1097 lines
47 KiB
Plaintext
1097 lines
47 KiB
Plaintext
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
|
||
|
||
F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 12 23 March 1998
|
||
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
|
||
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
|
||
| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
|
||
| _ | 1-209-251-7529 [1:1/23] |
|
||
| / \ | |
|
||
| /|oo \ | |
|
||
| (_| /_) | |
|
||
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
|
||
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
|
||
| | (*) | \ )) | Zorch Frezberg 1:205/1701 |
|
||
| |__U__| / \// | |
|
||
| _//|| _\ / | |
|
||
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
|
||
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
|
||
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
|
||
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
|
||
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 |
|
||
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
||
| MORE addresses: |
|
||
| |
|
||
| submissions=> editor@fidonews.org |
|
||
| |
|
||
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
||
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
|
||
| obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ |
|
||
| please refer to the end of this file. |
|
||
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
|
||
|
||
|
||
Business, as Usual...with Alterations
|
||
|
||
|
||
Table of Contents
|
||
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
|
||
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
|
||
Passing thoughts ......................................... 3
|
||
New URL For WWW-FidoResource ............................. 4
|
||
3. COLUMNS .................................................. 5
|
||
Cry Havoc, and Let Loose The Puppies of War .............. 5
|
||
4. FIDONET HISTORY .......................................... 7
|
||
5. WE GET EMAIL ............................................. 12
|
||
6. NOTICES .................................................. 13
|
||
Future History ........................................... 13
|
||
7. FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY ...................................... 14
|
||
FidoNews PGP Public-Key Listing .......................... 14
|
||
8. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 15
|
||
9. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 17
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 1 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
EDITORIAL
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Due to a program error that didn't appear in the test runs, but then
|
||
decided to appear on publication, there was no Editorial last week.
|
||
Given some of the things that happened within 24 hours of the issue
|
||
being published, it gave some time to reflect a bit more on these.
|
||
|
||
Scary news out there...and no one seems to want to talk about it.
|
||
|
||
There comes a point in any organization where the future is
|
||
determined by either the goals of the group as a whole, or by a small
|
||
cadre of people who have a 'vision' of the way things should be.
|
||
|
||
Too often, however, the two factions clash, and it is the helpless
|
||
villagers, or sysops in this case, who will end up bearing the brunt
|
||
of the struggle.
|
||
|
||
The Z2C has openly challenged the process of "One Zone, One Vote" in
|
||
the coming IC Election, more than casually mentioning that the fact
|
||
of Zone 2 being in control of 65% of FidoNet, and insinuating, from
|
||
what is said, that Zone 2 should have a 'larger' role in choosing the
|
||
IC if not actually controlling that choice.
|
||
|
||
I would also point out why the lessons of history in this regard
|
||
should be more apparent to Zone 2 than most...but I think I will
|
||
refrain.
|
||
|
||
Already, there is a 'complaint' that Zone 1 members are "ruining" the
|
||
access to the ZCC-PUBLIC echo...but it would seem that this is more
|
||
geared at the "lack of respect" tone of the messages. That, and the
|
||
point that no rules have been posted for that echo, either.
|
||
|
||
If you can't get access to ZCC-PUBLIC, ask "Why not?"
|
||
|
||
Notably absent is the Z2C's weekly "doomsday countdown" for the
|
||
nodelist for which I have received a complaint from him. While he
|
||
admits to having posted it publicly in many echoes worldwide,
|
||
it appears that the FidoNews was not to post it unless he himself
|
||
sent it in, with his specific permissions and consent.
|
||
|
||
As of publication time the past two weeks, he has not sent it, either
|
||
by NetMail or by E-Mail; thus, it will not be included per his
|
||
objections.
|
||
|
||
So much for 'open communications'. Strange, also, that the issue of
|
||
copyrights comes in so conveniently for him now, no?
|
||
|
||
In any event, and in response to a number of complaints I have
|
||
received both long before I became Editor and since that time, I have
|
||
chosen to now use a PGP-signature to insure the integrity of each
|
||
issue of FidoNews.
|
||
|
||
The complaints were that several Region and Net level coordinators
|
||
seem to be removing articles that did not "fit in" with a particular
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 2 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
view that they held. Copies were sent to me that indicated anything
|
||
from removal of the printer breaks to whole articles being removed.
|
||
|
||
Think of it as a 'certified uncensored issue' seal of approval.
|
||
To properly check the signature, remove five (5) spaces from the
|
||
beginnings of the PGP-signature lines. This is due to a formatting
|
||
matter in the publishing program that can't be presently modified.
|
||
|
||
Last issue's article by Jim Cannell, the administrator of the
|
||
SecureMail services in FidoNet, was intended to 'de-mystify' the use
|
||
of PGP encryption and make it more accessible to the general public.
|
||
|
||
As always, there is the issue posting at http://www.fidonews.org, or
|
||
at my personal site at http://209.77.228.66/fidonet.html .
|
||
|
||
Would that we could all live in a world where this was unnecessary,
|
||
but there are those who live to turn our hobby into their existance.
|
||
|
||
Other than the usual, this issue of the FidoNews is remarkably light.
|
||
Some updates to the InterNet sites, and a few more articles.
|
||
|
||
...and an interesting E-Mail from Romania.
