Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only.
For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software.
FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the
FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of
individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized
agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this
compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors.
You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is a Continuous
Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are
used with permission.
Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors
and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software.
Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every
responsible submission received.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
FidoCon '90 Update: ...................................... 1
ASIAN BBS SYSOPS' CONFERENCE 1990 ........................ 3
ARCmail - International Standard? ........................ 12
GrenadeMail<tm> And Other Lost Art Forms ................. 15
REGION 17 FIDOCON Plans Confirmed! ....................... 17
Region17 Registration Form ............................... 18
NEW! FidoCon '90 Registration Form ....................... 21
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 23
Talk Me Through It, Honey ................................ 23
3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 25
And more!
FidoNews 7-26 Page 1 25 Jun 1990
With the increased participation, Conclave '90, home of this
year's Fidocon, looks to be the best sysops convention yet!
If you plan on attending and staying for meals or at the hotel,
we MUST know whether you're coming by July 1st (that's THIS
WEEK), as that is our cut-off date for notifying the hotel of
our 'final' numbers. If you register after that, we cannot
guarantee you a room or a meal ticket.
The cut-off for discount airfare from American Airlines is July
1st THIS WEEK, so be sure to get your reservations in right away!
The Grand Wizard himself, Ben Baker has agreed to attend and be
our keynote speaker! Those who've heard Ben's talks in the past
such as "Beyond 10,000 Nodes" or last year's "History of Amateur
Electronic Networks" or his famous talk on the "Development of
the Calendar" know that hearing his talks are worth the price of
registration alone!
Mike Ratledge is coming! Yes, the author of XRS, one of the
most popular pieces of software used by members of our hobby
will be attending and talking about EXpress ReSponse, and giving
a seminar on the Association of Software Professionals as well.
We will be mailing out the Conference packets to all registered
attendees this week. It will contain instructions on getting to
the hotel, a map of the area, and a tenative seminar schedule.
For our adventurous attendees, we have added an optional trip to
Six Flag's Great Adventure theme park in Jackson, NJ for $30/person.
And now for the BIG announcement! As well as the usual HST
(courtesy of US Robotics), we will be giving away a "Super
System" computer package complete with a Multi-line Continuous
mail TBBS/TIMS bbs package (courtesy of eSoft).
Registrations after 7/1 will not be eligible (we have to have
SOME inducements for early registration, you know! :-)
[Those who registered before 5/1 will be given 3 changes in the
drawings, while those registering before 6/1 will be given 2. If
you register before July 1st, you can also participate in our
prize drawings.]
Please use the updated registration form you'll find in this
issue of Fidonews. It's headed FIDOCON '90 REGISTRATION FORM.
Also, please note that the prices listed only apply to those who
pre-register using the appropriate form.
FidoNews 7-26 Page 2 25 Jun 1990
We hope to see you there!
Bill VanGlahn, FidoCon '90 committee chairman, 1:1/90 1:107/557
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 3 25 Jun 1990
Yoshi Mikami
Fido 3:720/13.12
RESULTS OF FIRST ASIAN BBS SYSOPS' CONFERENCE IN TAIPEI
- JUNE 9, 1990
-------------------------------------------------------
Note: The non-English special characters that you may see
below in this memo are Japanese characters in the
original text.
Date: June 16, 1990
To: Kyoo-myun Hahn, Honlin Lue, Toshiyuki Omi, and Other BBS
Sysops in Asia
From: Yoshi Mikami, now in Taipei, Taiwan
Subject: The Results of the First Asian BBS Sysops' Conference in
Taipei - June 9, 1990 (First Draft Report)
Dear Friends,
Six people from Japan (including one who lives in Keelung,
Taiwan), two from Korea and 45 from ROC/Taiwan attended the First
Asian BBS Sysops' Conference that was held at Taiwan University
Alumni Association Bldg. in Taipei on June 9, 1990. On the
agenda were:
1. Welcome & Intro H. Lue �C���� 20
2. BBS in Asia
Japan T. Omi ���r�K 20
Korea K.M. Hahn �،\�j 20
Taiwan B.L. Lin �є��� 20
- - - - - Intermission - - - - - - - - - - - - 15
3. Multi-Byte Presentations of Asian Languages�@
Taiwan C.C. Lee ���u�� 20
Korea K.M. Hahn �،\�j 20
Japan Y. Mikami �O��g�F 20
4. Special Topics: Relationship with Commercial Networks
TTN-Serve A. Liu ���ɒ� 20
5. Conclusion B.L. Lin �є��� 5
We had good time, superb discussions that continued all through
the dinner time from 7:00pm till 9:00pm, and excellent experience
to share information on what we do in the three Asian countries
from which the attendees came from.
Honlin Lue and Jimmy Tsai presided over the conference. Honlin
kicked off the meeting at 3:30pm (it was a partially rainy day
towards the end of the late April-early June rainy season and
Taipei's taxicabs all disappeared), welcoming everybody and
introducing the participants from overseas and then from Taiwan.
We had about seven female participants. Among the participants
were a computer magazine journalist from Korea and a few
journalists from Taiwan. (Toshiyuki Omi was asked by the
Japanese computer magazines to write about this conference.) Tad
FidoNews 7-26 Page 4 25 Jun 1990
Sekineh, who lives in Keelung, Taiwan, provided simultaneous
translation over the mini-FM transmitter (that Yoshi Mikami had
brought from Japan), to which everybody listened with portable FM
radio.
