Volume 7, Number 36                              3 September 1990
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    |                                                  _            |
    |                                                 /  \          |
    |                                                /|oo \         |
    |        - FidoNews -                           (_|  /_)        |
    |                                                _`@/_ \    _   |
    |         FidoNet (r)                           |     | \   \\  |
    |  International BBS Network                    | (*) |  \   )) |
    |         Newsletter               ______       |__U__| /  \//  |
    |                                 / FIDO \       _//|| _\   /   |
    |                                (________)     (_/(_|(____/    |
    |                                                     (jm)      |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    Editor in Chief:                                  Vince Perriello
    Editors Emeritii:                    Thom Henderson,  Dale Lovell
    Chief Procrastinator Emeritus:                       Tom Jennings

    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. EDITORIAL  ................................................  1
       I hate it when that happens!  .............................  1
    2. ARTICLES  .................................................  2
       The BBS Humor Digest  .....................................  2
       Too Much Garbage  .........................................  3
       An Open Letter to Kwityer Bitchin  ........................  5
       Precycle - What is it & How to do it  .....................  8
    3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR  ....................................  9
       Heidi Seeman update  ......................................  9
    4. LATEST VERSIONS  .......................................... 10
       Latest Software Versions  ................................. 10
    And more!
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 1                    3 Sep 1990


    =================================================================
                                EDITORIAL
    =================================================================


    Hope everyone has been enjoying themselves in the past week or
    two. And that nobody out there is overly impacted by the events
    in the Tigris-Euphrates region. At least not beyond the cost of a
    "Peace through Superior Firepower" T-Shirt, anyway...

    But to the point of this brief "editorial": Could you folk who
    sent me update information on your software please do so again?

    I'm using a new version of my old favorite message editor and
    the most recent surprise it handed me caused me to lose your
    update messages.

    I can hear my friends chuckling already. So who said I was
    immune to such foolishness anyway? I feel so stupid.

    Sorry about that. I'll be more careful next time. Promise!

    Cheers,
    Vince


    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 2                    3 Sep 1990


    =================================================================
                                ARTICLES
    =================================================================

    Danny Scriven
    Fido 1:152/6

          The NEWEST ISSUE of "The BBS Humor Digest" is READY!

    That's right, the AUGUST issue is now on the stands!  To finish
    off SUMMER we've made it 64 printed pages BIG!

    What is the  BBS Humor Digest?   Glad you asked!   The Digest  is
    amonthly  magazine  that  is dedicated  to  all  joke enthusiasts
    aroundthe world.    The Digest  contains many  kinds of  humorous
    materialvarying from jokes to one-liners, limericks to poems, and
    otheritems.  All  material is categorized into  sections (sexual,
    clean,gross, ethnic, &  uncategorized) to make it  easier for the
    readerto find their area's  of interest quickly and to  help them
    stayaway from stuff they would rather not read.

    Where do you Get Your Next Issue of "The BBS Humor Digest"?
    Calling on your own:
              Pandora's Box BBS   You can Download right
              (503) 343-4520      from the MAIN MENU!
              Eugene, Oregon.     Just press 'D' and
                                  enter the file name(s)
    File Request (FREQ) by Sysops and Points:
              Digest is available on the first call!
              14.4k HST Transfer Speeds
              Address:  1:152/6  and  8:7702/8

    To receive all Digests to date Request or Download:  JOKE?-90.ARC
    We are on our 4th issue, so if you are behind here's the info you
    need to know:
         April   [28 printed pages]:   Joke4-90.ARC (available NOW!)
         May     [30 printed pages]:   Joke5-90.ARC (available NOW!)
         June    [49 printed pages]:   Joke6-90.ARC (available NOW!)
         July    [61 printed pages]:   Joke7-90.ARC (available NOW!)
         August  [64 printed pages]:   Joke8-90.ARC (available NOW!)
         Sept.   [75 printed pages]:   Joke9-90.ARC (available NOW!)

    The Digest is pure ASCII, and is pre-formatted so all you have to
    do is print it out and enjoy!  If you haven't checked us out,
    you're missing out!
    Thank you:  Richard Whitten & Owen Morgan
              * REMEMBER: Don't Screw up the Punch Line! *

    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 3                    3 Sep 1990


    Mike Robeson
    Fido 1:350/21.1

                      What to do with our garbage!

