F I D O N E W S Volume 18, Number 11 12 Mar 2001
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
| | Crash Netmail Attach Articled To: |
| _ |fido news@1:2320/38 (1-502-245-6778) |
| / \ | for Telnet and Bink: |
| /|oo \ | Fidonews@1:2320/100 |
| (_| /_) | Filegate.net or 64.38.85.9 |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: Warren Bonner |
| | (*) | \ )) |
[email protected] |
| |__U__| / \// |
[email protected] |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
Table of Contents
1. HEADLINE ................................................. 1
Headline ................................................. 1
2. CHAT WITH THE EDITOR ..................................... 2
*** Chat with Editor *** ................................. 2
3. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 6
4. CORRECTIONS .............................................. 9
5. THOUGHTS ................................................. 10
//+\ Thoughts /+\\ ....................................... 10
6. LETTERS ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK ......................... 12
//+\ LETTERS /+\\ ........................................ 12
7. ARTICLES ................................................. 14
//+\ FATCATS & EDITORS /+\\ .............................. 14
8. FRANK'S COLUMN ........................................... 18
9. RECIPES .................................................. 24
10. GET EMAIL ............................................... 27
//+\ We Got Mail /+\\ .................................... 27
11. HUMOR ................................................... 30
12. NOTICES ................................................. 32
<<< IMPORTANT NOTICES >>> ................................ 32
13. FIDONET BY INTERNET ..................................... 35
14. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 40
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 1 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
HEADLINE
=================================================================
"He that is good at making excuses, is seldom good at anything else"
---Benjamin Franklin
"Men are ALL inventors, sailing forth on a voyage of descovery..."
----Emerson
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FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 2 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
CHAT WITH THE EDITOR
=================================================================
Michiel=MvdV>, Carol Shenkenberger=CS>, Editor=WDB>
Discussion on echopol in progress, one thing leads to another:
CS> Understood. If Warren were trying to make a cut on Z2, he would
need to apply EP1 in areas where it was applicable right?
MvdV> My link to the MODERATOR area is operational. I'd better answer
you there in order not to antagonize Warren any more than I already
did. I see you are in the seen-by's.
WDB> Not to worry Michiel, this echo is for the discussion of anything
to do with the betterment of Fido through exchanges here in Fidonews.
CS> I think we all know Z2 doesn't participate here that much. It is
my personal opinion this however has little to do with EP1 and more to
do with language barriers.
MvdV> Language does have an effect and EP1 is only a minor point. The
biggest problem is that the Z2 sysops don't very much like the
attitude that prevails in many Z1 echoes'...
WDB> Attitude is a many colored, many flavored concept usually in the
mind of the person pontificating the faults of others, that in turn is
the key that responses are flavored and colored with. If one is
careful with his/her words of negativity, the results can be positive.
If on the other hand a resentment is partially concealed in most
replies, it becomes obviously antagonistic.
CS> What I perceive is an attempt to provide some articles in other
languages than english.
MvdV> That's not going to work. Not to get more contributions from Z2
anyway. We've long figured out that multilingual publications don't
work. There are just too many languages. All attempts for pan European
multilingual television have failed. Multilingual magazines never were
a success. All companies trying have gone bankrupt.
WDB> That is a broad brush statement, and is not true here in North
America as we have many UHF stations that are of other languages and
caption selection lets us know what is going on on the screen. Some
Zenes have articled in dual languages, particularly the Spanish ones.
MvdV> Believe me, FidoNews is NOT going to attract any Dutch readers
by publishing an occasional article in Dutch with an English
translation. Those who can read English are already there and those
not able to read the lingua franca - English - are not going to
subscribe to a magazine of which they can at best read an occasional
article.
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 3 12 Mar 2001
WDB> True of paid subscriptions I suppose, but we are talking here
about FidoNews a hobby newsletter where there is an interest in all
fido persons of whatever nationality. It is no biggie to scroll down
an article you can't read to the portion you can read. Sure, the
Snooze will be a little longer in pages but the service is there.
MvdV> The only way to attract Dutch readers that can not read English
is to translate /everything/ in Dutch.
WDB> Well we will see if that bucket holds water when and if Dutch
articles come in as submissions in both Dutch and English. If none are
forthcoming it is their loss.
MdvV> Then again there are plenty of people in Europe that can read
neither Dutch nor English. For those one would have to provide
translations in French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Danish,
Swedish, Bulgarian, Greek, Romanian, Polish, Gealic, Russian,
Norwegian, Finnish, Lap, Karelian, Estonian Lithuanian, Oekranian,
Tzjec, Slovanian, Hungarian, Slowakian, Kroatian, Serbian, Albanian,
Bask, Catalan, Retro Romanian, Welsh and maybe a dozen others that I
forgot. And that's only Europe.
CS> I can't force Z2 sysops to write although I grant I have tried to,
to the point where it was 'unseemly for one not the editor' to do so.
WDB> That is true, I have tried in previous articles to enlist the
help of bi-lingual Fidonetters as I know you have. If they wont
respond then they are not worthy to be included in the Snooze.
MdvV> The best way to get Z2 sysops to write is to move the chair of
the editor to Z2....
WDB> If they choose not to read or write in the Fidonews, again, it is
their loss. If, as you state, their mind set is to exclude anything
not Dutch, German, French or Spanish, it is truly their loss.
CS> Can you do something to assist?
MdvV> I am afraid I can't do much more than I have already done. I
have tried to make it clear why Z2 sysops are not eager to
participate. My impression is that it falls on deaf ears. I am
responded to, but I am not /listened/ to.
WDB> In so many words you are saying to give the Fidonews editorship
to Z2 and then your sysops will participate?
WDB> How does that solve the language differences with the editorship
there rather then here where Fidonews was invented, registered and
copyrighted?
WDB> You are listened to and answered, you apparently don't like the
answer, so you say your sysops wont participate. Again their loss.
CS> Many things are in P4 right now, due to Z2 conditions.
MdvV> Eh????? Sorry Carol, but that is completely wrong. P4 was
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 4 12 Mar 2001
written by Z1 sysops and Z1 sysops alone in a time when Z2 had just
come off the ground. The main problem we had (mind the past tense) at
the time it was rammed through our throat was that it was entirely
written for the Z1 situation and took no heed at all to the situation
in Z2.
WDB> Excuse me???? The entire ZC's input from all Zones devised and
developed and APPROVED the Policy 4. It is ludicrous to state Z1
"rammed" it down Z2's throat. If Z2 is so unhappy with it, and holds
`vastly more votes', WHY doesn't Z2 amend it and propose ratification
of all Zones?
CS> They do not and never did make sense to Z1 sysops.
MdvV> That can't be. P4 was /entirely/ written by Z1 sysops.
CS> One example is the situation with encrypted netmail. This is a
legal issue (was, may still be?) in some Z2 countries.
MdvV> It still is.
CS> The P4 upheld position was that a sysop must be able to read
intransit netmail for whatever reason they need to and believe me,
that irks the HELL out of Z1 sysops once they figure it out.
MdvV> Yet it was them and them only that put it there. There is not a
single line in P4 written by a Z2 sysop.
WDB> When Z2 or any other Zone accepts P4, it is the same as if the
wrote every word. The final votes of ALL Zones become equally the
author.
CS> Had Z1 'taken over' on that issue, all netmail would be unreadable
to whatever level the 2 ends could manage while still getting through
the various intermediate 'hops' to get from 'sender to receiver'.
MvdV> I have no idea what you are driving at. Do you object to the use
of encryption or do you want to encourage it? I have lost you.
CS> No one between would be able to read it per P4. In short, body of
message encrypted. But can we do that? No. It poses major legal
problems still in some zones other than Z1 (I think it's legal in all
Z3 and Z1 but not sure of the others).
MvdV> That doesn't seem to bother those using e-mail via the
InterNet...
CS> Z2 is now larger than the rest of us combined.
MvdV> Moreover, some regions in Z2 are larger than the whole of Z1..
CS> Be careful to act wisely with today's standards and listen to all,
not just your own zone or own region ok?
