1038 lines
49 KiB
Plaintext
1038 lines
49 KiB
Plaintext
F I D O N E W S Volume 17, Number 19 08 May 2000
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+----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
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| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
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| FidoNet community | "FidoNews" |
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| _ | 1-717-732-6820 1:270/720 |
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| / \ | |
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| /|oo \ | |
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| (_| /_) | |
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| _`@/_ \ _ | |
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| | | \ \\ | Editor: Douglas Myers, 1:270/720 |
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| | (*) | \ )) | DougM@paonline.com |
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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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Table of Contents
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1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
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Undead of Fidonet ........................................ 1
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2. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 2
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I Wonder ................................................. 2
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3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 5
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It's Time to Act ......................................... 5
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Thanks for Taking the Hard Edge .......................... 7
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Had Fido Excluded Teenagers .............................. 8
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4. ARTICLES ................................................. 10
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ECHO TALK - Creator of PKZip Dies at 37 .................. 10
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5. COLUMNS .................................................. 11
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Ol'WDB: Thank you note ................................... 11
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This Weeks Web Page ...................................... 12
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6. NET HUMOR ................................................ 14
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Short Books .............................................. 14
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7. COMIX IN ASCII ........................................... 15
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The Bard's Barnyard Inspirations ......................... 15
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8. INTERNET INFO ............................................ 16
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Fidonet-related sites .................................... 16
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9. FIDONEWS INFO ............................................ 20
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Masthead ................................................. 20
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 1 8 May 2000
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=================================================================
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EDITORIAL
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=================================================================
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Undead of Fidonet
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Doug Myers
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A lot of you responded to last week's editorial; here's what I've
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been hearing:
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We, the undead sysops of Fidonet, have decided against all common
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sense and advice to the contrary, to continue to practice our hobby.
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We know that the demand for the amateur system we created has
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largely subsided as technology has advanced and commercialization
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has created "Your Internet." But we've decided to continue anyway.
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It's not so much that we want to return to the way it was - to the
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days when PC to PC communication was only possible to the public due
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to the efforts of amateur system operators. In a sense, it was
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inevitable that computer manufacturers would someday develop systems
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sufficiently powerful and inexpensive that you could participate in
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the internet, and commercial interests would ultimately find it
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profitable enough to make it easy. But before all this happened and
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it fell to us amateurs to provide communications, we found we
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enjoyed working together.
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It was an imperfect community we forged back then, but perhaps
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better because of the imperfections. We didn't have any idea how to
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check out a credit card, so the folks then were worth what they
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could communicate. Some were rich beyond compare, though they could
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barely afford the equipment they were working with. We didn't have
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digital cameras online then, so all we could see was what a person
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wrote; perhaps the most beautiful would have only cast a plain
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picture image.
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We understand there are other communities on the Web, and that we
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have no franchise on this. But what we had was good, and still is,
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so we're not giving it up.
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We're not repudiating progress. Some of us are already active on
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the Internet; indeed even pioneering there. Some of us will hang
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onto the old technology until the last possible minute, perhaps
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ultimately dropping out of sight rather than switch. Most of us,
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though, will step into both arenas... perhaps forging a new place
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for Fido on the Web, perhaps preferring the old technology forever.
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We don't know... we're just not giving it up :)
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 2 8 May 2000
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=================================================================
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GUEST EDITORIAL
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=================================================================
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I Wonder....
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A reply to "Where Are We Going?"
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Frank Vest
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---Cut---
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Where Are We Going?
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Doug Myers
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Perhaps this week's editorial is in the same vein as last week's,
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but with a touch of yellow journalism. I'm about to utter
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blasphemies which, perhaps, will bring the Fidonet Elders from their
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chambers tearing their robes from their chest.
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---Cut---
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Blasphemy, Blasphemy! Crucify him! :)
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Do I sound like an elder?? :-))
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---Cut---
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The BBS as we know it is a dying animal - it's not coming back in
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the old form we grew to know and love. Why not? Simply because
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we'll attract no users again - they'll log onto their ISP and play
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on the Internet even if they know about BBSes. Why not? The
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graphics are better than we ever dreamed about at the height of
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BBSing, the variety of activity is greater than we individual sysops
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could ever supply, and some areas such as e-business - which can
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transform lifestyle - were never even possible with BBSes.
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---Cut---
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I wonder... Is Fidonet and BBS dying? Maybe in the sense that there
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are fewer Nodes and BBS out there and the Nodelist is shrinking. In
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other ways, I wonder....
