F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 10 9 March 1998

F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 10 9 March 1998
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | 1-209-251-7529 [1:1/23] |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Zorch Frezberg 1:205/1701 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MORE addresses: |
| |
| submissions=> [email protected] |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

... QUESTION AUTHORITY ...

Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
2. CORRECTIONS .............................................. 4
An Editorial Correction .................................. 4
3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 5
Letter to the editor ..................................... 5
Title: Who Voted? ....................................... 6
4. WE GET E-MAIL! ........................................... 8
Subject: Thanx for your help ............................. 8
5. ARTICLES ................................................. 8
Announcer released as GPL ................................ 8
Norman Rockwell's Fido ................................... 8
Baiting Policy Trolls .................................... 11
an ode to a meddler ...................................... 12
6. COLUMNS .................................................. 14
Dear Editorbeing, ........................................ 14
7. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 16
North American Backbone Echo Changes [Jan-Feb] ........... 16
Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 065 ...... 17
8. NOTICES .................................................. 18
Future History ........................................... 18
9. FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY ...................................... 19
FidoNews PGP Public-Key Listing .......................... 19
10. FIDONET BY INTERNET ..................................... 20
FidoNet Via InterNet Hubs ............................... 23
11. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 23

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 1 9 Mar 1998

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

In all of my years in print and broadcast journalism, I have always
seen the Editor position of *any* news publication or broadcaster as
being the 'conscience' of the community...whether or not the
community _needs_ a conscience is irrelevant, since that is the
_duty_ of any editor of merit.

No Editor worth his/her salt has ever been without opinions, without
an agenda and, least of all, without controversy...otherwise, there
would be no one to direct reporters to stories (good or bad), no
pattern to the news made public (mix obituaries with the comics or
local news with the classified ads), nor would there be anyone to
stir up the controversies that are "best left unsaid" in a
community...if for no other reason than to get people to _read_ or
_listen_, just to see "what the hell that Editor is gonna say _next_"
so that they can either be outraged or enlightened...depending
always, of course, on whose ox is currently being gored.

What I'm seeing more and more of, and from the same people as always,
is the type of thing you see in the movies, where the reporter goes
into the small town to uncover the 'hidden corruption'...only to be
threatened by "The Powers That Be" to 'best be movin on, boy' when
something is close to being uncovered. I'm not concerned about the
usual next step, when there is a threat made on the reporter's
life...at least, not _yet_.

Sound funny? Consider this, then...

_Prior_ to publishing my _first_ issue, at least one RC called for
me to be removed as "unsuitable" for Editor. One REC accused me of
turning the FidoNews into a 'sewer of feces and lies'...

All without one _single_ page of the FidoNews being published by me.

Numerous messages and letters complain of an "agenda" or a "grudge"
that I carry in this post and extend to all of the FidoNews...

...and yet, the only _real_ contribution I make is the Editorial and
formatting the articles for publication. The only changes I make to
any submission is with the permission of the author or to insure that
the submission complies with the ARTSPEC.DOC requirements.

An "editorial" is a comment on a situation...AS THE EDITOR SEES IT.

My beliefs, my views, my knowledge (or lack thereof) of matters is
laid bare for all to see...to accept, to challenge or to ignore.

It would seem that this is the objection being made. One such
detractor even indicated that I was hypocritical on the issue of
'free speech'...for the reason that I challenged statements made,
rather than letting them go unopposed or without comment.

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 2 9 Mar 1998

To me, that is precisely the _purpose_ of Free Speech...the ability
to _question_ what you may see as at odds to your morality or ethics,
let alone to challenge others on their beliefs or to the facts that
they use, as well as what others may say one way or the other.

If you are entitled to _your_ beliefs, why am I not entitled to
_mine_?

If you are able to express _your_ beliefs, why may I not express
_mine_?

If you are trying to gain support for _your_ beliefs, why may I not
gather support for _mine_?

It is in the power of each person to choose what they wish to
believe, even if it means giving up a lifetime of cultural
upbringing...for some it is easy, for others it is very difficult.

But to deny each person that ability to choose for themselves what
they believe is to deny them humanity. They may make a 'wrong'
choice, they may make an 'unpopular' choice...but they have the right
to _make_ that choice for themselves.

And so it is with an editor...if for no other reason than to provide
a 'counter' to what is popularly held to 'be true', as well as to
challenge those in a position of authority to prove themselves worthy
to lead the rest of us.

The tragic part of this is that it is those who _least_ want free and
open discussion who bring up these issues of 'bias' or 'agenda' or
'grudge'. This sort of thing is in the 'real world' news all the
time, as much as it is here in FidoNet.

To other and more interesting news...

Some changes are in the works for the next issue, one of which is a
very major change. Please make sure that your NC has a copy of the
ARTSPEC.DOC submission guideline available, as well as the latest
issue of the FidoNews. I've requested an accompanying article to
help explain it.

As always, the latest issue can be obtained _uncensored_ from

http://www.fidonews.org

For reference purposes, the rules for the Zone 1 Echomail Coordinator
election are in issue 49 of volume 14 of FidoNews (FIDO1449.NWS), and
is dated December 8, 1997. The _full_ text is there as part of a
larger announcement. You'll want to see this in order to get the
same sort of humor one article this week has generated in some
circles.

