318 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
318 lines
15 KiB
Plaintext
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F I D O N E W S -- Vol.12 No.44 (30-Oct-1995)
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
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| FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS |
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| _ | +1-519-570-4176 |
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| / \ | |
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| /|oo \ | |
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| _`@/_ \ _ | |
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| | | \ \\ | Editors: |
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| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
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| |__U__| / \// | Sylvia 1:221/194 |
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| _//|| _\ / | |
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| (_/(_|(____/ | |
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| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
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| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| MORE addresses: |
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| submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Sylvia max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
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| obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq |
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| please refer to the end of this file. |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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========================================================================
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Table of Contents
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========================================================================
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1. Editorial..................................................... 1
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2. Articles...................................................... 2
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Dr. Mod em i lala........................................... 2
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ACR (Automatic Call Rejection).............................. 2
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Free Quebec! (with every purchase of double poutine)........ 3
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3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 5
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========================================================================
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Editorial
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========================================================================
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FidoNews 12-44 Page: 2 30 Oct 1995
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A short issue this week, with only three articles, and an
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intro rather than an editorial<S>.
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Here is the snooze.
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========================================================================
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Articles
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========================================================================
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Dear Madam Emilia
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Dr. Mod em i lala
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From: Sylvia Maxwell (1:221/294)
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On the first day of this year's 'puters Freedom and Privacy
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concert in Burlingame there existed a bluely glowing being with
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brown eyes in the VESTIBULE of a hotel, approximately under
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neath a chandelier and beside a piano.
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Many e-people were about and perchance one of you might have
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noticed me noticing him etc./and could help me find his temporal
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presence if he wishes it found? Prey tell.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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ACR (Automatic Call Rejection)
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Automatic Call Rejection
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by Jerry Schwartz 1:142/928
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ACR is a feature you can purchase from the telephone company;
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what it does is automatically reject incoming telephone calls
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from anyone who deliberately blocks caller identification
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information. I was not involved directly with any of the recent
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controversy over ACR, but I was on speaking terms with two NCs
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who were at the center of the argument and corresponded with both
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of them about it. Both of them are reasonable men, if somewhat
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fastidious about technical issues.
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One side contended that they had the right to reject anonymous
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calls, and that it served a direct and important security need:
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preventing people from impersonating nodes and thereby forging
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mail.
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The other side contended that existing security measures (packet
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and session passwords, for example) were adequate; but that was
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not the impetus for the complaint. The problem was a strictly
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technical one, and one which is beyond the control of any sysop.
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The sysop whose calls were rejected was NOT deliberately blocking
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their CID information. What happened was that his long distance
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carrier (MCI) was doing something which was causing the local
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telephone carrier at the other end to THINK that he had
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deliberately blocked CID.
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The calling sysop discovered this problem by turning on the
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speaker in his modem; he then heard a robotic explanation from
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the phone company at the far end. When he called MCI, he was
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FidoNews 12-44 Page: 3 30 Oct 1995
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told that he would be charged for these calls because so far as
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MCI was concerned the call had gone through. (They did agree to
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eat the charges as a matter of good customer relations.)
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This highlights the underlying problem: telephone service is not
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as well-coordinated as you might expect. For example, my own
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area has recently changed area codes. There have since been
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articles in the local paper about the problems caused by this:
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out-of-state telephone carriers are not universally capable of
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handling "860" as an area code, and our local company has
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publicly stated that they "have no way of forcing other companies
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to make the necessary changes." (If you check the nodelist,
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you'll see that I am still using the old area code, taking
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advantage of a grace period.)
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The ACR argle-bargle occurred because either NyNEX, MCI, or the
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carriers down in Texas mishandled the hand-off of CID
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information. This is not something that the pro-ACR folks
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expected, or even necessarily believed possible. It is also not
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something that the anti-ACR folks expected, nor could they
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control it.
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I can easily conceive of several situations which might cause
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similar problems. Many of the analog phone lines in my company
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are "anonymous" and cannot accept incoming calls. I have no idea
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what if anything appears as CID information when I use my system
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at work to call out. Similarly, calls from other countries and
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smaller telephone carriers in the US might not look "right." In
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theory, ACR should detect and distinguish between "unavailable"
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and "deliberately blocked" but it clearly failed to do so in at
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least one case.
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Until the technological wrinkles are ironed out, we all have to
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be careful about adopting new techniques prematurely.
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Ultimately, ACR may be a "don't care" to every legitimate Fidonet
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sysop; but for right now, it seems to be a problem.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Free Quebec! (with every purchase of double poutine)
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Dear Editorbeings,
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Please advise both readers of the Snooz that this article
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was submitted by Charles Herriot (1:163/110) who
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successfully dragged Logger down from a hydro pole where he
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was beseeching pedestrians to join him in hearty song on
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Patsy Gallant's version of "From New York to L.A." Roll da
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flic, Sylvia....
