
feverish way and this has really nothing at all to do with
the fact that the three-toed sloth has started to lash her
with its tongue. Sheesh, you'd think that she would learn to
be more tolerant towards my smallish collection of pets.
Regards,
Doc Logger,
Fulaga Island,
South Pacific
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 6 09 Jan 1995
Finding Message Bases the Users Will Use
by Kay Shapero 1:102/524
Here you've got this big wonderful bbs with nifty graphics,
multiple lines and message areas from FIDOnet to the Internet,
covering practically every subject known to mankind, and nobody seems
to be at all interested. What MORE can you do, you ask? Well...
maybe you should drop some echoes. Paradoxical as it might seem,
having to sift through pages and pages of echoes to find one of
interest is probably more off-putting than simply not finding just the
right echo available when the potential user first logs on. If you've
got plenty of echoes available, and people aren't posting much, a bit
of weeding is probably in order.
First, figure out which echoes you are personally interested in
and involved with (this will usually include those that match the
theme, if any, of your bbs). These, of course, you keep.
Second, track the other echoes for a couple of months and see
which echoes are getting posts from your bbs. Keep these too.
Third, while you're tracking for posts, also check to see which
of the other echoes people are reading. Keep any of those which are
read-only, and if there are any other echoes which get a lot of
readership even though nobody posts, consider keeping them if you have
room.
Fourth, drop any echo that is not getting read by anybody, and
poll your readership on those that are being read but not posted to.
Drop any that the users don't really seem interested in. If you guess
wrong, it's easy enough to get them back.
Fifth, now that you're down to those echoes that folks are
actually USING, you have some idea of the interests of your users.
(Assuming you're using a phone feed instead of Planet Connect you
should also have a lower phone bill, less unpacking time, more
available space and a happier hub who will also have the above gains.)
If you only have a few echoes left, don't panic but instead take a
look at whatever echoes are available in the net or nets you use (for
FIDOnet, try FIDONET.NA or the Elist which includes some things not
backboned) and see which echoes may be out there that relate to those
already in use. Pick up a few of them, and try them out over a few
months. If nobody's reading, get rid of them again.
Whatever you do, don't worry that people will call up the bbs,
then go away because it doesn't offer something they want. They
aren't exactly flooding that huge selection of echoes now, are they?
Instead, offer a listing for display or download of the echoes that
you don't have at the moment, but can get within a few days.
Encourage users to ask for echoes they'd like to see, then pick them
up and see what happens over the next month or three.
Finally, repeat the weeding process every six months or so
(experience will teach you how often it is necessary). With any luck
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 7 09 Jan 1995
you'll have less work, and more posts!
Subject: Gary Wilkerson
From: Charlie Munhollon 1:284/7
CC: Edward Arndt, Gary Wilkerson, James Morris, Bob Satti,
CC: Tim Pearson, John Johnson, Editor, Tom Kirby
CC: David Bowerman, Harry Spicer, Della Moore
CC: Mike Walker, John Bodoni, Curtis Finney, Bruce Bodger
This is a rather long message, bear with me............
Well I can guess you already know the reason for this message. I
am going to ask that you not pull Gary's Node Number. If this
cannot be the case then my name will have to be added to the
excumincation. As the sysop of this bbs, I will accept the
responsibility for Garys actions. Any diciplinary action should
be directed towards me. However, I do want to set the record
straight on a few things. Gary did not lie to you or anyone
else. And I do not care what or how many 284sysops tell you
otherwise. The truth is the truth! And I have covered the
revelant facts in this message, and can provide a few witness's
as well. However, I simply want this matter closed for good!
In regards to the situation of late, there has been no attacks
upon myself or the system in the last three months. I feel this
is due to many factors. 1) The new CID system, and call tracing
I installed on the phone lines. 2) 24 hour virus protection and
security screening of all incomming mail and files. 3)
Auto-printing of the system logs and CID information as each
call is processed. 4) Involvement of the Fido "super-powers".
While the NC is doing his best, he cannot control certain
members of this net. And that is not his fault. James simply
cannot work miracles, he's trying though and maybe he will do it
yet.
Another large part of the problem here is the lack of
communication, mis- interpetation of the true facts. My net as a
whole took serious offense at Garys message as it was worded and
understandably so to a point. The main conflict in all of this
is the time frame. Many of the 284 sysops took this message to
mean that these events where taking place at this exact point in
time. Only the fighting still persist and even it has died down
recently. A result of recent events I do believe. The fact
harrassment had happened in the past for extended periods of
time did not matter to quite a few of these folks. Again, it has
been over three months since any real problems have arose and I
am thankful for that.
My reasoning for posting the independant node request was
simple. I am tired of the fighting between certain net 284
sysops. These folks couldn't even give it a break for christmas.
Age old blood fueds since before I joined fido still rank
supreme with no let up at times. And to be honest, after all
that has happened I am simply weary. A person can only take so
much. It had been my hope to obtain an independant node status
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 8 09 Jan 1995
to prevent further fight and problems. As it turned out that
started one of the worst situations I have seen to date. Gary
was highly upset by my actions on this, and was seeking to
protect my system using every means he could. An act that
literly brought down the house upon his head. And until
publication of the fido news, the matter was considered to be
closed. Many of the local sysops have expressed to me, that had
not that taken place the matter would have been forgotten. Now
90% of net feels betrayed or insulted. This is my
responsibility, not Garys.
