571 lines
26 KiB
Plaintext
571 lines
26 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 4, Number 45 7 December 1987
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| /|oo \ |
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| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
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| _`@/_ \ _ |
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| International | | \ \\ |
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| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
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| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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Contributing Editors: Dale Lovell, Al Arango
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FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
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Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
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submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
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standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
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node 1:1/1.
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Copyright 1987 by the International FidoNet Association. All
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rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
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noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
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please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067.
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The contents of the articles contained here are not our
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responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
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Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
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received.
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Table of Contents
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1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
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Standards? What Standards? .............................. 1
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2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2
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A Letter To Mayor Koch ................................... 2
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MEGADEX - A New Way to Look at the MEGALIST .............. 7
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3. NOTICES .................................................. 8
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The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 8
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New IFNA Address for Orders and Memberships .............. 8
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Latest Software Versions ................................. 8
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 1 7 Dec 1987
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=================================================================
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EDITORIAL
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=================================================================
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Standards? What Standards?
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I'm going to break one of my standing rules here. I'm going to
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talk from the perspective of a software publisher. Well, to
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roughly quote Captain Jean-Luc Picard, "Life itself is no more
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than a mass of exceptions."
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A year ago there was this thing called the "FidoNet Protocol".
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It was even documented. The idea was to promulgate a public
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domain standard for electronic mail. The basic idea was sound, I
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think. It got a lot of good attention from a lot of people for
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awhile. I've spoken with people who were planning on
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implementing it for Telex, Compuserve, BIX, MCI Mail, and a lot
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of other services. Not to mention, of course, the "real" target
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of people writing mailers for Ataris, Commodore 64s, and so
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forth. It was a concrete spec with a fairly wide acceptance, and
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it made a good, solid target to work at.
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Oh, it wasn't perfect. We all knew that. Since when is anything
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ever perfect? But people were working on ways to beef it up and
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make it cleaner. One such way was extended addressing, as that
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allowed for open-ended addressing in ways that could not be
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anticipated in advance, so we could add anything we might need
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later on without having to rewrite all of the existing software.
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Another was the SEAlink protocol, so we could maintain backwards
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compatibility while allowing for much faster data transfer on par
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with the best protocols known. [Forestalling an argument: I
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didn't say "faster than", I said "on par with". Remember that
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the main design criteria of SEAlink was high speed while keeping
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full compatibility with XMODEM and Modem7. If you like, we can
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argue over the exact numbers another day.]
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Something odd happened, though. The whole thing got tossed out
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the window. Oh, the FidoNet Protocol is still there, but it's
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now just one possible protocol. Systems linking up these days
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must negotiate over what protocol they will use. Why? A few
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percent difference in performance once in awhile? Or just to be
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new and different?
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No matter. What's done is done. But I can't help but feel that
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something important was lost in the shuffle.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 2 7 Dec 1987
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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Edward I. Koch
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Mayor City Of New York
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City Hall
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New York, New York
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Re: 179th Street And Hillside Avenue
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Dear Mayor Koch,
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Several months have gone by, and the situation at 179th
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Street and Hillside Avenue has not changed to any great extent!
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It certainly has not gotten any better!!!
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To refresh your memory, I wrote to you detailing the fact
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that I had been verbally abused several times when coming up out
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of the subway, by the "GYPSY" cab drivers.
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Since my last letter I have spent over 100 hours observing
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the situation to see what I could find out. I am not nor have I
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ever been a gypsy cab driver (just in case you are interested). I
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am an angry City resident!
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The only change that has taken place is an increased
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presence in the a.m. hours (6:30 - 8:00) of inspectors from the
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T.L.C., who seem to be more interested in drinking coffee than
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correcting the situation they are paid to correct.
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But that is not when they are needed! They are needed from
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4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on the corner of 179th Street and Hillside
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Avenue, which is where the "GYPSY" cabs block traffic, illegally
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park, and pick up their passengers.
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An increased police presence is needed on the same corner,
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but after the incident last night, I fear even the police cannot
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or will not handle the situation.
