FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
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Copyright 1988 by the International FidoNet Association. All
rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted
at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
are used with permission.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
COMPLAINTS--COMPLAINTS! .................................. 1
BBX - A New Service For SysOps From Byte/BIX! ............ 6
The Great Computer Room Explosion of '78 ................. 9
A Reason For Gating ...................................... 11
Sapphire: A Revolutionary New Kind of BBS ................ 12
LAST SATURDAY ............................................ 14
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 19
Bodies Behind the BBS: Bob Rudolph ...................... 19
Let's YACK about Burnout ................................. 21
3. NOTICES .................................................. 22
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 22
Latest Software Versions ................................. 22
And more!
FidoNews 5-48 Page 1 28 Nov 1988
After reading last weeks Fido News, and continuinging to
monitor all of the echo areas I participate in I guess it is time
I do this article. I have been putting it off now for almost 6
months. I have seen FLAME after FLAME towards the IC, RC, and
even NC. I have watched as many a good SysOp has crumbled and
gone their merry way to bigger and better things. An in some
cases into Other Newly formed Net Works. I want all of you to
know up front, I am not normally a conformist and am usually the
first to disagree with everything and anything. This article is
not a FLAME, but is a direct attack upon some of the principles
we ALL are suppose to Operate within.
How many of you know the document (Policy3) which we all are
suppose to comply with is DATED: 24 Oct 1986? Two years OLD, it
is the same policy which I came into the Net under. It starts
off with a very simple statement which is true even today.
QUOTE " FidoNet is an amateur Electronic mail system. As such,
all of it participants and operators are non-paid volunteers."
With just over 1000 Nodes. Well I looked when parselst compiled
my nodelist this week and we have over 4000 nodes. Not only are
most of us still volunteers many of us do this as a Hobby, or as
I always say "For the Fun Of It". When it no longer is Fun I
will do what most of the others have Done, and that is PULL THE
PLUG. Not only the Phone, but the BBS. An right now it is close
to no longer being FUN.
One of the Easiest RULES which had to be complied with to be
part of the FidoNet is still OUR main stay, though many of us can
do it in ways different than when running a Fido System. We MUST
all run what was called NMH (National Mail Hour), or what is now
ZMH (Zone Mail Hour). This one hour time period is our BACKBONE.
It is the time slot where NC, RC, ZC and yes even the even the IC
can send NET mail to all of us. You know what is funny? For the
past 2 years I have ran this Mail Hour and only on a couple of
occassions have I received mail during this period. You may ask
why. Well it is because of the invention of that thing called
Crash Mail. Where you can Poll a system and pickup mail for your
system anytime day or night. But would you believe me if I told
you that Net Mail or even Echo Mail is not the ROOT of many of
the problems this Network is presently experiencing? Well it is
not.
Ever read Chapter 3? Your Network Coordinator? Well you
should. Because this Administrative Position within the Network
structure is probalby the Most Important. With out this
individual many of you would not have a Node Number. In fact, I
would say about 90 percent of US would not have a number. The
FidoNews 5-48 Page 2 28 Nov 1988
remaining 10 percent are assigned by the Region Coordinators and
in some cases referred to as Orphans or Independent Nodes. Well
they are still part of this Net work and we should support them
as if they were our own. In fact, if there is an Independent
node within a region which is even close to an active net, then
it should be the Region Coordinators and Net Coordinators primary
purpose to ensure this independent node is accepted into a Net.
An unlike some I feel the NC structure is a valuable part of our
total network structure. This one position must ensure each node
within the net is operating smoothly, not causing problems, and
in general complying with OUR policy. It should also be the
focal point for distribution of FidoNews, Nodediff changes,
Nodelist if necessary, and assistance in establishing new nodes
within the net. I can truly say if it were not for the Net
Coordinator of my orginal Net I would not be here today. He did
a lot of work to get me into the Net from the very start.
Region Coordinators, probably have the easist position of
all, as long as all of US NC under them do our administrative
task properly and in a timely manner. The hardest thing I see a
RC having to do is keeping the region in some simulance of order
much like a small net work, which a region basicall is with each
of the NC acting as representative for the Net's. Mind you I am
not saying that RC do not have a tough JOB, but as long as I do
mine right my RC has it easy.
International Coordinator, Get a copy of policy3 and READ
this section, Chapter 5. You people who have FLAMED THE IC in
the past few weeks need to get a copy and read this section. An
I have just a few words for you.
1. If you do not like what is says. Then why has it not
been changed.
2. Until it is changed, then I suggest you either LIVE with
it or Move on to something else.
I for one would not VOLUNTEER to fill this position without
some MAJOR changes in the present FidoNet Policy. His primary
function of maintaining the node list, may very well be the most
difficult administrative function of all of FidoNet. Without it
all you complainers would have to find some other way of making
contact with all the other complainers. One other charge of this
position is the Smooth Operation of the Entire FidoNet work, not
all these other networks but OUR net work. An right now he is
having a very difficult time. An the main reason is because he
is trying to make things better and still maintain the integrity
of FIDONET.
