F I D O N E W S Volume 17, Number 08 21 Feb 2000

F I D O N E W S Volume 17, Number 08 21 Feb 2000
+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | 1-717-732-6820 1:270/720 |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: Douglas Myers, 1:270/720 |
| | (*) | \ )) | [email protected] |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+

Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
OverLord of the ElfLords ................................. 1
2. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 3
First Principles, Part III ............................... 3
3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 7
The Appallation .......................................... 7
Poor little child ........................................ 7
4. COLUMNS .................................................. 9
This Weeks Web Page ...................................... 9
5. COORDINATORS CORNER ...................................... 10
Zone 3 Zone Mail Hour change ............................. 10
6. NET HUMOR ................................................ 11
The Universe According To Dilbert ........................ 11
7. COMIX IN ASCII ........................................... 13
Even more udderly cool cows .............................. 13
8. FIDONEWS INFO ............................................ 14
Masthead ................................................. 14
FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 1 21 Feb 2000

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

OverLord of the ElfLords
Doug Myers
(Recently Nominated)

Many of us have laughed at The Hunter's "Notice of Suit" published
last week. Indeed, Charles Hunter has recieved at least one "Thank
You" in the FIDONEWS echo for providing the ultimate belly-laugh.
I, myself, editorialized that it was difficult to take The Hunter
seriously on the basis that he appeared to be a juvenile.

However, I'm now reversing my editorial stance and backing him.
Hell, I'm rooting for him! Why? Well, there's something in it for
me. And not just for me, because he announces that he's suing all
of Fidonet.

The Hunter is basically suing me (and the rest of you) for the
following offenses:

1. I failed to control the moderator and participants in an echo I
don't even read, particularly one [email protected].

2. I failed to order various BBS sysops to make their boards
available to him, despite their judgement to the contrary.

3. I failed to order the coordinators of Fido to give him justice.

I don't mind confessing to all of the readers here that I never
dreamed of having so much power over the people of Fidonet - I
thought I just had to get along. However, if The Hunter is
successful in marshalling the legal community behind him, they won't
be able to find me guilty unless they first empower me to accomplish
all of that. There's the prospect that I'm about to be promoted to
the position of OverLord of Fidonet.

I don't have deep pockets, so the courts won't get much money out of
me... but whatever they get I suspect the ego trip alone will be
worth the price.

I am Alexander the Great, Conqueror of all of the known world - such
is my might.

I am John Carter, Jedak of Jedaks, smiting the warriors of Mars to
rescue the Princess Deja Thoris. I am James Kirk, Commander of the
Starship Enterprise and Wielder of the Force of the Federation. I
am Rigel, Dominator of the Hyperion Worlds, belching fire at my
whim.

I'm in debt to The Hunter for his efforts in promoting my personal
aggrandizement. It's not often I'm given a free power trip!

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 2 21 Feb 2000

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FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 3 21 Feb 2000

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

First Principles
Part III in a Series examining ZMH and FTS001 Issues
David B. Smith, American Tune BBS (1:2410/104)

Hi, Malcolm. I noticed you saying to Ron Mitchell:

MM> I just don't believe that the ZMH and FTS-1 compliance has
MM> driven away the thousands of Fidonet nodes over the last year or
MM> so. We all know it is the Internet, or more correctly the World
MM> Wide Web, that is taking our people. When you can visit the
MM> world with one phone call, why would you want to go back to
MB> connecting up to one BBS.

...Presented for your consideration...

True, up to a point. But what drove the BBS evolution, if you will
wasn't just users, it was -new- users. We got computers and wanted
to know what we could do with them. People who we trusted to know
about computers told us about BBSing, and we became new users. A
bunch of us stayed -- but we also became the people that other folks
asked about how to use their own computers. And we told them about
BBSing, and they became new users. Und so weiter.

And today, when new people get computers (and before), when they ask
what they can do with them, what are they told? "Surf the Web. Hook
up with AOL." And they do that. And then people as -them- what to
do with their new computers. Und so weiter.

It isn't a matter of the Internet and the Web taking -our- users.
It's a matter of them taking the -new- users, who bring others
along. We're out of the stream. The salmon run is passing us by.

And any solution has to correct that in particular. Bringing back
all the old users would be nice. But without the new users coming
in, we all get older, and give up or maybe die off.