    Each week, you probably throw away two to three cans of garbage.
    If you had to keep all this trash in your own yard, it wouldn't
    take long before even the mailman might have trouble finding
    your address ("Neither snow, nor sleet, nor rain, nor
    garbage....!").

    But you don't need to trash so much trash.  You can easily cut
    the amount of garbage you generate in half or even by two-thirds
    by making a few wise shopping decisions, reusing as much as you
    can, and recycling the rest.  Of all the environmental problems
    you have to contend with, you can probably have the most
    immediate impact on garbage overload just by creating less waste
    in your own home.

    Every day, Americans jettison food, from potato peelings and
    apple skins to the leftovers after supper or the last piece of
    crust in a loaf of bread.  For every ten pounds of garbage the
    average household throws out each week, from one to three pounds
    are food that could be fully recycled.  Here are a few
    suggestions for keeping the treasure out of the trash:

    * Separate your food waste and other organic material from the
    rest of your garbage.  Even if you live in a high-rise apartment
    building, you can keep your food scraps separate from the trash;
    and if you dispose of them in a paper bag, rather than plastic,
    they'll compact more densely in the landfill and make room for
    more garbage (if the landfill is designed correctly organics
    will not decompose, as the landfill should be virtually air
    tight).  To prevent the bag from leaking, put some newspaper in
    the bottom of the bag, or wrap juicy waste in newspaper before
    you toss it out.

    * Compost it.  If you live in a house, townhouse, or apartment
    that is on or adjacent to some parcel of land, you should not
    only separate your organic waste from the rest of your garbage
    but compost it as well.

    Compost is nothing more than decayed organic matter.  In many
    ways, it is the perfect form of recycling, not only because it
    converts organic wastes into rich fertilizer and thereby helps
    restore the soil, but because it's easy.  Once the compost bin
    itself is built, it is just as quick to take your food scraps
    out to the compost pile as to your garbage can.

    * Reduce the amount of organic garbage you produce.  Instead of
    tossing leftovers out, freeze them for later use in soups and
    stews.  Or, if that doesn't suit your cooking style, try to cook
    more accurate portions so that you only prepare as much food as
    you're going to eat at one sitting.  And don't go out to a
    restaurant when you have a refrigerator full of food at home;
    eat what's in the fridge first, and save dining out for an
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 4                    3 Sep 1990


    occasion.

    In addition to food waste, packaging creates an unholy amount of
    trash.  Fully one tenth of the average weekly shopping bill is
    spent on the packaging alone.  To minimize your rubbish:

    * Use cloth napkins and dish towels instead of paper.  Keep old
    towels, stained napkins and cloth diapers around to use as rags
    for mopping up spills.

    * Bring home groceries in the fewest number of bags possible.
    Ask for paper bags and remember, the fewer bags you bring home,
    the fewer you'll have to throw away.  Try to reuse the bags you
    do bring home by taking them back to the store the next time you
    shop, using them as garbage bags, or storing your newspapers in
    them for recycling.

    * Buy food and other products wrapped in the least amount of
    packaging possible.  Skip prepackaged produce in favor of bulk
    fruits and vegetables you can bag yourself, and ask your grocery
    store to stock paper, not plastic, produce bags.  If paper isn't
    available, plastic produce bags can be washed out, dried and
    reused time after time.

    * Use glass dishes and cups and metal silverware instead of
    plastic.  In fact, avoid buying anything that's plastic unless
    it's extremely durable, you can use many times over, and you
    have no other option.

    * Recycle glass and aluminum.  If you can, buy the largest size
    glass container of the product you want, and reuse the container
    at home for iced tea, juice, or other food storage. No matter
    how many containers you reuse, though, you'll reach a point
    where you'll either have to start throwing them out or recycling
    them, along with your aluminum cans.   Ask your local recycling
    center if it will accept aluminum, glass and newspapers.  If
    not, find one that does.

    Remember, if you're not recycling you're throwing it away.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 5                    3 Sep 1990


    Mike Riddle
    Fido 1:285/27

                    An Open Letter to Kwityer Bitchin

    Dear Kwityer:

    While the minor brouhaha over the switch from FNEWS*.ARC to
    FNEWS*.LZH appears to have died down now, I still must respond to
    what I think are some problems with your approach. It seems to me
    you are confused over the true nature of both today's network and
    its users.