1. The harrassment. Yes for close to 18 months my system was
subject of everything from virus attacks, mail bombs and etc. I
was also subject to remarks made in public "slanderous" in
nature on many occasions at net-bbs related functions. The
remarks made by net 284 sysops to users and myself on a few
occasions. Most of which where unfounded, and with no true
knowledge. I operate a board that carries gay material so I must
be gay and far worse comments I assure you. Funny, I carry Law
enforcement areas as well. No one ever accused me of being in
that line of work, a fact that would be true in nature as I work
in the private investigations and security field.
2. Discrimination. Yes, this was the cause of the above
mentioned problems. Various net284 members because of
personal/religious beliefs/hatred did in effect discrimnate
against myself and my bbs's users on many occasions in the past.
3. The pulling of my node number. This was addressed for two
reasons. After my little brother died and I took over as sysop
of this bbs, an (attempt/request) was made to take the number
away. Another member wanted it because it would place his lines
in node-step fashion(numerical order). A comment was made prior
to christmas that it should be explored to also designate
another 5 or 6 node numbers as "net official" nodes. This raised
some serious concerns to me. However I was assured that this
would not happen by the NC, and that my node number would not be
taken.
3. My NC, James Morris. James, a very nice guy caught in a bad
situation. Had it not been for all of this we might have been
friends. James did provide my system with a secondary mail feed,
and has been highly understanding through all of this. Though a
large quanity of our problem has been to much mis-communication,
I was under the impression things were working themselves out
finally. I hope by the time he returns from a much needed
vacation, this situation will be over. It is true a dupe lupe of
2500 messages did occur in my absence shortly after James
provided my feed. My primary feed had came back online during
the night and my areafix request hadn't been recieved in time to
prevent it. I had offered to accept a suspension for that
occurance and James graciously waived it. As I said, James is a
nice guy in a bad situation.
Less than an hour ago, I had a verbal dispute with one of the
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 9 09 Jan 1995
few 284sysops that I considered a friend over this situation. I
was told that I was seeing persecution around every corner, and
trying to make myself feel important by all of this. BBS'sing is
only a hobby, I was told once more. Let what happened in the
past stay in the past. Well, if a dog is repeatedly beaten he
will fear and/or distrust humans as a whole/group. If trying to
help others and trying to keep a promise I made means that I
feel important, ok I suppose in that context I do feel
important. But once again, this isn't a hobby to me. A hobby is
something that you enjoy. I like the feeling I get from helping
others, but that feeling has reached a point where the cost is
just to high in all regards.
Conclusion:
If those sysops in net 284 who where not involved in the
problems will accept it. I do sincerely and respectfully
apologize. However I will not apologize to those involved, even
if that refusal means being tossed out of fidonet. And since I
have recieved nothing from the RC Tim Pearson regarding this, I
will assume that my Independant Node request is being denied. I
do however wish to thank Mr. John Johnson for all his assistance
and patience.
Again if excunication/expulsion from fido is warrented, then I
will accept that action. However I REFUSE to apologize to those
parties involved, nor will I expect/ask Gary to make any further
comments regarding this matter. It is my responsibility, not his.
Charlie Munhollon
Sysop 1:284/7
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Subject: FidoNet Hong Kong Goes To The Dogs!
From: Roger Nie (16:700/200)
FidoNet Hong Kong Goes To The Dogs
==================================
Editor : Larry Campbell
From magazine "DATAPHILE"
Of all the electronic bulletin boards listed in the preceding
few pages, the majority are part of an international network
called FidoNet. Or should I say "were".
Thanks to events that have traspired in the local FidoNet
community for as long as the past year, there appear to now be
two local nodes to the network: one small official system and a
huge network of BBSes getting on to FidoNet via what has been
term by one insider a "semi-legal kludge"
To understand any part of the "big picture", you must first
have an understanding of FidoNet and how its operates. Think of
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 10 09 Jan 1995
FidoNet on the same lines as you would think of the Internet,
except scale down the concept the concept a thousand times.
FidoNet is a central hub connected to a clain of PC networks (or
BBSes) around the world, the main function of which is to pass
arround store-and-forward free E-mail called Echomail.
FidoNet is divided into three areas: zones; regions; and
networks. Six zones make up the FidoNet world: North America,
Europe, Australia, Latin America, South Africa and Asia. Each
Zone is assigned a number, with North America being Zone 1 and
Asia being Zone 6. Zones are divided into regions, with Hong
Kong/MAcau, Taiwan and Singapore (plus a few other areas) being
regions within the Asia "zone". Regions are further divided into
Networks, and Hong Kong is Net700. Thus, if you were looking at
a FidoNet node list, a node number of a member in Hong Kong
would look something like 6:700/344, for example.
FidoNet, as any organisation should have, has its management
heirarchy, with zone, and network co-ordinators, and so on.
Asia's zone co-ordinator is a gentleman based in Taiwan named
Honlin Lue. Next down the ladder is Hong-Kong-based regional
co-ordinator Samson Luk, a man who has been involved in FidoNet
(if not in his current post) for more than a decade. Under Mr
Luk are - or were - a number of other co-ordinators. One is
Roger Nie, who co-ordinates FidoNet echos in Hong KOng, making
sure each echo is named right so that the proper links can be
set up between member BBSes. He also maintains a list of echos.
