The  F I D O N E W S      Volume 19, Number 10             11 Mar 2002
    +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
    | |The newsletter of the | | Fido, Fidonet and dog-with-diskette are |
    | |  FidoNet community.  | | US Registered Trademarks of Tom Jennings|
    | |                      | |     San Francisco, California, USA      |
    | |          ____________| |                                         |
    | |         /  __          | Crash netmail articles to:              |
    | |        /  /  \         |          Editor @ 2:2/2 (+46-31-944907) |
    | | WOOF! (  /|oo \        | Routed netmail articles to:             |
    |  \_______\(_|  /_)       |          Bjorn Felten @ 2:203/0         |
    |            _ @/_ \    _  | Email attach to:                        |
    |           |     | \   \\ |          [email protected]              |
    |           | (*) |  \   ))|                                         |
    |           |__U__| /  \// |         Editor: Bj�rn Felten            |
    |   ______   _//|| _\   /  |                                         |
    |  / Fido \ (_/(_|(____/   |   Newspapers should have no friends.    |
    | (________)       (jm)    |                    -- JOSEPH PULITZER   |
    +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
           Copyright 2002 by Fidonews Editor for Fidonews Globally.


                       Table of Contents
    1. INSIDE  ...................................................  1
       The Fidonews at a Glance  .................................  1
    2. EDITORIAL  ................................................  2
       Work, work work, and for what...?  ........................  2
    3. GENERAL ARTICLES  .........................................  4
       Catcalls from the Cheap Seats  ............................  4
    4. REBUTTALS TO PREVIOUS ARTICLES  ........................... 11
       Wild Olympiade on the Wild West  .......................... 11
    5. FIDONET WEB PAGE REVIEWS  ................................. 12
       Synchronet, Argus Help Page  .............................. 12
    6. FIDONET'S INTERNATIONAL KITCHEN  .......................... 14
       Japanese Thanksgiving  .................................... 14
    7. CLEAN HUMOR & JOKES  ...................................... 16
       BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL #8  ............................ 16
       Henry Ford  ............................................... 17
    8. TODD COCHRANE'S FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING  ................. 19
       Fidonet Software List  .................................... 19
    9. FIDONET BY INTERNET  ...................................... 23
       Fidonet-related sites  .................................... 23
    10. SPECIAL INTEREST  ........................................ 28
       Nodelist Stats  ........................................... 28
    11. FIDONEWS INFORMATION  .................................... 30
       How to Submit an Article  ................................. 30
       Credits, Legal Infomation, Availability  .................. 31
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 1                   11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                                 INSIDE
    =================================================================

                         The Fidonews at a Glance

    "Work, work, work...", a little Catcaller comment and then some about
    that infernal synthetic laughter added to US TV shows, in the
    "Editorial" this week.

       "Catcalls..." are reaching new, all time highs this week. Bashings
    as well as education, what more can be expected from an article in
    this distinguished production?

       "Wild Olympiade on the Wild West" seems to be something of a
    rebuttal to my latest editorial, so I publish those Russian sour
    grapes in the "Rebuttal..." section.

       Frank Vest has visited "Synchronet, Argus Help Page", site, that
    seems very nice. This editors only objection is, that it doesn't look
    too good if the most important word in the very first headline, is
    misspelt.

       Carol takes on a (somewhat late -- or maybe early) "Japanese
    Thanksgiving" in this week's "Fidonet's International Kitchen".

       The eighth episode of "BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL" (published with
    the expressed permission from the author) in the "Clean Jokes..." plus
    a story about "Henry Ford", one of a handful of contributions from
    Ol'wdb, for me to keep handy for future use.


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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 2                   11 Mar 2002


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

                    Work, work work, and for what...?

       So now I'm back after finishing yet another 72 hour project, that I
    really should have finished two weeks ago. How come I always have to
    do things in the last minute?

       And why do I still continue this full time work, when really I have
    done all that kind of work, that could be expected from me? My wife
    and I have produced two wonderful children, 28 and 22 now. They are
    far better human beings than both my wife and me, so what more can be
    expected from us? I'd say we've fulfilled our obligations to society
    as well as to humanity.

       The reason for me continuing to work like this, is of course that I
    would go bananas if I woke up one morning and didn't know what to do
    that day. Oh yes, I have my wonderful dog that needs at least an hour
    of walking every day, but after that?

                       -   =   *   =   -

       My last editorial really got our catcaller to grab his keyboard.
    The result was an impressive 22kb article. Not only does the size
    impress this editor, but also much of the knowledge unveiled in it.
    Like for instance the knowledge of the battle of L�tzen in 1632. Hey
    Luke, it's easy to remember the year if you know when Mohammed died.
    But I think we can claim a more recent victory in the battle of Riga
    in 1700 when Karl XII beat the Russians. Some years later he was
    defeated by the Russian winter -- a century before Napoleon and 2.5
    before Hitler; funny how both Nappie and Adolf missed that lesson in
    school.

       But it's obvious, after all, that our beloved catcaller is not the
    average American, whose general knowledge of Sweden seem to be, that
    it's the capital of Copenhagen and is famous for it's chocolate and
    cuckoo-clocks. Nah... He's definitely a Canadian, I'd say.

                       -   =   *   =   -

       In the Fidonews echo, I had the audacity to question the synthetic
    laughter added to all the US "comedy shows", and, implicitly, the
    intelligence of the audience, that needs such horrible manipulation in
    order to understand when something is funny. All in the now well known
    mantra of GWB: "Either you're against us or your with us", I
    immediately was stamped out as one of The Bad Guys.

       But seriously! Have you ever been sitting in the next room when one
    of those shows are running? You cannot hear what the are saying, just
    the added laughter. It's the same ten second soundtrack over and over
    again, only varied in pitch, volume and decay. If that's not annoying,
    I don't think I know the meaning of the word. I only hope some Swedish
    TV channel some time can order at least Spin City (with MJF) or
    Friends without that laughter; then I'd be able to really enjoy two of
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 3                   11 Mar 2002


    the few intelligently scripted comedy shows from the USA...

       TTFN!


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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 4                   11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                            GENERAL ARTICLES
    =================================================================

                      Catcalls from the Cheap Seats
                            By Luke Kolin

    Bjorn's put together a really fantastic editorial this week, folks.
    It's given a lot of grist to this author's mill, and it's allowed me
    to wax on about three topics near and dear to my heart - Policy4,
    international hockey and the relative decline of the Canadian dollar.
    Perhaps I can put something together this week that might make the old
    Snooze beat the 100K barrier for the last time in its existence? Well,
    maybe not. But western landfills are groaning under the weight of 18
    million disposable diapers every day or so, so let me offer my
    poop-filled piece of paper as the first contribution.

    If Bjorn says that the gold medal game was won by Sweden in 1994, not
    1992, I'll believe him.  Pretty much every Canadian schoolchild is
    indoctrinated in the fact that the last Canadian gold medal was won in
    1952 by an amateur club called the Revelstoke Doughnut Munchers, who
    got really drunk one evening at the local pub and decided to get a
    real medal, not the plastic trophies that the suburban club leagues
    give out. This was back in the good old days when two dozen Canadians
    could take over a hockey tournament with the same ease that two dozen
    19th Century Brits could get drunk and take over a small African
    kingdom. I was tempted to plead ignorance by stating that my
    educational background was in seventeenth century European history,
    but I came to the realisation last night that I could not recall if
    the last time the Swedes beat anyone in a fair fight (the Battle of
    Lutzen) was in 1632, 1638 or 1642, and I was too lazy to retreat
    downstairs to the library to find out. So much for my historical
    pretensions.

    I am deafened (again) by the silence coming from those individuals
    suggesting the biggest change to Policy4 since the amendments made in
    1995, 1998 and 2000. Apparently, my proposals have fallen upon deaf
    ears, or the backers of the status quo really have no intellectual
    legs to stand on. Instead, Bjorn is attempting to come to their
    rescue. I'll pretend to ignore the characterisation of my magnum opii
    as 'dreadful noise' and get to the heart of Bjorn's argument.

