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Volume 6, Number 3 16 January 1989
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| _ |
| / \ |
| /|oo \ |
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
| International | | \ \\ |
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Editor in Chief Dale Lovell
Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Contributing Editors: Al Arango
FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is available for network mail between NMH-1
hour to NMH+1 hour. At all other times, netmail is not accepted
although submissions can be uploaded.
Copyright 1989 by the International FidoNet Association. All
rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted
at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
are used with permission.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette ...... 5
FidoNews Policy Changes by Rick Siegel 1:107/27 .......... 12
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 14
RegComm - Communications From RegCon ..................... 14
3. NOTICES .................................................. 17
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 17
Latest Software Versions ................................. 17
FidoNews 6-03 Page 1 16 Jan 1989
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Are These Christian Views on AIDS?
Fredric L. Rice
(103/503.3)
"I'm getting out of my closet with this issue. We are under
siege. The homosexuals didn't create this plague; God did. But
they are the primary distributors.
"Of course, it is really a waste of time to get angry with them.
They won't be around much longer. A decade from now, they will
all be dead. There will be no gay lobby because there will be no
male gays. (The irony of all this is that the one group that is
probably safest is the lesbian community). But we must recognize
what we face. The disease will be here in a decade because
Judgment has come!"
- Gary North, p.h.D., President of the
Institute for Christian Economics.
Normally, you wouldn't see me write this kind of article. You
may have seen many submissions such as Voyager and the Deep
Space Network. What prompted me: I read an article posted on
several Christian systems in the Southern California area which
was titled "AIDS: God's gift to mankind." The file name was
PLAGUE.TXT. Its description peaked by interest, to say the
least, so I downloaded it and took a look.
FidoNews is generally considered to be a forum for dissemination
of the technical aspects of the network as well as a forum for
the distribution of network news. I would also like to mention
that its potential for dissemination of other information is
likewise always there. Views and opinions have been expressed
and I generally appreciate their being included. I have also
tried to post astronomical articles in the hopes that there are
a great many SysOps and users who enjoy such things. This
posting didn't come easy but I have some questions to ask.
The authorship is listed as Gary North, president for an
economics institute. The references at the back, (which I always
check for before reading any article), mention that the majority
of the source for Norths' article came from an interview with
Gene Antonio, author of "The AIDS Cover-Up?", which was made
available through Focus on the Family, a quasi-religious
organization which guides its followers with heavy family
relationships being stressed.
Further references were also interesting: "Homosexuality: A
Biblical View by Greg Bahnsen". "The AIDS epidemic, A Citizen's
Guide to Protecting your Family and Community from the Gay
Plague". There were also tapes from "Joseph C. Morecraft the
FidoNews 6-03 Page 2 16 Jan 1989
Third, pastor of the Chalcedon Presbyterian Church, Atlanta",
which sells "Homosexuality and AIDS, tapes 1 and 2", and "How
God Removes Dross from a Culture".
A few more quotes from this article:
"On the final weekend of February, I attended a conference.
Because of restrictions imposed by the organization, I am not
allowed to mention its name. This was a rule established in
1981, at the first meeting. It's not a secret society; it's more
of a publicity-shy group. The major 'New Right" leaders in the
U.S. belong, and a lot of them were in attendance this time."
"Dr. Koop is preaching condoms for teen-agers. He wants a huge
sex education program in the public schools. Here is the
ultimate irony: the Christian conservatives are now promoting
the one program above all others that conservatives have fought
for three decades: Federal sex education in the schools. The
Koop report could have been written by the Gay liberation Task
Force on AIDS. Its solution is educational and technical, not
moral and religious.
"The only long-term solution is MORAL AND RELIGIOUS! We are not
saved by knowledge! For three decades we have seen that sexual
promiscuity increases with every sex education program
introduced into the public schools! Conservatives have been
yelling about this the whole time. Now, I fear, they will remain
silent, and a full-scale sex education program with no holds
barred will be given to our children!"
"An EVOLVING virus: what a perfect means of bringing the age of
Darwinian self-confidence to an end! God has a sense of humor!"
The article goes on at length about his children being in
private schools and that "Public schools are going to be
abandoned", in capital letters. Because of the semi-hysterical
content of the article, I dismissed it half-way through and set
it in a binder where I keep a copy of everything I have ever
downloaded. A day later, I brought it out again to see if I
could verify the authorship and see if the Christian community
in general actually retain these views about AIDS.
