F I D O N E W S Volume 18, Number 17 23 APR 2001

F I D O N E W S Volume 18, Number 17 23 APR 2001
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the |Fido, Fidonet and dog-with-diskette are |
| FidoNet community | Registered Trademarks of Tom Jennings |
| Copyright through | San Francisco, California, USA |
| 2007 | 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: FRANK VEST |
| | (*) | \ )) | [email protected] |
| |__U__| / \// | [email protected] |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
Copyright 2001 by Editor Frank L. Vest for Fidonews Globally.

Table of Contents
1. HEADER ................................................... 1
+++ HEADER +++ ........................................... 1
2. CHAT WITH THE EDITOR ..................................... 2
//+\ EDITORIAL /*\\ ...................................... 2
3. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 3
4. ZONE ..................................................... 5
News from Zone 4 ......................................... 5
5. THOUGHTS ................................................. 7
6. LETTERS ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK ......................... 8
+++ LETTERS ACROSS ED's DESK +++ ......................... 8
7. ARTICLES ................................................. 11
+=+=+ ARTICLES +=+=+ ..................................... 11
8. FRANK'S COLUMN ........................................... 12
9. RECIPES .................................................. 13
/=\=/= RECIPES =\=/=\ .................................... 13
10. GETTING TECHNICAL ....................................... 16
+=+= Routing =+=+ ........................................ 16
11. POET'S CORNER ........................................... 19
/\/\/ POET'S CORNER \/\/\ ................................ 19
12. HUMOR ................................................... 20
=+=+ HUMOR +=+= .......................................... 20
13. FIDONET BY INTERNET ..................................... 21
14. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 26
FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 1 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
HEADER
=================================================================

Everyday is an opportunity to enjoy those you love, and to give the
kindnesses received back ten fold to the givers, for a full life.
---Ol'WDBonner

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 2 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
CHAT WITH THE EDITOR
=================================================================

Dear Fidoland friends, this is sadly (for me) my last issue as your
Editor. After a laser surgery follow up exam, my Ophthalmologist has
put a one hour a day maximun on my computer time. I have to use eye
drops every six hours that give me a headache too. So I can't
possibly put out an issue thus restricted.

I have named FRANK VEST as the new Editor. Frank has reluctantly
accepted. He being the lead columnist, plus he has patched the old
Makenews with his new RUNEWS so that it makes things fit in Makenews,
finds both visable and invisable illegal characters and hex corrects.
Thanks Frank for the many, many tests you worked hard to perfect.

To the ladies of Fidonet I owe a special thanks for their
contributions and submissions. To all who sent in articles and letter
a special thanks also. With out your submissions there would be no
"bricks or mortar" with which to build the Fidonews.

For all others who feel that the Snooze has too many sections, use
your down arrow key to whatever does interest you. It would be a very
dull Snooze if it had ONLY fido technostuff as some have stated to be
the ONLY purpose of Fidonews. Fortunately, the founder and subsequent
Editors found the bigger window with more sections for you readers to
submit articles and to enjoy other's submissions.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be your Editor since Doug's
sudden departure (may he rest in peace, and the blessings of his
Deity be with him). It's been a real `hoot' and personal pleasure to
have been privileged to serve as Editor.

I am sorry this week is so barren, I just haven't had enough time and
some submissions wouldn't process as they were presented. Sorry I
didn't have time enough to make repairs. They may appear next week. If
permitted I will occasionally crank out an "Ol'WDB's Column".

'Till then, God Bless.

Ol'wdb

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 3 23 Apr 2001

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

Hello All,

Due to health considerations, Warren Bonner has asked me to take
over the production of the Fidonews. Warren asks that I write a "short
or L O N G" acceptance speech.

The Short Version:

I accept. :)

The L O N G Version:

When Warren Bonner took over the Fidonews publication, I was writing
in the Fidonews on a "sometimes" basis. Warren asked if I would do a
regular column. Why not! :)

Shortly after that, Warren started on me to take the Editorship of
the Fidonews if/when he left. I backed up, dodged and moved around
that thought. "I'm not the one to do this." was my thought.