MvdV> Sigh... Our main problem is Z1 not listening to US. Not when
they were the biggest and not when they aren't any more...
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 5 12 Mar 2001
CS> It's not a `numbers of sysops' game.
MvdV> Really?
CS> Really. It's not. Z2 somehow has a block of RC numbers so large,
that the other 5 zones together cant over-ride a P4 update if all Z2
RC's voted for it.
MvdV> That's how it is now. At the time of adoption of P4 Z2 was very
small. Just a few regions.
CS> Back when P4 came in, we still have 10 Z1 RC's. We still do.
Note it takes RC votes. It did then, and does now. We in Z1 were
probably outnumbered in RC's even then though I am not sure.
MvdV> Definitely not. P4 was adapted by a Z1 majority when Henk Wevers
was in the plane back home after a sysop meeting in Z1 where he was
promised that would not happen....
WDB> Ummmmm, Learn something everyday, do you have anything to
substantiate that claim? I'm not doubting your word, just would like
to see an article to clear that, and other things mentioned above, for
all Fidonews readers of all nations.
Cheers, Michiel
WDB> Thank you and Carol for a very interesting chat. We all learned
something to take home with us. I have a bit of "cogitating" to do
after all that has been put on the table here today.
Your Editor,
Ol'wdb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 6 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
GUEST EDITORIAL
=================================================================
*Why are there so many points in zone 2?
by Michiel van der Vlist
------------------------
This question was recently put to me by a zone 1 sysop when I claimed
there are in the order of 50,000 points in Zone 2.
At first I thought: what an odd question, I would have asked "why is
it that pointing never took hold in Zone 1?" Is it because there is no
incentive to reduce the off hook time because local calls are often
free? Is it the Not Invented Here syndrome? Are there other reasons?
She conjectured there was some arcane reason because she heard of a
net in california that required prospective sysops to run as a point
system for a year. "What is going on in zone 2" was her question.
It started me to think about it and I concluded that it needed
something more than an echomail message to compose a response that
made sense to those not familiar with the ins and outs of pointing.
So here is one of those "in depth" articles that takes distance from
the day to day hectics of echomail. ;-)
Pointing was introduced in 1987 by Henk Wevers, Host/NC of the then
only net in The Netherlands: net 500. First net outside the Americas
for that matter. Net 5000 was to be the fake net for use by all
bossnodes and points were assigned a four digit point number unique
across the net. Later the number 5000 turned out to be a bad choice
but at that time it seemed ok and pointing was a hit. It allowed users
to interface directly with the network without the burden of logging
into a BBS and typing in their messages on-line. Note that contrary to
the situation in the US, local calls were never free of charge in The
Netherlands and most other countries in Europe. Until 1985 or so l
local call was charged a flat fee of one unit independent of duration.
The Telco changed that because IBM constructed a cheap country wide
WAN by tying together dial up lines that were constantly kept open,
thereby avoiding the high cost of rental lines. This was possible
because local areas overlap. Metering on local calls put a stop to
that.
This was also a blow to the BBS community. The meter is running while
you'r online! That put a strong incentive on off-line reading. There
was of course of off-line readers like Blue Wave or QWK but a point
system is much more flexible. As a user, on-line or off-line, one
usually needs to go trough an authorisation procedure to obtain a
level high enough to download interesting files. A point doesn't need
that. Once the hurdle of obtaining the point number and getting it to
work is taken, a point can freq files at all nodes in the network
without further ado. Also a point system can run unattended. BBS's
were often very busy in those times. Many tries were needed to get
trough. As a user one has to stay close to take action when the
connection finally came through. A point can just initiate a poll or
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 7 12 Mar 2001
have it scheduled by the event manager and walk away. Fire and forget.
However busy the boss system is, the call will eventually get through
and the mail will be there when one returns from a fishing trip or a
good night sleep.
True, a point system takes a bit more effort setting up then
installing an off-line reader. Note that the melting cup where this
all started - net 500 - was a club net and the members were all
computer nerds of one kind or another. Apparently they didn't mind the
effort.
Later Joaquim Homrighausen introduced 4D addressing in his FrontDoor
mailer and it was soon followed by others. Points became a major
source of echomail and that enticed others to try pointing too. The
number of points grew exponentially. I joined relatively late in the
game; 1992. This was because I was too pig headed to submit to the
Intel/Microsoft supremacy. I would have written an FTN compatible
mailer for my 8 bit FLEX 6809 home brew concoction if I could have
found the specs for the ARC compression algorithm. But before I was
able to, my employer shoved me an IBM clone through my throat. The
sysop of my favorite BBS saw his chance and came running in with a
disk containing a mailer, tosser and message editor and before I could
finish my coffee had it installed on my computer. It didn't take long
for me to get hooked. From then on I was known as 2:500/13.10135. The
number has changed a couple of times since then and I have had more
than one number at the time taking echomail from a multitude of boss
nodes but although I finally took the step to full node status, I have
always remained a point at heart.
As I said, the number of points grew like a rabbit colony. When I
joined in 1992 there were about 1200 In R28. By the time I had my
first point list utility programme running about six month later there
were over 1600 and I had to change the memory model from small to
compact because I couldn't fit the list in 64K! At the top in or
around 1995 there were over 5600 listed points in The Netherlands. The
number of points not listed is anybody's guess.
There are no arcane reasons for the large number. There never was a
requirement to be a point for some time before becoming a node. Not in
The Netherlands and not in the rest of zone 2 AFIAK. That certainly is
not the reason there are so many. Although the point pool has always
been a source for new sysops and some have used it as a stepping
stone, the majority of points never had the intention nor the ambition
to go for full node status. Pointing is a thing of it's own. It
combines the best of two worlds. The flexibility of the node to
interface with the network and the freedom of the user. In particular
points are relieved of the burden of ZMH complience. It is possible to
run a node without a dedicated line, but it carries some social risk
if one doesn't live alone. Family members do not take kindly to being
woken up by a caller not understanding the concept of advertised on
line times. A point doesn't have that problem. He only calls out. He
doesn't need a second line, nor is there a risk that he will be called
in the middle of the night every two minutes on his voice line by some
badly configured mailer.
So why are there so many points in Z2? The answer is there aren't.
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 8 12 Mar 2001
There are an average of five times as many points as there are nodes.
A fairly reasonable number in a hierarchical network. Five zones in a
global network, Five nets in a region, Five Hubs for a Host, Five
nodes for a Hub, Five points to a Boss. Sounds reasonable doesn't it?
That leaves the counter question "Why did pointing never really take
on in Z1 unanswered." I'll leave that question to be answered by
others.
Michiel van der Vlist 2:280/5555
[email protected] [email protected]
~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~
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FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 9 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
CORRECTIONS
=================================================================
By: Warren Bonner
To: Carol Shenkenberger
----------------------------------------------------------------------
> Warren, Michiel has a point. I hadnt noticed before but unless
> these phone numbers lead to you somehow, they probably need to
> be edited out of the banner. <g>.
>
> xxcarol
You are correct as usual. They are voice numbers on the DSL lines.
(moderator and comoderator's lines on opposite sides of town)
I will correct that. Thanks for the heads up on it. I read the darn
Snooze every week b-4 hatch, and it just never dawned on me that the
numbers were wrong for the addresses.
Look to the next Nodelist for corrections. Janis is helping us out
with auto pots attached submissions.
Thanks again,
Ol'wdb
--- InterMail 2.29k
* Origin: Telnet://TheLastStop.osirusoft.com/ 1:103/401 (1:103/401)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 10 12 Mar 2001
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THOUGHTS
=================================================================
Found in researching F D Roosevelt's Library
"Friends are angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have
trouble remembering how to fly." It's National Friendship Week.
Show your friends how much you care.
Eleanor Roosevelt wrote:
Many people will walk
in and out of your life,
But only true friends
will leave footprints in your heart.
To handle yourself, use your head;
To handle others, use your heart.
Anger is only one letter short of
danger.
If someone betrays you once, it is his fault;
If he betrays you twice, it is yourfault.
Great minds discuss ideas;
Average minds discuss events;
Small minds discuss people.