    Essentially, his claimed justification behind this non-amendment is
    that we need to eliminate a 'psychological barrier' to change, and
    that until we amend the document the 95% of FidoNet sysops who have
    known nothing else will all of a sudden realise they have had nothing
    to lose but their chains, so to speak. According to such reasoning,
    what we should have done is proposed an amendment that said nothing
    more than the following:

    "The Policy formerly known as 4.07 shall henceforth be referred to as
    Policy 4.08."

    Which would do exactly the same thing as what's currently under
    consideration - absolutely nothing. There are psychological barriers,
    my Editor, but they are not that FidoNet doesn't believe that the
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 5                   11 Mar 2002


    Policy can be amended. No one's ever seriously questioned that before.

    What I question, however, is if the brain trust of FidoNet has the
    mental agility to see that the top-down feudalistic style of FidoNet
    is utterly incapable of handling the demands placed upon it today. I'm
    not sure if people can conceive of a FidoNet where an IP-only node
    can't talk to a FrontDoor 2.02 system that still talks at 9600 baud
    during ZMH only. Considering the howls of protest from the "I can walk
    and chew gum at the same time but don't ask me to run" crowd at the
    chaos that would happen if (gasp!) nodes were allowed to have multiple
    node numbers in non-geographic networks, the thought of FidoNet
    adopting operating practices from 1997 or 1998 is far too much to ask.

    I also doubt the notion once this change has been made, there will be
    a great rush to make further changes. More likely to this observer
    would be the idea in sysops' minds: "We just made a change, why do we
    need another one?" Let me point out to our Olympic editor-being, that
    Bob Beamon broke Jesse Owens' record a mere three decades after it was
    set. It took another quarter century before someone broke his record.
    Despite all of their claims to the contrary, our Policy long-jumpers
    strike me as an athlete at the start of the long jump runway,
    furiously jumping up and down in the same spot - all the time
    claiming, "I'm really building up momentum now!" Folks, to achieve
    progress you have to engage in forward motion sooner or later. I've
    never known anyone to break a psychological barrier (or any barrier,
    for that matter) by doing nothing. FidoNet won't, either.

    Bjorn's discussion of the relative decline of the swedish krona brings
    me to another topic that is near and dear to my heart - and I even
    promise to tie it all back to FidoNet at the end of it all. As I'm
    sure many readers are aware, Canadians and Americans are as a people
    pretty much indistinguishable. We speak the same language, share
    similar customs. Our nations look pretty similar - big, relatively
    empty compared to Europe and with lots of places to see and live. We
    both have a dollar, share the same phone numbers and most of the same
    holidays (even if Canadian Thanksgiving is in October instead of
    November.)

    Shortly after I was born, a Canadian dollar was worth more than an
    American dollar. This in and of itself was not a huge aberration - the
    dollars had stayed pretty close to each other for a good period of
    time. As late as 1991, the Canadian dollar was worth 92 cents US, and
    US border cities were filled with Canadians seeking cheaper prices,
    not to mention an escape from the miserable 15-18% sales taxes that
    the Canadian federal and provincial governments enjoy extracting from
    their hard-working populace.

    Today, these border cities are deserted on the US side, but booming on
    the Canadian side. Is it because Americans are poor and Canadians are
    rich? Quite the contrary. You see, most Canadians can no longer afford
    to go to the US side because the Canadian dollar is no longer worth 92
    cents US - it's worth 33% less. Americans are flooding across the
    border because the entire country just threw a "one-third off the
    regular price" sale. Which is really wonderful if you're an American,
    or (like me) a Canadian who gets paid a US salary, in US dollars and
    no longer pays Canadian income tax. If you're one of the poor Canadian
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 6                   11 Mar 2002


    working stiffs who have gotten a third poorer, you may not appreciate
    it so much.

    Canada's Prime Minister happened to be the Finance Minister the last
    time the dollars were at par. When a previous government allowed the
    dollar to slip below 70 cents, he raised an outcry. When the dollar
    under his watch slipped to 65 cents, he claimed it was a glorious
    event for Canadian exporters. I'm sure that daily wages of $3/day are
    a great event for Vietnamese and Indonesian exporters, but most
    Vietnamese and Indonesians don't see things the same way.

    As an expatriate, it is interesting to compare attitudes in Canada
    when I make one of my annual or semi-annual trips back home. I've
    noted for a while now that Canadian attitudes towards the United
    States are shaped in large part by their recollections of fifteen to
    twenty years ago, and therefore there is very little sense of urgency
    about the relative decline I've seen in Canada compared to the US (or
    places in Europe like the Netherlands) in the past ten years or so.

    When I was little, American governments were broke. The inner cities
    were decaying and crime was running rampant. I have what I call the
    'freeway test' to determine the relative wealth of a nation, state or
    city - the quality of the pavement on the roads. If a government is
    short of money, they will typically defer repaving efforts in favour
    of cheap and quick 'patch jobs', which take less out of each annual
    budget. When my parents and I would drive from Toronto to Buffalo, we
    would be on a smooth ribbon of asphalt on the Canadian side. The
    minute we crossed over the bridge to the US and went on Interstate
    190, we'd be on an undulating river of potholes, patches and bumps. No
    sane individual would try and drive at the 88km/h (!) speed limit -
    the suspension would give out.

    Today when I drive in from Buffalo to Toronto, I-190 is smooth and
    flat. It's well lit. After a heavy snowfall (which Western New York
    gets frequently), the morning afterwards the road is clean, bare and
    often dry. And all for a measly 50 cent toll. Across the border in
    Canada, by contrast, the freeway is littered with potholes, patches
    and half-baked repaving jobs that last 5 years instead of the 25 that
    good poured concrete will give you. Lights? You've got to be kidding.
    The toll highways are better, but this costs - I can take the NY
    Thruway across the entire state from Erie, Pennsylvania to New York
    City (9 hours' drive or so) for US $11. The same price will get me
    half-way around Toronto on the toll ring road, assuming the metering
    equipment is accurate. Finally, the effective speed limits in the US
    have been raised to a sensible 75 to 85 miles per hour.

    When I lived in Toronto, my car was vandalised on three separate
    occasions. Here in Atlanta, it has yet to happen. If I lived in some
    walled, gated community I could understand it - but the irony is that
    the homes in the Toronto neighborhood where I used to live were more
    expensive and I could never afford to buy them.

    I think the last important comparison to make is health care. My
    parents, sister and brother in law are all Canadian doctors, and I had
    the opportunity several years ago to discus relative health care
    between our two nations. Many Canadians consider their system of
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 7                   11 Mar 2002


    universal health care to be one of the distinguishing characteristics
    of their country, and my sister pointed out to me that 40 million
    Americans I were uninsured and that I had a 'gold plated' health plan.

    While I cannot initially refute the first point, I had several
    observations to make. First, my health plan is the same as the CEO of
    my company. It is, however, also the same as the phone clerks that
    make $9/hour. If I were to work as a check-out clerk at the local
    supermarket, I would get a similar health care package as well as a
    company-funded retirement savings plan. A country that can give 'gold
    plated' health care to its poorest paid workers can't be all bad, no?
    Employers do this because they have to - not by government regulation,
    but by virtue of the fact that no smart individual would work for a
    company that didn't provide health benefits as part of its base
    compensation. Despite our 'recession', unemployment is still lower
    than it was at the height of the 1980s boom - and much of the gains
    have been at the lower end of the salary scale.

    By contrast, despite my 'universal health care' in Canada, being
    covered didn't actually mean that I could get health care since I
    still needed to find a doctor that was taking new patients. Try as I
    might, every doctor that was suggested to me by friend or family was
    not taking new patients, and therefore would not see or treat me. It
    was not until I, in somewhat of a fit of desperation, asked if the
    doctor knew Dr. So-and-So, my sister. At which point, they were
    somehow able to fit me in. Universal, you say?

    Getting back to the uninsured issue, many of these uninsured here in
    the United States could buy cut-price health insurance for around
    $75/month. The problem with this 'insurance' is that you can't see a
    doctor and you have to wait around for most procedures, if they're
    covered at all. In some ways, it's not much different than Canadian
    health insurance.

