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Volume 7, Number 35 27 August 1990
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| _ |
| / \ |
| /|oo \ |
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
| FidoNet (r) | | \ \\ |
| International BBS Network | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Editor in Chief: Vince Perriello
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only.
For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software.
FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the
FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of
individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized
agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this
compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors.
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 a Continuous
Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are
used with permission.
Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors
and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software.
Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every
responsible submission received.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
Recycling - What can YOU do? ............................. 1
Recycling ................................................ 4
Hazards in the Home ...................................... 6
Find HEIDI Situation Sheet ............................... 9
Another IFNA? ............................................ 10
TechCon-I, the Report (part 2) ........................... 12
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 17
Talk Me Through It, Honey ................................ 17
3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 19
Response to Kwityer Bychin ............................... 19
And more!
FidoNews 7-35 Page 1 27 Aug 1990
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Mike Robeson
Fido 1:350/21.0
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
"Nobody made a greater mistake than he who did nothing because
he could only do a little" Edmund Burke.
Everyone agrees that the state of the Earth's environment is
in sad shape and is rapidly deteriorating. Many organizations
are trying to make changes enough to make a difference. With-
out joining an organization there are some simple things you
can do to make a difference.
Reduce the amount of garbage you generate by purchasing and
using products wisely.
"Precycle" by purchasing products in recyclable containers,
such as aluminum, steel, glass, paper and cardboard.
Purchase foods in bulk or concentrate.
Avoid plastic and polystyrene (styrofoam) products that are
neither reusable nor easily recyclable, such as disposable
diapers, lighters razors and plastic utensils. (Plastics make
up 25% of our garbage by volume.)
Make two-sided photocopies.
Borrow items rather than buy them, for short-term or one-time
use.
Share magazine and newspaper subscriptions with friends.
Keep a cloth towel next to the sink to be used instead of
paper towels.
Reduce the amount of junk mail you receive by contacting
Direct Market Association, 6 E. 43rd St, New York, NY 10017,
(202) 689-4977.
Reuse products whenever possible.
Use products that are made to be used many times, such as
cloth diapers, cloth napkins, towels and rags, sponges,
dishes, silver-ware, rechargeable batteries, etc.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 2 27 Aug 1990
Carry a coffee mug with you to use in place of polystyrene cups.
Bring your grocery and produce bags back to the supermarket
and reuse them.
Use the blank back sides of paper to take notes and do scratch
work.
Mend clothes and repair broken appliances.
Take care of belongings to help them last longer.
Look into purchasing used goods at second hand store and Junk
yards.
Recycle all materials possible. Many communities have
established programs to recycle aluminum, steel, glass,
newspaper and cardboard. It is also possible to recycle
magazines, colored paper, wood, oil and some plastics.
Support a bottle bill that establishes a deposit on beverage
containers. Bottle bills that call for rewashing and reusing
bottles are superior to traditional bottle bills.
Help establish and promote a curbside recycling program if one
does not already exist in your community.
Organize a recycling program at your school, office, apartment
building, church or local government office.
Make a compost pile to recycle food scraps and yard
trimmings. Kitchen and yard wastes make up one quarter of our
waste stream.
Recycle your used motor oil and car batteries at a local
service station.
Join grassroots organizations that have led the way in
increased recycling. (list of some of the organizations are
at the end of this article)
Encourage the use of Recycled products:
When shopping, look for the recycling symbol (three arrows
forming a circle), indicating that the packaging was made from
recycled materials.
Use recycled paper at home and in your office. For every 23
reams of recycled paper you use in place of virgin paper, one
pulp tree is saved.
Encourage your local newspaper to use recycled newsprint.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 3 27 Aug 1990
Encourage companies you do business with to use recycled
products.
For More Information
Institute for Local Self-Reliance Californians against Waste
2425 18th St.,NW 909 12 St., Suite 201
Washington, D.C. 20009 Sacramento, CA 95814
(202) 232-4108 (916) 443-8317
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 4 27 Aug 1990
Mike Robeson
Fido 1:350/21.0
WHY RECYCLE?
Recycling saves energy, natural resources and landfill space.
In 1990, it is projected that Americans will throw away over 1
million tons of aluminum cans and foil, more than 11 million
tons of glass bottles and jars, over 4 and a half million tons
of office paper, and nearly 10 million tons of newspaper.