He who loses money, loses much;
He, who loses a friend, loses much more;
He, who loses faith, loses all.
Beautiful young people are accidents
of nature, But beautiful old people are
works of art.
Learn from the mistakes of others.
You can't live long enough to make
them all yourself.
Friends, you and me....You brought
another friend....
And then there were 3. We started our
group....
Our circle of friends....And like that
circle....
There is no beginning or end..
Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is mystery.
Today is a gift.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
__________________________________________________
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 11 12 Mar 2001
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/
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FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 12 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
LETTERS ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK
=================================================================
By: Michiel van der Vlist == MV
To: Michael Grant ....... == MG
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi Michael,
> Mv> That is not what the Z1 sysops said when they rammed P4
> Mv> through our throat the sheer power of numbers. Now that
> Mv> the balance of numbers is reversed it suddenly ain't a
> Mv> number of sysops game anymore?
>
MG> Using your argument, zone 2 ought to be "ramming" something
MG> down out throats at the moment.
MV> No, I am just saying that you can't have your cake and eat it too.
It was Z1 that imposed P4 on Z2 by majority rule. Now that the numbers
have turned you can't change the rules if we hold you to something in
it that you don't like any more.
MG> If the zone 2 members don't like things too much, why
MG> aren't they very vocal about it?
MV>For one, there is a long history of being shouted down. Now that
the numbers have turned and Z1 no longer calls the shots, they are
probably not all that interested any more in what goes on in Z1. "Let
them make their own mess" is probably the general attitude. My
personnel opinion is that they are wrong and that Z1's mess will
affect the network as a whole and that is why I am one of the few that
bothers to speak up.
MG> If the vast majority of zone 2 members choose to sit on
MG> their hands and do nothing,
MV> What makes you think the Z2 sysops are sitting on their hands and
doing nothing?
WB> Good question. The answer that pops into mind immediately is your
statement above, "Let them make their own mess", with no input of
articles to show their participation.
MG> you can't blame zone 1 for that. At least there are people
MG> /trying/ to improve things in this zone.
MG> Zone 2 is a victim of it's own disorganization and apathy.
MV> What an utter nonsense. You have obviously no idea what is going
on in Zone 2. There is plenty of activity and we are doing fine, thank
you.
MG> If you want your zone to have more clout, It is not me, it is the
FidoNews editor that wants more zone 2 participation. I am trying to
explain why there is so little.
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 13 12 Mar 2001
MG> tell it to get it's act together first. You know that saying
about people in glass houses?
MV> It is this arrogance that pisses off the Z2 sysops Michael. We
_do_ have our act together. Zone 2 is running fine. However, every
time a Z2 sysop has the guts to look beyond his own zone and enters a
globally distributed area, he gets shouted down by a bunch of Z1
sysops as soon as he opens his mouth. The Z1 sysops /say/ they are
interested in the views of others, but they never really listen to
what the others have to say...
No wonder Z2 sysops shy away from globally distributed areas.
MG> It's this attitude that I always hear from Zone 2 members
that it's "all zone 1's fault", I don't know how you got that idea.
Sure, some things that have gone wrong /is/ Z1's fault. But not all
of it off course.
MG> While seeing few real live proposals to actually improve
things in Fidonet.
MV> Then you are not looking in the right places...
WB> The only articles in the last six months are from you outside of
the brief commotion Leeman caused when Ward tried to illegaly take him
out of the nodelist.
MG> That has led me to think that zone 1 would be better off
ust drafting it's own zonal policy, and forgetting about the other
zones.
MV> Part of the problem is that from the point of view of the other
zones, that is what Z1 has been doing all along....
Think about it.
Cheers, Michiel
WD> You are right in a way, Zone One has always taken the initive if
anything got done. You people in Zone Two have a bad attitude toward
each other, and some refuse to work with others, on any level.
JMHO too
Ol'wdb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 14 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Sun 11 Mar 01 11:42a
By: Carol Shenkenberger == CS>
To: Warren Bonner...... == WB>
Re: Re: Moderator Rules as repeatedly requested
----------------------------------------------------------------------
((( Since this is important for all to know I answered it here.)))
*** Quoting Warren Bonner from a message to All ***
WB> -12-
WB> The change in moderators will be done in accordance with past
tradition. The moderator will name a successor when he retires. If an
emergency incapacitates the editor, the Z1C will choose a replacement.
These Guidelines are subject to change at any time. The moderator's
word is the final authority.
--------------------------------
CS> Can I make a suggestion? Make it the IC as long as we have an
active one? Then the various ZC's can 'suggest' suitable candidates to
the IC (and so can anyone else with an opinion obviously!).
WD>Sorry Carol, I cannot in good conscience fly the Fidonews Banner
each week that is very specific about the originator of Fidonews and
his ownership of the Logo and Copyright which is home based in Zone
One, San Francisco, Ca.
WD> The Fidonews is a separate entity from Fidonet. Fidonet has no
authority over this entity. The Z1C and some of the RC's rallied very
quickly in the emergency of Doug's demise, to keep the Snooze on track
not missing one issue. This would not have been possible if the IC
were the "most equal of all equals", seeking advice from Zones that
don't respond to netmail for days or even weeks. Impracticable, IMHO.
WB> The Z1C is the final say in an EMERGENCY, and accepts input from
the RCC as to who may be a good PRO TEM EDITOR.
WB> Once that is established in lieu of the editor's passing or
becoming incapacitated, the ninety day pro tem period begins with the
newly named editor, when no co-moderator or named successor is known.
This is new ground as no editor has ever suddenly passed away before
without a co-moderator.
WB> Tradition in Fidonews has been for the Editor to choose the next
editor with this one exception of Doug's passing suddenly.
WB> In this editor's case, being promoted from columnist to editor was
a shock at first. I went to work to first see that this situation did
not occur again, and named Joe Jared as co-moderator. The co-moderator
is the person to carry on in an emergency. Doug never appointed a
co-moderator.
WB> Joe is coding a modern "Makenews.exe" and can fill in should I
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 15 12 Mar 2001
fail. He is far too busy with a young business to be a permanent
editor and I have for that reason tagged Frank Vest to be the next
permanent editor. I am waiting his response, and expect it to be
A-OKAY.
CS> An alternative might be to add in a note to the IC, that
it needs to be a site who shows interest and writes articles at least
every (insert timeframe, possibly every 6 months as a minimum over an
18 month recent count). That seems possibly to solve some of the
dilemmas?
WB> Sorry to disagree with you Carol, you have been a wonderful help
in articles for the Snooze. Hope this doesn't mean the "honeymoon" is
over.. <Real nervous laugh>.
Ol'WDB
By: Frank Vest, Collin County Station (124/6308.1)
To: Editor, Interim Fidonews Editor (1/23)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A little thing on cats.
By Frank Vest (sort of)
It's strange how things happen. I've been reading the chatter in the
Fidonews Echo about cats and the ongoing "battle" (said jokingly)
about what they do, how they do, ways to correct behavior and such.
Just the other day, a joke came across my Point in a local echo. My
first thought was, "Wow! This is weird. Maybe I should send this to
the Fidonews." So, here it is. :-))
Diary of a Cat
DAY 752 - My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling
objects. They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while I am forced to eat
dry cereal. The only thing that keeps me going is the hope of escape,
and the mild satisfaction I get from ruining the occasional piece of
furniture. Tomorrow I may eat another houseplant.
DAY 761 - Today my attempt to kill my captors by weaving around their
feet while they were walking almost succeeded, must try this at the
top of the stairs. In an attempt to disgust and repulse these vile
oppressors, I once again induced myself to vomit on their favorite
chair...must try this on their bed.
DAY 762 - Slept all day so that I could annoy my captors with sleep
depriving, incessant pleas for food at ungodly hours of the night.
DAY 765 - Decapitated a mouse and brought them the headless body, in
attempt to make them aware of what I am capable of, and to try to
strike fear into their hearts. They only cooed and condescended about
what a good little cat I was ...Hmmm. Not working according to plan
......
