557 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
557 lines
25 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 5, Number 52 26 December 1988
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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| _ |
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| / \ |
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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 Dale Lovell
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Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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Contributing Editors: 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. 1:1/1 is available for network mail between NMH-1
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hour to NMH+1 hour. At all other times, netmail is not accepted
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although submissions can be uploaded.
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Copyright 1988 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. IFNA may also be contacted
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at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
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Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
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Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
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are used with permission.
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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. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
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Intro To FIDO (A Poem) ................................... 2
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Sysop Comments on IFNA Statement of Direction ............ 4
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National Law Enforcement Conference ...................... 6
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2. COLUMNS .................................................. 7
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Let's YACK about Vacation Time ........................... 7
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3. NOTICES .................................................. 8
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The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 8
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Latest Software Versions ................................. 8
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 1 26 Dec 1988
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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Curtis Sahakian
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115/982
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FREE AND OPEN ECHO INFORMATION
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I am starting a non-backbone echo for the free and open
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exchange of information on echos and echo feeds. There
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is a need to create an forum for people to be able to
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freely discuss what is happening with the various new
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backbones that are coming into existence without being
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subject to political friction or intimidation. This
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requires an echo that does not depend on any particular
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backbone for distribution and does not try to impose
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any set of values or beliefs on the participants. As
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new backbones come into existence this will become
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increasingly important.
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To do this we need several regional hubs to carry
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and distribute the echo. We need one or two
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in California, one in the Colorado area, one in the
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Southwest, one in the Northeast and one in the
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Southeast. The ideal hub will be an echomail junky
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who knows the other local echomail junkies.
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There will be a modest volume of messages on the
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echo but it will contain a lot of valuable informa-
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tion about what is happening. It will also be
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an ideal place for someone to promote a new echo.
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There also seems to be a lot of confusion as to how
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and to what extent an echo moderator can maintain
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some proprietary right in an echo. That is a question
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that I and several other participating lawyers can
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answer if there is an interest.
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If you are interested in becoming one of the hubs for
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this echo please send an netmail message to me at
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node 1:115/982 Curtis Sahakian
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 2 26 Dec 1988
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Timothy Campbell
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Pinnacle Software
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1:167/161
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INTRO TO FIDO
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-------------
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I was writing a BBS program, you see.
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I had a clear goal: make it maintenance-free!
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A friend, name of James, ran a beta-test site,
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Uncovering bugs and things that weren't right.
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One of his questions, it made my heart sink.
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"It can, I assume, run underneath Bink?"
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"Bink?" I inquired, not wanting to know.
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"Yes," he replied, "It's used for Fido".
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Fido! That means I've got more work to do.
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"Will your users need access, or is it just you?"
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"It's just for me, and Binkley does mail.
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So write for a 'door' and you're on the right trail."
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Ah! I could do that! I've written a door.
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But this talk of Fido ... I sought to learn more.
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So James said, "It's complex, but you'll get the gist,
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if you understand the Fido Node List!"
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"Node List? What's that?" I asked. He said, "Well,
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that's all the nodes! It's from MakeNL".
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"From MakeNL? What on earth does that mean?
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Give me a break: be more clear than you've been."
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Paying no heed, he said, "Then it's sent to us.
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So it arrives, in a form called 'St. Louis'.
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Now, you convert it -- I use XlaxNode.
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Some other people use different code."
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Now I was lost. I was very confused.
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My brain, it was spinning; my ego was bruised.
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But I took some notes, to make sense of this mess
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of Opus and oMMM and of QuickBBS.
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And sometime near dawn, I did see the light!
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I lived and breathed Fido; I knew ev'ry byte!
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Elated, I was, with newly-found smarts.
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Fido was great and I knew all the parts.
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I learned about SEAdog and TBBS,
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Dutchie and more! I knew it ALL -- YES!
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But what I heard next ... it made me go pale ...
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"Now we will learn all about ... EchoMail!"
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-- The BBS mentioned in the poem is Sapphire --
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The Zero-Maintenance BBS. You can File Request SAPPHIRE
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from 1:167/161, which is the software distribution system
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for Pinnacle Software. Any comments to Mr. Campbell can
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be sent to the same node. If you cannot File Request,
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simply call 514/286-1703, and, without prior validation,
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you may download Sapphire.
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 3 26 Dec 1988
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 4 26 Dec 1988
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Jim Deputy (aka Sir Dep)
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1:204/40
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Sysop Comments on the
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IFNA Statement of Direction
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I have just read Don Daniels article "Problems Between IFNA and
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FidoNet ...and a Potential Solution" in FNEWS550.