Honlin had prepared a big signboad in the conference room and, to
everybody, a copy of the abstracts of the speakers. He had also
prepared for the foreign guests nice banners of his own design,
which showed Taipei's very artistic West Gate (����) that was
destroyed during Japan's occupation of Taiwan. If this kind of
brutality over the human culture ever happened at our time, we
would stop it in a swift island-wide protest against such a
stupidity, whether the government of that time felt the gate was
hazardous to traffic or not, using our telecommunications
network!
Toshiyuki Omi, Sysop of Foreign PC User Club (FPUC) BBS, in
Nagoya, spoke on the general BBS scene in Japan, which he
summarized in two words: competition and cooperation. He feels
that the Japanese telecommunications users, inspite of the recent
competition in domestic and international telecommunication
systems, cannot enjoy low cost telecommunications which the U.S.
users are used to. Toshiyuki mentioned that there is a great
deal of competition and cooperation among the 1,000 or so private
BBSes, the many non-profit regional systems and a douzen or so
big commercial networks, such as NIFTY-Serve, the Japanese
version of CompuServe. He brought with him a BBS Telephone
Directly (�a�a�r�d�b��), a quarterly publication of all known
private/public/commercial BBSes in Japan. His BBS is networked
with unique 8-bit NetMail to about 10 other BBSes in Japan, one
of which can be dialed up through a digital packet network
(TYMPAS), domestically and internationally.
Toshiyuki was unique in his own way, not using the NEC computer
(which is the personal computer that most Japanese users have for
their home use) so much and rather liking to use foreign-made PCs
(such as IBM, Mac and Amiga) for their better user interface. A
question was asked which BBS host programs are typically used on
the NEC; his answer was many, not any one or two particularly
used.
Kyoo-myun Hahn (he always wrote his name as Hahn Kyoo-myun) of
Seoul, Korea, next discussed (in English) his EMPAL ("electronic
mail pal=friend") BBS which runs under Xenix, a UNIX vaiant. He
talked about how data communications over dial-up telephone and
modem (very expensive only a few years ago) had started in Korea.
Since he was so busy just before the conference, he was the only
one who had not submit the abstract of his intended speech.
However, his presentation was very clear and understandable.
As a third speaker of the BBS Scene in Asia, Bor-lon Lin near
Taichung, Taiwan, had prepared a lengthy paper on the Taiwan BBS
scene, mainly taked about the FidoNet of which Honlin and he play
key roles, calling overseas and coordinating the 75 or so FidoNet
BBSes in Taiwan. The FidoNet sysops in Taiwan had made
modifications to QuickBBS and other U.S.-made BBS host programs,
FidoNews 7-26 Page 5 25 Jun 1990
and FrontDoor and other mailer programs, so that the 8-bit
Chinese language (Big-5 Code) can be used in the message areas
and the mailer.
In the Q&A session, Bor-lon himself asked if he has to send a
large amount of data for the 8 or so small number of FidoNet
systems in Japan. (The FidoNet systems in Japan are under the
Taiwan-Korea-Japan area with Taipei as the area hub, which is
under the Australia-Far East Region with its regional hub in
Sydney.) I answered that Japan FidoNet's international connection
just started in January, 1990, and that some more patience is
required to see an increase in the number of systems. I pointed
out that his talk was rather biased to the FidoNet in Taiwan, as
if no non-FidoNet BBS existed in Taiwan and that his presentation
was better understood only in a FidoNet conference. (See *Note
below.) There was an abstract of Taiwan's BBS history written by
Honlin in Chinese, which I found was very instructive---I hope
someone will translate it into English soon.
We then proceeded to discuss the technical gutts of the BBSing in
Asia: the Multi-Byte Presentations of the Asian languages. As
we know well, the Chinese, Japanese and Korean languages use the
"Han" characters ("Chinese characters" if you like), which are
presented in a sequence of two or three bytes, in MS-DOS and UNIX
(AIX if you like). First, C.C. Lee made a well prepared
presentation of his view of the mult-byte presentation of Chinese
language, highlighting several key points. C.C. spoke in
Chinese and his abstract was written in Chinese---I wish his
abstract was translated into English soon.
C.C. spoke of a program written recently by Deng Lin, a 16-year
old high school student, which adds the "Eten" Chinese graphic
characters to the original Chinese character codes, that the
receiver can display the sender's original Chinese message in any
EGA-equipped IBMPC compatible (without any special "Chinese
character card.") I talked to Deng, the youngest BBS sysop,
during the dinner time. This kind of approach can be
experimented in the Japanese and Korean personal computers. The
source code is included in his package.
The second speaker of the Multi-Byte presentation was K.M. Hahn.
He talked about the two Korean character set standards and the
fact that his BBS supports both. K.M. also discussed the
somewhat emotional debate of whether the number of the
Korea-unique characters (Hangeul) should be increased from the
current 2,000, at the sacrifice of the Han characters.