Almost all of this material could be recycled, cutting down on
the environmental damage caused by mining, logging, and manufac-
turing raw materials, while decreasing the amount of garbage
being dumped. The average American generates 3.5 pounds of
garbage every day for a national total of over 160 million tons
per year. Over 80 percent of this waste could be recycled
using existing technologies.
Global warming, acid rain, and oil spills are problems directly
related to our extravagant use of energy. Three percent of our
nation's energy is used to produce packaging materials, such as
bottles and cans. By recycling aluminum it is possible to save
95 percent of the energy that it would take to manufacture new
products from raw materials. In other words, throwing away an
aluminum can wastes as much energy as if the can were half full
of gasoline. Americans throw away about 35 million aluminum cans
every year. If all these cans were recycled, we would save an
amount of energy equivalent to 150 Exxon Valdez oil spills
annually. In 1988, Americans set an all time high by recycling
42.5 billion cans. This alone saved enough energy to supply
power for the city of Boston for one full year.
For every ton of paper that is manufactured from recycled pulp,
17 trees are saved and 3 cubic yards of waste paper avoids being
landfilled. Since paper comprises over 40 percent of our
municipal waste stream, recycling could extend the lives of our
existing dumps considerably. For recycling to work, however, it
is important that there is a market for the new product. The
U.S. uses about 40 percent of the world's newsprint supply, yet
only 14 percent of this paper is made from recycled fiber.
Recycled paper uses up to 64 percent less energy to manufacture
than virgin paper and produces only one-quarter the air
pollution.
As you can see, there are many good reasons to recycle. The
first step is to acquire more information. Consider the
following Subjects: Precycle, Reuse, Recycle, and Encourage the
purchase and use of products that are made with recycled
material and are recyclable.
The Master Recyclers, a program of the Washington State
University Extension Office of Kitsap County is engaged in
an effort to encourage and promote recycling. We need your
help in gathering information for inclusion in our data base.
Specific information we need is sources of information
concerning the following subjects: Recycling manufacturers,
FidoNews 7-35 Page 5 27 Aug 1990
Manufacturers of products containing recycled material, manufac-
turers of packaging containing recycled material, and any
sources of recycled material or information on products made
from recycled material.
Information may be addressed to the originator of this article,
or postal mailed to: Mike Robeson, 1610 Kitsap Lake Rd. NW,
Bremerton, WA 98312.
Remember, If you're not recycling, you're throwing it away!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 6 27 Aug 1990
Mike Robeson
1:250/21.0
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME, For Hazardous Waste.
Household drains and garbage cans usually aren't
considered conduits for hazardous waste. But products as
toxic as arsenic and as persistent as DDT are often poured
down the kitchen sink or thrown out in the trash. This
carelessness can cause serious problems.
Powerful chemical products for home use include drain
cleaners, disinfectants, degreasers, pesticides, paints, ect.
These products also are potentially hazardous wastes.
Hazardous Waste is any material discarded from the home
that may, due to its chemical nature, pose a threat to human
or environmental health if handled improperly. It may be
ignitable, corrosive, explosive, poisonous, or have other or
a combination of dangerous properties. And its difficult to
control because it comes from diverse sources.
Industrial waste disposal is strictly regulated. Disposal
of household hazardous waste is not, even though it may
contain the same toxic substances.
The problem of household hazardous waste almost defys
discription. The scope of the problem is gigantic. Example,
Washington State citizens tossed an extimated 14,700,000
pounds of household hazardous waste into local sanitary
landfills in 1987.
Improper use and disposal of hazardous household products
has caused poisoning, chemical burns, exposure to toxic
fumes, contamination of ground water, fish kills, and
explosions in sewers, garbage trucks, landfills and homes.
Small amounts of hazardous chemicals are widespread
throughout our homes, garages, and storage sheds - often
unsafely stored.
The solution starts at home. Each person can help control
household toxics. Purchasing power can be used to give
industry the incentive to produce safer household products.
Local governments can help provide hazardous waste
management plans and provide public education. State
government has grant and technical assistance programs for
household hazardous waste projects and planning.
