F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 37 14 September 1998

F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 37 14 September 1998
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | +27-41-515-913 [5:5/23] |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Henk Wolsink 5:7104/2 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 5:5/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 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. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+

Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
2. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 2
Fido's Ugly Duckling with the Funny Web Feet ............. 2
3. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
FidoNet Technical Standards Committee Year 2000 program .. 3
4. NET HUMOR ................................................ 5
Gone from the Backbone ................................... 5
5. NOTICES .................................................. 7
6. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 9
7. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 12
FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 1 14 Sep 1998

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

Greetings,

Some write a lot and some don't. Is it important that your editor
writes more or less in the editorial? What does it matter, if he
writes anything at all. What matters, that you write article(s) for
FidoNews, as that makes the newsletter, not what I utter, good or
bad. ;-)

Two notices were received about BBS's being available via Telnet.
Should a reader be interested in keeping such a list, please let
me know, as it might be a good idea keeping a list to be included
in FidoNews.

Thanks to Colin Turner, for sending us the FTSC2000 details.

Hope to see more news from the FTSC in future.

Happy reading,

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FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 2 14 Sep 1998

=================================================================
GUEST EDITORIAL
=================================================================

Fido's Ugly Duckling with the Funny Web Feet
Douglas Myers 1:270/720 [email protected]

I got some feedback this week from a strange duck who used to hang
around the local net. He didn't leave us like I'd thought... he
just moved for a job. But he doesn't walk a straight nodeline
following Mother Fido like the rest of us ducklings any more - he's
put on some Web feet.

He wrote to let me know that sysops aren't threatening to put up
HTML-based bbses as I'd reported... he's doing it now. And some of
the other creatures with Web feet are seeing a BBS for the first
time, and they're impressed.

He's not alone, of course. Though few BBSes are completely
HTML-based right now, access through telenet has been with us for
some time. This community is growing and talking about
interconnecting through networks a bit kinder to Web feet... and
there is a growing perception that Mother Fido is getting old and
won't be able to lead her ducklings off the familiar paths she can
still see.

To you ugly ducklings out there, I send my wish that Maw Fido
consents to have her cataracts removed soon. Removed so that she
can see that the pond opens into a big river... removed so that she
can know that her ugly ducklings have grown to become graceful swans.

--
| Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/[email protected]
| Internet: [email protected]
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ]

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

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 3 14 Sep 1998

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

FTSC2000 - FidoNet Technical Standards Committee Year 2000 program.
By Colin Turner 2:443/13 [email protected]

Have you checked the year 2000 compliance of your hardware and
software yet?

Have you told us the results?

If the answer is no, please read on.

Recently Group Y of the FTSC (FidoNet Technical Standards Committee)
released a package of tests to help nodes and points examine the
compliance of their hardware and software with the change fast
approaching in the year 2000.

This has already been announced in FTSC_PUBLIC, and a reasonable
number of nodes have requested the test package either over FidoNet
as a file request or from the web site, but not enough.

This article has two purposes, firstly to inform the wider FidoNet
community about this, and also to remind you that we need your help.
FidoNet is (at least in theory) a co-operative venture, and
participation from all nodes and points is greatly appreciated.

The changeover date is fast approaching, and it isn't realistic
(or even possible) for a small group like a subset of the FTSC to
check all existing software.

If you are a developer, download the test set, check out your
software. We want to hear from you if its compliant, we want to hear
from you even if it's not compliant and you have a release date for a
compliant version. We even want to hear if it's not compliant and
will no longer be developed. It's in your interests to use this
opportunity to tell your users you are on top of the problem, or no
longer want to deal with your software.

This responsibility does not fall on the developers alone. If you are
an "ordinary" node or point and feel that you have a moderate
technical understanding, then you can also help. Check the software
that is running on your system, it's in your interests to determine
if you need to change it or ask for upgrades from the author. Don't
just test the software, please send us the results, so that other
nodes and points can benefit from your findings.

If you are a FidoNet user who does not feel capable of testing your
software, then there are still ways you can help. Ask your software
author if they have checked the software for compliance, ask if they
have submitted the results to us. Tell other people about our project,
and include the contact details below on your web page if you have
one.
FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 4 14 Sep 1998

It is the ambition of this project to build a database of software in
use in FidoNet (and other compatible networks) in all platforms. It's
even more important on obscure platforms where variety of software is
sorely limited. We want to be able to post results in FidoNews to
keep you posted of test findings by ourselves, developers and other
FidoNet users.

This group is interested in working with anyone who wants to
constructively deal with the year 2000 problems in FidoNet Technology
Networks, if you want to participate, please contact us.

For information, please file request (from 2:443/13 or 2:443/14):

FTSC2000

For the tests sets themselves, in various compression formats, please
file request:

FTSC2000ARC (ARC compression);
FTSC2000ZIP (ZIP compression);
FTSC2000LHA (LHA compression);
FTSC2000RAR (RAR compression).

