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F I D O N E W S -- | Vol. 9 No. 26 (29 June 1992)
The newsletter of the |
FidoNet BBS community | Published by:
_ |
/ \ | "FidoNews" BBS
/|oo \ | (415)-863-2739
(_| /_) | FidoNet 1:1/1
_`@/_ \ _ | Internet:
| | \ \\ | fidonews@fidonews.fidonet.org
| (*) | \ )) |
|__U__| / \// | Editors:
_//|| _\ / | Tom Jennings
(_/(_|(____/ | Tim Pozar
(jm) |
|
| Newspapers should have no friends.
| -- JOSEPH PULITZER
----------------------------+---------------------------------------
Published weekly by and for the Members of the FidoNet international
amateur network. Copyright 1992, Fido Software. All rights reserved.
Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes
only. For use in other circumstances, please contact FidoNews.
Electronic Price: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . free!
Paper price: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $10.00US
For more information about FidoNews refer to the end of this file.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ..................................................... 1
Editorial: Same or less ....................................... 1
2. ARTICLES ...................................................... 3
Netmail and Echomail are Different? ........................... 3
CyberSpace / Virtual Reality Echo ............................. 6
T.O.T.T. - Turn On To Teens BBS and echo ...................... 6
3. LATEST VERSIONS ............................................... 11
Software Versions List ........................................ 11
4. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .......................................... 12
FidoNews 9-26 Page 1 29 Jun 1992
======================================================================
EDITORIAL
======================================================================
Editorial: Same or less
by Tom Jennings (1:1/1)
Still remotely editing here on my battery laptop, the FidoNet
equivalent of writing by candlelight.
The "where does the mail go" problem is apprently a sore spot for a
lot of people (I mentioned a month or so back that all mail to and
from certain addresses was consistently lost). Another article about
it in this issue.
The U.S. government is at it again. Those guys (mainly) are sooo
funny. This time, the FBI has proposed that digital telephony
standards be determined, not by some fool bunch of techies (FCC,
industry, etc) but instead by the Department of Justice, who of course
are *my* first pick. Yours too? (OK, so I'm getting a bit cynical,
ignore me.)
Someone at the EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) sent me the
following (I can't quote in the usual way due to hardware
limitations):
Subj: FBI Digital Telephony (bill text)
Date: Tue, 23 Jun 1992 14:54:35 -0500
The following is the latest version of
the FBI Digital Telephony Proposal,
introduced in May 1992. This version
removes the previous language that
authorized the FCC to set standards and
now places it solely in the hands of
the Attorney General. Fines are $10,000/
day for non compliance with services
within the public switched network
having 18 months to comply and services
outisde having three years. The
proposal now manadates that the
capability for
remote government wiretapping must be
included into the system.
This proposal clearly enhances the
ability of the FBI to monitor
communications. It takes the
unprecendented step of placing control over
certification of telecommunications
equipment in the hands of the Attorney
General and requires that the equipment
be constucted to allow government to have
the ability to monitor communications from a "government monitoring
facility
FidoNews 9-26 Page 2 29 Jun 1992
remote from the target facility." All
telecommunications users should be
concerned by the privacy and security
implications of creating systems that
have holes for the government or any
other knowledgable user to plug into.
David Banisar
CPSR Washington Office
banisar@washofc.cpsr.org
Craig Neidorf
Concerned Citizen
cneidorf@washofc.cpsr.org
[Complete text of proposal followed here.]
Here we go again. Sigh. The complete text is available from the
FidoNews! BBS as filename "FBI", via Wazoo filerequest from 1:1/1 or
manual download +1-415-863-2739 HST/V.32.
OK, you're spared. From what? A rather angry rant I just spent an hour
writing. Actually it was good fun, and probably suitable for another
medium. If you're interested in the whole text (with the above text
preceding it) filerequest or download (as above) file "RANT-ED". And
don't dare you complain to me about it!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 9-26 Page 3 29 Jun 1992
======================================================================
ARTICLES
======================================================================
Aaron Goldblatt
1:130/405.1 FidoNet
55:400/10.0 WorldNet
Is echomail really different from netmail? According to our editor, Tom
Jennings, it is; according to Paul Henry (1:221/279) they're the same,
and according to POLICY4, they're basically the same.
