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
From underneath the Editor's Desk ........................ 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
Freedom and Elections .................................... 3
The ANSI Club ............................................ 5
ECHOPOL AGAIN?? -- And Sysops Still don't get a vote! .... 8
Response to comments in FidoNews 7-43 .................... 9
A Word From Two Guys ..................................... 11
Universal Mayhem Version 2.0 is ready .................... 13
All Quiet on the BBS Front ............................... 17
RPGA Conference .......................................... 19
And more!
FidoNews 7-44 Page 1 29 Oct 1990
I am really sorry. Because I made one of the all-time stupid
mistakes a few weeks back. I said I wanted people to talk about
what was in FidoNews instead of what it was (archived) in. Big
boo-boo. Is it too late to get back to the topic of archivers?
We published an article a few weeks back about (fill in
controversial topic here -- FICTH for short) and the merry
mixups that occur when FICTH and politics collide in the good
ole U S of A. Too bad people always see FICTH when there's a
REAL lesson to be learned. Almost nobody got the message. So now
we've got people sending us articles about how wrong we were to
allow an article about FICTH and how Hitler was a nice guy
compared to those FICTH types, and others who want to talk about
other FICTH's.
I'm even getting submissions from people who seem intent on
proving I'll even publish output from their random gibberish
generator (take impaired minds, add gin and shake liberally).
Wow. Impressive. I bet that one will go down in the history
books. Freud overlooked it entirely. I'm so honored to have been
part of such an experiment. (BTW, the article makes more sense
after you run it through JIVE. Try it and see)
Give me a break, folks. Has the average IQ of FidoNet become the
reciprocal (Duh, Gee, Tennessee. What's a reciprocal?) of the
number of nodes in the net?
I sure hope not. Because while you were playing your collective
fiddles, George Peace happened to notice that we in FidoNet
already had our very own FICTH. He even tried to bring it to your
attention by inflicting it on you.
Yes, I mean EchoPol. For those of you who were there at the time
it was either conceived or misconceived, flame-hardened, voted
on, approved by some metric and disqualified by some other
metric -- how could you miss the obvious parallels with the
FICTH article?
I think George implemented it to force a long overdue revisit to
the issues the original EchoPol addressed, failed to address, or
created on its own. He appears to be genuinely interested in
seeing it fixed -- if only people would start talking about
EchoPol, instead of either not noticing it, or spending all
their time talking about what a fascist he was for implementing
it. Funny. The original EchoPol situation was so much like that
other FICTH article. The current one is even better.
FidoNews 7-44 Page 2 29 Oct 1990
By way of illustration, consider an email equivalent of the
(unnecessarily) graphic FICTH description which Jack Decker will
bestow on you later in this issue. Simple scenario. Day 1:
Moderator forms echo. Day N: Echo is really popular. Moderator
arranges to have it placed on the backbone. Day N+1: New
moderator. Old one wasn't well liked by *EC's. Yeah, sure the
*EC's aren't bad guys (to coin a phrase, some of my best friends
are *EC's). But what if they WERE bad guys? Is there anything in
EchoPol that says in the event the *EC's happen to BE bad guys,
they can't do that?
George says that's one of the areas he wants to see fixed. Good.
It's one of the areas that most concerns me. But who is handling
this fixing (or is it FICTHing)? Where are the "we need to look
at this problem with EchoPol" postings? This discussion has thus
far consisted of a soliloquy by George. And random noise from a
few people who prefer to bash George's brownshirt tactics rather
than devoting time to trying to set things straight. Another
FICTH is brewing. I can detect the stench from here.
In the meantime, so many of you guys seem to keep missing the
forest for the FICTH trees. Too bad. I bet you even think that
the FICTH that just ended in Washington was some kind of victory
for whoever you happen to think is cool down there.
Wake up and smell the coffee. And stop looking at the world
through sh*t-colored glasses.
That's why what you see is an abortion.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 3 29 Oct 1990
This nation is again turning toward its election period and that
should cause us to turn back the dusty pages of our history books
and see from whence we came.
As a former international airline pilot, I have had the privilege
of visiting over 108 countries and this great nation is
unsurpassed in the overall freedom available to its citizens.
Today you and I demonstrate those freedoms in such mundane ways
as our BBSing, enjoying the free exchange of information across
the breadth of this wonderful country. Ironically, this comes at
a time with the Soviet bloc is crumbling, crumbling because it
was too totalitarian and its economy was collapsing.
But we sometimes need to be reminded that the United States of
America was founded with a revolution, a revolution precipitated
by a tyrannical government who was callous towards its colony's
citizens. That revolution was bathed in blood and sparked at
Concord Bridge in Massachusetts over 200 years ago. The issue
that set it off was firearms, a topic that today is again drawing
its attention to the citizens of America.
Over the past 20 years, more than any other period in this
country's history, there have been many blatant and often
successful attempts to ban classes of firearms or specific
firearms from the hands of the American public. Witness the
insanity of the bans recently passed in California, New Jersey
and Denver, Colorado.
The sad truth is that the Founding Fathers of the nation realized
that without firearms there can be no freedom. The early
documents relating to the formation of this nation are replete
with such references.
There have even been moves afoot, reported in FidoNews and
elsewhere, of attempts to curb the free exchange of information
typified by BBS use and networks such as Fido.
The past 20 years have seen the Democratic Party, a Party to
which I belong, turn its back on the privileges of firearm
ownership in this United States. This is the same Democratic
Party that is involved, if not wholly then in magnificent part,
in the S&L multibillion dollar scandal. This is the same
Democratic Party that cannot reach a national budget. This is the
same Democratic Party that tried unsuccessfully to infringe upon
the bulletin boards.