I was able to verify that Gene Antonio actually exists and has
written several books. The Institute for Christian Economics
also exists yet appears to be a business which offers courses in
tax evasion for church members, (this because the ICE yields
extensive incomes through multiple publications, qualifying for
tax exemption under the U.S. tax laws, and show no visible
product or services other than postal freight). This is an
opinion that _I_ hold due to all facts available when denied the
possibility of enlightenment due to 'publicity-shy'
organizations.
Finally, I called Focus on the Family in Pomona, California, to
FidoNews 6-03 Page 3 16 Jan 1989
arrange an interview with Gene Antonio. The request was refused
with no explanation Offered. This was probably due to my lack of
credentials; how does writing about Christian views on AIDS for
a million above-average intelligent computer users affect the
possibility of my gaining an audience with a Christian leader?
Had I misrepresented myself as a fellow church newsletter
writer, my request for an interview may have had a better
reception.
Thus the validity of the article remains in doubt and I elected
to consider its source as questionable: The article was not
written by someone who represents the views of Christian
Religions. I filed it away again.
There remained in my mind, however, the references at the end of
the article. Many of these books were available for sell at a
local Christian book store. Spending time in the store wasn't
very comfortable, I kept waiting for someone to look up from
the shelves of book, point at me and chant "An unbeliever! An
unbeliever in our midst! Punish the non-believer!" Not wishing
to give money to their organization, I simply looked through
the books quickly and was able to confirm the overall consensus
that AIDS _is_ considered Gods Gift To Mankind, stripping away
the gays and junkies of the world, leaving the planet cleansed
for the few chosen Christians.
This didn't strike me as a particularly Christian view to take.
The United States Federal Government, under the guidance of the
Surgeon General, has published and distributed a pamphlet to all
the residences in the United States. If your city or town was
not targeted for this federal mail-out, it basically listed,
(in _very_ clear and unambiguous language, complete with
graphic pictures), what can and can not propagate AIDS. Also was
offered how to protect yourself and family against this disease.
The Christian community would have us abandon technology and
request Gods mercy to keep from getting AIDS. Certainly we have
seen, by virtue of the media, that morality alone does not keep
people from having sex with whores, (rana' Swaggert, Fallwell,
Graham, Bakers, et. all), or not using protective devices. It
has been mentioned before that such devices are considered
unclean because they keep sinners from receiving the negative
results of their sins while allow the positive results to be,
um, realized.
It boils down to believing the Federal Government, (not an easy
thing to do in light of the many naughty things our leaders do),
or having faith in our religious leaders, (likewise not easy to
do in light of they many naughty things they do).
As the ads say: Get the facts on AIDS. If you have doubts, I
would urge you to contact an AIDS hotline; there's bound to be
one in your area. Likewise, contact your church leaders if they
don't already have seminars and learn what they have to say
about AIDS. It's possible that not all churches retain the same
FidoNews 6-03 Page 4 16 Jan 1989
views as the authorship of the "Plauge.Txt" article does.
I have read Tom Jennings comments about the problems he has had
confronted with ignorance and prejudice and would have to agree
with his comments about the fear AIDS has generated causing
violence against gays. This is an education problem, not truly
a social problem that needs to be solved. To be fair, gays make
me nervous when I am working someone I know is gay. I should
also mention that I avoid them all the more since the disease
has met the media the way it has. This attitude is a carry over
from my many prejudices and is an attitude that will never
change; The ignorant among us, however, react with violence. The
Christian community react by praying for salvation.
I have read a short upload that mentioned some Christian doctors
abandoning research on AIDS. In the same upload, it mentions
still other not willing to treat AIDS victims. It was not
because they feared they would contract the disease, it was
because they felt that it was a God-sent plague; all with the
corresponding Biblical references, chapter and verse. To combat
it would be to fight the will of God.
Tom mentioned that it's time to speak out, take a stand; try to
disperse the ignorance spreading faster than the disease itself.
This won't happen very easily, Tom: Speak out in favor of sex
education for the prevention of AIDS, and you get branded a fag.
Speak out in favor of a national public education for the
prevention of AIDS series on television and you need to tell the
networks where the money is coming from. Speak out for truthful
education on the disease in the church, and you get branded a
devil worshiper.