DAY 768 - I am finally aware of how sadistic they are. For no good
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 16 12 Mar 2001
reason I was chosen for the water torture. This time however it
included a burning foamy chemical called "shampoo." What sick minds
could invent such a liquid. My only consolation is the piece of thumb
still stuck between my teeth.
DAY 771 - There was some sort of gathering of their accomplices. I
was placed in solitary throughout the event. However, I could hear
the noise and smell the foul odor of the glass tubes they call "beer."
More importantly I overheard that my confinement was due to MY power
of "allergies." Must learn what this is and how to use it to my
advantage.
DAY 774 - I am convinced the other captives are flunkies and maybe
snitches. The dog is routinely released and seems more than happy to
return. He is obviously a half-wit. The Bird on the other hand has got
to be an informant. He has mastered their frightful tongue (something
akin to mole speak) and speaks with them regularly. I am certain he
reports my every move. Due to his current placement in the metal
room his safety is assured. But I can wait, it is only a matter of
time.
-- :-)
Enjoy and have a great day,
Frank
http://texoma.net/~flv
http://bise.tzo.com/r19
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: "William Downes" <
[email protected]>
To: "Warren Bonner" <
[email protected]>
Ever Wonder Why?
Joe Smith started the day early,
having set his alarm clock (made in Japan) for 6:00a.m.
While his coffee pot (made in China) was perking,
he shaved with his electric razor (made in Hong Kong).
He put on a dress shirt (made in Sri Lanka),
designer jeans (made in Singapore),
and tennis shoes (made in Korea).
After cooking his breakfast in his electric skillet [made in India),
he sat down with his calculator (made in Mexico),
to see how much he could spend today.
After setting his watch (made in Taiwan),
to the radio (made in India),
he got in his car (made in Germany)
and continued his search for a good-paying American job.
At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day,
Joe decided to relax for a while.
He put on his sandals (made in Brazil),
poured himself a glass of wine (made in France),
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 17 12 Mar 2001
and turned on his TV (made in Indonesia),
then wondered why he can't find a good-paying job in AMERICA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 18 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
FRANK'S COLUMN
=================================================================
Date: Monday, March 05, 2001 5:17 AM
More "Ancient" History
By Frank Vest
If you read the article last week, I posted a document from Tom
Jennings about the history of Fidonet. There are two parts to this. I
guess it would be only fitting to post the second part. :)
In thinking on history (not my best subject in school), I want to give
a little un-scientific timeline here.
Major inventions:
The Wheel: Some thousands of years ago, the wheel was invented. It is
still used today.
The Printing Press:
Not as old as the wheel, but used the wheel in its operation. Still
used today.
The Horse and Buggy:
Pretty old. Used the wheel. Is now pretty much obsolete.
The Automobile:
Fairly new. Used the wheel. Still in use, but becoming obsolete as
technology moves on.
The Computer:
Very new. What wheel?? :) While not obsolete, each new machine created
is obsolete before it is released to the market.
It seems that as things advance, they become "outdated" faster. The
wheel exists today in many forms. The horse and buggy is pretty well
outdated. Printers and copiers have done away with much of the
printing press work, and the poor computer can't even make it to the
market. <grin>
Anyway, here's the article. :-)
---------- Begin Fido History Part 2 ---------------
This is Part Two in the history of FidoNet. It turned out that the
original FIDOHIST.DOC (now called FIDOHIST.DC1, or just "Part One")
was useful, and many people read it. Unfortunately, by the time
everyone read it, it became totally obsolete. Oh well. Here is Part
Two.
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 19 12 Mar 2001
FIDOHIST.DOC covered the early history of FidoNet, why it was done,
how it was done, and the reasons for the organization and obscure
rituals surrounding node numbers. If you haven't read it yet, I
suggest you do now, because I'll probably refer to things that
won't make any sense otherwise.
The original FidoNet was organized very simply; each FidoNet
system (each node) had a number that served like a phone number,
uniquely identifying it. The NODELIST, generated by the folks in St.
Louis that had all FidoNet nodes in it, contains information on all
known FidoNet systems. Every system in FidoNet had a current copy of
the NODELIST, which served as the directory of systems.
(In the interests of brevity I'm leaving out huge amounts of
information; I hope you have read FIODHIST.DOC by now ...)
FidoNet has been growing steadily since it started by accident in
May 84 or so. The node list continued to get out of hand; the
original FIDOHIST.DOC was written to try and help smooth things
out. It is impossible to overemphasize the amount of work involved
in keeping the node list accurate. Basically, the guys in St. Louis
were keeping track of hundreds of FidoNet systems in Boston, Los
Angeles, London, Stockholm and Sweden, and publishing the results
weekly. There has never been such a comprehensive and accurate
list of bulletin board systems generated.
We talked for many months as to how we could possibly find a
solution to the many problems; it was at the point where if a
solution was not found in a few months (by Aug. 85 or so) that
FidoNet would collapse due to the sheer weight of it's node list.
The newsletter, FidoNews, was, and still is, an integral part of the
process of FidoNet. FidoNews is the only thing that unites all
FidoNet sysops consistently; please keep up to date on it, and stock
it for your users if you have the disk space. And contribute if you
can!
There were many constraints on the kind of things we could do;
we had no money, so it had to be done for zero cost. Centralization
was out, so obviously localization was in; just how to do it was
a total unknown. We thought of going back to having people in
different areas handle new node requests in their area, but that
always generated confusion as to who a person should go to, how to
avoid having someone requesting a node number from different people
simultaneously, etc etc.
The old method of routing was very different than the current
method, and much more complex; instead of Fido automatically
routing to hosts, each sysop had to specify (via the ROUTE.BBS
file) how all routing was done in the system. The was done
originally by hand, later by John Warren's (102/31) NODELIST
program.
Then of course there was the problem that no matter what we did, it
would not be done overnight. (ha ha.) It would take many weeks at the
least, possibly months, so that whatever we did had to be compatible
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 20 12 Mar 2001
with the old method as well.
We went through probably hundreds of ideas in the next few months,
some possibly useful, some insane. Eventually the insanity boiled
down to a pretty workable system. We chatted by FidoNet and by voice
telephone. Eventually, we settled on the two part number scheme, like
the phone company does with area codes and exchanges. It
accommodated backwards compatibility (you can keep your present
node number) and the new "area code" (net number) could be added
into an existing field that had been set to zero. (This is why
everyone was originally part of net #1).
When a fortunate set of circumstances was to bring Ezra Shapiro and
me to St. Louis to speak to the McDonnell Douglas Recreational
Computer Club on XXXX 11th, we planned ahead for a national FidoNet
sysops meeting that weekend. Ken and Sally Kaplan were kind
enough to tolerate having all of us in their living room.
The people who showed up were (need that list) The meeting
lasted ten continuous hours; it was the most productive meeting I
(and most others) had attended. When we were done, we had basically
the whole thing layed out in every detail.
We stuck with the area code business (now known as net and region
numbers) and worked out how to break things up into regions and
nets. It was just one of those rare but fortunate events; during
the morning things went "normally", but in the afternoon solutions
fell into place one by one, so that by late afternoon we had the
entire picture laid out in black and white. Two or three months of
brainstorming just flowed smoothly into place in one afternoon ...
What we had done was exactly what we have now, though we changed the
name of "Admin" to "Region", and added the "alternate" node
and net numbers. (We still seem to be stuck with that terrible and
inaccurate word, "manager". Any ideas?) I previously had a buggy
test hack running using area codes, and the week after the meeting
it was made to conform to what we had talked about that Saturday.
When version 10C was done, it accomplished more or less everything
we wanted, but it sure did take a long time. 10C was probably the
single largest change ever made to Fido/FidoNet, and the most
thoroughly tested version. At 10M, there are STILL bugs left from
that early version, in spite of the testing.
Once the testing got serious, and it looked like we had a shippable
version, St. Louis froze the node list, and started slicing it
into pieces, to give to the soon-to-be net and region managers. (That
word again.) This caused a tremendous amount of trouble for would-be
sysops; not only was it difficult enough to figure out how on earth
to get a node number, once they did they were told node numbers
weren't being given out just yet. Explaining why was even harder,
since FIDOHIST.DC2 (ahem) wasn't written yet. (I have to agree, this
thing is a little bit late) It was a typical case of those who
already knew were informed constantly of updates, but thee in the
dark had a hard time. Things were published fairly regularly
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 21 12 Mar 2001
(am I remembering "conveniently" or "accurately" on this part?)