    Of course, the rich and powerful don't have to face these issues. When
    a member of the Irving family (the Rockefellers of New Brunswick) gets
    sick, he hops on the family jet for a quick jaunt to the Mayo clinic
    in Minnesota or Sloan Ketterring in New York. Maybe Johns Hopkins in
    Baltimore. If an average Canadian gets sick in New Brunswick, they get
    to travel as well - since there are now no colorectal surgeons left in
    the entire province. If your child is born with a heart defect, you
    may not be pleased to note that the last pediatric invasive
    cardiologist has left. So instead of immediate treatment, you get to
    drive 8 to 12 hours to Halifax or Quebec City - after waiting 10 to 12
    weeks to see the doctor.

    Getting back to hockey, there is an excellent hockey player (perhaps
    Bjorn can tell us if he played in the Olympics) by the name of Saku
    Koivu. At the tender age of 26 or so, he was diagnosed with abdominal
    cancer and required immediate treatment, which was started within 48
    hours. At last report, the cancer was in remission and he was slowly
    getting back to being able to play hockey again. Lucky to be in
    Canada, you say? Maybe. I cannot speak from personal experience about
    the oncology departments in Montreal, but I am sure they are quite
    good.

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 8                   11 Mar 2002


    I contend, however, that what saved this young man's life was the fact
    that he is a Finn. Not through any genetic predisposition that this
    group of people posses to battling cancer, but by virtue of the fact
    that a Canadian cannot get cancer treatment within 2 days of
    diagnosis, no matter how much he is willing to pay - to pay extra for
    faster service is illegal, and there would be an outcry if a
    millionaire athlete got preference over other Canadians. But since he
    is Finnish, his life is not finished <ouch> and he can pay to jump the
    queue.

    So, thanks to our vaunted system of 'universal' (if you can find a
    doctor and he doesn't move away) health care, Canadians are now second
    class citizens in their own country. Bravo!

    [A note - between when this piece was written and its submission, the
    Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported that a six-month old
    Canadian citizen was denied life-saving care because his parents are
    neither citizens nor landed immigrants, but visitors. Let's raise a
    hearty cheer to the Czech community in Montreal who raised the $10,000
    necessary to provide him care, and let's all think nasty evil thoughts
    to the pathetic Quebec bureaucrats who would let a little baby die.
    How many little Canadian babies will die in the future that we don't
    hear about?]

    Of course, Canadians don't realise it yet. They still believe that US
    health care will bankrupt average people, you can't get treated, etc.
    etc. etc. There hasn't been an outcry yet, and everyone is convinced
    that if we throw another billion or so in the pot, the problems will
    go away. They've thrown an additional $25 billion into the pot since I
    left Canada, and it's only gotten worse. They seem to be stuck in
    their view of the world 15 years ago.

    Now, what does my little interlude have to do with FidoNet? As I
    mentioned earlier, the reason why there isn't an outcry about this
    relative decline in the standard of living and health care is that
    many Canadians still believe that the US is the way it was in the
    mid-1980s. (With the dollar the way it is, they cannot afford to go
    there to find out.) Much of FidoNet's decline over the same period can
    be attributed to similar outdated thinking about this network relative
    to the Internet.

    In the mid-1990s, the Internet was perceived as newsgroups, spam and
    pornography. It was perceived as chaos, rudeness, crime. Many folks in
    FidoNet still see it in that vein. Admittedly, investors have spent
    billions laying miles of fiber-optic cable so that teenagers all over
    North America can see naked pictures of Tiffany two days after Playboy
    comes out. However, as I've pointed out in previous articles, the
    Internet has hundreds of communities as polite, orderly and vibrant as
    FidoNet ever was. It attracts thousands of average people every day,
    dealing with average, more or less legal pursuits.

    FidoNet is just like Canada is - they don't see the dramatic changes
    that have taken place around them, and they feel that a little
    incremental change will be what's necessary to fix things, or get us
    started down that path. People like myself who leave and criticise the
    system are considered 'selfish', 'troublemakers' or 'interfering with
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 9                   11 Mar 2002


    the people working hard for a solution'. Does this sound familiar to
    anyone? It does to me. What I'm 'mocking', Bjorn, is the lack of true
    effort behind these so-called 'changes'. I'm mocking the fact that no
    one has seen fit or able to refute my desires for sysop-level
    participation in the Policy amendment process. As a scandinavian, you
    may be familiar with a fellow by the name of Hans Christian Andersen.

    This fellow wrote a charming little fairy tale about a King who was
    promised fantastic new clothes that were absolutely wonderful and
    beautiful, easily the finest in the land. He could not see them, nor
    could anyone else, but everyone agreed with the tailors that they were
    fine, fine clothes. And it came to pass that the King was in a
    procession through the streets, stark naked - and no one, but a child,
    had the nerve to say what they all knew. This policy amendment has no
    clothes. It does nothing, and all the puffery about sysop-level
    consultation and psychological barriers is as self-delusional as the
    beautiful fabric embedded with sparkling gemstones. Look how they
    twinkle so!

    It's ironic that Bjorn refers to the 'f*cking European Union'. The
    f*cking EU is an elitist group of governments that gets together,
    makes decisions in private and attempts to claim that they've done
    sufficient public consultation to move forward. Not surprisingly, the
    public in more and more EU countries isn't buying that particular
    brand of snake oil. Yet Bjorn believes that it's too much of a change
    to let sysops get a direct say in how their network is run by amending
    Policy or formally enshrining the principle of electing *Cs. The
    European Union has been using those very same arguments to limit or
    prevent voter involvement in the selection or ratification of the
    European Commission. The Council of Ministers is an unelected
    legislative body. But to extend rights to the voters at large? That
    would be too much of a change! Maybe later, but it's too much too soon
    right now.

    Bjorn, maybe you now know how a lot of sysops feel about P4. They feel
    the same way that you feel about the European Union. And defenders of
    the f*cking EU use the exact same language as you. They refuse to
    defend themselves in public forums. (hello, Bob Short!) How are you
    different from them?

    Allow me to close off this week's rant with a sensible, sober
    reflection on what Gary Gilmore had to say. Yes, the BBS as we've
    known it from the early 1980s is terminal, if not dead, in many areas.
    However, part of the appeal of FidoNet as I look back over its almost
    two decades of existence was its ability to adapt, at least in the
    early years. The network was able to change and bring in new
    technologies and new possibilities. I think a lot of FidoNet's decline
    has been caused because too many people weren't able to let go of
    certain founding principles behind the network, or certain principles
    that evolved into the network. It's not much different than Canadian
    health-care: that originally was devised as catastrophic coverage so
    that no sick child would be without emergency care at 1am because its
    parents couldn't afford to pay the doctor. It's turned into a
    constitutional right to free sex change operations, and sick children
    are again without emergency care at 1am because in many parts of rural
    Canada, there is no doctor to pay.
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 10                  11 Mar 2002


    I don't view FidoNet as a BBS network - partly because I stopped
    running a BBS in 1990. I look at it as a means of distributing
    content. If we didn't have BBSs anymore and every user became a
    private node, but the content was still there, great! If we stopped
    using the POTS and were all IP nodes, no big deal. It's called
    evolution, and it's probably the biggest tribute to the hard-working
    folks of the late 1980s and early 1990s who built FidoNet, that their
    creation was able to evolve and survive, instead of turning into the
    static museum of BBSing that it is today.

    The first recorded use of the term CRP that I recall from FidoNet was
    in Toronto in 1990 and 1991; we used the term 'Cost Recovery Plan' to
    describe a transparent mechanism for recovering the costs incurred in
    obtaining EchoMail and SDS files. We put together an open document,
    which described how the system SHOULD work; it called for open reports
    on traffic, costs and public display of the books. If we had too much
    money in the kitty, everyone got a free month added to their service.
    I don't know if when we came up with the term back then, if we were
    the first. But I do feel proud to see that the term at least remains
    in use. We did something right back then.