    While Fidonet started life as a loose organization of computer
    hobbyists, it has grown to be much more than that.  While studies
    show that entirely too many people today are computer-illiterate,
    when Fido got its start the problem was substantially worse.
    Computers were rare and expensive, small and underpowered, compared
    to today.  Initially, much like amateur radio, the content of the
    messages was subordinate to the fact that they were sent.

    Today that has changed.  The typical user of virtually all of the
    bulletin boards that I know about is /much/ more interested in the
    content of the message than the mechanics of how it is transmitted.
    I can think of more than a few sysops who don't know diddly about
    programming, and who are able to run their boards quite competently
    because of the few well-documented programs that are available and
    because of co-operative, friendly net coordinators and fellow
    sysops.

    In today's world, IMHO, some sysops and most users are here
    strictly for the information exchange.  "Fixing a batch file" is
    quite a task for some of them.  This is not intended to be a put-
    down.  I have done quite a few different things in my life and like
    to think of myself as competent and successful.  I use the medical
    system when I need it and, along with most people, I imagine, view
    many operations as "simple."  I wouldn't, however, want to remove
    someone's appendix.  It might be simple to a doctor, but it's not
    simple to me.

    Because of these changes in the network, and if we assume for this
    discussion that the switch to .LZH was a good thing, ranked with
    motherhood, apple pie, and the Fourth of July, we have to make some
    observations:

         1.  We needed notice, at least a week, about the change.
         A lot of people needed to take action, preferably on a
         planned basis.

         2.  We need to remember the difference between portabili-
         ty and interoperability.

    FidoNews 7-36                Page 6                    3 Sep 1990


    Even if the proper executables were available for all machines in
    the network, sysops and coordinators deserved the opportunity to
    prepare on a reasoned basis for the event.  Even a week would
    arguably have been enough, but it's not considerate to do it
    without any notice at all.  In my own mind, it was annoying.
    Probably not excessively annoying, since I use an MS-DOS machine
    and had all the right files somewhere, but still annoying.

    What you appear to overlook is that .LZH utilities were not, and
    maybe are still not, available for all machines used by sysops,
    not to mention users, in the network.  Since the network today
    exists much more for the information it transmits than for the joy
    of transmitting it, this becomes important.

    While the founders of FidoNet were invariably programmers, and
    often talented programmers, such as your yourself appear to be,
    that is simply not the case of users and sysops today.  One simply
    cannot assume that the public existence of source code for one
    machine equates to a working program on another.  /You/ might be
    able to port it over in a relatively short time, but not everyone
    can and maybe it just can't always be done.

    Since LHARC source code is available, we can say that .LZH is
    portable (this might not always be true, but let us assume so for
    this discussion).  It still was not interoperable until someone
    wrote or obtained the utility programs.  In our network we have
    several systems using CP/M.  While within a week or so they were
    able to obtain workable utilities, many of them did not have it
    when the FNEWS*.LZH arrived in the mail.  Other letters in previous
    issues of FidoNews have pointed out that some other systems (the
    CoCO, for example?) still don't have .LZH compatibility.  This does
    not bode well for information exchange.

    Finally, let me point out that someone suggested that it might be
    a violation of policy for an intermediate node in the distribution
    to change the flavor of the compressed news.  Policy, as I remember
    it, provides that:

         2.1.5  No Alteration of Routed Mail

         You may not modify, other than as required for routing
         or other /technical purposes/, any message, netmail or
         echomail, passing through the system from one FidoNet
         node to another.  (emphasis added)

    I would note that FIDO*.NWS is the message, and the compression
    method is a mere technique of transmission.  I personally don't
    feel repacking from .ARC to .LZH is modifying the message.  Given
    the problem of interoperability, it seems to me that it would at
    least be annoying, and perhaps excessively annoying, for a coordi-
    nator /not/ to repack FidoNews for a system that didn't have .LZH
    capability, and his doing so would seem to be purely for "technical
    purposes."

    FidoNews 7-36                Page 7                    3 Sep 1990


    So Kwityer Bitchin, I think you need to reassess the differences
    between the network of today and the network started by Tom, Dick
    and Harry.  To sum it up, Kwityer Bitchin.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 8                    3 Sep 1990


    Mike Robeson
    Fido node 1:350/21.1


                                PRECYCLE


    Have you ever heard of "Precycling"?  This is the practice of
    buying products packaged in biodegradable, recycled, and/or
    recyclable material.  One out of every $11 that Americans spend
    on food goes for packaging. In fact, we spent more on the
    packaging for our food last year than American farmers received
    in net income.