A gentleman named Louie Chan was involved in FidoNet for
just about as long as Mr Luk and had beed happily performing a
number of tasks, including the tedious and thankless one of
maintaining the FidoNet Hong Kong node list. Until about a year,
that is. What appears to have happened is that about a year ago
Mr Luk received a few complaints from some local FidoNet sysops
against Mr. Chan claiming the latter had not replied some of
their mail and in short was not doing his job. So Mr Luk "fired"
Mr Chan and appointed Chris Leung - a relative newcomer to the
scene - to do his job... a move that made the majority of the
local FidoNet community unhappy, to say the least. the reason:
the network heirarchy is supporsed to be arranged by vote
involving all members, although admittedly no hard and fast rule
exists on this score. The result has bcome what can only be
described as a complete farce, a comedy with the only people
being hurt being FidoNet's numerous users in Hong Kong.
Upon his appointment to his current FidoNet post, Mr Leung
decided to "clean up" FidoNet Hong Kong, E-mailing memeber
sysops with requests for forms to be filled out, amoung other
things. What responses he got were, in on-line speak, flames.
Insiders say he then disappeared from Causeway, a
semi-official message echo set up for FidoNet sysops, only to
reappear about four months later with the wonderful news that he
has dissolving network 700 to completely revamp FidoNet Hong
Kong. And he did, full world of FidoNet. He then asked sysops
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 11 09 Jan 1995
interested in rejoining FidoNet to register with him.
To date, only about 30 sysops have dones so, and these
according to sources, are newcomers to the sence.
Network 700 did not, however, die quietly. It has not, for
that matter, died at all. With the majority of sysops loyal to
him. Mr Chan with the help of Mr Nie, controlled that networks,
albeit unofficially, and a new zone number has been set up to
ensure its mail goes back and fourth. BBSes on this network are
now identified as 16:700/whatever. The power play did not stop
there.
The Chan loyalists then attempted to hold a vote of sorts
where they could oust Mr. Leung and Mr Luk from their posts.
However, to do so, they apparently needed the ultimate approval
of zone co-ordinator Mr Lue, who to-date has been silent on the
issue..
Attempts by local sysops to have the matter resolved by the
upper echelons of FidoNet in the United States have failed, too,
which has had a totally detrimental effect on FidoNet.
Now, all this is very strange. FidoNet was (is) supposed to
be a non-commercial on-line group of hobby of hobby BBS
operators pooling resources to offer low-cost (albeit low-speed)
E-mail to users. All this infighting has, however, made a
mockery of the whole concept, and the fact that no one in any
position of power appears to be taking the slightest bit of
interest in fixing the situation is not helping either.
One of the things I heard was that at one point a few months
ago, some brilliant mind within the local community had
suggested the sysops get together and file a classs action suit
against Mr Luk. What they would have charged him with is a
mystery. Perhaps with causing loss to their hobbies? What a
laugh!
But then again, maybe it would have worked.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Backbone Echo Changes [Nov-Dec]
by Lisa Gronke, 1:105/6
[email protected]
Summary of backbone & quasi-backbone echo changes during Nov & Dec.
Brought to you courtesy of (unix) diff.
diff (fidonet.na + fidonet.no) 30-Oct-94 (ditto) 01-Jan-95 [edited].
Added to the backbone
---------------------
> AMIGA_FILEFIND Filefind Echo for AMIGA computers
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 12 09 Jan 1995
> ARCHERY Archery and Hunting
> ARROWBRIDGE ARROWBRIDGE Doorgame by Mark Sinclair
> CHICORA_GEN S.C. Genealogy 1670-1865
> COINS Coin/token collecting discussion
> CONSPRCY CONSPIRACY
> C_ABILITY Canadian Ability
> DARKSTAR DarkStar BBS
> DLG_SUPPORT DLG Support echo
> EC_UTIL Ezycom Utilities Echo
> GUNS Guns and Defence Weaponry
> HARLEY_DAVIDSON Harley Davidson Motorcycles
> HIGHLANDER Highlander TV/Movies
> HOME_AUTOMATION Home Automation & Security
> HOME_REPAIR Home Repairs Echo
> LOW-FAT Low Fat Cooking
> MAINDOOR Maindoor/2 Technical support.
> NIGHT_SHIFT_DEBATE Debate Subjects discussed in Night Shift.
> PROZ PROZ Software Product Support Conference
> RELOAD Reloading for Rifle and Pistol
> RENEGADE_BBS Renegade Support Echo
> R_CATHOLIC Roman Catholic Q & A Forum
> SEW_&_QUILT Sewing & Quilting by hand or machine
> SF&ANIME_RPG Sci-Fi & Anime Role Playing Games
> SOFTWARE_MARKETING Software Marketing/Business
> TENN_GEN Open Forum for Tennessee Genealogy
> TREK_HUMOR_FILK Star Trek Humor and Filksongs
> VGA.PLANETS VGA Planets Forum
> WHIRLYBIRDS Helicopter Enthusiasts Discussion Echo
> WPERFECT WordPerfect products discussion
Removed from the backbone or quasi-backbone
-------------------------------------------
< BBSPLUS BBS Plus Software Support Echo
< CALLNY New York Interests
< CAROLINA_GEN (not in EchoList since 10/1/94)
< DISP (not in EchoList since 7/1/94)
< FAN_SUPPORT FAN (File Announcement Utility) Support Echo
< FILE_ECHO (not in EchoList since 8/1/94)
< HOTROD (not in EchoList since 9/1/94)
< LAPTOP (not in EchoList since 9/1/94)
< QEDIT (not in EchoList since 10/1/94)
< WELMAT WPL Network language support
o There are 683 echos in fidonet.na [01-Jan-94] (up 39)
o There are 3 echos in fidonet.no [01-Oct-94] (down 19)
o for a total of 686 backbone & quasi-backbone echos (up 20)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 13 09 Jan 1995
From:
[email protected] (Tony Seifart)
Dear Sir/Madam
I, until recently, was a point in Zone 5, on Fido-Net. People began
posting rude jokes in our local Joke Echo, I asked them to please
refrain from doing so. I was met with much opposing, because others
thought nothing of it.
