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F I D O N E W S -- Vol.10 No.19 (10-May-1993)
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| A newsletter of the | |
| FidoNet BBS community | Published by: |
| _ | |
| / \ | "FidoNews" BBS |
| /|oo \ | +1-519-570-4176 1:1/23 |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | Editors: |
| | | \ \\ | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 |
| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
| |__U__| / \// | Tim Pozar 1:125/555 |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Internet addresses: |
| |
| Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
| Donald -- donald@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
| Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com |
| Both Don & Sylvia (submission address) |
| editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies and other boring but important details, |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
========================================================================
Table of Contents
========================================================================
1. Editorial..................................................... 2
2. Articles...................................................... 2
OBTasteless joke............................................ 2
Deleted and ignored and annoyed............................. 3
Whirlybirds echo............................................ 6
Area ESPERANTO.............................................. 7
Trade Wars Echo Net Available!.............................. 8
Visual Player 2.0 : Good Vibrations......................... 9
Texas Employment Commission................................. 9
I like Eurocon, by Pablito.................................. 10
SUNDAY MORNING TELEVISION REVISITED......................... 12
VENDINFO Concept Paper...................................... 17
3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 18
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 2 10 May 1993
========================================================================
Editorial
========================================================================
The snooze is hefty this week, with several good articles.
For the lead article, "Deleted and ignored and annoyed" we owe
the author an apology. It should have been in last week's issue,
but did not arrive in our inbound for some reason. All we
received was a covering letter from the author. When we tried
to respond, the letter was bounced (for obvious reasons once
you read the article). Though the author included a phone
number, we did not phone.
Regardless, it is in this issue, and we consider it a quite
serious matter. It should be required reading for all the policy
mongers out there. While I am sure that they will all respond
by claiming it proves the need for still more rules and
regulations, I will simply suggest that the entire matter could
be cleared up in seconds if the writer had the right to join any
net that he wanted. Dictators only retain power when they have
the ability of preventing anybody from alternatives.
Having said that, I will make one more comment. We have
heard only one side of this so far. I, for one, am awaiting a
response with bated breath.
========================================================================
Articles
========================================================================
The Cynic's Sandbox, II.IV.XXX
R.Cynic
I took last week off. Lack of material and a near heart attack
will do that for you. Besides, I figured SOMEONE would break
the chain of boring articles we'd been having lately. Ahh,
sweet scent of napalm.
Hey, kids, it's ConWars time here on Fight-O-Toon Adventures. It
all began back in FNEWSA15. Well, to be more precise, it all
began back around the time of the Big Bang, but those famous
ConWars (Especially the DinoCon vs. MammalCon War) are, sadly,
forgotten by most.
It started off innocently enough. A rather unprofessional Con
announcement begat an anonymous flame begat a very
unprofessional flame return. Checking my notes, Francois Thunus
is one of the bigwigs of LuxCon/EuroCon '93. That's kinda the
impression I'd gotten from his article. Anonymous Article
Writer, insofar as the Cynic can tell, ain't associated with any
Con.
Keep in mind that, unlike JoHo, I ain't that big of a Con man.
I took in Fight-O-Con '91 and the-Con-that-wasn't,
Fight-O-Con '92. I also went to a Region Con way back in '90,
but telling you which one would be... revealing. JoHo skipped
both Cons, so we never met.
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 3 10 May 1993
Now that the facts are outta the way, on with the innuendo!
First off, Thunus starts off his article with "Dear madam."
Not bad. Better than starting off with "Dear sir" and making
the age old mistake of ass-u-ming that everyone's male. Of
course, a "Dear sir or madam" would have handled either case,
and a "Dear Anonymous flamer" would have done so without the
potential for insult. (Anyone that starts off by calling ME
"Dear sir" (or "Dear madam") usually follows up with an attack.
Thunus is no exception. Wowsers, can this boy flame! He's
going on my list of notable flames of '93. Everything from
implying that dumb Americans can't find exchange rates to just
plain name calling ("ugly american"). He's right, you know.
Lot of Americans haven't even heard of itty bitty countries like
Luxembourg. Plenty more couldn't even find the thing on a
globe (of course, you need a magnifying glass.)
I give Thunus's flame a big thumbs up. Lousy spelling, weak
debate style, and not a smiley in sight.
Only thing he doesn't do is reply to any of the questions in
Ye Olde anonymous flame. Pity, I kinda wanted to see a list
of speakers myself, or even decent travel instructions. At
least it'll provide a meeting place for that 60% of Belgium/
German/Luxembourg sysops who are under 20. Gee, does that mean
that 3 of the Con organizers are under 20?
Enough about LittleCon '93. Where's Fight-O-Con? Will there be
one this year? Last I heard of it was about 3 in the morning of
the last day of Fight-O-Con '92. Hope it's held higher up north
this year. Closer and not as hot. Maybe I'll go to the ONE
BBSCON. Shouldn't that be the TWO BBSCON now?
Next week in the Cynic's Sandbox: Religion in Da Snooze. Boy,
can those Branch Davidians flame* or what?