Yoshi Mikami, then, spoke about how this Asian BBS Sysops'
Conference was organized (remembering his experience in the
oracle bones room at the National Palace Museum in Taipei two
years ago) and the Japanese view of the multi-byte presentation
of the Han characters. Although Japan uses one 7,500 JISCII
character set standard (sometimes called "Shift-JIS")
universally, it has its own unique problems such as the new,
additional 6,000 characters being defined in 1990. A set of 5
specific proposals, such as making one or two key BBSes in Taipei
FidoNews 7-26 Page 6 25 Jun 1990
bilingual, and defining the Chinese common names (such as Hau) in
the Japanese and Korean character sets, were made. Let's make
Honlin's Modem Way BBS 02-322-5113 and C.C.'s and Jimmy's BBSes
truly bilingual, Chinese and Englsh, so that the international
travellers in Taipei can talk to the Chinese people here!
Each speaker well exceeded the given time, eagar to communicate
what they want to say. The unique nature of the multi-byte
situation in each country seemed somewhat boring to some
participants. Next on the agenda was our relationshi with the
commercial networks. Taiwan Telecommunications Network (TTN)
sent five representatives, but three of them had left because it
was close to 6:30pm when Adam Liu started a well prepared
presentation of TTN's TTN-Serve, the Chinese language version of
CompuServe, using transparencies. He described where the
gateways are located in Taiwan, what PC character codes (Big-5,
TCA, etc.) can be used, which modem speeds (1200/2400 bps) and
file transfer methods (XModem and CompuServe B) are supported,
etc.. TTN-Serve's features, compared to the private BBSes, are
reliability and availability, and connectivity to CompuServe and
Japan's NIFTY-Serve, as I understood. To me, it was worthwhile
to discuss this first commercial network in this area, which will
start its service in July, 1990. I wish them a lot of success!
At 6:30pm, Bor-lon Lin concluded the conference, thanking
everybody for participation. (Or at least I guess that's what he
said, because Tad had to leave for Keelung a little before
5:00pm, and Adam who picked up the simultaneous translation made
his presentation in Chinese---I encouraged him to do so because
the majority of the audience was from Taiwan---and nobody
volunteered translation.) We proceeded immediately to the
buffet-style dinner in the same room, for NT$350.00. I would
like to thank Honlin, Jimmy and CC to prepare everything on the
Taipei side. I hope you understand by now that my pushing you to
get the abstract done, the attendees list propared, etc., etc.
from Japan was after all needed, in this kind of international
conference!
As follow-up, I will be getting from K.M. Hahn the
English-language summaries of the Korean BBS Scene and Multi-Byte
Presentations, and the Korean Telecommunications Environment,
which he said he would be sending to me. I would also would like
to collect copies of the articles of this BBS Sysops' conference
when they appear in the computer/telecommunication magazines in
each country.
I spent this Saturday morning at the hotel to summarize the
meeting results, as above, but if you feel that I am somewhat
biased, please feel free to contact me through Honlin's Modem Way
BBS, 02-2-322-5113, or James' INTERNET BBS 02-931-3045. I hope
to get your reactions by June 20, because I plan to make my trip
to Japan June 24-30 and to report the meeting results to my BBS
Sysop friends in Japan. I believe that Toshiyuki's article in
the quarterly NETWORKER magazine will appear in the September 18
issue---I may have to help him on that.
I will see you again in a similar meeting in Japan, Korea or
FidoNews 7-26 Page 7 25 Jun 1990
Taiwan (maybe, at the same time of the year and at the same
place?)! Happy BBSing!
Yoshi Mikami
Taipei, Taiwan
(*Note) In the following week, on June 14, I attended the June
monthly meeting of Taiwan Users' Group (TUG) that was held at
American Legion Bldg. in Hshilin 7:30-9:00pm, and reported the
results of this Asian BBS Sysops' Conference. TUG is a group of
people who share information in English about the members' useof
mainly IBMPC compatibles. It was an Amiga night, by the way,
that night. I met there with James Thomas who told me about his
GT-NET network in Taiwan, with about 25 or so BBSes, such as
INTERNET BBS 02-931-3045 (English only; TUG uses it as a club
BBS) and NIGHT CATS BBS 02-821-9910 (bilingual Chinese/ English).
Two of the GT-NET BBSes have gateway connection to FidoNet.
James takes care of calling the GT-Power network hub in
Washington, D.C., regularly, and distributes NetMail and EchoMail
to other GT-NET BBSes, now mostly in Taipei. So, I know now that
Taiwan's BBS scene is not synonymous with FidoNet.
We need eveybody's participation in what we do and therefore
value even a tiny, independent BBS. We live in a free world,
so multiplicity should be our mode of BBSing mentality.
End of File
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 8 25 Jun 1990
* Top 10 Most 'Censored' News Stories
Project Censored 89 - Top 10 Stories
------------------------------------
The growing threat of a handful of monopolistic global media
lords to the international marketplace of ideas was named the
top under-reported issue of 1989 according to a national panel
of media experts.
Ben Bagdikian, professor at the graduate school of
journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, warned
that mammoth private organizations, driven by the profit
motive, already dominate the world's mass media and
threaten the freedom of information which is the basis
for all liberty.
The second most under-covered story of the year, cited by
Project Censored, described how international sludge dealers
are turning Africa into the world's toxic waste dump; the third
ranked story revealed how U.S. officials are supporting "one of
the most brutal holocausts since World War II" in Mozambique.
Now in its 14th year, Project Censored, a national media
research effort conducted annually at Sonoma State
University, California, locates stories about significant
issues which are not widely publicized by the national news
media.