|
||
|
||
Remember, the FidoNews is what _you_ make of it.
|
||
|
||
-zf-
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 3 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
ARTICLES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
Passing thoughts
|
||
by David Hallford
|
||
|
||
As I take a well deserved vacation my mind started to dwell on how I
|
||
would do things in Fidonet. These aren't the best ways or the
|
||
smartest ways, or even the correct ways. Just the way I would do it.
|
||
|
||
ELECTIONS: Hmmm, a good thought on the surface but what is the
|
||
real consensus within Fidonet. No one knows. Each side of the
|
||
dispute is so busy arguing for their view point that no one has
|
||
taken the time to check with the SysOps. Why not have the ZC's
|
||
task the RC's to task the NC's to poll their networks and report
|
||
back by node number who wants or doesn't want elections to be the
|
||
standard. If elections win the vote of the Sysops then use the
|
||
same procedure to determine if it should be by popular vote or
|
||
representation (ie the Sysop's elect the NC/NEC, the NC/NEC elect
|
||
the RC/REC, the RC/REC elect the ZC/ZEC) and what the length of
|
||
each term should be. If the Sysops want the appointment route to
|
||
be the standard, then let it. This will end a lot of the bickering
|
||
current within Fidonet.
|
||
|
||
ECHOPOL: Why? It seems to be working to me. It's now a cooperative
|
||
effort between moderators, routers, and SysOps. A bad moderator
|
||
gets ignored, a bad router gets routed around, and a bad SysOp
|
||
gets a feed cut. No rules or regulations to fight over. Let's face
|
||
it, we have been arguing over Policy 4.07 for 10 years or so.
|
||
There are still folks who interpret it their way even in the face
|
||
of rulings by the ZC. Why add more regulations to argue over? At
|
||
the most I would have a policy that defined the positions and
|
||
terms used but granted no additional power to anyone.
|
||
|
||
|
||
ECHOMAIL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS: The more the merrier, I say. Those
|
||
that serve the folks will survive. Those that don't - won't.
|
||
I can't think of a better way to regulate them!
|
||
|
||
EXCESSIVELY ANNOYING BEHAVIOR (in echomail): Why not? A lie is a
|
||
lie if it's in echomail or netmail. Character assassination can be
|
||
worse in an echo than it can be in netmail. I would like it to be
|
||
possible to file a Policy 4 complaint against folks who accuse
|
||
others of being someone elses puppet (or clone) without proof.
|
||
Most of us think for ourselves, so why do we think others don't?
|
||
Just because they agree with someone on an issue doesn't make them
|
||
puppets. I agreed with some things that Ho Chi Minh said. That
|
||
sure doesn't make me his puppet since I would have gladly put a
|
||
bullet in his brain had the opportunity ever presented itself.
|
||
|
||
NICE FOLKS (and those not so nice): Some people cause me to stop
|
||
and think over a position or stance I have taken. Some nicely and
|
||
some not so nicely. It doesn't matter because I owe them thanks
|
||
for causing me to think. Bob Satti was the nicest and Tom Cole was
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 4 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
the least nicest, but I owe them both my thanks. I will not say
|
||
who I feel are nice or not nice, but I would like to thank the
|
||
following for a fun 11 years:
|
||
|
||
Bob Satti, Bob Kohl, Bob Moravsik, Bob Seaborn (geez how many
|
||
Bobs are there?) Martin Belcke, Brenda Donovan, Russ Edwards,
|
||
David Bowerman, Bruce Bodger, John Souvestre, Mike Murray,
|
||
Ruth Argust, Zorch Frezberg (as if I would forget him <g>),
|
||
Andy Brown (in fact all of the NECs past and present in R10),
|
||
Tom Cole, Joe Jared, George Peace, Ken Wilson, Adrian Walker,
|
||
John Pfieffer, Dennis Travis, Gerry Calhoun, the dwarves in
|
||
Mindless Chatter and Drivel, and all the folks who take the
|
||
time to read the Fidonews and participate in Fidonet on a
|
||
vocal level (whether I agreed with you or not).
|
||
|
||
As the man said "Goodbye and thanks for the fish". I liked that one
|
||
and think Fidonet should adopt it as the 'official' goodbye.
|
||
|
||
Goodbye, and thanks for the fish!
|
||
|
||
###30###
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
New URL for the World-Wide-Web Fidonet Resource
|
||
by Lee Kindness, wangi@earthling.net
|
||
|
||
Just a short announcement - The World-Wide-Web Fidonet Resource
|
||
is now at the URL below:
|
||
|
||
http://travel.to/fidonet
|
||
|
||
This location will redirect you to the current 'real' home
|
||
of the WWWFR, which is currently is still
|
||
http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html
|
||
but is likely to change in the future. If you use the new
|
||
URL the change will not be noticed...
|
||
|
||
I'm also planning a number of changes to the site, I
|
||
fancy getting my hands dirty with a bit of Perl. If I want
|
||
to add cgi-bin enhancements then i'll be looking for a
|
||
new home for the page - anyone care to offer a UNIX
|
||
account with telnet/ftp access? ;)
|
||
|
||
Cheers,
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
- Lee Kindness ------------------ wangi@earthling.net -
|
||
- http://come.to/kindness -- http://travel.to/fidonet -
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 5 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
COLUMNS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
Dear Editorbeing,
|
||
|
||
This article is submitted by Charles Herriot (163/110) who
|
||
managed to rescue Doc Logger from a pack of ravening Echopol
|
||
police. Apparently, Logger's penchant for BBSing to the
|
||
accompaniment of bagpipe music was not only in bad taste,
|
||
but was also a serious Fidocrime.