You can also obtain them from the Internet at

http://www.piglets.com/ftsc2000

Colin Turner, 2:443/13, [email protected],
Working Group Y (Year 2000 Issues) co-ordinator,
FidoNet Technical Standards Committee.

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FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 5 14 Sep 1998

=================================================================
NET HUMOR
=================================================================

Recently, the Overseer of Backbone Operations announced that the
backbone would cease the practice of automatically deleting
low-traffic echos. This action did not meet with wide approval from
the ZHUBS and RHUBS, and these folks are meeting right now to
discuss the issue. While final details of a new plan are yet to be
announced, there has been considerable compromise. All are agreed
that the following echos should not be restored to the backbone for
any reason:

Z&Z&Z&Z This now sleepy echo was once the gathering place
the various identies of Zorch, rumored to have been
the head of one of the most powerful voting blocks
ever seen on Fido. Dropped by the Elist Robot when
the moderator failed to produce evidence that he
existed.

HORNY14 This echo stands as an empty tribute to the fourteen
year olds who once dominated the chat echos as the
carrier pigeon once dominated the skies of North
America. The plaintive wails of lonely hearts
attempting contact with their adolescent peers of
the opposite sex are but a memory, commemorated only
by their intellectual heirs, the fifty-ish crowd who
preserve their traditions.

P5 Designated the public conference for continued
policy improvement, the echo just never caught on.

ELC Designated the ElfLord Contact conference, this echo
fell into disuse in 1989 at a time when the ElfLords
scribed their collective wisdom onto great stone
tablets which still stand at the entrance to
Fidonet.

FTSC_DOCS This echo is for the release of new documents by the
Fidonet Technical Standards Committee. Dropped by
the NAB due to no volume.

BIBLE_THUMPER This write-only echo accounted for 21.6% of all
backbone traffic when it was removed from the elist.
The moderator was discovered to have no valid Fido
address, and evidence indicates that he was probably
a fictitious character who frequented the DISNEY
echo.

Z1C_INPUT Another popular write-only echo, the idea was that
end-nodes could write to the Z1C without being
burdened by replies. Dropped at the moderator's
request because it duplicated the function of the
Z1C echo.

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 6 14 Sep 1998

NMAD The Naked Mother's Against Dyslexia echo was
accidentally unlisted in 1997 when the
organization's founder discovered that her autopost
robot had failed. She attempted a manual update,
thus creating the DAMN conference. Ironically, 2000
naked mothers who had tried to areafix the NMAD
conference previously found themselves
auto-connected within two hours of DAMN's addition
to the backbone.

SUPER-BATCH Bitching does strange things to the eyes, and the
batch file writers found that they had to retreat to
the BATPOWER conference when two blurry-eyed
super-bitches found their way into their now defunct
conference. The @echo off @ffectionados hope that a
BITCHPOWER movement is not in the offing.

--
| Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/[email protected]
| Internet: [email protected]
| Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own.
| From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ]

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

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 7 14 Sep 1998

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

Future History

5 Oct 1998
29th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus".

10 Sep 1998
9th Anniversary of Zone 5 operations.

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.

23 Nov 1998
35th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

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

16 Feb 1999
13th Anniversary of the introduction of EchoMail by Jeff Rush.

12 May 1999
12th Anniversary of Fido Operations in Zone 4;
10th Anniversary of the creation of FidoNet Zone 4.

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

9 Jun 1999
Tenth Anniversary of the adoption of FidoNet Policy 4.07.

10 Sep 1999
10th anniversary of Zone 5 operations.

26 Oct 1999
Thirty years from release Abbey Road album by the Beatles.

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.

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 8 14 Sep 1998

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.

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

Henk,

Fidonet Region 18, Net 133 hosts two telnetable systems:

ASN BBS, Fido 1:133/504, telnet to bbs.asnbbs.com
Boxax Bulletin, Fido 1:133/5007, telnet to bozax.iainc.net

We also host several web sites, including Net 133's Home Page at
www.net133.org.

Lastly, Fido material, including the nodelist, nodediffs, fidonews,
etc. are available via FTP at ftp.asnbbs.com.

Larry Cody (Net133 NEC)
ASN Consulting Services
(404) 713-4978
On the Web at www.asnbbs.com!

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

Greetings from Sunny Clearwater, Fla. (USA)

I was reading an article in fido news where a poster has lost access
to fidonet.

My suggestion is to put fidonet bbs's accessable via the internet in
fido news.