FidoNews 7-44 Page 4 29 Oct 1990
Sadly, my life has let me see things that would make most people
shudder and become sick, both physically and mentally. I have
lived under socialist and dictatorial governments in foreign
countries and those governments excelled at doing two things:
restricting firearms and information.
I ask that this November you be sure to go to the polls and vote
for the candidate of your choice. But consider the previous
paragraph and consider why this November we need Operation
D.R.E.D.: Don't Re-Elect Democrats. The "Party of the People," as
the Democratic Party likes to be called, has become ripe with
corruption, far exceeding the aspirations of even the Republican
Administration under Richard Nixon! Thus, I beg you to vote
against the candidates of the Democratic Party to send them a
message, a message that only you, the voter. can send: the
fundamental firearm privileges, the tax dollars of the citizens
of America and our BBS informational exchange medium are not to
be dallied with. Your vote against all Democratic candidates will
send that message, a message they will feel and one they will
heed.
Remember, this really is your country and, in the final analysis,
you do get the government you deserve. The Democratic Party has
been in charge of Congress for decades and is bankrupting this
nation, supporting every move to eliminate arms from its populace
and costing thousands of jobs to be lost to foreign controlled
corporations. Perceived freedom without firearms in the
possession of the American citizenry to enforce that freedom is
hollow indeed and will blow away as readily as a dried Fall leaf.
Vote. Vote wrong if you must, but at least vote this November!
Across the borders of Americas and the oceans that surround us,
people are literally dying because they cannot vote. Thank you
for your attention.
Richard Bash
Combat Arms BBS SysOp
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 5 29 Oct 1990
ANSI File Distribution Network (*.ANS, *.GBS, *.ASC, etc.)
Open to all Ansi.Sys Users and lovers of those creative and
imaginative Ansi Pictures and Screens
The earliest ANSI screen I remember owning a copy of was the
Christmas scene with the train that went around the tree and
tooted. I recently learned (years later) that a close friend
of mine drew that and other ANSI screens long before the
local FidoNet Chapter was ever present here in Nashville, TN.
Other early fond memories are the ANSI screens of my favorite
BBSs (gee I wish I had screen captured some of them).
Here in Nashville when we learned about TICK by Barry Geller it
was well received. We have had a local "Screens" File echo for
well over a year and a half now. About 600 ANSI screens and well
over 3 Megs of *good* screens have passed through here.
Including, at one point, Violet Stymacks entire screen
collection (well over a Meg Unzipped) which a friend file
requested direct from the Rhinoceros Kitchen.
As member of 7 other File Distribution Networks SDS/SDN/DDS/PDN/
DVNet/WIN*Net/*CADNet*, It Dawned on me that one of my favorite
topics wasn't covered anywhere, So about 6 months ago an idea
started forming. Time has been a bit of a constraint and I'd be
willing to bet quite a few other SysOps run into that one also.
I originally undertook co-coordinator and Tech help for
*CADNet*, which now has come unto its own. Links are in place
and I have some time to devote. I choose to Coordinate the
forming and start up of the ANSI Club, but hopefully the artists
will actually run the Network.
How big do I hope it becomes? I would like to see as many links
established before actual startup (Approx Nov 1st). As many
local Nets, Regions, Zones, and Networks to be included as we
can stand. And *I* can use all the friends I can get <smile>
...know what I mean <Grin>. InFact, courtesy of the GT<>Fido
Bridge Ed Cavender runs @ FidoNet 1:116/36 and GT Net 071/001,
I am inviting the entire GT Network to join in the fun. Ed has
been working on a version of File Echo utility for GT Net for
about a year now. In a voice conversation I was assured it is
in it's early "working" stages. Ed does say he will need to do
a minimum of manual intervention (darn Moths).
GT Net has at least 3 well established ANSI Forums of which are
all InterNational. Their excellent ANSI Screens and Network wide
participation well establish fun as an endeavor. In all
instances I have found GT Network SysOps to be Courteous and
very welcoming. And really these folks Know how to have fun. And
we are talking fun! Though our technologies are slightly
different I believe we can have and outstanding relationship
and have everything to gain in both Networks.
FidoNews 7-44 Page 6 29 Oct 1990
I am already intending to "Break some Rules" with the Echo
conferences available through the ANSI Club. The conferences
will allow posts with "Any" of the ASCII character set of the
IBM and compatibles "including" the extended character set. We
of course may Break something ...and will find out what we have
to exclude if we do <grin>. I have been recieving GT Conferences
in FidoNet format for about two years now and they use these
characters and haven't broke nuffin' over here yet. And more so,
QEDIT which I have noticed IS avaliable on most of the FidoNet
Backbone and widely participated in - IS a GT Echo conference.
Our ANSI Club Conferences will include the *Best* of ANSI
Graphics, which of course will be allowed in the Echo.
Whether you run an ANSI door, have an online Art gallery,
Collect ANSI Screens, are just plain fascinated by the
creativity of the pallet, maybe like to create and share
them yourself, or just wanna play. Online or off, I'd bet
our File Distribution Network is made for you.
The ANSI Club
ANSI Art Files Distribution Network
Echo Conferences:
ANSI_ARTWORK
purpose: to allow ANSI art work displayed as messages
(optional) may be carried & read with offline editor
or *if* you are lucky enough that your Msg base
will display Ansi carried online.
priviledge level: All
ANSI_USER
purpose: talk about using ANSI Drawing and Display Programs
priviledge level: All
ANSI_SYSOP
purpose: ChitChat and keeping abreast of Distribution Network
Buddies
priviledge level: Ansi Club SysOp only
Distribution File Echoes:
If you are new to file distribution Networks you will need the
File Echo Program Tick (latest version Tick200.Lzh). Many
FidoNet Systems now run Raid, Think of it as an Areafix for
File Echoes. Go ahead and link in and first set up the Echo
Conferences and if you run into any confusion or trouble with
FidoNews 7-44 Page 7 29 Oct 1990
any new software additions we can work it out in the ANSI_SYSOP
echo conference.