Eventually, 10C was released, and seemed to work fairly well,
ignoring all the small scale disasters due to bugs, etc. We couldn't
just swap over to the new area code business until very close to 100%
of all Fidos were using the new version. This was (for me) an
excruciating period, basically a "hurry up and wait" situation. There
had not been a node list release for a month or two, and for all
practical purposes it looked like FidoNet had halted ...
Finally, on June 12th, we all swapped over to the new system; that
afternoon, sysops were to set their net number (it had been "1" for
backwards compatibility), copy in the new node list issued just for
this occasion, and go. I assumed the result was going to be perpetual
chaos, bringing about the collapse of FidoNet. Almost the exact
opposite was true; things went very smoothly (yes, there were
problems, but when you consider that FidoNet consists of
microcomputers owned by almost 300 people who had never even talked to
each other ...)
Within a month or so,just about every Fido had swapped over to the
area code, or net/node architecture. With a few exceptions, things
went very smoothly. No one was more surprised than pessimistic I. At
this time, August, I don't think there is a single system still using
the old node number method.
This is all well and fine as far as the software goes, but it made
a mess for new sysops. For us sysops who have been around for a
while, there was no great problem, as we saw the changes happen one
by one. However, new sysops frequently came out of the blue;
armed with a diskette full of code, they attempted to set up a
FidoNet node.
Actually, I don't understand how anyone does it. The information
needed is not recorded in any place that a non sysop could find. On
top of that, most of it is now totally wrong! If you follow the
original instructions, it said "call Fido #1 ..." if you found a real
antique, or "call Fido #51 ..." if it is more current. Of course now
it tells you to find your region manager. "Region manager???" Well, a
list of region managers was published in FidoNews, but unless you
read FidoNews, how does anyone ever find out? I'll probably never
know.
ANYWAYS ... the original reason for all the changes was to
DECENTRALIZE FidoNet. It just wasn't possible for Ken Kaplan to keep
accurate, up to date information on every Fido in the US and Europe.
The decentralization has been more or less a total success. The
number of problem introduced were negligible compared to the
problems solved, and even most new problems are by this time solved.
It is interesting to note that with the hundreds of systems
there are today, the national FidoNet hour is less crowded than
it was when there were only 50 nodes.
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 22 12 Mar 2001
Please, keep in mind that no one has done anything like this before,
we are all winging it, and learning (hopefully) as we go. Please be
patient with problems, none of us is paid to do this, and it is more
and more work as time goes on. Somehow it seems to all get done ...
HOW TO GET A NODE NUMBER AND ALL THAT
20 August 1985
This is by necessity a very general idea of how it's done, and
you were warned earlier that this may be obsolete this very minute;
with that, here's the "current" process for starting up a new FidoNet
node.
You can of course skip all or part of this if you've done this before;
if you haven't, well, be prepared for a lot of searching and
asking questions.
Of course, you need to have your Fido BBS system running first. It's
probably best that you play with it for a while, and get some
experience with how it all works, and whether you have the patience
to run a BBS. It can get exasperating, and you will never find time
to use the computer ever again.
Obtain the most recent copy of the nodelist possible; this may take
some searching. If you get totally lost, you can always contact Fido
125/1 or Fido 100/51; though these are very busy systems, they both
usually have the very latest of anything, and can direct you to the
right place.
The big problem here is to find out if you are in a net or not, and
if not, then who your region manager is. If you are in a large city
(Los Angeles, Cincinnati, etc) then there is probably a net in
your area. Look through the node list (use the N)odebook command in
Fido, or a text editor) for the right area code or city.
If there is no net in your area, then you are part of a region. This
is a little harder, because regions are large, and sometimes cover
many states. Look at all the regions in the node list, you should
find a region that fits you.
Once you find this, you have to contact the net or region manager to
get your node number. Exactly how this is done depends on who the
manager is, and how sticky they are fir details. A near universal
requirement is that you send your request via FidoNet, not by
manually; this isn't done to make you life difficult, but to
ensure that your system is really working right. IF you manage to
get a FidoNet message to the manager, its usually safe to assume that
you're system is working OK. If you get a reply in return, then you
know both directions work.
It is usually each sysops' responsibility to go get the latest
nodelist and newsletters; they are not distributed to all systems
because of the expense. (Though, I'm trying to get them distributed
to more places than they are now, it's sometimes very difficult to get
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 23 12 Mar 2001
a copy of the nodelist!)
Again, read the fidonet newsletter regularly; it is about the only
way to stay in contact with the rest of the net. Programs,
problems, services, bugs and interesting announcements can always be
found there. FidoNews articles don't come out of thin air; send in
anything you think might be of interest. They don't have to be
lifetime masterpieces, or even well written.
Please remember the entire network is made of the sysops; there is no
central location from which good things come, the net consists
entirely of the sysops and their contributions. If you don't do it,
chances are no one else will!
Tom Jennings 20 Aug 85
Ken KaplanFido 100/51314/432-4129 Tom JenningsFido 125/1415/864-1418
Ben BakerFido 100/10314/234-1462
------------ End --------------
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 24 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
RECIPES
=================================================================
By: Kevin Jcjd Symons
To: All
------------------------------------------------------------------
Title: Red Beans & Rice
Categories: Newsgroups, Cast Iron, Vegetarian
Servings: 12
1/2 lb kidney beans -- dry
1/2 lb pinto beans
4 c water
4 c chicken broth
2 cloves garlic
2 ea bay leaves, whole
16 oz tomatoes, canned -- pureed
4 oz pimentos -- drained
1 lg green pepper -- chopped
1 lg red pepper -- chopped
1 lg red onion -- chopped
1 lg onion -- chopped
1 c celery -- chopped
4 oz green chilies
1/4 c fresh parsley -- chopped
1 TB vinegar
1 ts salt
1 ts paprika
1/2 ts red pepper flakes
1/2 ts cumin
1/2 ts hot pepper sauce
Rinse beans. Place in a dutch oven with water. Bring to a boil,
simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour.
Drain and rinse beans.
Return beans to dutch oven with broth, garlic and bay leaves; bring to
a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Stir in
remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer 1 hour or until beans and
vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaves.
Source: "Taste of Home Magazine"
Copyright: "www.soar.com"
Yield: "1 1/3 cups"
Recipe By :Charles Moffat
U/L March 2001 - From George Reinier <
[email protected]>
--- FLAME v2.0/b * Origin: Braintap BBS Adelaide Oz, Internet UUCP
+61-8-8239-0497 (3:800/449)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By: Steve Quarrella
To: Warren Bonner
Re: Fidonews Submission - Recipe
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 25 12 Mar 2001
Since Carol is busy providing recipes, here's one from the bowels of
that magnificent thing of ours, the glorious cesspool known as
HOLYSMOKE. Enjoy:
KITTY LITTER CAKE
1 spice or German chocolate cake mix
1 white cake mix
1 large pkg vanilla instant pudding mix
1 pkg vanilla sandwich cookies
Green food coloring
12 small Tootsie Rolls
1 new (and definitely unused) kitty litter pan
1 new plastic kitty litter pan liner
1 new Pooper Scooper
Prepare cake mixes and bake according to directions (any size pans).
Prepare pudding mix and chill until ready to assemble.
Crumble white sandwich cookies in small batches in food processor,
scraping often. Set aside all but about 1/4 cup.
To the 1/4 cup cookie crumbs, add a few drops green food coloring and
mix using a fork or shake in a jar.
When cakes are cooled to room temperature, crumble into a large bowl.
Toss with half the remaining white cookie crumbs and the chilled
pudding. (Mix in just enough of the pudding to moisten it. You don't
want it soggy. Combine gently).
Line new, clean kitty litter box.
Put mixture into litter box.