|
||
|
||
Roll da' flic Zorch....
|
||
|
||
Dear Reverend Visage,
|
||
|
||
The fact that you have been ignoring your flock in their
|
||
hour of need has been made more obvious in recent days.
|
||
Despite the hopes that Echopol evangelists could be
|
||
eradicated shortly after Smallpox, the usual suspects are at
|
||
it again. It seems that a new version of Echopol is being
|
||
bruited by Bob Kohl. He doesn't seem to understand that
|
||
arming small intellects with more policy is certain to
|
||
engender many unhappy years of "Policy complaints" with the
|
||
document being used to torture unsuspecting Fidoserfs. A
|
||
tadge more alarming is the fact that Bob has expressed
|
||
concerns about the content of echos which he feels need to
|
||
be controlled by policy.
|
||
|
||
As the good and decent people that we are, all appropriate
|
||
energy should be devoted to teaching Mr. Kohl where to find
|
||
the <RETURN> button on his keyboard so that he can skip past
|
||
the messages that would otherwise make him cry. It boggles
|
||
the mind to imagine what the socially maladroit will do with
|
||
a new blunt instrument in the form of Echopol. If a fellow
|
||
like Gary Gilmore can screech from his perch in New Zealand
|
||
about a nodelisting in North America, think of what fun his
|
||
ilk will have if given a chance to whine about what is
|
||
written in the echos. I wish Bob no joy at all in his
|
||
Echopol endeavours and may the farce be with him.
|
||
|
||
All six loyal readers of the Snooz might have noticed the
|
||
ominous heading last week: 'The Coming Civil War" and been
|
||
mightily puzzled that it was followed by a puff piece
|
||
lauding the sainthood of our ZC, Bob Satti. Only the unkind
|
||
will snicker at the irony that the same gushy accolades were
|
||
contained in a letter wherein the author says good-bye to
|
||
Fidoland.
|
||
|
||
I think perhaps what was being hinted at in the Civil War
|
||
reference was the ongoing debate among the ZC elflords about
|
||
who should be kicked upstairs to the IC position. Ward
|
||
Dossche, the ZC2, has apparently asserted that the ZC's
|
||
should be granted weighted voting according to how many
|
||
Fidoserfs they "rule" in their fiefdoms. I haven't noticed
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 6 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
that Ward is insisting that he go whole hog with his
|
||
democratic sedition and have *all* Fidoserfs actually vote,
|
||
but he gets at least half marks for effort.
|
||
|
||
Mr. Dossche's excitable detractors are predicting ruin and
|
||
damnation should his concepts prevail. Naturally, the Z1C,
|
||
Bob Satti has expressed grave concerns about conducting the
|
||
debate in public. Evidently, Satti is not the least bit fond
|
||
of having his machinations scrutinized by those he presumes
|
||
to rule.
|
||
|
||
On that cheery note, I'll segue into my Chautauqua which is
|
||
as much addressed to Satti as it is to all five of the other
|
||
regular Snooz readers. I'd like to lead off with a quote
|
||
from Walter Lippmann in an essay entitled "The Indispensable
|
||
Opposition."
|
||
|
||
"The opposition is indispensable. A good statesman, like any
|
||
other sensible human being, always learns more from his
|
||
opponents than from his fervent supporters. For his
|
||
supporters push him to disaster unless his opponents show
|
||
him where the dangers are. So if he is wise he will often
|
||
pray to be delivered from his friends, because they will
|
||
ruin him. But, though it hurts, he ought also to pray never
|
||
to be without opponents; for they keep him on the path of
|
||
reason and good sense."
|
||
|
||
So, as one of Mr. Satti's most fervent opponents, might I
|
||
tender some advice with respect to the creation of Echopol?
|
||
If the policy document is created, and if the framers are
|
||
permitted to presume authority for it or vested by it, there
|
||
will be less than a year elapsed before another *C vs. *EC
|
||
battle erupts. There will also be legions of trolls who
|
||
attempt to use the document for reasons which have nothing
|
||
to do with the smooth flow of mail. The ZC's netmail will
|
||
runneth over with new policy complaints, and if Satti
|
||
remains true to his past decisions, he'll amaze the
|
||
Fidoserfs with more amazingly dumb decisions.
|
||
|
||
I must go Visage. Your secretary is in grim shape. She
|
||
claims that Bill Clinton didn't try to hug her. "Am I the
|
||
only one?" she bleats, over and over. As a gesture of our
|
||
concern for her, I suggest we send her on a skiing holiday
|
||
with either the Kennedy or the Bono families.
|
||
|
||
Regards,
|
||
Furlang Island Academy of Squid Ballet,
|
||
Furlang Island, South Pacific
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 7 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
FIDONET HISTORY
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
Originally published Vol.11 No.26 (27-Jun-1994)
|
||
(with some '98 revisions by the author)
|
||
|
||
POLICY 33.5 - THE FINAL INSULT
|
||
Charles Herriot (1:163/110)
|
||
(this had to be done, Doc, now where's my Ibogaine?)