And perhaps I can stop posting such damn long editorials now.

...ah...the miracles of a free press...

-zf-

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 3 9 Mar 1998

=================================================================
CORRECTIONS
=================================================================

An Editorial Correction

As indicated in the last FidoNews Editorial, a comment was made with
respect to the 'non-existant' area code of 867.

In fact, the area code _does_ exist and will be fully implemented
later this year for the Northwest Territories and the Yukon
provinces of Canada in Zone 1.

The Editor regrets the error and apologizes for any misunderstandings
that it may have caused; in the future, a much more 'up-to-date' list
of area codes will be consulted in any further such comments.

-zf-

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 4 9 Mar 1998

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

Letter to the Editor
by Ron Bemis, 1:124/1113

ZF> Then there is the case of one sysop and hub operator who
ZF> insists that unless the *full* 87K of the Zone 1 EchoMail
ZF> Coordinator election results are not posted, some sort of
ZF> collusion is going on. So, to satisfy his quest for
ZF> information and his insistence, it is now here.

Perhaps our Fidonews editor needs to learn to "just say no". Same
thing goes for other peoples' echomail. If I was interested in
it, I'd turn on the conference. I'd rather see original text and
articles in Fidonews, not a bunch of quoted arguments.

ZF> To those of you in the *OTHER* Zones, I apologize, but since
ZF> John has decided to personally direct editorial policy in
ZF> the FidoNews, feel free to assess his efforts in editorial
ZF> control to John Souvestre at 1:396/1 , or at his E-Mail
ZF> address of [email protected].

Maybe we need a Fidonews editor with less of a political agenda,
and without grudges against so many.

ZF> I'm having problems with some of the messages being sent to
ZF> me...are these for _me_, or for "The FidoNews Editor"?

Since ARTSPEC.DOC is pretty specific about what is required of a
Fidonews article, it really shouldn't be a problem. If the
article contains lines longer than 70 characters, or if it does
not start with a line beginning with "*", then it's clearly not
meant for Fidonews.

ZF> Also noted is that Net 163 has upped the ante on the pending
ZF> Policy Complaint by picking up nodes in several nations and
ZF> Zones, as well as one totally non-existant phone number for
ZF> a node. There doesn't seem to be an "867" area code or
ZF> country code...anyone know of one?

Area code 867 is in Canada - assigned to the Yukon and Northwest
Terroritories. You wouldn't be expected to know that unless you
actually believed the information in the nodelist. To assume
something is wrong without knowledge and then complain about it
without checking must be a sign of something, but I'm not sure
what.

ZF> One point coming out of the FIDONEWS echo...there seems to
ZF> be a consensus developing over the inclusion of the "page
ZF> breaks" in the general publication of FidoNews...are these
ZF> being used by anyone out there? Or is there a predominance
ZF> to find a way to dump them? Your comments on this are
ZF> solicited.

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 5 9 Mar 1998

Perhaps you should ask how many people actually print it out on
paper each week. My guess is most people don't feel compelled to
waste the paper. Consider inserting a form feed or some other
delimiter between each article - that could be useful for turning
it into echomail messages - the only way most people will ever
look at it.

Oh, and while you're at it, dump the PGP key crap, or run it once
every three months if you actually have one you're going to use.
Then if the paranoids really want it, they can get it. Same goes
for the "latest software versions". Once a month is more than
enough.

-Ron Bemis
1:124/1113

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

>from Paul Cottrell 1:163/538

This is in responce to your comments in the last snooze. 867 is a
valid area code and has been since last October. We have just had
an area code change from 819. With all of the attention to our
"special node", I am suprised that no one spotted my phone number.
I have to wonder since I wasn't named in the complaint if Gary has
a thing against our Maulvi. If you are wondering Nanisivik is at
the northern tip of Baffin Island which puts me about 2700 miles
north of Ottawa or 1000 miles from the north pole. I have had node
1:163/538 for quite a few years and have thoroughly enjoyed the
atmosphere of net 163 and appreciate all the help I have received
from them over the years.

Later

Paul Cottrell
The Furthest North BBS
1:163/538

### 30 ###
-----------------------------------------------------------------

Title: Who Voted?
by John Souvestre, 1:396/1

Contrary to what a FidoNews Editor with a grudge would have you
believe, it was the Z1EC Election Coordinator (Martin Belcke) who
sent him the 87K file regarding the Z1EC election. All that I asked
be published was the information necessary to verify the votes.

They failed to point out that the tally was not final and that there
was a two week period to contest it. But, there was no list of the
nodes who voted - hence making it impossible to verify the votes.

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 6 9 Mar 1998

From the election rules:

> The posting of the results would consist of no less than two
> messages, one containing an alphabetic listing of keywords/
> passwords with associated vote and the other containing a
> numerical listing (by node number) of those who voted. The two
> lists would not be directly associated.