Following are the top ten under-reported news stories of
1989 as announced by project director Carl Jensen, professor
of Communication Studies at Sonoma State University:
1. GLOBAL MEDIA LORDS THREATEN FREEDOM OF INFORMATION.
Five major media corporations already dominate the fight for
hundreds of millions of minds throughout the world and they
concede that before the turn of the century they may control
most of the world's important newspapers, magazines, books,
broadcast stations, movies, recordings and video cassettes.
2. TURNING AFRICA INTO THE WORLD'S GARBAGE CAN.
Africa, already suffering from poverty, drought, famine,
locusts, "contra" wars, and the AIDS epidemic, appears
destined to become the world's toxic waste dump as
international sludge dealers try to dump U.S. and European
waste onto at least 15 African countries.
3. THE HOLOCAUST IN MOZAMBIQUE.
A U.S. State Department official has called the attacks by the
Mozambique National Resistance (RENAMO) "one of the most brutal
holocausts against ordinary human beings since World War II."
More than one million, mostly innocent men, women, and children
have already died. RENAMO is reported to be funded by South
African sources and conservative, right-wing groups in the
United States and Europe.
FidoNews 7-26 Page 9 25 Jun 1990
4. AMERICA'S DECEITFUL WAR ON DRUGS.
The government's war on drugs is more hype than reality. One of
the nation's top narcotics prosecutors quit in frustration last
year after State Department officials interfered in his
investigations of top people in the cocaine business. A Senate
subcommittee revealed that foreign policy interests
sidetracked, disrupted, and undercut the "war on drugs."
5. GUATEMALAN BLOOD ON U.S. HANDS.
The Bush administration strengthened ties with the oppressive
Guatemalan military last year at the same time that human
rights violations by the military rose sharply. One
unpublicized violation occurred last year when a U.S. citizen,
Sister Diana Ortiz, working as a teacher in Guatemala, was
kidnapped, beaten, tortured, and sexually molested by three
men, one of whom was a uniformed Guatemalan police officer.
The U.S. Department of State didn't register a protest.
6. RADIOACTIVE WASTE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD LANDFILL.
Radioactive waste may be joining old tires, banana peels, and
other regular garbage at the local landfill if the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, the Environmental Protection
Agency and the nuclear industry implement their little-known
plan to deregulate radioactive waste to "Below Regulatory
Concern."
7. OLIVER NORTH & CO. BANNED FROM COSTA RICA.
In 1989, Oliver North, former National Security Advisor John
Poindexter, former U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica Lewis Tambs,
Major General Richard Secord, and former CIA station chief in
Costa Rica Joseph Fernandez were barred by President Oscar
Arias from ever setting foot in Costa Rica again. A Costa
Rican congressional commission concluded that the contra
re-supply network in Costa Rica, which North coordinated
from the White House, doubled as a drug smuggling operation.
8. WALL STREET JOURNAL CENSORS STORY OF CBS BIAS.
The Wall Street Journal censored a major story by one of its
top reporters, Mary Williams Walsh, which exposed how one of
the nation's most respected TV news departments, CBS News,
broadcast biased news coverage of the Afghanistan war to the
American people.
9. PCBs AND TOXIC WASTE IN YOUR GASOLINE.
The U.S. General Accounting Office, the EPA, and the FBI are
investigating sophisticated "waste laundering" schemes in
which hazardous toxic wastes and solvents, including PCBs,
are mixed with gasoline and diesel and industrial fuel and
sold to consumers.
10. THE CHICKEN INDUSTRY AND THE NATIONAL SALMONELLA EPIDEMIC.
The chicken industry's drive for profits, aided by relaxed
inspection practices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has
led to a national epidemic of 2.5 million cases of salmonella
poisoning a year, 500,000 hospitalizations, and 9,000 deaths.
FidoNews 7-26 Page 10 25 Jun 1990
The other 15 under-reported stories of 1989 were: How the
Federal Emergency Management Agency Failed the Nation; The
Secret Pan Am 103 Report the Media Ignored; The U.S. is
Poisoning the Rest of the World with Banned Pesticides; The
U.S. Presence is Destroying the Environment in Central America;
Media Reliance on Conservative Sources Debunk Myth of Liberal
Bias; Faulty Computers Can Trigger World War III; RICO and
SLAPP Lawsuits Endanger Free Speech Rights; NASA Lied to Get
Plutonium Payload Into Space; U.S. Congress Ignored Soviet Plea
for Nuclear Test Ban; The Oppression of Exploitation of Native
Americans; How the U.S. and the Media Propagandized the War on
Drugs; The Profitable Revovlving Employment Door Between the
Environmental Protection Agency and the Polluters; Sellafield:
The Largest Source of Radioactive Contamination in the World;
The National Parks are in Serious Trouble; The Plaintive Case
for Animal Rights.
The panel of judges who selected the top ten stories were:
Dr. Donna Allen, founding editor of Media Report to Women;
Jonathan Alter, Senior Writer, Newsweek; Ben Bagdikian,
professor, Graduate School of Journalism, University of
California, Berkeley; Jim Cameron, founder and systems
operator, CompuServe Journalism Forum; Noam Chomsky, professor,
Linguistics and Philosophy, Massachusetts Institute of
Technology; George Gerbner, professor, Annenberg School of
Communications, University of Pennsylvania; Nicholas Johnson,
professor, College of Law, University of Iowa; Rhoda H.
