390 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
390 lines
19 KiB
Plaintext
F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.33 (15-Aug-1994)
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
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| FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS |
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| _ | +1-519-570-4176 |
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| / \ | |
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| /|oo \ | Small animal psychology and |
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| (_| /_) | Spiritual guidance Department: |
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| _`@/_ \ _ | Rev. Richard Visage 1:163/409 |
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| | | \ \\ | |
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| | (*) | \ )) | Editors: |
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| |__U__| / \// | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
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| _//|| _\ / | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 |
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| (_/(_|(____/ | Tim |
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| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
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| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| MORE addresses: |
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| |
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| Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Tim Pozar -- pozar@kumr.lns.com |
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| David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411, deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org |
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| submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
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| obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq |
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| please refer to the end of this file. |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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========================================================================
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Table of Contents
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========================================================================
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1. Editorial..................................................... 1
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2. Articles...................................................... 2
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A few comments after one year out of Fidonet................ 2
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Subject: Denis McMahons Article............................. 5
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KART RACING ONLINE!......................................... 5
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dare_<l>ink mdm em_ilia<d>.................................. 6
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3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 6
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========================================================================
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Editorial
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========================================================================
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 2 15 Aug 1994
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This weeks issue of the snooze is quite short: only four
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articles. The editorial is going to be short too<S>.
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A couple of the local sysops in our net met yesterday for a
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confab on PGP and a few beers. Turned out to be lots of beers,
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supper, and about 12 hours of conversation on dozens of topics,
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but we did make a few decisions about PGP.
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By this time next week, a PGP key will be available for both
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Max and I. While it does not make much sense to send encrypted
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articles to the snooze, it does seem to make a lot of sense to
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encourage digital signatures. We are not going to publish the
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digital signatures or keys accompanying articles, but in the
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future we will note which articles were accompanied by either or
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both. We will set up a library for them, and make them
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available for FREQ. When a digital signature was included, we
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will check it and note the fact.
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Also, over then next week or two, I hope to rewrite artspec.
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I am going to include specifications for a machine setup
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version of the snooze for door/hypertext systems, and hatch it
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out with the snooze. I am not sure yet if the machine
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specification version will be hatched out in the same file echo,
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or if we should create a new one. Using the same area seems
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simpler, but objections and opinions should start now.
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========================================================================
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Articles
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========================================================================
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A few comments after one year out of Fidonet
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A FEW COMMENTS AFTER ONE YEAR OUT OF FIDONET
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by Jack Decker - aa931@detroit.freenet.org
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I haven't been reading Fidonews for a while. I don't much care to
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read profanity, and for a while there was a lot of it here, so I just
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stopped reading for a while. A word to the wise - you may believe in
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the freedom to express yourself however you want, but if you want
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people to read what you write and give it the consideration it
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deserves, consider not using profane language. After all, others
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have the freedom to stop reading at the first profanity that they
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encounter in your article, and some will.
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Anyway, I had a little time last night so I decided to FTP some
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recent issues of Fidonews from ftp.fidonet.org, and see if anything
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has changed since when I was in Fidonet. How time flies - it's been
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almost exactly a year since I received my last Fidonet mail packet.
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It appears that things have changed, all right - for the worse! The
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power mongers are still harassing decent sysops. The size of the
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nodelist and the geographic restrictions are still thorns in the side
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of Fidonet. And then, we have Steve Winter.
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Yes, Steve Winter. If you are branded as "false christian scum" by
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Steve Winter, consider yourself in good company, because you are
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 3 15 Aug 1994
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probably doing something right. Steve purports to be a follower of
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the Bible. Well, here's something he must have overlooked:
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"Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. ... Do not
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repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the
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eyes of everybody. ... Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave
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room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I
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will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary: 'If your enemy is
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hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In
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doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be
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overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Excerpts from
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Romans 12:14, 12:17, and 12:19-21)
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Now, I do not purport to know what Steve Winter is thinking. But let
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me raise just one possibility. Suppose that he were not a Christian
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at all, but rather an anti-Christian of some sort? What would be the
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best way to discredit Christians? One way would be to pretend to be
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one of them, and then go around spreading the most hateful messages
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you can, cursing anyone who dares to disagree with you, and in
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general make yourself as obnoxious as possible, all while claiming to
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be the only _true_ Christian on the net. I am not saying that this
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is what Steve is doing... he may, for some reason (that I cannot
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fathom) honestly believe that he is a true Christian and that his
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actions are somehow serving the cause of Christ. But, on the other
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hand, in my own mind I am willing to entertain other reasons for his
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actions, since he certainly doesn't seem to be following any
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Christian teachings that I know of.