- PLAGUE.TXT. can be file requested from Astro-Net, 103/503, 24
hours a day. Fredric Rice requests any rebuttals from the
Christian community in response to my findings. I _would_ like
to hear if the view that AIDS is from God is generally accepted.
Another interesting article available is "Evolve.Txt", a paper
on why evolution is an unworkable theory. I wonder how the
authors of some of these Christian articles are able to function
in a world where the age of the gas they put into their cars
contradict their belief in the age of the planet; or what the
age of the star light that they see at night from galaxy
clusters over 170 million light years away might do to their
beliefs of they understood parallax. I'm sure some do but why
continue to think the universe is only a few thousand years old?
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-03 Page 5 16 Jan 1989
Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
Newsgroups: news.announce.newusers
Subject: Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette
Original-from: looking!brad (Brad Templeton) [Most recent change:
24 October 1988 by looking!brad]
**NOTE: this is intended to be satirical. If you do not recognize
it as such, consult a doctor or professional comedian. The
recommendations in this article should recognized for what they
are -- admonitions about what NOT to do.
"Dear Emily Postnews"
Emily Postnews, foremost authority on proper net
behaviour, gives her advice on how to act on the net.
====================================================
Dear Miss Postnews: How long should my signature be? --
verbose@portal
A: Dear Verbose: Please try and make your signature as long as
you can. It's much more important than your article, of course,
so try and have more lines of signature than actual text.
Try and include a large graphic made of ASCII characters, plus
lots of cute quotes and slogans. People will never tire of
reading these pearls of wisdom again and again, and you will soon
become personally associated with the joy each reader feels at
seeing yet another delightful repeat of your signature.
Be sure as well to include a complete map of USENET with each
signature, to show how anybody can get mail to you from any site
in the world. Be sure to include ARPA gateways as well. Also tell
people on your own site how to mail to you.
Aside from your reply address, include your full name, company
and organization. It's just common courtesy -- after all, in some
newsreaders people have to type an *entire* keystroke to go back
to the top of your article to see this information in the header.
By all means include your phone number and street address in
every single article. People are always responding to usenet
articles with phone calls and letters. It would be silly to go to
the extra trouble of including this information only in articles
that need a response by conventional channels!
------
Dear Emily: Today I posted an article and forgot to include my
signature. What should I do? -- forgetful@myvax
FidoNews 6-03 Page 6 16 Jan 1989
A: Dear Forgetful: Rush to your terminal right away and post an
article that says, "Oops, I forgot to post my signature with that
last article. Here it is."
Since most people will have forgotten your earlier article,
(particularly since it dared to be so boring as to not have a
nice, juicy signature) this will remind them of it. Besides,
people care much more about the signature anyway. See the
previous letter for more important details.
Also, be sure to include your signature TWICE in each article.
That way you're sure people will read it.
------
Dear Ms. Postnews: I couldn't get mail through to somebody on
another site. What should I do? -- eager@beaver.dam
A: Dear Eager: No problem, just post your message to a group that
a lot of people read. Say, "This is for John Smith. I couldn't
get mail through so I'm posting it. All others please ignore."
This way tens of thousands of people will spend a few seconds
scanning over and ignoring your article, using up over 16
man-hours their collective time, but you will be saved the
terrible trouble of checking through usenet maps or looking for
alternate routes. Just think, if you couldn't distribute your
message to 9000 other computers, you might actually have to
(gasp) call directory assistance for 60 cents, or even phone the
person. This can cost as much as a few DOLLARS (!) for a 5 minute
call!
And certainly it's better to spend 10 to 20 dollars of other
people's money distributing the message then for you to have to
waste $9 on an overnight letter, or even 25 cents on a stamp!
Don't forget. The world will end if your message doesn't get
through, so post it as many places as you can.
------
Q: What about a test message?
A: It is important, when testing, to test the entire net. Never
test merely a subnet distribution when the whole net can be done.
Also put "please ignore" on your test messages, since we all know
that everybody always skips a message with a line like that.
Don't use a subject like "My sex is female but I demand to be
addressed as male." because such articles are read in depth by
all USEnauts.
------
Q: Somebody just posted that Roman Polanski directed Star Wars.
What should I do?