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First off, I would like to commend Don on writing such an
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excellent article. The article lays several issues to rest that
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I have had with IFNA, and FidoNet.
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I have been in the Network now a little over a year. I think
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the biggest debate I have seen, is basically broken down to:
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"Who says, and by what right does IFNA claim to represent us."
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Recently Butch Walker resigned as the ZEC. An election was held
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in which only the *C's were allowed to vote. Yet, no-where in
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Policy3 is there such an office as ZEC, or NEC. Yet, they were
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allowed to vote.
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While I understand that many elections from a Node level might
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be a bit on the hard side to correlate. I would like to suggest
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that possibly, each and every Network in each Zone be required
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to have its own constitution.
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Under the constitution, the following could be laid out:
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1. Method for the NC to poll nodes for opinions of the Sysops
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within the Net. The Nets vote count to be on a percentage
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of systems. i.e. a small net one vote a large net several
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votes. With the NC being required to vote (as close as
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possible) the percentage of votes for/against an issue.
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2. A means whereby, on what is considered today to be a policy
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complaint, be placed before the sysops peers in the net
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prior to going up the *C chain on appeals. Thus if there
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is a complaint from outside the net, it is presented to the
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NC, who presents it to the Net as a whole.
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3. With a similar constitution on a regional level and zone
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level. These constitutions should also have a means of re-
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calling or impeaching a *C if they are not doing their
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job.
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I agree with Don, Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was New
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York. And while I know it may sound silly or whatever, I think
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a good Net-Level constitution, with similar constitutions for
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the Regional Level and Zone Levels might be a very good step in
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making IFNA a little more palatable for the rest of us.
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I think IFNA should be more of a Service/Standards type group.
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Meaning keep up the Nodelist, as well as set standards (at the
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start, to be moved into a more democratic aspect as it works
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 5 26 Dec 1988
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out). Once the standards are set, to then see to the mainten-
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ance of those standards, and if necessary enforce them.
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I personally feel that it is real hard for someone to tell me
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that they represent me, when I don't have a darned thing to
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say about it. I was in the Net over 4 months before I even
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knew there was a Policy3, let alone a complaint channel to go
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along with it. And a constitution on a NET level would sure
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go along way in seeing that standards are maintained.
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As Rick Siegel (I think) is fond of saying:
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Just one persons opinion.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 6 26 Dec 1988
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Rick Bates
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1:229/101
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National Law Enforcement Conference
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If you're a law enforcement officer, or have users on your
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system that are law enforcement officers, you may be interested
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in an Echomail conference specifically set up for sworn officers
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(federal, state or local) including retired officers.
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The POLICE echo is an area dedicated to discussions of new
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enforcement techniques, training and benefit programs available
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for officers, and discussions concerning the use of PC's in
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law enforcement. Several of the participating boards maintain
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file areas dedicated to shareware or public domain software
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designed for use in law enforcement.
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The area has been running for almost two years now, and became
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international over a year ago. Police officers from all over
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North America participate in discussions of mutual interest.
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The Conference Moderators are (US) Dave Johnson (1:260/204) and
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(Canada) Rick Bates (1:229/101). This is a restricted access
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conference in that only sworn officers or retired officers are
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to be given access. Each sysop carrying the area is expected to
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set it up as a barricaded area and verify that any users
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requesting access are in fact officers. The echo is available
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to any Node operated by qualifying Sysops, and we are especially
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interested in Boards run by law enforcement personnel, or people
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in similar professions. Several other echoes are hosted by
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these police systems, including one in the Toronto area known as
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ASKACOP. Here users may ask several experienced police officers
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some everyday questions about law enforcement. Users are able
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to clear up questions they have on the law, and the officers
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have been able to pass on tips regarding various offences, safe
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driving, etc. That area, has since expanded and there is also an
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area called ASKALAWYER, where users can obtain specific legal
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opinions from practicing lawyers.
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Together, the private POLICE echo and the two public areas have
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created avenues of communications amoungst police officers and
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the public that would not otherwise be possible. In addition,
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at 229/101, the local Police post weekly Crime Stoppers
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bulletins in a read only format. This "online" format is the
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first of its kind in the Crime Stoppers program anywhere in
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North America. Sysops everywhere are encouraged to contact
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their local police agency and speak with the Crime Stoppers
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Coordinator for their area.
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For more information on any of these areas, contact either of
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the moderators listed above.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 7 26 Dec 1988
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=================================================================
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COLUMNS
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=================================================================
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YACK
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Yet Another Complicated Komment
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by Steven K. Hoskin
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( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 )
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Episode 19: Vacation Time
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Well! Here I am, back from vacation! Sorry to miss a few issues
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of FidoNews here!