An for those of you who have not read the Policy, then I
again strongly suggest you do. An make it a point to read para
6.4, page 15. I am again going to quote this particular part for
one simple reason. I WANT TO.
QUOTE:
FidoNews 5-48 Page 3 28 Nov 1988
6.4 Problems with the International Coordinator
If you are having problems with the International Coordinator,
the you are out of luck. You can either live with it, drop out
and forget it, or join with some friends and start another mail
system of your own.
UNQUOTE:
We all sometimes get displeased with what is going on
around us, but MUTINY is not the way. Whether or not we want to
admit it, we are an orginazation, and starting to become a rather
large one. With over 4000 nodes, and many more users than I want
to try and count because it seems every one is getting into this
Hobby of ours. So someone has to take the Reins, and make sure
things are running smoothly. An if it were not David Dodell it
would be someone else, and there is only one way I see for things
to get streight and for those of you who do not like to be
managed, manhandled, and confronted with policy and controls. I
am very sorry to say, if you operate a BBS you have some kind of
rules, which must be complied with and I for one think that many
of your users do not like them either but they stay as users for
one reason because they want to. They may not like your rules,
but if they are interested in your operation they stay, if not
then they go find some one elses board to play on.
I agree the IC, RC, and NC should not have any say in the
operation of any BBS, but when the operation of that BBS
interacts with the local net then the NC by all means has a say
in how it is done, whether it be Echo Mail, Net Mail, or simple
ensuring a node is operating in the proper manner, Like running
mail hour, or even operating at all. An the NC should be able to
act on what ever the problem may be. If a node cannot be
contacted for 7 days by net mail. Then the NC is responsible for
making the proper node diff changes. If this continues it is
within his responsibility to place the node on hold, show it as
down or delete it complete from the nodelist. An I know many do
not like that but that is just the way it has to be.
The same things applies to being annoying or excessively
abusive. It is the NC, RC and board sysop's responsibilty to
correct this type of problem and MAKE decisions. For the NetWork
to survive, or rather for the NetWork to operate we must have a
structure of some kind. An contrary to some belief, IFNA is not
a governing body. It is simply and International Organization of
Sysops. Some of which may or may not operate systems which are
compatable with Fido BBS. I for one Operate a Binkley/Opus
system, and have over the past few weeks been considering making
it a Mail Only system. Because I for one do not care if I have
Users on my BBS or not. I operate this BBS for Me. I read the
mail and when I finnish I delete it. I do not have any users who
call and read mail. An when they find I do not allow Uploads or
only downloads of certain software, they do not call back.
Now that I have most of that off my chest. I guess I can
FidoNews 5-48 Page 4 28 Nov 1988
get down to some serious Business. EchoMail, I have heard that
this sysop or this moderator is pulling out of FidoNet and taking
a Conference with Him/or her. An we in FidoNet will not longer
have access to these echo areas. I say BUNK, just because a
moderator takes a echoarea and moves on does not mean we cannot
have it here to. One of the main ones I have heard about is
about the HardDisk conference. OK, guys, rename it, and those
that are still in FidoNet who want to participate Will
participate. An with everything that is out there to strip
seenbys, and origin lines, then some enterprizing sysop will
figure out a way to get the messages from other nets into his
area to read anyway. Or simply set up a link of your own and do
not pass it along to anyone else in FidoNet. If you guys want
something bad enough you will figure out a way to get it. Just
do not involve the rest of the net.
An on the subjects of BACKBONE operation. A backbone to me
is the mainstay of the human body. You can cut off an arm, or
leg. But you must have your HEAD, and something to hold it up.
This is YOUR Backbone. You can operate without the backbone, but
you should let the backbone do it's job, and that is to get
information from one point to another the fastest, cheapest and
quickest means. True if a single node in Maine, wants to send an
echo or net message to California it is easier to send it direct.
But if that same message has a destination of Florida, North
Dakota, Washington, Louisiana, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, New
Mexico, California and Hawaii. The its being transmitted to a
Central Distribution Point, who sends it on to the next central
distribution point who sends it to the nodes as necessary, then
the Backbone is a Very Necessary part of our net. An I for one
feel we should do everything in our power to make this process as
easy, cheap and quick as possible. An those of you who want to
keep making it harder and harder I say to you get out of my Life.
Go join one of the other nets or start your own. But if you want
to make things easy on me, and cheap for me, then by all means do
so but do not kill me in the process of doing it. We need some
rules, and policy, and we need someone to enforce these rules and
policy. Swiftly quickly and without question.
This is not an advocation for David Dodell to stepdown, it
is also not an advocation to allow IFNA to assume control of the
NET. It is an advocation for US as SysOps to do our own things
but remember there are others out there who are doing their thing
like us. An anytime you get more than one person doing their
thing, you have to have quidelines of operation between the two
boards, Whether written, oral, or a combination of both. That
is just way things are. I also know there are those out there
who will not like what I have just said, and others who will and
still others who do not care. So you can go by an old saying.