As a christian, I felt it my duty to continue asking people to stop,
until the EC demanded that I disconnect. I asked for a grace period
until 15 January 1995, which was granted. From then, I immediately
stopped posting in that echo, but continued to read how people ripped
me apart. I then received a call from my boss node, who said he had
been told by Henk Wolskink, our ZC, to disconnect me totally from
Fido-Net with immediate effect, as I had gone against the grain, and
that my morals were honourable, but not required. I took it as it
came.
Later, I dialled into a local BBS, and counted 21 messages written
to/about me in the jokes echo. It seems I have hurt more people than
I wanted to.
I have included a small apology, and I would be grateful for you to
place in the next copy of "Fido-News".
****************************************************************
I, Tony Seifart, of Zone 5, previously as 5:7102/114.4, do apologise
for my unfair actions in Zone 5, under the local JOKES echo.
Although I feel I was justified at the time, I do feel burdened by
the fact that I had tried to force you into _my_ trail of thought.
I pray that you will accept my apology. I realise that rejoining the
net is now more than impossible, but I hope that if we are granted
the opportunity to meet, we will remain good aqaintances.
A special apology to Oskar Pearson, Henk Wolskink and Richard K Peer.
Also to my Boss node, for whom I caused much trouble.
God bless you, and all Fido-netters world-wide during 1995.
Thank you.
'till next time...
Tony
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 14 09 Jan 1995
Reply to Advert of IM_HELP
By: Brendan Keyport
IM_HELP shouldn't be used
This is a reply to William Scott Lockwood's attempt to start another
echo for Intermail (Mailer package). There is no need for another echo.
Case(s) in point:
WSL> For weeks MANY people, including one of the authors have been
WSL> asking Lee Lefler the (supposed) current moderator to do
WSL> something about this! So far, nothing...
In fact, Lee was going to change the echo name to IM-HELP, however,
WSL's Starting a echo with the tag IM_HELP only delayed the renaming
procedure. Lee has desided on IM-USER and changes are in the works.
WSL> The first, is that there will be no unwarranted, unjustifiable
WSL> notices sent to your NEC demanding a feed cut. I don't believe in
WSL> this kind of childish garbage, so *I* will not do it. If you
WSL> violate the spirit of the echo, you will be invited to discuss it
WSL> in netmail. You will receive at least 2 warnings AFTER that fails
WSL> via DIRECT netmail from me (or the current moderator.) There
WSL> will be no rules to this new echo. The moderator will have final
WSL> say in any disputes.
Lee L. The current moderator, has never made any unwarrented cuts from
the echo. William is angry for his being moderated agaist in a problem
between him and several others over a file he was advertising (I got a
warning too).
In Short, Please do NOT hook up to IM_HELP, rather, follow Lee and the
program authors. Join into IM-USER as soon as it's availble. Planned
change: Jan 28, 1994 - Feb 11, 1994. After Feb 11, The conference
Intermail will be history.
PS to WSLIII - Flames can be sent to NUL.
Yours,
Brendan Keyport
1:138/185
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming Area Code changes
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Leonard Erickson, 1:105/51
Subject: Upcoming Area Code changes
This article is based on an article that appeared on the Internet's
Telecom Digest mailing list, with additions and corrections based on
more recent material.
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 15 09 Jan 1995
One of the great spectator sports of 1995 will be watching lots and
lots of new Area Codes (or more precisely, NPA codes) come into
existence.
Another will be seeing how many programs written for use with
US/Canadian phone numbers will break. This will happen because up until
now area codes had 0 or 1 as the second digit. This is no longer true.
Now *any* digit may be the second digit of an area code. Likewise, in
most areas, the second digit of an exchange could only be 2 thru 9.
This started changing a few years ago.
So we are changing from 160 possible area codes, and 640 possible
exchanges in each area code, to 800 possible area codes and 800
possible exchanges in each area code.
The things to look out for will be software refusing to accept the new
area codes, software thinking that they are exchanges instead of area
codes, and software thinking that new-style exchanges are area codes.
The most likely place to see errors will be in programs that attempt to
trap "bogus" phone numbers, such as new user phone number routines in
BBSes, and callback verifiers.
Here's the current info on area code changes.
Date Event
1) 01/07/95 AC 630 overlayed on ACs 312 and 708 (Chicago metro area)
2) 01/15/95 AC 334 splits from AC 205 (Alabama)
3) 01/15/95 AC 360 splits from AC 206 (Washington)
4) 09/02/95 AC 562 overlayed on ACs 213, 310 and 818 (Los Angeles
metro)
5) 03/01/95 AC 281 overlayed on AC 713 (Houston metro area)
6) 03/01/95 AC 954 splits from AC 305 (Florida)
7) 03/19/95 AC 520 splits from AC 602 (Arizona)
8) 04/02/95 AC 970 splits from AC 303 (Denver metro area)
9) 05/28/95 AC 941 splits from AC 813 (Florida)
10) 07/15/95 AC 540 splits from AC 703 (Virginia)
11) 09/01/95 AC 423 splits from AC 615 (Tennessee)
12) 10/??/95 AC 770 splits from or overlayed on AC 404 (Atlanta metro
area)
13) 10/01/95 AC 441 splits from AC 809 (Bermuda & Bahamas)
14) 10/??/95 AC 890(860?) splits from AC 203 (Connecticut)
15) ??/??/?? AC 340 splits from AC 809 (Puerto Rico)
Notes:
1) Wireless services (cellular phones and pagers)
2) 334 will contain Auburn, Dothan, Mobile, Montgomery and Selma
205 will retain Anniston, Birmingham, Decatur, Huntsville and
Tuscaloosa
Permissive period ends 3/13/95 (5/13/95?)