Sometime in all of this, I got curious as to how the Fidonews was
produced. What software was used, and how did it all happen was my
question. The production of the Fidonews has always been a mystery to
me. The software has been protected and out of reach of me and many.
So, I asked Warren if he would send me a copy of the software to play
with. To my surprise, he did and was bubbling about my interest in it.
I'm sure he was thinking that he had me hooked. :)

Now, as I looked at the program, batch file and other files in the
archive I received, I had to ask Warren how the heck all this worked.
He sent me a "blow by blow" of how to produce the Fidonews. WHEW!!
Talk about complex.... "Run this batch file and then read this file to
find the problems then use a text editor to fix the problems and then
run this batch file again to see if there are other problems and then
and then and then."... Too much for me! I'm a K.I.S.S person (Keep It
Simple Stupid). :-)

So, armed with my curiosity and the Makenews archive, I just had to
try to make my own setup. After a couple of weeks, I had a fairly
workable batch file. I sent this to Warren and he tested it for me. A
few weeks later, I had a fairly finished batch file done and, in my
opinion, it made production a lot easier (no disrespect to the
previous batch author).

Anyway, With all this behind me, how could I say "NO" when asked to
take the Fidonews Editor position. After all, I should see how the
production of the Fidonews is done on a "first hand" basis and test my
batch file in "real life", right?? :-))

In closing:

FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 4 23 Apr 2001

I hope to be a good Editor for the Fidonews. I'll not be perfect, but
I'll accept the position and try to do the best I can. I ask only for
support from all of you and your help and understanding.

Hang tight as we move forward in Fidonet.

With kind regards,

Frank Vest

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 5 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
ZONE
=================================================================

News from Zone 4
by Renato Zambon, 4:801/161, 4:4/0
[email protected], ICQ 84996821

New ZC: Luis Manterola (4:900/525) was our ZC4 from Dec/1997 to Mar/
2001. On Mar 5 he announced in REGCON.LAT his intention to leave the
ZC position and passed it to me, without having other candidate. His
system was closed on Apr 1.

Echomail: there are five main groups of echomail distributed in Zone
4: Int'l areas (WWB/NAB/Z1B) with 40-60k msgs/month; Latin American
(Spanish language) areas with less than 200 msgs/month (less than 50
excluding those automatically generated), almost desert ruins of old
areas without any organized echolist, moderators or responsible EC;
Brazilian (Portuguese language) areas with 1k msgs/month; Italian
areas with 1-2k msgs/month; and Hispanic Backbone (Spanish language)
with 2-4k msgs/month. Statistics for each group are published monthly
in STATS, WWB_SYSOP, REGCON.LAT and LATIN.SYSOP.

Regions: there are six regions listed in Zone 4: 4:80 Brasil, 4:85
Uruguay, 4:88 Chile, 4:90 Argentina, 4:93 Colombia and 4:97 Mexico.
The table show echomail messages generated by each region in sum of
WWB, Latin American and Hispanic areas, in the last 15 months:

Mon\Reg 80 85 90 93 97
Jan/00 69 - 107 - 27
Fev/00 86 6 45 - 32
Mar/00 139 3 53 - -
Abr/00 189 - 280 - -
Mai/00 241 - 222 - -
Jun/00 168 - 168 - -
Jul/00 147 - 143 - -
Ago/00 103 - 112 - -
Set/00 94 - 116 - -
Out/00 55 - 173 - -
Nov/00 132 - 76 - -
Dez/00 216 - 174 - -
Jan/01 322 - 82 84 -
Fev/01 379 - 65 106 -
Mar/01 392 - 66 141 -

In the last 12 months, only 3 regions generated echomail messages in
the set of WWB, LA and Hispanic areas. Two always present (Brazil and
Argentina) and more recently the new sysop in Colombia. Others aren't
present for more than one year.

I want to invite all RCs, NCs and border nodes of our zone that aren't
doing it yet to participate in the well organized echomail groups,
mainly the Hispanic Backbone since it's the native language for almost
all regions in the zone (except mine, but Brazilians are there too!).
I've direct links with central hubs in each group and can forward it
FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 6 23 Apr 2001

to all those in our zone interested by direct link or email (TransX,
Mime/Base64 or UUEncode).