Big deal. Mail is mail. If it gets there nobody cares, and when it
gets dropped in the bit bucket it may take months to get noticed.
Tom said a while back that netmail and echomail routing schemes are
different - they serve different purposes and one should not be fed into
the routing stream of the other. Sysops who do, he implied, take their
chances. One should simply pass the netmail through the *C system.
Fine as far as it goes.
If we go on the assumption, for the moment, that netmail and echomail
really ARE different and serve different purposes, then the idea of
different routing streams is valid. Okay, so now we have two routing
streams.
Sysops, knowing this, would route their netmail through their NC (or,
for regional independants, their RC). Great, as far as it goes.
They've sent their mail where they're supposed to, so it's supposed to
arrive at its destination, right? Well, almost.
Let's take a look at a common segment of the ^aPATH line on much of my
inbound echomail:
13/13 396/1 5 124/5125 4115 130/41 48 405
Now let's look at the same type of line gleaned from ^aVIA lines
inserted by routers in much of my inbound long-distance netmail.
13/13 396/1 5 124/5125 4115 130/24 405
They look remarkably similar, don't they? The only real difference is
that the netmail gets routed from Dean Lachan (124/4115), our local
costgate, through Dewey Thiessen (130/24, also our NC), to my bossnode,
while the echomail gets routed through 130/41 (Bob Womble) and 130/48
(Frank Kubat), local hubs.
Big deal. They're all reliable systems, and the mail usually makes it.
But not always. More on that in a moment.
FidoNews 9-26 Page 4 29 Jun 1992
So much for inbound mail. Now let's look at outbound mail.
When I send long distance netmail, I have two choices: Crash or route.
Generally I'll choose to route it, because I have some modicum of faith
that my mail will arrive at its destination no later than it would had I
sent it Snail.
A few weeks ago I wrote a reply to a FidoNews article about the
INTERUSER confrence; my reply earned a response from one of the
moderators, Daan Van Rooijen (I spelled his name wrong last time). I
wrote a reply, and since I didn't have a mailer up at the time, I
uploaded it to my bossnode and he sent it for me, through 130/24.
So far, so good. Then, last week, I received a note from Daan in the
echo that he'd never gotten the mail. Ooh. Bit bucket strikes again.
Even Snail isn't that slow.
This brings us back to our assumption that netmail schemes are different
from echomail schemes. If it is, indeed, the sysop's responsibility to
put the mail into the right system, what happens when another sysop up
the line puts it into the wrong system? How can I be responsible for my
mail getting eaten when I did the right thing? I have no control over
how another sysop configures his system - and so why should my mail be a
victim of the bit bucket by being put into the wrong stream?
If there truly are two different systems to route mail (and nothing I've
seen indicates that there really is such), why aren't they properly
implemented by the people who are part of them? Most of the software
commonly used is up to the job, so why does the mail disappear?
The answer may lie in the fallacy that software such as message bouncers
and Grunged Message Detectors are always bug-free.
Let's make another assumption, one that isn't too far from reality.
Let's assume that most local routing systems are fairly reliable and
mail doesn't get lost, at least at the net level.
Why, then, does it get lost at the (inter)national level, such as my
message to Daan?
Perhaps the sysops of systems that do (inter)national mail transfers,
such as Z1C George Peace at 1:13/13, should take a look at their systems
to make sure their automation doesn't occasionally slip up. Software
such as message bouncers, Grunged Message Detectors, netmail routers,
etc., can have bugs, and mail can get fried because of these bugs.
Perhaps instead of software that simply bounces, returns, or deletes bad
mail, what we need on the (inter)national level is software that
redirects bad or grunged mail to wait for human intervention. As
sophisticated as sofware can get, it still can't replace the human
judgement call.
FidoNews 9-26 Page 5 29 Jun 1992
A perfect example is some echomail I sent recently with a bad datestamp.
It was formatted properly and everything, but my system clock was set
wrong. At the Zone 1 backbone level, the GMD bounces any mail that has
a datestamp of more than 30 days in the past or more than 24 hours in
the future. The sysop gets a nice netmail message back about it.
Other than the date, though, nothing was wrong with the message. And
this brings up my two questions . . .
First, why did it go five or six systems up the chain before getting
bounced?