3) 360 will contain Bellingham, Olympia, Vancouver
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 16 09 Jan 1995
206 will retain Auburn, Bellevue, Bremerton, Everett, Redmond,
Seattle, Tacoma
Permissive period ends 5/21/95
4) First numbers assigned in AC 562 will be wireless services in the
area served by AC 310. Landline services in AC 310 and wireless
and landline services in AC 213 and 818 will follow.
5) First numbers assigned in AC 281 will be wireless services.
Landline services will be assigned in AC 281 later.
6) {Network World} says that SE Florida will split on an unknown date.
7) 520 will contain Flagstaff, Prescott, Sierra Vista, Tucson, Yuma
602 will retain Buckeye, Chandler, Glendale, Mesa, Phoenix,
Scottsdale, Tempe
Permissive period ends 7/23/95
8) 970 will contain Aspen, Durango, Fort Collins, Grand Junction,
Greely, Loveland, Steamboat Springs, Vail
303 will retain Arvada, Aurora, Boulder, Denver, Englewood,
Littleton, Longmont
Permissive period ends 10/1/95
9) 941 will contain Bradenton, Fort Meyers, Lakeland, Sarasota, Winter
Haven
813 will retain Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tampa
Permissive period ends 3/3/96
10) 540 will contain Blacksburg, Roanoke, Salem, Winchester
703 will retain Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, Mclean
Permissive period ends 7/9/95(sic)
11) 423 will contain Chattanooga, Clarksville, Johnson City, Kingsport,
Knoxville
615 will retain Murfreesboro, Nashville
Permissive period ends 2/1/96
12) AC 770 will either be an overlay on AC 404 or a geographical split
13) {Network World} says Bermuda will get AC 441 starting 10/1/95;
David Esan reports that Bahamas will get AC 441.
Permissive period ends 9/30/96.
14) {Network World} says that Connecticut will split in October 1996.
15) various posts indicate that Puerto Rico will get 340 at some point
----------------------------------------------------------------------
North American Area Code Changes
courtesy Carl Moore <
[email protected]>
introduction by David Leibold 1:250/730
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 17 09 Jan 1995
The following is a rather detailed history of changes to North
American area codes as compiled by Carl Moore (
[email protected]
on Internet). The list contains two major parts:
- a list of area codes whose dialing and numbering patterns
changed internally, and
- a list of area code "splits" where an area code was divided
so that greater numbering capacity is obtained
Those who want the new-format area codes can skip to the end of this
article, where the newest area code split announcements are.
Sysops, nodelist maintainers, etc. who are concerned about area
codes should make note of the new area codes about to be introduced,
especially now that new area codes will not have a 0 or 1 in the
central digit.
Some notes on notation:
The terms NNX and NXX refer to the valid formats of three digit codes
such as area codea and exchanges. In this scheme:
X means any digit (0 to 9) is valid
N means digits 2 to 9 are valid (but not 0 or 1)
Thus NNX means valid numbers are from 220 to 999, excluding numbers that
have 0 or 1 in the middle digit. NXX means all numbers from 200 to 999
are valid. Thus 313 would be valid for an NXX format number, but not
for an NNX format. 432 is valid both as an NNX and an NXX format number.
The format "N0X" refers to a number with a 0 in the middle digit, like
905.
Last updated: 13 Dec 1994 by Carl Moore
Generalizing prefixes from NNX to NXX (i.e., allowing N0X/N1X)
is an alternative to splitting an area which has had only NNX
up to this point. When an area has NXX (not NNX) prefixes,
its long distance dialing instructions usually are:
7D or 1 + NPA + 7D within area (can no longer use 1 + 7D);
1 + NPA + 7D to other areas (can no longer use NPA + 7D);
for 0+ calls, try 0 + NPA + 7D (some 0 + 7D would require timeout).
In other words, the leading 1 (or 0) means that what follows is
an area code. These instructions can, without further revision,
accommodate area codes of form NXX, not just of form N0X/N1X, and
thus could be universal by the time area codes must generalize to
NXX. The deadline for switches to be able to handle NXX area codes
is 1 January 1995 (had been 1 July 1995).
It was thought that the first batch of NNX area codes would be of NN0
form, so that some areas could keep 1 + 7D for intra-NPA long distance
by disallowing prefixes of NN0 form. This would have been affected by
use of area codes 52x (x not 0) for Mexico, and was affected anyway by
the first announcement of an NNX area code on 22 July 1993 (334, to be
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 18 09 Jan 1995
formed in 1995 by splitting 205, which has served all of Alabama).
It is unclear how generalizing area codes to NXX would affect the
policy of not using N0X/N1X prefixes until NNX starts running short.
I found an exception to the above dialing instructions in February
1992 for 215-267 (Denver) and 215-484 (Adamstown) in Pennsylvania.