HOW TO IDENTIFY A HAZARDOUS PRODUCT
FidoNews 7-35 Page 7 27 Aug 1990
Federal law requires that hazardous products be labled:
"DANGER" or "CAUTION". Each word indicates the degree of a
product's toxicity, "DANGER" being the most toxic,
"CAUTION" being the least. Toxicity is capacity of a
substance to cause damage to an organism. Other words on a
lable like poison, corrosive, flammable, volatice, or
caustic, help to determine the principal hazard of the
product. Lables rarely warn of long-term health hazards, and
labeling requirements do not apply to most hobby products.
Inadequate as they are, lables do contain helpful information
for many hazardous products. Knowing the meaning of signal
words can help users make informed product and disposal
choices.
COMMON EXAMPLES OF HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTES:
Paints and Solvents; Oil-based paints, paint thinners, paint
strippers, boat bottom paints, varnishes, furnisher refinishers,
metal polishes.
Auto Care Products; Engine cleaner, used motor oil, tar remover,
antifreeze, gasoline.
Cleaners; Bleach, degreasers, spot removers, rug cleaners,
disinfectants, toilet cleaners, oven cleaners, drain
cleaners, septic tank cleaners.
Pesticides; Pest stips, insect repellant, flea powder, ant and
roach powder, rat poison, slug bait, moth balls, weed killers,
wood preservatives.
Miscellaneous Items; Dyes, lighter fluids, pool chemicals, photo
chemicals, chemistry sets, old fire extinguishers, old medicines.
SAFETY TIPS FOR HAZARDOUS PRODUCTS
1. Read product labels, follow directions and warnings.
2. Keep unused material in the original containers, lables
intact, securely stored.
3. Do not overuse products. Twice as much won't work twice as
well.
4. Never mix Products - dangerous reactions could occur.
5. Never mix wastes - it could create a difficult disposal
problem.
6. Don't use old hazardous products: they may contain
dangerous chemicals that have been banned.
7. Wear protective equipment such as goggles, cloves, or
respirators with proper cartridges when using hazardous
material. Conuslt your telephone directory under
"safety equipment" for stores that carry safety gear.
8. Avoid breathing mists or vapors. If possible, work out-
FidoNews 7-35 Page 8 27 Aug 1990
doors, if you must work indors, use plenty of ventilation.
9. If pregnant? avoid exposure to all toxic chemicals. Many
household products are untested for their effects on the
unborn.
For further information on the subject of Hazardous waste or
any other environmental subjects contact your county health
department, local University Extension Agent, your state's
Department of Ecology or your library system.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 9 27 Aug 1990
FIND HEIDI SITUATION SHEET
August 16, 1990
On August 4, 1990, 11-year old Heidi Seeman was abducted not far
from her home in northeast San Antonio. Volunteers from
Randolph Air Force Base, where Heidi's father is stationed,
helped community volunteers organize a search which, by week's
end involved more than 6,000 San Antonio civilian and military
residents. Searches were conducted on foot, horseback, and in
off-road vehicles. Additionally, a thorough search was conducted
by air using helicopters, ultra light and private aircraft.
Searchers also used dog teams when following up on specific leads.
The Mayor of San Antonio proclaimed Saturday August 11, 1990 as
"Find Heidi Day" and asked everyone to spend at least one hour
searching areas around their neighborhoods. Officials believe
that as many as 300,000 residents joined in the search. Sunday,
San Antonio observed a day to "Take Heidi to Church" in their
hearts and their prayers.
Despite the diligent efforts of the volunteers to find Heidi,
no trace of her has been found. Yet volunteers continue to come
forward to help search, distribute flyers, and transmit computer
images to other locations. The massive search for Heidi stems
from an overwhelming concern by San Antonio people for the safety
of their own children. They are saying that all children are at
risk unless we do something to prevent such crimes.
The search has now expanded nationwide, with a reward in excess
of $50,000. This weekend, Heidi's disappearance will be covered on
the Fox network program, "America's Most Wanted". We ask for your
help to copy and distribute material in an attempt to find her.
Won't you help?
Heidi is 11 years old, 4' 10" tall and weighs 70 pounds. She has
light brown hair and green eyes. At the time of her disappearance
she was wearing a white, collarless shirt, purple shorts,
black and white polka dot tennis shoes, and white socks.