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I was cursed and damned to Hell by Steve Winter quite some time ago,
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for daring to point out some glaring errors in his doctrine. While I
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definitely believe in Hell and do not want to go there, I am quite
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confident that Steve Winter doesn't have the power or authority to
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send me there. I have a feeling that in the end, all the curses he
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has thrown at others are going to wind up coming right back upon his
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head, especially given that he is in direct violation of the
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Scriptures by cursing anyone. And I truly believe that I would be in
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much greater danger of Hell fire were I to follow Steve's teachings,
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and his example of dealing with others.
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That's really all I wanted to say, except for one other thing. Some
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folks have wondered why the nodelist is not fragmented, so that
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sysops only have to receive the segment for their zone or region. If
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you wonder why no one has taken this proposal seriously, bear in mind
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that a great deal of Fidonet software actually checks the nodelist to
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see if a node exists, and will refuse to send outgoing mail to what
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it considers a non-existent node. Now, that situation could be
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changed by the software authors, BUT bear in mind that if you are
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ever allowed to send mail to unlisted nodes, then the threat of being
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removed from the nodelist suddenly becomes less imposing.
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I think that some of the control freaks are VERY apprehensive about
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the size of the nodelist, because they know that there is growing
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momentum to do something about it, and any solution that is more than
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just a band-aid on the problem requires that sysops only be required
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to maintain a partial nodelist, which implies that you cannot block
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 4 15 Aug 1994
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outgoing mail just because a node is not listed in your copy of the
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nodelist. That further implies that an NC could in fact assign node
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numbers to nodes that aren't listed in ANY nodelist, and they could
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still send and receive mail. And THAT, of course, means that there
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could be nodes in the net that don't comply with the geographic
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requirements of POLICY 4. Oh, the horror of it! Folks might
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actually be able to spend their time communicating with each other,
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rather than wasting their time fighting with the dictatorial
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coordinators in the net (who, no doubt, just love being able to pick
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fights with others. They were probably schoolyard bullies in their
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youths).
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As someone pointed out, Tom Jennings is really the only person who
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actually has the power to do something about these abuses, but he
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believes in total anarchy so he refuses to touch it. Well, what you
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are seeing is the result of anarchy. At best, things slide along for
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a while but it only takes one or two real jerks to gum up the works
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and make life miserable for a lot of people (at least their life on
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the net). I think in a way, though, that those who believe that
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Fidonet is anarchistic are deluding themselves. Portions of it are
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pretty free-wheeling, but documents like Policy 4 are not indicative
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of an anarchy. I think that either true anarchy (no policy document
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at all) or a democratic form of government (where things are voted on
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from below rather than mandated from on high) would be better than
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what Fidonet has now, which in my opinion is quite possibly the worst
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of all worlds. Just my opinion, which probably doesn't count since
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I'm no longer in Fidonet.
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In closing, I have a question. I have on occasion seen mentions of
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Fidonet echoes being made available via the Internet, but not on any
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formal basis. I am curious to know if there is any way to obtain
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Fidonet echoes, even if only on a read-only basis, via the Internet.
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It would seem that this would be a natural thing to do, but I'll bet
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the power-mongers oppose it because they would see it as a another
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loss of control. Still, I wonder if you will ever be able to telnet
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directly to a Fidonet BBS from the Internet, and read Fidonet echoes
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that way. Technically, this should be quite possible, but
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politically??? Anyway, if you know of a way to do this, please send
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me e-mail at my Internet address.
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Jack
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Jack Decker | "What were once options are now mandates!"
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aa931@detroit.freenet.org =or= ao944@yfn.ysu.edu ("o", not a zero!)
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"Why are insurance companies allowed to discriminate against certain
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classes of people, when no other business can get away with it?"
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 5 15 Aug 1994
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Subject: Denis McMahons Article
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From: Michael Seneco (1:141/536)
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Hi Donald and Sylvia,
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First, as a note, I think your both doing a great job
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sorting through and dealing with the muck. Kinda like that NASA
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Robot that got stuck in the Volcano in Alaska this week. Your
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doing a good job.