Also:

> ANNOUNCE TALLY - - - - - Feb 22
> CONTESTING - - - - - - - Feb 23 - Mar 8 (2 weeks)
> LAGTIME - - - - - - - - - Mar 9 - Mar 11 (3 days)
> ANNOUNCE RESULTS - - - - Mar 12

The winner, just happens to be a close, personal friend of both the
FidoNews Editor and the Election Coordinator. You would think that
this would encourage them to make sure that they followed the rules.

Regards,

John

### 30 ###
-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 7 9 Mar 1998

=================================================================
WE GET E-MAIL!
=================================================================

Subject: Thanx for your help
Date: Mon, 02 Mar 1998 18:11:33 +0100
From: Klaus-Juergen Feilkas
<[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

Hi fellows,

first, thanks again for your prompt help.
I think, fidonet is a bit too strange for me.
But finally it worked. Solution: find a gateway and
transform address to

[email protected]

So long, take care and keep in touch
Klaus-J�rgen

### 30 ###
--------------------------------------------------------------------

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

Announcer released as GPL
by Peter Karlsson, 2:206/221, [email protected]

Announcer, an automated message poster previously released as
shareware is now released under GPL (GNU Public License), which
means that the program and its source may be distributed freely. This
is done because the number of shareware registrations was extremely
small. The program will still be developed and updated, but at a
somewhat lower pace.

The GPL version of Announcer 1.2 (which has no extra features over
the previous shareware version) can be FREQ'ed as ANNOUNCE from
2:206/221 between 00-06 CET (23-05 GMT). It can also be downloaded
from the WWW at http://nafmo.home.ml.org/wolves/

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

Norman Rockwell's Fido
by Bill Whitehouse

Full membership and planetary network access to anyone capable
of observing Zone Mail Hour. Amazing, isn't it? More remarkable,
still, is watching from a distance as such an appealing - and as yet
unrivaled - technology unravels.
Unbridled growth could preserve and protect fidonet from its
uncoordinated flamers in years past. Now you're about all who remain;
lawyer wannabes whipping your skippies all alone. Don't
misunderstand. Nothing wrong, you like that sort of thing. And
clean up after. But it ain't gonna make you no babies. Or keep the
network from imploding.
Fido distribution is an almost entirely for-profit business
proposition, anymore. How much longer, you suppose, will these
broadcast vendors underwrite such a losing proposition?
Scrap the monarchy Policy 4 imposed in favor of a genuine peer-
to-peer network or don't expect to see it survive another six months.
Time does not stand still for fido.

I tried to interview Harry Lee - fido policy's primary author -
for a news assignment 9 years ago.
Picture, if you will, a Norman Rockwell painting of a drug store
soda fountain. The middle three stools are occupied by a lumbering
fellow who after 15 years hauling cinderblock tips the scales at 300
lbs, easy.
That there was Harry Lee, haunting the very town Rockwell lived
and painted. The same Rexall drug looks exactly as it did in
Rockwell's time. So do the locals perched on the other stools.
Outwardly, those Berkshire hill towns don't change much; the quaint
ruin of its once thriving mill economy pickled for tour bus
posterity. In other words, an anachronism.

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 8 9 Mar 1998

The best Harry could tell me - strictly off the record, of
course - was 'Fidonet is a weird little world of egomaniacal
flamers.'

Sound right? Let me refresh your memory. What follows is a
carefully selected list of mostly free software that made all this
possible. We no longer inhabit in the fido nodelist but Binkley still
answers infrequent inbound. Grab what you like.

BDOS_260.ZIP 206k 4/96 BinkleyTerm v2.60 Exectuables (DOS)
BDOS_XR1.ZIP 298k 4/96 Binkley v2.60 Enhanced for DOS.
BOS2_260.ZIP 260k 4/96 BinkleyTerm v2.60 Executables (OS/2)
BW32_260.ZIP 233k 4/96 BinkleyTerm v2.60 Executables (Win32)
BDOC_260.ZIP 289k 4/96 BinkleyTerm v2.60 Documentation
VIBM_110.ZIP 3k 8/88 Video FOSSIL for Bink. Req'd for color.
X00153A.ZIP 107k 12/93 BIOS services for serial communications.
BNU170.ZIP 74k 10/89 BNU v1.70 - FOSSIL Driver
NOFRMNG.ZIP 1k 4/90 Stop NoFraming Error in BNU 1.70
BCOL103.RAR 63k 7/97 BinkCol v1.03 - WYSIWYG Color Utility.
BINKSET.LZH 12k 3/96 BinkSet v1.00 - Creates/Updates Binkley.Cfg.
SINF248.RAR 80k 5/95 SITEINFO v2.48 - random mailer site text.
POINT200.ZIP 259k 1/96 PPoint v2.0 - Binkley/Squish point system.

PLZ22.LZH 26k 7/91 Command line outbound manager for Binkley.
BONK_174.ZIP 122k 1/92 Binkley outbound/nodelist manager.
YABOM110.LZH 203k 7/92 Yet Another Binkley Outbound Manager.
RESQPKT.ZIP 26k 9/90 Rescues orphan .PKT files.
SHIFTEM.ZIP 5k 4/93 Moves mail attaches to the top of HLO files.
INSP110D.ZIP 352k 5/93 DOS File/Archive/Fido Packet Mgr.
PSRT_14.ZIP 269k 4/94 FTS-0009 PKT sorter & message splitter.
UNBADPKT.ZIP 17k 2/97 Search bad packets and remake good ones.