[Photo enclosed in FN073501.GIF]
Notify your local FBI, or call 512-651-LOOK.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 10 27 Aug 1990
Another IFNA??
--------------
By Kwityer Bychin
Hey, I'm back. Being that I ran off at the mouth a little
about IFNA last week, I decided that I'd take that subject a
little further and address the concerns of those PEOPLE that
think we need an IFNA replacement.
Since IFNA bought the farm, there've been quite a few
twisted people moaning and whining about starting up a *NEW*
Politburo to run Fidonet.
Hey guess what sister? We don't NEED a new IFNA. We've been
doing just FINE without an IFNA for almost two years now,
because when it WAS around, it didn't do SQUAT.
Look at good 'ol Fight-O-Net this way... You got a mailer
that can send stuff to other mailers. You got a list of a
WHOLE BUNCH OF PEOPLE that you can send your stuff to. So SEND
your stuff and KWITYER BYCHIN. You don't need no
"organization" to run your system for you. You know the rules,
you got the policy document, now PLAY THE GAME or GET LOST.
Even though the network will do just FINE without any kinda
politburo, SOMEBODY is gonna try to whip one up and take over
the network. AGAIN. Yep, BANK ON IT. Some group of
bureaucratic control freaks will undoubtedly make a pitch to
conquer Fidonet sooner or later. And maybe they'll even do a
NETWORK WIDE REFERENDUM! Yeah! They'll put out a question like
"We are taking over Fidonet. Vote NO if you don't want that to
happen". And the same 30% of the network will vote like they
did last time, and WHAM! Instant takeover. Pretty neat huh??!
Try this at home.
Or maybe we'll see some Presnellian democratic takeover of
Fidonet! Hey, that would be fun! Adjustable Democracy! Or
maybe The Freddies will take over, and require you to be a
certified senior citizen in order to send a netmail. YEAH! The
FREDDIES! The FREDDIES will all gang up on Vince Perrier and
Lighthorse Harry Lee and tie them to the RACK for LHarc'ing
the SNOOZE (the most heinous crime since the Holocaust). Let's
hear it for the FREDDIES folks, <clap clap clap>, come on! A
big hand! <clap clap>.
Oh yeah. By special request, I've been asked to plug a new
network. Here's the intro from the ApiNet nodelist:
;A Have you ever been in a network and got tired of all the
flames?
FidoNews 7-35 Page 11 27 Aug 1990
;A Have you ever been in a network and got tired of all the
bullcrap?
;A Have you ever been in a network and hear people say to
others
;A "HEY, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT HERE THEN GO JOIN ANOTHER
!UCKING NET"?
;A Or better yet, have you ever been kicked out of a
network?
;A Well folks, It looks like you're in luck because right
here,
;A right now, right in front of your p**cking face is (drum
roll please)
;A
;A "ANOTHER P**CKYN NETWORK"! ;A (Sheesh... Just what we
p**ckyn need)
I censored the thing with the asterisks just in case we have
some crybabies out there that can't take it.
I've been told, that since this network took on some
Canadian members, they renamed it to Another P**ckin'
International Network. You send a netmail to ROB ECKERT for
more info.
Well that's it for this week. Next week, we'll find
some(thing)one else to beat on. And look for the Nitwit of the
Week award, coming soon!
KB
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 12 27 Aug 1990
Jan Ceuleers
2:295/53@fidonet
27:1332/853@signet
TechCon-I, The Report (part 2)
This is the second and last part of the TechCon-I report. The
first part appeared in FidoNews 734.
First, an apology. I noticed in the logfile of 2:295/27 that
someone had tried to request some of the technical documents
that were distributed at TechCon. He only got one, because of a
ridiculously low MaxReq setting (the person in question was a
point). This limit has since been increased to 5, with a
maximum of 250Kbytes for unlisted nodes and 550Kbytes for
listed-ones. That should do it.
IFF (Interchange File Format) -- Maximilian Hantsch
---------------------------------------------------
Maximilian Hantsch (2:310/6) told us that Electronic Arts, a
US based software company, had come up with a file format
which was sufficiently general for it to be used to store
data of any kind. The initial purpose was to allow different
programs, running on the same platform (i.e. the Commodore
Amiga) to interchange data consistently. It could, however,
be used to interchange data between different platforms as
well, and that is one of the reasons IFF was on the agenda at
TechCon.