As soon as possible, site for our zone will be inaugurated. For the
time being, related files are available in http://fidobrasil.8m.com,
including the Zone 4 edition of nodelist and nodediffs.

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 7 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
THOUGHTS
=================================================================

FOR THE GARDEN OF YOUR DAILY LIVING PLANT THREE ROWS OF PEAS:
1. Peace of mind
2. Peace of heart
3. Peace of soul :
PLANT FOUR ROWS OF SQUASH
1. Squash gossip
2. Squash indifference
3. Squash grumbling
4. Squash selfishness
PLANT FOUR ROWS OF LETTUCE:
1. Lettuce be faithful
2. Lettuce be kind
3. Lettuce be patient
4. Lettuce really love one another
NO GARDEN WITHOUT TURNIPS:
1. Turnip for meetings
2. Turnip for service
3. Turnip to help one another :
TO CONCLUDE OUR GARDEN WE MUST HAVE THYME
1. Thyme for each other
2. Thyme for family
3. Thyme for friends WATER FREELY WITH PATIENCE AND CULTIVATE WITH
LOVE THERE IS MUCH FRUIT IN YOUR GARDEN BECAUSE YOU REAP WHAT YOU
SOW. . . .

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 8 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
LETTERS ACROSS THE EDITOR'S DESK
=================================================================

From: "Roy Witt" <[email protected]>
To: "Warren Bonner" <[email protected]>
Subject: REAL CHILI

Geeezuz, I just read the latest from the rag and almost barfed when
I read xcarol's recipe for, yuk, what she calls chili.

First of all, you never, -ever-, put pork in chili. Pork is for dirt
farmers, not real people. How sickening can you get? Secondly,
there's no such thing as a `hot' onion. Some have a stronger taste
than others, but never too hot that you can't eat one like an apple.

If you want hot out of that family of veggies, try horse radish.
I transplanted some Illinois horse radish around here, but it's not
doing very well. I'd sure like to get it to grow and the damned
stuff is a weed; my brother says it's the best he's ever had. He
makes his own horseradish and it'll take your breath away. That's
the best there is.

For the next edition of the rag, here's a little something I came up
with that resembles what most non-chili people would call chili.
It's not, even though it has chili ingredients!

I call it; Texican Bean Pot, since it has beans in it, it can't be
called chili.

1 to 1 1/2 lb of ground beef (I'll tell ya how to cook it so there's
no `grease' in it, xxcarol.

1 to 1 1/2 lb of pinto beans (if you buy canned pintos, drain them
before you use them).
1 lge sweet onion (I use sweet onions, exclusively for this recipe)
14oz can of Green Chile' ( chop to bite size if you don't buy them
that way).
14oz can of sliced stewed Tomatoes
2 tbsp of chili powder
15oz can of `Ready to serve', Mole' *
salt to taste

To get 'greaseless' ground beef and the texture I like for chili,
errr, bean pot; I cook the ground beef in a skillet of water. I
usually keep after it with a spatula until the beef is broken up into
little balls with no fat. When the gnd beef is browned to your liking,
drain the water and the fat will float off the top. Set it aside,
covered, for now.

Chop the onion, first by cutting it in half through the equator, the
vine being the northern pole and the tap root the southern pole.
Then chop it into bite size. No tears here, especially with sweet
onions.

FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 9 23 Apr 2001

Chop the green chili to bite size. I like using the canned green
chili's, less work. If you prefer to cook up a batch, have fun.

In a deep 4qt pan, add the water, drained beans, tomatoes w/juice,
onion, green chili and the mole'...

Set your flame to high and stir for a few minutes to get the
ingredients mixed well. Bring to a rolling boil and leave it boil,
while you add the beef and then mix in the chili powder.

If it looks a little dry, add a little more water, but not so much
that you have soup. Cover and bring to a rolling boil for 5 minutes,
then make your FLAME (I love that word) low enough to just keep things
bubbly rolling, but not too fast - `simmer' if you will. Let it cook
this way for 45 minutes, checking to see if it's still wet and stir
every so often. Don't add anymore water. Remove the cover and cook
an additional 15-20 minutes, allowing the excess water to steam off.
You can leave it wet if you like, but it just tastes better if it's
not watery.