On the GT Net side Ed can help you with his version of File
Echo Utility ..He claims there are a few mites yet, but his
vigilance and determination shall soon overcome. In the mean-
time Think of this as new Beta Software.
FidoNet
Zone 1
Region 11 Stan Waldrup 2200/141 Builders Workshop
Region 13 Tom Hendricks 266/61 Avi-Technic
Region 17 Larry James 105/72 Big Larry's RBBS-PC (V32)
Sue Coleman 343/105 Crystal Cavern
Region 18 Patrick Curry 3621/425 Shoes CPU
Ed Cavender 116/36 Control Systems GT<>Fido
Michele Hamilton 369/21 Sunshine PCBoard
Kevin 116/29 the Dawg Byte
Region 19 Dean Lachan 124/4115 Southern Crossroads
Zone 2
Region 25 Andrew Sporton 251/29 Doughnut City BBS
GT Network
Hubs please contact Ed Cavender, Control Systems 071/001 for
linkups.
If you would like to participate and join in the Fun, Please let
me know, we shall try our best to get you linked in. Also if you
would like to Hub for the Network ..let me know. Send in enough
info about yourself and your system to give us a good idea of
who our new friends are.
KevFun 1:116/29 14.4 HST
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 8 29 Oct 1990
Jim Deputy
1:103/158
ECHO POLICY AGAIN??
Today, just by accident I have found that there is a move to
resurect ECHOPOL 1, and make it effective as of Oct. 22. Today
is Oct. 24. It was just by a chance comment that I saw in one
of the regional sysop echos that I found out about it. Had I not
seen it, I would not have even been aware of it.
Granted, I may be a little out of touch with FidoNet, FidoNews is
not readily available in our network (My NC only had up to
Fnews73 something). For well over two years we have been given
to understand that any elections, or policy changes, and things
of that nature would always be announced in the PROLOG of the
NODELIST! And in fact have been hassled by some of the *C's for
not keeping up with the info in the Nodelist. Yet, for well over
two months the Prolog has only said "No news is good news." At
least two NC's that I contacted also said..."there wasn't
anything in the Nodelist on it." And the comments went downhill
from there.
I contacted 161/7 and picked up 740-743, and low and behold, not
only does it look like we are going to be coming up with a repeat
of EchoPol, but also some stuff is being discussed about a new
FidoNet Policy.
I've noticed that the *EC and *C structure has again stacked the
deck in their favor on voting for the New Echo Policy.
Especially since no grunt sysop has a right to vote. I also
note, that no moderator has any rights to vote. In fact,
basically the moderators rights are stripped from them. And the
Echo can be stolen from them by a vote of the *EC's.
There is also no provision in this policy for those of us who do
moderate backbone echos to remove them from the backbone if we
choose not to go along with this dictatorial edict. We can only
leave them there, and hope that the *EC Network doesn't decide to
steal our work.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 9 29 Oct 1990
Jack Decker
1:154/8
RESPONSE TO COMMENTS IN FIDONEWS 7-43
I've just finished reading the articles by David Rice and Randy
Edwards in FidoNews 7-43. Because I am unabashedly pro-life,
my first inclination is to write a scathing article denouncing
the pro-murder-of-the-unborn side (I refuse to call it
pro-choice because the unborn baby really has NO choice in the
matter). However, by doing so, I'd be just as guilty of
placing irrelevant material in FidoNews as the others have
been.
I happen to disagree with our esteemed editor AND both of the
above-named respondents for one reason and one reason only:
Those in the *C structure are REQUIRED by Policy4 to obtain
FidoNews, and to make it available to those under them. If
FidoNews is going to promote a leftist political agenda, then I
feel that coordinators who don't wish to further that agenda
should not be forced to carry FidoNews.
I have no problem with folks publishing articles that promote
their particular political viewpoints. Randy Edwards, bless
his misguided heart, frequently publishes a collection of
left-leaning articles in his Progressive News, which is
distributed via the Software Distribution System. But no one,
by virtue of being a Fidonet coordinator, is forced to carry
that publication or to make it available to every node in their
Zone/Region/Net. I could start an ultra-conservative
electronic publication and (hopefully) distribute it the same
way, but I would not expect or even desire that anyone who
strongly disagrees with my views be forced to carry it. Can
the liberals say the same? It seems to me that it is usually
those on the left who insist on promoting their viewpoints in
inappropriate forums, and on forcing others to hear their views
whether they want to or not.
FidoNews (along with Policy and the Nodelist) is referred to in
Policy as "the glue that holds us together." However, if it
becomes a forum where the left-wing and right-wing forces slug
it out each week, it will be the knife that cuts us apart
instead - particular if some coordinators feel compelled to
resign rather than help promote viewpoints that they strongly
disagree with. I'm still waiting to see what happens when some
supporter of the Ku Klux Klan, or some neo-Nazi starts
submitting articles to Fidonews on a regular basis. We'll see
how "open-minded" folks are then.
Yes, I could post articles telling you all about what REALLY
happens in the abortionist's office, or about those women who
feel so victimized by a "legal" abortion experience that they
have committed suicide, or required extensive counseling, or
have sued their abortionists. I could post articles about the
development of the unborn and what really happens to an unborn
baby during an abortion. The data is out there and there's no
FidoNews 7-44 Page 10 29 Oct 1990
shortage of it. Why do I have the feeling that if I had done
that in the past, some of the very people who are
congratulating the editor now would instead be screaming about
the inclusion of those types of articles?