Put three unwrapped Tootsie rolls in a microwave safe dish and heat
until soft and pliable. Shape ends so they are no longer blunt,
curving slightly. Repeat with 3 more Tootsie rolls and bury in
mixture.
Sprinkle the other half of cookie crumbs over top. Scatter the green
cookie crumbs lightly over the top. (This is supposed to look like the
chlorophyll in kitty litter.)
Heat 3 Tootsie Rolls in the microwave until almost melted. Scrape them
on top of the cake; sprinkle with cookie crumbs.
Spread remaining Tootsie Rolls over the top; take one and heat until
pliable, hang it over the side of the kitty litter box, sprinkling it
lightly with cookie crumbs.
Place the box on a newspaper and sprinkle a few of the cookie crumbs
around. Serve with a new pooper scooper.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 26 12 Mar 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 27 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
GET EMAIL
=================================================================
Sun 11 Mar 01 1:54p
By: David Gonzalez
To: All
Re: I'm back but a little bad
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi ya there All!
I want this on the next snooze Mr Bonner pleas :(
Well it may be rare for you to see me back again and you may be asking
what's going on with this guy but i had a horrible time these days.
First my 4gb Hard Drive crashed after backing up everything to CDs and
now i'm working with my back up machine but it's a shit it has only
256Mb HD and i can't save too many msgs I've too purge day by day.
Well but my misery is not the reason of this msg i want to tell you
that our Z4C is going off-line as i've told you before he's tired and
he's had some trouble and he says he can keep on maintaining Z4.
This episode is very sad cause Luis had been around here for some time
now and i remember happily when i asked him via 2:341/12 who's DOWN
too the petition for my node number and then i received the well known
4:93/0, 4:930/0 and 1 which i proudly still own and after that it was
a continuos contact between both of us, cause he helped me get around
with FrontDoor, AllFix and FastEcho until i could walk on my own. I
remember days when i was about to throw everything away and sent my
CFG files to Luis askin' him to set my programs up and he wisely said
" What are you learning when you send me your files?, i can set
everything up but when it crashes and i'm not around how would you fix
the problem, you have to keep up and try again and again, that's the
only way you'll learn " :(
So it's quite a sad thing he's going off-line he's helped lots of
people in our Zone the best in Fido ;). Now the guy in charge of the
GateWays and all the routing and stuff here is this Zambon guy Renato
Zambon (4:801/161) i truly hope he can keep up with this job 'cause
personally i was the one who wanted that mission but 'cause i'm new
around i wasn't even heard, but well many if not always i her more
from people and talk with more people from Z1, 2 but never with my own
people.
I ask again What's going on here in Zone 4???...
Anyway i want all of you those ones of us who knew LUIS MANTEROLA and
those of you who've never even heard from him, let's ALL give him a
nice Good-Bye but temporally 'cause i personally expect to still
contact and talk to him. ANd remember the song "A part of my heart
dies when i say Good Bye".
En Buena Hora Luis |'-((
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 28 12 Mar 2001
------------------------------Spanish Version------------------------
Bien chicos debe ser raro para ustedes oir de mi y se preguntaran que
pasa con la constancia de este tipo, pero he tenido unos dias
horribles. 1ro mi disco duro de 4GB se jodio cuando hice la copia de
seguridad de todo lo que tenia alli a CDs. ahora estoy trabajando en
mi maquina de remplazo pero esto es una mierda porque solo tiene 256
MBs de HDD y no puedo guardar ni ficheros ni muchso mensajes, tengo
que estar purgando y borrando mensajes porque sino Imaginense que
pasaria.
Bien pero el motivo de este mensaje no es para contarles sobre mi
desgracia sino para decirl;es a los que aun no lo sepan que nuestro
Coordinador de Zona 4 Luis Manterola va a dar de Baja su nodo porque
esta algo cansado y porque ha tenido ciertos problemas personales y no
puede mantener la zona como es debido.
Este espisodio es bastante triste especialmente para mi porque Luis ha
estado aqui por algun tiempo y yo personalmente y felizmente recuerdo
cuando le pedi via Enrique Lopez 2:341/12 "Tambien de Baja" mi numero
de nodo y me fueron asignados los ya bien conocidos por ustedes
4:93/0, 4:930/0 y 1 los que orgul;losa y solitariamente mantengo aun.
Despues de esto fue un continuo contacto entre el y yo porque el me
ayudo y dio animos para conigurar el FrontDoor, el AllFix, FastEcho
etc hasta que yo pude soltar su mano y caminar solo. Recuerdo
ewspecialmente cuando le enviaba mis archivos de configuracion y el me
decia " Que vas a aprender si yo te configuro el programa, poruqe yo
lo puedo hacer pero si falla, como vas tu a resolver el problema?,
debes esforzarte y trtar sin desistir hasta que lo logres ". |'-(((
En fin es algo bastante triste y pues Luis Dejara de funcionar el 1 de
Abril. Luis mientras estuvo por estos lados ayudo a mucha gente en
nuetra zona La MEJOR de Fido :). Ahhora el tipo encargado de la zona
este este tio Zambon, Renato Zambon (4:801/161). Yo dee veras espero
que el pueda con este trabajo prque personalmente yo era quien queria
ese trabajo, pero por mi nocedad dentro de Fido ni siquiera fui
escuchado, pero en fin, yo muchas veces casi la mayoria oigo de
personas de la Z1, Z2, aveces de la Z3 pero nunca de mi propia gente,
de la que tengo mas cerca.
Yo pregunto de Nuevo. QUE PASA CON LA ZONA 4???...
En todo caso yo quiero que todos nosotros quienes conocimos y
estimamos a Luis Manterola y aquellos que ni si quiera sabian quien
era le demos un "En Hora Buena, Que DIOS te Bendiga y sigue adelante"
y recuierden esa cancion que dice " Una PArte de mi muere cuando digo
Adios "
En Hora Buena Luis, sigue Adelante :-(((
Bye to all and Luis especially :)
Best Regards David! Fidonet..: 4:930/1, 4:930/0, 4:93/0 e-mail...:
[email protected] Home Page: hyttp://skynetbbs.8m.com
Telnet...: skynetbbs.thebbs.org * Origin: SkyNet BBS Telnet:
skynetbbs.thebbs.org (FidoNet 4:930/1)
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 29 12 Mar 2001
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 30 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
HUMOR
=================================================================
From Bob Crown
"Safe Sex"
A teenage boy and his grandfather go fishing one day. While fishing,
the old man starts talking about how times have changed. The young man
picks up on this and starts talking about the various problems and
diseases going around.
Teen says, "Grandpa, they didn't have a whole lot of problems with all
these diseases when you were young did they?"
Grandpa replies, "Nope."
Teen says, "Well, what did you guys use for safe sex?"
Grandpa replies, "A wedding ring."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Mary and Her Hubby"
Mary was married to a male chauvinist. They both worked full time, but
he never did anything around the house and certainly not any
housework. That, he declared, was woman's work.
But one evening Mary arrived home from work to find the children
bathed, a load of wash in the washing machine and another in the
dryer, dinner on the stove and a beautifully set table, complete with
flowers.
She was astonished, and she immediately wanted to know what was going
on. It turned out that Charley, her husband, had read a magazine
article that suggested working wives would be more romantically
inclined if they weren't so tired from having to do all the housework
in addition to holding down a full-time job.
The next day, she couldn't wait to tell her friends in the office.
"How did it work out?" they asked.
"Well, it was a great dinner," Mary said. "Charley even cleaned up,
helped the kids with their homework, folded the laundry and put
everything away."
"But what about afterward?" her friends wanted to know.
"It didn't work out," Mary said. "Charley was too tired."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A man came into the cathedral (church) on crutches. He stopped in
front of the holy water, put some on both legs, and then threw away
his crutches.
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 31 12 Mar 2001
An alter boy witnessed the scene and then ran into the rectory to tell
the priest what he'd just seen.
"Son, you've just witnessed a miracle," the priest said. "Tell me
where is this man now?"
"Flat on his ass over in the holy water," said the boy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The American tourist stood staring at the highland sentry standing
guard outside Edinburgh Castle.