Karpatkin, executive director, Consumer's Union; Charles L.
Klotzer, editor and publicsher, St. Louis Journalism Revew;
Judith Krug, director, Office for Intellectual Freedom,
American Library Association; Frances Moore Lappe, executive
director, Food First; Bill Moyers, executive editor, Public
Affairs Television; Jack L. Nelson, professor, Graduate School
of Education, Rutgers University; Herbert I. Schiller,
professor, Department of Communication, University of
California, San Diego; Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld, president, D.C.
Productions.
Jensen, who created Project Censored in 1976, said "The
impact of global media lords on the free flow of information is
seen in the number of critical issues which are undercovered or
"censored" by the mass media each year. The media's penchant
for self-censorship and desire to avoid sensitive issues,
coupled with the Bush administration which is even more
secretive than the Reagan era, deprives the public of
information about issues it should know about."
Source: PeaceNet - gen.newsletters
Posted on the New York Transfer BBS at (718) 448-2358 in the
RADICAL_POLITICS echomail conference and ported from the ANEWS
FidoNews 7-26 Page 11 25 Jun 1990
alternative news echomail conference.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 12 25 Jun 1990
ARCMail -- Is it REALLY the International "Standard?"
Daniel J. Matlock
President, CLUB 9600 Software Development (tm)
Node 1:106/9600.0
A few weeks ago, almost every network coordinator in Zone 1 was
sent a netmail message from my system asking them about their
local network's favorite and most used compression method. The
results to this survey are as follows:
As you can probably tell, ZIPmail is more popular than ARCmail,
the so-called "standard" in FidoNet. I collected a total of 34
votes and out of those votes:
(These are rough numbers, none of them were "perfect"
percentages:)
63% for ZIPmail
31% for ARCmail
3% for PAKmail
3% for LZHmail
0% for ZOOmail
====
100%
FidoNews 7-26 Page 13 25 Jun 1990
Now, on to the subject of this article. Take a look at the
following segment from a recent nodelist:
|\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/|
| |
| ;S The following flags define the type(s) of compression of |
| ;S mail packets supported. |
| ;S |
| ;S Flag Meaning |
| ;S |
| ;S MN No compression supported |
| ;S |
| ;S NOTE: The only compression method standard in |
| ;S FidoNet is archiving, using the standard SEA ARC |
| ;S format, with archive names defined by the |
| ;S specification for ARCMail 0.6. The absence of the |
| ;S MN flag indicates that ARCMail 0.6 compression is |
| ;S supported by this node. |
| |
|/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\|
What strikes me as strange is this: if ZIPmail is used and
preferred more than ARCmail, why is ARCmail still the "standard?"
From the surveys that I got back, the people that use ZIP feel
rather strongly for it. In fact, 50% of the ZIP people said that
thier ENTIRE network used ZIP.
My proposal: three new compression flags are added: "MA" and
"MZ" and "MB". "MA" would signify the fact that the system
supports ARCmail, and "MZ" would signify the fact that the system
supports ZIPmail. Finally, "MB" would signify that the node
supports both ARCmail and ZIPMail.
It seems that ZIP is going to be a fairly stable compression
method, as I have heard that Phil Katz, the inventor and patent
holder of ZIP, does not plan to release any more versions (don't
hold me to this -- that's what I heard on the local SysOp's
echo).
I have also seen that ZIP is available for computers other than
the IBM compatible computers, also, so ZIP should be compatible
with most computers that access the FidoNet network.
In addition to the standard ARCmail being replaced with ZIPmail,
I believe that the NODEDIFFs and FIDONEWS should originate as
ZIPped files. I have found that ZIPped NODEDIFFs take up one
half of the diskspace required from ARChived NODEDIFFs, and less
diskspace means less time spent transmitting the files -- which
means lower long distance costs.
FidoNews 7-26 Page 14 25 Jun 1990
I do understand some disadvantages to changing the standard
compression method. New coding will have to be added to most
programs to recognize the MZ, MA, and MB flags in the nodelist.
Also, our current nodelist processors must be able to unZIP
instead of unARCing nodelists.
This "conversion" can not take place all at once, either. I
propose that all software that is now released (or is to be
released in the future) support ZIPmail and ZIPped nodelists.
Nodelists can be named NODELIST.Z?? (for Zipped). Nodediffs
would follow the same naming structure (NODEDIFF.Z??). FIDONEWS
would simply be compressed with ZIP instead of ARC, to leave us
with FNEWSxxxx.ZIP.
It seems that this article has grown larger than I wanted it to
get, so I will end it now. If you have any comments (or
hate-mail?) about this article, please contact me via netmail at
1:106/9600. I am waiting to hear YOUR opinions.
SPECIAL THANKS: To ALL of Zone 1's Network Coordinators that
responded. Without your help, I couldn't have made my point
about ZIP! Thanks again!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 15 25 Jun 1990
By Eric Vice at 163/305 (The Main Menu QBBS)
GrenadeMail<tm> And Other Lost Art Forms
========================================
I'll admit, I'm relatively new to FidoNet, and for the most
part, I'm enjoying it immensely. It's like I've gained a
couple thousand new users, and the best part of it is, most
of them don't have to be 'trained'. (i.e. don't type in
caps, play with the other children, page me more than three
times within 60 seconds, and you're done like dinner, etc..)