    In a sense, Bjorn is right - we do have some psychological hurdles to
    overcome today, but not the ones he thinks. Our chains (to use the
    Marxist term) are not our perceived inability to amend policy, they
    are our unwillingness to abandon the 'sacred principles' of FidoNet in
    favour of reacting to modern technology. There's no requirement that
    all FidoNet systems need to talk to each other. The Internet is living
    proof that a network can survive and thrive with firewalls closing off
    more and more systems every day. There's no requirement that we remain
    backwardly compatible to the level of Fido 11w. There's no requirement
    that nodes be listed in the same geographic area as defined by the
    local phone system. There's no need for FidoNet to be a *BBS* system.

    Like Gary, I don't believe that an amendment to Policy will magically
    make the network grow and thrive. It may do absolutely nothing, and
    this is the most likely possibility. But it does open up FidoNet to
    radically different visions of its future - and these different
    visions of the future may not be compatible in the long term. But that
    sort of creative ferment will stand everyone in good stead over that
    same long term. What's amazing to me is the constant fear of change
    and deregulation - "it'll cause chaos" has been repeated so many times
    over the years.

    Instead, we get this non-change. And we have people running off at the
    mouth as to how wonderful it will be. All it does, is take away
    momentum and desire for the real changes that the ol' dawg needs to
    survive.


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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 11                  11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                     REBUTTALS TO PREVIOUS ARTICLES
    =================================================================

                       Wild Olympiade on the Wild West
                               (Russian view)
                          Maxim Zhukov 2:5025/555

    I think, major part of US citizens know, that russian command took
    part on this WO`2002 to. But I'm sure, that no one of them didn't
    understand how it was sick for us. During this Games we understood
    that we have the main reason of our disqualifications - the column in
    our passports - the Russian citizenship. That's why all Judge kept
    strange silence and did injustice.

    Our president V.V. Putin was unpleasantly surprised by passive
    position of International Olympic Committee. I think, US citizens
    should estimate our nerves and endurance. Russia proved many times,
    that we can win. But Russia proved that we can adequately lose - this
    isn't for USA. All american shouts about their greatness and
    invincibility were denied many times. But on this WO America crossed
    last side - America has taken advantage and beginnings to award those
    who has not deserved it. It was very cruel - took from medals after
    delivery. This fact just underlined your bad jury.

    To my mind, the main problem - was that jury did all this injustice
    things and even didn't understand it. You can observe all Olympic
    Games, and I'm sure that such bad Games were not yet.

    My words should not kindle dispute between the Russian and American
    people. This is just my addition to "The Winter Olympics 2002" by
    (sorry I don't know by whom)

    Maxim Zhukov 2002


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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 12                  11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                        FIDONET WEB PAGE REVIEWS
    =================================================================

                         Synchronet, Argus Help Page
                                By Frank Vest
                                 1:124/6308.1

     What!? Setting Up Synchronet and Argus
     What!? Welcome to Net229!

     Where!? http://net229.darktech.org/fidosetup/
     Where!? http://net229.darktech.org/


     That's right! Two pages for the price of one. Since they are both
    free, that's a darn good deal in my not so humble opinion. :-)

     Some preface before I start. Hang tight. :)

     I've played with several BBS packages since I started my first BBS.
    The original was Spitfire. I've looked at others since and am now
    running Mystic. I'll say that all of these software packages are very
    good.

     In recent months, I've been working on setting up Synchronet. I like
    the package and think it will do what I desire. As stated above, I'm
    no stranger to the "learning curve" that all Sysops, and everyone else
    for that matter, go through with new software. As most will tell you,
    any help is appreciated.

     So, I started on the setup and my learning curve went somewhat
    straight up. :)  I had heard of the help page mentioned above, but
    that was before I became interested in Synchronet, so I promptly
    forgot about it. Normal?? :) Anyway, In this time of need, I
    remembered and the opportunity presented itself for me to ask the
    Webmaster for the address.

     So, let's get started.

     When you first hit the page at http://net229.darktech.org/fidosetup/
    you might think you've found the web page for Fidonet's Net-229. After
    a second glance, you'll realize that you are both right and wrong.
    This is part of the Net-229 site, but not the main page.

     Like I said, at first glance, you might think you're at the wrong
    place. Look on down the page and you'll start to see links to "Setting
    Up Synchronet With FidoNet EchoMail for Net 229".

     Yes, the setup examples are "geared" for Net-229, but they will work
    on other Nets as well. Just change the addresses.

     I'll not get into all the details of the page here. There's just too
    much and this is a "review", not a "tutorial". :)

    On the positive side:
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 13                  11 Mar 2002


     The color choice and contrast is good. Not too bright and not too
    dark. A color selection that is pleasing to the eye, yet not
    distracting.

     I like the "table" that holds the links. The shadow is a nice effect.
    Now I've just got to go look at the HTML code to see how he did that.
    :-)

     The credits to the Author of Synchronet and links to the Synchronet
    home page are a nice touch.

     When you get started with the links, you'll notice the "Argus" setup
    help. Argus is a nice mailer that handles BinkP as well as dial-up
    access. Although not required as "the" mailer for Synchronet, it is a
    nice complement.

     As you get on into the help pages, you will find "screen shots" of a
    "typical" setup. This is a wonderful idea IMHO. Having instructions on
    "how-to" is good, but to be able to see what the "real thing" looks
    like is a big help.

     The fact that on this one set of pages, you can learn and see how to
    set up a complete Fidonet BBS with mailer, BBS and mail tosser is
    excellent.

    Detractions:

     Really, only one.... and this is of a personal and political nature.
    I wish the "alternate Nodelist" for Fidonet, Zone 1, didn't exist. :(

     There you have it. One VERY nice site for Fidonet. Oops... uh.. Oh
    yeah... There were two sites listed... Hmmm... With the size of this
    review, I'll just say this:

     After you've finished learning how to set up Synchronet and Argus to
    get yourself a BBS going, check out the Net-229 main page. There's a
    lot of good information there. True, it is "geared" for Net-229, but I
    believe that the Webmaster would be the first to tell you that it is
    for the benefit of Fidonet and not just for Net-229... Although I know
    Net-229 would be happy to have you, this site can be of help to you no
    matter what Net you decide to join.

     Whatever you choose to do, the main thing is to get into Fidonet!


    Y'all have a great day,

     Frank

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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 14                  11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                     FIDONET'S INTERNATIONAL KITCHEN
    =================================================================

                    Japanese Thanksgiving

          2 c  Stuffing-baked
          1 ea Cornish hen
          1 lg Japanese sweet yam
          2 c  Rice- medium calrose
        1/4 c  Saki
        1/4 c  Smashed japanese grapes-red
          3 sm Carrots- sliced pretty
          2 md Japanese cucumbers
          3 sl Bitter melon
          4 ea Green onions- whole
          1 c  Red beans- sweet

      Ok, whaddaya do when you get in port at 6pm day the day before
    Thanksgiving?

      You start by defrosting the only 'bird' ya got!  That was a cornish
    hen. Split 3 ways, it's not alot of meat but we have the other stuff
    to makeup for that.  Make up stuffing (I used bagged pepperidge farm)
    and stuff the hen as much as reasonably possible.  The rest goes in a
    baking dish to the side.

      Make a batch of rice in the ricemaker and in the steamer above, add
    the red beans (pre-cooked) and the bitter melon slices.

      Slice the sweet yam and add to it the saki and mashed grapes.  Add
    sufficient water to cover and taste test for sweetness once the yams
    are done.  Add molasses or light karo syrup to taste.

      Baste the hen with the sauces from the yam pot (add more to yam pot
    as needed).

      Steam or blanche the carrots lightly then add the fresh cucumber.  A
    dab of sugared ginger atop makes it perfect!  No dressing neededbut if
    you insist, make it a sweet-vinigary one.

      5 mins before the hen is done, lace the green onions into a chain
    and ring them around the bird.

      When all is done, put the hen on a platter with the yams to the side
    and use an ice-cream scoop to ball up stuffing on the other side.
    Place green onion ring around it all and the carrots/cucumbers towards
    the feet.  In this case, a lazy-susan dish is perfect if large!   I
    added rice and sweet beans to the head portion of mine (extra at the
    stove) and put a slice of bitter melon on each plate.

      Dessert?  We were too stuffed!  But we had on the ready, fresh
    tangerines and vanilla ice-cream.  Line the dish with the tangerine
    slices then add a scoop of ice-cream. Drizzle with chocolate syrup.