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CB (Citizens Band Radio) was big when I was in my teens and early
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20's. It was the rage. CB shops were everywhere! Time went on and
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this "rage" died out. Did CB radio die? No. It is still here. Not as
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big as it used to be, but alive.
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AM radio was once the "thing"!... Now it is a small part of the
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industry due to FM radio. Is it dead? No. Still here, but smaller
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and more specialized.
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Fidonet is smaller than it was... It is shrinking in Nodes... Is it
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dead? No. Smaller? yes. The traffic is less, but we are still here.
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Let's look... We are down to half or a third of our largest size. I
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understand that it's hard to justify a BBS when no one calls it. Not
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a bad reason to quit. We don't have the graphics, we don't have the
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chat areas, we don't have the mass of information at the "click of a
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mouse". Well, that's life. We can either complain or live with it.
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I'll live, thank you. :)
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 3 8 May 2000
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Points before I go on... Interesting thing about Points. With the
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Internet as a tool, a former Sysop that just can't justify keeping a
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BBS up and running can use the Internet to become a Point. Yes, we
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lose a BBS, Node and Sysop, but still have a person that is "in"
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Fidonet. I note that the FTSC is doing something about putting
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Points in the Nodelist. I wonder how this will affect the size of
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the Nodelist? Could we see the old 30,000+ listing of the past? I
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wonder...
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What about the Internet? Well... What about it?!? It's there. We
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can't change that. We can and do use it for Fidonet. We have Telnet,
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Web BBS, Packet Tunneling and other things we use the Internet for.
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I'm not a big fan of the Internet and I have concerns that Fidonet
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could become another Internet if we aren't careful.... But let's
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look on the other side of this. What if we didn't have the Internet
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as a tool for Fidonet? We are smaller now... what if there wasn't a
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way to access Fidonet, send Echomail and Netmail and Files and ???
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via the Internet? Could we do it via POTS lines like we did in the
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past? Probably, but at what cost? Yes, I do mean dollars. As with
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any "new rage" or "in thing", Fidonet went big and then dropped off.
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Could we keep going if there had been no Internet to help us with
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the cost? I wonder...
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Compete with the Internet? Could we?? Sure we could. Look at the
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Internet. When you boil all the stuff down, is it so much different?
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What does the Internet do that Fidonet doesn't do?
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Transfer files? Nope... Both of us do that. The web pages that you
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look at are nothing but files transferred via modem to a program
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that displays them. In fact, since BBS graphics are sent "on the
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fly" instead of being downloaded and then displayed by some fancy
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program, I see us at an advantage there. Maybe not as fancy, but
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faster.
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Send and receive information? Nope again. We both do that. Fidonet
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is a little slower in some ways, but in other ways, just as fast.
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Fidonet just can't reach the audience that the Internet can.
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Messages? Nope, we both do that as well. As above, not as fast at
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times and faster at other times. Not as big an audience either.
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Games? Well, gee. See above. :)
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Ok... So why can't we compete with the Internet?
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MONEY!! Take a look at this. Let's take Fidonet technology, ad
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money and commercialize it. What do you have? Sell services to
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customers. We _CAN_ deliver. You need a file from point A to point
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B? We'll get it there now!! Promote the Fidonet "Business". Get
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Fidonet Zones, Regions, Hubs, Nodes, Points in all places with
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software that sets itself up and makes the connection. Build a Point
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package that works like the "Web Browser". A business pays for the
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service, gets the software, installs it and starts sending
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information to where it's needed. The Point software is "mouseable"
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and "point and click". The software sets up a connection to a Node,
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Hub, Region, or Zone automatically and there you are. The people
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 4 8 May 2000
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above the Point address are the "ISPs" of Fidonet. We charge for the
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service and deliver the goods. Crash mail direct. For the right
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money, we can get it there fast! In fact, the "heyday" of Fidonet
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saw many pay BBS systems that did things very similar to this.
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With something like this, I'd bet that for transferring of
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information, Fidonet technology could beat the pants off the
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Internet and its "site to site" relay system. The real question
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is.... Do we want to do this?!?!? Not Me!! That would be like the
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Ham Radio operators trying to compete with the Commercial Radio
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stations. Where does the hobby end and the business begin?