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Last night a patrol car passed by and stopped to give a
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gypsy cab several (3) tickets. As soon as the police left, the
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driver got out of his cab, went over the other drivers who hang
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around on the sidewalk, said, "F**k those cops", and ripped up
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the tickets and threw them on the sidewalk.
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About 15 minutes later, after the driver returned from
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taking 5 people in his car (at $1 per person), he was loading up
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again when the same police car passed by.
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To the officers credit, they stopped and issued him at least
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 3 7 Dec 1987
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seven tickets after inspecting his car.
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They did not however make him unload the passengers from his
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car, and when they left after giving him the tickets, he ripped
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them right up, and threw them in the road!
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What type of police force are you running? If I ripped up
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tickets, I would be held accountable. Why are gypsy cab drivers
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immune from the law?
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Several weeks ago, the gypsy cabs had the corner of 179th
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and Hillside so blocked, that an ambulance had to ride on the
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SIDEWALK for one entire block of Hillside Avenue to get close
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enough to a building to go inside to help the person who was
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sick!
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The parking lot of Burger King, who hires youth from the
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area, is another problem. When the gypsy cabs hear the police
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coming (they always blow their sirens to allow them time to get
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away) most of them pull into the Burger King lot and solicit
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passengers from the lot, where they know the police will not
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touch them. Needless to say, this makes the parking lot
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impossible to access for a paying customer.
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We are not talking about just a few gypsy cabs here. We are
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talking about an organized business, led by "Dudley", of 35 to 45
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cabs soliciting people on a regular basis. It takes about 10
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minutes from the time a gypsy cab leaves until he returns. Each
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cab carries a minimum of 5 people (they won't go unless the car
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is full) with some carrying 11 people in a van. During the busy
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time period (4 p.m. to 8 p.m.) this comes out to an average of 30
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passengers per cab/per hour.
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Throughout those 4 hours over 4800 people are transported by
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gypsy cabs, 5 days a week. When the cabs are stopped because of
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police presence, these people are forced to take the City bus
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instead. It translates out to a loss to the City of over
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$24,000.00 per 5 day business week, or over $1,228,000 per year
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in lost revenue to the Transit Authority and the City of New
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York!
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Of course these figures do not reflect the additional loss
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incurred when these cabs operate in the a.m. hours as well as the
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p.m. hours.
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Additional revenue to the City is lost in other ways as
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well. Let us assume that 50% of these cab drivers pay City taxes
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on their cash income (and that is a very, very large assumption),
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then 50% of them do not pay taxes!
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These figures are for only one of hundreds of areas in the
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City (major subway stations) where this occurs on a daily basis.
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If this situations exists at even 10 of the major subway stops
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throughout New York City, the loss in revenue to the City becomes
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astronomical!
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 4 7 Dec 1987
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"Dudley" (he calls himself "Dudley", which may or may not be
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his real name) who you might remember I mentioned in my last
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letter is still in business. Dudley apparently works for the
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Transit Authority, (as he has been seen inside token booths) and
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purchases the tokens from the other gypsy cab drivers at a
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discounted price.
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What he does with the tokens is a mystery, although informed
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sources say he allegedly sells them to people who come to the
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token booth. If true, then this is another instance where the
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City is loosing revenue. The tokens are sometimes given to the
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gypsy cab drivers to pay for the fare instead of cash, which is
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why they need an inside man to redeem them for them.
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I asked around one day, why no one seems to care when they
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get tickets. The answer was a good one, and I thought I would
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pass it on to you, Mayor Koch. I was told, "If we get a bunch of
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tickets in one day, we go to motor vehicles the next day, and
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claim a license plate was either lost or stolen".
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They receive the new plates long before the tickets are due
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in court, and in most cases are never called to account for the
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tickets. Of course, they told me, "We can't do that to often, but
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once in a while we get away with it".
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People are yelled at when they come out of the subway
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entrance, and more than once, fights have started over who gets
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what passenger. Crude and vulgar remarks are made to women by the
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gypsy cab drivers as the women come out of the subway.