OBTasteless joke.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Deleted and ignored and annoyed
By: Derek Balling, Sysop, Mega-City One BBS 914-338-6495
[formerly 1:272/69]
Greetings, friends and neighbours. I have a story to tell. Some of you
will read this story, and think I am your average cry-baby. Some of you
will read it and say, "Yeah, I've seen that kind of situation". A few of
you, you know who you are, will feel that I am flaming you fiercely. To
the last few, you may or may not be right.
I joined Fidonet about 6 months ago. Maybe more, maybe less, my memory
is failing even at the ripe age of 21. I had gotten into Fidonet mostly
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 4 10 May 1993
for the 'availability', that my friends out in cyberspace could reach me
from literally anywhere. Echos held no real great thrill for me, I have
800+ now, what do I want more for?
After a few weeks, I decided to poll my two 'local' echos, SENY_SYSOP,
and SENYNET (SouthEast NY). Anyhow, I was a bit miffed already when I
learned that my 'local' hub was a long-distance call for me across a
LATA, so I was making an AT&T call to an in-state location, which is
probably about the WORST rate you can get. But, ok, I can live with
that, its a quick connect once every day or every other day. Well, I am
calling, and my hub is refusing to send me files. I was getting REALLY
weird errors that I had never had before, ie. I could send to him fine,
but he couldn't send to me. The file would start, then abort instantly.
When I brought it to his attention, I was told, very bluntly, that his
system operated 100% perfect, and that my system was 'screwed up'. I
found this rather difficult to believe, seeing as how I was in 6 other
networks at the time, and was tranferring roughly 4-5MB in echomail per
day to and from various locations and modem-types. However, it should be
noted, after about a week, the problem mysteriously vanished, and I had
made NO changes to software or hardware on my end, however, I was still
the one at fault. <G>
A few weeks later, I found a copy of FrontDoor 2.10 on another BBS.
Being a bit foolish and inexperienced, I set it up, not realizing that
2.10 was a commercial version. About a week later, I get a netmail
message from I-don't-remember-who from the makers of Frodo, asking that
I remove it. Very polite, very informative, and with 30 seconds of work,
I was back running 2.02NC, a bit wiser, and the board I had gotten it
from had promptly deleted it from their download directory. The mail I
received from my NC (1:272/0, Janis Kracht), was much less tactful,
threatening to delete my node number, and pretty much make every attempt
to ruin my sysop life. Maybe she was quieted some by the politeness in
the letter from Frodo, I don't know, but that pretty much vanished into
the dust as well. Everything was quiet again.
Then came a discussion of everybody's favorite topic, cost recovery for
echos, specifically, everybody made the usual complaint that it was too
high. However, after a slightly heated debate in the local sysop echo
concerning it, Janis ruled that to discuss alternatives to the current
CR plan was 'excessively annoying' and was grounds for node deletion. I
was a bit put off by that, but kept relatively quiet about it afterward,
as, hey, I wasn't going to pay CR -AND- long-distance fees to get
echomail, so there was no point to my being involved, really, unless the
topic turned to creating a local hub, a plan offered by fellow sysop
Dave Calafrancesco (1:272/54, also former), and never garnished a reply
from Janis.
Finally, came a discussion of NODEDIFF's. Specifically, Janis had made a
'ruling' that no system in Net 272 could have back NODEDIFF's available
for download. IE. if the current nodelist is .106, then the only
nodediff you could have available would be .106. If a sysop had MISSED
the nodediff for .099, (which we all know happens, glitches in the
system, .TIC files get lost, etc.) then that sysop would have to
download the whole nodelist from Janis's system. The only problem I saw
with this was the fact that for 85% of the network, Janis's system was a
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 5 10 May 1993
long-distance call, so I tried to convince her that there was an error
in her logic, to which I was told, point-blank, that if I violated her
edict, I would be deleted.
At this point, I asked her to show me where in Policy 4 she had any kind
of authority over my file areas, so long as I did not distribute
copyrighted software, or anything of the sort.
For days, I received no echomail. Eight days, to be exact. On the eighth
day, I received a voice call from a fellow sysop, who wanted to know
'Why I had quit Fidonet'? I hadn't quit, I said. I mean, we're in the
process of trying to split from 272 and form our own network, but it
hasn't HAPPENED yet, to my knowledge, why? 'Because your node is coming
up unlisted', he says. That's odd. I start looking at the nodelist
through my handy text editor and realize that, sure enough, I had been
removed, and Dave Calafrancesco with me.
Trying still to be diplomatic, I jot off a nice polite note to Janis,
asking why I have been deleted. I received no response.
With the NEXT nodediff (I had been freq'ing them from 1:1/0), I sent
another note to Janis, this time with a Carbon Copy to Bill Andrus
(1:13/0, Regional Coordinator), asking again why my node number had been
deleted. No response.
I then jotted off a THIRD note with CC to Bill. This time I found that I
had been locked out of Janis' mailer. The CC to Bill was deleted, and a
new note was written to him, reminding him of the previous messages I
had sent him, and asking him to get back to me as to what was going on.