|
||
|
||
1. TITLE: (amateur policymongers probably don't realize the
|
||
importance of leading off with at least one "tit"... capture
|
||
their imaginations and their hearts and minds will follow)
|
||
|
||
The title of this document shall be:
|
||
|
||
"Policy 33.5 - The Final Insult,
|
||
|
||
otherwise known as:
|
||
|
||
"Mom! Mom! He/she dissed me and I'm gonna whump his/her
|
||
sorry ass with this policy document until he/she either
|
||
apologizes or else gets locked in a room and is forced to
|
||
listen to John Denver singin' 'Rocky Mountain High' until
|
||
her/his ears bleed."
|
||
|
||
2. PURPOSE: The purpose of this policy is to create more
|
||
policy. The Region has recognized quite clearly that if more
|
||
policy were created then, incredibly, we'd have more policy.
|
||
If we had more policy, then we would definitely need even
|
||
more of it to expand upon the previously created policy.
|
||
Hell, in no time at all, this policy stuff would be breeding
|
||
on its own and provide sustenance to unemployed cod
|
||
fisherman.
|
||
|
||
3. DEFINITIONS:
|
||
|
||
AcetyleneMail: The polite staple of inter-sysop
|
||
communication which must include, at a minimum, at least one
|
||
demand that the recipient engage in an act of
|
||
self-replicating his/herself. It is entirely appropriate to
|
||
substitute the preceding with a suggestion to the recipient
|
||
that they engage in an act of procreation with anyone having
|
||
the surname: "Off."
|
||
|
||
Cod: Humiliated trout. Not to be confused with the
|
||
traditionally refrain of grunt sysops to *C-beings which
|
||
loosely paraphrases into: "Who named you Cod?"
|
||
|
||
Beer: The official sysop monetary unit. Debts can be
|
||
satisfied upon payment of these units, and *C-beings are
|
||
obligated to buy grunt sysops copious quantities of this
|
||
particular resource.
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 8 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
CRPs: Mistakenly identified as "Cost Recovery Plans", these
|
||
are really guileless attempts to extort money from Grunt
|
||
Sysops. The money is expended on fast women and loose cars.
|
||
|
||
Echomail: A system of distributing the latest gnarly-rad
|
||
path lines, and logoff macros, by "K00L D00DZ" which are
|
||
rivaled by Sea Slugs for their intrinsic wit. Also, any
|
||
quote of the preceding is considered "echomail" and the high
|
||
fibre content helps to improve echomail regularity.
|
||
Humungous amounts of megabytes of this stuff are
|
||
sporadically sent throughout the Region. All of this
|
||
echomail was spawned by one message which was entered in
|
||
1985 and everyone has been quoting the hell out of it ever
|
||
since.
|
||
|
||
EchoPol: Any policy document which is written by confused
|
||
and bored trolls who don't realize that putting policy into
|
||
the hands of children will almost always lead to
|
||
self-inflicted injuries.
|
||
|
||
Grunt Sysops: A strange infestation which has plagued
|
||
Fidonet for years. No one has figured out what sort of toxic
|
||
spray would be effective in eliminating them. The freshly
|
||
hatched sysop-beings, shortly before mastering the basic
|
||
skills of mailers and echomail distribution, plaster
|
||
messages all over the known universe announcing yet another
|
||
new net.. one that promises some feature so outstanding that
|
||
it probably isn't replicated in more than 500 of the
|
||
existing 600 Fidonet echomail areas.
|
||
|
||
Hubs: Dwarf-like creatures who live in tinfoil lined,
|
||
darkened caves, where their multi-node, Lan-based, 69
|
||
gazillion baud modems, poot forth echomail. Hubs are
|
||
recognizable from the fact that their plastic pocket pen
|
||
protector mounted pagers beep whenever they receive an
|
||
inbound mail packet. Hubs secretly dream about bringing the
|
||
entire Sports Illustrated Swimsuit modeling group to gaze at
|
||
the diode arrays winking from every corner of their
|
||
kleenex-piled rooms.
|
||
|
||
NECs: Pituitary challenged Hubs who can often run a mailer
|
||
for almost a whole day without having the system crash. NECs
|
||
spend hours explaining batch files to bored and miserable
|
||
people everywhere. NECs have LAN work-stations in their
|
||
bathrooms where they do their best work.
|
||
|
||
Nets: Nets are largish containment devices used to bag
|
||
various *Cs who have run amok. These are not to be confused
|
||
with "Network" which is also herein defined.
|
||
|
||
Netwar: An exchange of pleasantries between sysops
|
||
culminating in at least a dozen threats of policy
|
||
complaints, filled diapers, and about 20 megs of brainlessly
|
||
quoted text.