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Not too long ago, the police gave out a bunch of tickets and
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left. They were back within minutes, and they were back in force!
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It seems someone ("DUDLEY") allegedly got on his CB radio and
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called in a 10-13 on channel 9, the CB emergency channel.
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Not bad enough he did that, it was reported that "shots had
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been fired and an officer was down"! Now I don't blame the
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police for responding the way they did. However I feel sorry for
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anyone who got in their way, as they were going to help an
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officer in trouble.
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Several false alarms have been sent in from that area as
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well.
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Cannot say for sure who did it, but if you would come and
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watch what goes on here on 179th Street and Hillside, you would
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get an understanding of who did it.
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After spending this additional time observing this area, I
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submit the following suggestions for your immediate
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consideration.
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1) Station 2 police officers in a patrol car on the corner
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of 179th Street and Hillside Avenue. Park this car on
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179th Street from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday thru Friday,
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for a period of 30 days, with explicit instructions to
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 5 7 Dec 1987
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ticket each and every gypsy cab.
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2) Station 1 police officer in the Burger King parking lot
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(with Burger King's cooperation) to prevent the gypsy
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cabs from picking up inside the parking lot.
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3) Station 2 TLC Inspectors on the corner of 179th Street
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and Hillside Avenue, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday thru
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Friday, for a period of 30 days with instructions to
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ticket each and every gypsy cab they see for each
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infraction of the law they find.
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4) Station 1 TLC Inspector in the Burger King parking lot
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(with Burger King's cooperation) to prevent the gypsy
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cabs from picking up inside the parking lot.
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5) Station a Traffic Department tow truck on the scene to
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remove cars found to be operating without the proper
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insurance, inspection and registration documents.
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6) Provide legislation that would make the illegal sale
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and/or purchasing of tokens a crime.
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The first 4 items might seem like overkill to you Mr.
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Mayor, but I can assure you they are not! A favorite trick of
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these gypsy cab driver is to get out of his car, as soon as he is
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parked. This allows for two things to occur.
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A) He can get closer to people coming out of the subway.
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B) When the police do come, there is no driver in the car.
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If you remember my last letter, you might remember the fact
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that I told you I would give you a chance to remedy the
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situation, and crush the rumors that, "The Mayor is afraid of
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these people and won't do anything to resolve the problem"!
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Well you had ample time and nothing has been done by your
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office about it.
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Now we will see what the people have to say!
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Copies of this letter are going to all major newspapers,
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radio and television stations, and corporate taxi fleet
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owners. The taxi owners can use it in their next rate
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decision hearings.
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New York City was once a fine place to live in. It is a
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shame we have a Mayor who seems to be afraid of a little bad
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publicity, to save the City millions of dollars annually.
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 6 7 Dec 1987
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Sincerely yours,
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A Concerned Citizen
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 7 7 Dec 1987
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MEGADEX
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A New Way to Look at the MEGALIST
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Version 1.4 - Released For Use By All Sysops
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This program is designed to reduce the disk space required to
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view and search the national software megalist produced weekly
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from 135/68.
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Megadex has reduced the file size to less than ONE THIRD the size
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of the weekly Megalist.
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This week the update files are 90k v.s. 220k for the megalist.
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To operate just un-arc the archive into any directory you have
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handy.
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Then just type MEGADEX and hit your return key to begin.
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Weekly updates can be SEAdog requested from 107/246 and 135/68.
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If you do not have the MEGADEX.EXE file then request MEGADEXC
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from 107/246.
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After you have MEGADEX.EXE then the file name to request is
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"MEGADEX" (without quotes) and WILL NOT contain the .EXE file. It
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will contain only the weekly update files. (From 107/246)
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Revision History
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----------------
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1.0 Initial Release
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1.1 Tightened Search Loops With An Increase In Speed
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Problem Corrected In Small Node Number Search
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1.4 Increased Speed By 23% When Searching
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 8 7 Dec 1987
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=================================================================
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NOTICES
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=================================================================
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The Interrupt Stack
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9 Jan 1988
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The next net 104 FidoNet Sysop Meeting. Contact Oscar Barlow
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at 104/0 for information.