These exchanges, served by Denver & Ephrata Telephone & Telegraph
(also serving a part of the 717 area), were still using the old
instructions (1 + 7D and 0 + 7D within area code), even though
this necessitated timeout resolution for some calls. Elsewhere
in this file, it is noted that these prefixes later moved to 717,
with Denver having to use 717-336.
The suggestion (at least from Bellcore) has been seen that ideally,
all calls should be makeable as 1+NPA+7D (this does not necessarily
forbid shorter forms).
These areas prepared for N0X/N1X prefixes before it became necessary
to prepare for NNX area codes:
213 California, July 1973
(7D on all calls within it)
(later 213/818, now 213/310/818, to become 213/310/818/562)
(but for some time, this area continued to publish 0+7D instruction
for within-NPA 0+ calls)
212 New York, some days after 24 Nov 1980
(7D on all calls within it)
(later 212/718, now 212/917/718)
312 Illinois, Oct 1982--but got 1st N0X/N1X spring 1983?
(7D on all calls within it)
(now 312/708, to become 312/708/630)
201 New Jersey
(7D on all calls within it; also applies to 609)
(now 201/908)
214 Texas, 1986 or 1987 (by July 1987)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; also applies to 817,
at least in Fort Worth area)
(now 214/903)
301/202/703 Maryland/DC/Virginia, 1987, due to DC area growth
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(301 now 301/410)
(703 to become 703/540)
415 California, Feb 1989?
(7D on all calls within it)
(now 415/510)
404 Georgia, Oct 1989?
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; also applies to 912)
(now 404/706)
919 North Carolina, 2 Mar 1990
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; also applies to 704)
(now 919/910)
416 Ontario, 3 Mar 1990
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(now 416/905)
602 Arizona, 1 July 1990
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 19 09 Jan 1995
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(to become 602/520)
313 Michigan, 1990?
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(now 313/810)
512 Texas, 9 Sept 1990
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(now 512/210)
205 Alabama, Dec 1990
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(to become 205/334)
215 Pennsylvania, 20 May 1991
(7D on all calls within it; exception noted above for Denver and
Adamstown, which later moved to 717, but the new instructions also
applied to:
717-354,355 New Holland
717-656,661 Leola
717-768 Intercourse)
(On 25 September 1993, I noticed that, during permissive dialing
during the 215-to-717 change for Denver and Adamstown, all long
distance from there was to be dialed as 1+NPA+7D, with 0+NPA+7D
for all 0+. Would "1 717" be dropped after the full cutover to
717?)
(now 215/610)
206 Washington, 12 Jan 1992
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(to become 206/360)
713 Texas, 8 Mar 1992 (permissive dialing 8 Dec 1991)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(to become 713/281)
714 California, 1992?
(7D on all calls within it)
(now 714/909)
503 Oregon, 10 July 1993
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
No note about N0X/N1X prefixes (due to closeness to the time
for area codes to generalize to NXX), but instructions are being
changed to prepare for the generalized area codes:
305,407,813,904 Florida, 7 Mar 1992 (at least for 813)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
603 New Hampshire, 17 July 1993
(This was to include all New England areas except Connecticut,
with changeover to 7D on calls within area code to be done in
1993-1994, but this list now has separate entries for Massa-
chusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, and Maine.)
(7D on all calls within area code; per-line option [for toll
within area code] to block 7D and require 1+NPA+7D, but 1994
Portsmouth directory merely said 7D or 1+NPA+7D for this)
413,508,617 Massachusetts (order by public utility commission in
Oct 1993; in 413, mandatory 1 June 1994; eastern Massachusetts
followed later in 1994; in 508, permissive 15 July 1994; in 508
and 617, mandatory 15 Oct 1994)
(Earlier, for 413 going to 7D on all calls within area code: Feb-
June 1993; full cutover 21 Sept 1993; 1+NPA+7D for local calls to
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 20 09 Jan 1995
another area code permissive 1 Mar to 8 Apr 1993.)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
802 Vermont, permissive 18 Feb 1994, mandatory 18 May 1994
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
401 Rhode Island, announced Jan 1994 (but when to be implemented?)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
207 Maine, 15 July 1994
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
303,719 Colorado (27 Feb 1994); 612,507,218 Minnesota (late 1994);
319,515,712 Iowa; 701 North Dakota (19 June 1994, full cutover
3 Oct 1994; 605 South Dakota; 308,402 Nebraska (full cutover
late 1994 for Lincoln Telephone area); 505 New Mexico (14 Feb
1994, full cutover 19 Jun 1994); 801 Utah; 307 Wyoming; 406
Montana; 208 Idaho; 509 Washington (15 May 1994, full cutover
17 Sept 1994); 1993-1994 (U.S. West areas except Arizona,
Oregon, 206 in Washington)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(303 to become 303/970)
219,317,812 Indiana, c. Aug 1993 (full cutover 1 Dec 1993)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
615 Tennessee, 1 July 1993(?) (full cutover 1 Sept 1993)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
(to become 615/423)
901 Tennessee, Sept 1993?
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
803 South Carolina, Sept 1993?
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
502,606 Kentucky, 4 Sept 1993 (full cutover 2 Apr 1994)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
318,504 Louisiana, 4 Sept 1993 (full cutover 2 Apr 1994)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
209,408,619,707,805,916 California; Pacific Bell, by 11 Oct 1993
(full cutover for all points on or before 11 Oct 1994)
(These are the California area codes not cited above, as of Feb
1993, as preparing for N0X/N1X prefixes; but some of these, in
whole or in part, already have the new instructions.)