The netmail I got back was from the GMD at an echomail hub about five
systems up from my boss. Presumably, PASCAL, INTERUSER, and POLITICS
are fed to other systems by the intervening four nodes, so why did I
have to resend the mail after it got that far up to make sure it went
okay, because, after all, by resending it, I duped the mail to every
system below the node with the GMD. Waste of my time, waste of
everybody's money.
Maybe what should have happened was my mail should have been put in a
special place for the sysop to look at, like a special message editor or
something. With special commands. Like ALT-P for "Pass the message
through" to send an okay message with a bad datestamp on through, 'cause
it's not going to hurt anybody, or ALT-R for "Return to sender" with a
netmail message (a predefined text dumpfile) explaining why the mail was
being returned, or for really garbaged messages, ALT-K for "Kill it
NOW."
I'm not saying that I'm sure the GMD, mail routers, or mail bouncers, do
have bugs that cause them to kill mail, but it's a possibility. We've
all had problems with computers where the only possible explanation was
that you weren't sticking your left thumb in your right ear while typing
with your big toes. But the software deserves a closer look; SOMETHING
is killing the mail, and I doubt it's an Act of God.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
YEAH!! I'm a SysOp!!
by Chris Cancilla, 1:366/8
Hi Everyone. I have been in FidoNet for about a year or so now and
I wanted to tell everyone something. Did you know that the people in
FidoNet are friendly...that's right. I am in about 6 other net works
around the country and on most of them the people are OK, but they
will still talk about you behind your back. The SysOp's that I have
had the good fortune to talk to, either by NetMail, BBS, or voice,
have proved to me that this net's SysOp's are the most helpful people
around.
FidoNews 9-26 Page 6 29 Jun 1992
I have been in Net 366 now for, as I said, about a year. I am
getting out of the Air Force on September 1, a few days away, and I
need to look for a job, place for my family and I to live, and so
forth. Well, I sent a message to the "0" up in Huntsville, Alabama
(net 373) and asked a few questions. I got back a slew of information
and a few job leads from that alone.
I may be also going into the area of Cape Kenedy, so after I write
this, I am going to do the same thing to there. This further
reinforces the fact the Fido people are helpful.
In general, I think that from my experiences on Nets, if the SysOp
and the system have integrity; everyone wins!!
Thank you for you time.....
Chris Cancilla, 1:366/8,
Private, Mail-Only, System...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Zak Smith, Sysop Sirius Cybernetics BBS, 1:154/736
CyberSpace / Virtual Reality Echo
A little less than 2 months ago, another sysop in my local area
and myself decided (with the help of a loyal user) to start up a
message area dedicated to discussions of CyberSpace and Virtual
Reality.
Since its creation on 5-5-92, there have been over 85 interesting
messages, ranging from the "Gibsonesque" views of CyberSpace to the
use of Virtual Reality for training "those guys on aircraft carriers
who direct planes."
If you would like to pick up this echo, tagged CYBER, send me
a netmail message. Polling me once a week or more often would be
fine. I have a USR DS here, so speed should not be a problem, and,
finally, I send out mail in ZIP format, if you require something
else, I can probably coax Squish into doing it.
- Zak
----------------------------------------------------------------------
by Jeff McClinton
Turn On To Teens, An Echo and BBS With Heart.
With all the new BBSs entering FidoNet, it is often hard for users and
SysOps to keep up. So many appear and then disappear in a few months
time that most of us don't even try.
However, in the multitude of BBSs appearing as of late, there are a
few which strive to make a difference. These serious boards carry
echos with themes of social injustice and other important contemporary
issues. They break the rules of BBSing as a hobby and make it into a
medium for helping those who need help, fighting for the rights we
feel are necessary to fight for, and spreading the information that
FidoNews 9-26 Page 7 29 Jun 1992
needs to be spread.
One of these boards is T.O.T.T. BBS, located in Fresno, California.
It began as a 300 bps system on a Commodore 64 with a single floppy
drive, and has grown to a more complete computer system including
everything necessary to host its own Backbone echo, of the same name.
It operates with a volunteer, unpaid staff and no government or
institutional funding.
--What is T.O.T.T.?
T.O.T.T. is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization which uses
telecommunications to help troubled teenagers. The heart of the
program is the T.O.T.T. BBS, which is run by several SysOps and
specially cleared volunteers. T.O.T.T.'s leader and director is
Faye Johnson, known as Ms. Faye on the board and echo.