"Lead, Follow, or get the Hell out of OUR way." If we cannot
live in Harmony with the other Net, or they cannot live in
Harmony with US then I say we do not live together. This is
sometimes called a seperation, we do not have to get a Divorce
but it might be one of our options.
AS I mentioned earlier, this is NOT A FLAME, if you take it
FidoNews 5-48 Page 5 28 Nov 1988
that way so be it. But I have a strong feeling Fido Net will
survive, it may not be as big as some folks would like for it to
be but the smooth operation and continued operation of Nodes
Under Fido Net must be with some type of standards. An these
standards must be reviewed and updated as necessary to meet the
changing of the NET.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-48 Page 6 28 Nov 1988
BBX - A New Service For SysOps From Byte/BIX!
Pete White 1:322/360
At a recent meeting of the SysOps here in the Eastern Region we
were presented with a new service offered by BIX, the electronic
publishing extension of Byte Magazine. While the original intent
was to offer this service to the Boston area only we had the
opportunity to talk with George Bond, the Executive Editor of BIX
and he agreed to extend the Charter Membership offer to ALL
FidoNet SysOps with an additional discount to IFNA members. I'm
sure many of you will find it interesting, and if you don't know
what BIX is the three month trial period for $50 is a fantastic
and inexpensive way to find out.
What is the BBX?
The Bulletin Board Exchange is a new service to be offered this
fall by BIX (R), the BYTE Information Exchange, to sysops of
local BBSes. The BBX allows sysops to become publishers of
information from the Microbytes Daily News Service. It also
provides an efficient, low-cost way to exchange information
between BBSes and to conduct BBS network business.
What do you get?
1. Daily news and features from BBX/Microbytes to publish on your
BBS.
BBX/Microbytes is a custom package of news and features
designed specially for local BBSes. It will be available
only to sysops.
Every Monday through Friday you will get microbytes
news stories about developments in microcomputing,
telecommunications, and technology. In addition, each
Friday you will get First Looks, a Microbytes Feature,
and hardware and software new product items.
All of this material is reported, written, and edited by
BYTE and BIX staff members and correspondents throughout
the United States and in Europe and Japan.
Coverage includes reporting from industry trade shows,
national and international special-interest group
conferences as the events are going on, looks at
important work at R&D labs and in college and university
technical centers.
2. The monthly Best of BIX to publish on your BBS.
Each month, you will get the Best of BIX. BoB is just
what its name implies -- a distillation of the choicest
material from the conferences of the BYTE Information
Exchange. Core areas cover IBM PCs and other MS DOS
machines, Macintoshs, the Apple // family, Amigas, and
Atari STs. Other topics -- Unix, the NeXT computer,
FidoNews 5-48 Page 7 28 Nov 1988
object-oriented programming, etc. -- also are covered,
although not necessarily on a monthly basis.
3. Use of the BIX computer for mail, message and file transfers.
You will be able to use the BIX host computer, and the
Tymnet telecommunications network, not only to collect
your BBX articles but also to exchange your own
information with other sysops. BIX will tailor private
conferences for your use. You may use our host to avoid
the busy signals that sometimes plague dialup nodes. You
also can use private conferences to conduct inter-BBS
business.
Since most telephones in the United States are only a
local call away from a Tymnet node, you should be able
to cut your BBS network telecommunications costs
sharply.
Incidentally, BIX -- and the BBX -- are available
worldwide through the international packet-switching
networks. It also is available through PC-Pursuit.
4. And all the rest of BIX for your personal use!
You will be able browse through the more than 150 public
conferences on BIX, participate in real-time chat
sessions, and use our many libraries of files for
downloading.
What will this cost you?
Membership in the BBX will be by subscription only. The regular
annual membership fee for the BBX and BIX combined will be $199.
Charter memberships will be available for $160, and special
3-month trial memberships will be available for $50, but only
through Dec. 31, 1988. All IFNA members will receive an
additional 10% discount.
Your telecommunications charges are not included in these prices.
If you live in the Boston area, your only other expense for the
BBX will be a local phone call (the BIX host computer is in
Lexington, Mass., and dialup ports are available). If you use
Tymnet, you will be charged $2 an hour evenings, weekends, and
and major holidays. Prime-time use is 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays
and is billed at $8 an hour. All times are your local time, and
all charges are calculated to the nearest minute.
How do you subscribe?
It's easy. You can call BIX and register on-line.
Using Tymnet:
After handshaking is done you will see a line of garbled
FidoNews 5-48 Page 8 28 Nov 1988
characters (or a request for "terminal identifier). Respond with
a lower-case "a". You should then get a "please log in" request.
Respond "bix" and a carraige return. The next display will be
the BIX welcome screen, ending with a prompt saying "Name?"
Enter "ug.bbx" here and you will begin the registration script.
If you elect to pay with a credit card (AmEx, MC or Visa), you
will be able to use BIX immediately upon completion of
registration. If you decide to prepay for time or to set up a
corporate account you will have to complete some paperwork before
you have access to BIX.
Direct dial:
If you dial directly to BIX (the direct line is 617-861-9767),
respond "bix" to the login prompt and enter "ug.bix" at the
"Name?" prompt. Continue as with Tymnet from here.