After a few minutes she went up to the sentry and asked 'I've always
wanted to find out what's worn under the kilt'.
The sentry replied: "There is nothing worn, Ma'am, its all in perfect
working order".
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
From: Robert Retsky
Inventions
"I would like you to promote my new invention. It's a
folding bottle. I call it a fottle."
"It'll never sell. The name is silly."
How about my second invention? It's a folding carton.
I call it a farton."
"It'll never sell. The name is offensive."
"You're going to absolutely hate my folding bucket."
~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 32 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
#1 From Janis Kracht, Z1C
Hi Warren,
I had to change the user name for "fidonews" to "Fido News" with the
same password, author.
I will also have to change the netmail receiver to two words to match
the user name, Fido News at 1:2320/38. Hope I'm not to late for the
press :)
Here's the changed text:
To send an article crash netmail attach, address the message to
Fido News@1:2320/38 (1-502-245-6778).
Use Fido News@1:2320/100 (filegate.net or 64.38.85.9) for
telnet or binkp, or normal bbs login.
To log on to <<Prism's bbs and upload, use
username: fido news
password: author
User 'fido news' will have upload priviliges on first login (no
verification needed).
I could change the name fido news to anything else you'd rather
I use, it just has to be two words :(
Take care,
Janis
===============================================================
International coordinator, IFDC FileGate Project (service mark)
http://www.filegate.net/ Mail:
[email protected]
ftp/telnet: filegate.net icq: 25251567
FidoNet: 1:2320/38 (1-502-245-6778) Mandrake 7.2
===============================================================
===============================================================
International coordinator, IFDC FileGate Project (service mark)
http://www.filegate.net/ Mail:
[email protected]
ftp/telnet: filegate.net icq: 25251567
FidoNet: 1:2320/38 (1-502-245-6778) Mandrake 7.2
===============================================================
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
By: Warren Bonner
To: All
Re: Moderator Rules as repeatedly requested
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Revision #1.1:
*** Paragraphs #2 & #12 ***
This is the International Fidonews Echo.
These rules all add up to "Be Nice".
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 33 12 Mar 2001
-1-
Fidonews conference is for all persons interested in the Fido family,
bring their questions, answers and ideas for the future development of
Fidonet in all Zones. The fidonet is dedicated to the enjoyment of all
seeking a hobby to communicate and assist in the movement of echo and
netmails. Fidonews develops the topics posted in its echo so that a
global issue weekly may reach the thousands that are not connected to
the Fidonews echo per se.
-2-
The International Fidonews Echo may be gated to all Zones, Regions and
nets without asking the moderator's permission. The editor/moderator
and Fido-Robot is in your nodelist AND in the Banner of the Fidonews.
To send an article CRASH netmail FILE ATTACHED, address message to:
Fido News@1:2320/38 (1-502-245-6778)
Use Fido News@1:2320/100 (filegate.net or 64.38.85.9) for telnet and
binkp, or normal BBS log in.
To log on to <<Prism's BBS and upload use:
Username: fido news
Password: author
User "fido news" will have upload privledges on first log in, no
verification needed.
-3-
Because some folks do not believe my simple rule, "Be nice", isn't in
itself sufficient instructions for governing this echo, I have
developed this document to hopefully allay all fears of misuse by any
patron or the moderator.
-4-
Topics may be anything of interest to the broad population of Fidonet.
The discussion of the benefits of sysop developed programs and
technologies is encouraged. Ways to move mail and ideas to keep lines
of communications open are encouraged.
-5-
DON'T Flame anyone, just tap the next key if you will please.
-6-
N0 profanity.
-7-
Avoid excessive quoting. Quote only enough of the message so that you
are understood in your reply.
-8-
Don't forget to change the subject line when it no longer applies.
-9-
The official language of the echo is English. Please do not post
messages or articles in any other language. All bi-lingual articles
are welcome submitted to the editor 1:1/23. Be sure to include an
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 34 12 Mar 2001
English translation in the same message. If you cannot route a file
attachment, then put it into the message text body. If it is too long,
more than 66 lines, for one message, send two or more messages. I can
edit them all into one article in the Makenews. Please keep lines
to no more than 70 characters. No left margine please.
-10-
ONLY the Moderator or co-moderator will address off-topic traffic.
-11-
NO Private Messages please; that seems to derail the continuity and
purpose of the echo.
-12-
The change in moderators will be done in accordance with past
tradition. The moderator will name a successor when he retires.
If an emergency incapacitates the editor, the Z1C will choose a
replacement, if no designated co-moderator or named successor are
available at that time for what ever reason.
The reason the Z1C will perform this function is because Fidonews is
a entity unto itself with registered Logo and Copyright by Tom
Jennings who resides in Zone One, San Francisco, Ca.
These Guidelines are subject to change at any time.
The moderator's word is the final authority.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~end~~~~~~~~~~~
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 35 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
FIDONET BY INTERNET
=================================================================
------------------------------------------------------
*Fidonet-related sites
. -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- .
| FIDONET-RELATED SITES |
` -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- '
Last update: March 3, 2001
FidoNet
Homepage:
http://www.fidonet.org
FidoNews:
http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/fidonet/fidonews/
Echolist:
http://www.baltimoremd.com/echolist/
Echomail links:
http://www.osirusoft.com/fidonet/fidoip.html
SDS Files:
http://fidobbs.dk/download (Web Access to SDS)
FTSC page:
http://www.ftsc.org/
General:
http://www.writebynight.com/fidonet.html
Zone 1:
http://www.z1.fidonet.org
Region 10:
http://www.r10.org
Net 102
http://home.earthlink.net/~kayshapero/net102.htm
Net 103:
http://www.webworldinc.com/club103/
Net 203:
http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8687/net203index.html
Region 11:
http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/
Net 2410:
http://www.vector.11.com/net2410/
Region 12:
http://sparkys.dyndns.org
Region 13:
http://www.net264.org/r13.htm
Net 264:
http://www.net264.org/
Net 275:
http://www.homershut.net/~mahoover/net275/
Region 14:
http://www.ouijabrd.com/region14
Net 282:
http://www.rxn.com/~net282/
Region 15: <vacant>
Region 16: <vacant>
Region 17:
http://www.region17.net
Net 140:
http://www.nwstar.com/~net140
Region 18:
http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/
Region 19:
http://bise.tzo.com/r19
Net 124:
http://www.dallasinet.com/net124
http://texoma.net/~flv
Net 130:
http://www.startext.net/homes/net130
Net 393:
http://www.chatter.com/~wb/
Zone 2:
http://www.z2.fidonet.org
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)
http://www.was-ist-fido.de/
Fido-IP:
http://home.nrh.de/fido/ (English/German)
Region 25:
http://www.literary.freeserve.co.uk/net2502/
Region 26:
http://www.nemesis.ie
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 36 12 Mar 2001
REC 26:
http://www.nrgsys.com/orb
Region 27:
http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
Region 29:
http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (French)
http://Welcome.to/skynetbbs/
Region 30:
http://www.fidonet.ch (German)
? Region 33:
http://www.fidoitalia.net (Italian)
Region 34:
http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (Spanish)
REC34:
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/4552/
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 42:
http://www.fido.cz
! Net422:
http://www.fido.sk (Slovak/English)
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 5028:
HTTP://5028.nordnet.ru/
Net 5030:
http://kenga.ru/fido/ (Russian & English)
Net 5049:
http://www.n5049.z2.fidonet.org (English/Russian)
Net 5074:
http://www.z2.n5074.fidonet.net
?? Net 5085:
http://www.fidonet.uz/ (Russian)
Zone 3:
http://www.z3.fidonet.org
Zone 4:
Region 80:
http://fidobrasil.8m.com (Portuguese)
Region 90:
Net 904:
http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)
Zone 5:
http://www.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/
Zone 6:
http://www.z6.fidonet.org
Region 65:
http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html
(Chinese)
Fidonet Via Internet Hubs
See also:
http://www.osirusoft.com/fidoip.html
a @ preceding an individual's name implies a virtual email
address. The email is translated as follows
[email protected] will automatically route to the
appropriate individual's email. Anyone in this list will
also receive routed notice of this feature. In my case, it
would still be
[email protected], but you get the idea.