      From the kitchen of:  xxcarol
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 15                  11 Mar 2002


                            22 November 2001
                            Sasebo Japan


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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 16                  11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                           CLEAN HUMOR & JOKES
    =================================================================

                      BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL #8

    I'm at my desk as usual, and a user calls.

    "Hello Computer Room, Simon here, How can I help" I answer

    "I can't get into my account!" A user mumbles at me.

    "What was your username please?" I say

    They give me their username.  No worries.  I look in their account.

    "No worries, it was just a badly made login file.  I've fixed it, you
    should be able to login."

    "Thanks!"

    "No worries.   Have a nice day!"

    WHAT IS THIS?  you're asking yourself.  Has the BASTARD OPERATOR FROM
    HELL turned over a new leaf?  Sold out?!   GONE INSANE?!!! Nope.  The
    BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL is being logfiled.  And if that's happen-
    ing, I'm being bugged as well.  So I'm being nice till I can find the
    bugs.  It shouldn't be long - bear with me.

    Ah.  One in the phone handpeice.  Basic.  But then the boss is a
    sneaky sort, so there's probably a couple more.  Ah!  And another in
    the base of the phone and one inside my keyboard.  Time for a mad
    coffee-spilling frenzy.  This is a big job, so I bring the whole jug
    over and wait for a witness.  The System Manager comes in.

    "Where's that report of mine?" he asks in a surly manner - he's
    obviously pissed that I haven't implicated myself yet.  Antagonist
    Identified.  As the Principal of "BASTARD OPERATOR SCHOOL" (me) will
    tell you, "There's no problem so large it can't be solved by killing
    the user off, deleting their files, closing their account and
    reporting their REAL earnings to the IRS"

    I pull his printout from under the coffee jug where I put it, and the
    coffee splashes all over the phone and keyboard, which for some reason
    were stacked on top of each other.

    "Woopsy!"  I say, mock horror on my face.  The System Manager's face
    tells me I was right in my guess.

    "Don't think you'll get away with this!" he snarls and stomps off.

    I click on the ethernet monitor and watch the traffic coming out of
    his PC.

    Ah!  A memo, authorising the termination of my contract, going to the
    laser in the director's office.  I make a few alterations to the file
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 17                  11 Mar 2002


    in the spool directory and let it go to it's destination.  I run my
    dinky little program that deposits -522 to the PC and our mainframe
    shits itself.

    Later, while booting, I'll remove that nasty logfile business.

    Next, I wander into the comms room and plug my earphone into the spare
    RS232 port in the Directors office.  It's amazing how simple it is to
    bug an office once it's got data lines going to it!

    Director:       "Are you sure about this?"
    SysMgr:         "OF COURSE!"
    Director:       "You don't want to reconsider?"
    SysMgr:         "NEVER!"
    Director:       "Very well, I'll fax it to staffing now.."
    SysMgr          "EXCELLENT!"

    Two seconds later the System Manager strolls in smiling. "Well, I'll
    really miss you Simon.." he says, full of himself.

    "Oh?" I say, all sweetness and charm "Where are you going?"

    "No Simon" he says, with glee "You're going"

    "A PROMOTION!" I say "You've finally written that letter to the head
    of staffing telling him he's a bum-sucking arse bandit and that you
    quit?"

    "No..."

    "Are you sure?  It's much better than the one about me being fired.."

    "Y.."  His eyes widen slightly

    It's like clubbing a seal to death with a foam cushion.  He runs to
    stop the fax.  Only, having just resigned, clicky cklikcy< his card
    key no longer works...

    Ametuers...

    The Phone rings.  It's the same guy as before

    "I can get into my account now, but I've run out of disk"

    "Hang on, I'll see what I can do"

    clicccky<... rm -r *


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

                         Henry Ford
                   Sent in by Warren Bonner

    Henry Ford dies and goes to heaven. At the gates, an angel tells
    Ford, "Well, you've been such a good guy and your inventions are
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 18                  11 Mar 2002


    great, and the assembly line for the automobile has changed the world
    for the good of mankind. As a reward, you can hangout with anyone you
    want to in Heaven."

    Ford thinks about it and says, "I want to hang out with God."

    So an Angel at the Gates takes Henry to the Throne Room and introduces
    him to God.

    Ford then asks God, "Hey, aren't you the inventor of Woman?"

    God says, "Ah, yes."

    "Well," says Ford, "you have some major design flaws in your
    invention:

    1. there's too much front end protrusion
    2. it chatters at high speeds
    3. maintenance is very costly
    4. it constantly needs repainting and refinishing
    5. it is out of commission 5 or 6 of every 28 days
    6. the rear end wobbles too much, and
    7. the intake is placed too close to the exhaust."

    "Hmmm..." replies God, "hold on." God goes to the Celestial
    Supercomputer, types in a few keystrokes, and waits for the result.
    The computers printer prints out a slip of paper and God reads it.

    "It may be that my invention is flawed," God replies to Henry Ford,
    "but according to statistics, more men are riding my invention than
    yours."

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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 19                  11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                TODD COCHRANE'S FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING
    =================================================================


                            Fidonet Software List
                               By Todd Cochrane
    Type:

    B=BBS  D=Door  M=Mailer  T=Tosser   C=Communication (terminal)
    U=Utility  P=Point Software  I=Internet (telnet, BinkP...)

    <+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+=-=+=-=-+-=-=+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+>
    (   Software Name     ) |Type| (         Author/Contact              )
    <+-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+=-=|=-=-|-=-=+=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=+>
    |BBBS Home Page         |B   | [email protected]                            |
    |                       |    | www.bbbs.net/                         |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |ELEBBS The Elevator    |B   | [email protected]                     |
    |Software Production    |    | www.elebbs.com                        |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Hermes II Project      |B   | [email protected]                     |
    |                       |    | http://www.hermesii.org/              |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Maximus BBS Support    |B   | [email protected]                      |
    |Page (Non Official)    |    | http://www.vector11.com/maximus/      |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |MBSE BBS               |B   | Michiel Broek                         |
    |                       |    | [email protected]          |
    |                       |    | http://mbse.sourceforge.net           |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Mystic BBS             |B   | http://www.mysticbbs.com/mystic/      |
    |                       |    |                                       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Nexus Bulletin         |B   | [email protected]                 |
    |Board System           |    | http://www.nexusbbs.net/              |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Proboard, Searchlight, |BC  | [email protected]                   |
    |Telegrafix             |    | http://www.telegrafix.com             |
    |Communications         |    | 540-678-4050                          |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |RemoteAccess           |B   | Bruce Morse                           |
    |Central                |    | [email protected]                     |
    |                       |    | http://www.rapro.com/                 |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Spitfire BBS           |B   | [email protected]                       |
    |Buffalo Creek Software |    |http://www.angelfire.com/ia/buffalo/   |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Synchronet BBS         |BT  | [email protected]                |
    |                       |    | http://www.synchro.net                |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Telegard BBS           |B   | [email protected]                  |
    |                       |    | http://www.telegard.net/              |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Wildcat Interactive    |BTMI| [email protected]                  |
    |Net Server             |    | http://www.santronics.com             |
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 20                  11 Mar 2002