If you are a member of the IFNA, please leave a mail message to
"bixbilling" with your membership number and a request for the
10% IFNA member discount.
When you register for a year at the cost of $160 and you use the
BBX capabilities for only 2 hours a week, or 104 hours a year,
the hourly cost will be approximately $3.538461538 per hour! And
this includes Tymnet charges!
Please direct any questions about BBX to either Mr. George Bond
at 1-800-227-2983 (voice) or to me at 1:322/360.
P U N C H - C A R D C H U M
What to do with it
A suggestion by Fredric L. Rice
(103/503.3 Astro-Net)
One of the more asked question circulating among the high
schools and colleges around the Southern California area is
what possible uses exist for the chum generated by punch cards
and paper tape.
At the start of every morning, bright and early, before all of
the students classes begin, you go around to all the punch card
machines and collect the chum into a large plastic bag. After
you have ten pounds or so of the stuff, you pause at the trash
bin to consider saving it for it may come in handy someday.
After a moments reflection, you simply toss it away.
I have a suggestion.
Towards the end of the high school year, many years ago, my
brother brought to the computer room a large CO^2 cartridge.
Along with the cylinder he brought 2000 or so books of matches.
Now I know a lot of you have tried this and, in fact, it's an
illegal and highly dangerous, (not to mention stupid), thing to
do, but you must consider that high school kids with no
supervision but lots of time on hand will do illegal, dangerous,
and stupid things.
At first, match heads went into the cartridge, being packed
down as sulfur was added. Next came match heads mixed with the
paper tape and punch card chum. A variety of mixes were tested
to see which burned nicely without being too explosive when
packed down. It was hoped that a linear acceleration curve
could be acquired by regulating the rate at which material was
expelled. After some four pounds of chum was mixed in, we were
ready to play.
Normally a launch tube is required but since there was none at
hand, a teletype roll of paper was used. Also a slight
inclination is needed to acquire a nice, flat, trajectory. For
this, we used the computer rooms door jam. This door looked
out over a short playing field, (currently in use but soon to
be not in use), then over a road and on out into the Orange
County Fair Grounds.
After setting the cylinder inside the paper roll and propping
it up on both sides with magnetic DEC tapes so it wouldn't
roll, the rest of us took up our bunker positions. Me behind
one teletype, Robert behind the other; Allen, Bob, and at least
two others hidden behind a table tipped onto its side before
the window. A spot was reserved close to the door for my
brother, the winner of the lottery. It was hoped that he might
be able to jump far enough behind the book case to avoid any
problems which might occurs after igniting the thing.
FidoNews 5-48 Page 10 28 Nov 1988
My brother bent down over the cartridge and put a match to its
nozzle. After the briefest amount of smoke issued from the
nozzle, he was somehow behind the book case and down before any
of us could see him take his first step.
It's unsettling to note that while this was going on, classes
were being held to either side of us and students were walking
past the door looking in and wondering what we were up to... We
didn't mind killing a Freshmen or two and had at times dumped
them off the second floor walkaways into the bushes below.
It's also interesting to remember another occasion a year before
where a friend of mine, Mike, was trying to constrict the
nozzle of a much smaller CO^2 cylinder in a futile attempt to
gain more velocity. After stuffing it full of sulfur, he took a
soldering iron to it and tried to seal the end up with a match
head sticking out. A strong lad but somewhat lacking in brain.
He only lost two fingers and the use of a third but I imagine
it could have been worse. I mean, the guy was holding the thing
at the time. In his lap. I also imagine that he will some day
run for president.
Where was I? Oh, yes...
Libya uses Dynamite. Iran uses C4. I'd rather use match heads.
What happened after the thing was lit is unclear, even after
the investigation, but I can tell you that its explosion was
heard all over that campus, across the street, and all over
Orange Coast College.
Looking over the computer room filled with reeking smoke, I
could see the carpet on fire from one side of the room to the
other. Burning match heads and punch card chum was sprayed all
over the floor, teletypes, modems and CRT's. Parts of the
paper roll had been blown through the ceiling and much of it
was never found.
Stupid? Yes... But we used some of that useless chum.
There's a considerable amount of controversy in several of our
echoconferences on the subject of using gates between the various
nets. While I see literally hundreds of messages giving various
political reasons for and against the implementation of gates,
there seem to be very few discussing the technical reasons. I'm
certainly not qualified to discuss the technical reasoning for
the necessity of using gates and would welcome seeing commentary
here in FidoNews explaining the positive as well as negative
aspects of using gates between networks. To me there's no reason
to continue to discuss the political aspects, especially after a
recent check showed that when the AlterNet, EggNet and FidoNet
nodelists were all added together there were only 92 nodes NOT
listed in the FidoNet nodelist. I would hope all would agree
that long political discussions on something that presently
appears to impact so few is ludicrous.