This serves about 6 or 8 people. I've had as many as 12 dig into this
and I didn't get any seconds.

* If you're using dry beans; rinse and sort beans. In a slow cooker;
add beans and 3 1/2 cups of water, cover, turn heat to high. Cook for
3 hours or until beans are tender. Goto start.

* If you can't find Mole' or you've tried this recipe with it and
don't like the mole' taste (it's really different), you can use
Mexican chocolate in it's place, just add a cup of water with it.
See the procedure in `Colorado Chili' below, for using Baker's
chocolate if you can't find Mexican chocolate.

==============Now, this is what I call Chili.=====================

I call it Chili Colorado, because of the steak as an ingredient.
It's still a Texas style, though. No beans! Oh, and this recipe has
won a couple of blue ribbons here in San Diego County.

1 lb Chuck Steak (gristle and bone removed)
1/2 lb lean ground beef - 12% fat or less
8oz can of Tomato sauce
1 tblsp Chili Powder
1 very large Spanish Onion, freshly chopped
1/8 cup Cilantro or Parsley, chopped
1 cup Picante Sauce, Mild, Medium or Hot, it's your taste buds,
beginners use Mild.
1 Large Clove of Garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp Oregano
1 oz Mexican hard Chocolate *
Salt to taste

Cut the steak into 3/4 inch cubes. In a heavy 12 inch skillet, brown
the chuck steak and then the hamburger all together. Cover and let
simmer.
FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 10 23 Apr 2001

Add water if you want to remove the fat at this stage and drain before
adding the rest of the ingredients.

In a separate sauce pan, combine the other ingredients over a slow
heat.

First the tomato sauce, then the chili powder, the onions, cilantro,
the picante sauce, the garlic chopped up fine and the other
seasonings.

Continue simmering while the chocolate is being added.

* The chocolate must be grated or scraped into fine pieces as it is
added.

Bakers chocolate may be used instead of the Mexican chocolate,
provided you add one teaspoon of sugar and one half teaspoon of
cinnamon. Don't over do it with the cinnamon, a little bit goes a
long way. I once made a batch like this, thinking more is better,
and the cinnamon was so obtuse, I and all but one of my guests
couldn't eat it. He took the entire batch home with him. Fool.

When everything is mixed in well, add these ingredients to the
simmering meat in the large skillet. Before adding, taste the steak
meat for tenderness. It should be cooked tender before the other
liquid ingredients are added.

Hint; this allows the liquid ingredients to meld with the meat.

Mix the whole thing around and continue to simmer in the large
skillet for the combined taste to develop. Add some water from time
to time if the mixture becomes too thick.

Don't worry about the meat fat if you haven't already drained it, as
it will rise to the top and can be poured or skimmed out later.

The entire cooking time from beginning of the browning of the meat
to the final product should be about 1 1/2 hours. If hotter chili is
desired, more picante sauce may be added near the end of the
simmering.

Hint; the hot taste will be in the sauce, not affecting the meat.

This should serve 4 or 5 people. I could eat the whole thing in one
setting. After the cinnamon fiasco, Nancy won't touch this stuff
without knowing I used Mexican chocolate. If she hasn't been helping
and adds the cinnamon herself, I tell her it's the cinnamon version
and I get it all for myself. :o)

"Roy Witt" <[email protected]>

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 11 23 Apr 2001

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

SORRY! Not enough time to do a full issue due to Doctor's orders.

Frank will catch your submissions for next week.

His address: [email protected]

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 12 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
FRANK'S COLUMN
=================================================================

Introducing the Region 19 Mailing List

Region 19 now has a mailing list.
We are just getting started, but hope to grow.
All are welcome.