FidoNews 6-03 Page 7 16 Jan 1989
A: Post the correct answer at once! We can't have people go on
believing that! Very good of you to spot this. You'll probably be
the only one to make the correction, so post as soon as you can.
No time to lose, so certainly don't wait a day, or check to see
if somebody else has made the correction.
And it's not good enough to send the message by mail. Since
you're the only one who really knows that it was Francis Coppola,
you have to inform the whole net right away!
------
Q: I read an article that said, "reply by mail, I'll summarize."
What should I do? -- weemba@brahms
A: Post your response to the whole net. That request applies only
to dumb people who don't have something interesting to say. Your
postings are much more worthwhile than other people's, so it
would be a waste to reply by mail.
------
Q: I collected replies to an article I wrote, and now it's time
to summarize. What should I do?
A: Simply concatenate all the articles together into a big file
and post that. On USENET, this is known as a summary. It lets
people read all the replies without annoying newsreaders getting
in the way.
------
Q: I saw a long article that I wish to rebut carefully, what
should I do?
A: Include the entire text with your article, and include your
comments between the lines. Be sure to post, and not mail, even
though your article looks like a reply to the original. Everybody
*loves* to read those long point-by-point debates, especially
when they evolve into name-calling and lots of "Is too!" -- "Is
not!" -- "Is too, twizot!" exchanges.
------
Q: How can I choose what groups to post in?
A: Pick as many as you can, so that you get the widest audience.
After all, the net exists to give you an audience. Ignore those
who suggest you should only use groups where you think the
article is highly appropriate. Pick all groups where anybody
might even be slightly interested.
Always make sure followups go to all the groups. In the rare
event that you post a followup which contains something original,
make sure you expand the list of groups. Never include a
"Followup-to:" line in the header, since some people might miss
FidoNews 6-03 Page 8 16 Jan 1989
part of the valuable discussion in the fringe groups.
------
Q: How about an example?
A: Ok. Let's say you want to report that Gretzky has been traded
from the Oilers to the Kings. Now right away you might think
rec.sport.hockey would be enough. WRONG. Many more people might
be interested. This is a big trade! Since it's a NEWS article, it
belongs in the news.* hierarchy as well. If you are a news admin,
or there is one on your machine, try news.admin. If not, use
news.misc.
The Oilers are probably interested in geology, so try
sci.physics. He is a big star, so post to sci.astro, and
sci.space because they are also interested in stars. Next, his
name is Polish sounding. So post to soc.culture.polish. But that
group doesn't exist, so cross-post to news.groups suggesting it
should be created. With this many groups of interest, your
article will be quite bizarre, so post to talk.bizarre as well.
(And post to comp.std.mumps, since they hardly get any articles
there.)
You may also find it is more fun to post the article once in each
group. If you list all the newsgroups in the same article, some
newsreaders will only show the the article to the reader once!
Don't tolerate this.
------
Q: How do I create a newsgroup?
A: The easiest way goes something like "inews -C newgroup ....",
and while that will stir up lots of conversation about your new
newsgroup, it might not be enough.
First post a message in news.groups describing the group. Hold
discussion for a short while, and then ask for a vote. Collect
votes for 30 days. Every few days post a long summary of all the
votes so that people can complain about bad mailers and double
votes. It means you'll be more popular and get lots of mail. At
the end of thirty days if you have 100 more yes votes than no
votes you may create the group.
No matter what the group, it is not necessary to get the approval
of admins at backbone sites. They will be happy to create any
group if it passes the above test.
To liven up discussion, choose a good cross-match for your
hierarchy and group. For example, comp.race.formula1 or
soc.vlsi.design would be good group names. If you want your group
created quickly, include an interesting word like "sex" or
"bible."
------
FidoNews 6-03 Page 9 16 Jan 1989
Q: I cant spell worth a dam. I hope your going too tell me what
to do?
A: Don't worry about how your articles look. Remember it's the
message that counts, not the way it's presented. Ignore the fact
that sloppy spelling in a purely written forum sends out the same
silent messages that soiled clothing would when addressing an
audience.
------
Q: How should I pick a subject for my articles?
A: Keep it short and meaningless. That way people will be forced
to actually read your article to find out what's in it. This
means a bigger audience for you, and we all know that's what the
net is for. If you do a followup, be sure and keep the same
subject, even if it's totally meaningless and not part of the
same discussion. If you don't, you won't catch all the people who
are looking for stuff on the original topic, and that means less
audience for you.