There is one positive side to gating that few seem to take into
consideration. Technology changes rapidly and a smaller net has
the capability of changing technology much more quickly and more
easily than a large net. A net the size of AlterNet, for
example, could change the software it uses for handling mail with
little or no difficulty. I shudder to think of what it would
take to make the same change within FidoNet, unless efforts were
made to continue backwards compatibility. And I've been told
that maintaining backwards compatibility while introducing
totally new concepts is what has driven many a programmer to
drink.
If we support the use of gates we support the growth of
technology within our hobby. Forcing everyone to use the same
technology inhibits the technical genius we have available, and
there's certainly a lot of it out there. If we continue to think
of the gate issue as a political one we might see someone winning
the political battle while we all lose the technological war.
Sapphire: A Revolutionary New Kind of BBS
------------------------------------------
MONTREAL -- Pinnacle Software, in association with Le Systeme
OnLine, is introducing a shareware BBS system known as Sapphire.
Pinnacle Software is best known for the Pyroto Mountain system,
which integrates a game with a BBS. Pyroto can be run
stand-alone, or as a door. An estimated 75,000 people dial into a
Pyroto system, every week.
Now Pinnacle Software is addressing the mainstream BBS world.
Sapphire offers messaging, events-processing, doors, file
transfer and full ANSI colour.
Sapphire does not use menus, or single-letter commands. Rather,
it uses word commands, such as READ or SEND. As a result, all
functions are available at a single level; there is no need to
"navigate" through the system to find the function you're looking
for.
Sapphire is both powerful and user-friendly. Especially powerful
are the TEXT and NAMES functions, which enable the user to filter
output according to imbedded text, or the name of the people (or
files) that they are interested in. Thus, with only a few
commands, the user can phrase a request such as: "Display every
message on any message base, sent in the last three days, that
was written by Tony or Mary, in which he or she mentioned the
word Computer or Fido or Modem".
Doors are installed directly, as commands. Because of this
approach, doors are integrated into the system more smoothly. Up
to 25 doors can be installed.
Up to 10 events can be defined. Installing an event is very
easy. You specify the time of the event and the name of the
batch file to be executed. The batch file doesn't require any
special modification to work with Sapphire. Thus, any batch file
you may have could be called as a Sapphire event. Return to the
BBS is automatic.
The main attraction of Sapphire, however, is that it is a
"Zero-Maintenance BBS". Once it is installed, the only task for
the sysop is validation. The message-base is self-maintaining.
The files function automatically keeps the 500 most popular
programs available. The user list is automatically maintained --
removing inactive users when necessary. Absolutely everything
about Sapphire is automatic. This makes it ideal for stores,
consultants, new sysops -- and experienced sysops who are tired
of their labour-intensive BBS software.
Sapphire is now undergoing beta-testing at two sites in Montreal,
with a scheduled release date of December 7th, 1988. A
FidoNews 5-48 Page 13 28 Nov 1988
stand-alone system runs at 300-1200 baud, at 514-331-6791.
Another system, running under Binkley, runs at 300-9600USR baud,
at 514-286-1703 (Fido 1:167/161).
For more information about Sapphire, you can contact Tim Campbell
at 514-331-6791, or James Ludwick at 514-844-1374. Or you can
pick up the PYROTO EchoMail conference, which now deals with all
of Pinnacle Software's telecommunications products (Pyroto,
Vortex, Sapphire, etc.).
After December 7, 1988, you may file request "SAPPHIRE"
from 1:167/161.
While this article does contain language that I would normally
refuse to print (almost a first for me). I do believe it contains
some information that should be brought out. I myself hadn't
looked at the article until Tom Jennings sent me some netmail
asking if it had been printed. The article itself really should
have gone out before the elections earlier this month.
Unfortunately, it didn't quite match specs and it sat around
until TJ brought my attention to it.
Once again, I repeat. THIS ARTICLE CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE AND
CONTENT. IT IS BEING PRINTED AS A COURTESY TO TOM JENNINGS AND
BECAUSE I BELIEVE IT CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT MANY OF US ARE
UNAWARE OF THAT CONCERNS US.
This article was intended as self-therapy after the particular
night in question. (Read it, you'll see!) I wrote it intending to
publish it in two punk magazines, where the language used won't
stand out.
It will (ahem) stand out in FidoNews. I don't know what the
policy, if any, is these days on submissions. The language is
strong but so is the content. It's not fiction.
Here's the article:
* LAST SATURDAY
* Tom Jennings
Saturday, 22 Oct 88
There's some new NBC TV series, made in San Francisco, ``Midnight
Caller'', to be aired starting 25 Oct. I don't have a TV so I
know nothing about it. One particular episode is scripted to go
like this: there's a nasty bisexual man who knows he's infected
with the HIV virus, deliberately fucking and infecting his women
lovers. (I suppose if he was fucking guys no one would care, so
they made it women.)
The producer, John Perry, told the Sentinel (SF newspaper)
``Every episode will leave you with a thought provoking
process.'' I'm sure. (This is the same studio, Lorrimar, that
brought you gems like ``Cruising'', another gay-exploitation
movie.)