    Did you know that:
    * Each American uses about 190 pounds of plastic per year - and
    about 60 pounds of it is packaging which we discard as soon as
    the package is opened.
    * About 30% of all plastics produced are used for packaging.
    * Americans go through 2.5 million blastic bottles every hour.
    * Packaging waste accounts for approximately a third of all the
    garbage Americans send to landfills.
    * Roughly 5 million tons - more than half of all plastics we
    throw away each year - are packaging.

    Simple things you can do when you shop:
    * Keep your eyes open when you shop. everything you buy has an
    effect on the environment - try to make it a positive one.
    * Buy eggs in cardboard - not styrofoam - cartons.
    * Most cereal boxes are made of recycled cardboard. It's easy to
    tell - the boxes are grey on the inside.  The packaging for many
    varieties of cookies, crackers, dry goods etc. are also recycled.
    look for the "recycled" logo, or send for the "Environmental
    Product Shopping List" from, Pennsylvania Resources Council, 25
    West 3rd St., Media, PA 19063.
    * Buy in bulk: It's cheaper, and uses minimal packaging (in some
    places you can even bring your own container).
    * Buy beverages in glass or aluminum containers, which are easy
    to recycle.  You can also choose sauces, condiments, baby foods,
    spreads, etc. that are packaged in glass instead of plastic.
    * Avoid plastic containers, especially "squeezable" ones, which
    are ade up of different types of plastic in several layers, and
    are dramatically non-biodegradable.

    If 10% of Americans purchased products with less plastic
    packaging just 10% of the time, we could eliminate some 144
    million pounds of plastic from our landfills, reduce industrial
    pollution, and send a message to manufacturers that we're
    serious about alternatives.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 9                    3 Sep 1990


    =================================================================
                          LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
    =================================================================

    Nick Mesquiti
    Fido 1:387/406


    Vince, I want to thank you for putting the Heidi Situation Sheet
    in the current newsletter.  Unfortunately Heidi's body was found
    Saturday in Wimberly, TX about a 1 hour drive from San Antonio.
    I and the other volunteers appreciate your help.

    Thanks



    -----------------------------------------------------------------
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 10                   3 Sep 1990


    =================================================================
                             LATEST VERSIONS
    =================================================================

                        Latest Software Versions

                             MS-DOS Systems
                             --------------

                          Bulletin Board Software
    Name        Version    Name        Version    Name       Version

    DMG            2.93    Phoenix         1.3    TAG           2.5f*
    Fido            12s+   QuickBBS       2.64    TBBS           2.1
    Lynx           1.30    RBBS          17.3A    TComm/TCommNet 3.4
    Kitten         2.16    RBBSmail      17.3A    Telegard       2.5
    Maximus        1.00    RemoteAccess  0.04a*   TPBoard        6.1
    Opus           1.13+*  SLBBS          1.77*   Wildcat!      2.15
    PCBoard        14.2    Socrates       1.00    XBBS          1.13

    Network                Node List              Other
    Mailers     Version    Utilities   Version    Utilities  Version

    BinkleyTerm    2.40*   EditNL         4.00    ARC            7.0*
    D'Bridge       1.30    MakeNL         2.20    ARCAsim       2.30
    Dutchie       2.90C    ParseList      1.30    ARCmail       2.07
    FrontDoor     1.99c*   Prune          1.40    ConfMail      4.00
    PRENM          1.47    SysNL          3.11    Crossnet      v1.5
    SEAdog        4.51b    XlatList       2.90    EMM           2.02
    TIMS      1.0(Mod8)*   XlaxDiff       2.35*   Gmail         2.05
                           XlaxNode       2.35*   GROUP         2.16
                                                  GUS           1.30
                                                  InterPCB      1.30*
                                                  LHARC         1.13
                                                  MSG            4.1
                                                  MSGED         2.00*
                                                  PK[UN]ZIP     1.10
                                                  QM             1.0
                                                  QSORT         4.03
                                                  Sirius        1.0w
                                                  SLMAIL        1.35
                                                  StarLink      1.01
                                                  TagMail       2.20
                                                  TCOMMail       2.2
                                                  Telemail      1.20
                                                  TMail         1.15
                                                  TPBNetEd       3.2
                                                  TosScan       1.00
                                                  UFGATE        1.03
                                                  XRS           3.40
                                                  ZmailQ        1.12*
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 11                   3 Sep 1990