(It's worth noting, by the way, that I have written netmail
messages to Randy Edwards rebutting some of the articles in his
Progressive News. So far, he's not seen fit to publish even so
much as one word from any of them. I guess that he doesn't
feel the need to live up to the same standards that he'd impose
on the FidoNews editor).
The bottom line is, if FidoNews is going to print anything that
comes in (strictly speaking, that isn't true either - I have
sent in articles in the past that haven't been printed, though
I think I know why in each case), and if they are not going to
try to restrict the content to that which has at least
SOMETHING to do with communications or computers, then I feel
that carriage by the coordinator structure should be made
optional. It is not fair to require any sysop to help promote
a viewpoint that he or she strongly disagrees with. Distribute
FidoNews via the SDS, along with all the other special-interest
electronic newsletters currently carried there.
By the way, are there any other conservatives on this network?
I was only half-joking about the need for a conservative
electronic newsletter (the "ultra-" was the half I was joking
about). Send me netmail if you're interested.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 11 29 Oct 1990
Anonymous,
Somewhere in Net 269
THOUGHTS ON RECENT FIDONEWSES AND OTHER SEMI-RELATED MATTERS
Excerpted from a chat on 10-28-90 the participants
of which were not all there. Note that all carriage
returns have been removed so you can not tell who
is typing. This is for our own good and also adds
to the pieces aesthetic value. (Heh.)
Mhm. Boy has FNews been getting ridiculous. 741 in particular.
There have been like 0 fido related articles in the past 4 issues
I KNOW.. half of one of them was taken, no more than half, 3/4
of one was taken up by some insane guy from a magazine. Damn
enviro articles too! Arhghh. But that one was the pinnacle of
ridiculousness. I can understand an eco article once in a while
but the FNews was 80,000 bytes!!! How much is that doggie in the
window? haha You know, if we wrote an article, Vince would most
likely publish it. He publishes anything. No matter what.
Seriously, let's do something moronic and totally sarcastic...
"Why Fidonews Has 'Gone to the Dogs'" HAHAHAHAHAH. "We love to
wake up each monday morning to read the latest fidonews, which,
by this week, has grown to nearly the size of the New York
Times"... hea! yeah.. Let's rename it. "The Forum for Voluble
Eco-Expounders, Personal- attack Cravers, and Pro-Abortion
Maniacs." Would you help me write something? sure.. Woudl you
write something? hm.. ok. Tap out some ideas lazily in chat. I
have capture on and can easily piece something coherent together
from it like I did with your stupid joke. Harhar.. Well to
start off the tone should be 100% Barry. Much satire, sarcasm,
and tongue in cheek style. Mhm, make some statements about the
state of FNews I like that first one we love... new york times,
except it should be a dave-barry sounding newspaper like which by
this week will probably have grown to nearly the size of the new
testament... hehe ha. OK, how about the ridiculous article in
FNews741 which took up 75% of the newsletter? Yes we should do
something about that... something like "We would also like to
thank the author of that excellent, patriotic article, that has
swayed our opinions so much.." Ha- maybe do a parody of part of
it. This is kinda funny as it is.. Just a jumbled mess of
thoughts... I wonder if he would publish that as is? "The
following was excerpted from a chat on 10-28-90 of which the
participants were not all there." Hahaehea yeah.. and compact!
won't use up too much space in FNews! Could save people loads of
cash. Duherr. But seriously... Can you make up an article in
time for next week's FNews? why not use this? Unrestrained
weirdness! I just made a capture file of that.. How about put a
title like "Uncensored, from a chat with the sysop" or "A chat
with the sysop" or somthing? on it then just UL it as is, but
people are gonna think we are morons for doing this.... fix the
typos too haehe, ok.. I'll fix everything. We've gotta get a
copy of ARTSPEC. What is that? Specifications for article
submissions.. format and stuff. Now we're gonna submit this
anonymously? or do we want to be embarrassed? It doesn't matter
it's better than all this 80,000 bytes of environment crap.. I
FidoNews 7-44 Page 12 29 Oct 1990
thought the purpose of fidonews was to talk about fido.. haha!
haha! well if "Kwityer Bychin" can do it, we can have a
nom-de-plume too! Naw, I think we'll have to sign it:
Signed,
Anonymous Sysop & Cosysop,
Net 269
We will also have to say Erik and Peter in there somehwere,
mention our names so people in 269 recognize who it is from, heheh
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 13 29 Oct 1990
Universal Mayhem Version 2.0 is ready
Fredric Rice
1:102/901.0
It's been over two years since the first release of Universal
Mayhem yet we are just entering the second general release. In
these past two years, the project has been shaped and re-worked
according to requests (demands also) by SysOps and users alike.
The SysOps demanded tighter disk file information compressions
and the users demanded fun features and greater speed.
At the risk of sounding my own horn, I think I have come close
to what the Mayhem sites have requested. There are still bugs
in the code; compatibility problems within the FidoNet software
still need to be ironed out -- but these problems are quirks
that can be ignored.
The vast majority of FidoNet SysOps have never encountered the
Universal Mayhem project so a little background on the game may
be needed:
Universal Mayhem is a doors game that is basically economically
oriented in the domain of a universe. There are, in fact,
several universes in the game, each accessible through gateways
at various points.
Space ships are commanded to perform commerce loops between the
planets to buy and sell goods to raise enough credits with
which to purchase planets. Alliances may be forged between the
captains of the ships or bitter enemies may decide to wage a
horrible war; perhaps a war where the ships alliances are duty
bound to assist in.