MSGED41D.ZIP 107k 2/97 Msged message reader/editor for 16-bit DOS.
MSGED41M.ZIP 42k 2/97 Msged 4.10 documentation & sample config.
SQSH_111.LZH 691k 11/94 Squish mail tosser/scanner/packer/router.
TOPX_111.LZH 86k 7/92 Squish base message extractor/archiver.
SQAFIX.ZIP 426k 11/97 SqaFix v0.99a6: The Squish Area Manager.
MAILC120.LZH 119k 2/92 Mailwait companion for .Msg & Squish format.
MREN251.ZIP 33k 9/89 One pass .MSG renumber, relink, purge & more
ROBOT600.ZIP 31k 4/95 Harvey Parisien's In/Outbound 4d *.Pkt Robot.

XLAX_256.LZH 151k 4/94 XLAXNODE - multi-format nodelist compiler.
MKNL251.EXE 96k 6/92 MakeNL nodelist v2.51 by Ben Baker.
CHKNL214.ZIP 15k 12/94 CHECKNL v2.14 - validates nodelist segments.

XNET101.ZIP 16k 3/93 Extract nets/regions/zones from raw nodelist
HSNODE14.RAR 11k 5/95 HS-NODE v1.4 Nodelist Statistics Generator.
140LIST.LZH 33k 8/95 Track and report changes in your net.
DIFFLIST.ZIP 47k 12/95 Reports region or net nodelist changes.
BKLA202.LZH 112k 8/95 Binkley/Max Log File Analyzer/Report Maker.
TT_101.ARJ 10k 6/93 TicTrak - .Tic traffic statistics generator.
SETR180.ZIP 60k 6/97 SETR v1.80 - Squish Echomail Traffic Report.
COMPR313.ZIP 78k 11/93 Compress BBS/Mailer log by # of days.

FAN_240.ZIP 198k 12/94 Customized new file announcement utility.
QFBD102.RAR 159k 7/95 Fast, no dupe, f'req Maxfiles index generatr

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 9 9 Mar 1998

BINK-IDX.ZIP 71k 9/95 File areas compiler for Qfb and Max's Fb.
UMFN100.ZIP 6k 6/92 Updates Bink's OKFILE magic f'req names.
TICK210.LZH 94k 3/92 Does for files what echomail does for msgs.
TICFG210.LZH 5k 8/92 Fully commented Tick/Hatch .Cfg.
RAID0123.ZIP 108k 4/92 AreaFix Capability For TICK File Echos.
RDOC0123.ZIP 29k 4/92 Docs for Raid V1.23 *Test*.
SEAL_050.ARJ 472k 7/96 An Areafix/Raid clone for Squish & Tick.
T2BBS510.ZIP 32k 5/95 Files.bbs & Maxfiles.Idx filebase update ute
CRCOK157.RAR 24k 7/95 Validates & corrects TIC-files.
CRC32.LZH 1k 11/94 Calcs & verifies checksum of any size file.
FILESBBS.ZIP 10k 4/90 Adds and deletes filenames from FILES.BBS.
DWNSRT64.ZIP 229k 1/98 DOWNload file SORT, ASCII and HTML file list
DRWYV231.ZIP 237k 2/96 DOORWAY to unlimited doors.
MAX301C.ZIP 689k 12/95 Maximus BBS 3.01 - common executables
MAX301R.ZIP 958k 12/95 Maximus BBS 3.01: DOS-only executables
MAX301P.ZIP 838k 12/95 Maximus BBS 3.01 - OS/2-specific executables

QEDIT3C.ZIP 205k 2/94 Configurable, multi-file text editor.
TED100.ZIP 2k 10/88 Tiny, basic function text editor.
TXZM241.ZIP 42k 10/94 Fast zmodem driver & terminal.
LIST90J.ZIP 104k 5/94 Unsurpassed ASCII File LISTer.
GFVIEW11.ZIP 240k 8/96 Graphics file viewer for List.
CED1015.ZIP 29k 7/91 DOS [C]ommand [L]ine [E]ditor.
SCRLIT17.ZIP 39k 5/93 Color Scrollback, search & write buffer.
ANSI13L.ZIP 43k 2/94 A memory-resident ANSI.SYS replacement.
AMOUS303.ZIP 8k 9/91 Small, configurable, mouse device driver.

4DOS600.ZIP 764k 7/97 4DOS v6.00 - COMMAND.COM replacement.
FU_RD19F.ZIP 39k 3/97 Resizeable, drive selectable XMS/EMS RAM dsk
CMOSSV27.ZIP 24k 10/96 Saves, inspects & restores CMOS.
SYSCAP.ARJ 12k 3/95 Boot process screen capture.
SA50SRE.ARJ 107k 10/97 Comprehensive PC system analyser.