------
Q: What sort of tone should I take in my article?
A: Be as outrageous as possible. If you don't say outlandish
things, and fill your article with libelous insults of net
people, you may not stick out enough in the flood of articles to
get a response. The more insane your posting looks, the more
likely it is that you'll get lots of followups. The net is here,
after all, so that you can get lots of attention.
If your article is polite, reasoned and to the point, you may
only get mailed replies. Yuck!
------
Q: The posting software suggested I had too long a signature and
too many lines of included text in my article. What's the best
course?
A: Such restrictions were put in the software for no reason at
all, so don't even try to figure out why they might apply to your
article. Turns out most people search the net to find nice
articles that consist of the complete text of an earlier article
plus a few lines.
In order to help these people, fill your article with dummy
original lines to get past the restrictions. Everybody will thank
you for it.
For your signature, I know it's tough, but you will have to read
it in with the editor. Do this twice to make sure it's firmly in
there.
FidoNews 6-03 Page 10 16 Jan 1989
------
Q: They just announced on the radio that Dan Quayle was picked as
the Republican V.P. candidate. Should I post?
A: Of course. The net can reach people in as few as 3 to 5 days.
It's the perfect way to inform people about such news events long
after the broadcast networks have covered them. As you are
probably the only person to have heard the news on the radio, be
sure to post as soon as you can.
------
Q: I have this great joke. You see, these three strings walk into
a bar...
A: Oh dear. Don't spoil it for me. Submit it to rec.humor, and
post it to the moderator of rec.humor.funny at the same time. I'm
sure he's never seen that joke, and I know he loves to have jokes
sent to rec.humor and rec.humor.funny at the same time.
------
Q: What computer should I buy? An Atari ST or an Amiga?
A: Cross post that question to the Atari and Amiga groups. It's
an interesting and novel question that I am sure they would love
to investigate in those groups.
------
Q: What about other important questions? How should I know when
to post?
A: Always post them. It would be a big waste of your time to find
a knowledgeable user in one of the groups and ask through private
mail if the topic has already come up. Much easier to bother
thousands of people with the same question.
------
Q: What is the measure of a worthwhile group?
A: Why, it's Volume, Volume, Volume. Any group that has lots of
noise in it must be good. Remember, the higher the volume of
material in a group, the higher percentage of useful, factual and
insightful articles you will find. In fact, if a group can't
demonstrate a high enough volume, it should be deleted from the
net.
------
Q: My fanzine isn't doing well in the readership surveys because
it is only quarterly. What can I do?
A: Simply have the articles take three months to expire, so that
FidoNews 6-03 Page 11 16 Jan 1989
they always show up in the surveys. All those sites probably
aren't using their disk space for anything useful, so what not
use it to boost your ego?
------
Q: What does foobar stand for?
A: It stands for you, dear.
--
Gene Spafford
NSF/Purdue/U of Florida Software Engineering Research Center,
Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University,W.Lafayette IN
Internet: spaf@cs.purdue.edu
uucp: ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-03 Page 12 16 Jan 1989
FidoNews Policy Changes by Rick Siegel 1:107/27
As chairman of the publications committee of IFNA, I
have been requested, by the president, to solicit opinion on
changes to FidoNews policy and to compile a consensus and
advisory to him by Jan 17, 1988.
I ask anyone interested in expressing himself on this
matter send netmail to Rick Siegel at 1:107/27 prior to that,
and preferably a few days prior so that your opinion may be
included in the consensus.
I have never written anything for FidoNews, and this is
my first shot at this. I am not a writer, please forgive my
corruption of the English language.
I would, however, like to let you all know my opinion of
this affair.
It seems that the crux of the complaints about FidoNews
revolve around an article by Tom Jennings. I have read the
article. I have not seen any complaints. Then again, I do not
subscribe to SysOp or IFNA echoes.
I find it quite incredulous that anyone did not
understand the content and intent of the Jennings article.
Certainly it was not computer oriented in it's content. However,
it was a "piece of life" for Tom Jennings, and he shared it with
us, the SysOps in a network he envisioned and created. Yet this
network is full of the diversity from which Tom had spoken, so
it does stand to reason some will be offended in many ways.