Also, as information is provided to me, I will be adding a
latency field to each node, which is defined as the maximum
time between when the message is received, and when it is
sent on to other nodes, or available to be sent onward,
defined in minutes. A latency of ! implies that there is an
immediate response, and an attempt to deliver immediately
after processing, or a "MinuteMail System", as it were.
v-email flag
[email protected]
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 37 12 Mar 2001
| email address or
Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed,| Basic Rate
| | |latency|
-----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+------------
Zone 1 | | | |
10/3 | Brenda Donovan | FTP,UUE,BinkP | 384K,30| n/c
10/345 @ Todd Cochrane | FTP,BinkP,VMOT | T1,! | n/c
13/25 @ Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo.
18/500 @ Ross Cassell | FTP, BinkP |128K+,!| n/c
103/5 @ Mark Luetger | BinkP | 384k,!| n/c
103/153 @ Michael Box | BinkP | aDSL,!| n/c
103/301 @ Joe Jared | BinkP,FTP,NFS | 384k,!| n/c
103/401 @ Warren Bonner | BinkP | aDSL,!| n/c
105/8 | Russ Johnson | FTP,BinkP,VMoT | 384k | n/c
105/72 @ Larry James | FTP, BinkP | aDSL | $50/yr
106/1 @ Steve Loupe | BinkP, FTP | 128k | ???
106/6018 | Lawrence Garvin | FTP, VMoT | aDSL,60| n/c
107/453 @ Jeffrey Estevez| FTP,BinkP,VMoT,UUE| 56k,60| $10 mo.
140/1 @ Bob Seaborn | FTP,BinkP | T3,30 | $5/$16
167/133 | Stephen Monteith | BinkP | 128k+ | n/c
211/417 @ Korombos | BinkP,UUE,FTP | T1 | n/c
220/10 |
[email protected] |BinkP,FTP,UUE|1.5M+ | n/c
218/109 @ Matt Munson | BinkP,UUE | 33.6k | n/c
246/160 @ Mason Vye | FTP, UUE | 56K | n/c
249/116 | Carl Austin Bennett | FTP, UUE |ADSL,60 | n/c
280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo.
342/3 @ Richard Dodsworth | BinkP,FTP | 128K+ | n/c
395/670 | Arthur Stark | BinkD,FTP | CABLE | n/c
379/1 @ Dale Ross | FTP, BinkP,UUE | 256K+,! n/c
396/45 | Marc Lewis | UUE | 33.6 | $26/yr
396/48 | Ben Ritchey | UUE:BFDS | 33.6k | n/c
2604/104 @ Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo
2613/404 @ David Moufarrege | BinkP,FTP,VMoT | 128k+,!| n/c
2624/306 | David Calafrancesco | VMoT | 33.6 | n/c
3407/4 @
[email protected] | UUE,FTP | 28.8 | n/c
3632/84 | Robert Todd |FTP,VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 57.6k | n/c
3651/9 @ Jerry Gause | FTP,VMoT | 33.6 | $3/$6
--------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 2 |
20/11 | Henrik Lindhe | BinkP | ??? | n/c
31/1 | Gabriel Plutzar | BinkP | T1+ | n/c
203/600 | Mikael Karlsson | UUE | 64k | n/c
221/360 @ Tommi Koivula | BinkP,UUE | ??? | n/c
236/205 @ Michael Kaaber | BinkP | ??? | n/c
246/2098 | Volker Imre | BinkP | ??? | n/c
280/1601 @ Jeroen VanDeLeur | FTP,UUE | 64k | n/c
292/620 | Eddy Missoul | VMoT, UUE,BinkP| 64k |N/C
292/624 | Steven Leeman | UUE | 64k | N/C
292/907 | Bart Verhaeghe | BinkP,VMoT,UUE | 64K | n/c
292/2003 | Eric Vaneberck | BinkP | 768k | n/c
301/1 | Peter Witschi | BinkP | 768k | n/c
332/807 | Roberto Mascolo | BinkP | ??? | n/c
335/535 @ Mario Mure | BinkP,VMot,UUE | 64k | n/c
335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
344/201 | Julio Garcia | BinkP | ??? | n/c
346/3 @ Carlos Navarro | UUE | ??? | n/c
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 38 12 Mar 2001
382/100 | Sinisa Burina | BinkP,ifcico | ??? | n/c
406/555 | Ofir Michaeli & | BinkP | ??? | n/c
406/555 | Marius Kaizerman | BinkP | ??? | n/c
423/81 | Milos Bajer | BinkP | ??? | n/c
465/204 | Va Milushnikov | BinkP | 33.6k | n/c
469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c
480/112 | Adam Sarapata| FTP, VMoT, UUE,BinkP| 128k | n/c
550/4077 | Serguei Trouchelle| UUE | ----- | n/c
2411/413 @ Dennis Dittrich | UUE,BinkP | 64k | n/c
2446/301 @ Lothar Behet | BinkP,VMoT,UUE,FTP | 64K | n/c
2474/275 | Christian Emig | UUE | 64k | unkn
5030/115 | Andrey Podkolzin | BinkP | ??? | n/c
5100/8 | Egons Bush | BinkP | ??? | n/c
5020/1159 | Gennady Kudryashoff | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
--------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 3
633/260 @ Malcolm Miles | FTP,BinkP | 64K | n/c
640/954 | Rick Van Ruth | FTP,VMot,UUE,BinkP| 56K| n/c
774/605 @ Barry Blackford|BinkP,VMoT:10023,ifcico,FTP |33.6| n/c
--------------------------------------------------------------
Zone 4
801/161 @ Renato Zambon | UUE | 33.6 |n/c
905/100 | Fabian Gervan | VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 128k | n/c
902/18 | Javier Tejedor | UUE | 33,6 | n/c
--
* FTP = Internet File Transfer Protocol
* VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
* UUE = uuencode<->email type transfers
* BinkP = front end mailer for TCPIP networks
* NFS = Linux Networking
----------------------------------------------
Fidonet oriented news servers
news.osirusoft.com
news.tardis.net
Fidonet oriented chat rooms.
room #fidonet 5PM (PDT 11AM GMT) Sundays
irc.osirusoft.com (Peers wanted)
----------------------------------------------
Please send updates, corrections and suggestions to
Joe Jared, 1:103/301,
[email protected]. All email addresses
here for purpose of corresponding with fidonet members about
obtaining a feed. Improper use of the virtual email addresses, and
most especially, email addressed to
[email protected]
will be considered a request to be blocked by my open relay spam
stopper at
http://relays.osirusoft.com
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 39 12 Mar 2001
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 40 12 Mar 2001
=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================
***FIDONEWS INFORMATION***
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- FIDONEWS STAFF - -- -- -- -- -- -- +
| |
| Editor: Warren D. Bonner, 1:1/23,
[email protected] |
| Crash mail attached: Fidonews-Robot@1:2320/38 |
| Webmaster: Jim Barchuk,
[email protected] |
| Columnist: Joe Jared, 1:103/0,
[email protected] |
| (Fido Via Internet Hubs column) |
| Columnist: Ol' WDB, 1:103/401,
[email protected] |
| Humor: Chuckles & Grins, emailed to editor |
| Columnist: Frank Vest, 1:124/6308.1 |
| Plus The best sites of the week |
| Columnist: Jack Yates when in the Gawga mood |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - EDITORS EMERITI - -- -- -- -- -- -- +
| |
| Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince |
| Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, |
| Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg, Henk Wolsink, |
| Doug Meyers |
| |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
"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 Warren Bonner, though authors
retain rights to their contributed articles. Opinions expressed
by theauthors is strictly their own. Noncommercial duplication
and distribution within Fidonet is encouraged. Authors are
encouraged to send their articles in ASCII text to:
Warren Bonner 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 @ 1:140/1, 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) |
FIDONEWS 18-11 Page 41 12 Mar 2001
| ftp mail:
[email protected] (subject: help) |
| |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
-----------------------------------------------------------------