What got us here? Because somebody we trusted to know about
computers told us this was the place to be.

Further, what has kept us here? Interesting content. Interesting
-interactive- content. Interesting interactive -human- content.
Messages to reply to and comment on. People to respond to, and who
will respond to us. A lot of Echoes are essentially empty. One
recently became quite busy -- FN_SYSOP.

Look at the traffic there. What does it mostly consist of? New
messages? Nope. Replies. Threads that run for weeks or months on
replies, often travelling into entirely different areas of
discussion. People responding to each other. That's interesting
interactive human content.
FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 4 21 Feb 2000

Where's the Internet's interactive content? The Web? The Web's
interactive content is whatever a machine can provide out of it's
canned responses & stored files. Some of it is useful, that's why I
go there myself. Most of the interactive content is attempts to
sell something. Nothing wrong with that, but it gets old real fast.

Instant messaging? IRC? Interesting. Useful. Again, I use it
myself. Nice to be able to do that, if I and the person I want to
contact are both online at the time we have something to discuss.
Makes it difficult to communicate with someone on the other side of
the world.

And, of course, you just "chat," because you have no time to think.
There'll be 18 messages before you finish your thought-out reply --
and those 18 messages are just chat, too. So you have interactive
content. But the interest is only what happens to come to mind at
the moment. Chat.

So that leaves Usenet and email lists.

Usenet is sort of a good news, bad news proposition. It had the
potential to do what BBSing does, but the SysAdmins and news-haulers
decided to take no responsibility for it, and now the
signal-to-noise ratio is less than one IMHO.

Internet email lists. I run a couple off my BBS in fact. A number
of Echoes are gated to mail lists. Doesn't necessarily hurt. But
email clients aren't meant for dealing with multiple divisions of
content. So for years now, email client programmers have been
struggling with ways to make an email client do what offline readers
have been doing for maybe a decade. And it's still painful to watch
-- the technology intrudes on the communication.

I doubt most folks will disagree with this stuff. But how does this
relate back to getting new users?

We have a better way of structuring multiple-topic messaging content
that's managed in a reasonably secure fashion. But new folks aren't
finding that out. We're losing existing users, because we don't
have the influx of new users to create new content. Because we
aren't telling them we're here. Because they aren't asking us
anymore.

It's unfair to present a problem without presenting an option that
could be a solution. Short version? Tell people.

Which people? The web-surfers? They're looking for those canned
machine responses, and getting them. The Web's good at that, and
that's a fine thing. That's why I use it myself.

The IRC chatters and Instant Messagers? Well sort of, only because
they're reachable there. But their interest would arise only
because of what else they do.

That leaves the Usenet folks and the Maillist folks. The maillist
folks, who are trying to get that interesting interactive content
FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 5 21 Feb 2000

from human beings, but who are struggling with an interface that
makes such interaction chaotic and confusing. And the Usenet folks,
who have a tool that -should- work, but who can't get past all the
useless dreck because of Usenet "traditions" that amount to
mismanagement IMHO.

Contact those people. Not by creating new Websites, new newsgroups,
new maillists, that won't be used by people who don't already know
about BBSing. Wander into other lists on other topics of interest
to you, and say "Ya know, there's a better way."

Don't be part of the problem by interfering with the content of the
list. Do it the same way you'd promote one maillist while on
another. A small sig on the bottom.

If it promotes interest, discuss it further in private email. Then
maybe move the discussion to a list where discussion of finding and
using a BBS is on topic. The people you reach that way will be the
still-curious new users of the Internet, who are also the folks who
will be asked "How do I use my computer?" because they're still out
their talking about the Swell Stuff They Found.

Use the Internet, partly via the old Telnet option but also by other
methods, to move those neatly organized, carefully managed, multiple
topic message groups, without sacrificing the organization and
management that makes that content what it is, and what it isn't.

If you build it, they will come, but only if they -know- you built
it. Get the content into the hands of the people you want to reach,
and that allows you to inform them of the other, better ways of
getting that content.

Now I'm going to throw in something that some folks will hate. I
hope it's clear that if this is a lousy idea, that doesn't mean the
rest of what I said is wrong.

