405 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
405 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
F I D O N E W S -- Vol.13 No.16 (15-Apr-1996)
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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 \ | |
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| (_| /_) | |
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| _`@/_ \ _ | |
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| | | \ \\ | Editors: |
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| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
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| |__U__| / \// | |
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| _//|| _\ / | |
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| (_/(_|(____/ | |
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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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| submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Don -- don@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. Articles...................................................... 2
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THE INTERNET IS SEXY By Pete Snidal,........................ 2
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The Game Development Echo (GAMEDEV) is now backboned!....... 4
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New Cellular Phone Echo..................................... 5
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The Shareware Ethic......................................... 5
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2. Fidonews Information.......................................... 7
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========================================================================
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FidoNews 13-16 Page: 2 15 Apr 1996
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========================================================================
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Articles
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========================================================================
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THE INTERNET IS SEXY By Pete Snidal,
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1:353/405 - Grand Forks, BC
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I am much dismayed to be reading all the dire predictions in
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FNEWS lately, about the demise of Fidonet, the ascendence of the
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Internet, and like that.
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I run a point system of my bbs at the local public library -
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sort of a small town freenet (I must confess that's where I got
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the idea), and it would seem that some of the locals are now
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whining to the librarian about how they would rather see the
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library get them access to (fanfare) the Internet. We were
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discussing theis the other day, and I observed that it would
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seem that this is the case even though almost nobody reads the
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news currently available on the point as Fidoechoes, even though
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most of it comes from the internet, the biggies on this point
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(and my bbs) being ANEWS and P_NEWS.
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She replied, in a mock whisper, "Yeh, but the internet is SEXY."
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And I guess that's the point. It's being sold all over the
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continent like soap, cosmetics, or feminine hygiene products.
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And the consumers, are responding in the same ways. Although
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they in most cases don't have the slightest idea what the
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much-vaunted *Internet* can do for them, they do know that they
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_need_ it. They gotta have it. And they're apparently signing
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up with ISP's in droves. Or so we're told.
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This is okay for the telecom illiterate. Somehow, it seems
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all right that people who never took the time or felt the need
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to find out what was possible for them in terms of news access,
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discussion forums, or netmail with Fidonet, which had been right
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under their noses for many years, can suddenly feel this burning
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desire to get connected, to get surfin' that web, sendin' that
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e-mail, and just generally gettin' with the programme. After
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all, as we should all know, it took big bucks in the right
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places to get the I-word mentioned on just about every TV
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programme we see, as well as in the papers every day, and the
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people who spent the big bucks are no slouches; they've done
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this before, and they expect to get their money back a few times
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over, somehow, as the resultant wave of consumers hits The Net.
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They probably will.
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I can expect this from the Other People. The Sheep. The
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Consumers. But it saddens me to see the hype resulting in people
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who should know better abandoning poor little Fido for it's Sexy
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Sister. Some of us are developing into a subgroup which I am
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coming to call Internet Snobs, denigrating Fidonet for various
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shaky reasons, mistakenly citing its lack of sophistication,
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slowness in mail delivery, etc. ad naus. People who should know
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FidoNews 13-16 Page: 3 15 Apr 1996
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better.
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Our librarian intends to offer internet access somehow. But
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she realizes that Fidonet also has a place in the scheme of
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telecom, and has no intention whatever of tossing out poor
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little Fido. Because she recognizes that there are things that
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Fidonet still does better. Let's have a look at the advantages
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of Fidonet to the average user:
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News Reading: Fidoechoes such as ANEWS, P_NEWS, and others
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offer the average user a good selection of alternate
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(that is not corporate-controlled media) news, as does
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the internet with Usenet Newsgroups. But Fido echoes
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are generally free to access, and usable with off-line
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readers which will run just fine on basic dosboxes.
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They are not as confusing to sort your way
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through, don't contain a jillion empty areas, and are
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often configured to cover areas of local interest much
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better. When a user tags BC_ENVIRON, for instance, s/he
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knows not to expect discussion on destruction of the
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Brazilian rainforests. I think they're better for most
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people, although I use both. Furthermore, it's much
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simpler to set up your system for offline reading with
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Fido.
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Discussion Groups: For those who chose to participate, there
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are Usenet Newsgroups and Mailing Lists on the Internet.