For those that were offended, may we look deeper. Tom
Jennings is the founding visionary of the network we call
owe him is to keep the ideals he envisioned within his creation
communicate the frustrations he faces in his daily life. It
interest, if only to note what is going on with the granddad
of FidoNet.
Additionally, using this article as a ram rod to
put shackles on the editor of FidoNews and make moves to
constant bickering among the wolves of the echoes.
a majority of negative comment sway the flow of information to
the majority. I find the policy for FidoNews fine for the
purpose, and time proven.
Since there is a limited time for any of you to respond
to this, I have taken the liberty of contacting some SysOps
direct. I would however like to hear from anyone, and as soon as
possible. Please let me know what you feel by contacting Rick
Siegel at 1:107/27, which is #CM at 1200/2400 baud.
I appreciate your time and efforts to making this
research work.
FidoNews 6-03 Page 13 16 Jan 1989
Rick Siegel (107/27)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-03 Page 14 16 Jan 1989
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
RegComm - Communications From RegCon.
Last weeks column mentioned a rumor about one of the *C team who
was injured and his net helped him return to active status.
Well, it wasn't a rumor after all. We recently received the
following from Chris Baker:
A Holiday Ode to Net 135
by Christopher Baker
RC 18 / NC 135
Twas two weeks before Christmas and all thru my house,
my body was aching, I started to grouse.
"If I don't dump this backache and get back to work
my Users and Sysops will think I'm a jerk."
I'd been laid up at home for many a week
and I had no computer through which I could speak.
It's tough to do business without a remote and I'm sure
many NCs thought things I can't quote.
All the while in the background quite unknown to me,
the folks of my own Net were planning a spree.
They talked and they chatted and gathered up parts
to build me a system for home, bless their hearts.
They Netmailed and Echoed and telephoned, too,
deciding just which part was what and from who.
They assembled a system that was based on a Tandy;
with modem and hard drive, I mean, it's a dandy!
I was tired and cranky the night it was due
and had NO idea this dream would come true.
I had pains in my back and a pain in my head
but my wife kept insisting I not go to bed.
It didn't seem normal the way she cajoled.
It wasn't till later she said, "I was told."
So unknown to me I was being prepared
for a real demonstration of how my Net cared.
It was close to eleven P.M. when I said,
"I can't stay up longer. I'm going to bed."
Then suddenly and very much to my shock
came a tap on the door and then a loud knock.
"Ho, Ho, Ho!", said a voice not too clear through the door.
"Open up! I have presents for you by the score!"
The door was thrown wide to allow the sprite in
but he wasn't in red; not a hair on his chin.
FidoNews 6-03 Page 15 16 Jan 1989
He was thin as a rail and no Santa was he.
I recognized Peter; our own NEC.
"What the heck's going on?" I exclaimed to the air.
He said, "Just a small token to show that we care."
He said nothing else but went straight to his work
and set up the system then he turned with a smirk.
"No more excuses!", he said, "Now, get cracking!"
"Your traffic's piled up and the stuff keeps on stacking!"
I stood there dumbfounded, amazed and confused.
My mind boggled speechless and he seemed amused.
"What? How? Who and why?", I managed to say.
"It's nothing", said he, "now, get back in the fray!"
It wouldn't sink in that such things still take place
that confirm all your faith in the rest of the race.
The best I could do was to stammer my thanks
and then write this poem to honor our ranks.
I still can't believe it and simply must say,
"All the folks in my Net, you made my whole day!"
"I never can thank you enough for this gift."
"Your generous act brings a permanent lift!"
So, all of the rest out in FidoNet land,
keep your faith that our concept continues to stand.
The FidoNet concept of help and of sharing
is here. Look around and you'll see people caring.
It's never too late to put egos aside.
Let go some bygones and take them in stride.
This Network is people and people are kind.
When your urge is to flame them, please keep that in mind.
To all of my Net, I say "Thank you, nth times!"
To the rest of the world who are sick of my rhymes
I say "I hope the New Year will bring you much joy!"
Now, I think I'll stop here and go play with my toy! [grin]
The End
Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to the wacky world of FidoNet!