WIZ37.ZIP 123k 7/96 Fast, multi-disk archive search.
PCOPY90D.ZIP 91k 4/91 Intelligent Xcopy replacement.
SPLITV10.ZIP 30k 6/97 High speed, low-drag file splitter.
ALTER6I.ZIP 6k 12/93 High speed, global search & replace.
FGREP184.ZIP 28k 6/97 Fast find strings in ASCII text.
GETLINE.ZIP 8k 3/95 Copy any lines from a text file.
CUT_10.ZIP 9k 6/93 Cut text files where specified.
STRPLINE.ZIP 13k 9/93 Strips lines matching patterns.
KLINE101.ZIP 13k 9/94 Kills matching lines.
RPSRT101.ARJ 91k 11/92 Unrivalled file sorter.
RDUP104.ZIP 14k 6/94 Deletes dupe lines across files.
CONTXT32.ZIP 4k 7/94 Converts multiple txt file formats.
SLEEK51.ZIP 9k 2/95 Smart & fast text reformatter.
SLEEP_47.ZIP 32k 6/97 Event scheduler, flag file & port monitor.
FDATE.ZIP 1k 8/88 All purpose file date/time resetter.
FDATE96A.ZIP 84k 5/97 Batch date manipulation utility.
TIMDIF13.ZIP 8k 11/95 Calculates the difference between 2 times.
DIR_DATE.ZIP 14k 10/96 File/dir/volume label time & date changer.

PKZ204G.EXE 202k 2/93 PKZIP/PKUNZIP v2.04g - compression utilities
PK260W32.EXE 689k 12/97 PKZIP v2.60 - for Win3.1+, W95 & NT.
PKLTE150.ZIP 38k 4/95 Compresses executables and device drivers.
ZIPIT126.SEA 163k 10/94 ZipIt 1.2.6 - file UNzipper for the Mac.
LHA255B.EXE 27k 11/92 Compression utility.
LZEXE.ZIP 30k 5/90 Compresses EXEcutables.
UNLZEXE.ZIP 11k 5/90 Uncompress LZEXE'd files.
ARJ250A.EXE 276k 12/95 ARJ v2.50a - the file archiver ARJ.
UNRAR.EXE 31k 4/96 View, extract, test v2.+ RAR archives.
PAK251.EXE 103k 10/90 Pak compression utility.
ARCA-E.EXE 26k 5/90 Archive compressor/extractor.

Available for f'req or first time d/l.

Providence, Rhode Island File Requests Accepted All Day
(401) 421-2218 - Intel 14.4 Except 4am-5am EST - 5am-6am EDT

-!-
! Origin: There's no as smart as all of us. (22:109/[email protected])

### 30 ###
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FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 10 9 Mar 1998

Baiting Policy Trolls

Dear Editor,

The following correspondence inadvertently arrived as a fax
on my system in response to a submission by Charles Herriot
of 1:163/110. I feel, that as a Fidonet sysop, I would be
remiss in my responsibility if I did not transcribe it, in
its entirety, into the required format and forward it to the
Snooze for your reading pleasure.

Jeff Dubois (1:163/266)

* * * * *

Doc Logger 06 March 1998
Small Animal Psychology Dept,
University of Pago_Pago

Dear Logger,

On behalf of Reverend Visage, I would like to thank you for
your recent correspondence apprising us of the status of the
Fidonet flock.

Although Visage is currently unable to pry himself away from
his spiritual work here at the Visage Home for Wayward
Girls, he has asked me to respond to you on his behalf to
acknowledge receipt of your correspondence.

I have attempted to provide you with his commentary as best
I can recall, although it was quite difficult taking notes
at the Rouge with all those naked ladies shaking their
naughties in our general direction while looking for
salvation. It was also difficult understanding the good
Reverend after the fourth bottle of sacramental wine, his
words only marginally slurred by his pelvic thrust-ridden
sermon.

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 11 9 Mar 1998

Nonetheless, I forward you the best iteration of his
commentary.

"I have been following the transgressions of the lost and
forlorn with mild amusement. I applaud the effort of
Sister Labonte for bringing an otherwise lost Malaysian
sheep into the flock and commend those bretheren who find
solace in extending the glory of communication.

Forgive Gary, for surely he doth reveal the coyotes
dressed as sheep among the flock. Time, spiritual
guidance and sheer comic relief will surely reveal the
worship of false policy gods as the antithesis to
communication."

The Wurlitzer at the Ministry here in Phuket then broke into
a bit of bump and grind, so the good Reverend Visage retired
to the champagne room to bless a few virgins.

Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention.

Vicar Robert (Bob) Loblaw,
Schotchbottle Lodge,
ARDEN, ON
(613) 335-3418

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

an ode to a meddler

During the recent straw poll for the zec appointment by the ZC,
we all were subject to the whinning of John Souvestree
aka the Casun Pussy. The last Fidonews indicated we should
write to John John with our opinion. As usual, the post went
without a response.

Date: 03 Mar 98 06:56:14
From: Bob Moravsik on 2604/583
To: John Souvestre on 396/1
Subj: Sour Grapes

cc: Fidonews 1/23

John John:

All your whinning in the Z1_ELECTION echo has convinced
most of the nodes in Fidonet that you are more for using
Fidonet to increase your coffers then contributing to
the hobby. Since you tried to ram your boppy into Fidonet
your reputation has steadily declined. Barfaq is a farce.