Max briefly talked about the efforts in NET_DEV to come to a
"Type-III Packet". One of the possibilities is the RFC822
document, which actually looks a lot like the kludges we
currently use in FidoNet Type-II Packets, except that there's
no fixed binary header. RFC822 is being widely used in
professional, as well as in amateur networks.
Another notable proposition for a future format is the
'binary chunks' proposal. Max likes this proposal a lot, and
this is no coincidence, because its structure is very similar
to IFF. Both structures consist of chunks, which have a 4-
byte ASCII identifier, a length field, and the specified
number of data bytes. The length field is only one byte in
length in the binary chunks proposal, while it is a 32-bit
unsigned integer in IFF.
A second-level definition of IFF (the above structure
definition being the first level) would be that chunks can
contain 1 or more chunks themselves. Another step up the
hierarchical ladder, we find that a number of predefined
forms (specific configurations of nested chunks) can be used
as building blocks in IFF files as well.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 13 27 Aug 1990
Since IFF was initially designed specifically to be used on
the Commodore Amiga, all 16- and 32-bit numbers need to be
stored in the Motorola-order. They need to be stored at word-
boundaries as well, which means that pad bytes need to be
inserted if a chunk has an odd length.
We need to make sure that the chunk types (the 4-char
identifiers) are allocated centrally, so that no two
programmers use the same identifier for an entirely different
chunk type. Commodore-Amiga has set up an approval body,
which is part of CATS (Commodore-Amiga Technical Support),
with which chunk type identifiers can be registered. (Why not
use different smileys for identifiers in FidoNet?, JC).
Max went on to discuss a number of IFF-standard chunk types
(FORM, LIST, CAT and PROP) which provide for the orderly
arrangement of data, as well as providing a means to define
the scope for common properties. He explained how to parse
these standard chunk types as well.
A remark was made that it might be better to stop talking
about a type-III PACKET, and instead call it a new type of
BUNDLE. Otherwise, people might think that we're trying to
change the basic FidoNet protocol. This is entirely
unnecessary, since we would still transmit a type-II packet
during FTS-0001 sessions, which can be followed by any kind
of file. Actually, this is the way in which echomail is
currently being moved, albeit that the archives contain type-
II packets...
Finally, this standard uses other standards. The FTXT FORM
type makes use of the same ISO character set as does
Microsoft Windows, for example. The standard was placed in
the public domain, and example code has been placed in the
public domain as well. It is available from 2:295/27 as
IFF_88.ZOO (515K). Max may have it up for file request as
well, but I'm not sure. Many attendants took this file home
with them as well, so you may find it near you.
Message FOSSILs - Panel discussion with Henk, Bob, Vince,
Alexander and Max
---------------------------------------------------------
What this is really all about is a database interface layer.
We want to define a high-level interface, while the
implementation is platform dependent.
Vince remarks that Wynn Wagner has been studying a way of
handling messages that was similar to IFF (a binary-style
message structure); Alexander feels that IFF would not be a
proper way of storing messages on disk.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 14 27 Aug 1990
Another issue is platform independence. Henk mentions the
fact that Novell's B-Trieve is available on lots of
platforms, but this doesn't allow for compatibility with
existing message base formats. Existing programs that make
use of specific message base formats, without accessing the
message base through the message FOSSIL, are a problem:
integrity cannot be maintained in a multitasking situation
where one of the tasks accesses the message base without
making use of the message FOSSIL.
Bob feels that whatever we do, we mustn't slow things down,
however nice the features we add may be.
One part of the panel feels that too many people have been
involved in the NET_DEV-version of this discussion for
anything to really happen, while the others think that this
is too big a project for a single person. A limited number of
developers should sit together and "just do it". The key
people would probably be the major BBS authors, as they could
lead the way in this. Lots of utility developers would soon
follow.
Maximilian Hantsch (2:310/6) has volunteered to coordinate
the efforts. If anyone has already written message FOSSIL
specs, or is even busy writing code that uses a message
FOSSIL, you are requested to contact Max and to share ideas
with him. Please take into account that Max's system is not CM.