In addition to the BBS, T.O.T.T. publishes a monthly newsletter, hosts
the TOTT echo, owns a 24 hour voice line, maintains a large library of
books for teens, parents and volunteers, and runs an adult volunteer
program. Several non-backbone echoes also originate on the T.O.T.T. BBS,
including FOSTER and FOS_CARE, which cover important topics. It also
has several public access sections which offer information regarding
upcoming classes, workshops, activities, resources, community agencies
and their services, pending laws and bills which affect youth, etc.
T.O.T.T.'s goals are, as stated in their newsletter, "to encourage
teens to feel good about themselves, to accept responsibility for
their actions, to reach out to others, and to improve their own
communication and social skills at the same time.
--What Makes T.O.T.T. so special?
Several things go together to make T.O.T.T. into what it is. First of
all, the fact that T.O.T.T. is unique in that it is the first BBS used
in a custody setting.
T.O.T.T. has organized teams of adult volunteers which visit the
Fresno County Juvenile Hall three nights a week to work directly with
youths who have applied for the program and been accepted. The teens
must have maintained acceptable behavior in their units, have been
approved by a counselor, and have agreed to give up some free time to
participate.
During T.O.T.T. sessions, volunteers help the youths learn computer
skills, work on articles for the T.O.T.T. Newsletter, and work on
creative writing or other skills. The participants also learn to use
the T.O.T.T. BBS and the T.O.T.T. echo to discuss their grievances and
feelings.
Because of these participants, the T.O.T.T. BBS and TOTT echo have a
very important rule: Real names, addresses and phone numbers of anyone
in the echo may NOT be posted in the echo. * Handles or first names
ONLY can be used in messages. *
FidoNews 9-26 Page 8 29 Jun 1992
The T.O.T.T. echo provides a non-judgemental and anonymous way for
participants to open up about their concerns and feelings. Being able
to use an alias allows the participants to say something without the
fears of normal conversation. Other users are more likely to let them
know that they are not alone, that their opinions mean something and
that what they say is important.
SysOps who carry the TOTT echo are required to request the TOTT_SYSOP
echo, which is used to help SysOps integrate their systems into the
program if they wish, and to give information to both new and old
SysOps using the TOTT echo.
--Conclusion
Some participants in the T.O.T.T. program have pasts filled with years
of drug abuse, dysfunctional families, low self esteem and poor
schooling. There aren't any programs in the world which can 'solve'
such problems and make these youths into perfect, happy citizens like
some miracle diet plan. T.O.T.T. attempts to plant the seeds of
encouragement and proper growth in its participants so they can have
some hope for the future.
It is this personal touch which can help T.O.T.T. go far. The youths
are thought of as people instead of statistics of a society gone
wrong. Youths both in the Fresno Juvenile Hall and using BBSs around
the country need to know that there are people out there who are
willing to listen and help them out.
-- Addresses --
Jeff McClinton
(SysOp carrying the TOTT and TOTT_SYSOP echos)
FidoNet: Ghost *SysOp, 1:129/148.0
CompuServe: 72050,1561
The T.O.T.T. program
Faye Johnson, director and moderator of TOTT and TOTT_SYSOP
US Mail: 3999 N. Chestnut, #272
Fresno, CA 93726
Voice Phone: (209) 291-4842 (24 hours)
BBS Phone: (209) 292-6403 (24 hours, 300-2400 bps)
FidoNet: 1:205/80.0
Darcy McConnell, HUB, direct contact for TOTT, TOTT_SYSOP,
FOSTER, and FOS_CARE echos
FidoNet: 1:204/40.0
300-9600bps
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 9-26 Page 9 29 Jun 1992
* INTERFAITH -- Open-minded religious echo
Jason Steck
1:104/424@FidoNet
There are many religious echos available in FidoNet.
Unfortunately, too many of the available religious echos have come to
be synonomous with religious prejudice, bigotry, and hatred. Too
often, all we wind up with is yet another echo full of people
"screaming" at each other, condemning each other to various version of
fiery purgatory, and generally doing nothing productive, edifying, or
educational. Indeed, at least one of the worst echos in this regard
is frequently advertised in FidoNews as if it offered the pinnacle of
Christian thought within its realms. (NOT!)