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Boy, a vacation does wonders for your mind and body -- even if
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you really don't go anywhere! All I did was go skiing for a
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weekend and go flying one morning and relaxed around the house
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for a day. All of a sudden my interest is back up in work, in
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FidoNet, in the EchoMail conferences...in FidoNews.
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Maybe that's part of our problem out there in some of the
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EchoMail conferences. Maybe we computer hacker types just get
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TOO into this FidoNet thing to take a breather once in awhile; we
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forget to stop and smell the roses along the way. Maybe that's
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why we keep getting so wrapped up in issues that may not mean
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much and so easily take offense to the written word on the
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screen.
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I mean, we're all intelligent people here. We SHOULD be able to
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recognize the fact that this electronic media lacks so much of
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the expressionism we humans rely upon to make our communication
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work. Yet how often do we see messages that are not only flame
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but obvious hasty replies to minor sections of messages that only
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lead to more flame and wanderings off the original, and possibly
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important, subject?
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I strongly recommend a vacation for anyone who feels burned out,
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even just a little bit, with anything happening in FidoNet. Some
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peoples' answer in the past was to "pull the plug". Did that
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help them? Probably. But was it the only answer? I say,
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probably not. They could've pretended to "pull the plug" by
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getting away from it for awhile. They could've possibly just
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checked the board each morning to make sure it was running, check
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the NetMail area for inbound messages from friends, maybe even
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check the local message bases out on behalf of their local users
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(remember them?), then say "Good-bye" for the day. In essence,
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they'd be taking a vacation from the socio-political environment
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of EchoMail and gone and done other things.
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Would this have worked? No telling. But I am here to tell you
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that a few weeks' break from FidoNet here has refreshed a great
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many of my attitudes. And I didn't even leave town!
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 8 26 Dec 1988
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=================================================================
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NOTICES
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=================================================================
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The Interrupt Stack
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24 Aug 1989
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Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
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5 Oct 1989
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20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
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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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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 2.90b EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.32*
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Fido 12i MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1
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Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
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SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86 EchoMail 1.31
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TBBS 2.1* XlaxNode 2.22 MGM 1.1
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BinkleyTerm 2.00 XlaxDiff 2.22 TPB Editor 1.21
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QuickBBS 2.03 ParseList 1.30* TCOMMail 1.1
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TPBoard 4.2 TMail 8812*
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TComm/TCommNet 3.2 UFGATE 1.02*
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Lynx 1.10 GROUP 2.0*
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D'Bridge 1.10
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||
FrontDoor 2.0
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* Recently changed
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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
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||
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 9 26 Dec 1988
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OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
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Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
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Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
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Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
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Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
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David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
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Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
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IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
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DIVISION AT-LARGE
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10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
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11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
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12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
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13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
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14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
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15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
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16 Vince Perriello 1:141/491 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
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17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
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18 Christopher Baker 1:135/14 Bob Swift 1:140/24
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19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
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2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 10 26 Dec 1988
|
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|
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__
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The World's First / \
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BBS Network /|oo \
|
||
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
|
||
_`@/_ \ _
|
||
| | \ \\
|
||
| (*) | \ ))
|
||
______ |__U__| / \//
|
||
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
|
||
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
|
||
|
||
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
|
||
|
||
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
|
||
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
|
||
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
|
||
increase worldwide communications.
|
||
|
||
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
|
||
Address _________________________________________________________
|
||
City ____________________________________________________________
|
||
State ________________________________ Zip _____________________
|
||
Country _________________________________________________________
|
||
Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
|
||
Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
|
||
|
||
Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________
|
||
BBS Name ________________________________________________________
|
||
BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________
|
||
Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________
|
||
Board Restrictions ______________________________________________
|
||
|
||
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
|
||
US Funds to:
|
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International FidoNet Association
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PO Box 41143
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St Louis, Missouri 63141
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USA
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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 second elected Board of Directors
|
||
was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
|
||
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
|
||
input to this Conference.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-52 Page 11 26 Dec 1988
|
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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 _____
|
||
|
||
MO. Residents add 5.725% Sales Tax _____
|
||
|
||
TOTAL _____
|
||
|
||
SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS:
|
||
International FidoNet Association
|
||
PO Box 41143
|
||
St Louis, Mo. 63141
|
||
USA
|
||
|
||
Name________________________________
|
||
Zone:Net/Node____:____/____
|
||
Company_____________________________
|
||
Address_____________________________
|
||
City____________________ State____________ Zip_____
|
||
Voice Phone_________________________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Signature___________________________
|
||
|
||
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|
||
|
||
|