To join the list, send E-Mail:

To: [email protected]
Subject: Join Region19
Text area is not required, but a nice "Hi." would be ok. :-)

To post to the list after you have joined, send E-Mail:

To: [email protected]
Subject: <what you wish to talk about>

This list is open to all Zones and people. It was started for several
reasons:

1. It sounded like a good thing to do. :)

2. I was curious to see how Irex and a 486 running Dos would handle a
mailing list. <BG>

3. It will provide a place for anyone interested in Fidonet to ask
questions and get help.

I hope to have many qualified people in the list and I hope they will
all offer help when asked. Knowing Fidonet, I don't think I'll have
much to worry about. :-)

When you join, you will receive an acknowledgement and some basic
rules for the list. All I ask is that you enjoy the list, help where
you can and play nice. <smile>

Regards,

Frank

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 13 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
RECIPES
=================================================================

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: French Apple Cake (Bon A)
Categories: Fruits, Cakes, French
Yield: 8 Servings

1/4 c Unsalted butter
1 3/4 c Sugar
1/3 c Water
3/4 ts Ground cinnamon
1 1/4 lb Granny smith apples; i.e.
2 lg ones, peel, core, thinly slice
1 c All-purpose flour
1 ts Baking powder
1/4 ts Salt
3 lg Egg yolks
2 lg Eggs
2 tb Calvados; applejack or
Other brandy
2 ts Vanilla
1/2 c Unsalted butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter 9-inch-diameter cake pan with 2 inch
high sides. Coat pan with sugar; tap out excess. Melt 1/4 cup butter
in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in 3/4 cup sugar,
water and cinnamon and bring to boil. Add apples and cook untilapples
are just tender, turning frequently, about 15 minutes. Remove apples,
using slotted spoon, and arrange decoratively in bottom of pan.
Continue boiling liquid in skillet until thick and syrupy, about 4
minutes. Pour over apples.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into small bowl. Whisk remaining 1
cup sugar, egg yolks, eggs, Calvados and vanilla in large bowl to
blend. Gently stir in dry ingredients. Fold in 1/2 cup melted butter.
Pour batter over apples in pan. Bake until toothpick inserted into
center of cake comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool cake in pan 5
minutes. Run small sharp knife around side of pan to loosen cake. Turn
cake out onto platter. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Source: Ruth Gardner-Loew: Strasbourg, France
Recipe from: Bon Appetit, October 1992
From: Kitpath
To: Mastercook Recipes (Mailing List) D

MMMMM

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: DAMPER
Categories: Breads, Australian
FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 14 23 Apr 2001

Yield: 1 Damper

2 1/2 c Flour, self-raising
1 t Salt
1 t Butter
1 t Sugar
1 c Milk (or use about
-1/2 C of powdered milk
-and about 1 C water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Mix together the dry ingredients and
the butter. Add the liquid and mix well. Knead for about 5 minutes
(if you don't know about kneading, look in a good cookery book with
plenty of pictures, it's difficult to describe in words).

Shape into a flattened ball and place on greased and floured baking
sheet or in a greased and floured round cake tin (I recommend the
latter, about 7 or 8 inch diamter, as it gives a better shape). Bake
for 30 minutes. Use a Dutch oven if you are cooking in an open fire,
and use your experience as to cooking time.

Serve in moderately thick slices while still fairly hot. I'm told
that golden syrup (a treacle-like substance made as a by-product of
cane sugar refining) is the traditional thing to spread on it, and
that goes well. Jam is good, too.

NOTES:

* Bread as made by drovers in the outback -- I don't know how many
of you realize it, but there is a wealth of TV programmes about
cooking from around the world. We are lucky in that Australia's SBS
network (Special Broadcasting Service "multi-cultural television")
has a regular slot for food & wine at a convenient time on Saturday
evenings. Over the last couple of years we have seen series on
French, Indian, Chinese, English, Vegetarian, Australian and Sri
Lankan cookery, among others. If you're missing out, why not call
your local station?

This recipe comes from a series called "Australian Tableland".
Traditionally, damper should be cooked in the coals of a camp fire,
but the temperature in an oven is much more consistent! This recipe
has the advantages of being simple and, with ordinary care, reliable

: Difficulty: easy.
: Time: 10 minutes preparation, 30 minutes cooking.
: Precision: measure carefully.