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Fidoechoes are much easier to use, and just folksier,
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if y'axe me. And the fact that comments take an extra
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day or two to get around means little; we're mostly just
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taking turns preaching to the converted anyway.
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The Web: Okay, so we can't cruise the virtual mall on Fidonet.
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If we gotta shop by computer, then it's gonna take an
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ISP. Pay the 10 or 20 bucks a month, and have fun,
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shoppers. As for the "Wealth of Information" I'm
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getting so tired of hearing about, how many people
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actually tap into it? And what about the similar
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wealth available in the File areas of so many Fido
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bbs's?
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e-mail: Well, it's nice to know that you can send reliable
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and basically instant e-mail anywhere in the world. It
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can be of a commercial nature, and you can be sure it
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got there if it doesn't bounce. Netmail, if routed,
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is admittedly a little less reliable, and the further
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you go the worse it gets. But then, 10 or 15 bucks
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a month will crash a lot of mail. And overnight service
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is usually sufficient, particularly considering how
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seldom many users of either system check for incoming.
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Furthermore, Fidonet can be accessed with low-end computers.
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And although the advertisers would like us to think otherwise,
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there are a lot of low-end computers out there. Computers which
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change hands for considerably less than the price of the RAM
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FidoNews 13-16 Page: 4 15 Apr 1996
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needed to run Windoze or OS/2 satisfactorily. And you don't get
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much access to the internet through an ISP without one or the
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other of these. I've been looking for a DOS-based e-mail reader
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since NUPOP turned out to be a dog. (Oh dear; I'm mixing my
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metaphors.) The Fidonet user has a Real Wealth of software
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available for offline reading, editing, and all that which can
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be done with Fidonet and a low-end computer. But the
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development of the Internet has always been a balls-to-the-wall
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price-is-no-object proposition, both that of the network itself,
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and also that of connections for the user. Pretty rich for my
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taste, and for that of many other people as well. The Power
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User can point and use such badass software as Binkley, Squish,
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and Timed, and do things with an XT that are just plain
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unduplicable in Internet terms. And there are a lot of low-end
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users out here. Democratization of a network - giving access to
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the Little People - may not mean much to the Internet Snobs, but
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I hope it means a lot to many of us. I know it does to me.
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In conclusion, let me say this: don't let's be selling Fido
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short. It's a marvelous system, all the more so because it was
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developed by people with a passion for connectivity among el
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gente - the people of the planet, and not by a megacorporation
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by contract with a mess of bunker-dwellers with a heavy agenda.
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Fido has good kharma, and I'm sticking with it until I'm the
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only node left.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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The Game Development Echo (GAMEDEV) is now backboned!
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by Sunir Shah, moderator of GAMEDEV (1:241/11)
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The Game Development Echo (GAMEDEV) is now backboned!
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The Game Development Echo (echotag GAMEDEV)
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-- an echo all about producing games,
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has just been BACKBONED!
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Topics are varied. From programming, to art, to music, to
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artificial intelligence, to marketing, it's all here!
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If you're into making games or want to learn, check this echo
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out!
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Sunir Shah (1:241/11),
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Moderator of GAMEDEV
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FidoNews 13-16 Page: 5 15 Apr 1996
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New Cellular Phone Echo
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There is a new echo on the backbone which deals with Cellular phones,
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called CELLULAR_II. In the original Cellular phone echo, the moderator
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is taking the position that some information is illegal (it isn't) and
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off topic (up to him). CELLULAR_II was created to promote the free
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passage of information, and is based out of Canada, where listening to
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the 800 MHz cellular band is completely legal, provided one does not
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profit from what one hears. Come on over an check CELLULAR_II out, you
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won't be disappointed.
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CELLULAR_II
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Cellular Telephones & Related Issues
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An echo for discussion and information about Cellular phones
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and related topics. This echo originates in Canada and uses
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Canadian laws to determine what is "illegal" in regards to
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discussion topics. As such, restoration of cell frequencies
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in scanners, listening to cellular with old tv, ect. are
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permitted topics.
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Distribution: Z1-backbone
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Flags: <Real Names>
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Moderators: Chris Farrar, 1:246/20
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Last changed: 08 Apr 96 by Chris Farrar, 1:246/20
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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The Shareware Ethic
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The Shareware Ethic and ASP or what's the point of registration and,
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even more, what's the point of ASP.
