921 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
921 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.36 (05-Sep-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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Table of Contents
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========================================================================
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1. Editorial (rush job again, sorry)............................. 2
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2. Articles...................................................... 2
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A Few Comments about the FidoNet in Hong Kong............... 2
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talk a bout a transfiguration whoooa!....................... 3
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Since I'm crashing you...................................... 5
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Not-the-Husky Tower,........................................ 7
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A reply to James Ankuda..................................... 8
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Ascii art................................................... 9
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What Price for Cheap Mail?.................................. 14
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3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 16
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 2 05 Sep 1994
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========================================================================
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Editorial
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========================================================================
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Check out GenMSG by GK Pace at 1:374/26, which makes PGP easier to
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use with FidoNet technology and includes a nice text file about
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privacy. Even i can understand the docs, so it must be easy to use.
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i am relieved that the Rev. Visage has arrived safely in Calgary,
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despite many alluring distractions threatening to daunt his
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vigilance in his holy search for the lost CRP. Our accountant is
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finding his expense account submissions to be greatly entertaining.
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[we'll discuss this later, k?].
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Apologies are offered to S.C. Martin Wong for any mistakes made
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by me while typeing in his article submission. What a rush it was
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to get an actual paper letter in the mail box all the way from Hong
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Kong! Thank you! Although, i am very sorry to hear that there are
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still absurd restrictions against the use of local languages in local
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echos. Wierd.
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It's almost 11:30. Tick, tick, ...
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========================================================================
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Articles
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========================================================================
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A Few Comments about the FidoNet in Hong Kong
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By: S.C.Martin Wong - Martin_Wong@HKMHBR.MHBRGRP.COM
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Before you read this passage, please excuse me my English
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writing skill is so very bad. Because I am only sixteen years old
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very small BBS system operator in Hong Kong.(6:700/760).
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I joined FidoNet for 6 months. I read a lot of echomail in
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FidoNet. I discovered two very serious problems in FidoNet Hong
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Kong (Zone 6, Region 700).
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Problem 1) In FidoNet Hong Kong local echo, user not allowed to use
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Chinese.
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Problem 2) FidoNet Hong Kong has two NC!
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According to FidoNet Policy 4, English is FidoNet official
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language. In international echo, only allow user use English is
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right! Because English is international language. But in local
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echo, not allow user use Chinese is so very unacceptable! Because
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most BBS user in Hong Kong is Chinese or oversea Chinese, include
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me. Hong Kong BBS user English writing skill is very bad (like me).
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I read mail in local echo is so very hard because Hong Kong BBS user
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usually use incorrect grammar or spelling in their message, but no
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person to correct their mistake. I don't know what they said in the
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mail. I think local echo message will not send to another country.
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Allow user use Chinese in local echo (not include local sysop echo,
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because some BBS sysop in Hong Kong is foreigner!) is very
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 3 05 Sep 1994
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reasonable! Because most BBS user are Chinese, make more BBS user
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read and write message easily will make more BBS user using Fidonet
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Hong Kong.
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Another serious problem in FidoNet Hong Kong is FidoNet Hong
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Kong has two NC.
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FidoNet Hong Kong was made by Louis Chan and another foreign
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sysop in Hong Kong. Then Louis Chan was Hong Kong FidoNet NC. But
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Louis Chan is so very busy man, he usually not read the message and
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do not do management work in FidoNet Hong Kong. Some sysop hope
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change the NC, then some sysop elected Chris Leung to do the NC. In
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this time, Louis Chan said he is the NC, some sysop disagreed it.
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But Louis Chan said reason is more important than legality. Now, I
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don't know who is the true NC.
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I hope Hong Kong FidoNet sysop read this passage, they can
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think how to make FidoNet Hong Kong better than Now.
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S.C. Martin Wong
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Hong Kong Man Hing Book Room,
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System Operator
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in British Hong Kong
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(6:700/760.0@FidoNet.org)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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From: Tom Jennings <tomj@wps.com>
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Re: talk a bout a transfiguration whoooa!
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> may i please put this in snoozie?
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Um, did I answer you already? My computer is senile and cannot remember.
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Yes is the current answer.