I'm thinking about (but may never do) a one-way QWK packet
distribution. No REP's being accepted back that way, just QWK's
going out. The technical aspects are simple; it's been done before.
I could easily do it here. Thing is, since no replies are posted by
firing off REP's at an email address, the inbound security is still
there -- you can't reply without logging onto the BBS and uploading
your REP packet.

It works for the same reason some Cable modem systems work. A lot
more moves out than goes in. A lot of people recieve the same
content, but each individual only creates a little bit. Even if
they're calling LD, they're only on for a moment to upload. And if
they're local, or if they're Telnetting, or if Money Is No Object
<grin>, they're -there- on the board, and are just liable to look
around and see what there is to see...

Now I gotta go grab my asbestos longjohns outa the closet... <grin>

MM> Removing ZMH is not going to bring back one node or user. Let's
MM> concentrate on the real reasons.
FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 6 21 Feb 2000

That I agree with, to a point. Keep ZMH as a courtesy, willingly
provided by those Sysops who can do it, to the extent that it adds
to the functionality of the network. Dispose of it as a requirement
for those who can't provide it but who -can- still effectively move
messages. If you aren't recieving Direct Netmail, ZMH is more a
ritual than a technical requirement.

I would suspect that would require a new nodelist flag, or a change
in the use of an old one, so folks aren't sending netmail to someone
who can't recieve it. OTOH, even without ZMH as such, there's no
reason you'd be unable to try sending netmail during that hour.

Look at a CM system. With ZMH, you try to send Direct Netmail.
Either you connect and can send the mail, or you can't connect
because somebody else is already connected (sending Netmail).
Without ZMH, you try to send Direct Netmail. Either you connect and
can send the mail, or you can't connect because somebody else is
already connected (sending Netmail or doing something else).

The only differeence is what the -other person- is doing. What you
see on your end, trying to send the Direct Netmail, is not different
at all. ZMH may or may not increase your chances of connecting. But
with CM, you can always connect an hour later and get the same
message to the same person. What the heck, they won't read it till
they wake up, anyway.

Am I wrong?

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

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 7 21 Feb 2000

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

The Appallation
Email from David Hallford
[email protected]

In response to Lesley-Dee Dylan's response to Jim Rysyk's
article I must say that I am appalled by Lesley-Dee's improper use
of language.

The word which should have been used is "you" not "off". Although
"off" is applicable in many instances, I think that this particular
instance requires a more personal response. "off" is a more generic
response and it is obvious from the context that Lesley-Dee's
response was more personal than generic - ergo she should have use
"you".

I am surprised that you didn't catch this one and have Lesley-Dee
resubmit.

with warm regards,
Dave

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

Editor's Response:

Keep in mind that the use of the term "you" would have constituted
a personal offer, which I don't think was intended. The use of the
term "off" clearly indicated that that particular mode of operation
was unavailable to the original author.

Remember the cultural differences here, David. Lesley-Dee posts
from the Fidonews Canadian City Desk and employs local Canadian
hocky colloquialisms. We foreigners are not expected to supervise
such subtleties which we are not equipped to understand.

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

Poor little child
[email protected]

In FidoNews 17/7, I read the unfortunate rant posted as "Notice of
Suit, email from 'The Hunter' <[email protected]>'" and was
fondly reminded of Steve Winter and his bizarre rants about "corrupt
Fidonet Officials." These poor little fellows -- after they
profoundly lose an argument in a public forum -- start spouting off,
trying to make their petty little selves sound like they're powerful
and threatening lawyers, stuffing their unfortunate rants with
freakishly disjointed legal-sounding rhetoric, doing their best to
FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 8 21 Feb 2000

try to pretend they actually know what the fuck they're sputtering
impotantly about. It's amusing in a child, I suppose, yet not so
amusing in an adult.

Is this further evidence of the decline of FidoNet? Or has FidoNet
always had these unfortunate individuals walking these
cyberhallways?

Fredric L. Rice
1:218/890.0
(626) 335 9601
http://www.linkline.com/personal/frice/index.htm

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

Editor: I doubt that this is evidence of the decline of Fidonet.
If so, Fido has been doomed since the beginning - or, at least, I
don't remember a time when there wasn't some huperactive complainer
"sharing" his thoughts wit us. Like the proverbial poor,
complainers will be with us always.