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25 Aug 1988
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(pending BoD approval) Start of the Fifth International
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FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Drawbridge Inn in
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Cincinnatti, OH. Contact Tim Sullivan at 108/62 for more
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||
information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and
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is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with
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all this time. We're hoping to see you there!
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24 Aug 1989
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Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
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If you have something which you would like to see on this
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||
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Ken Kaplan, 1:1/10
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Effective with this FidoNews issue all IFNA monetary transactions
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will be handled by our Treasure, Leonard Mednick (1:1/11). Len
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will deposit money and verify memberships for all IFNA Orders.
|
||
The actual processing of memberships and filing of PO's will
|
||
continue to be done by other individuals after the treasure's
|
||
duties are completed. The administrative and legal address will
|
||
remain the same in St. Louis. The forms at the back of this
|
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FidoNews refect this change.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Latest Software Versions
|
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BBS Systems Node List Other
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& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
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Dutchie 2.71* EditNL 3.3 ARC 5.21
|
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Fido 12d* MakeNL 1.10 ARCmail 1.1*
|
||
Opus 1.03a Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.2*
|
||
SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.84 EchoMail 1.31
|
||
TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1*
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||
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||
* Recently changed
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||
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Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
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||
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
|
||
FidoNews 4-45 Page 9 7 Dec 1987
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all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 10 7 Dec 1987
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__
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The World's First / \
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BBS Network /|oo \
|
||
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
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||
_`@/_ \ _
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||
| | \ \\
|
||
| (*) | \ ))
|
||
______ |__U__| / \//
|
||
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
|
||
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
|
||
|
||
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
|
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Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
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||
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
|
||
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
|
||
increase worldwide communications.
|
||
|
||
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
|
||
Address _________________________________________________________
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City ____________________________________________________________
|
||
State ________________________________ Zip _____________________
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||
Country _________________________________________________________
|
||
Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
|
||
Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
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||
Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________
|
||
BBS Name ________________________________________________________
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||
BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________
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||
Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________
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||
Board Restrictions ______________________________________________
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||
Your Special Interests __________________________________________
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||
_________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________
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In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________
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_________________________________________________________________
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_________________________________________________________________
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Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in
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US Funds to:
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International FidoNet Association
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c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA
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700 Bishop Street, #1014
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Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-4112
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USA
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||
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||
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
|
||
insure the future of FidoNet.
|
||
|
||
Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
|
||
and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
|
||
membership in January 1987. The first elected Board of Directors
|
||
was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
|
||
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
|
||
input to this Conference.
|
||
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||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 4-45 Page 11 7 Dec 1987
|
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|
||
INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
|
||
ORDER FORM
|
||
|
||
Publications
|
||
|
||
The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido
|
||
1:1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing
|
||
them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee
|
||
Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each
|
||
publication, but we can make no written guarantees.
|
||
|
||
Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986
|
||
|
||
IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____
|
||
IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____
|
||
IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____
|
||
|
||
SUBTOTAL _____
|
||
|
||
IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers
|
||
|
||
System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____
|
||
SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987
|
||
ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member
|
||
|
||
Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____
|
||
Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987
|
||
ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member
|
||
|
||
International orders include $10.00 for
|
||
surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____
|
||
|
||
SUBTOTAL _____
|
||
|
||
HI. Residents add 4.0 % Sales tax _____
|
||
|
||
TOTAL _____
|
||
|
||
SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS:
|
||
International FidoNet Association
|
||
c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA
|
||
700 Bishop Street, #1014
|
||
Honolulu, HI. 96813-4112
|
||
USA
|
||
|
||
Name________________________________
|
||
Zone:Net/Node____:____/____
|
||
Company_____________________________
|
||
Address_____________________________
|
||
City____________________ State____________ Zip_____
|
||
Voice Phone_________________________
|
||
|
||
Signature___________________________
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
|