FidoNews 5-48 Page 15 28 Nov 1988
This is just too much. It's one too many outright assault. It's
plain and simple, saying ``oh those AIDS faggots, see? this is
what could happen, there are people like that out there!''. The
argument is that since potentially anyone could do that
(remember: we are all potential criminals at all times) we must
control them, its for our own good, see.
Saturday, 22 Oct 88
This morning someone pointed a gun at me. He called me a
``faggot''.
My car was getting a new muffler (all by itself). I walked down
to pick it up. I waited for the light; crossed Folsom St. Wait
for the light; cross 5th St. (There's lots of traffic, see; new
Nordstrum's opened, new consumer shrine only two blocks away.
Light changes, I walk, cars go. Late model clean bright red
fashionable ``sporty'' toyocar makes left turn, behind me. I
glance briefly at the car, absolutely ordinary event (safe
distances, etc)
The guy is looking at me. He says ``Fuck you faggot!'', so of
course social obligation, I flip him off. He pulls into the bus
stop, yelling ``come over here faggot!'', etc. I flip him off,
he's still yelling. I wave no-like, I shut up, keep walking,
don't look back for a minute or so. (ie. remove myself from this
nuts life.) What the hell is his problem? Gee, I must look like
some silly nelly queen to him: I'm 6 foot 4, black leather
jacket, 1/4" buzzed hair, dark round shades, grungy black jeans
rolled up, Doc-Martens boots, I haven't shaved or showered since
Thursday morning, in other words, I ain't pretty; plus, fer shits
sake, I just woke up!
I glance back, he's gone, driven off to wherever he's going.
Adrenalin time: but I keep walking, I only have to go one block
to get my car. Deep breaths, I start to cool out. I'm not stupid,
so I watch for the idiots car, it's all one way streets it's
easy. Zoom! There he is: pulls over, opens door, yells more
``faggot'' shit, then while sitting in the drivers seat (neatly
combed & cut black hair, dark aviator glasses, plain dark T-
shirt) waggles a gun at me, nice new long barrel medium caliber
autoloader, maybe target pistol. I'm standing beside a van,
wierd, but I get angry not scared; plus he obviously doesn't know
what he's doing with that gun, it's pointing all over but at me.
I say something stupid then bolt quick as shit to video store
doorway, then have the presence of mind to look for a license
plate, etc, but he was gone.
Now comes the real adrenalin. Stupid junk it is too; great I'm
sure for rolling in the mud gnashing teeth locked arm to arm with
a mortal enemy, but pretty useless in an urban environment when I
need my brain, I can make my body follow as I need thank you.
Great, I'm in the muffler shop waiting to pay for and drive away
my car. Here I am in the throes of full-blast adrenalin, panting
FidoNews 5-48 Page 16 28 Nov 1988
and shaking, microsecond reflexes, predator body motions, trying
to smile to the other customers, ``Oh hi, I'm just here to pick
up my car, ha ha.'' Yow!
Saturday, 22 Oct 88
So NBC wants to film this particular episode, the part where the
guy gets shot by one of his victims, in a gay neighborhood. The
script, leaked to ACT-UP (``AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power'' --
gay political activists who put their energy and asses on the
line for all of us -- gay or not -- and in SF here has lots of
homopunks and punk gays) leaked allegedly by an NBC employee with
decent ethical standards. (Thank you.)
Revenge killing at the end: the guy gets blown away, the Health
Dep't shows up in full body ``radiation'' type suits, seal the
body into a bag marked ``DANGER: BIOHAZARD''.
This is so sick, so horrible, so dangerous it's almost beyond
belief. It's just wrong, wrong, wrong, the implied ``facts'' are
just plain, wrong.
I'll leave the information-getting up to you but listen to this
doo-doos: you have to WORK HARD to get AIDS. Like, use a needle
that has the fresh blood from someone who has AIDS still in it;
getting screwed in the ass by a guy with AIDS who comes. That's
about it. Women getting it from men sexually is very uncommon.
Men getting it from women sexually is, I believe, unheard of.
Is that simple enough?
Most people are totally and completely ignorant of what the hell
is going on. Do you really know what AIDS is? Do you understand
how information is transmitted in this culture? Do you know how
your brain soaks up the crap you are immersed in?
Saturday, 22 Oct 88
In California, there is this state Proposition #96, which stated,
basically, if you are arrested for any reason (say at a protest
or whatever) and there is ``reason to believe'' you ``may'' have
transmitted ``bodily fluids'' to a police officer, (like if he
claims you spit at him) you can be detained for HIV antibody
testing. They detain you, they administer the test, they tell you
the results. Results are not confidential.
1. ``Reason to believe'' means their whim
2. ``may'' means at the cops whim
3. ``bodily fluids'' (see below)
4. you obviously do not have to be gay
[As an example of the very specific mis-information being spread,
``bodily fluids'' used to be a euphemism for, mainly, cum: semen
and the lubricating fluid produced by the male testes. Also,
FidoNews 5-48 Page 17 28 Nov 1988
blood and direct by-products, plasma, clotting-factor VIII used
for haemophiliacs, etc. So-called family newspapers (and nearly
everyone else) just plain doesn't like to say ``cum''. Somehow it
came to mean everything, including spit and sweat and tears.