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

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 9 21 Feb 2000

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

This Weeks Web Page
by Frank Vest
1:124/6308(.1)

Where: http://www.hilgraeve.com/
What: HyperTerminal Private Edition (Hilgraeve)

Comment:

In this day of the Internet, we are trying to get some Users back
to our BBS' and promote them to the public (Internet and otherwise).
One thing we often forget as we "dress up" our systems, advertize
who we are, what a BBS is and where to find the phone number to our,
as well as other, BBS' is, "Ok... I got the phone number and I think
this BBS thing might be fun... HOW THE HECK DO I CALL IT?!?" :-)

The "meat" of it:

Hilgraeve is a commercial site. As such, it does have it's "main
line" software highlighted. of course. The page promotes "DropChute"
towards the top of the page. I have no idea what this software does,
but that isn't the interest we should have in the page anyhow.

HyperTerminal Private Edition is what we are talking about here.
Towards the bottom of the main page is a link to the HyperTerminal
Private Edition program. This is a freeware program that has shipped
with Windows for a long time. It's not the most popular terminal
program around and has drawn some critics over the years. It is,
however, free and provided with the operating systems most used by
potential New Callers to BBS'.

On the plus side, this software is still developed. It has a
Windows and OS/2 version and the HyperACCESS version which is a pay
product. I understand that there are fonts available to make
HyperTerminal work better on BBS'. I don't have the link to get
these, but maybe someone can provide it. Also, the HyperTerminal
program offered here is an "upgrade" to the one shipped with Windows
and OS/2.

Looking over the Hilgraeve site, it is nice. not a lot of graphics
to slow things down and well organized as well. I'd suggest that all
BBS pages provide a link to this site. You might not like the
program, but it is available to your potential "New Callers".

[email protected]

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

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 10 21 Feb 2000

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

Zone 3 Zone Mail Hour change
Malcolm Miles
Zone 3 Co-ordinator
3:633/260

As from the 26th March 2000, the Zone 3 Zone Mail Hour (ZMH) will be
moved back one hour to 1700 UTC. This translates to the following
local times:

Region 55 - WA 1:00am - 2:00am
Region 51 - NT, SA 2:30am - 3:30am
Region 54 - Qld, NSW 3:00am - 4:00am
Region 50 - Vic, Tas 3:00am - 4:00am
Region 57 - NZ 5:00am - 6:00am

This change was requested by Region 57 NZ sysops who were concerned
about their BBS users being unable to access the BBS before heading
off to work or school. This was because ZMH was falling between 7am
and 8am during the daylight saving period. Moving ZMH back an hour
will allow users to call the BBS during this time and should help to
stem the loss of users to other networks.

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

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 11 21 Feb 2000

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

The Universe According To Dilbert
By Scott Adams

*Stupidity is like nuclear power, it can be used for good or
evil. But you still don't want to get any on you.

*You are without romance or mirth... You must be an engineer.

*The status of a temp is somewhere between that of a security guard
and the crud behind the refrigerator.

*I used to feel guilty about smashing bugs until I realized it's a
sport.

*And in the news... Body parts were strewn for miles... Check your
sandwich.

*Our company does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, age,
or religion... unless the religions are bizarre and unpopular and
can be considered cults (and so may be freely discriminated
against), or you are a short, fat, bald, ugly guy (and can be picked
on without restraint), or are a nerd, smoker, or single person.
Stupid people may now also be discriminated against due to the
failure of their lobbying efforts.

*I used to be clueless but I've turned that situation around 360
degrees.

*Trying to attain vast power & world domination again?! Bad dog! Bad
dog!

*There's a fine line between marketing and grand theft.

*All your problems are caused by invisible people. To eliminate your
problems, all you need to do is find them and kill them.

*Someday, the people who know how to use computers will rule over
those who don't. And there will be a special name for them:
secretaries.

*In the next hour, you will learn how to cope with guilt the Dogbert
way. And if you don't, well, it turns out I get paid anyway.

*Running feels awful, but it will let you live longer... So, life
will feel awful, but at least it will last longer.

*Before you defeat the competition, you must first subjugate the
other departments.

*It's not a cult. Think of it as a gang of morons who have nothing
better to do with their lives.

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 12 21 Feb 2000

*Hello! This is a long-distance phone company with vague promises of
unverifiable savings if you switch to us. Is this a convenient time
for you? No? OK, we'll call back later.