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Back in January (Fidonews, Vol.13, no.1) Timothy Trace
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(1:100/440.0) summarised the shareware ethic as being: timely,
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inexpensive registration; quick technical support and direct
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contact with the author; and frequent version updates. He went
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on to make a strong complaint about the way a certain shareware
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author was abusing this ethic by failing to respond to any and
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all attempts at communication. He said he was making a Policy
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Complaint and two of the (three) grounds were lack of common
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courtesy (holding credit card registrations in limbo for months)
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and prejudicing the financial security of Fidonet by the way the
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author was treating credit card transactions.
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This, in my opinion, is not an isolated instance. The
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behaviour of which he complains is, unfortunately, not at all
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uncommon. In two cases, I have been totally ignored by
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shareware authors (and, in one case, by his registration site).
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In addition, the same discourteous treatment has been extended
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to me by the ASP Ombudsman.
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My complaint is based on the following facts.
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This message will be spell checked by JSpell Version 2.0.
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On 15th June 1995 I mailed to the registration site of JSpell at
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FidoNews 13-16 Page: 6 15 Apr 1996
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Public Software Library PO Box 35705 Houston, TX, a covering
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letter and an application form which contained credit card
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details.
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On 18th August 1995, having heard nothing from the
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registration site, I wrote to the author, Joohee Jeeong, at
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Nemosoft Technologies, PO Box 1619, El Cerrito, CA sending a
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copy of my 15th June letter and application form and requesting
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his help.
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Again having heard nothing, this time from the author, on
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21st September I Emailed the ASP Ombudsman at
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70007.3536@compuserve.com explaining the above facts and asking
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for his assistance.
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Since I received no reply, on 30th October 1995, I faxed
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the ASP Ombudsman at 1-616-788-2765 with a copy of the Email and
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a further request for assistance.
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Again receiving no reply, I discussed this with my Sysop.
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He told me that he has written about it in the ASP echo; that he
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has sent a direct Email about it, and wrote about it snail mail
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when sending in his current year subscription. He tells me that
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he has had no response.
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I might add that the program appears to have some kind of
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problem. I suffer from random truncation of text. I don't know
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whether this is a bug or a shareware author's way of nagging me
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into registration. In either case it will never be cleared up
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because all efforts at communication are ignored.
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The other case which I mentioned is that of LIST Plus
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Version 9. I registered this program in January 1995 and was
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sent a disk with the registered version of the program. On this
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disk is a program SHOW2.EXE. When this program is run it
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indicates that it is possible to manipulate a file or groups of
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files by tagging them with the space bar or the T key. On the
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program I got, I was unable to do this. So on 24th November
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last year I wrote to Vernon Buerg explaining this and asking if
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SHOW2.EXE was in error or if there was something wrong with the
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disk?
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Not having received a reply, I wrote again on 20th
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February, this time by recorded delivery, so I know that the
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letter was received but, up to the time of writing, I have not
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heard a word. What am I to think? Am I just unlucky, or am I
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being ripped off? And how can I possibly find out when the
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author obstinately refuses to communicate?
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I shall be taking this up with the ASP Ombudsman but I
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expect no greater success with this complaint than I had with
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the other.
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To get back to the point of Timothy Trace (and mine), what
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is the point of shareware registration if the shareware authors
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FidoNews 13-16 Page: 7 15 Apr 1996
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do not comply with their side of the bargain, whatever that may
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be. And how can the registering public find out what are the
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duties of a shareware author and the rights they have acquired
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under the registration contract if the ASP Ombudsman just as
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obdurately ignores any attempts at communication.
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What's the point of registration and, even more, what is
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the point of the Association of Shareware Profesionals?
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Regards:
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Terry G Wright
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t.wright@obsdata.es
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Spain (2:345/210.25)
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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========================================================================
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Fidonews Information
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========================================================================
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------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
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Editor: 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, Sylvia Maxwell
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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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Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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(Postal Service mailing address)
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FidoNews
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154 Victoria St. S.
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Kitchener, Ontario
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Canada
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N2H 2b5
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voice: (519) 570-4899
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Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
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INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR 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 1996 Donald Tees. 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, or the eds.
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FidoNews 13-16 Page: 8 15 Apr 1996
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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.
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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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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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' ' disgreement is actually necessary,
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or we'd all have to get in fights
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or semethin to amuse ourselves,,
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and create the requisite chaos."
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-Tom Jennings
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-- END
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-------------------------------------------------------------------
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