(GTE areas: 0+NPA+7D for 0+ within own area code permissive 11 Oct
1993, fully cut over 10 Oct 1994; direct-dial not affected.)
(7D on all calls within area code)
412,717,814 Pennsylvania, for 717 1 Nov 1993 (full cutover 31 July 1994),
for 814 8 Nov 1993 (full cutover 1 Aug 1994); announced Sept 1993
(7D on all calls within area code)
(I found 1+NPA+7D on all toll calls in use in some places not served
by Bell. These include pay phones on: 814-634 Meyersdale, 4 July 1994;
717-533 Hershey, 19 Nov 1994.)
716 New York, 5 Dec 1993 (at least for Rochester Telephone;
is this permissive or mandatory date?)
(7D on all calls within it)
(but on 1 June 1994, NYNEX announced 1+NPA+7D on all toll calls,
for its portion, including Buffalo, of 716 area)
601 Mississippi, Dec 1993
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
302 Delaware, 1 Apr 1994 (full cutover 7 Jan 1995)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
304 West Virginia, 30 Apr 1994 (full cutover 1 Oct 1994)
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 21 09 Jan 1995
(16 or 30 Apr 1994 for 1+NPA+7D for local to other area codes)
(7D on all calls within it)
517,616,906 Michigan, 1994 (1 May in 517 & 616; 1 Feb 1994 in 906)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
808 Hawaii, 19 June 1994
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
314,417,816 Missouri, July 1994
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
316,913 Kansas, July 1994
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
405,918 Oklahoma, July 1994 (mandatory 1 Jan 1995)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
501 Arkansas, July 1994
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
409,806,915 Texas, July 1994
(also applies by then to 817 outside of Fort Worth area?)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
702 Nevada, July 1994
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
519,613,705,807 Ontario; 418,514,819 Quebec; 204 Manitoba; 306
Saskatchewan; 403 Alberta (and Yukon and NW Territories); 506
New Brunswick; 604 British Columbia; 709 Newfoundland (and
Labrador); 902 Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island; 4 Sept 1994
(all of Canada except 416 and 905 in Ontario)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
315,516,518,607,914 New York, 1994? (mandatory 24 Sept 1994,
at least in 516 & 914)
(7D on all calls within area code)
(note that "PSC may ask telcos to provide option for mandatory
1+NPA+7D on all toll calls at subscriber's request" for 315,518,607)
217,309,618,815 Illinois, 1994?
(7D on all calls within area code)
216,419,513,614 Ohio, 1994? (full cutover 1 Jan 1995)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
414,608,715 Wisconsin, 1994?
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
817 Texas, 1994? (already in use in & near Fort Worth)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
203 Connecticut, 1994? (seen in Southern New England Telephone
directories which were not to be used before 25 Apr 1994;
what about the NYNEX part in the southwestern corner?)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
804, Virginia, 16 May 1994 (full cutover 16 Nov 1994)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
907 Alaska, 1994? (full cutover 1 Jan 1995)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
809, Caribbean area (full cutover 9 Jan 1995)
(1+NPA+7D on all toll calls; one exception: St. Vincent, Turks &
Caicos to use 01+NPA+7D on all toll calls)
Areacode splits:
If no date appears, the split may not have been announced publicly due
to lack of direct-dial facility at the time, or may never have occurred.
Early splits can only be guessed at with the following guidelines (my
reference is page 856 of the Sept. 1952 Bell System Technical Journal,
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 22 09 Jan 1995
in the article "Nationwide Numbering Plan" by W. H. Nunn):
If an areacode is of form N1X, it is in a state or province with more
than 1 areacode. (The reverse is now obsolete.)
If an areacode is in a state or province with only 1 areacode, it is
of form N0X. (The reverse is now obsolete.)
what?/209 California
what?/707 California
what?/805 California
305/813 Florida
what?/309 Illinois
502/606 Kentucky
504/318 Louisiana
612/507 Minnesota
402/308 Nebraska
what?/607 New York
704/919 North Carolina
405/918 Oklahoma
901/615 Tennessee
what?/806 Texas
206/509 Washington
416/519 Ontario, 1953
404/912 Georgia, 1953 or 1954
December 1991 Greater Atlanta call guide, in discussing 404/706
split, said "It's been 38 years since Georgia added an Area Code."
613/705 Ontario, 1957 (did 705 also take part of the then 416?)
201/609 New Jersey, 1958 (New York Times, page B4, 27 April 1989)
414/608 Wisconsin, 1959?
415/408 California, 1960
616/906 Michigan, sometime after Nov 1960
what?/807 Ontario, 1962 (either an area which had no area code, or 705
split)
305/904 Florida, July 1965
703/804 Virginia, 24 June 1973 at 2:01 AM
714/619 California, Nov 1982
713/409 Texas, Mar 1983 (full cutover 90 days later)
213/818 California, Jan 1984
212/718 New York, 2 Sept 1984 (full cutover 31 Dec 1984)
Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island became 718;
Manhattan & Bronx stayed in 212;
Bronx switched from 212 to 718, 1 July 1992 (full cutover
15 May 1993; but until then, calls from Bronx to Brooklyn/
Queens/Staten Island still had to be dialed 1+718+7D, and
effective 25 Sept 1993 had to be dialed 7D)
303/719 Colorado, 5 Mar 1988
305/407 Florida, 16 Apr 1988
617/508 Massachusetts, 16 July 1988
312/708 Illinois, Nov 1989 (full cutover 9 Feb 1990)
202 District of Columbia & vicinity, 1 Oct 1990
This was like a split despite no new area code. 202 area
code, previously useable for all but the outermost Maryland
and Virginia suburbs, was restricted to DC proper, with 301
or 703, as the case may be, necessary for suburbs. As a
result, government offices (by then including the Pentagon)
using zipcodes starting with 200,202,203,204,205 and located
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 23 09 Jan 1995
in Md. or Va. could no longer be listed in area 202. Prefixes
in the Pentagon, which is in Virginia, were previously in area
202 (not 703), and moved to area 703 in 1990; 202-694 had to
be replaced by 703-614 because 703-694 was in use at Stuart.