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> Tom Jennings writes:
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>
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I know exactly what I want my building to look like. I don't care
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abou stuff like rooms or value or wood or concrete or steel. It
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needs a place in back with dirt. It cannot be flat. There is a
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particular combination of pale light brownish grass that everything
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dies into in the semi-arid high-desert (newly raised sea bottom)
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that most of the West coast (or north america) is. There must be a
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pile or iron for plants to grown in, old tangled rusted on top but
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filthy with 40 year old caked grease down amongst the weeds where
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you go to grab them to clean up the yard on odd five year intervals,
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and when you realize just how heavy, filthy and tangled the iron
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objects really are you give up (pulling your hand back, think layer
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of old grease, dirt, dead grass, cobwebs and dead bugs, hot thread
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of a sore muscle you pulled on a little too hard at the wrong angle
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and a bright white and red scrape on your bare shin where the cast
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iron steering gear rose and fell at an unpredictable angle when you
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tugged at the pile). That's what smart plants wrap themselves in to
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 4 05 Sep 1994
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get away from thoughts of lawnmowers or even human interest in their
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existence.
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> >
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I want to take up again my practice of putting unwanted vegetable
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sexual parts into the dirt outside the kitchen. In our last
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warehouse 666 Illinois st I did this. Friends live there now so I
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get to visit. There is 3rd year stunted corn, big pile of
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peppermint, inedible green beans, wild flowers, and an avocado tree
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nearly 6 feet high and six feet wide with a 2 inch diameter trunk!
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It can't have sex though, only masturbate, because it's the only
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avocado tree around.
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> >
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In the impentrable scrabble in the corner of the parkin lot I
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scraped out a tiny hole to bury my old lizard in. There is now a
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giant fennel growin on top of it; this has no bearing to the lizard
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buried there, as fennel grows everywhere here anyways and the lizard
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had no water or flesh in it's 2-foot long body (strange beast; the
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sort of animal that makes you wonder about existence itself. It
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requred 105 degree temperature, ultraviolet radiation, it ate only
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bugs and mammals, and drink literally no water. It would urinate
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after eating mice. It was utterly solitary, apparently approaching
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one of it's own to mate in some violent ritual. It was flatly
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terrified of all and any humans, even me, who fed it reliably.
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Nearly all animals lke me, even wild ones. It lived in it's
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intensive care station at the end of a 40 foot hall way, and would
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bask on it's electric rock under the 100 wat red heatlamp and
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blacklight bulb; as I approached, it would rise up on all four legs,
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hiss, and **BOLT** at high speed under its rock pile to peer at me
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until I left. The only thing that would bring it out while I was
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aroun was a small white mouse dropped into it's cage, which caused
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it to speeed out, grab the mouse with no unnecessary motions,
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suffocate the mouse and inhale it. Utterly no cruelty, nor
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recnognition of the mouse. Strange beast. It actually grew abou 6"
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and gained about half a pound of weight, the vet at SPCA was furious
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I was able to buy one, he explained the rather extreme requrements
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for it's survival and assumed I would not meet them. So when we
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moved to 666, and it no longer was the solitary occupant of 120 sq
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ft of dark hallway, and had to be within visibility of humans most
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of the time, and it stopped eating. It lost weight. After a month of
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this, I simply couldnt take it any more. A lizard expert (sic) told
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me that lizards hibernate/sleep when it gets really cold, and the
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least awuful way to kill them is to put them in a box, in the
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freezer. They sleep. Then freeze to death. I puzzled the
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ramifications of this contrast for a long time.) I always wonder
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about it's skeleton, should I go dig it up.
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> >
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My friend Erika has a little house in Santa Fe. Her and her
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boyfriend Scot have a chaotically controlled garden. She has a large
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patch of Datura. It really is a
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> >
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> > --
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> > World Power Systems -- San Francisco CA
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Tom Jennings -- tomj@wps.com -- World Power Systems -- San Francisco, Calif.
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> >
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 5 05 Sep 1994
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Subject: Since I'm crashing you...
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From: Sheila Lennon (1:323/109.2)
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Thanks for bringing up ascii art in the Snooze. I'm just starting
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to play with it -- haven't gotten beyond cluttered type experiments
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yet, though. (:
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We have a lot of ANSI online, but there's not enough b&w.
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(Nevertheless, I'm window-shopping a color scanner, want to get my
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local artist friends' work online and seen, maybe even put it up on the
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Planet Connect bird. All this is possible now.)
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I doodle in meetings, and sometimes doodle online. TheDraw's docs
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are impenetrable, and the colors wrong for me, so sometimes I doodle
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ascii.