There are many features: Sector scanning for pirates, planets,
stars, black holes, mines, slaver death weapons, attack sleds,
and a variety of other objects. Short leave for the crew. Taxes
to be paid to the Galactic Police or to your ship if other
captains trade at your planets. Automation script files which
are used to automate ships according to the captains wishes
when ships are not currently active. Remote robot sensors
which can be attaches to enemy ships, or friends if you don't
trust them. Buy plague from the pirates and seed an enemy ships
planets with it. Board an enemy ship and take everything. Leave
an enemy ship drifting or destroy it as you wish. Board an
allied ships star base to take on supplies. Name the various
comets in the universe. Distribute attack sleds around your
sector of space to fight off invaders. Bit on ships that are up
for auction because they haven't paid taxes after being warned
on many occasions. Navigate to known star coordinates through
the on-board nav computer. Send subspace mail to all other
players (Echo Mail, AREA:MAYHEM). System Operator Maintenance
menu. Full color. Ships standings, names, and statistics.
Collect a bounty for ships that have destroyed planets. Look at
a map of the multiple universes to see where your hardware is.
Long range sensor scans. Send scout ships to the far corners of
the universe and have them either stay where they are sent or
FidoNews 7-44 Page 14 29 Oct 1990
return to where ever your ship is. The scout ships report on
the location of anything interesting they may find such as
other space ships and planets. Chat with the SysOp.
There is much more this game offers.
If you kill the Galactic Police star ship, they remember when
they are replaced. They will hound you and you will always be
on the run until some other ship takes them on. Leave the cops
along, however, and they'll leave you alone. Pay your taxes,
and they won't impound your ship.
The most interesting aspect of this game is the way it
considers the fact that there are many Mayhem sites. Universal
Mayhem will create what I called a 'statistics feature' message
addressed to me with a File Attach. An entry in the games
configuration file tells your mailer if you want to have my
system poll for it as Mayhem can put the message on hold for
pick up, or if you want the message to be mailed directly to
my system.
The File Attach file contains exports of space ships from your
system of all ships that have 'command' files. These are the
files that automate the ships when the player isn't active but
some other ship is.
These files reach my system where they are then mailed to all
other Mayhem sites. Each Friday, Universal Mayhem will create
an export file addressed to me (or any entry you wish that's
put in the configuration file). You can force the creation of a
statistics file as well.
When the other Mayhem sites receive the export file, it imports
the remote ships into its own data files and the ships are
marked by Mayhem as remote players. They can be fought against
as though they were local players space ships. When a remote
players ship or star base is destroyed, Mayhem will create an
AREA:MAYHEM Echo Conference message letting the remote player
know that his or her ship had been destroyed. The network
address of the system and the name of the ship that killed it
is offered so that revenge can be focused.
The future of Mayhem is clear:
o Shore leave can be peaceful or you can send down an invasion
force to take the planet away from another ship that owns it.
The battle will be fought on the planet and the star ship will
be out of reach but usable on a limited basis to re-supply. The
focus of the game will change when you are in an invasion mode.
o Boarding an enemy ship is easy because of the holes you had
to hammer through the enemy ships hull to attach a shuttle
craft. In future versions, your boarding crew will meet with
resistance. Your boarding crew will have to fight its way to
what's left of the bridge and seize control. Your crew can then
be told about what to do with the prisoners if any survive. The
FidoNews 7-44 Page 15 29 Oct 1990
focus of the game will change as it does during an invasion:
your ship will be out of reach as you command the boarding
crew. If need be, you can call in a strike from your ship if
the boarding battle goes against you.
o Boarding an enemy base will be much like boarding an enemy
ship. The context of the game shifts to finding your way around
the star base and locating key positions for control. Don't
take too long as the bases star ship may be on its way to
assist repel you. Usually, however, people destroy the captains
ship and then goes after its base. Of course you have the
alliances the enemy captain made to worry about.
o Board a friends base to take on supplies and then turn on its
crew for a sneaky twist. If the enemy ships captain suspects
something is up, his ship may be on the way before you turn
tails so be careful.
The MAYHEM Echo Conference discusses what changes should be
made to the game and bugs are reported. Ideas are never thrown
away and I think I can say that support for the game is
absolute. Many of the features found in todays Mayhem have been
suggestions made in the past year and this method of enhancing
the game continues.
If you are interested in being a part of Universal Mayhem, here
are some File Request file names you might be interested in:
MAYHEM20.ZIP - The entire Version 2.0 Mayhem Game. At 2400 baud
the package requires 20 minutes to download.
MAYDOC.ZIP - Just the documentation for the game. If you are
not sure you are interested in running such a complex game, you
could download just the documentation to see what the game is
about.
You can File Request at any time. If you would like, send me a
request for the file and I would be glad to send it to you on
my dime. Also, please let me know if you would like to be
included in the Mayhem echo. I POLL every Sunday, Wednesday,
and Saturday all Mayhem sites.
- - -
Universal Mayhem has never been a product that must be
registered or paid for in any way. I have distributed the game
freely with the notice that it must be likewise freely
distributed. In the past, some systems have been unsure if the
project needed support and I have returned what was sent to me
with the notice that, though I don't consider my work
valueless, I recognize the fact that all SysOps put in a great
deal of effort, time, and money to keep the Fido Network fun.
FidoNews 7-44 Page 16 29 Oct 1990
Because of this, I offer full support and my life to Mayhem. I
do ask that the Mayhem sites keep in touch and report any bugs
they might notice. In the next couple of years, I suspect that
the project will continue to grow is dimensions that have not
been envisioned yet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 17 29 Oct 1990
John Kelly
J & M Systems BBS
3:712/625
ALL QUIET ON THE BBS FRONT
--------------------------
(Vince's article on Fidonews and submissions, especially his
reference to the fact that not everyone in the world has an
IBM-PC prompted the writing of this).