(Local calls across area code border changed from 7D to NPA+7D.)
214/903 Texas, 4 Nov 1990 (full cutover 4 May 1991)
201/908 New Jersey, 1 Jan 1991 (full cutover 8 June 1991)
415/510 California, 2 Sept 1991 (full cutover 27 Jan 1992)
301/410 Maryland, 1 Nov 1991 (full cutover 1 Nov 1992)
213/310 California, 2 Nov 1991 (full cutover 16 May 1992; was
to be 2 May 1992, but was postponed indefinitely because
of riots just before then)
(all GTE plus some PacBell went into 310)
212/718/917 New York, 1 Jan 1992 (917, to be overlaid on
212 & 718, is to be used for cellular & pagers)
404/706 Georgia, 3 May 1992 (full cutover 3 Aug 1992)
512/210 Texas, 1 Nov 1992 (full cutover 1 May 1993)
714/909 California, 14 Nov 1992 (full cutover 14 Aug 1993)
(Riverside and San Bernardino counties go into 909;
Orange County remains in 714)
416/905 Ontario, 4 Oct 1993 (full cutover 25 Mar 1994,
postponed from 10 Jan 1994)
919/910 North Carolina, 14 Nov 1993 (full cutover 13 Feb 1994)
313/810 Michigan, 1 Dec 1993 (full cutover 10 Aug 1994)
215/610 Pennsylvania, 8 Jan 1994 (full cutover 7 Jan 1995)
(Because of this split, Denver 267, Adamstown 484, and Terre Hill
445 moved to 717 rather than 610, since their telephone companies
serve adjacent areas already in 717. I learned of this change for
Denver and Adamstown on 2 September 1993, with Denver going to 717-
336 because of 717-267 being used at Chambersburg. See elsewhere
in this file for note about dialing instructions for Denver and
Adamstown. I did not learn of the Terre Hill area code change
until 21 September 1994.)
205/334 Alabama, 15 Jan 1995 (full cutover 13 Mar 1995)
(the first NNX area code to be announced, on 22 July 1993)
206/360 Washington, 15 Jan 1995 (full cutover 9 July 1995)
602/520 Arizona, 19 Mar 1995 (full cutover 23 July 1995)
(announced 29 Nov 1993)
303/970 Colorado, 2 Apr 1995 (full cutover 1 Oct 1995)
713/281 Texas, 1995 (nature of the split not yet decided)
213/310/818/562 California, Sept 1995 (cellular/pager overlay,
but will then also get new landlines in 310)
312/708/630 Illinois, 1st quarter 1995 (cellular/pager overlay on
312 and 708)
305/954 Florida, 1st quarter 1995
703/540 Virginia, 15 July 1995
813/941 Florida, May 1995?
615/423 Tennessee, 1 Sept 1995 (full cutover 1 Feb 1996)
(249 was "too close to some exchanges in Kingsport" and 931
"could be confused with the 901 area code for Memphis".)
Area codes 706,903,905 had been used, at least in the U.S., for
calling parts of Mexico. (These codes were later announced for
Georgia, Texas, and Ontario respectively.) 706 and 905 were
discontinued 1 Feb 1991 for calls to Mexico (which was and still
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 24 09 Jan 1995
is reachable in country code 52); I have no such date available
for 903.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
dr.mdm.em.
Madam Emilia, 1:221/194
q. We've had book reviews in the Snoz. Why not echo reviews?
"Echo announcements" are usually for new echos hitting the backbone.
Why not have echo reviews: history of echos, tributes to great echo
personnae, how echo environments evolve...although mere bashings
of moderators would be dull.
a: bletch. You are wrecking something that is nice about echos.
Most people in them seem to have found their way there
serendipitously. There's a certain aura of magic about that.
q: Yeah, but, reading echo reviews might be as much fun as reading
'zine reviews, like 'Fact Sheet 5' and 'The Alternative Press Review'.
BTW, the comic on the back cover of 'anarcha-feminist hag MAG #4' is
priceless.
a: Stop talking about your paper zines fetish.
q: What do you think of calling the police to stop e-mail harassment?
a: It would be easier to press a return key. I could call the
police because of some of the things you have told me. You even
fired a gun at me in this column. I simply ignore you when you
are being a pain. I can pay attention to you if you stimulate my
mind, or not. I owe you no brain tax.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Fidonews Information
========================================================================
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
Editors: Donald Tees, Sylvia Maxwell
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]
FidoNews 12-02 Page: 25 09 Jan 1995
(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews
128 Church St.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2H 2S4
voice: (519) 570-3137
Fidonews is 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 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 the eds.
Articles by Madam emilia may be retransmitted freely through
cyber-space.
OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
address, or trade for copy of your 'zine.
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews.
Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to
[email protected]. No message or text or subject is
necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
should now mail to
[email protected] rather than the
previously listed address.
SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
"the pulse of the cursor is the heartbeat of fidonet"...
-- END