    |Plantinum Express      |    |(305)248-3204                          |
    |                       |    | Santronics Inc.                       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Bentstone Capabilities |D   | [email protected]                 |
    |Group                  |    | http://www.srupc.com/mall             |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Jibben Software        |D   | [email protected]                      |
    |                       |    | http://www.jibbensoftware.com/        |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |JNS Software Door Games|D   | Rusty Johnson                         |
    |                       |    | [email protected]            |
    |                       |    | 304-733-0113                          |
    |                       |    | http://www.geocities.com/jnssoftware/ |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Legend Of The Red      |D   |                                       |
    |Dragon Reborn          |    |                                       |
    |(L.O.R.D.)             |    | http://www.lordlegacy.org/            |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |PC Pursuits            |D   |[email protected]                     |
    |                       |    |(301)240-6653                          |
    |                       |    |http://www.pcpursuits.com/products.htm |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |S and T Software       |D   |Mark Bappe                             |
    |                       |    |[email protected]             |
    |                       |    |(770)788-6843                          |
    |                       |    |http://bozax.iainc.net/public/         |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Shinning Star BBS Doors|D   |[email protected]               |
    |                       |    |http://www.shiningstar.net/bbsdoors/   |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Sunrise Door Software  |D   |Al Lawerence                           |
    |                       |    |[email protected]                    |
    |                       |    |(404)256-9518                          |
    |                       |    |http://www.sunrisedoors.com/           |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |The Brainex System     |D   |[email protected]                       |
    |                       |    |http://www.brainex.com/brainex_system/ |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Trade Wars Door Game   |D   |[email protected]                  |
    |                       |    |http://www.eisonline.com/tradewars/    |
    |                       |    |1:299/110                              |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Vagabond Software      |D   |Bryan Turner                           |
    |                       |    |[email protected]                  |
    |                       |    |http://vagabond.virtualave.net/        |
    |                       |    |1:124/7013                             |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |FMail Support          |T   |[email protected]               |
    |                       |    |http://fmail.nl.eu.org/                |
    |                       |    |2:280/1076                             |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Squish Tosser          |T   |http://www.lanius.com/squish.htm       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Argus RITLABS          |M   |[email protected]                      |
    |                       |    |373-2-246889                           |
    |                       |    |http://www.ritlabs.com/argus/          |
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 21                  11 Mar 2002


    |                       |    |2:469/84                               |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |FrontDoor              |MTPC|Definite Solutions                     |
    |FrontDoor APX          |    |[email protected]                        |
    |Mailer/Point Software  |    |http://www.defsol.se/                  |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |BeeMail Home Page      |M   |http://beemail.gexonline.net           |
    |                       |    |Stephen Proffit                        |
    |                       |    |1:211/405                              |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |BinkleyTerm XE         |M   |http://btxe.sourceforge.net/           |
    |Frontend Mailer        |    |                                       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |BinkD                  |MI  |[email protected]                     |
    |                       |    |http://2f.ru/binkd/                    |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Fidogate               |UIT |[email protected]                |
    |                       |    |http://www.fidogate.org/               |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Fidonet to Internet    |IM  |Bo Bendtsen                            |
    |Mailer                 |    |[email protected]                    |
    |                       |    |http://www.terminate.com/fido2int.htm  |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |GiGo Software          |UI  |http://www.gigo.com/                   |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Internet Rex           |IM  |[email protected]                  |
    |                       |    |http://plaza.v-wave.com/InternetRex/   |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Tmail                  |IM  |http://www.tmail.spb.ru/index-19.htm   |
    |(Russian /w English DL)|    |                                       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |TransX Multiboard      |M   |[email protected]                 |
    |Communications Inc.    |    |http://www.multiboard.com/software/    |
    |                       |    |transx.html                            |
    |                       |    |1:2401/305                             |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |TransNet               |I   |[email protected]                  |
    |                       |    |http://www.ressl.com.ar/transnet/      |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Watergate              |I   |[email protected]                          |
    |                       |    |http://www2.sbbs.se/hp/ramon/          |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |JetSys-Home of JetMail |TU  |http://www.jetsys.de/                  |
    |JetStat and other Atari|    |                                       |
    |Fidonet utilities      |    |                                       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |APoint (Author)        |P   |http://www.apoint.websale.net/index.htm|
    |                       |    |http://www.apoint-mail.de (Co-Autho)   |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |CrossPoint             |P   |("Original" version)                   |
    |                       |    |http://www.crosspoint.de               |
    |                       |    |http://www.apoint-mail.de              |
    |                       |    |(OpenXP Projekt)                       |
    |                       |    |http://www.openxp.com (English)        |
    |                       |    |http://www.openxp.de (German)          |
    |                       |    |CrossPoint (XP2 Team)                  |
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 22                  11 Mar 2002


    |                       |    |http://www.xp2.de                      |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |WinPoint95             |P   |http://www.schenksmir.de/wp/english    |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |The OpenXP CrossPoint  |P   |http://www.happyarts.de/xp             |
    |Projekt                |    |                                       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |Terminate Terminal     |P   |http://www.terminate.com               |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    |PPoint-FTS compatible  |P   |http://www.alcuf.ca/ppoint.htm         |
    |E-Mail System          |    |                                       |
    |-----------------------|----|---------------------------------------|
    \====================================================================/

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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 23                  11 Mar 2002


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

                      . -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- .
                      |    FIDONET-RELATED SITES    |
                      ` -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- '
                                  03/07/02

    Please send updates, corrections and suggestions to Shannon
    Talley, 1:275/311 or [email protected].  Please ensure your website
    is operational before submitting. All websites will be checked
    several times per month. If your website is down, or if it is a
    commerical website advertising products or services, it will be
    removed from the queue.

    FidoNet Email subscriptions:
    http://www.fidonews.org
    http://www.fidotel.com

    FidoNet
    Homepage:     http://www.fidonet.org
    FidoNews:     http://www.fidonews.org   [HTML]
                  ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/fidonet/fidonews/
                  http://www.fidotel.com/public/fidonews
    Echolist:     http://www.tlchost.net/echolist/
    SDS Files:    http://fidobbs.dk/download (Web Access to SDS)
    FTSC page:    http://www.ftsc.org/
    General:      http://www.writebynight.com/fidonet.html
                  http://www.fidotel.com
    Parody:       http://www.fidonet.ro/

    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/
      Region 11:  http://www.vector11.com/region11/
       Net 2410:  http://www.vector11.com/net2410/
      Region 12
        Net 229:  http://net229.darktech.org/
      Region 13:  http://www.ispaceonline.org/region13/
        Net 261:  http://www.baltimorepress.com/~net261/
        Net 275:  http://www.ispaceonline.org/net275/
        Net 267:  http://www.angelfire.com/ny4/net267/
        Net 275:  http://www.ispaceonline.org/net275/

      Region 14:
        Net 282:  http://www.rxn.com/~net282/
      Region 15:  http://www.bobsplc.com/public/reg15
      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://pages.sbcglobal.net/flv/
        Net 393:  http://www.chatter.com/~wb/
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 24                  11 Mar 2002


    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.was-ist-fido.de/ (German)
        Fido-IP:  http://home.nrh.de/fido/ (English/German)
      Region 26:  http://www.nemesis.ie
      Region 27:  http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
      Region 29:  http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/  (French)
                  http://Welcome.to/skynetbbs/
      Region 34:  http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm  (Spanish)
          REC34:  http://www.fidospain.org
      Region 38:  http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html
      Region 41:  http://www.fidonet.gr (Greek/English)
         Net422:  http://www.fido.sk (Slovak/English)
      Region 50:  http://www.fido7.com/  (Russian)
      Region 53:  http://fido.bitsoft.ro/
       Net 5010:  http://fido.tu-chel.ac.ru/  (Russian)
       Net 5015:  http://www.fido.nnov.ru/  (Russian)
       Net 5085:  http://www.fidonet.uz/ (Russian)

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

    Zone 4:
      Region 80:  http://fidobrasil.8m.com  (Portuguese)
        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 (Chinese)




                         Fidonet Via Internet Hubs



    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
      18/500   | Ross Cassell      | FTP, BinkP     |128K+,!| n/c
     103/5     | Mark Luetger      | BinkP          | CABLE | 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     | 768k  | FREE
     106/2000  | Bob Juge        | BinkP VMoT FTP TX| ???   | n/c
     106/6018  | Lawrence Garvin   | FTP, VMoT      | aDSL,60| n/c
     107/453   | Jeffrey Estevez| FTP,BinkP,VMoT,UUE| 56k,60| $10 mo.
     134/11    | Michael Grant  | FTP, BinkP, VMoT UUE, IFCICO,TransX
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 25                  11 Mar 2002