I, like the majority of other SysOps who run BBS's, did not
start out with a "Super-Charged, All-Singing, All-Dancing
IBM-PC". Rather, my entry to the world of computers was
via a Tandy Colour Computer, with a gigantic 16k of memory.
It was indeed fun, with its cassette storage system, and
program paks. Graduating initially to 64K seemed like going
from an abacus to an 80386, and the advent of disk drives for
it seemed even greater. A bit of hardware here, with the latest
mods seemed to establish the system as something that you could
really get your teeth into.. The ultimate in additions to the
system back then was a modem.
Modem communications opened a whole new world for a lot of us.
Previous views of computer and modems were that they were a
mischievous device - as outlined in films and books - that
could get the user into a lot of trouble.
I think of myself as the average SysOp, who was initially
tempted to run a BBS from the moment I logged onto my first
Bulletin Board. To do so, one needed even greater hardware on
the computer - especially if you started with a small computer
like I had. Many months were spent looking for software to run
on it, thru support magazines and other computer users. I
purchased a few packages, but they never seemed to be what I
was looking for. Then came the ultimate decision. Buy a PC and
run PC BBS software on it. The cycle started again - trying to
find the best PC based BBS software to run. We then all started
what has become known nowadays as BBS WARS.
"My BBS is a lot better than yours because it runs Doors !!"
to which the reply was
"No !!, It couldn't be. Mine talks to Fidonet !!!"
We have to all admit, we all have participated in BBS WARS to
one extent or another. Unfortunately, I think we all forgot
the little people with the little machines plodding along with
what they had, rather than taking the easy way out and going
the way of a PC. They seem blocks behind us all now. Too much
time is spent on bickering about whether one PC based BBS
software package is better than another, or whether one mailer
package is greater than another. Unnecessary flames occur even
when it comes down to what particular format our Fidonews is
compressed in. We have all lost sight of ourselves, and the
FidoNews 7-44 Page 18 29 Oct 1990
cooperation that we had in the start when we all set out on the
long road to computer telecommunications.
Our participation in BBS WARS, whether it be large or small,
does nothing for the BBS community at large. If we are crazy
enough to run a system, and like the majority run it out of
our own pockets, we should be sensible enough to respect the
decision made by another SysOp to what package they decide to
run on their system, and live with their decision, rather than
abuse it.
I am please to see that the Colour Computer (aka the CoCo) is
now up with the rest of us with the RiBBS software package
from Ron Bihler. Nice to see my sentimental favourite get
there. I am sure there are other sysops who have over the last
couple of years seen their sentimental favourites join the
ranks of Fidonet. If you are such a SysOp, write and tell us
all of the advancements into Fidonet that your particular
non MS-DOS machine has done. Might even put a few of us back
on the cooperative track.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 19 29 Oct 1990
Ronald Garcia
FidoNet 1:141/775
Role-Playing Game Association Conference
The RPGA echo is a discussion of the Role Playing Game
Association, role playing games in general, gaming convention
announcements, and gaming convention reviews. Questions about the
RPGA can be asked and answered. Discussion about game systems,
game mastering, playing, and new products will take place.
Convention announcements will be made for conventions running RPGA
events as well as any other conventions having gaming. Whenever
posssible a reveiw of the previous year's convention will
accompany the announcement. Reviews will be done for all
conventions that the moderator attends and other reviews will be
encouraged. Help is also availible for those who would like to
start a convention as well as those who would like to add RPGA
events to an existing convention.
The RPGA echo originates from the Twilight Zone, node
141/775, Sysop Ron Garcia. Inquires about carrying the echo can
be addressed to Ron there. Twilight Zone can be reached directly
at (203) 775-9774. Inquires can also be addressed to Sysop Dave
Yale at A Place in the Sun, node 141/535. Right now one of the
nodes carrying the echo will have to be polled to pick it up. We
hope to be on the backbone as soon as we can show sufficient
interest.
The Moderator is Willi Burger. He has been playing role
playing games for over 12 years. He is the RPGA Regional Director
for CT, NY, NJ and is ranked as Masters level Player and
Grandmasters level Judge by the RPGA. He is also the moderator
for the NorthEast Convention Coordinators Committee and is the
Convention Coordinator for ConnCon and Falcon.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 20 29 Oct 1990
Democracy in Fidonet Gets Another Kick in the Ass.
By Kwityer Bychin
Hi Ho, folks! Miss me? No? Well, much to your chagrin, HERE
I BE. Back to blast! Yessiree, looks like we have something
NEW AND EXCITING to BITCH about here in Fight O'Net these
days.
Ya know, lotsa you guys and gals run around like chickens
with your butts on fire screaming about how BADLY you want
DEMOCRACY in our little totalitarian empire here. But WHAT do
you do about it? SKWATT!! (our sincere thanks to Mahatma
Ravsik for the spelling).
Ever hear the old line about "WRITE YOUR CONGRESSMAN" when
stuff happens you don't like? Did you ever DO it? No? Oh! you
didn't think it would do any good eh? Well, OF COURSE it WON'T
DO ANY GOOD, you BONEHEAD! But, should that stop you from
doing it ANYWAY? OF *COURSE* NOT!
So, what's this rambling preamble leading to? Ha! Not paying
much attention to the Snooze these days are ya!? Well listen
up Homer, because THIS week, we're going to BEAT UP ON ...
E C H O P O L !!!
Hey, have a look at the Snooze a couple or three issues ago.
In it, you'll find this "document" that according to the ZONE
1 COORDINATOR, went into effect on October 22, 1990 . This
document supposedly establishes rules and regulations for
BACKBONE ECHOMAIL TRAFFIC. This document is called the Magna
Ca... er... ECHOPOL. Yeah. And it does some neat stuff too.