Medically, in regarding HIV virus transmission, it does not mean
spit, tears, sweat, etc. Is that plain enough for you? See how
this works?]
OK, so when/if you go to a demonstration, (``Food Not Bombs'',
Greenpeace, Earth First!, Bush in town, whatever) there's always
a slight, maybe minimal, chance you'll be arrested. Some people
push their luck more than others. Normally getting arrested under
such circumstances is no big deal; you're out pretty quick, on
bail or personal recognizance. (I've never been arrested, and
hope to keep it that way.)
This adds a new dimension to political dissent, no? OK, so you,
reading this, you may not be gay, and you're probably HIV
negative (ie. uninfected). That does not matter. YOU CAN STILL BE
TESTED. Explain to your friends, when the paper says ``...those
arrested at today's demonstration were detained for testing for
the deadly AIDS virus...''. Try to explain that they test people
to terrorize, it doesn't mean they really didn't have any reason
to test you.
Oh I forgot: Though we'll still get to vote this Nov. 8 on Prop.
#96, it's already been implemented; it went through the state
legislature or something, I don't understand the process. This is
pretty much in effect now, in California.
I will only briefly mention Proposition #102, which says: there
will be no anonymous HIV testing in CA; all positives ie.
presumed infected) must be reported to public health authorities;
people testing positive required by law to compile lists of all
sexual contact for public health authorities. Testing allowed for
jobs or insurance. Why the list compiling? AIDS is not a casually
contagious disease.
This is to be voted upon Nov. 8. the last ``poll'' I recall
(don't you love those mysterious authoritative polls?) had it
posted at 72% in favor of Prop. #102, though previous ``polls''
on similar state propositions said similar things, but were
resoundly defeated anyways.
Now do you get what this is all about?
Saturday, 22 Oct 88
I'm walking with Duke down Haight St., we're going into Mendel's
so's I can buy paint pens to finish my HOMOCORE logo on my
jacket. New crop of skinheads talking amongst themselves as we go
by: ``...man, there's lotsa fags in this town...''
Saturday, 22 Oct 88
FidoNews 5-48 Page 18 28 Nov 1988
Look, right now it's 2:00AM, I can't fucking sleep. I am wired.
The only thing that keeps me cool headed at all is my wonderful
boyfriend Michael is coming down to visit me from WA state next
week (we met at the '88 Toronto Anarchist Gathering) that
homopunk makes me happy!
They really are planning on filming that ugly thing. This script
is no accident, it's pure exploitation of the worst kind, oh, its
just a bunch of faggots I guess, huh? ``...thought provoking
process.'' Yeah right. Oh, people say, but some people do do
that, so it's not like they're lying or anything. Right. Hey, a
black guy raped a white lady, well, they're like that, you know?
NBC got a restraining order against ACT-UP and specific ACT-UP
people; they are quite intent on filming this thing. (At Gilman
St. Project we couldn't get a restraining order against some
people who had been harrassing us at the club over a period of
months.) If they just show up they get arrested, no questions
asked. The mayor doesn't want to ``interfere with their First
Amendment rights''. First Amendment rights do not include the
right to yell ``fire!'' in a crowded room.
It's not gonna happen. People are not going to let it happen.
This ain't Politically-Correct demonstrations guys, this is my
life, and your lives, literally, there are assholes out there
looking for someone to hate, to vent their slimy thoughts on.
Faggots are real handy. Anyone who stands out will do. Think you
have to actually be gay? Who's next?
I mean, like what am I going to do, personally, about this
filming business? It can't happen. Yeah, sure they can just do it
somewhere else, in some other city, but this means we should
allow them to do it in our own neighborhoods? Well, maybe someone
there in that other city will give them a hard time too. ACT-UP
has so far done a really good job, on a few minutes notice they
show up and make noise and diversions that effectively stops the
filming. Hence the restraining order. This filming can't happen,
in gay neighborhoods no less; there's good ole boys driving
around looking for fags to beat up, all they need is an excuse
and a good TV shot of an actual street with homos on it to make
it easier.
There aren't ``gay'' issues vs. straight ones. Sexuality is part
of your personal human freedom, it's your damn business not mine.
The very fact that you might get uptight and upset thinking about
different kinds of sexuality means that {\it you were taught
well, you believe the lies, you will do their job for them},
we're put into smaller and smaller categories until no one will
defend their own neighbors and friends, and therefore themselves.
Do you, or I, have to get killed by some fag-basher to make a
point or what? Do you understand what this is all about yet?
But first a word from our sponsor. Sponsor? We ain't got no
sponsor! Ah, but yes, you folks who read these articles are the
sponsor. Didn't know that? Now you do.
I've had pretty fair luck getting response from folks when I ask
'em to send me some information so that I can prepare a FidoNews
article, but I inhabit a pretty narrow circle in FidoNet. Soon
you readers will be tired of seeing *C types and IFNA types here.