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Here's a cartoon:
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Magic cowpet:
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@*,
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<(...)>
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|""=""=""| _-_-_
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`{o o}' //// // \
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]_|_[ |||| \\./
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( O ) \\\\
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""| |"" \\\
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+++ ";;
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/ ( ( \ ~~
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< ) ) > (())
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, /^\ /^\'
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/ \
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( '0<>^<5E>0~~@'
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\ o /
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'`'(o)``,
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`===*+*==
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',',','
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,^*',
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|| ||
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!! !!
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<> <>
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 6 05 Sep 1994
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and a found object:
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TIFFANY ANYONE? by Carolyn Stewart
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(~)
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(' `)
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).(
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(`_~_ _ _~_')
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/` / | \ '\
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/ --- /----|----\ --- \
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/_____ /_____|_____\ _____\
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` / | \ '
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`------/-------|-------\------'
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`- - - /- - - - | - - - -\ - - -'
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` /.\ | /.\ | /.\ | /.\ '
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` \~/ | \~/ | \~/ | \~/ '
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`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /`\ /'
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` ` ` (_`___`_) ` | ` `
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) ( |
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) ( *
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( )
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( )
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` '
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` '
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` '
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` '
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` '
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` '
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` '
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` '
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`. .'
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) ` ` (
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( ~ ` ~` ~ )
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------------------` ~ ~ ~ ~ '--------------
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` ` ` ` ' '
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` , ' ` . ' ` . ' '
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`
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`
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'
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' Carolyn
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Stewart
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... [dignified silence]
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--- msgedsq 2.1
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Origin: - Art of the Possible - Providence (401) 421-2218 (1:323/109.2)
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 7 05 Sep 1994
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Not-the-Husky Tower,
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Revisionist Street Name,
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Calgary, Alberta
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My Dear Doctor Logger,
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Forgive my tardiness in responding to you, but unfortunately, Ms.
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LaBamba sat upon the laptop in which 163/409 is housed, and the
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moisture did some irreparable harm to the internal modem. I was
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however, able to acquire one of those big suction-cup mama
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accoustic coupling devices (at an adult supplies emporium) and it
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seems to have restored my communications. I'll avoid mentioning
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what Ms. LaBamba purchased at the Adult Shoppe, but I must say I
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had no idea that they had motorized such things.
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My arrival here in Calgary was closely timed to coordinate with
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that of fall breezes, so I anticipate that the leaves shall soon
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begin to fall nearly as fast as Hubs in net250. Calgary is a
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beautiful city, I know this because all Calgarians tell me so.
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I am perched high above the city, in a structure first built by
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Husky Oil to brandish an unmistakably huge concrete middle finger
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in the general direction of Toronto (which responded with a
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slightly larger version of the same thing). Husky's disappearance
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after the oil patch rush days of the 60's and 70's, along with
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many of its brethren -- due to a plethora of mergers, corporate
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shenanigans and American trust companies -- almost certainly
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makes this city the world champion in changing corporate logos on
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its buildings.
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What was once an oil town has now, as evidenced by the occupation
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of the majority of the locals, turned its industrial might to the
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manufacture of bolero ties and silver collar tips for western
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shirts. Oh, yes, and the beauty of Calgary -- from the squallid
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mud pit of the stampede grounds in which is perched the sway-
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backed Saddle Dome, to the smoky horizon where I'm told you could
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see the mountains if only half of British Columbia were not in
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flames -- is the urban core which is vacated by night, surrounded
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by brown, permanently dead, grass. It's very picturesque, so I'm
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told.
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But indeed, where else can you find people who perform country
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line dances on the sidewalk. Were this outbreak of culture not
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inspirational enough, one can wait around for a 'chinook', which
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evidently is a warm breeze that Calgarians are proud of. This
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clearly is a place of serious cheap thrills, Logger. Or at least
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it is now, since last night Ms. LaBamba discovered the minibar,
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emptied same, and promptly went out on the town, wearing the
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suction-cup mama accoustic coupler, and little else. Be a good
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chap, would you, and advise Sylvia that my tab may be a little
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higher than usual for my stay in Calgary.
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I must convey my concern, I've not seen a trace of our missing RC
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here. Evidently, the deteriorating accuracy of the nodediffs
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 8 05 Sep 1994
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would indicate that he's not managed to surface even briefly. I
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fear the worst, Logger, and I shall continue on my voyage east,
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just as soon as I can get Ms. LaBamba off the roof of this tower.
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I shall report in just as soon as I arrive in Winnepeg.