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 12 9 Mar 1998

Why not work for free and open communication rather then
trying to meddle in the affairs of every region and
conference that suits you. If this is impossible, throw
the red switch and take up a hobby like knitting where
you don't have to intereact with people. Watch the
needles however they are sharp.

You've been thrown out of conferences because of your
sillyness. Isn't it time to reassess your approach to
these matters and try to undo years of building a
reputation as Fidonet's "official" control freak.

Play nice !

Regards Bob Moravsik, 2604/583

--- timEd/B8----------

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 13 9 Mar 1998

=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================

Dear Editorbeing,

This article is submitted by Charles Herriot(163/110) who
managed to coax more correspondence out of Doc Logger.
Logger was terribly busy offering media advice to several of
the sheep that had interned in Bill Clinton's office.

Dear Reverend Visage,

I know that you have been pre-occupied as the pharmaceutical
advisor for the Canadian Olympic Snowboard team (party on,
dude) but it is probably time you got the curare dart gun
out of storage and joined me on another Big Game hunt for
Policy Weenies. With the warm climate caused by El Nino, the
equally moist and flatulent bleatings of policy trolls has
rung through the FN_SYSOP echo. Who'd have thought that the
Spam 'N Timmies *still* spend night after night, huddled
over the nodelist looking for policy criminals.

It seems that Net163 has fallen afoul of a sharp-eyed fellow
who noted that Malaysia is outside the geographic boundaries
of the net. The poor fellow, Gary Gilmore, raised himself up
on his hind paws and filed a policy complaint. Oh, for
pity's sake, stop snickering - this guy was serious. Not
only was he serious but he was quickly joined by a chorus of
like-minded policy zealots who clapped their flippers and
agreed that offering a nodenumber to a Malaysian sysop was
at the very least, likely to bring Civilization to an end.
These silly gits don't seem to grasp the simple concept that
the node was offered because Net163 prides itself on
offering refuge to those who suffer from either the
incompetence or malign attentions of their local NCs.

This gets even funnier so set down your Glenlivet for a
second. Another keener named Zorch actually got all excited
when his Inspector Clousseau sleuthing failed to turn up the
telephone exchange for our arctic tundra brethren. This
completely ludicrous "discovery" was touted as more evidence
that Net163 was geographically impaired. (If it weren't for
the new Vegetable Libel laws in Texas, I'd suggest that
Zorch spend a few days gaining some of Dallas Hinton's
insights.)

As you know, there is nothing more fun than poking sharp
sticks at dull, enraged animals so Net163's node segment was
soon populated by wierd and wonderful new geographic
locales. In a predictable Pavlovian response, the humourless
weenies got even further enraged. The netmail from Ted
Harrison would make you blush. Some of the policymongers
have even, gasped, threatened to netmail Bob "ZC for Life"
Satti.

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 14 9 Mar 1998

Speaking of Bob "ZC for Life" Satti, I see that his Grey
Emminence, Bob Kohl, squeaked through to victory as the new
ZEC. Say, wasn't it Bob Kohl who engineering Bob "The
Importance of Being Bob" Satti's coronation? Only 53 of the
voters ranked Kohl as their dead last choice on the ballot
but by the byzantine voting rules, Bob was swept to office
on the sixth ballot.

I must go, Visage. Your secretary hasn't been herself all
afternoon and has been screaming at high decibels. I think
she should get help as soon as possible because it is hard
to imagine engendering that level of stress merely by
playing MacLean&MacLean CDs for the last 9 hours.

Regards,
Doc Logger
Small Animal Psychology Dept,
University of Pago_Pago

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 15 9 Mar 1998

=================================================================
COORDINATORS CORNER
=================================================================

North American Backbone Echo Changes [Jan-Feb]
by Lisa Gronke, 1:105/16
[email protected]

Summary of backbone & quasi-backbone echo changes during Jan & Feb.

Brought to you courtesy of (unix) diff.

diff (backbone.na + backbone.no) 04-Jan-98 01-Mar-98 [edited].

Added to the backbone
---------------------
> CHAT Fidonet General Chat Echo
> DAIRY_FARM Dairy Farming Conference
> DAYS_OF_OUR_LIVES Days of Our Lives Open Discussion Echo
> DCTPROD The DCT Productions Support Echo
> FIDO-REQ Announce files in this conference
> FIDO_UTIL Fidonet Related SysOp Utils and Apps Discussion
> FIPS Fidonet Integrated Point System
> IREX Internet Rex (FTN <=> Internet) Echo
> IRS_HELP General Help pertaining to the IRS
> NAB_POLICY An echo for the formulation of NAB polic
> NCSSA National Coalition of Sysops and Sysadmins
> PCWRITE PCWrite and Multi-Platform Computing
> SLICK_WILLY Bill Cinton Discussion Echo