: Stephen Withers,
: The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria 3052, Australia.
: UUCP: {seismo,mcvax,ukc,ubc-vision}!munnari!murdu.oz!stephenw
: CSNET: stephenw%[email protected]

: Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust

MMMMM

FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 15 23 Apr 2001

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: Kangaroo Tail Soup (In Pressure Cooker)
Categories: Australian, Meats, Asian, Soups, Pressure
Yield: 4 Servings

1 Large kangaroo tail
300 g Carrots, sliced
3 Sticks of celery, cut up
3 Medium onions, sliced
1 tb Butter
2 ts Ground black pepper
2 ts Ground nutmeg
7 Whole cloves, or 1 ts ground
2 c Canned tomatoes, chopped
Salt to taste
3 tb Soy sauce

Separate the joints of the 'roo tail. Brown the butter on a medium
heat in pressure cooker.
Quickly fry the tail in the butter until the
pieces are lightly browned.

Add the onions and carrots, and gently fry for 2 minutes, then add
celery, pepper, cloves, nutmeg, salt. Fry on the same heat for
another 10 minutes. Add soya sauce and turn heat to high for 2
minutes, stirring. Add tomatoes with liquid and stir to crush.

Add water to cover, stir and put lid on pressure cooker. When steam
starts to come out, reduce heat and start timing. After 25 minutes
take off stove and cool down and remove lid.

If you want to thicken the soup, you can mix cornflour or coconut
cream powder with hot water and stir into soup. Simmer for another 10
minutes without the lid, while stirring.

Serve with rice. From: Glen Jamieson Date: 10 Jul 97 National Cooking
Echo
MMMMM

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 16 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
GETTING TECHNICAL
=================================================================

21 April 2001
By Carol Shenkenberger

Routing ERN, A Concept Driven View

What is ERN and why is it so important to us all? Simply put, ERN
is `Echomail Routed Netmail' and means to all that use it, that your
netmail can be picked up from the same place you receive your
echomail and files from, if someone desires to route a `private'
message to you. Not all zones use ERN much, and some use it in a
different pattern and don't call it `ERN'. Thats ok. The `concept'
is the same. Some zones use a chart to maintain it (I know Z1 and
Z6 do).

To start the process, lets go back a bit in history. At one time, in
Fidonet, everyone got their mail from their `hub' (See Policy4 for a
description if you've entered after this system was used-
`Assistants to the NC'). The biggest `Hub' for mail delivery was
called the NEC for Network Echomail Coordinator. That same path may
or may not have been used to get your netmail to you. Some netsheld
it at the NC's and the nodes would all poll the NC to collect it, or
the NC would deliver it.

The NEC's would all poll the REC (Region Echomail Coordinator) and
pickup all the echmail for the net. Some smart ones realized that
Netmail for that net could also be `packed with the echomail' for
delivery. In the early days, it wasnt called ERN.

The term ERN started to be used, when sysops started shifting the
pattern to draw their echomail for their net, from sites other than
the REC. George Peace, John Souvestre, and others were a part of
this pattern.

The Sysop who was feeding another net, simply told their mail
tossers to 'pack any netmail for zone#:net#/* to that net'.

To use it though, people had to know 'who connected to who' so they
could pass the netmail the right way, ending up at the destination
sysop's site.

That took the development of various different `chart' systems to
track it. Initially, these were created by each REC for showing the
routes (connections) for each net in their region.

Today, REC's still make these charts in Z1. In regions with no REC,
the RC makes them. (My apologies to Z6, your method is slightly
different and you seem to fit into a later set of this post and when
I get there, I'll show what I've gathered is done).

In Z2, they do have a system but I am not able to address it fully
here, because I lack sufficient information. I know they have a
standard regional number used in most regions for `inbound routing'
FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 17 23 Apr 2001

and that there are private charts of connections. They are not
disseminated the same as in Z1 or Z6. I know nothing of Z3-5
routing systems, other than they have one.

Once nets started to connect `out of the standard pattern' the
various charts in Z1 changed to fit the needs of the sysops.
Initially it was probably much like the Z6 chart that they use
today.

The Z6 routing chart is very simplified. It works like this:

Feed address Nets that feed from that address
6:770/3774 6:654/0 6:654/*
3:774/605 6:701/36 6:701/* 6:653/* 6:654/*
6:770/1 6:751/321 6:751/* 6:750/* 6:758/* 6:64/*
6:770/3774 3:774/605

Thats a portion as retyped by me and slightly simplified.