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If all works well, you'll find f'attached a number of "Giant Army
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Worms" who are famous locally for their ability to decimate whole
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fields of canola. As your spiritual advisor, might I suggest that
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you send them down to our friend Korolory in net 250? I'm sure
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he'll need them for Hubs.
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Religiously Yours,
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Rev. Richard Visage
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Spiritual Advisor, Region 12
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Minibar Plunderer,
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Motorized Device Fancier.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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A reply to James Ankuda
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by Steve Boisvenue (1:167/319)
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Nope, it's not what you think. I suspect you've had quite a
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few nasty letters from religious fanatics by now, but this isn't one
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of them. In fact, I agree with most of your points. I applaud you
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for speaking your mind so freely and openly.
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Personally, I believe in setting your own values and beliefs,
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then going out in search of finding an organized religion that
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conforms to your beliefs. Not the other way around. I agree that
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anyone who reads a book, such as the Bible, and decides to base his
|
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life around it is weak. There is not one book that exists that could
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change my mind about my beliefs, or have such a strong effect on my
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mind.
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Since you mentioned how some religious members harrass
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citizens, I might as well add some examples.
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1 - I have had people comming around, door to door trying to give me
|
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the Bible and a lecture about the church. I don't know if you have
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any of those people in your area, but I am frequently visisted by
|
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representives of the local church who litterly put their foot in the
|
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door to stop me from slamming it in the face. At one time, I had to
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carry through a threat to call the police in order for them to leave.
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2 - At the airport . . . Thousands of people, including me, are
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constantly running around the airport, trying to catch their flight.
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There's always guys trying to talk you into joining their religion.
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The ones sitting at a table are okay, it's easy to just keep walking.
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But others tend to follow people around screaming in their ear about
|
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the end of the world, the good news, or some other "extremely
|
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important" item.
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FidoNews 11-36 Page: 9 05 Sep 1994
|
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I'd say the church is the biggest and most organized hate
|
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group in the world. It has fascist qualities, and is clearly
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anti-gay, anti-abortion, anti-euthanasia, anti-contrasceptives,
|
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anti-free speech and sexist. The list of the church's false claims
|
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is enormous:
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1- They claim homosexuality is unnatural, which can be proven to be
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false with any trip to the zoo or into the wild.
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2- The church denies the fact that the world is over-populated, and
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continues to loby to ban abortions and the use of birth controll.
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3- They want to ban euthanasia (mercy killing\right to die) in order
|
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to "protect God's will." Yet, they support almost any medical act to
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prolong the lives of, or revive people who would otherwise be dead.
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4- Women are still denied any high-level positions in the church.
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5- The church is still activly lobbying for forced prayer in American
|
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schools.
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Those are the facts . . . how blind are those who refuse to see?
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Steven Boisvenue - Fido 1:167/319 - Steve.Boisvenue@hyperwave.mtlnet.org
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NOTE TO EDITOR(S): I hereby give my permission for FidoNews to edit
|
||
my submission in any way necessary, including cutting sentinces and/or
|
||
paragraphs, correcting grammar and spelling.
|
||
Via WILDMAIL!/WC 4.00* 1:167/300.0, Aug 30 1994 at 03:04
|
||
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------------
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|
||
Ascii art
|
||
by Dave Aronson (1:109/120)
|
||
|
||
Finally, another ASCII (NOT ANSI!) Art Aficianado! It has long been
|
||
one of my favorite mediums (media?). Some scorn its lack of color or
|
||
motion, and the restricted character set, but that makes it UNIVERSAL,
|
||
which IMHO is far more important. Below are some of my creations.
|
||
You may sprinkle them into the News as you see fit, with credit. Or
|
||
if you so desire, you may make an article out of this message.
|
||
|
||
May as well open with the opening screen of my BBS, slightly modified
|
||
to fit in a msg w/o getting rewrapped:
|
||
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 10 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
iIi # A Hail, citizen! iIi
|
||
|||| __#__ Ave! | Centurion Circus Maximus |||| ___ Oy Vey!
|
||
\__) /.-.-.\ / | and his twin brother \__) <<< >>> /
|
||
| | |'o o`| / | Senator Gluteus Maximus | | | o o | /
|
||
| | | @ | | welcome you to | | | @ |
|
||
| | \`---'/ | .------|>o------. | | \`---'/
|
||
` `==)___(==-\ A | T I D M A D T | ` `---)___(---.