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Dear Reverend Visage,
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I feel a sort of celebratory feeling towards this missive,
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what with it being the 35th outpouring of mine that the
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Editor-beings have been gracious enough to include in their
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esteemed organ. To think that it all began when I wrote
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FidoNews 12-44 Page: 4 30 Oct 1995
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about the *EC-trolls shutting down the Golden Toilet echo.
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There is much to comment upon this week. Our frozen country
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stands on the threshold of Balkanizing itself. I can't quite
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fathom the various sentimental outpourings by pundits who
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weep over the meltdown of Canada. In point of fact, I'll be
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one of those cheering heartily when the spoiled children in
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Quebec *finally* live up to their age old threats and get
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the hell out of confederation. They suck millions more from
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the public teat than they contribute through tax revenues
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and that doesn't begin to factor in the cost of reading
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everything on the damned cereal boxes in both official
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languages.
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I wonder, though, who will presume to speak and negotiate
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for Canada when Lobster Jack and Lucie Bouchard come calling
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to divvy up the spoils. Surely we won't allow Jean Cretin to
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straddle more than one horse at once. We need someone with
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bloodlust in their eyes, a bible and a flintlock... in
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short, you're it. I suggest you open negotiations by
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offering to trade Anne Murray for the Val d'Or gold mines.
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The culturally paranoid folks in Quebec won't notice the
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faint musk of sweat socks when she opens their national
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assembly fete. If they raise any kind of argument about it,
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remind them that we whupped their sorry asses on the Plains
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of Abraham and we'll do it again if we have to.
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Another matter which sticks in my craw this week concerns
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deer. Yup, the Bambi kind... except in this case the *lack*
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of deer is what is causing my apoplexy. The deer story makes
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the O.J. travesty seem like a model of jurisprudence. What
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happened was an off-duty police office was shitfaced while
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driving his car. He splattered a bicyclist all over one of
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our local roads and then screeched off from the scene of the
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crime. He managed to drive six kilometres to a donut shop
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where he discovered that the absence of a windshield, a
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headlight, and other parts of his car, meant that he'd been
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in an accident. The crime was investigated by other police
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officers who *neglected* to take a timely breathalyzer
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sample. The charge of impaired driving was withdrawn and a
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judge, incredibly, believed his story that he thought he'd
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hit a deer. During the trial the murdering bastard was
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chauffeured to and from court by his police buddies and
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generally accorded more courtesies and privileges than any
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other criminal. Something is truly rotten in the state of
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Denmark when a police officer is blessed with such a
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ludicrous application of justice. Meanwhile, the dead
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bicyclist's parents are left to grieve and to have
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nightmares about the fact that their son's head was found
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100 metres from the road.
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I donned a Level 4 biohazard suit and ventured into the echo
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that serves Region 12. Gawd, Duddy Grimspam is *still*
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whinging about his completely wrong legion of world class
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experts. I don't think Net250 have sorted out their
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FidoNews 12-44 Page: 5 30 Oct 1995
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differences which isn't surprising because they seem to
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possess the sort of collective intellect that suggests a
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family tree wider than it is tall. If they start playing
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banjos, Visage, shoot first, and ask questions later.
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Your absence has started to become notable... particularly
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by the swarthy gentlemen who claim that you owe major
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dollars on your gambling action associated with the GIANT
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PUMPKIN contest. I could have sworn that I saw you on the
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street the other day. Were it not for the fact that your
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likeness was walking in a straight line and not leering at
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the 300 pound courier-babes, I might have hailed you.
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I must go Visage, your secretary has become inhospitable and
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this has nothing at all to do with the fact that I wired her
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dictaphone earphone to the gigawatt amplifier output of my
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son's most incredibly bad garage band. She is neither a
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happy nor a well person Visage, and I think we should send
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her to a nice safe neighbourhood like Brentwood.
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Regards,
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Doc Logger,
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Giant Clam School of Opera & Small Arms Repair,
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Furlang Island,
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South Pacific
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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========================================================================
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Fidonews Information
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========================================================================
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------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
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Editors: Donald Tees, Sylvia Maxwell
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Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
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Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar
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Tom Jennings
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"FidoNews" BBS
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FidoNet 1:1/23
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BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS)
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more addresses:
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Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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Sylvia- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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(Postal Service mailing address)
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FidoNews
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128 Church St.
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Kitchener, Ontario
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Canada
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N2H 2S4
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voice: (519) 570-3137
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sylvia: (519) 579-8029
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FidoNews 12-44 Page: 6 30 Oct 1995
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Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
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INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
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of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
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authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
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does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in
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these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of
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FidoNews.
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Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
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Copyright 1995 Donald Tees. All rights reserved. Duplication
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and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use
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in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or the eds.
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OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
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form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
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Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
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PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
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address.
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INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
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in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews.
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Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
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freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to
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fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is
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necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
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response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
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should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the
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previously listed address.
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SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
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ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
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from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
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"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
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trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
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' ' disgreement is actually necessary,
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or we'd all have to get in fights
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or semethin to amuse ourselves,,
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and create the requisite chaos."
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-Tom Jennings
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-- END
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