A brain storming on what the actual interface should look
like yields the following: perhaps we should use a SQL
subset, in order to support multi tasking, programs should be
written to take error messages into account (cannot perform
this or that function because this or that resource is
locked,...). Henk briefly sums up what type of functions a
message FOSSIL should incorporate: initialize message base,
initialize area, open+close area, open+close message,
read+write message, (we'd probably need to be able to access
the header and the body separately).
The-Box -- Arjen Lentz
----------------------
Arjen talked about his mailer, which is available both for
the PC and for the Atari ST. Sadly, Arjen's talk was not
recorded on tape and I wouldn't dare publish something on it
from memory. I have informed him of the problem, and he will no
doubt publish an article when his mailer's documentation
becomes available.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 15 27 Aug 1990
Global Configuration File -- Maximilian Hantsch
-----------------------------------------------
Programs requiring configuration can either extract this
information from other programs' configuration files, or have
the user construct configuration files of their own. In the
latter case, a lot of information is bound to be duplicated,
thereby increasing the chance of introducing inconsistencies
by forgetting to change all the occurrences of a particular
piece of information in all the configuration files.
This could be solved by introducing a format for a global
configuration file, i.e. a configuration file which contains
configuration information for use by more than one program
(preferably all).
Max based his talk on a document written by Martin Laubach,
who based the format he proposes on the Microsoft Windows
configuration file (WIN.INI), with the addition of a global
section.
Here's the format:
global_config_verb_1 options_1
global_config_verb_2 options_2
...
[program_name_1]
config_verb_local_to_program_1 local_options_1
config_verb_local_to_program_2 local_options_2
...
[program_name_2]
...
If a particular config verb is specified both in a local and
in the global section, the local options will take precedence
over the global options for the program the local config verb
is local to. In other words: global specifications are valid
for all programs, unless they are overridden in local
sections.
A file containing Martin Laubach's document is available from
2:295/27 as NEWCFG.LZH (2860 bytes).
Character Sets -- Maximilian Hantsch
------------------------------------
Maximilian described a number of 8-bit character sets. A
kludge line specifying which character set a message was
written in does not solve the problem where people's names
(in the From and To fields of the header) contain non-ASCII
characters.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 16 27 Aug 1990
Part of the audience (myself included, JC) feels that a
change of character sets requires sweeping enough changes to
software for the changes to be done thoroughly the first time
around. Why stick to 8 bits if people like the Chinese have
been asking us (in the Meadow conference for example) for a
way to support their multibyte characters.
An argument against this is the fact that many of the
languages requiring multibyte characters aren't written left-
to-right, and one line under the other. It would therefore be
difficult to write software that is sufficiently general to
handle all of this.
That's about it. As you all can see, we've had fun. The
discussions were very informative (we've all learned a lot) and
were completely free of the kind of bitching that continuously
goes on in NET_DEV. BTW: I hope that's not one of the reasons
why the previous moderator of NET_DEV has become the *previous*
moderator of NET_DEV.
Another point. What you've read in this report only reflects
(or tries to reflect) what happened at TechCon during the more
or less planned sessions. There have been 'fringe meetings' in
several of Antwerp's world famous "staminees" (from the French
word 'estaminet').
As a matter of fact, Henk Wevers turned up a bottle of Bink
beer during one of those fringe meetings, which he presented
(empty, of course) to Bob and Vince the following morning. A
local sysop, Erik De Schrijver, found out about the brewery,
and arranged a guided tour for them. You should have seen their
proud faces when they came back home that evening, each
carrying 24 bottles of a beer named after their brain child.
Touching...
Jan Ceuleers
TechCon-I coordinator
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 17 27 Aug 1990
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
Henry Clark
124/6120
I Told You Homeboy --
U Can't Touch This.
Missed me ? I thought not. I've been on the campaign trail,
running for RC in our Region 19 elections. Campaigning is
probably not the right word, more like passive participation.
Our current RC decided to hold an REC election at the same
time, which has caused flames like a Kuwaiti well blowout. We
also get to try and vote on a Regional Policy, one of which
would make these elections a permanent arrangement. Watch your
nodelist for the results, maybe.