|
||
\ ||M M|| \ H `---------------' \ | |
|
||
\/`'MM MM`'|\ \ H (These Initials Don't \/ | |
|
||
| M M M | \ \H Mean A Da*n Thing!) | _-.___.' |
|
||
| M M | \ H |(____| |
|
||
|===(*)===| \() USR DS Modem (16.8k HST, 28.8k v.34) | \ |
|
||
|HHHHHHHHH| H (closed 4-5 AM EST, 5-6 AM EDT) | \ |
|
||
|HHHHHHHHH| H | \__/
|
||
|HHHHHHHHH| H Member of Fidonet, SurvNet, | |
|
||
|VVVVVVVVV| H Keshernet, Reshet, Syndicate-Net, \ ___/
|
||
| | | | H Paul Revere Net, and MedievalNet \__--~| |
|
||
|_| |_| H |_| |_|
|
||
(__| |__) H Using Maximus 2.01wb under OS/2 2.11 (__| |__)
|
||
|
||
I used to have the centurion all by himself, under a stone arch, with a
|
||
portcullis behind him, but didn't keep it.
|
||
|
||
From an online courtship (the infamous Courtship of Therica from the
|
||
Rialto):
|
||
|
||
| __ ---'---,---<@
|
||
|/~~ / O\_ ---'---,---<@
|
||
.--. .--./~~ ( _< ---'---,---<@
|
||
/ \ / \ )_( ---'---,---<@
|
||
( \/ ) / \\ ---'---,---<@
|
||
\ / / | | ---'---,---<@
|
||
\ / / / / ---'---,---<@
|
||
\ / / / / ---'---,---<@
|
||
\/ / / / |/ ---'---,---<@
|
||
/\ / ////\// ---'---,---<@
|
||
|/ \ / // || ---'---,---<@
|
||
~~ \/ /\\\ ---'---,---<@
|
||
|
||
(Yes, that's one dozen longstem roses.) Darn, I can't find the basket
|
||
full of assorted flowers I did, and I know there was more, but I don't
|
||
think I hung onto everything. The bird was later modified to resemble
|
||
a parrot, for use as a logo for Bruce Feist's POLLY BBS project, but I
|
||
can't find that version.
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 11 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
Inspired by the thought of netmailing someone money:
|
||
|
||
.--------------------------------------------------------------------.
|
||
| .-- FEDERAL REVERSE NOTE .-- |
|
||
| |_ ...... THE UNTIED STATES OF AMERICA |_ |
|
||
| __) `````````` ______ B93810455B __) |
|
||
| 2 ___ / \ 2 |
|
||
| /|~\\ / _-\\ \ __ _ _ _ __ |
|
||
| | |-< | | // \ | |_ | | | |_ |
|
||
| \|_// | |- o o| | | | `.' |__ |
|
||
| ~~~ | |\ b.' | |
|
||
| B83910455B | \ '~~| | |
|
||
| .-- 2 \_/ ```__/ .... 2 .-- |
|
||
| |_ ///// ///// //// \__\'`\/ `` //// / //// |_ |
|
||
| __) F I V E D O L L A R S __) |
|
||
`--------------------------------------------------------------------'
|
||
|
||
One never knows when some generic little pictures will come in handy!
|
||
I've seen the thumbs in various places; Leroy Pyle says he snagged the
|
||
|
||
|
||
_ _
|
||
.-. |-. .-| .-. _ _____
|
||
.-. | | | | | | .-. ( | |--' ()_)
|
||
| | | | | _ _ | | | | | ___\ \ | ()__)
|
||
| | | | || | | || | | | | (__() `-| | ()___)
|
||
| |' | | `| | (___() | |-. ()__)
|
||
| / \ | (__() | \ \
|
||
\ / \ / (_()__.--| |_)
|
||
\_____/ \_____/
|
||
|
||
Two versions of "hold your tongue", the first being sideways because I
|
||
was originally trying to create an emoticon:
|
||
|
||
O \__.-.-.-.-. O O
|
||
@ | | | | | |
|
||
O /~~| | @
|
||
|______.'