So here's what I want you to do -- YOU send mail to those folks
who would fit well in this column. That's bound to work better
than my sending them mail. But send me mail, too, and if I can
find 'em in the nodelist I will prompt them with my little ques-
tionaire.
Now, down to business. This week our subject is Bob Rudolph, the
current president of IFNA. Next week we'll talk about Don
Daniels, last year's IFNA president.
I've heard of people doing things because they were hit up the
side of the head with a 2X4. . . Bob's involvement in BBS'ing
began when his wife managed to drop a 2X10 on her big toe. This
happy event turned him into a temporary house-husband and tele-
commuter with a PC at home. Not knowing much about PC's, Bob
invited one of the PC gurus from the office to help him set
things up, and of course was supplied with a list of local
bulletin board systems. Within a couple of months, Bob had
developed a telephone bill so large that the phone company gave
him the option of either paying it or taking on the debt of a
third-world country.
Bob's wife recovered, and he returned the PC to the office, but
he had been infected by the BBS bug. Influenced by John Madill's
Fido (#2, now 261/2), Bob started his own Fido system and joined
net 109 when FidoNet numbered less than 800. Initially his BBS
was a general file system (and consumed massive amounts of disk
space), but the appearance of echomail led Bob to convert his
system to a conversation place. His current system, Liberty
Hall, grew out of the old Reindeer Shed, becoming a support-for-
sysops and general conversation board with 70 echo areas and
TradeWars for the game freaks.
Bob has been NC for net 261 since net 109 got unweildy and
Baltimore fell off. He is also NC for AlterNet 521. After
joining IFNA in the beginning and ending up on the Board to
replace a resigned member, Bob was reelected, and selected at
FidoCon as IFNA's President.
FidoNews 5-48 Page 20 28 Nov 1988
One of the target audiences for Bob's system is mainframers,
since that is how he earns his living. Bob is a systems program-
mer and has worked in both large and small shops. His specialty
is CICS (which will mean little to most of you who think MS-DOS
is too complicated as an operting system), in VM, VSE, and MVS
environments.
Between the sysgens and the echomail, Bob retains his sanity with
other activities. He sings in the church choir (his wife is the
director), is a sometimes motorcyclist, and is an avid reader
with a paperback collection of around 2000. One of his comments
struck a special nerve with me -- "I have been involved with
photography and will doubtless be involved with it again one fine
day." Ah, for time to do everything we want. . .
As he puts it, Bob is a "retired fat guy", and co-founder of the
FAT_TABLE echo (with John Lamb on the west coast) for folks on
weight-loss programs. He likes to blay bridge, but not for
blood. And he's something of a jazz afficionado. At the next
FidoCon perhaps we can organize a friendly bridge game with low-
calorie snacks, and jazz in the background . . .
Bob's wife is a piano and voice teacher (good thing she didn't
drop that 2X10 on a wrist), and they have been married nearly 21
years. Just in case Bob doesn't have enough irons in the fire,
they have three children -- Jamie is 15, Jessica 11 (going on
17), and Elizabeth 6.
Ever get tired of the same old problems? The same stresses? The
same tireless rampage of life's idiosyncrasies? Welcome to a
condition commonly called "Burnout".
You'll see a lot of that here in FidoNet. Let's face it, most of
us SysOp types are just a wee bit strange. After all, who would
do this for the heck of it? I got looked at kinda funny when
somebody found out that, in this three bedroom house, my
housemate and I each took the smaller bedrooms and put our
computer equipment in the MASTER bedroom.
Hey, we knew where our priorities were.
So, people who get into FidoNet usually GET INTO FidoNet. And
for some reason, SysOps also tend to be a pretty short-tempered
bunch. Haven't figured that one out yet. We'll spend all
weekend or three working nights getting our hardware and software
to run right but won't give the guy at the other end of the
EchoMail conference 45 seconds before we slam on the REPLY key.
Guilty? You bet. I've done it as much as [almost] anybody has
out there. And I'm the long-winded type.
Anyway, with that many people constantly slamming each other's
views, it comes as no surprise that, out of the blue, somebody
will throw their hands up and say "Bye! I've had it!".
Well, my recent case of burnout wasn't in FidoNet, it was at
work. But I somehow failed to take a lesson to work with me that
I have been slowly learning (very slowly) here in this fabulous
network. Pull out FidoNews 5-24 sometime. James Zachary wrote a
story called "Indios". In it a member of an electronic mail
hobby network is losing his temper over flames and fights and is
about to start striking back when the Indian who maintains his
apartment complex intervenes. By the end of the debate, the
hobbyist is calmed down and willing to take Indios' advise:
"Take what is good with this and all else in life and leave
behind what is bad."(1)
I guess some of us are slow learners.
_______________
(1)Zachary, James."Indios - A Network Yarn", Fidonews 5-24, 1988.
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIVISION AT-LARGE
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
16 Vince Perriello 1:141/491 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
18 Christopher Baker 1:135/14 Bob Swift 1:140/24
19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
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Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
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FidoNews 5-48 Page 26 28 Nov 1988
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