Once in a while, however, (less often in Net 163 than any
other net, of course), I do wake up and power up the monitor
of 'Godzilla the 386' to find a piece of GrenadeMail<tm> in
my morning assortment of netmail.
I get 'em from all sorts. I get 'em from my hub, I get 'em
from my net, I *never* get 'em from my NC (right Charles?),
and even once in a while, I get 'em from someone I've never
met before in my life, who lives a couple of nets away (like
the morning I woke up to find a loaded shell in the morning
mail, addressed from a node in New Jersey.. luckily it was
easily disarmed).
My point is this: We're all (I hope) hobbiests, even the
ones who charge for access. I'm *quite* sure that Tom
Jennings never knew what he was getting into when he started
this... he never *knew* that some day there was going to be
more than 8000 nodes bouncing mail and other assorted data
across five zones which span a good percentage of the
civilized world. One thing I *do* know though (without even
asking him) is that he did *not* intend FidoNet to be a
grenade lobbing mechanism for people to take pot shots at
people that they otherwise would be too scared, or too
stupid (heaven forbid) to do so in person.
Right now you're saying to yourself, "What is this silly
fool from Canada talking about anyways? When is he going to
get to his point?" I'm nearly there.
I'm declaring August 1st, 1990 (or September 1st, 1990 if
this article doesn't make it to press in time) to be
International Fidonet GrenadeMail<tm> Disarmament Day.
(Please mark this on the calendar in the back of the issue).
We've all sent a few grenades through the mail channels
before. On August 1st (again, presuming this article makes
it to press), take the initiative! Send a message to
somebody who you've stabbed in the back in days, weeks,
months, or even years past! Call a truce! Tom Mack, in the
documentation for his RBBS-PC bulletin board system, said
(this is from memory, so excuse if the wording is a little
off)... "The purpose of this Bulletin Board System is for
the FREE exchange of information..." -- Information travels
a lot "free'er" when you don't have to intentionally
"route-around" someone who you don't want to associate with.
FidoNews 7-26 Page 16 25 Jun 1990
This thing started out as a simple method of communication
among friends, and if we all keep a level mind, and make a
renewed effort at a pleasant, cheerful (ok, let's not go
overboard) attitude, we can keep it that way, and establish
a precedent by which we can ensure that Fido will live for
many more years, and not meet the doom that other
grenade-throwing sessions in history have met... doom,
destruction, and ultimately, death.
So disarm a grenade on August 1st.... The life you save,
may be your own.
Credits
-------
Charles Herriot, my beloved, although strange-at-times NC,
for coming up with the strangest terminologies sometimes,
who got me hooked on the term "GrenadeMail<tm>".
'Phanteem Logger' for tackling all the jobs that are too
messy for the NC to handle. Thanks again Charles... :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 17 25 Jun 1990
Janet Murray
Fido 1:105/23
Welcome GUESTS at the
REGION 17 FIDONET(r) CONVENTION
A number of Famous Fido Folks from outside Region 17 are planning
to attend the only FidoNet convention on the West Coast this
summer: the REGION 17 FIDONET(r) Convention to be held July
27-29 at the Menucha Retreat and Conference Center in Corbett,
Oregon.
DOUG BOONE has promised to take a "short" vacation from Opus 1.20
development;
VINCE PERRIELLO will robot the FidoNews that weekend;
BOB HARTMAN will "renum" from a distance;
and ROD BOWMAN will meander north from Region 10.
There are also a few Famous Fido Folks in Region 17 who plan to
attend: THE CURMUDGEON (ZoneGate to the Universe); KEN
GANSHIRT; and STEVEN BARNES.
The "Curmudgeon Toss" - traditional in Region 17 Conventions -
has been replaced this year with "Curmudgeon Bungee Diving" - an
event more suited to the unique natural setting of Menucha, high
on a bluff overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. The Oregon
Chamber of Commerce and major shoe sponsors were reluctant to
endorse this event, so Ken Zwaschka had a better idea: see prior
issues of FidoNews for details.
[Curmudgeon Clones are an endangered species!]
A major international electronics firm located in Portland,
Oregon, has asked permission to make a "significant" announcement
at the Regional FidoNet convention. They will also be providing
some of their products for prizes! (The unidentified firm is
neither Nike nor a bungee-cord producer!)
Send your registration form or questions to Ken Zwaschka @105/54
SOON!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 18 25 Jun 1990
================================================================
| IMPORTANT NOTE: Since we must estimate _and pay for_ |
| the number who will be attending by mid-May, there |
| will be a limited number of places for late registrants! |
================================================================
Paid by June 15th:
_____ Number of reservations @ $10 _____
Paid by July 15th
_____ Number of reservations @ $20 _____
Paid after July 15th
_____ Number of reservations @ $30 _____
TOTAL ADDITIONS $ _____
TOTAL PAYMENT ENCLOSED: $ _____
Make checks payable (in U.S. Funds) to:
Net 105 Treasury / REG17CON
FidoNews 7-26 Page 20 25 Jun 1990
Send registration to:
Region 17 Convention
c/o Ken Zwaschka
Ken Zwaschka & Associates
P.O. Box 2226
Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. 97208-2226
Reservations and room assignments will be confirmed via NetMail
within 48 hours of receipt.