No response.
A week later, I sent another message directed to Bill, which again
garnished no reply. All the letters thus far had contained a replica of
my previous nodelist entry, so that the *C in question could contact me.
The later note to Bill also contained my voice number, should he feel
that he wanted to help out. To this date (1 May 1993, 14:45) I have not
received a reply.
Finally, extremely annoyed at this point, I wrote a note to Bob Satti,
our new Zone Coordinator, explaining much the same as this story here,
and asking that he look into the problem. I received a reply from
him stating that I had to formally file an appeal with Bill and
that he couldn't act until then.
Thinking that my earlier messages would have constituted an
appeal, I went back to Bill Andrus and sent him a netmail quoting
section and paragraph of Policy 4.07 stating that I was formally
appealing Janis' decision, and would eagerly await his reply,
etc. etc. Again, no response.
After a week of waiting for him to respond, I sent a note up to
Bob Satti again, requesting that I be summarily reinstated, based
on section 9.7 of Policy, the right to a speedy decision, and to
be notified of said decision. Bill Andrus had 30 days from my
first complaint (not necessarily my 'formal' appeal) to make a
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 6 10 May 1993
decision, and to this day has not.
I sent that note to Bob Satti approximately 5 days ago, and have
not, as yet, received a reply from him, although my impression is
that I eventually will, as he seems to be the only *C in my chain
of command with common courtesy. <g>
I am beginning to get discouraged with the checks-and-balances system of
Policy4. I said I wanted to file an appeal, which apparently is being
ignored. When a system is being excommunicated, and files an appeal,
shouldn't the *C's in question at least have the courtesy to reply to
the complaintant?
Comments, suggestions, flames? This is really your call, people, I am
not currently a member of Fido, despite my best wishes to BE a member.
Replies may be made to any of the following addresses:
Fido ---none--- AmigaNet 40:714/13
VNet 45:586/920 WINCNet 49:914/250
Kinknet 69:2601/704 NexusNet 70:393/0
DoorNet 75:7914/104 USTG/ITC 85:860/213
TrekNet 87:6007/9017 TrekNet 87:6007/11
MagNet 100:900/59 RPGNet 190:3000/6
Syndicate 151:914/50 SKY 375:914/1400
ICN 91:914/150
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Whirlybirds echo
Rick Lembree (1:326/209)
WHIRLYBIRDS is an echo involving any aspect of helicopter
flying, from full blown "war birds" to Radio Controlled helis
and is the ONLY echo of its type. We encourage pilots and anyone
else interested in joining. Simple, huh? Anyone interested in
grabbing this echo, please netmail me and I will add you in.
Rick Lembree, Moderator
1:326/209.0
Harbour Lights BBS - Oldest BBS in the State of Maine!
(207) 967-3719 - 16.8 DS
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 7 10 May 1993
Area ESPERANTO
Mario Mueller 2:242/323.9
Since january 93 a new international area ESPERANTO exists.
Esperanto is a very international language, which is spoken in more than
100 countries. Now the area is read in Germany, Netherlands and Portugal.
Also the area is available on the US-Backbone 1:13/13.
Rules:
Area : ESPERANTO
Topic : About the language ESPERANTO
Language : Esperanto, German, English
Moderator : Mario Mueller of 2:242/323.9
Rules : ESPERANT.RUL
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 . 1 : This area is used to make the language Esperanto known and
: disseminate it. Reciprocal information and support are
: the main objective.
:
: INFOS Information about future meetings,
: reports about meetings,
: publications in radio, tv and press,
: dates for meetings or courses,
: give beginners a start
: available programs,
: possibility of dissemination of Esperanto
:
: DISCUSSIONS Esperanto and computer
: Esperanto in politics and science
:
1 . 2 : Off-Topic in this area are all contributions with commercial
: objective. (Advertising)
: With New publications (especially new books) may be and shall
: be dealt, but without the name of source of supply.
: A list of sources of supply have to be managed by ONE person.
: This complete list has to be published periodically.
:
: Undesirable are language-innovators, who e.g. put Esperanto
: at risk by further simplification or by substituting new words
: for existing words.
:
1 . 3 : A periodical publication of articles or information-services
: needs the agreement of the area-community.
: Because of that money matters; a 2/3 - majority is required.
: Suggestions are generally welcome.
:
1 . 4 : Mails with no information for the community have to be
: NETMAIL.
: The special status of beginners requires public help.
:
1 . 5 : The languages of this area are Esperanto, German and English.
: Beginners and people helping them are allowed to write in
: their native-language. The mail from people, who can speak
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 8 10 May 1993
: Esperanto has to be written in Esperanto, too !