As a reaction to the stridency and prejudice which is often
prevelant in the other religious echos, people from several religions
and sects gathered together to form the INTERFAITH echo.
INTERFAITH is dedicated to the principle of religious
open-mindedness and multi-directional religious outreach.
Individuals of all religious faiths are encouraged to participate in
the conference by focusing on what they are FOR instead of (as is too
often the case in other religious conferences) what they are against
and/or opposed to. Participants are encouraged to ask questions about
the beliefs of others (and, as is inevitable, the basis for those
beliefs) and to similarly answer such questions about their own
beliefs. In this way, INTERFAITH becomes an "outreach" from many
religions to everyone else -- the floor is equally open to all.
The only type of material which is NOT allowed is so-called
"anti" material. "Anti" material is material which focuses on what
one is against or opposed to or is denegrating and/or abusive towards
another individual, religious group, or religious viewpoint.
Recognizing that a single individual could not possibly be
expected to equitably moderate the interests of a diverse collection
of religions and sects, INTERFAITH utilizes a unique moderator "panel"
which incorporates a representative from each major classification of
religious participants. At present, INTERFAITH has such
"co-moderators" for four classifications:
1) Catholic Christian Faiths
2) Protestant Christian Faiths
3) Non-traditional Christian Faiths
4) Pagan and Wiccan Traditions
In the areas of topic and behavior moderation, all co-moderators have
equal authority to moderate the conference.
FidoNews 9-26 Page 10 29 Jun 1992
INTERFAITH has been in existance for nearly six months and the
participants to date have largely found it to be an extremely open,
educational, and no-stress experience. With all the trappings of
inter-religion and inter-sectarian rivalry removed or regulated,
participants from many differing faiths have felt uniquely free to
join INTERFAITH and to discuss openly their own beliefs as well as
those of others.
Now, we would like to invite the "FidoNet public at large" to
come join us in INTERFAITH. The best prerequisite for joining is a
curiousity about the beliefs of others and/or the desire to share ones
own beliefs with a diverse audience of people who are open to hearing
them.
As INTERFAITH is not available on the FidoNet backbone (and
does not desire to be so), it is available through what we have come
to call the "shadow backbone". Several individual systems across the
country have agreed to carry INTERFAITH and to make it further
available to others in their area. Such a system has been found to
work quite well.
If you desire to access INTERFAITH for you system, send
netmail to Jason Steck at 1:104/424@FidoNet. If there is an
INTERFAITH system in your area, you will be directed to that system
for a link. If not, a long-distance link will be made available. As
part of our desire to expand the coverage of this unique conference,
we have even arranged to make a certain number of long-distance
delivery links (you don't have to poll for it, it is delivered to you)
for those systems who are willing to make it available to other
systems in their local area.
In short, are you sick of hate-filled, persecutorial religious
echos? Come join us in INTERFAITH!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 9-26 Page 11 29 Jun 1992
======================================================================
LATEST VERSIONS
======================================================================
Software Versions List
Please refer to the article in this issue...
----------------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 9-26 Page 12 29 Jun 1992
======================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
======================================================================
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
Editors: Tom Jennings, Tim Pozar
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello
"FidoNews" BBS
FidoNet 1:1/1
Internet fidonews@fidonews.fidonet.org
BBS (415)-863-2739 (9600 HST/V32)
(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews
Box 77731
San Francisco
CA 94107 USA
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.
FidoNews is copyright 1992 Fido Software. All rights reserved.
Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes
only. For use in other circumstances, please contact FidoNews (we're
easy).
OBTAINING COPIES: 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 via uucp. PRINTED COPIES mailed
may be obtained from Fido Software for $5.00US each PostPaid First
Class within North America, or $7.00US elsewhere, mailed Air Mail.
(US funds drawn upon a US bank only.)
BACK ISSUES: Available from the following sources (and possibly
others), via filerequest or download (consult a recent nodelist for
phone numbers). Back issues are *NOT* available from FidoNews 1:1/1.
FidoNet 1:102/138 (All issues)
FidoNet 1:216/21 (All but 18 issues)
Internet ftp.ieee.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonew/fidonews
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 1:1/1 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC".
FidoNews 9-26 Page 13 29 Jun 1992
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, 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
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reference in New Issue Copy Permalink