|
||
\_____/
|
||
__|___|
|
||
| ___)
|
||
| ___)
|
||
| ___)
|
||
\______)
|
||
|
||
The star looks better in printed form (6 LPI, 10 CPI, at which a slash
|
||
is darn close to 60 degrees) than on a typical screen (~4 LPI, 10 CPI):
|
||
|
||
/\ O
|
||
/ \ O O O O | | O O O O
|
||
/ /\ \ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
||
________/ /__\_\________ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
|
||
\ ____/ /___________ / | | | | | | | | |_| | | | | | | | |
|
||
\ \ / / \ \ / / |_| |_| |_| |_| \_/ |_| |_| |_| |_|
|
||
\ \/ / \ \/ / \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/ | \_/ \_/ \_/ \_/
|
||
\ \/ \ \/ | | | | | | | | |
|
||
/\ \ /\ \ \ \ \ \___|___/ / / /
|
||
/ /\ \ / /\ \ \ \ \_______|_______/ / /
|
||
/ /__\_\______/ /__\ \ \ \___________|___________/ /
|
||
/_____________/ /______\ \_______________|_______________/
|
||
\ \ / / |
|
||
\ \/ / |
|
||
\ / / \
|
||
\/ .' `.
|
||
_.-~_______~-._
|
||
|
||
And what a thing to put near them!:
|
||
|
||
/\__--~~~--__/\
|
||
||\ /||
|
||
|/|(O) (O)|\|
|
||
\ .---. /
|
||
\ ( o o ) /
|
||
\/`---'\/
|
||
`-|||-' --- oink!
|
||
`-'
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 12 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
Continuing in the animal vein:
|
||
|
||
|(.) (.)|
|
||
\ /
|
||
) (
|
||
/ \
|
||
( \_/ )
|
||
| | |
|
||
|
||
No, I don't mean pussy, get your mind out of the gutter! It's just
|
||
not quite complete yet. Here it is in full:
|
||
|
||
/\_-~~~-_/\
|
||
| |
|
||
|.|(.) (.)|.|
|
||
|| \ / ||
|
||
|| ) ( ||
|
||
|| / ___ \ ||
|
||
`'( \_/ )`'
|
||
| | |
|
||
\__/ \__/ ---- Arf! <sniff sniff sniff> Arf! Arf!
|
||
|| | ||
|
||
`| | |'
|
||
`---'
|
||
|
||
Those who hang out on a certain echo I moderate should recognize the
|
||
first and might remember the second (don't ask, very inside joke):
|
||
|
||
_____
|
||
_-~.'|`.~-_
|
||
/ / | \ \
|
||
/ / | \ \
|
||
|---+---+---+---| |~-_
|
||
\ \ | / / | ~-_
|
||
\ \ | / / |||||| ~-------|
|
||
|~-_~-_~.|.~_-~_-~| |::::::_-------|:.
|
||
| ~-_~---~_-~ | |:::_-~ ::
|
||
| ~-_-~ | |_-~ __::__
|
||
| |-_ _-| | | :: |
|
||
| | | | | | More crud, |_::_|
|
||
| | | | | | sweetheart! |____|
|
||
\_/ | | \_/
|
||
| |
|
||
\_/
|
||
|
||
(sigh, gotta be legal... the first item is a registered trademark
|
||
of Mensa.)
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 13 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
And under all this, what more appropriate than:
|
||
|
||
_________________________________________
|
||
|_________________________________________|
|
||
|_________________________________________|
|
||
|
||
| | | |
|
||
/ | | \
|
||
| | | |
|
||
/ | | \
|
||
| | | |
|
||
/ K I S S I N ' | | F O O L ! \
|
||
| | | |
|
||
/ | / \
|
||
| |/ |
|
||
/ / \ \
|
||
| | | |
|
||
/ / \ \
|
||
|_______________________| |_______________________|
|
||
|_______________________| |_______________________|
|
||
|
||
_________________________________________
|
||
|_________________________________________|
|
||
|_________________________________________|
|
||
| / \ |
|
||
| | | |
|
||
| | | |
|
||
`-_ / \ \ _-'
|
||
| ~-_ | | | _-~ |
|
||
| ~-_ | | | _-~ |
|
||
\ -_| \ |_- /
|
||
\ \ | / /
|
||
\ \ | / /
|
||
~-_ \ / / _-~
|
||
~-_ | | _-~
|
||
~--_|_____________|_--~
|
||
|
||
_______________________________________
|
||
|---------------------------------------|
|
||
`--_ _--'
|
||
| ~-_ _-~ |
|
||
\ ~-_ _-~ /
|
||
\ -_ _- /
|
||
\ \ / /
|
||
\ \ / /
|
||
`-_ \ / _-'
|
||
~-_ | | _-~
|
||
~-__|_________|__-~
|
||
|
||
Drawing the contents is left as an exercise for the reader.
|
||
|
||
And in closing, the closing screen of my BBS:
|
||
|
||
.-.