Removed from the backbone or quasi-backbone
-------------------------------------------
< BBSCON (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< CLARION (not in EchoList since 9/1/97)
< CYBER_AUCTION (low traffic since 9/1/97)
< DTP (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< ENVIRO (low traffic since 9/1/97)
< FAROUT (not in EchoList since 9/1/97)
< FIDOWORK (low traffic since 9/1/97)
< FREE_BIBLE (not in EchoList since 9/1/97)
< NURSES_NETWORK (not in EchoList since 9/1/97)
< NUTRITION (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< P_NEWS (not in EchoList since 11/1/97)
< SIP_ALANON (low traffic since 12/1/97)
< SNETNEWS (not in EchoList since 9/1/97)
< SQDSV (low traffic since 10/1/97)
< TOURETTES (low traffic since 9/1/97)
< WHIRLYBIRDS (low traffic since 10/1/97)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
o There are 674 echos in backbone.na [01-Mar-98] (up 14)
o There are 97 echos in backbone.no [01-Mar-98] (down 17)
o for a total of 771 backbone & quasi-backbone echos (down 3)

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 16 9 Mar 1998

Nodelist-statistics as seen from Zone-2 for day 065
By Ward Dossche, 2:292/854
ZC/2
+--------+-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+--+
!Zone/Jul!Ndl-037!Nodel.-044!Nodel.-051!Nodel.-058!Nodel.-065!%%!
+--------+-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+--+
! 1/065 ! 5872 ! 5872 0! 5828 -44! 5781 -47! 5667 -114!26!
! 2/065 ! 14370 !14384 14!14299 -85!14274 -25!14327 53!65!
! 3/058 ! 565 ! 553 -12! 550 -3! 550 0! 528 -22! 2!
! 4/058 ! 410 ! 406 -4! 403 -3! 403 0! 402 -1! 2!
! 5/037 ! 87 ! 87 0! 87 0! 87 0! 87 0! 0!
! 6/058 ! 322 ! 322 0! 322 0! 319 -3! 934 615! 4!
+--------+-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+--+
! 21626 !21624 -2!21489 -135!21414 -75!21945 531!
+-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 17 9 Mar 1998

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

Future History

30 Apr 1998
Queens Day, Holland.

17 May 1998
Independence Day, Norway.

22 May 1998
Expo '98 World Exposition in Lisbon (Portugal) opens.

14 Sep 1998
Start of International BBS Week [thru 20 Sep 98].

22 Sep 1998
First anniversary of the FidoNews domain of www.fidonews.org.

1 Dec 1998
Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by
Tom Jennings.

24 Jul 1999
XIII Pan American Games [through 8 Aug 99].

31 Dec 1999
Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.

1 Jan 2000
The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.

1 Jun 2000
EXPO 2000 World Exposition in Hannover (Germany) opens.

15 Sep 2000
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.

1 Jan 2001
This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.

-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 18 9 Mar 1998

=================================================================
FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY
=================================================================

FidoNews PGP Public-Key Listing

[this must be copied out to a file starting at column 1 or
it won't process under PGP as a valid public-key]

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Version: 2.6.2
Comment: Democracy Requires A Free And Uncensored Press.

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File-request FNEWSKEY from 1:1/23 [1:205/1701] or download it from
IKVHFoT! BBS at 1-209-251-7529 anytime Zone 1 ZMH at 300-9600+ V34.
The FidoNews key is also available on the FidoNews homepage listed
in the Masthead information.

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 19 9 Mar 1998

=================================================================
FIDONET BY INTERNET
=================================================================

This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported
to the Editor as of this edition.

============

FidoNet Sites and Information:

Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
EchoMail http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/index.html
FidoNews http://www.fidonews.org
http://209.77.232.66/fidonews.html
FTSC http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/ftsc.htm
General http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
SecureMail http://209.77.228.66/secure.html
WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html [TFN]
WWW Sources http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html

============

Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org

Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html

Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/

Region 13: http://www.smalltalkband.com/st01000.htm

Region 14: [disappeared?]

Region 15: [disappeared?]

Region 16: http://www.tiac.net/users/satins/region16.htm

Region 17: http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/region17.htm
REC17: http://www.westsound.com/ptmudge/

Region 18:
REC18: http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/

Region 19: http://www.compconn.net

============

Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org

ZEC2: http://www.proteus.demon.co.uk/zec.htm
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/z2_elist/

Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (Swedish)

Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (German)

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 20 9 Mar 1998

Region 25:
: http://www.trak-one.co.uk/net254

Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm

Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (French)

Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (Swiss)

Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (Italian)

Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (Spanish)
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr

Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/

Region 38: http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html

Region 41: http://www.fidonet.gr (Greek/English)

Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl

============

Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org

============

Zone 4: (not yet listed)

Region 90:
: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)

============

Zone 5: http://w3.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/index.htm

============

Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org

Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html (China)

============

NOTE: We are looking for a comprehensive list of Telnet, VMODEM,
BinkP, Argus and other TCP/IP based nodes operating FidoNet
on the InterNet, either by Zone or worldwide, to post here,
as well as other FidoNet alternatives.