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However, also like to robot, you now need someone to pull
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you out of the mud.
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I am inclined to agree with my esteemed fellow sysop Denis
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McMahon from zone 2. It's time to remove the snooze from the
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mud. The snooze should be an avenue and venue to exchange ideas,
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information and other items of genuine use to sysops.
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However, this little recent delve into the `mud pit' has
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proven another need, the need for a National Enquirer type of
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electronic weekly newspaper. Ya know, like a supermarket type
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rag for those, `less worthy' articles.
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So anyway the purpose of this is little typing frenzie is to
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encourage the snooze to leap from the mud pit!, Hose themselves
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off, and electronically print wothwhile articles!! Ya know,
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republician stuffed shirt type stuff!!!
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And anyone else who might be interested in publishing an
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alternative type of weekly or bi-weekly can contact me at
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1:141/536 and maybe we can get something together.
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I would even accept submissions from Steve Winter... or
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Winters.... or summer, or summers.... whoever!!!!
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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KART RACING ONLINE!
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KART RACING ONLINE!
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by Ray Killough, FidoNet (1:3612/63), CIS (71720,173)
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Kart_Racing Moderator
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The Kart_Racing echo is now available throughout Region 18! Why not
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join us in exchanging technical information, race announcements and
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results, introducing new products and much more. Any message related
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to the topic of Kart Racing is encouraged.
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The main goal of the echo, which originates from Serendipity BBS in
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Pensacola, FL is to promote the organized sport of kart racing.
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We welcome folks that are interested in finding out what it's all
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about to those who have been at it awhile. By the way, this is a
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bona fide motorsport and not the same thing as going down to your
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 6 15 Aug 1994
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local concession track for a few laps on a rental kart. There are
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many classes of karts, from slow to FAST and affordable to well...
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Actually this is about the most economical form of motorsports
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available to the average person.
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This sport is unique in that it attracts a wide range of age groups.
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There are those from 8 to 80 who actively participate. It is also
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very much a family oriented sport, much like little league baseball
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only instead of mom and dad sitting on the bleachers they too can
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participate. Of course, the classes are divided so kids and adults
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aren't necessarily racing against one another. And safety is the
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number one concern of all! Strict rules must be adhered to and no
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one is allowed on the track without a safe kart and the appropriate
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personal safety equipment. Some of the faster classes of karts are
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easily capable of speeds in excess of 100mph, yet the number of
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serious injuries remains surprisingly low.
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As soon as the message/user base builds to a healthy number, we have
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plans to distribute the echo to Region 10. Our long term goal is to
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then have it available on the National Backbone.
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Please give us a try! As Moderator of the echo, if I can be of any
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assistance please contact me at either address above.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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dare_<l>ink mdm em_ilia<d>
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Q: what do you do with obstacles?
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A: walk around them, regarding them as sculptures
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Q: yeah-but- Zakiya Hooker sez to not let obstacles get you down, ]
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rather get down with the obstacles.[
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q: like sculpture in progress
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Q: Does it bother you that fido net may change whole lots,
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technically and soon?
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A: nope. gotta like it. fidonet isn't a bunch of specs anyway.
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fidonet is people. as long as the mail gets 'round somehow, we're
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us. or you, and me, but we are. the "them" got lost in traffic.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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========================================================================
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Fidonews Information
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========================================================================
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 7 15 Aug 1994
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------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
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Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees
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Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
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Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar
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Tom Jennings
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"FidoNews" BBS
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FidoNet 1:1/23
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BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS)
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more addresses:
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sylvia -- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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Rev. Richard Visage -- 1:163/409
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Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com
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David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411
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(Postal Service mailing address)
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FidoNews
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128 Church St.
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Kitchener, Ontario
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Canada
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N2H 2S4
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max & Don voice: (519) 570-3137
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Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet
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international volunteer electronic mail system. It is a compilation
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of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
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authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
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does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in
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these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of
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FidoNews.
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Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
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Copyright 1994 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication
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and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use
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in other circumstances, please contact the original authors.
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OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
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form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
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Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
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PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
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address, or trade for copy of your 'zine.
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INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
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in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews.
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Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
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freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to
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fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is
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necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
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response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
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should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the
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FidoNews 11-33 Page: 8 15 Aug 1994
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previously listed address.
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SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
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ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
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from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
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"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
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trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
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"the pulse of the cursor is the heartbeat of fidonet"...
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-- END
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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