|
||
.-. |
|
||
.-. | |
|
||
| | | | ___
|
||
| | | |/ _ \ ___
|
||
| /o\_'||.' o `.
|
||
| \=/ /|| `---'
|
||
\ ___// \
|
||
\____/ (`__')
|
||
|
||
`--.____.--' . . . Be seeing you!
|
||
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 14 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
What Price for Cheap Mail?
|
||
Jason Bennett, 1:116/4, Hub 1:116/6000
|
||
|
||
The advent of Planet Connect last year marked a turning
|
||
point in the history of the backbone. Simply put, Planet Connect's
|
||
handling of the backbone is the worst crisis Fidonet has had to face
|
||
in many years. The reduction of the backbone from a smooth,
|
||
volunteer-run mail transfer system to an unreliable, commercialized
|
||
mess is a study in amateurs attempting to become Z1EC through
|
||
numbers. Let's begin at the beginning...
|
||
|
||
Last summer, the hubs in net 116 were told of the imminent
|
||
arrival of a savior, the greatest thing to happen to Fidonet since
|
||
Tom Jennings wrote Fido v1.0. That worshipful entity was Planet
|
||
Connect, a company that would deliver all the mail and files you
|
||
could eat at a fraction of the current cost. If it sounds as though
|
||
PC were made up to be a god, that's not far from the truth. Planet
|
||
Connect, so it was claimed, would deliver all the mail and files the
|
||
net could consume for a mere $30 a month, plus it would soon have
|
||
(cover your face in reverence!) UseNet newsgroups! The cheers from
|
||
the net could be heard for miles around. Although a few hubs and
|
||
nodes questioned the technology and spirit behind the service, these
|
||
horrible people were quickly hushed by the resounding cheers of
|
||
"cheap mail!" It took a few months to get mail delivery from PC off
|
||
the ground, but by January 1, 1994, net 116 had accomplished three
|
||
important goals:
|
||
|
||
1. It had driven off one of the best NEC's the net had ever had.
|
||
|
||
2. It had formed a group of the majority of the net who lusted after
|
||
mail and files for $2 a month
|
||
|
||
3. It had formed another, smaller group who had a landline feed from
|
||
George Peace
|
||
|
||
The NEC left simply because he saw the writing on the wall.
|
||
He knew that with the advent of PC, denying anyone a feed to a
|
||
backbone echo would be impossible, as that person could always get
|
||
his own dish to receive it. Tracking down dupe-loops inside the net
|
||
would be impossible, and PC would in general make the job more
|
||
hassle than it was worth. His responsibility would remain the same,
|
||
but his ability to enforce the rules and do his duty would be
|
||
greatly curtailed. Coupled with the fact that he was no longer
|
||
needed to get the backbone, he wisely resigned his post. Our new
|
||
NEC has, fortunately for him, not had it too badly. The potential
|
||
for disaster, however, is still there.
|
||
|
||
Things continued merrily along until June, when two more
|
||
important events happened:
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 15 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
|
||
1. The landline co-op dissolved over the cost (too few people,
|
||
unlike before PC) and split into two groups, one that got its own
|
||
satellite and one that was left out in the cold and forced to get a
|
||
satellite feed.
|
||
|
||
2. The PC distributor for net 116 began to get increasingly
|
||
irritated over the state of PC, namely that the feed was overloaded
|
||
and the error rate was too high.
|
||
|
||
As it stands now, things are in flux. The current PC feed
|
||
is stepping down in October because of the state of the PC feed and
|
||
the time it takes to get the mail done right (not done, as most nets
|
||
are doing it, done right). This leads me to the point of all this,
|
||
the decidedly negative effect Planet Connect has had on Fidonet.
|
||
|
||
Before Planet Connect, the mail was transmitted along
|
||
telephone lines between volunteers who (literally) sacrificed their
|
||
machines for the cause of Fidonet. These people cared that the mail
|
||
got through every single day. If one of these people knew that h e
|
||
could no longer handle the job, more often than not he gracefully
|
||
resigned, leading to a smooth transition of duties.
|
||
|
||
Today, we have Planet Connect, where if your lucky you'll
|
||
receive two-thirds of your mail on any given pass. Planet Connect
|
||
not only cannot transmit the mail, they can't even process it right.
|
||
Every day, bundles come in out of order, or with skewed date/time
|
||
stamps (MO1 is at 8:30, MO2 is at 7:45), or with tons of dupes (I've
|
||
seen more duped-out message bases in the past month than I've seen
|
||
in years), or even with all three! How far we've come with
|
||
technology!