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 9 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
Networks: Are collections of nodes who have mastered the
|
||
incredible mentation powers to remember the same sequence of
|
||
digits. Networks are loosely centred on geographic areas
|
||
within easy mortar range of each other.
|
||
|
||
Network Coordinators: (see also "Mazola & Bondage") Network
|
||
Coordinators are selfless individuals who are reluctantly
|
||
railroaded into wearing a large bullseye on their foreheads
|
||
for the amusement of grunt sysops who are bored and have
|
||
already painted the cat.
|
||
|
||
Region: Regions are hard-fought geographic fiefdoms ruled
|
||
by RCs who are renowned for exchanging grapeshot whenever
|
||
they fell that their turf is being poached by an adjacent
|
||
region. Regions are defined in a manner akin to the
|
||
following (which happens to be Region 12):
|
||
|
||
The region shall encompass that area in Canada lying
|
||
to the east of the Manitoba border (unless they lower their
|
||
taxes and sell cheaper beer) and continuing past the welfare
|
||
states in the Atlantic provinces to whichever dead cod
|
||
happen to wash up on the beaches of Sable Island. The Region
|
||
shall also include the Free Republic of Quebec, but only
|
||
insofar as it does not impinge upon their God-given right to
|
||
rant endlessly about their contused and paranoid cultural
|
||
identity. The region shall extend as far northward as the
|
||
North Pole and proceed to a depth (drilling straight
|
||
downwards) that includes selected parts of Malaysia.
|
||
|
||
Regional Coordinators: The larval stage of Small Animal
|
||
Psychologists. These beings are to be humoured and indulged
|
||
since their are obligated to buy rounds of beer for all
|
||
sysops at social gatherings. Regional Coordinators can be
|
||
identified by the horrible sucking noises they make while
|
||
applying Vulcan lip-locks to the ZC's nether bits. After
|
||
weeks of sheep and sleep deprivation, these poor souls can
|
||
be spotted, buck naked in the moonlight, howling for more
|
||
policy.
|
||
|
||
Technical Standards: A basepoint for launching into some
|
||
sort of penis-envy type message comparing baud rates, how
|
||
many terrabytes of online GIFS can be shot through the phone
|
||
lines, or how some moron has pissed away a small fortune on
|
||
a Pentium chip so that they can display messages at 14
|
||
million times their visual comprehension rate. I mean, let's
|
||
face it, if you happen to have cute blossooms, nobody is
|
||
going to give a damn whether your mailer works... in an
|
||
ideal world, your mail would get hand-delivered.
|
||
|
||
Users: Like, get serious wouldja? Screw 'em if they can't
|
||
take a joke.
|
||
|
||
ZCs: Self-idolatrous Fido elflords who wake up each morning
|
||
imbued with the erroneous belief that they know what's good
|
||
for the network. Other than tossing them a few slabs of raw
|
||
meat, these individuals should be given adult supervision
|
||
if they attempt anything more complicated than waking up in
|
||
the morning.
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 10 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
4. Official Titles:
|
||
|
||
In this Region, a group of sick minds will choose some
|
||
relatively innocent soul and propel the poor sucker into the
|
||
job of Regional Co-ordinator. The Regional Coordinator shall
|
||
have all the powers biologically granted to bread mold, but
|
||
otherwise can be safely ignored.
|
||
|
||
The Region shall be hacked up into small fiefdoms, called
|
||
"Networks" which shall elect mascots, order pizza in bulk
|
||
quantities, and participate in the annual Node Draft to
|
||
choose the players for the upcoming Netwar season. Nets will
|
||
dragoon someone into being the Network Coordinator who will
|
||
be obliged to either undergo spontaneous human combustion
|
||
before a full term is served, or else stand for re-election
|
||
to the particular purgatory for which they are ideally
|
||
maladapted.
|
||
|
||
Network Coordinators will not be surprised to discover that
|
||
they commune directly with either God or if they want to
|
||
sink right to the bottom; to Bob Satti.
|
||
|
||
Network Coordinators are entitled to screech that "they need
|
||
a really big net." Judging from their post electoral
|
||
behaviour, most grunt sysops would agree with their
|
||
appraisal, and might further suggest a cell of the padded
|
||
variety as well.
|
||
|
||
Any grunt sysop who has stood in the blinding white light of
|
||
their own ego too long is entitled to pile nine or ten
|
||
listings of their own number into the nodelist and appoint
|
||
themselves as Net Coordinator. They will be entitled to
|
||
exhibit multiple-personality disorderly conduct and
|
||
pontificate about "what their net wants." Spray misting
|
||
these lost souls with regular doses of crystal-meth is
|
||
advised.
|
||
|
||
5. Elections: Anyone who actually wants a title in Fidonet
|
||
should be put in a bottle and sent out into the Japanese
|
||
current. If their lives are so incomplete without the fame
|
||
of a Fidonet title, then they should be encouraged to get
|
||
their pictures on milk cartons, but don't elect the poor
|
||
bastards because they'll inflict bad grammar on you until
|
||
you lie in a pool of drool, clutching your "I Adore My 64"
|
||
button, babbling about the good old days when men were men
|
||
and sheep were not particular.
|
||
|
||
6. The Netwar Season: The netwar season shall commence
|
||
nanoseconds after the election of each new Regional
|
||
Coordinator. A season can be kick-started to a promising
|
||
beginning by any Regional Coordinator who campaigns on some
|
||
sort of "peace" platform. Like, nudge nudge, wink wink, we
|
||
all *deplore* the fights in hockey games, so we'll be sure
|
||
to take these kind of lame promises just as seriously.