Registration packets with a map to Menucha and information about
Portland metropolitan area shopping and recreational faciltities
will be mailed to all registrants on July 1st.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 21 25 Jun 1990
The Secret Sysop Society presents __
*** Conclave '90 *** / \
The SYSOPS Convention /|oo \
Home of FidoCon 1990 (_| /_)
Lyndhurst, New Jersey _`@/_ \ _
August 1-5, 1990 | | \ \\
| (*) | \ ))
______ |__U__| / \//
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
Rate Plan Schedule: (Hotel rooms cannot be guaranteed if you
register after July 1st!)
A. Single Occupancy...................$545.00
B. Double Occupancy...................$400.00
C. Conference w/ meals................$250.00
D. Conference w/ Banquet..............$105.00
E. Conference only.....................$75.00
F. Banquet only........................$30.00
G. Registrant & Spouse................$670.00
Plans A B & G include all conference and hotel fees and meals.
Prices are for pre-registrants using this form only.
You must pay by Check, Money Order, or Credit Card. Please send
no cash. All monies must be in U.S. Funds. Checks should be
made out to: "Conclave '90"
The following registration form must be completed and mailed to:
PO Box 12
Lyndhurst, NJ 07071
You may register by Netmailing this completed form to 1:1/90 for
processing. Rename it to ZNNNXXXX.REG where Z is your Zone
number, N is your Net number, and X is your Node number. US Mail
confirmation is required within 72 hours of electronic filing.
If you are paying by credit card, please include the required
information. For your own security, do not route any message
with your credit card number on it. Crash it directly to 1:1/90.
The official Conclave '90 airline is American Airlines.
American offers a 5% discount the lowest applicable round-trip
fare, including 1st class travel, subject to availability of
inventory. All fare rules and restrictions apply. In addition,
American offers 40% off their round trip unrestricted day coach
fare. International travelers qualify for special benefits,
including complimentary admittance to the Admiral's Club Lounge
at any American Airlines terminal. Newark is an American Air-
lines city with direct flights to most major cities. When making
reservations, you must call American's Toll-free reservation
number at 800-433-1790, and reference Star number 13704F.
FidoNews 7-26 Page 22 25 Jun 1990
F I D O - C O N '90 R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M
I'm sorry I can't reprint all the mail I've received, but this
one deserves special attention...
Raymond Lowe :
Hi
I was just reading your column in FIDO723.NWS when I had
this horrible thought - "What", I thought, "would happen if
Henry stopped writing his column?"
Well for starters I'd save two pages of paper a week, and
about 10 minutes of reading time.
Then there'd be a saving of 4K or so on each of 7000 nodes
(call it 27Meg), then there's transmission time (I creep along
at 1200 bps {we're not allowed to say "baud" anymore}), then
savings on international phone charges, etc.
I was starting to like the hang of this when I realized
that without your column I'd not be able to keep up with what
Honey was doing. "No," I said "it's just too much to give up;
Henry will have to keep writing."
Seriously though, your thoughtful and humorous insights
are greatly appreciated. I just thought I'd better drop you a
line as knowing the great vibrant standards of APATHYnet it is
quite possible that you've not been getting any feedback from
your fans.
So greetings and encouragement from the other side of the
world; please keep it up.
Hey, Rainman, I've got nice house in Mohe for you
! But no, then there wouldn't be a BBS in Cheung
Chan. Dallas is a little north of you, but
almost exactly on the opposite side of the earth.
"(Good {to hear} [from [you]])".
I would be remiss if I didn't mention my first letter from
John DeCarlo. I framed it and put it on the wall above the
monitor ! ( Almost ) All ya'll : thanks.
Wet and Wild 1 --
OH FOR GAWD'S SAKE ! Our local traffic areas are receiving
quite a bit of attention lately concerning two topics : 1) the
election versus the appointment of FIDONET officials, and 2)
the voluntary versus mandatory method of supporting echomail
costs.
FidoNews 7-26 Page 24 25 Jun 1990
Now, I wouldn't dream of boring you kind readers with any
'to do' on these topics, but it seems to me that everyNET
would have these kinds of controversy and would naturally
choose the 'e-mail' forum for hashing out the details.
What strikes me is the huge scale of attitudes, from
vehemently opinionated to outright anger. No way would
someone say these things face to face, and that's what bothers
me. When you blast someone in particular ( and we all do
occasionally ) you need to stop and realize that hundreds of
others are going to read it as well.
I mean, what if one of your workmates is unzipped. Do you
tell him/her during the monthly status meeting ? No, you pick
a private moment and you are discreet.
I'm thinking : what about printing out some of these wild
flaming fire-snorting acid attack messages, and hiring some kid
to roll it up and put it the sender's front door. ( Like those
stupid ads for lawn care/carpet cleaning/air conditioner
maintenance/aluminum siding/etc... ) Personalize it bit, eh ?
Wet and Wild 2 --
I'm pretty sure the reason Honey wouldn't go to Wet and Wild
with me was because of the name. You know, how they get into
these exclusive engagement things. But the other neighborhood
girls talked her into it. This is the park with the big water
slides, and dozen or so swimming pools.
Lots of young, well, you know, uh, yeah, that's right... My
daddy always said there were three kinds of girls in the world
: Young, Younger, and You're under arrest.
I can't decide whether to wear one of those thong deals, or my
giant hot pink baggy shorts. Honey has one of these high cut,
lycra tight fit deals. It's great. I like to do it head first,
upside down, backwards. Especially when it's real slippery.