: Thus the community can utilize the correspondence.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Trade Wars Echo Net Available!
by Robert Green
1:345/4 Fido or
bbs 808-423-9788 (14,400 baud)
I would like to take a second to let everyone know that the Trade Wars
echo net is now available and seeking out new nodes and hubs. The net
deals primarily with the popular door game Trade Wars 2002 as well as
other versions of Trade Wars and similar games (Trade Wars ][, Yankee
Trader, etc). Currently, the net supports Fido-type mail transfers as
well as QWK net mail transfer, with a GT-Power hub soon to be in
operation. Here is a quick summary of the conferences:
Player Chit-Chat
General discussions about how to play the game. Targeted more for the
new player to learn the rules and objectives of TradeWars but advanced
players can exchange ideas as well.
Sysop Chit-Chat
Place where all the sysops can discuss setup and administration of
TradeWars games. This conference should be open to ALL callers so they
can get a better understanding of what is involved with running a game.
If sysops need to send private messages, they should use the Admin
conference.
Bugs & Cheats
Discussions on the various BUGS in TradeWars. Conversations will cover
their use as well as ways to prevent their use if desired. Also other
"short cuts" that are available.
Rumor Has It ...
Stay up to date on the latest rumors concerning new versions of
TradeWars and other hot topics.
Utilities & Aides
Find out about the latest utilities, scripts, and programs for use
with TradeWars. This area will cover both player and game utilities.
TW Variations
This is the place for all those modified TradeWars games to be
discussed. Everything from new ships to planets and enemies.
BBS Player Ratings
Post your TWTrader.Txt files here and let all the other callers see how
your game(s) are progressing. Great place to brag about your board,
too! (Ads will be allowed but limited to once per week please).
TW ANSI
Share some of those awesome ansi screens and other artwork with the net.
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 9 10 May 1993
Administration
Net Sysops ONLY * For private discussions between sysops concerning TWNet.
Aliases are allowed in all conferences EXCEPT Administration.
Conference # 9 - Administration is MANDATORY! All TWNet nodes must
carry this conference. Nodes may carry any other conferences they
desire. HUBS MUST CARRY ALL CONFERENCES !!!!
Interested sysops can obtain the net application packet via File
Requesting "TWNET.ARJ" from fido address 1:345/4 or logging on to
The Crow's Nest (808-423-9788, 14.4 k bps) or Wire Head (808-486-2565 or
808-486-6682, USR 14.4 Dual standard and 19.2 bps Zyxel, respectively.)
and downloading the file. All hubs support 14.4 or higher baud rates.
See ya in the spacelanes!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Visual Player 2.0 : Good Vibrations
Carlos Terre
2:343/108
- = V I S U A L P L A Y E R = -
Wow! That's good programming indeed!
Hector Martinez, Luis Crespo, Luis Ubeda, David Lopez & Angel
Trigo have produced one of the finest and best presented MOD players
around the world: Visual Player 2.0
Visual Player combines excellent sound hardware support with
astonishing graphics and mouse support to let you *FEEL* what you are
listening to through your sound card or PC speaker. All in a shareware
package that works even in the unregistered version.
But Visual Player isn't just lights & sounds... This team of
programmers come from engineering schools, and have used signal
processing concepts to display true music-sound spectrum and true
music-sound time representation. Using different resolution real-time
FFTs (Fast Fourier Transforms), Visual Player is much more than a
psycho-light pannel... It is a digital MOD oscilloscope! The
experience is so thrilling that you can hardly close your mouth...
You can contact Luis Crespo at 2:343/108.21
You can File Request the magicname VP for the latest version of
Visual Player from 2:343/108 (CM,XA,v32b,v42b,H16).
Carlos Terre
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Texas Employment Commission
Larry Loiselle (1:382/16)
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 10 10 May 1993
The Texas Education Agency has embarked on an aggressive
recruitment program in order to reach the broadest possible
population. In order to accomplish this mission, the agency
will be posting its job vacancies with the Texas Employment
Commission and the twenty Education Service Centers.
We will also be posting our job vacancies on TENET and the
following public bulletin board system (BBS) networks:
FidoNet (Jobs-Now message echo), FamilyNet (Jobseek message
echo), and KesherNet (Education echo). The messages (job
vacancy notices) posted on these networks are gated to EchoNet,
UseNet, and InterNet. TENET may be accessed at (512) 472-0602.
Public BBSes carrying FidoNet, FamilyNet, and KesherNet message
echos can be found all across the U.S.A., Canada, and many foreign
countries. These public BBSes may be found in most major cities
and many smaller communities.
To assist those who do not have access to these TENET or these
public BBSes, the Texas Education Agency, Human Resource Division,
is running its own BBS:
TEA-HR BBS
(512) 475-3689
300-9600 Baud N-8-1
V32, V42, V42bis
24 hours per day
7 days per week
FidoNet Net/Node Number: 1:382/16
FamilyNet Net/Node Number: 8:71/5
Please call our BBS at your convenience. Information on
types of jobs, salaries, and fringe benefits is available.