|
||
|
||
(snicker)
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 11 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
(Incidentally, don't trust any candidate who quotes Arlo
|
||
Guthrie in "Alices Restaraunt" and says "I wanna kill. I
|
||
wanna kill. I mean, I wanna see blood and guts and veins in
|
||
my teeth. I wanna kill. KILL! KILL!" because these are the
|
||
kind of milquetoasts that probably brake for whales and will
|
||
screw up a perfectly good netwar season with their puerile
|
||
sniveling for calm. C'mon, fess up... you tryna tell me that
|
||
you forked out five grand for a BBS system that was just
|
||
gonna bring in the DOGTALK echo?
|
||
|
||
At the beginning of each season, grunt sysops will make
|
||
irrational decisions about who they hate at the moment, and
|
||
will bounce up and down in their cribs, asking to be picked
|
||
by their most favoured Network Coordinator. Top draft
|
||
choices will always be those sysops who are prepared to
|
||
nitpick the hell out of issue that occurred way back in the
|
||
late fifties.
|
||
|
||
Network Coordinators should not ignore the "specialty teams"
|
||
that make netwars so fascinating. Getting one of those
|
||
tight-assed weenies who quotes every obscenity that comes
|
||
down the turnpike and then appends some cloacally-challenged
|
||
moralizing, should be counted as almost as important as the
|
||
wankers who brag that they are the very first to be running
|
||
the "new" Fido Version 1.01 software. The latter can be be
|
||
guaranteed to smoke out some peckerwood who counter-brags
|
||
that he/she has been running that version for three
|
||
nanoseconds longer.... under Windows, no less.
|
||
|
||
A truly successful Netwar season can be measured by the
|
||
logarithmic expansion of new nets, and the number of
|
||
excitable, intrigue-filled, messages that Zorch and
|
||
John write.
|
||
|
||
7. The Stirring Conclusion: Just as this policy document was
|
||
about to end. Just as Luke in his X-wing fighter was about
|
||
to drop the Neutron bomb down the exhaust shaft and put this
|
||
puppy out of it's misery. Just as the Bikersluts were about
|
||
to perform peculiar ablutions in the lap of the good Rev.
|
||
Visage. Just as your RETURN button was begging for mercy
|
||
like some spaghetti flogged, Jesse Hollington -type
|
||
combination fax machine and gratification device... just at
|
||
that moment... a rock fungus will burst it's spore pod and
|
||
some flatlined-on-the-EEG sysop will suggest that "we really
|
||
oughta have lots more policy."
|
||
|
||
|
||
###30###
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 12 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
WE GET EMAIL
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
Subject: hello
|
||
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 1998 19:40:06 +0200
|
||
From: "Radu Malica" <tzeapa@usa.net>
|
||
To: <zorch@fidonews.org>
|
||
|
||
hello
|
||
|
||
i want to get in contact with somebody that can provide me the
|
||
FidoNet backbone for free, because here in the Region 53 (2:53*/*) we
|
||
are isolated from the outer Fido. I wish that you post my request in
|
||
a FidoNews article, or Letter to the Editor, and please, i want to
|
||
inform you that i can provide the 2:53*/* backbone to romanian people
|
||
in USA, through Fido2Int and/or e-mail.
|
||
|
||
Thank You.
|
||
|
||
PS: if somebody offers the fidonet backbone for free, please tell
|
||
him/her to contact me at
|
||
|
||
jokerul@psi.lbi.ro
|
||
tzeapa@usa.net
|
||
fidonet@maxutils.com
|
||
radu.malica@contact.pcnet.ro
|
||
|
||
or at 2:530/139 on the Fidonet.
|
||
|
||
Thank you again
|
||
|
||
Radu Malica, SysOp @ PRODiGY BBS
|
||
+40-1-627-5454
|
||
2:530/139@fidonet.org
|
||
|
||
###30###
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 13 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NOTICES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Future History
|
||
|
||
30 Apr 1998
|
||
Queens Day, Holland.
|
||
|
||
17 May 1998
|
||
Independence Day, Norway.
|
||
|
||
22 May 1998
|
||
Expo '98 World Exposition in Lisbon (Portugal) opens.
|
||
|
||
14 Sep 1998
|
||
Start of International BBS Week [thru 20 Sep 98].
|
||
|
||
22 Sep 1998
|
||
First anniversary of the FidoNews domain of www.fidonews.org.
|
||
|
||
1 Dec 1998
|
||
Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by
|
||
Tom Jennings.
|
||
|
||
24 Jul 1999
|
||
XIII Pan American Games [through 8 Aug 99].
|
||
|
||
31 Dec 1999
|
||
Hogmanay, Scotland. The New Year that can't be missed.
|
||
|
||
1 Jan 2000
|
||
The 20th Century, C.E., is still taking place thru 31 Dec.
|
||
|
||
1 Jun 2000
|
||
EXPO 2000 World Exposition in Hannover (Germany) opens.
|
||
|
||
15 Sep 2000
|
||
Sydney (Australia) Summer Olympiad opens.
|
||
|
||
1 Jan 2001
|
||
This is the actual start of the new millennium, C.E.
|
||
|
||
-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
|
||
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 14 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
FidoNews PGP Public-Key Listing
|
||
|
||
This must be copied out to a file starting at column 1 or
|
||
it won't process under PGP as a valid public-key. The
|
||
same holds true for checking the validity of this issue.