|
||
|
||
Another effect PC has had on Fidonet is, instead of small
|
||
nets having to get only a little of the backbone, they get pieces of
|
||
all of it. I've heard of more than one small net who get 75% of
|
||
their daily mail, but wouldn't F'Req it because of the cost
|
||
involved. A message entered no longer is guaranteed to get to all
|
||
the recipients. Care to play Russian Roulette with your message?
|
||
|
||
Further, with all the cries of "cheap mail!," has anyone
|
||
actually counted the cost? Let's take net 116 for an example.
|
||
Before PC, our bills (for a 50-person co-op) ran $180-$200 a month,
|
||
picking up all the large echos (FOR-SALE, GENEALOGY) and a good
|
||
portion of the backbone. Each person paid about $2.50/month (after
|
||
various contributions). Today, we pay $1 a month, saving
|
||
$1.50/month, but our PC connect is not being fully subsidized! This
|
||
does not even count the initial cost of the dish, another large
|
||
investment. Today there are 8 dishes in our net, paying a combined
|
||
$450/month for PC service, plus F'Req's, plus initial cost. Where
|
||
is the cheap mail?
|
||
|
||
Additionally, instead of brave volunteers transmitting mail,
|
||
we have a commercial company as the effective Z1EC. Now, I'm not
|
||
going to argue that this is against policy, as that is an unwinnable
|
||
argument. It is, however, a bastardization of the real spirit of
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 16 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
Fidonet, the spirit of people coming together for a common purpose,
|
||
to talk to each other. We work together, fight together, laugh
|
||
together, and mourn together. But with the advent of PC, that
|
||
spirit fades just a little. Sure, we can still communicate with
|
||
each other (assuming the mail actually makes it through), but no
|
||
longer do we sacrifice for one other. In this age of "cheap mail!"
|
||
we no longer have to work to get a feed, we can just sit at home,
|
||
happy that we're only paying $30 for a chance at mail packets.
|
||
|
||
Finally, with this vast centralization of the backbone, do
|
||
you ever wonder what would happen if PC were to go down? It did
|
||
happen only a few weeks ago (lightning strike, they say. From
|
||
clouds that were 200 miles away at the time.) No one could get
|
||
Fidonet mail for a day, and later that week their mailer went down,
|
||
blocking anyone from sending replies back (meaning there was again
|
||
no mail). What happens if PC suddenly folds one day? Where will
|
||
your mail come from?
|
||
|
||
I hope I've been able to shed a little light on the true
|
||
effect Planet Connect has had on Fidonet. I'm sure I'll get tons of
|
||
mail praising PC for all the "cheap mail!" it provides, but just
|
||
consider this: what price does Fidonet (and you) pay for your cheap
|
||
mail?
|
||
|
||
|
||
========================================================================
|
||
Fidonews Information
|
||
========================================================================
|
||
|
||
Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees
|
||
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
|
||
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar
|
||
Tom Jennings
|
||
"FidoNews" BBS
|
||
FidoNet 1:1/23
|
||
BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS)
|
||
|
||
more addresses:
|
||
Rev. Richard Visage -- 1:163/409
|
||
Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
|
||
Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com
|
||
David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411
|
||
sylvia -- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
|
||
|
||
(Postal Service mailing address)
|
||
FidoNews
|
||
128 Church St.
|
||
Kitchener, Ontario
|
||
Canada
|
||
N2H 2S4
|
||
|
||
max & Don voice: (519) 570-3137
|
||
FidoNews 11-36 Page: 17 05 Sep 1994
|
||
|
||
|
||
Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet
|
||
international volunteer electronic mail system. It is a compilation
|
||
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
|
||
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
|
||
does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in
|
||
these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of
|
||
FidoNews.
|
||
|
||
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
|
||
Copyright 1994 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication
|
||
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use
|
||
in other circumstances, please contact the original authors.
|
||
|
||
OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
|
||
form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
|
||
Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
|
||
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail
|
||
address, or trade for copy of your 'zine.
|
||
|
||
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org,
|
||
in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews.
|
||
|
||
Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
|
||
freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to
|
||
fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is
|
||
necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
|
||
response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
|
||
should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the
|
||
previously listed address.
|
||
|
||
SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
|
||
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
|
||
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
|
||
from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
|
||
|
||
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
|
||
trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
|
||
|
||
"the pulse of the cursor is the heartbeat of fidonet"...
|
||
-- END
|
||
|