                                                   aDSL, 60 | n/c
     138/146   | Marc Blakely      | BinkP,FTP      | ???   | n/c
     140/1     | Bob Seaborn       | FTP,BinkP      | T3,30 | $5/$16
     142/906   | Chris Griffin     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     150/220   | Dave Nemeth       | UUE            | ???   | n/c
     153/7715  | Dallas Hinton     | BinkD, FTP     | CABLE | ???
     167/133   | Stephen Monteith  | BinkP          | 128k+ | n/c
     167/166   | Jesse Dooling     | POP? UUE TX FTP| ???   | n/c
     218/109   | Matt Munson       | BinkP,UUE,TX   | 33.6k | n/c
     220/10    | groberts|nexusbbs.net |BinkP,FTP,UUE|1.5M+ | n/c
     229/1     | Phil Simpson      | BinkP UUE FTP  | ???   | n/c
     229/2000  | Robert Couture    |BinkP FTP UUE TX| ???   |
     229/622   | Dave Hamilton     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     249/116   | Carl Austin Bennett | FTP, UUE    |ADSL,60 | n/c
     250/98    | Darin McBride     | BinkP FTP TX   | ???   | n/c
     250/99    | Brent McLaren     | FTP BinkP      | ???   | n/c
     250/102   | Darin McBride     | BinkP FTP      | ???   | n/c
     267/169   | Philip Lozier     | FTP TX         | ???   | n/c
     261/1380  | Joe Davis         | UUE TX         | ???   | n/c
     275/311   | Shannon Talley|FTP,BinkP,FTP,VMoT,QWK| T1  |n/c
     280/169   | Brian Greenstreet | FTP            | 33.6  | $2mo.
     297/11    | Michael McCabe    | TX             | ???   | n/c
     323/120   | Craig Healy       | VMoT FTP       | ???   | n/c
     342/3     | Richard Dodsworth | BinkP,FTP      | 128K+ | n/c
     360/5     | Bennie Hutto      | FTP VMoT       | aDSL  | n/c
     379/1     | Dale Ross         | FTP, BinkP,UUE | 256K+,! n/c
     379/1200  | Chris Cranford    | BinkP FTP TX   | ???   | n/c
     395/670   | Arthur Stark      | BinkP VMoT FTP | ???   | n/c
     396/45    | Marc Lewis        |BinkP FTP UUE TX| ADSL  | n/c
     396/48    | Ben Ritchey       | UUE:BFDS?      | 33.6k | n/c
    2215/300   | Dennis Haddox     | UUE,TX         | CABLE | n/c
    2320/38    | Janis Kracht      | BinkP FTP      | ???   | n/c
    2410/400   | Gary Gilmore      | FTP BinkP      | 384K,60| n/c
    2410/213   | Kevin Bentz       | FTP, BinkP, UUE| Cable | n/c
    2604/104   | Jim Mclaughlin    | FTP,VMoT,UUE   | 33.6  | $1mo
    2624/306   | David Calafrancesco  | VMoT        | 33.6  | n/c
    3613/1275  | @ [email protected] | UUE,FTP    | 28.8  | n/c
    3407/4     | Robert Todd    |FTP,VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 57.6k | n/c
    3632/84    | Robert Todd    |FTP,VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 57.6k | n/c
    3830/5     | Jeff Schrunk      |BinkP FTP TX UUE| ???   | n/c
    3830/10    | Matt Bedynek      |FTP, BinkD      | OC3     n/c
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    Zone 2     |
      20/11    | Henrik Lindhe     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      22/222   | Kim Heino         | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      28/1     | Lody Caenen       | BinkP FTP      | ???   | n/c
      31/1     | Gabriel Plutzar   | BinkP          | T1+   | n/c
      37/37    | Gabor Z. Papp     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
      47/999   | Andrej Kirejev    | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
      53/558   |Vladimir Hrusca|POP,VMoT,UUE,BinkP,ifcico|2mbs|??
     201/329   | Mats Wallin       | VMoT TX        | ???   | n/c
     201/505   | Goran Eriksson    | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     203/600   | Mikael Karlsson   |BinkP,FTP,TX,UUE| 512k  | n/c
     211/37    | Torbjorn Mohn     | BinkP          | 8/2mb | n/c
     221/360   | Tommi Koivula     | BinkP,UUE      | ???   | n/c
     236/205   | Michael Kaaber    | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 26                  11 Mar 2002


     240/6298  | Steve Tell        | BinkP UUE      | ???   | n/c
     246/2098  | Volker Imre       | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     252/110   | David Rance       | UUE            | ???   | n/c
     255/90    | Simon Avery       | UUE            | ???   | n/c
     263/950   | Sean Rima         | TX UUE         | ???   | n/c
     280/1027  | Lukas de Groen    | BinkP FTP      | ???   | n/c
     280/1601  | Jeroen VanDeLeur  | FTP,UUE        | 64k   | n/c
     280/4312  | Jos Huijnen   | BinkP ifcico UUE TX| ???   | n/c
     280/5003  | Kees van Eeten    | BinkP ifcico   | ???   | n/c
     292/620   | Eddy Missoul      | VMoT, UUE,BinkP| 64k   | n/c
     292/624   | Steven Leeman     | UUE            | 64k   | n/c
     292/854   | Ward Dossche      | BinkP UUE TX   | ???   | 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
     333/0     | M Gianformaggio   | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     335/534   | Mario Mure        | BinkP,VMot,UUE | 64k   | n/c
     335/610   | Gino Lucrezi      | UUE            | 33.6  | n/c
     341/14    | Rafael Suarez     | BinkP VMoT     | ???   | n/c
     341/51    | Jose.Maria Tejada | VMoT           |       |
     341/66    | Angel Ripoll      | VMoT           |       |
     343/168   | Jose Casanova     | VMoT           |       |
     344/201   | Julio Garcia      | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     346/3     | Carlos Navarro    | UUE            | ???   | n/c
     347/1     | Javi Polo         | UUE            |       |
     348/105   | Alejandro Estraviz| BinkP UUE      |       |
     382/100   | Sinisa Burina     | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
     400/555   | Ofir Michaeli     | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
     400/557   | Marius Kaizerman  | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
     423/81    | Milos Bajer       | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     461/256   | Andrew Rutkas     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
     461/640   | Alex Semenyaka    |BinkP ifcico UUE| ???   | n/c
     465/204   | Va Milushnikov    | BinkP          | 33.6k | n/c
     469/84    | Max Masyutin      | VMoT           | 256k  | n/c
     469/128   | Oleg Vasenyoff    | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
     480/112   | Adam Sarapata| FTP, VMoT, UUE,BinkP| 128k  | n/c
     550/4077  | Serguei Trouchelle| UUE            | ----- | n/c
    2410/201   | Karsten Ebeling   | BinkP UUE      | ???   | n/c
    2411/413   | Dennis Dittrich   | UUE,BinkP      | 64k   | n/c
    2432/200   | Sven Dueker       | BinkP TX UUE   | ???   | n/c
    2446/301   | Lothar Behet  | BinkP,VMoT,UUE,FTP | 64K   | n/c
    2474/275   | Christian Emig    | UUE            | 64k   | unkn
    2487/3000  | Steffen Gross     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    3830/10    | Matt Bedynek      | FTP, BinkP     | 100Mb | n/c
    5002/5002  | Victor Belyakov   | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5014/4     | Alex Bagmanov     | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
    5020/52    | Peter Didenko     | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5020/54    | Serge Wizgounoff  | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
    5020/69    | B Chernivetsky    | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5020/238   | Sergey Gubanov    | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5030/115   | Andrey Podkolzin  | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5030/1251  | K Stepanekov      | UUE            | ???   | n/c
    5100/8     | Egons Bush        | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5020/1159  | Gennady Kudryashoff | UUE          | 33.6  | n/c
    5049/12    | Amir Shabashvili  | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 27                  11 Mar 2002


    5054/3     | Andrew Popov      | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5080/80    | Eugene Zorin      | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
    5083/21    | Alexander Uskov   | BinkP,ifcico   | ???   | n/c
    5090/2     | Andrew Titov      | BinkP          | ???   | n/c
    5100/8     | Egons Bush        | BinkP          | ???   | 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
     712/311   | Bob James         | TX             | ???   | 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
     902/18    | Javier Tejedor    | UUE            | 33,6  | n/c
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    Zone 6
      65/3000  | Lawrence Fan      | UUE            | 33600 | free
     653/1009  | Maorong Chen      | UUE            | ???   | free
     654/0     | Bin Li            | UUE,BinkP      | 33600 | free
     654/1501  | Lawrence Fan      | UUE,BinkP      | 28800 | free