Mine is accessable either by Telnet or Http, Features the complete
Zone-1 backbone.na & no conferences, Fido news is avalible as a
bulleton, or can be downloaded from the file areas. Nodediffs &
Nodelists are also avalible.
This bbs is a free service to the fidonet community at
bbs.docsplace.org

If anyone needs a telnet terminal program, I recommend Netterm which
is avalible at http://www.tucows.com

Ed Koon, Sysop, Doc's Place Bbs Online. 1:3603/140
[email protected]

... We toss the Whole Fidonet Backbone!

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FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 9 14 Sep 1998

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

This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the
FidoNews Editor as of this issue; see the notice at the end.

FidoNet:

Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
FidoNews http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html [ASCII]
WWW sources http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html
FTSC page http://www.goldware.dk/ftsc
Echomail [pending]
WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html [TFN]
General http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
http://www.trak-one.co.uk/foti

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ZEC2:
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/echolist/

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

Region 23: http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)

Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (German)
Fido-IP: http://home.nrh.de/~lbehet/fido (English/German)

Region 25: http://www.bsnet.co.uk/net2502/net/

Region 26: http://www.nemesis.ie
REC 26: http://www.nrgsys.com/orb

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

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

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

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 10 14 Sep 1998

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

Region 50: http://www.fido7.com/ (Russian)
Net 5010: http://fido.tu-chel.ac.ru/ (Russian)
Net 5015: http://www.fido.nnov.ru/ (Russian)
Net 5030: http://kenga.ru/fido/ (Russian & English)
Net 5073: http://people.weekend.ru/soa/ (Russian)

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

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

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

Zone 4: http://www.altern.org/zone4

Region 90: http://visitweb.com/fidonet
Net 903: http://www.playagrande.com/refugio
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pages listed above are as submitted to the FidoNews Editor,
and generally reflect Zone and Regional Web Page sites. If
no Regional site is submitted, the first Network page from
that Region is used in its place. Generally, Regional pages
should list access points to all Networks within the Region.

TCP/IP accessible node access information should be submitted
to the FidoNews Editor for inclusion in their Region or Zone.

-----------oOo-------------

Fidonet Via Internet Hubs

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 11 14 Sep 1998

Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed | Basic Rate
-----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+-----------
1:12/12 | Ken Wilson | FTP | T1 | $24mo.
1:13/25 | Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo.
1:124/7008 | Ben Hamilton |FTP,VMoT,F2I,UUE| 64k | $10/$20mo.
1:140/12 | Bob Seaborn | FTP | T1 | $5/$20
1:270/101 | George Peace | FTP | T1 | $30mo.
1:271/140 | Tom Barstow | F2I | ??? | $2mo.
1:275/1 | Joshua Ecklund | UUE,F2I | 28.8 | $10/yr.
1:280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo.
1:2401/305 | Peter Rocca | FTP,UUE | T1 | unkn
1:2424/10 | Alec Grynspan | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $1mo.
1:2424/3121| Earl Clark | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
1:2604/104 | Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo.
1:2624/306 | D. Calafrancesco | VFOS | 33.6 | $15yr.
1:345/0 | Todd Cochrane | FTP | T1 | n/c
1:346/250 | Aran Spence | FTP,UUE | T1 | $10mo.
1:342/1022 | Steve Steffler | UUE,F2I | 33.6 | n/c
1:3651/9 | Jerry Gause | FTP,VMoT | 33.6 | $3/$6
1:396/1 | John Souvestre | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $15mo.
2:2411/413 | Dennis Dittrich | UUE | 64k | n/c
2:33/505 | Mario Mure | VMoT,UUE | 64k | n/c
2:335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
2:469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c
2:2474/275 | Christian Emig | UUE | 64k | unkn
2:2490/5170| Lenny Murphy | F2I | ??? | n/c
5:7104/2 | Henk Wolsink | FTP | 28.8 | n/c
--
+ VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
+ F2I = Fido2Int (W95)
+ UUE = uuencode<->email packet transfers

compiled by C. Ingersoll, 1:2623/71, (609)814-1978, [email protected]
Posted on the 1st of every month in FN_SYSOP, R13SYSOP and Fidonews.
-
___
! Origin: * Fly By Night * (609)814-1978 *(1:2623/71)

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

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 12 14 Sep 1998

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

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

Editor: Henk Wolsink

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

"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 5:5/23
BBS +27-41-515-913, 2400/9600/V.34/V.90

more addresses:
Henk Wolsink -- 5:7104/2, [email protected]

(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 12325
Port Elizabeth,
6006
South Africa

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

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 and/or the Editor.

Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1998 Henk Wolsink. 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.

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

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.

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 13 14 Sep 1998

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/
ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/Fidonet/Fidonews

And in non-English formats via:

http://www.hvc.ee/pats/fidonews (Estonian)
http://www.fidonet.pp.se/sfnews (Swedish)

*=*=*

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/

FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 14 14 Sep 1998

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.

=*=*=*=

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://209.77.228.66/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.

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

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 5:5/23 [5:7104/2] 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

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