Is there a Disk Doctor in the House ? --
Norton Utilities 5.0 was there, so I bought it. I owed them
one, now I don't. I remember back in Summer of '87, I had been
running DOS 3.2 and switched to Compaq DOS 3.31. BIG
PARTITIONS. I was so happy. But then, disaster. I am always
sorting my directories, and I had always used Norton's DS,
circa version 3 or something like that. Anyway, I actually
was forced back to multiple 32 meg partitions on that disk
until Norton 4 arrived. Late '87, I think, and of course, it
supported the BIGDOS partition, and DS worked and I was a happy
camper. Damn the sector size, full speed ahead.
Can't touch this.
As a side note on DS, I seem to want mostly DATE order, so that
the end of a DIR shows me the latest files. I PATCH the dates
on the directory entries themselves so that a full disk date
sort puts the directories in least to most used order ! On the
BBS file directories, I use ALPHA order, except the new uploads
area, which is DATE order. This matches the order of my FILES
LISTs, and seems to be faster for BBS user display.
So anyway, I dutifully archived Norton 4.5 and loaded up 5.0.
What a DISASTER. The interactive apps are OK, a little gaudy
with all the latest pretty menu, mousey type, pull downs, etc.
I think it looks alot like what PCTOOLS advertises ( I never
bought it for that reason. )
BUT the batchable commands are a horror(sp). The docs say that
DS is replaced with SpeedDisk, but I couldn't find it. Then I
noticed the docs telling me to keep DS, and quite a few other
4.5 commands around. Interesting, in a sardonic kind of way.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 18 27 Aug 1990
I don't know what to say, something like : Buy Norton 4.5 before
your retailer runs out ? This is like the New Coke/Classic
Coke thing, hopefully Symantec will lose their butt and return
to the UNIX style utilities we have known and loved.
Oh woe, oh woe, o we o, we-o-oh...
Stop, Honeytime --
After three long weeks of one meal a day, and far too much
work, Darling returned with The Kid. She's decided to get into
drugs ! Fertility drugs, that is. I keep hearing something
about twins...
The Kid took some lessons from sister-in-law, he now knows :
alt-X, cd \games, comic, ctrl-alt-del
I can't believe I have to buy another computer for a 4 year old.
The airlines wrecked his bicycle, so he got a new one of
those. He's a happy boy.
Miscellaneous Ramblings --
Get well soon, David. Quick to jump on the FIDO-GUI bandwagon,
I have enclosed a wee graphic to help cheer up a fellow sysop.
Later Dude, Oh... U Can't Touch This.
[Photo enclosed in file FN073502.GIF]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 19 27 Aug 1990
=================================================================
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=================================================================
Bob Morris 1:141/333
Dear Editor;
I have just gotten up off the floor after reading the column by
Kwityer. Must admit that I haven't had this much fun since
drinking Anchor Steam Beer in the WOC in in Sin-City.
I honestly don't know where people come from to create batch
files that "break" when someone changes the extension. I have
the old batch files from 16/0 (circa pre-Harry Lee and pre-Pete
White having just returned from a couple of years doing testing
on OSIRIUS and ISIS) and darned if the batch files (created in
1987 don't say "If exist fnews*.* copy fnews*.*
e:\fido\fidonews". I guess my point here is that if you hard
code something that may change, you are definitely going to
"Break" it when you are not around to change it, but "Big Deal"
this is a "HOBBY" and we are not running Computer Centers for
large corporations out of our homes (at least I hope not).
To Vince and Harry, it was time that someone took the bull (no
pun intended) by the horns and made a decision. IFNA, the
democratic entity, is dead, we have come full circle again and
are once again a "Dictatorship" (if you don't understand that one
you have not been around long enough).
The gar... er stuff that has appeared in EchoMail and in this
publication is pure hogwash! Lharc is a Public Domain Package,
it has source code available, if some of the people who have
complained the loudest would have spent 50% of the time they did
complaining in converting LHARC to their individual machine
requirements we all would have had five or six more versions of
the product converted by now.
To those who want to know, I know the "REAL" identity of Kwityer,
and for some heavy duty bucks will fill you in, after all I have
to split it with Kwityer <grin>.