*If you have everything, gloat. When that gets boring, start your
own line of perfumes.

*If you touch any key, our software will lock up. Call us and we'll
blame it on Microsoft.

*Always put off dealing with time-wasting morons. If you would like
to know how... I'll get back to you on that.

*There's more to science than just hurting small animals, but it's
the part that's the most fun.

*What do you call a dog that's been run over by a steamroller? Spot.

*Knowledge is power... But power corrupts... And corruption is a
crime... And crime doesn't pay... So if you keep on studying you'll
go broke!

*Nature has a way of compensating for weaknesses, which is why
stupid people have big mouths.

*Time slows down as you approach the speed of light... But time
flies when you're having fun... So if you walk slower, do you have
more fun or do you just get more light?

*It is said that man's ability to reason that separates him from
mere animals, but then again the animal kingdom has no equivalent
to "championship wrestling."

*One way to compensate for a tiny brain is to pretend to be dead.

*If you haven't accomplished anything so far, then your best days
are likely to be ahead of you. But then, you should consider your
track record.

*Intelligence has much less practical application than you'd think.

*Used car salesmen are not in it for the money. They just like lying
to strangers.

*To become one with your computer is to reach a state of...
nerdvana.

*When virtual reality gets cheaper than dating, humanity is doomed.

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

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 13 21 Feb 2000

=================================================================
COMIX IN ASCII
=================================================================

Even more udderly cool cows...

\ /
|\/| {___} \__/
(oo) ( * ) (--)
/-------\/ V /--------\Q/ /--------\/
/ | ||__| / | || / | ||
* ||----| * ||-----|| * ||----||
^^ ^ -- -- -- --
Cow from Vulcan Smoking 1-eyed cow Cow w/ rabbit ears

|\__|\
| 00 |
\---<( -- )>---/
\ |--| /
\__/ \--/
( )
| |
--------
|| ||
nn nn
This cow just found out she's being
exCOWmunicated because she wasn't up
during Zone Milking Hour.

(__) (__) (__) (__)(__) (__) (__)(__)(__) (__)
(oo(__)oo) (__)o) (oo)((__)(__)oo) (__)(o(__)o)(__)o)(__)
\/(oo)\/ (oo)/(__)/ (oo)(oo)\/ (oo) \(oo)/ (oo)/ (oo)
\/ \/ (oo) \/ \/ \/ \/ \/ \/
\/
a cowngregation

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

FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 14 21 Feb 2000

=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFO
=================================================================

Masthead

+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- FIDONEWS STAFF - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
| |
| Editor: Douglas Myers, 1:270/720, [email protected] |
| Webmaster: Jim Barchuk, [email protected] |
| Columnist: Joe Jared, 1:103/0, [email protected] |
| (Fido Via Internet Hubs column) |
| Columnist: Warren D. Bonner, 1:103/401, [email protected] |
| (Warren uses the pen name "Ol'WDB") |
| Humor: Roy Reed, [email protected] |
| Features: Frank Vest, 1:124/6308.1 |
| |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - EDITORS EMERITI - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
| |
| Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince |
| Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, |
| Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg, Henk Wolsink |
| |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

"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.

Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of Fidonet.
Fidonews is Copyright (C) 2000 by Douglas Myers, though authors
retain rights to their contributed articles. Opinion expressed by
the authors is strictly their own. Noncommercial duplication and
distribution within Fidonet is encouraged. Authors are encouraged
to send their articles in ASCII text to Douglas Myers at one of his
addresses above.

The weekly edition of Fidonews is distributed through the file area
FIDONEWS, and is published as echomail in the echo FIDONEWS. These
sources are normally available through your Network Coordinator.
The current and past issues are also available from the following
sources:

+ -- -- -- -- -- -- - FIDONEWS AVAILABILITY - -- -- -- -- -- -- +
| |
| Freq FIDONEWS @ 1:270/720, 1:140/1, or 1:396/1 |
| ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/ |
| ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/fidonet/fidonews/ |
| http://www.fidonews.org |
| email subscription: [email protected] |
| (subject: help body: list) |
| ftp mail: [email protected] (subject: help) |
| |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
FIDONEWS 17-08 Page 15 21 Feb 2000

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