Christopher Baker MetroFire, 1:135/14(0), 305-596-8611 Miami, FL
SFLorida Net 135, Miami_FL_USA
Roster of Net 135 Santas:
1 RAM-SOFT_Archive_Library, David_Gilbert & James Gilbert
2 Eclectic_BBS, Tark_Henderson
3 Medical_Software_Exchange, Richard_Kaplan
4 The_Kendall_BBS, Mike_Janke
5 CAP-BBS, Duane_Ellis
6 Dungeons_of_Darkness_OPUS, Mike_Jones
7 Miami's_First_Fido, Al_DelaTorre
FidoNews 6-03 Page 16 16 Jan 1989
8 Coral_Gables_Medterm_BBS, Mario_Diaz
9 EPICS_Opus, Sandy_Schurtz
10 AMS_Support-Net_135_NEC, Peter_Adenauer
11 Power_Station, Mike_Lombana
12 Off-Duty_Inc._BBS, Kathryn_Fanning
20 FrontDoor_Headquarters, Joaquim_Homrighausen
24 TURBO-Soft, David_Kerley
27 Bitsy's_Place, Henry_VanLeer
30 SMURFIT_Latin_America_Opus, Jeff_Wolach
33 Byte_Size_Bits, Jean_Prophet & Buddy Prophet
34 The_Jailhouse, Kenny_Star
35 The_Sober_Way_Out, Robert_Egan
36 Town_Crier_Opus, Orville_Bullitt
38 C-Board, Jack_Bowman
39 The Expressions_BBS, Daniel_Johnston
40 The_Cable_Connection, Jerry_Iovine
41 BBS1-PC!, John_Theed
43 Key's_Paradise, Steve_Froeschke
46 Bullitt_-_80_Opus, Guy_Bullitt
47 MOBS_Opus_Humor_South, Andrew_Adler
48 The_Road_Runner, Luis_Hernandez
88 Chatterbox_BBS, Marc_Moyantcheff
204 BerkShire_Board, Bill_Kraski
901 Miami's_Personal_Consultant, Dave_Steinman
942 wHy_bE_NoRmaL?, Tim_LaVan
990 Friends_of_Dorothy, Scott_Samet
Thank you all for the fabulous Tandy T1000 w/20 meg hard drive,
1200 bps modem, 384K RAM, floppy drive and completely configured
with DOS and programs! It is a gift I will always cherish and
never forget. You ARE an amazing and generous bunch of people and
Sysops!
We all thank you Chris, for bringing it to our attention that
FidoNet still consists of a lot of caring people. The RegCon
team wishes you well and we hope to hear from you often.
("RegComm" will be a regular column in FidoNews and your comments
are welcome. Please address your concerns and comments via
NetMail to your Net or Regional Coordinator, you should receive
an answer within a few days. It's your net and we would like to
have your input.)
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FidoNews 6-03 Page 17 16 Jan 1989
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
5 Oct 1989
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Latest Software Versions
Bulletin Board Software
Name Version Name Version Name Version
Fido 12i Opus 1.03b TBBS 2.1*
QuickBBS 2.03 TPBoard 5.0* TComm/TCommNet 3.2
Lynx 1.10 Phoenix 1.3 RBBS 1.71C
Network Node List Other
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.90b EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.32
SEAdog 4.10 MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1
BinkleyTerm 2.00 Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
D'Bridge 1.10 XlatList 2.86 TPB Editor 1.21
FrontDoor 2.0 XlaxNode 2.31* TCOMMail 2.0*
PRENM 1.40 XlaxDiff 2.31* TMail 8812*
ParseList 1.30* UFGATE 1.02*
GROUP 2.04*
EMM 1.40
MSGED 1.96
* Recently changed
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
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FidoNews 6-03 Page 18 16 Jan 1989
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIVISION AT-LARGE
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
18 Christopher Baker 1:135/14 Bob Swift 1:140/24
19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
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FidoNews 6-03 Page 19 16 Jan 1989
__
The World's First / \
BBS Network /|oo \
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
_`@/_ \ _
| | \ \\
| (*) | \ ))
______ |__U__| / \//
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
increase worldwide communications.
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
Address _________________________________________________________
City ____________________________________________________________
State ________________________________ Zip _____________________
Country _________________________________________________________
Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________
BBS Name ________________________________________________________
BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________
Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________
Board Restrictions ______________________________________________
Your Special Interests __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in
US Funds to:
International FidoNet Association
PO Box 41143
St Louis, Missouri 63141
USA
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
insure the future of FidoNet.
Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors
was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
input to this Conference.
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