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Improve Fidonet.. of course! We've done that for years. Look at the
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original Fidonet BBS software and tell me otherwise. :) All I say
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is, let's improve the hobby, not compete with the others. Tread
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softly least we become our own worst enemy.
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Pardon my rambling here. I know I've been long winded, but it feels
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good to get it off my brain. :) I see Fidonet shrinking down to a
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hobby again, but not dying. We'll still be here.
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Last one out, please turn off the lights! :-))
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Best regards,
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Frank - 1:124/6308(.1) - flv@texoma.net
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 5 8 May 2000
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=================================================================
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
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=================================================================
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Fidonet is Dying - It's Time to Act
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Email from Derrick, info@soluware.nl
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Dear Doug,
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I just finished reading the most recent Fidonet newsletter. Yes,
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Fidonet is dying unless we find a way to bring it back to life, and
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I think I have a solution for this. You said the reader should write
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if anything came up. In fact something came up months ago.
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I don't know about the country where you come from, but I suppose
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you might have heard from cable-modem. It's basically the death-
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penalty for Fido because it makes people stop using their FrontDoor,
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FMail, GoldED, or whatever package they use to dial in at their
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fido- provider (proFIDOr? :) ).
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Anyway, since the Internet is practically unstopable, we'd better
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use it's popularity. None of the services Internet is providing the
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community with has ever exceeded the warm, personal fidomail. I
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personally recently hooked up with Fido again, now I have contacted
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our national host (Jan Vermeulen, the Netherlands, 2:280/0). I
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wasn't able to use Fido because several hosts were dropping like
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flies.
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What we need is something similar to Fido. Newsgroups are nothing,
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they usually have no moderator and are so general that no one will
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feel at home. Plus, no e-mail editor can support multiple areas.
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So I thought of myself (you still guess, what the hell have cable-
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modems got to do anything with what you are saying?) ... What's
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e-mail. It's nothing but a simple host supporting the POP3/SMTP
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protocol. What we simply need to do is set up one or more
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mailservers, develop a new protocol and a mailclient to support the
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new protocol. A cable-modem can make it possible to set up a
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mailserver with several gigabytes for mail and file-storage without
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paying much.
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Such a server can be accessed from anywhere, because due to the
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cablemodem it is in the air for 24 hours a day, affordable for the
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common user. I was thinking about such a mailsystem, and I
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definitely am going to develop the software for it (the server will
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definitely be Linux, the client can be both Linux, Windows, DOS (for
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those that still want to pick up the mail with something similar to
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FrontDoor/Intermail or such a system).
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We can later extend it with short-message-services, voice-mail,
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videoconferencing and such. With one or more commercial mail- areas
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with interestgroups that people can connect to. This way we could
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even get the system sponsored so a bigger server can be put up which
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allows faster and better access.
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 6 8 May 2000
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Through webadvertising we could get people's attention and create a
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new rage that has Fidonet's looks and feels, the graphical user-
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interface people want, and all the gadgets they get from other
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servers like ICQ / mIRC / Powwow and all that stuff.
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We're talking an offline mailclient here. One that picks up the mail
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like any simple POP3/SMTP client, but with the fidonet advantages.
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I'd propose the oldfassioned look and feel, as we know it with the
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DOS editors, and a more advanced version that gives the possibility
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to create messages that have an HTML look, but that's something for
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the future. Furthermore, I want to be include hotlinks so people can
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refer to webpages, ftp sites, but even files that can be downloaded
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directly from the mailserver. For these files can then be generated
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a filerequest that will be picked up next time the user picks up the
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mail. The mailclient should be able to be setup with a scheduler to
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pick up the mail at preprogrammed times, unlike those 'dumb' clients
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like MS Exchange.
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This really can become something, I have had several years
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(something like 6 or 7) experience in Fidonet like networks,
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including DigitalNet, ( )lympic, Contactnet, Quazienet and several
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others, I know the messaging- services like ICQ, mIRC, Powwow and
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know their (dis)advantages.
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With the help of those people that have supported fidonet for the
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past decade, I am certain that we can create something the
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internetworld is ready for.
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Normal 'fido-standards' can apply, such as moderators, a committee
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that handles incoming suggestions, solve conflicts and such. I want
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a system that is controlable but is free for users.
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I personally want to invest my time and money in it to create a
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system that will become popular among old fido-mailers that are now
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internetting and will think "hey, this looks familiar" and new users
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that can pick up just as easily.