The current job vacancy notices are available for review and
downloading. You may also receive and/or leave messages for
the Human Resources Division. Also, you will be able to
download copies of the job vacancy notices and upload copies
of your resumes to us.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I like Eurocon, by Pablito
Pablo Kleinman, 1:10/100
(also pablito@scf.usc.edu)
Hollywood, California Republic
" Reply to a Coward Bigoted Arschloch "
I was quite irritated (not excessively so, as some of you may
wonder) by the article written by some coward, anonymous dunce
about LuxCon/EuroCon 1993 on FidoNews A15 (titled "NON-con"). This
article was bigoted in essence because it was purely ethnocentric
and unrespectful, and it looked to me more like a personal vendetta
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 11 10 May 1993
against Joaquim Homrighausen than anything about the event being
organized. It was wrong; it was despicable.
I attended EuroCon '92 in July of last year, in Lleida, Catalonia,
Spain. I was able to see some old faces and quite a bunch of new
faces yet not necessarily new names. It was nice meeting people
that I had been in touch with for several years, some of which I
had joked with via mail or perhaps debated quite aggressively. We
talked, partied, and got to know better. It was definitely tons of
fun (hey, I even met the worldfamous sysop from the Canary Islands,
otherwise known as Alfredo "Freddy" Krueger!).
The event was sponsored by the government of the province of
Lleida, as well as the city government. It had interesting
speakers, and the informal atmosphere did not prevent us attendees
from being welcomed by the city's mayor with a banquet at City
Hall, or being thrown a farewell dinner by the generous provincial
legislature (which by the way had plenty of free booze, like you
won't see here in any FidoCon or in any regular "Unitedstatean
party"). The local press was there too (they had an "EuroCon
update" in the main local paper for the 3 days of the gathering)
and the organizing team led by Sisco Sapena was superb.
Still, what stroke me as the most interesting thing about EuroCon
in Spain is the fact that it was a social gathering, and that it
was like a big reunion of friends. This was similar to those old
Region 90 barbecues I still miss, from the times in which I was a
4: node. Because yes, for many of us in FidoNet for several years,
there are friends on the other side of the line; there is
socializing and a great deal of "humanity," not just computers.
When I became a 1: node, I had the opportunity to attend two quite
boring local gatherings. In both occasions, everyone was sitting
around a long table in a pizza parlor, doing small talk with the
one sitting in the next chair. When the "net secretary" would
determine so, the almost inanimate bodies would get up one by one
saying something like "hi, I'm John Schmoe, 1:102/666, I run Opus
1.03c and BinkleyTerm 2.6788-super-secret-beta on a 386/12 with
eight hard drives and a CD rom. Thank you." Once they were all
done, the meeting was adjourned, and I thought to myself: man, what
the hell is this? Android sysops?
What I mean to say here is that this is a heterogeneous world with
many cultures and customs, and they are all contained in FidoNet.
Some people may like big, formal gatherings with lotsa speakers,
sponsors, software companies, and banquets. Others like me like to
get together, spend some time taking care of the techie stuff, and
then get to know our fellows and perhaps when it gets late just go
out, get drunk, party on. Nothing wrong about either thing, is
there?
So, Mr. NON-con, I would suggest you shut down your shit-throwing
machine and enter the real world. Look around, see different
things, and be happy. You don't have to like them all (for
instance, it's very unlikely you'll ever see me at a Zone 1
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 12 10 May 1993
gathering. I read the schedule of events and usually find it...
tiresome and bourgeois, like a friend o' mine would say) but just
respect whatever others are doing because they help our FidoNet
anyway.
EuroCons and all these similar gatherings fuel life into the
network and make it more interesting for the many of us that go.
For me, EuroCons are fun... they are the best thing around since
FTS-001... or perhaps EMSI. I will probably not make it to this
year's EuroCon because I'll probably have to be in Mexico that
week, but otherwise (money permitting of course), I wouldn't miss
it. And I mean it.
Now dear, if your problem is with Joaquim Homrighausen, then I
suggest you take it to private instead of resorting to this kind of
cheap tricks. Organizers very often end up losing money with these
events, and they deserve our gratitude and respect for taking care
of making it all possible. Besides (and this doesn't really vary
that much from place to place) it's very bad manners to make
statements like yours from anonymity. I said.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SUNDAY MORNING TELEVISION REVISITED
by Jack Decker, 1:154/8
Here we go again, folks. In FidoNews 10-18 there was a long diatribe
by Tyler Wunder entitled SUNDAY MORNING TELEVISION. Now, I have said
before and will say again that in my opinion, some subjects just
don't belong in Fidonews, and religion is one of them. Everyone has
their own beliefs, and while there are appropriate forums for
discussing one's beliefs, I don't think Fidonews should be that
place. In the past (when TJ was editor) we saw not only a lot of
articles from the anti-religious crowd, but also (strangely) a few
articles from one cult that called itself "Christian" but in my
opinion was almost as far out as the Waco wackos. I had rather hoped
that with new editors, some of this irrelevant discussion might
disappear.
Well, the article was printed so let me just make a few points, some
in agreement and some in strong disagreement. In that article by
Tyler Wunder of 1:221/279.4, he says (in reference to Sunday morning
television) that "there are a multitude of television preachers, but
who actually watches them?"... and then he goes on to describe how HE
watched most of one of Jerry Falwell's broadcasts.