The first node number listed, is like what Z1 calls a `Top Level
Hub' (TLH) meaning `feeds many sites'. In Z1, the master chart shows
who these sites are. In Z6, there is no chart but the information
is directly shown in the links.

I'll get to Z1's method shortly but Z6's is easier to conceptualize
in this instance.

What happens here is netmail destined for anyone in 6:751's net, is
sent to 6:770/1. They connect to him, and pick it up. If 6:64/0
wants to send a netmail to 6:751/0, they send it to 6:770/1 (their
uplink for mail and files) and 6:770/1 takes it, tosses it, and
packs it for pickup.

This is the same as routing inside a region via the REC. Nothing
fancy there as they all have the same 'uplink'.

Now lets say someone in 6:654 wants to route a netmail to someone in
6:701? Simple. 6:654 sends it to 6:770/3774 who then packs it to
3:774/605 (See, they have a link direct). 3:774/605, when they
get it, repacks it to 6:701/36 for delivery.

This is called a `hop'. This is where a chart becomes needed so
that the top end `uplinks' know where to send the mail to.

In Z1, there are many formats for the regional charts. The most
common one is the only one I will try to explain here.

Conceptually it is the same as in Z6, but looks quite different due
to being a more complex mesh of sites.

In Z1 as of my last chart handy (Routelst.105), there are 10 TLH's
(Top Level Hubs) listed in a chart that shows how they all
interconnect. The format is not the same. In Z1, our charts
generally start with the net number, then the number of the node who
is primarily connecting, and then to whom they connect. The last
node listed, is one of the 10 TLH's.
FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 18 23 Apr 2001

A sample would look like this: (Note, this is for teaching and the
connections shown are *not* accurate)

Top Chart:
A B C
(A) 1:10/3 - X
(B) 1:140/1 -
(C) 1:275/100 X -

Note that A connects to B but not C in this example. B connects to
both of them. C connects only to B.

Now the route chart might look like this (again, not using real
data, just sample views)

Net Link Hops
1:381 1:381/18 1:275/100
1:271 1:271/1 1:2600/1 1:10/3
1:202 1:202/15 1:10/3
1:2345 1:2345/33 1:140/1
1:2346 1:2346/411 1:140/1

Note that netmail for net 271 goes through 1:2600/1 before it gets
to the TLH site. The others happen to have direct links so look
shorter.

Now say 1:2345/33 wants to talk to a member of 1:2346? They send
the netmail to their uplink (1:140/1) who packs it in an archive for
1:2346/411 to pickup.

This is the same as routing via the REC as they both have the same
uplink. Nothing fancy here.

Say however 1:2345/19 want to route a netmail to 1:271/15? They
send it to their uplink (1:140/1) who packs it to 1:10/3 who knows
to send it to 1:2600/1 who then sends it to 1:271/1. This involves
several hops. And if 1:381/18 wants to talk to 1:202/15, they would
send it to 1:275/100 who would send it to 1:140/1 who would pass it
to 1:10/3 (and from there to the site).

While this system sounds complex, remember, it's no more complex
than what happens when you send an echomail reply. In fact,
conceptually, it's simpler!

xxcarol
AKA
ITCS(SW) Carol Shenkenberger

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 19 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
POET'S CORNER
=================================================================

Sorry no submissions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 20 23 Apr 2001

=================================================================
HUMOR
=================================================================

Sorry, no submissions this week, I didn't have time enough
to find some laughs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 21 23 Apr 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 18-17 Page 22 23 Apr 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 18-17 Page 23 23 Apr 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 18-17 Page 24 23 Apr 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 18-17 Page 25 23 Apr 2001

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

FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 26 23 Apr 2001

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

***FIDONEWS INFORMATION***

+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- FIDONEWS STAFF - -- -- -- -- -- -- +
| |
| Editor: Frank L. Vest, 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: 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, Warren Bonner |
| |
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

"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) |
| ftp mail: [email protected] (subject: help) |
| |
FIDONEWS 18-17 Page 27 23 Apr 2001

+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

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