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How? Well, that's one of the things that users currently break their
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neck over. Many people (especially people NEW to computers) are used
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to a simple click-click graphical interface and find DOS
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applications disgusting and hard to use. For someone new to
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computers it's practically IMPOSSIBLE to set up a system like
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FrontDoor/Fmail/Golded because they have no knowledge whatsoever
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about the system.
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The mailclient I want to develop must be simple to setup and use. I
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want to make it modular so people can easily plug in new technology.
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The basics must be a downloadable version from the internetsite that
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is hosted from the same server. This package contains all needed
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information to connect to the server. Installing the rest will be
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easy. A simple guide "What interests do you have" and click-click.
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Download the setup-information, setup the program, wait for
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authorisation from the host (ofcourse they should be able to receive
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general areas and write in areas with for example the attribute
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"guests allowed") and MAIL! :)
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 7 8 May 2000
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People that want to host their own network can do the same thing,
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get a copy of the server software and we can have several networks
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in no time at all, they could co-exist like before, and a user would
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only need one mailcient to access them all in an orderly fashion.
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Let me know what you think, can we get a committee on it's feet and
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start designing standards, protocols, looks and feels? Are we ready
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for something like that and can we pull it off? I think we are, I
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think we can. I just hope that I can count on your cooperation.
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If I sent this to the wrong person, I'm sure you know where this
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e-mail should go. Please forward it to everyone you think is
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interested (and I mean qualified people that know the
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(dis)advantages as well) so we can come up with something.
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I really hope you will write me back. I'm going to prepare the work
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I've been thinking about for the last several months. I hope that I
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will get the support I need.
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Thanks Doug,
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Derrick
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* Origin: Time for a comeback (2:280/33, 2:280/1044, 2:280/1045)
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---------------
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Editor's Reply: Derrick, I don't know whether you sent this to the
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wrong person or not. In a sense, I may be wrong because I'm a poor
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innovator. Oh, I've made my contributions to BBSing; I'm a decent
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conversationalist and a competent administrator. But it's always
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been people like you who have moved and shaken and brought about
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change. For my part, I'll post this excellent visionary comment on
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my editorial in hopes that your fellow visionaries see it and help
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you shape the future of Fido.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Thanks for Taking the Hard Edge
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Email from Chris R. Evans <teknopup@bigvalley.net>
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Thanks man for taking the hard edge and saying it like it is !
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BUT one thing BBSes have that the internet doesnt seem to have
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readily available to all is FREE access.. Yes, there are/were bbses
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that charged for access but even then they had non paying time
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limited accounts which ISPs no not have. We as a Network have to
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reinvent BBSing to attact the masses, but with the cost of ISP
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administration and setup so sky high (eg $33K minimum) its is really
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impossible for the hobbist sysop to do that.
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Also, another things that doesnt help our plight, is that local
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computer 'zines (like CCN) dropped the BBS list, in favor of the ISP
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directory (which is really small and lame), if they allow the BBS
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FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 8 8 May 2000
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list to come back eg published so ppl know of our bbses, then we'd
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get more callers.
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.. comments welcome
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---------------
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Editor:
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I don't really know if I said it like it is. My prognostication has
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always been weakest where the future is concerned...
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We've got to seperate two factors here... what the "user" pays and
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what the "provider" pays. Someone just using the web in the US
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usually pays $20 or less a month for the access, and most think no
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more of it than the basic charges for their telephone. Once the ISP
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fee is discounted, the whole internet is essentially free.
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Certainly someone wishing to be an ISP is in for substantial
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expenses... but that's not the only way to establish a web presence.
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Peple are putting up home pages for practically nothing... and the
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home pages are technically more sophisticated than the early BBSes.
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Live sysop chat is tough to manage with a home page, but what other
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BBS function can't be managed?
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There may be some tactics beyond my ken right now which would
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attract users to bbses, but I don't think it's simply a matter of
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letting them know we're out there. Six years ago, everyone knew we
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were out there, and they still chose to migrate to the web.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Had Fido Excluded Teenagers
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Echomail from FIDONEWS Echo
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Winston Smith, 1:101/101
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-> But over in the Z1C echo, Stewart Hornsberger comes to our rescue,
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||
-> fending off several of Fido's more "experienced" sysops in an
|
||
-> argument over maturity. Though I haven't examined all the messages
|
||
-> related to the string, it appears that Stewart revealed his age of
|
||
-> 19 on his web page, and was subsequently called down for
|
||
-> "immaturity" in some of his subsequent posting.