Okay. Point number one: Television is one of the surest ways I know
of to corrupt a good preacher. Jerry Falwell may have been a good
preacher at one time, but as Mr. Wunder notes:
".....And what was Mr. Falwell talking about? Was he preaching the
love of Jesus? Was he talking about the scriptures? Reading from
the bible? Leading his viewers in prayer, pleading with God to cure
the sick and lessen the suffering of those in pain?
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 13 10 May 1993
"If Mr. Falwell was doing any of these things, I must have blinked
and missed it, because for the entire segment of the show that I
observed (I must admit, I missed the first ten minutes of the
program) Mr. Falwell was attempting to sell a $35 video tape that
explained the problems of America as he saw them; the tape also laid
out his proposed solutions to these problems (frankly, if Mr. Falwell
is so concerned with rescuing America and solving these 'problems', I
would think that he'd be eager to distribute the information as
widely as possible, free of charge -- certainly, I would like a copy,
but I have better things to spend $35 on)."
What you need to understand is that television time is VERY
expensive. While liberals often get a free ride on various programs
(and on the so-called "Public Broadcasting System"), with a few
exceptions conservatives and proponents of various religions usually
have to BUY their airtime. As it happens, Sunday mornings offer some
of the cheapest airtime available, since there are so few in the
viewing audience (folks tend to sleep in, go to a house of worship,
or go to the golf course, or do just about anything but watch TV).
But it is still VERY expensive to buy a half hour or an hour on TV,
especially if you do it on stations all over the nation.
What I fear usually happens to TV preachers is that the airtime is SO
expensive that soon they are faced with a choice: Either ignore the
financial needs and go off the air, or resort to just about any
fundraising technique that will work to try and salvage the program.
Unfortunately, that means that some religious shows have become, in
effect, program-length commercials, and whatever the ORIGINAL reason
for going on the air was, it has long since been lost. The TV
preacher may have started out with the best of intentions, but
new-found fame (anyone on TV is "famous", aren't they?) coupled with
the need to raise funds "to keep this program on the air" has
corrupted many a good man.
The bottom line is, if you are looking for true Christianity, don't
look to a TV preacher... most likely he's been corrupted by the
medium (I'd also add that you may have to try several different
churches to find a true man of God; many local pastors have become
corrupted for other reasons. However, I'm not here to proselytize so
I'm not going to make a recommendation, nor could I at this distance
from most readers... other than to say that you should avoid the
cults that claim that their group is the ONLY one going to Heaven at
all costs!).
Mr. Wunder then notes:
"In particular, Mr. Falwell seemed extremely concerned with a piece
of legislation that Bill Clinton is apparently going to sign soon,
known as the Freedom of Choice Act. According to Falwell, this act
will establish homosexuals as a bona-fied (sic) minority, and work to
increase their rights within America, and although Mr. Falwell didn't
word it this way, the act will prevent many forms of discrimination
against the homosexual community.
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 14 10 May 1993
"Obviously, Mr. Falwell is all for discrimination......"
The problem here is that we run into a conflict between basic rights.
Whatever you may think about TV preachers in general or Mr. Falwell
in particular, he does have one fact going for him: The Bible
condemns homosexuality in the strongest possible way (for just one
example, see Romans 1:27, and the surrounding verses). Some may not
choose to interpret the Bible that way, but if you read the
aforementioned verse you can at least see where folks like Mr.
Falwell would get the idea that homosexuality (the act) is truly
sinful (of course, so is heterosexual adultery, which is a far more
common sin yet is far less likely to be mentioned by TV preachers,
for some odd reason).
Anyway, assuming that Mr. Falwell truly believes the Bible (which,
after all, has managed to survive for nearly two centuries), does he
not have the right to say what he believes? The U.S. Constitution
guarantees both freedom of religion and freedom of speech, yet both
these rights seem to get trampled on regularly, often by those who
claim to be the defenders of the Constitution! Many diehard liberals
(not all) will support freedom of speech for even the vilest forms of
pornography, but when it comes to a preacher, they would not lift a
finger to defend his freedom of speech. Is there a double standard
here?
You can't have it both ways. Either you have freedom of speech for
all, or no one truly has freedom of speech. If you want freedom of
speech for all, that means that folks have to be allowed to express
ideas that you disagree with. One of the reason that some of us are
opposed to the "political correctness" movement on many college
campuses is that it is actually censorship... if you express an idea
that is not in line with whatever is currently in fashion, you may be
marked down on a paper, or fail a class entirely.
It's no less censorship if you try to silence someone because you
think they are wrong. Freedom of speech means that you have the
right to express an idea that may turn out to be wrong once in a
while. I'm not saying that Mr. Falwell is wrong, though I certainly
disagree with his approach. But even if you think he is, isn't he
still entitled to express his viewpoint?
I won't defend Jerry Falwell's 1-900 numbers... frankly, I think
99.9% of all 900 numbers are a scam, and it doesn't improve Mr.
Falwell's credibility that he uses them, in my opinion. But, he
didn't ask my opinion.