|
||
|
||
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
|
||
Version: 2.6.2
|
||
Comment: Democracy Requires A Free And Uncensored Press.
|
||
|
||
mQENAzUDQfgAAAEH/2cZjrzKxinfyk1NRYy2D78JEU8jFx6fvGyisnN2SX+QwRrA
|
||
AxBbsMuseM3x60SFhHV7r93CxKWJylPCBJKvDazmWwy+vgBr+ZJvl7Ypj/IB4pWS
|
||
Apngg8cmDH1h5d0VeYNORsuJ2udHZYRezkZ0eeJlaOsJCj5Xu0QImSp++VU/0oB1
|
||
6XRoNPy548xq8Qles1pLC8Kw7HU7Vff1WeaU3mPPQeaGZqn2qSAu5t6Z0Bhm27Pq
|
||
zNaJ+JWNHaLCHlwrRHV+p9bCdfl3u303OxKPne0cSpxfe+gQBTlVta7B14ssgnzQ
|
||
mnBFhvKWgM7LT105YD3EcWW9IJE1ByNHwo25a3EABRG0D0ZpZG9OZXdzIEVkaXRv
|
||
cokAlQMFEDUKMDDrSgiY3KJNQQEB16YD/2tYVRC+dxghA/OwIWNH20GvQXw1zgfv
|
||
cB6r8gYHcczTCqGu5qbjDOTftoBXY9vI3/CZNsSbvp0ibQinpN6zSgyy2+4wwPbu
|
||
db/VnjXwBByq7ygTpNwQBMsYjs+iyndwTnR90dH3FewsveBCzeqjmP0Y/PJliElw
|
||
zEmGKxoFr1SM
|
||
=G82W
|
||
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
|
||
|
||
To verify the content of this issue has not been tampered with,
|
||
remove the five (5) spaces located at the beginning of each
|
||
PGP-generated lines on the top and bottom of each issue. Do not
|
||
remove the spaces from any other lines.
|
||
|
||
File-request FNEWSKEY from 1:1/23 [1:205/1701] or download it from
|
||
IKVHFoT! BBS at 1-209-251-7529 anytime Zone 1 ZMH at 300-9600+ V34.
|
||
The FidoNews key is also available on the FidoNews homepage listed
|
||
in the Masthead information.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 15 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
FIDONET BY INTERNET
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the Editor as
|
||
of this appearance.
|
||
|
||
NOTE: I am looking for a comprehensive list of Telnet, VMODEM, BinkP,
|
||
Argus and other TCP/IP based nodes operating FidoNet on the
|
||
InterNet, either by Zone or worldwide, to post here as well.
|
||
- Ye Editor
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
FidoNet:
|
||
|
||
Homepage http://www.fidonet.org
|
||
FidoNews http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
|
||
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html [ASCII]
|
||
WWW sources http://www.scms.rgu.ac.uk/students/cs_yr94/lk/fido.html
|
||
FTSC page http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/ftsc.htm
|
||
Echomail http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/index.html
|
||
WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html [TFN]
|
||
General Info http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org
|
||
|
||
Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html
|
||
|
||
Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/
|
||
|
||
Region 13: http://www.smalltalkband.com/st01000.htm
|
||
|
||
Region 14:
|
||
|
||
Region 15:
|
||
|
||
Region 16: http://www.tiac.net/users/satins/region16.htm
|
||
|
||
Region 17: http://www.portal.ca/~awalker/region17.htm
|
||
REC17: http://www.westsound.com/ptmudge/
|
||
|
||
Region 18: http://techstop.pdn.net/fido/
|
||
|
||
Region 19: http://www.compconn.net
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 16 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org
|
||
|
||
ZEC2: http://www.proteus.demon.co.uk/zec.htm
|
||
Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/z2_elist/
|
||
|
||
Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)
|
||
|
||
Region 23: http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)
|
||
|
||
Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (in German)
|
||
|
||
Region 25:
|
||
http://www.trak-one.co.uk/net254
|
||
|
||
Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
|
||
|
||
Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (in French)
|
||
|
||
Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (in Swiss?)
|
||
|
||
Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (in Italian)
|
||
|
||
Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (in Spanish)
|
||
REC34: http://pobox.com/~chr
|
||
|
||
Region 36: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/7207/
|
||
|
||
Region 38: http://public.st.carnet.hr/~blagi/bbs/adriam.html
|
||
|
||
Region 41: http://www.fidonet.gr (in Greek and English)
|
||
|
||
Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
Zone 4: (not yet listed)
|
||
|
||
Region 90:
|
||
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (in Spanish)
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
Zone 5: http://w3.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/index.htm
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org
|
||
|
||
Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html (China)
|
||
|
||
============
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 17 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION -------
|
||
|
||
Editor: Zorch Frezberg
|
||
|
||
Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
|
||
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell,
|
||
Donald Tees, Christopher Baker
|
||
|
||
"FidoNews Editor"
|
||
FidoNet 1:1/23
|
||
BBS 1-209-251-7529, 300/1200/2400/9600/V.34/V.34+
|
||
|
||
more addresses:
|
||
Zorch Frezberg -- 1:205/1701, zorch@repairnet.com
|
||
zorch@fidonews.org
|
||
zorch@qnis.net
|
||
zorch@eiv.com
|
||
zorch@kumr.lns.com
|
||
|
||
(Postal Service mailing address)
|
||
FidoNews Editor
|
||
P.O. Box 642
|
||
Fresno, CA 93709-0642
|
||
U.S.A.