You know what? It creates ANOTHER (that's right, ANOTHER)
administrative layer in Fight O'Net. The "*EC" structure.
Obviously, the current adminstrative structure can't even tie
its shoes properly, so SOMEONE decided that we need MORE
chiefs in the indian camp. I find the term "*EC Structure"
rather cumbersome, so I'll just refer to it as the "Echo
Gestapo", cuz it kinda has a ring to it you see...
See, the Echo Gestapo has some really cool powers. Network
Coordinators (you know, NCs) are guys that are supposed to
move the netmail around Fight O'Net. They ain't supposed to
read other people's mail, and they ain't supposed to care
about what's in it. Now, you'd figure that the Echo Gestapo
would be kinda like the same thing, only with echomail, right?
NICE TRY. See, the Echo Gestapo can REMOVE a moderator. They
can FORCE a conference to HAVE moderator. Not only do these
guys pass the echomail around, they get to have some CONTROL
over what goes ON IN the echos!
FidoNews 7-44 Page 21 29 Oct 1990
Pretty neat!
But wait, that's not even the best part. Guess what people
voted on this policy? Give up? Ok, I'll tell you... NOBODY
voted on it. Not one soul approved this thing. Oh wait, I'm
lying. One person DID approve it. GEORGE PEACE approved it.
Yep. GEORGE PEACE is the guy that decided to take this
document and make it LAW, whether YOU like it or not! He just
went and DID it.
Well, there WAS a vote on "AN ECHOPOL DOCUMENT" almost two
years ago. And rumor has it that it was approved. But THIS
ain't THAT document. But WAIT! There WILL be a vote on this
thing. Sometime in January. But are we gonna wait until its
APPROVED before it goes into effect? Nooooo!!! We're gonna
make it THE LAW OF THE LAND NOW, and vote on it *LATER*.
REAL Democratic.
Oh but there's MORE! Are you a conference moderator? Are you
a grunt sysop like the rest of us that make up 99% of the
ENTIRE network? You ARE??? Oh BOY that's TOO BAD! Because YOU
DON'T *GET* to vote on it! Nooo!! Only people with TITLES get
to vote on it! Yeah! Now we can't have the Fight O'Net rank
and file approve the rules we have to live by, now CAN WE? Of
COURSE NOT, HOMER! Because if that's the way we did things,
the Great Almightly Zone Coordinator wouldn't be able to SHOVE
stuff like this down our throats now WOULD he?? He wouldn't
have CARTE BLANCHE anymore, now WOULD he? OF *COURSE* NOT! And
we CAN'T LET *THAT* happen!!
So what to do about it? Hmmm... Good question! Hey, we gotta
do SOMETHING about it! If all you're gonna do is sit back,
whine and moan, and not get off your butt, then KWITYER
BYCHIN!! We don't need BYCHIN, we need ACTION! So, next time
you have your message editor fired up, drop 'ol Georgie boy a
netmail and tell him to PACK his ECHOPOL, and GET THE HELL
OUT. Send your netmail as often as you feel necessary to get
the point across. 1:1/0 is the place to send it.
In the meantime, do what the REST of Fight O'Net is doing.
IGNORE THE THING. Pay NO attention to it until YOU, the
*SYSOP* get to vote on the rules YOU have to live by. Maybe
the next ZC we wind up with will GIVE A SH*T about the PEOPLE
in the network, and not get all wrapped up in his TITLE.
K.B. '90
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 22 29 Oct 1990
Bob Moravsik
Fidonet 1:269/107 aka /100
Comments, on Article, The State of the Universe
by Al Saveriano
In the 7-43 issue of Fidonews Mr. Al Saveriano commented on the
State of the universe as he preceived it. Although we "network"
together, we strongly disagree on many of the issues brought to
the surface. On the matter of Wonton soup it has been my
experience that if you reverse the order, the waiter will
understand and bring the soup first. It is a known mathematical
certainty that if you reverse any sequence twice it will revert
back to the original sequence. This well know property was
totally and obviously ommitted. Personally the rule clearly does
not apply if you change the order to Egg Drop. Dropping eggs is
just not the correct way to prepare such an gourmet dish.
I seriously question the rational and wisdom of using arbitrary
rhymes to force an i to appear before an e except after c. The
better method is to use the Wonton rule quoted above and that is
to REVERSE the order of these three letters so instead of cei one
has iec. Then add the first two but reverse the order to iecei.
This states the rule in but five letters and the interesting part
is that even if one applies the Wonton rule to the 5 letters the
rule remains the same. Iecei reversed is iecei. Maybe daughters
are similiar to sons but they must be lacking something.
To relate the Game_Boy scandal of '88 to an additive set of
numbers which increase by a power of two ignores a very important
property in that the first number quoted is simply the square
root of the number that was not quoted and conviently left out.
If one extends any theory one cannot simply take it to an
artificially created limit and then drop it assuming the human
mind will extrapolate the series. Unlike the rule above that
appears to remain static even if reversed this rule explaining
additive sets changes drastically. Thus a better and more exact
approach is to take the two digits of the year 88, divide
sequentially by 11 11/2 11/4 and 11/8 to obtain the series that
Mr. Saveriano derived by a much more elaborate process.
I would like to get some idea if there is a substantial set of
individuals who can comment on these developing areas. Only then
will the true topology of these issues be understood.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 23 29 Oct 1990
In two weeks I get my first trip to Comdex. Really it's an
excuse to play golf and gamble, veiled in 'business convention'
expense reporting. It's like doctors going to a live-nude
dancing bar and calling it "work related". I'm going to try and
select a suitably hot new personal computer while I'm there.