Bob Morris
1:141/333
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 20 27 Aug 1990
=================================================================
LATEST VERSIONS
=================================================================
Latest Software Versions
MS-DOS Systems
--------------
Bulletin Board Software
Name Version Name Version Name Version
DMG 2.93 Phoenix 1.3 TAG 2.5f*
Fido 12s+ QuickBBS 2.64 TBBS 2.1
Lynx 1.30 RBBS 17.3A TComm/TCommNet 3.4
Kitten 2.16 RBBSmail 17.3A Telegard 2.5
Maximus 1.00 RemoteAccess 0.04a* TPBoard 6.1
Opus 1.13+* SLBBS 1.77* Wildcat! 2.15
PCBoard 14.2 Socrates 1.00 XBBS 1.13
Network Node List Other
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
BinkleyTerm 2.40* EditNL 4.00 ARC 7.0*
D'Bridge 1.30 MakeNL 2.20 ARCAsim 2.30
Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ARCmail 2.07
FrontDoor 1.99c* Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
PRENM 1.47 SysNL 3.11 Crossnet v1.5
SEAdog 4.51b XlatList 2.90 EMM 2.02
TIMS 1.0(Mod8)* XlaxDiff 2.35* Gmail 2.05
XlaxNode 2.35* GROUP 2.16
GUS 1.30
InterPCB 1.30*
LHARC 1.13
MSG 4.1
MSGED 2.00*
PK[UN]ZIP 1.10
QM 1.0
QSORT 4.03
Sirius 1.0w
SLMAIL 1.35
StarLink 1.01
TagMail 2.20
TCOMMail 2.2
Telemail 1.20
TMail 1.15
TPBNetEd 3.2
TosScan 1.00
UFGATE 1.03
XRS 3.40
ZmailQ 1.12*
FidoNews 7-35 Page 21 27 Aug 1990
Macintosh
---------
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
Red Ryder Host v2.1b10 Tabby 2.2 MacArc 0.04
Mansion 7.15 Copernicus 1.0d* ArcMac 1.3
WWIV (Mac) 3.0 StuffIt 1.6b1*
FBBS 0.91* TImport 1.331
Hermes 0.88* TExport 1.32
Timestamp 1.6
Tset 1.3
Import 3.2
Export 3.21
Sundial 3.2
PreStamp 3.2
OriginatorII 2.0
AreaFix 1.6
Mantissa 3.21
Zenith 1.5
UNZIP 1.02b
Amiga
-----
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
Paragon 2.06+ BinkleyTerm 1.00 AmigArc 0.23
TrapDoor 1.50* AReceipt 1.5*
WelMat 0.35 booz 1.01
ConfMail 1.10
ChameleonEdit 0.10
ElectricHerald1.66*
Lharc 1.10
MessageFilter 1.52*
oMMM 1.49b
ParseLst 1.30
PkAX 1.00
PK[UN]ZIP 1.01
PolyxAmy 2.02*
RMB 1.30
TrapList 1.12*
UNzip 0.86
Yuck! 1.61*
Zoo 2.00
Atari ST
FidoNews 7-35 Page 22 27 Aug 1990
--------
Bulletin Board Software Network Mailer Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
FIDOdoor/ST 1.5c* BinkleyTerm 1.03g3 ConfMail 1.00
Pandora BBS 2.41c The BOX 1.20 ParseList 1.30
QuickBBS/ST 0.40 ARC 6.02*
GS Point 0.61 LHARC 0.51
LED ST 0.10*
BYE 0.25*
PKUNZIP 1.10
MSGED 1.96S
SRENUM 6.2
Trenum 0.10
OMMM 1.40
Archimedes
----------
BBS Software Mailers Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
ARCbbs 1.44* BinkleyTerm 2.03* Unzip 2.1TH
ARC 1.03
!Spark 2.00d*
ParseLst 1.30
BatchPacker 1.00*
+ Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software)
* 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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-35 Page 23 27 Aug 1990
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
1 Sep 1990
George Peace announces the winner of the "Best Looking FidoNet
SysOp" award. Send netmail to 1:13/13 to cast your ballot.
5 Oct 1990
21st Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
6 Nov 1990
First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28
14 Nov 1990
Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at
2:332/16.0
1 Jan 1991
Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact
Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description.
16 Feb 1991
Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush.
7 Oct 1991
Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland,
Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo,
Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay
Islands will retain area code 415.
1 Feb 1992
Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and
eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area
code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport,
West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los
Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and
Montebello) will retain area code 213.
1 Dec 1993
Tenth anniversary of Fido Version 1 release.
5 Jun 1997
David Dodell's 40th Birthday
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
FidoNews 7-35 Page 24 27 Aug 1990
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