|
||
|
||
|
||
voice: 1-209-446-9038 [voice mail = 'blind' numbers not returned]
|
||
|
||
------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
|
||
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR 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 1998 Zorch Frezberg. All rights reserved. Duplication
|
||
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For
|
||
use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or
|
||
the Editor.
|
||
|
||
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 18 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic
|
||
form may be obtained from the FidoNews Editor via manual download or
|
||
file-request, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
|
||
PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above postal
|
||
address. File-request FIDONEWS for the current Issue. File-request
|
||
FNEWS for the current month in one archive. Or file-request specific
|
||
back Issue filenames in distribution format [FNEWSFnn.ZIP] for a
|
||
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
|
||
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
|
||
current year [8], i.e., FNWSJAN8.ZIP for all the Issues from Jan 98.
|
||
|
||
Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
|
||
1 - 15 for 1984 - 1998, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
|
||
size from 48K to 1.4M.
|
||
|
||
|
||
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:
|
||
|
||
http://www.fidonews.org
|
||
http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
|
||
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
|
||
ftp://ftp.aminet.org/pub/aminet/comm/fido/
|
||
ftp://ftp.irvbbs.com/fidonews/
|
||
|
||
*=*=*
|
||
|
||
You may obtain an email subscription to FidoNews by sending email to:
|
||
|
||
jbarchuk@worldnet.att.net
|
||
|
||
with a Subject line of: subscribe fnews-edist
|
||
|
||
and no message in the message body. To remove your name from the email
|
||
distribution use a Subject line of: unsubscribe fnews-edist with no
|
||
message to the same address above.
|
||
|
||
*
|
||
|
||
You may retrieve current and previous Issues of FidoNews via FTPMail
|
||
by sending email to:
|
||
|
||
ftpmail@fidonews.org
|
||
|
||
with a Subject line of: help
|
||
|
||
and FTPMail will immediately send a reply containing details and
|
||
instructions. When you actually make a file request, FTPMail will
|
||
respond in three stages. You find a link for this process on
|
||
www.fidonews.org.
|
||
|
||
*=*=*
|
||
|
||
You can read the current FidoNews Issue in HTML format at:
|
||
|
||
http://www.fidonews.org
|
||
|
||
STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request -
|
||
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from:
|
||
|
||
ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/
|
||
|
||
Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
|
||
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 13 Megs.
|
||
|
||
=*=*=*=
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 15-12 Page 19 23 Mar 1998
|
||
|
||
|
||
The current week's FidoNews and the FidoNews public-key are now also
|
||
available almost immediately after publication on the FidoNews Editor
|
||
homepage on the World Wide Web at:
|
||
|
||
http://209.77.228.66/fidonews.html
|
||
|
||
There are also links there to jim barchuk's HTML FidoNews source and
|
||
to John Souvestre's FTP site for the archives. There is also an email
|
||
link for sending in an article as message text. Drop on over.
|
||
|
||
=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=
|
||
|
||
A PGP generated public-key is available for the FidoNews Editor from
|
||
1:1/23 [1:205/1701] by file-request for FNEWSKEY or by download from
|
||
IKVHFoT! BBS at 1-209-251-7529 as FIDONEWS.ASC in File Area X. It
|
||
is also posted twice a month into the PKEY_DROP Echo available on the
|
||
Zone 1 Echomail Backbone.
|
||
|
||
*=*=*=*=*
|
||
|
||
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 Editor, or file-requestable
|
||
from 1:1/23 [1:205/1701] as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". ALL Zone
|
||
Coordinators also have copies of ARTSPEC.DOC. Please read it.
|
||
|
||
"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
|
||
trademarks of Tom Jennings, P.O. Box 410923, San Francisco, CA 94141,
|
||
and are used with permission.
|
||
|
||
"Disagreement is actually necessary,
|
||
or we'd all have to get in fights
|
||
or something to amuse ourselves
|
||
and create the requisite chaos."
|
||
-Tom Jennings
|
||
|
||
### -30- ###
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
||
Version: 2.6.2
|
||
Comment: Democracy Requires A Free And Uncensored Press.
|
||
|
||
iQEVAwUBNRXP1gcjR8KNuWtxAQFyrAf+Jau5+ZxMPXyw0fNSc88iuAlV9MzhgsMa
|
||
fNuE5wsLx6MqYMamYSWrajIM1aQOBYJSc9O6lT2qTqmYDOVgCNYxQ2ggVfH951Sm
|
||
RdacMLuLF1raUuz2oNc+kuFpPGqxBJyBg1O+D9NyGPvuikcyMC7wtIMzsJavDQkS
|
||
59MoU5WGrOOwQgLIUaNTi9Kbfa/+YKH5cc6TExpQ/mETgnzHd+LLWaRAluqvpnk+
|
||
sSO6j6k8l5l7hFKVgNG9kYvZu6z0vhiNX47s4WG+Pal5OzvdnMeiNtYvQXH7Ckku
|
||
ZVd+h6JYritIPlQZaFol0Zlv3ewEhpbUqZ/gZIpX2MBP2WpVg6wqqA==
|
||
=7ETj
|
||
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|