I'm also looking for a board manufacturer for my co-processor
project.
Exhibitor Guest Pass Honors go to Compaq, with their timely
insert in their quarterly magazine. I should win a dual 486-33
Systempro for that plug ! Well, maybe I'll just save 75 bucks.
Everyone is invited to 'Talk me through it'. Send your "Don't
forget to..." hints for this first time Comdex attendee.
Par for the Course --
Honey's going to work, and I'm going to retire for the New
Year. This assumes I get those new golf clubs for Christmas.
Well, that's the PLAN. Well, actually it may be both Birthday
and Christmas. I've had my current clubs for 17 years. This
time around I'm getting them built for my height and swing. My
sister, brother-in-law and I will play golf in Las Vegas at
Comdex. We need a fourth.
Wouldn't you know it. As soon as I badmouth US Robotics in the
Snooze, they up and send me those V.42 ROMs. And then, they
sent them to me again. And then, they don't make a difference
in ZIP file transfer speed. And to top it all off, Kevin saw
how I opened up the modem !
The TAB Key --
A new standard in keystroke conventions is emerging, it's the
Filename Completion command, and it's on your TAB key. Suppose
I want to delete a file called CONFIG.OLD in the current
directory. From DOS I enter
del co<tab> ==> is expanded to ==> del config.old
FidoNews 7-44 Page 24 29 Oct 1990
The complete filename is found from a quick scan of the current
directory. Professional CED ( Cove Software ) gives me that.
4DOS ( J.P. Software ) uses the F9 key, unfortunate but useful.
Suppose I'm editing a file, and I want to read in another file.
I enter the alt-r and get the filename prompt, to which I enter
xyz<tab> and the filename is found. Brief ( Solution Systems )
gives me that.
If more than one file is found to match the given criteria, CED
will rotate through them with more presses of the TAB key.
Brief will put up a little window where you can select the
specific file. The sequence *.TXT<TAB> works as expected.
I hope this standard catches on. It's extremely useful and it
didn't take long to make it a habit. You can reach for the TAB
as you reach for the ENTER key. I would like it in Binkley's
alt-s Send command. Or online, in Opus' C)ontents command.
Another round of upgrades.
Tex Macs Cooking --
As I have often thought, and recently spoke aloud to a friend
of mine, "It's not what you use, it's what you know how to
use." I was happy to barter a free round of golf for a touch
of "what, how, why" on business accounting software. He had
a nice business, and a computer, but wasn't happy with it.
Much to my surprise, his offices revealed a MAC IIfx with laser
printer and hard disk full of goodies. Not that I keep up with
Mac stuff, but I was looking at a pretty fine setup, that was
supposed to do brochure publishing, mailing lists/labels and
business accounting. The first two functions were just dandy,
but his recently fired consultant had opted for a database
package, and the attempt at CUSTOM accounting application
writing. It never flew.
Anyway, I was being paid to break in and snoop around on
somebody else's computer. I fired the machine up and showed my
buddy how to change the passwords, and remove some of the
inits. Do all Macs boot up with necked women pictures and
famous comedian quips ? I think so, yes. Actually, the best I
ever heard was the voice of Curly saying "I'm tryin' to think,
but nothin's happening" when you clicked somewhere that wasn't
clickable.
A quick four bucks on MacWorld ( PCWorld ) later, I was reading
about 31 accounting packages, and had a pretty good idea what
was needed. Remembering that chock full 80 meg drive, I took a
look at the review of tape drives, as well. Of course, the
main feature on HUGE hard disks got read. The Mac Connection (
yes, PC Connection ) was there in full 8 page ad glory, so I
figured even for a PC bigot like myself, this was not going to
be a problem. I asked him what his accountant recommended, he
said "Buy a PC."
FidoNews 7-44 Page 25 29 Oct 1990
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 26 29 Oct 1990
=================================================================
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=================================================================
Rex Rivers
FidoNet 1:291/9
About the content of FidoNews:
Freedom of speech does not necessarily imply freedom of
publication. If you ever decide to restrict the topics in
FidoNews, fine. If you decide to always publish everything,
that's even finer.
There IS one thing that I wish FidoNews didn't have, and it's
not anything that anyone ever submitted in an article. It's
those form-feed characters at the beginning of each page.
I realize that the MAKENEWS program probably inserts these
automatically for you but for me they are a real pain in the
backside. You see, I rarely print out FidoNews. I generally
view it on the computer screen and only print it out if I come
across something that I really, really want to keep.
The problem results because my system interprets a form-feed
character as a clear-screen function. This generally means that
I get to see the first two screenfuls of a page okay, but
somewhere along the third screenful everything disappears. I
imagine that I have missed quite a lot of interesting stuff
because of this.
If the MAKENEWS program could be modified to simulate form-feed
characters with an appropriate number of line-feed characters I
would be most grateful.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-44 Page 27 29 Oct 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 7-44 Page 31 29 Oct 1990
4 Nov 1990
Area Code 214 fragments. Part will become area code 903.
6 Nov 1990
First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28
13 Nov 1990
Third anniversary of Fidonet in Austria (zone 2, region 31).
14 Nov 1990
Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at
2:332/16.0
16 Nov 1990
100% Democratically elected administration takes over the
coordination structure in Zone-4 Latin America
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.
31 Mar 1991
Jim Grubs (W8GRT) was issued his first ham radio license forty
years ago today. His first station was made from an ARC-5
"Command Set" removed from a B-17 bomber.
12 May 1991
Fourth anniversary of FidoNet operations in Latin America and
second anniversary of the creation of Zone-4.
8 Sep 1991
25th anniversary of first airing of Star Trek on NBC!
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
FidoNews 7-44 Page 32 29 Oct 1990
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.