Also, any Region or Zone not represented in this list which
has an InterNet information site active should forward the
URL for inclusion in this list. Networks will be listed
only if no page exists for the Region or Zone the Network is
based within.
- Ye Editor
### 30 ###

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

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 21 9 Mar 1998

FidoNet Via InterNet Hubs
compiled by Cindy Ingersoll, 1:2623/71
(609)814-1978 [email protected]

Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed | Basic Rate
-----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+------------
1:12/12 | Ken Wilson | FTP | T1 | $24mo.
1:13/25 | Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo.
1:101/204 | Patrick Rosenheim | TX | 33.6 | $25yr.
1:124/7008 | Ben Hamilton | FTP,VMoT,TX, | 64k | $10/$20mo.
| | F2I,UUE | |
1:140/12 | Bob Seaborn | FTP | T1 | $5/$20
1:270/101 | George Peace | FTP | T1 | $30mo.
1:271/140 | Tom Barstow | F2I | ??? | $2mo.
1:280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo.
1:2401/305 | Peter Rocca | FTP,TX | T1 | unkn
1:2424/10 | Alec Grynspan | FTP | ??? | $1mo.
1:2424/3121| Earl Clark | TX | 33.6 | n/c
1:2604/104 | Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo.
1:2624/306 | D. Calafrancesco | VFOS | 33.6 | $15yr.
1:2651/9 | Jerry Gause | FTP,TX | ??? | unkn
1:346/250 | Aran Spence | FTP,TX | T1 | $10mo.
1:342/1022 | Steve Steffler | TX,UUE,F2I | 33.6 | n/c
1:396/1 | John Souvestre | FTP | T1 | $15mo.
2:252/358 | Sean Rima | VMoT | T1 | n/c
2:335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | TX, UUE | 33.6 | n/c
2:469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c
2:2474/275 | Christian Emig | TX | 64k | unkn
2:2490/5170| Lenny Murphy | F2I | ??? | n/c
3:774/950 | Craig Box | UUE, F2I | 28.8 | n/c
---------------------------------------------------------------------
* VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
* F2I = Fido2Int (W95)
* UUE = uuencode<->email packet transfers
* TX = TransX (Proprietary uuencode<->email packet transfer software)

Posted on the 1st of every month in FN_SYSOP, R13SYSOP and Fidonews.

### 30 ###
-----------------------------------------------------------------

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 22 9 Mar 1998

=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================

------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------

Editor: Zorch Frezberg

Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
Donald Tees, Christopher Baker

"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS 1-209-251-7529, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32b/V.42b/V.34

more addresses:
Zorch Frezberg -- 1:205/1701, [email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]
[email protected]

(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 642
Fresno, CA 93709-0642
U.S.A.

voice: 1-209-446-9038 [voice mail = 'blind' numbers not returned]

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

FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
does not diminish the rights of the authors. OPINIONS EXPRESSED in
these articles ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS and not necessarily those of
FidoNews.

Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1998 Zorch Frezberg. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For
use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
the Editor.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 23 9 Mar 1998

OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor via manual download or
file-request, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above postal
address. File-request FIDONEWS for the current Issue. File-request
FNEWS for the current month in one archive. Or file-request specific
back Issue filenames in distribution format [FNEWSFnn.ZIP] for a
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
current year [8], i.e., FNWSJAN8.ZIP for all the Issues from Jan 98.

Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
1 - 15 for 1984 - 1998, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
size from 48K to 1.4M.

INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:

http://www.fidonews.org
http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/fido/
ftp://ftp.irvbbs.com/fidonews/

*=*=*

You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:

[email protected]

with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist

and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the email
distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist with no
message to the same address above.

*

You may retrieve current and previous Issues of FidoNews via FTPMail
by sending email to:

[email protected]

with a Subject line of: help

and FTPMail will immediately send a reply containing details and
instructions. When you actually make a file request, FTPMail will
respond in three stages. You find a link for this process on
www.fidonews.org.

*=*=*

You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:

http://www.fidonews.org

STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request -
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:

ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/

Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 13 Megs.

=*=*=*=

FIDONEWS 15-10 Page 24 9 Mar 1998

The current week's FidoNews and the FidoNews public-key are now also
available almost immediately after publication on the FidoNews Editor
homepage on the World Wide Web at:

http://209.77.232.66/fidonews.html

There are also links there to jim barchuk's HTML FidoNews source and
to John Souvestre's FTP site for the archives. There is also an email
link for sending in an article as message text. Drop on over.

=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=

A PGP generated public-key is available for the FidoNews Editor from
1:1/23 [1:205/1701] by file-request for FNEWSKEY or by download from
IKVHFoT! BBS at 1-209-251-7529 as FIDONEWS.ASC in File Area X. It
is also posted twice a month into the PKEY_DROP Echo available on the
Zone 1 Echomail Backbone.

*=*=*=*=*

SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews Editor, or file-requestable
from 1:1/23 [1:205/1701] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone
Coordinators also have copies of ARTSPEC.DOC. Please read it.

"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
and are used with permission.

"Disagreement is actually necessary,
or we'd all have to get in fights
or something to amuse ourselves
and create the requisite chaos."
-Tom Jennings

### -30- ###
---------------------------------------------------------------------