And the water slides are fun, too.
Our Creator has been fair: he trades us lawn mowing for string
bikinis. I love the summer.
Oh, and Rainman : Honey sends you an electronic kiss. I
started to say 'blowing' but well, you know...
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 25 25 Jun 1990
=================================================================
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=================================================================
Dave Thompson
1:18/60
I would like to clarify the term Public Domain. Although I am
no lawyer, my understanding of the term public domain is it
denotes the fact that the author has relinquished control over
whatever it is that is contributed to the public domain. As
such, the author has given up all rights associated with the
product. With regard to software, that usually means the author
produced a product but does not want to support or enhance it,
hence he or she contributes it to the public domain for use and
modification by anybody and everybody. This means that the
author cannot place conditions on redistribution. Anybody can
sell copies of the program if they can find someone to pay them
for it. The comments of a copyright lawyer would be appropriate
here.
I occasionally write programs to support both QuickBBS and
Remote Access BBS systems. Of the two programs I have released
to the public, both are distributed as freeware. This means
that sysops are free to use them without financial remuneration
to me, the programmer. However, I control the code (it is
copyrighted) and retain rights over how the executables are
redistributed. My programs are most definitely *not* public
domain. I also do not want distributors of public domain and
shareware software to charge five bucks (or more) for the
diskette containing my software.
Why? It is a matter of principle. I do not charge for my
software. If anyone has a right to profit from it, it should be
me. Because I forfeit financial compensation for the software,
I see no reason why someone else should profit from it.
There may be a further point here. While I do not subscribe to
this particular point of view, there are some people who believe
very strongly that software should be free for the use. I
respect that opinion and the fact that they are willing to allow
me to use their intellectual property. I can not understand how
they can afford to do this, but they have certainly earned my
respect. I can understand that they would not want their
software to be redistributed for profit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 26 25 Jun 1990
TO: Vince Perriello of 1/1.0
FROM: Michael Baumann of 3610/60
SUBJECT: Fnews Vol 7, Num 24 - June 11, 1990 [Editor's
response: . . .]
Although I do agree that the articles in question were
of a 'commercial' nature; I feel that you were well within
the rights and responsibilities of the position you hold as
editor to post them.
I would also have to agree that according to the 'black and
white' of the policy as adopted by FIDO, you may well be in
violation of the regulations. However, as not even the laws
of this nation are maintained solely by their 'black and
white' representations but also by their intent, I feel it
is necessary to examine the intent of this regulation as
well.
It seems quite clear to me; if you were to post on a
continuing basis, 'sales adds' for items that are generally
well known to all computer enthusiasts (i.e., diskettes,
computers, commercial software, monitors, etc.) you would be
in direct conflict with both the written word / and its'
intent. As these articles in particular were of a 'this is
a new idea to the industry and oh, by the way it is
available from me' format, I feel they do not violate the
intent of the policy statement.
I, for one, am very glad that those articles were included
in "OUR" newsletter and look forward to seeing more of that
in the future. I feel you were well within your 'rights' to
publish this informative type of article on the up and
coming changes in our favored hobby and I would welcome the
addition of a new section in the newsletter where that type
of information could be passed on to us on a continuing
basis. This is not to say, I would welcome additional
suppliers to say 'yeah and you can also get that from me'
but is intended as a place where the introduction of new
events and what's on the horizon in the field can be
announced.
I am well aware that there may be many in the network that
might not share my interpretation of the intent, but that
opinion is mine and having and expressing it is one of the
privileges of belonging to a 'VOLUNTEER' organization. You
asked for comments on the matter and I felt compelled to
express my opinion on the subject and show my support for
your actions. I wish to thank you for your apparent concern
to help keep us informed as to new events and changes in the
industry and am very pleased that you decided to run the
articles. I do regret, however, that your attempts to keep
FidoNews 7-26 Page 27 25 Jun 1990
us up-to-date has caused the grief that you are now facing.
In conclusion, I would think as long as you are not using
'editorial discretion' to ban certain articles submitted by
those un-known or not personal friends of yours and instead
use the "editor's knife" to carve out those that are of a
non-informative and/or purely sales oriented nature; then
you are definitely operating within the intent of the
Policy. I wish to commend you for a job well done and will
continue to look forward to getting the new copy of "OUR"
newsletter.
-----------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 28 25 Jun 1990
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-26 Page 31 25 Jun 1990
14 Jul 1990
Start of Eurocon / Techcon conference in Antwerp, Belgium.
Please note that the date has changed: The conferences are
one day later than originally planned !
27 Jul 1990
The beginning of the REGION 17 Convention at Menucha Resort in
the Columbia Gorge, Oregon. For details contact Ken Zwaschka,
1:105/54.
1 Aug 1990
Start of FidoCon '90. Contact Bill Vanglahn at 1:1/90 for
details.
5 Oct 1990
21st Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
6 Nov 1990
First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28
14 Nov 1990
Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at
2:332/16.0
1 Jan 1991
Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact
Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description.
16 Feb 1991
Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush.
7 Oct 1991
Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland,
Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo,
Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay
Islands will retain area code 415.
1 Feb 1992
Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and
eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area
code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport,
West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los
Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and
FidoNews 7-26 Page 32 25 Jun 1990
Montebello) will retain area code 213.
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