                                Macintosh
                                ---------

    Bulletin Board Software   Network Mailers     Other Utilities

    Name            Version   Name      Version   Name       Version

    Red Ryder Host  v2.1b10   Tabby         2.2   MacArc        0.04
    Mansion            7.15   Copernicus   1.0d*  ArcMac         1.3
    WWIV (Mac)          3.0                       StuffIt      1.6b1*
    FBBS               0.91*                      TImport      1.331
    Hermes             0.88*                      TExport       1.32
                                                  Timestamp      1.6
                                                  Tset           1.3
                                                  Import         3.2
                                                  Export        3.21
                                                  Sundial        3.2
                                                  PreStamp       3.2
                                                  OriginatorII   2.0
                                                  AreaFix        1.6
                                                  Mantissa       3.21
                                                  Zenith         1.5
                                                  UNZIP        1.02b

                                  Amiga
                                  -----

    Bulletin Board Software   Network Mailers     Other Utilities

    Name            Version   Name      Version   Name       Version

    Paragon            2.06+  BinkleyTerm  1.00   AmigArc       0.23
                              TrapDoor     1.50*  AReceipt       1.5*
                              WelMat       0.35   booz          1.01
                                                  ConfMail      1.10
                                                  ChameleonEdit 0.10
                                                  ElectricHerald1.66*
                                                  Lharc         1.10
                                                  MessageFilter 1.52*
                                                  oMMM         1.49b
                                                  ParseLst      1.30
                                                  PkAX          1.00
                                                  PK[UN]ZIP     1.01
                                                  PolyxAmy      2.02*
                                                  RMB           1.30
                                                  TrapList      1.12*
                                                  UNzip         0.86
                                                  Yuck!         1.61*
                                                  Zoo           2.00

                                Atari ST
    FidoNews 7-36                Page 12                   3 Sep 1990


                                --------

    Bulletin Board Software   Network Mailer      Other Utilities

    Name            Version   Name      Version   Name       Version

    FIDOdoor/ST        1.5c*  BinkleyTerm 1.03g3  ConfMail      1.00
    Pandora BBS       2.41c   The BOX     1.20    ParseList     1.30
    QuickBBS/ST        0.40                       ARC           6.02*
    GS Point           0.61                       LHARC         0.51
                                                  LED ST        0.10*
                                                  BYE           0.25*
                                                  PKUNZIP       1.10
                                                  MSGED        1.96S
                                                  SRENUM         6.2
                                                  Trenum        0.10
                                                  OMMM          1.40


                               Archimedes
                               ----------

    BBS Software           Mailers                Utilities
    Name        Version    Name        Version    Name       Version

    ARCbbs         1.44*   BinkleyTerm    2.03*   Unzip        2.1TH
                                                  ARC           1.03
                                                  !Spark       2.00d*

                                                  ParseLst      1.30
                                                  BatchPacker   1.00*


    + Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software)
    * Recently changed

    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 7-36                Page 13                   3 Sep 1990


    =================================================================
                                 NOTICES
    =================================================================

                         The Interrupt Stack


     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
       Montebello) will retain area code 213.

     1 Dec 1993
       Tenth anniversary of Fido Version 1 release.

     5 Jun 1997
       David Dodell's 40th Birthday


    If you have something which you would like to see on this
    calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.

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

    FidoNews 7-36                Page 14                   3 Sep 1990


    Brad Thurber
    1:236/9

    The following is an excerpt from a letter I received a few
    days ago:

           Dear Sir;

           We would be grateful if you would, like us, respond to
           this request and help Craig.

           Craig is a seven-year-old boy who has a brain tumor
           and has very little time to live.  It is his ambition
           to gain entry to the Guiness Book of Records for the
           largest number of get-well cards ever received by an
           individual.  Please send a card to:

           Craig Shergold
           36 Selby Road
           Carshalton
           Surrey, CN8 1Ld
           England

    The letter requested that I send this information on to ten
    (10) other people.  As a Fidonet sysop, I have decided sned
    it to the 10,000 plus readers of FidoNews instead.

    Please pass this information on to as many people as you
    can.  Better yet, if you are a sysop, place it as a
    bulletin for your users to read.  Send Craig a card today!

    Very truly yours,


    Brad Thurber, Productive Resources

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