Mr. Wunder then notes (regarding the 900 numbers):
"As well, a number is provided for viewers who support the Freedom of
Choice Act. At first, this surprised me; I almost thought that
perhaps Mr. Falwell was concerned with allowing everyone to represent
their views, whether they agreed with him or not, until I realized
that only the number which represented opposition to the legislation
in question involved a petition. To call the number supporting the
Freedom of Choice Act cost $1.95/minute like the other number, but no
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 15 10 May 1993
petition was involved.
"In reality, to support the Freedom of Choice Act through the Old
Time Gospel Hour seemed rather a useless gesture."
Actually, I think this is a concession to some TV stations that feel
that the FCC requires "fairness" on all shows. Of course, it seems
this only applies to "religious" shows. I suspect that a tally is
kept of calls to both numbers and that in the letter accompanying the
petition, some reference is made to the number of calls received on
both numbers (e.g. "In a recent telephone poll conducted by the Old
Time Gospel Hour, 99.2% of our viewers were opposed to the Freedom
of Choice act while only 0.8% were in favor of it", or something like
that).
Side note: I'm immediately suspicious of ANY legislation that
contains the word "choice". Almost always, the real intent is to
DEPRIVE someone of a choice. In this case, for example, the intent
might be to deprive you of the choice to rent an extra room in you
home to whomever you want to rent it to. Now, at first blush that
might seem only fair, BUT consider that it's YOUR HOME we're talking
about here. Let's suppose, for example, that you were a homosexual
couple living together, and a law was passed that said you could not
discriminate by refusing to rent a room in your home to a real
Bible-thumping preacher (someone who would preach at you about living
in sin day and night!). The trouble is that Bible-thumping preachers
don't have big lobbying organizations in Washington that could get
such a ridiculous law passed (nor would most want such a law), but
homosexuals (whom make up only about 1% to at most 3% of the
population, according to the latest information on the news) have
organized in such a way as to give them political clout far beyond
what they deserve.
Mr. Wunder then goes into a list of reasons why Jerry Falwell
frightens him. Well, I hate to tell him this, but there are a LOT of
people who, while perhaps not in agreement with Mr. Falwell's
tactics, do agree with his views on various subjects. It's not that
they got these views from Jerry Falwell in the first place, either.
One darker view of the matter would be to say that Mr. Falwell is
just saying the things that a lot of folks agree with in order to
increase contributions. I'm not sure I would go that far, but don't
delude yourself into thinking he's some sort of lone nut.
I do take issue with two things that Mr. Wunder said:
"His wish for the teaching of biblical Creationism in American public
schools, despite the fact that as a scientific theory biblical
Creationism does not exist ("God did it" is not a testable,
verifiable/falsifiable scientific theory -- it is religious dogma,
and it does NOT belong in a science classroom), frightens me."
First, I don't think that Mr. Falwell is asking that BIBLICAL
creationism be taught in the public schools... that is, no one's
asking anyone to read the book of Genesis in the public school
classroom. On the other hand, there are a LOT of holes in the theory
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 16 10 May 1993
of evolution (note it's still called a "theory" and not a "law"), and
for the most part the inconsistencies are NOT being revealed to
public school students (at least not at the high school level or
below). Certainly, it's valid to propose the notion that our earth
and our universe was created by SOMEONE, without necessarily teaching
that it was the God of the Bible (that's where "religious dogma"
comes in). Glossing over the problems in the theory of evolution,
and other theories about how we got here, is also not appropriate in
a science classroom, yet it is done routinely.
"It frightens me that Mr. Falwell wishes to have people believe that
the separation of Church and State is a myth..."
One need only read the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights to find
that the concept of "separation of Church and State" just isn't found
there. The desire was to prevent the federal government from
establishing a state church (such as the Church of England), and even
after the Bill of Rights was enacted into law, many individual STATES
had state-run churches for quite some time. The only injunction in
the Bill of Rights was that the federal government could neither
establish a religion, nor inhibit the free expression of religion.
The first part of that is widely misquoted to come up with the
imaginary "separation of Church and State", while the latter part is
all but ignored by the so-called "civil libertarians".
Mr. Wunder concludes:
"As citizens of a country that professes to be free, the moment that
the rights of one minority are overtly oppressed, the rights of all
minorities are in increased jeopardy. And in some way, we are all in
a minority.
"Heaven help you if it's a minority that Jerry Falwell disapproves
of."
What I'm wondering is, why should I fear if I'm in a minority that
Jerry Falwell disapproves of, since he has relatively little "clout",
particularly with the current administration? I suspect that far
worse consequences could potentially befall one by being overtly
"politically incorrect", or being in a minority that Bill Clinton
(and those with liberal leanings similar to his) disapprove of. And,
please be careful about cheapening the word "discrimination." There
ARE cases of true discrimination in the world, but if you try to say
that every group that comes down the pike is a victim of
discrimination, no one is even going to care anymore after a while.
That, in turn, will create an atmosphere where some of the uglier
forms of true discrimination will once again be allowed to flourish.