    --
    * FTP    = Internet File Transfer Protocol
    * VMoT   = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
    * UUE    = uuencode<->email type transfers
    * BinkP  = front end mailer for TCPIP networks
    * TX     = TransX
    * NFS    = Linux Networking
    * ifcico = ifcico-compatible virtual mailer
    * QWK    = Quick Packets/Offline mailer "networking" capable
    ----------------------------------------------
    Fidonet oriented news servers

    news.fidotel.com (currently offline)
    news.osirusoft.com
    news.tardis.net
    nntp://fido.bitsoft.ro
    nntp://bbs.bitsoft.ro

    Fidonet oriented chat rooms.

    room #fidonet  5PM (PDT 11AM GMT) Sundays
    irc.osirusoft.com  (Peers wanted)
    irc.sinoptix.ro : malay, chinesse, english, #fido,
    #fidonet, #wwb
    irc.bitsoft.ro : 6667 russian, english, hebrew, #fido,
    #wwb
    irc.tsua.net : 6668 russian, english #fido

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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 28                  11 Mar 2002


    =================================================================
                            SPECIAL INTEREST
    =================================================================

                        Nodelist Stats

     Input nodelist  nodelist.067
               size  1129.8kb
               date  2002-03-08

     The nodelist has  10185 nodes in it
       and a total of  13099 non-comment entries

             including     6 zones
                          65 regions
                         471 hosts
                         713 hubs
        admin overhead  1255 ( 12.32 %)

                   and   901 private nodes
                         360 nodes down
                         398 nodes on hold
     off line overhead  1659 ( 16.29 %)


     Speed summary:

              >9600 =    920 (  9.03 %)
               9600 =   8724 ( 85.66 %)
                             (HST  =  185 or   2.12 %)
                             (CSP  =    1 or   0.01 %)
                             (PEP  =   13 or   0.15 %)
                             (MAX  =    0 or   0.00 %)
                             (HAY  =    1 or   0.01 %)
                             (V32  = 4885 or  55.99 %)
                             (V32B =  540 or   6.19 %)
                             (V34  = 5791 or  66.38 %)
                             (V42  = 4750 or  54.45 %)
                             (V42B =  569 or   6.52 %)
               2400 =    107 (  1.05 %)
               1200 =      5 (  0.05 %)
                300 =    429 (  4.21 %)

               ISDN =   1095 ( 10.75 %)

    ----------------------------------------------------------
     File Req Flag   Applicable software     Number of systems
    ----------------------------------------------------------
     XA              Frontdoor <1.99b             3741
                     Frontdoor  2.02+
                     Dutchie 2.90c
                     Binkleyterm >2.1
                     D'Bridge <1.3
                     TIMS
                     Xenia
    --------------------------------------
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 29                  11 Mar 2002


     XB              Binkleyterm 2.0                 9
                     Dutchie 2.90b
    --------------------------------------
     XC              Opus 1.1                       10
    --------------------------------------
     XP              Seadog                          6
    --------------------------------------
     XR              Opus 1.03                      68
    --------------------------------------
     XW              Fido >12M                     405
                     Tabby
    --------------------------------------
     XX              D'Bridge 1.30                4506
                     Frontdoor 1.99b
                     Intermail 2.01
                     Tmail
    --------------------------------------
     None            QMM                          1440
    --------------------------------------

     CrashMail capable =   3374 ( 33.13 %)
     MailOnly nodes    =   5464 ( 53.65 %)
     Listed-only nodes =    783 (  7.69 %)
     Other             =    564 (  5.54 %)

     [Report produced by NETSTATS - A PD pgm available from 1:106/100]
     [                                 Revised by B Felten, 2:203/208]

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

    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 30                  11 Mar 2002


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

                           How to Submit an Article

    If you wish to submit an article for inclusion in the Fidonews, here
    are some guidelines, if you send it as an attached file; the preferred
    method if you want reasonable control over how the published article
    will appear in the Fidonews:

    a) Plain ASCII text. If you could type it on your keyboard, it's
       probably quite OK...

    b) Put a title to the article. Put the title in two times. The first
       time, on the first line, with an * before it. The second time, on
       the second line, without the * and centered. This will help in the
       format since the title with the * is removed and used in the index,
       the second line will become the headline. On the third line, put
       your name and FidoNet address, present or former. If former, you
       may want to add some other address where you can be reached for
       personal comments.

    c) Deadline for article submission is Sunday, 01:00 UTC.

    Help the Editor by following the above guides. Below are some subjects
    and the file extension for the article as set in the configuration
    file for the making of the Fidonews. The file name can be anything up
    to 8 characters. Please help by putting the file extension of the
    correct subject on the file name if known..

    Ideas for Subject areas:

        Subject                  File |      Subject                 File
    ----------------------------------|----------------------------------
     From the *C's              *.css |  Rebuttals to articles      *.reb
     Fidonet Regional News      *.reg |  Fidonet Net News           *.net
     Retractions                *.rtx |  General Fidonet Articles   *.art
     Guest Editorial            *.gue |  Fidonet Current Events     *.cur
     Fidonet Interviews         *.inv |  Fidonet Software Reviews   *.rev
     Fidonet Web Page Reviews   *.web |  Fidonet Notices            *.not
     Getting Fidonet Technical  *.ftc |  Question Of The Week       *.que
     Humor in a Fido Vein       *.hfv |  Comix in ASCII             *.cmx
     Fidonet's Int. Kitchen     *.rec |  Poet's Corner              *.poe
     Clean Humor & Jokes        *.jok |  Other Stuff                *.oth
     Fidonet Classified Ads     *.ads |  Corrections                *.cor

    If you don't know or are not sure, send the article anyway. Put a .TXT
    on it and I'll try to figure out where it should be in the Fidonews.

    If you follow these simple guidelines, there should be little problem
    in getting your article published. If your submission is too far out
    of specs for the Fidonews, it will be returned to you and/or a message
    sent informing you of the problem. This DOES NOT mean that your
    article is not accepted. It means that there is something in it that I
    can not fix and I need your help on it.
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 31                  11 Mar 2002


    Send Articles via E-mail or Netmail, file attach or message to:

             Bj�rn Felten
    Fidonet  2:2/2
    E-Mail   [email protected]

    Please include a message, telling me that you have sent an article.
    That way I will know to look for it.

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

                   Credits, Legal Infomation, Availability

    + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  FIDONEWS STAFF - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
    |                                                                |
    | Editor:        Bj�rn Felten, 2:2/2, [email protected]        |
    |                Crash mail attached: Editor@2:2/2               |
    |                E-Mail attached:     [email protected]          |
    | Webmaster:     Jim Barchuk, [email protected]                    |
    | Columnist:     Joe Jared, 1:103/0, [email protected]      |
    |                (Fido Via Internet Hubs column)                 |
    | Columnist:     Warren Bonner - Ol'WDB's Corner                 |
    | Columnist:     Jack Yates when in the Gawga mood               |
    | Columnist:     Frank Vest - (reserved for future use)          |
    + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

    + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -  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 D. Bonner, Frank L. Vest             |
    |                                                                |
    + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

    "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
    trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.

    Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of Fidonet.
    Fidonews is Copyright (C) 2002 by Bj�rn Felten, though authors
    retain rights to their contributed articles.  Opinions expressed
    by the authors is strictly their own.  Noncommercial duplication
    and distribution within Fidonet is encouraged.  Authors are
    encouraged to send their articles in ASCII text to the Editor
    at one of the 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 - -- -- -- -- -- -- +
    |                                                                |
    |         File request from 2:2/2:                               |
    |               current issue                    FIDONEWS        |
    FIDONEWS 19-10               Page 32                  11 Mar 2002


    |               back issue, volume v, issue ii   FNEWSvii.ZIP    |
    |         ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/fidonet/fidonews/                 |
    |         http://www.fidonews.org                                |
    |         email subscription: [email protected]             |
    |                             (subject: help body: list)         |
    |         ftp mail: [email protected] (subject: help)         |
    |                                                                |
    + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

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