I believe this may already be happening in some areas, and it is not
a good thing at all.
In conclusion: There are two sides (and sometimes more than two
sides) to every issue. Unless you hear all of them, you cannot make
truly informed judgements. Unfortunately, a lot of folks in our
society are doing all they can to see that some of the sides don't
have as much access to the media as some others. Electronic networks
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 17 10 May 1993
such as Fidonet can be an equalizer, but only if we are careful to
allow both popular and dissenting opinions to be expressed here.
Don't think it's not censorship just because someone you "know" is
wrong is being silenced. You could be the next victim!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
VENDINFO Concept Paper
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
VENDINFO Concept Paper Released for Public Comment
Parker, Colorado -- May 8, 1993 -- Rudy Ramsey, of Rams' Island
Software, has released the document, "VENDINFO Software Distribu-
tion Information System: Conceptual Approach", for public infor-
mation and comment.
This document describes the conceptual approach for a system
called VENDINFO. VENDINFO is intended to convey software product
information and distribution permissions from the author to
distributors. A standard (public) file format carries extensive
information in a compressed, efficient form. The associated
toolset will aid the author in constructing the record, and will
allow the distributor to extract portions of the record, or make
distribution decisions based on its content, in a highly auto-
mated way. VENDINFO will allow automation of many operations now
performed manually by BBS Sysops, disk vendors, etc.
One of the goals of the VENDINFO project is to provide a substan-
tial opportunity for public input prior to final definition of a
file format standard and completion of the associated toolset.
All interested parties are invited to obtain a copy of the con-
cept document and provide comments, criticisms, and suggestions.
Comments are solicited from all parts of the shareware industry,
including authors, sysops, disk vendors, CD-ROM publishers, etc.
We want to make the VENDINFO system work well for all! Comments
will be welcome anytime, but the "deadline" is June 30, 1993.
The VENDINFO concept document is available electronically as
VENDINFO.ZIP (VNDINF.ZIP on CompuServe), and is about 18K in
size. It is available by download or FidoNet/RIME file request
from the author's BBS (see below) and from:
CompuServe SHAREWARE forum
CompuServe UKSHARE forum
GENIE Home Office/Small Business Roundtable
Public Brand Software BBS
Further distribution is encouraged, so long as the complete
VENDINFO.ZIP is distributed unaltered. You may therefore be able
to find it via other sources, such as local BBSes.
If you prefer to obtain the paper in hardcopy form within in the
United States, please send a request with a self-addressed mail-
ing label and a one dollar bill, to Rams' Island Software at the
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 18 10 May 1993
address below.
Rams' Island Software
7644 E. Lakecliff Way _______
Parker, CO 80134-5904 (USA) ____|__ | (R)
--| | |-------------------
Voice: (303) 841-2848 | ____|__ | Association of
BBS: (303) 841-6269 | | |_| Shareware
CompuServe: 76244,324 |__| o | Professionals
-----| | |---------------------
FidoNet: 1:104/333 |___|___| MEMBER
RIME: RAMSISLE
Internet: 76244.324@CompuServe.Com
----------------------------------------------------------------------
========================================================================
Fidonews Information
========================================================================
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, Tim Pozar
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello,
Tom Jennings
IMPORTANT NOTE: The FidoNet address of the FidoNews BBS has been
changed!!! Please make a note of this.
"FidoNews" BBS
FidoNet 1:1/23 <---- NEW ADDRESS!!!!
BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14200/V.32bis/HST(DS)
Internet addresses:
Don & Sylvia (submission address)
editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
Donald -- donald@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com
(Postal Service mailing address) (have extreme patience)
FidoNews
172 Duke St. E.
Kitchener, Ontario
Canada
N2H 1A7
Published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international
amateur electronic mail system. It is a compilation of individual
articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The
contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the
rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in these articles are those
of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews.
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
FidoNews 10-19 Page: 19 10 May 1993
copyright 1993 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or
distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in
other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or FidoNews
(we're easy).
OBTAINING COPIES: The-most-recent-issue-ONLY of FidoNews in electronic
form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained from Fido Software for $10.00US each
PostPaid First Class within North America, or $13.00US elsewhere,
mailed Air Mail. (US funds drawn upon a US bank only.)
BACK ISSUES: Available from FidoNet nodes 1:102/138, 1:216/21,
1:125/1212, (and probably others), via filerequest or download
(consult a recent nodelist for phone numbers).
A very nice index to the Tables of Contents to all FidoNews volumes
can be filerequested from 1:396/1 or 1:216/21. The name(s) to request
are FNEWSxTC.ZIP, where 'x' is the volume number; 1=1984, 2=1985...
through 8=1991.
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.ieee.org, in
directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. If you have questions regarding
FidoNet, please direct them to deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org, not the
FidoNews BBS. (Be kind and patient; David Deitch is generously
volunteering to handle FidoNet/Internet questions.)
SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and
are used with permission.
Asked what he thought of Western civilization,
M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea".
-- END
----------------------------------------------------------------------

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