|
||
|
||
|
||
Hmm... if a rule excluding nineteen-year-old's had been in effect
|
||
in the 1980's, then there would have been no Fido boards in Boston,
|
||
Massachusetts, U.S.A. . At the time of the release of the IBM PC,
|
||
the Boston Computer Society was running Ward Christensen's RBBS
|
||
package. It was a nineteen year old M.I.T. freshman named Buzz
|
||
Moschetti who got FidoNET off the ground in Boston by running The
|
||
Buzz Board Fido. When the Boston Computer Society was told about
|
||
message networking, they replied that their members came to them,
|
||
calling their boards, and that they didn't need to send their
|
||
messages out to their members. It took almost a year of arguing
|
||
before they finally saw any advantage to echomail (such as linking
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 9 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
their Pioneer Valley Computer Club UMASS University club and their
|
||
New Hampshire and Rhode Island chapters to their Boston boards).
|
||
One of the top Macintosh sysops of Boston -- Zeff Wheelock --
|
||
started as a sysop when he was tweleve years old, and many of the
|
||
famous early TBBS TRS-80 boards, such as Milliways TBBS of Concord,
|
||
Massachusetts, U.S.A., were started by fourteen year old high school
|
||
freshmen. If you took away the teenage sysop, fully two-thirds of
|
||
the B.B.S.es founded in Boston, Massachusetts in the early 1980's
|
||
would have never been started!
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 10 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
ARTICLES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
. -- -- -- -- -- ECHO TALK -- -- -- -- -- .
|
||
| Food for thought from Fido's echomail. |
|
||
| Purloined without permission by D Myers |
|
||
` -- -- -- -- -- -- - -- -- -- -- -- -- '
|
||
|
||
Creator of PKZip Dies at 37
|
||
From ZDNet News as posted by Steven Horn (1:17/67) in Z1C
|
||
|
||
|
||
Creator of PKZip dies at 37
|
||
Phillip W. Katz led an apparently troubled life -- but invented one
|
||
of the most used utility programs in computing.
|
||
Robert Lemos
|
||
04/24/00
|
||
|
||
|
||
Phillip W. Katz, creator of the popular PKZip compression utility,
|
||
has died. He was 37. A PKWare Inc. representative confirmed an AP
|
||
report, but declined further comment.
|
||
|
||
Katz, who died of complications from chronic alcoholism, was found
|
||
dead April 14 in a Milwaukee, Wis. motel room with several bottles
|
||
of alcohol, said the article, quoting a county medical examiner's
|
||
report on Monday.
|
||
|
||
While leading a problematic personal life, Katz created one of the
|
||
most used utilities on the Web. The compression utility PKZip
|
||
enjoyed enormous popularity, with the latest two versions racking up
|
||
more than 600,000 downloads on ZDNet.
|
||
|
||
PKZip shrinks files by more than half, allowing data transmission
|
||
speeds to be doubled.
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 11 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
COLUMNS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
Ol'WDB's Column
|
||
Found: Thank you note to all.
|
||
WDBonner@pacbell.net
|
||
|
||
I AM THANKFUL...
|
||
|
||
FOR THE TEENAGER WHO IS NOT DOING DISHES BUT WATCHING T.V., BECAUSE
|
||
THAT MEANS HE IS AT HOME NOT ON THE STREETS
|
||
|
||
FOR THE TAXES THAT I PAY, BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT I AM EMPLOYED.
|
||
|
||
FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY, BECAUSE IT MEANS THAT I HAVE
|
||
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.
|
||
|
||
FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG, BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
|
||
ENOUGH TO EAT.
|
||
|
||
FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK, BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM OUT IN THE
|
||
SUNSHINE.
|
||
|
||
FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING, WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING, AND
|
||
GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING, BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.
|
||
|
||
FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT, BECAUSE IT
|
||
MEANS THAT WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
|
||
|
||
FOR THE PARKING SPOT I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT,
|
||
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING AND THAT I HAVE BEEN
|
||
BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION.
|
||
|
||
FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL, BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM WARM.
|
||
|
||
FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME IN CHURCH THAT SINGS OFF KEY, BECAUSE IT
|
||
MEANS THAT I CAN HEAR.
|
||
|
||
FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING, BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE CLOTHES
|
||
TO WEAR.
|
||
|
||
FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES AT THE END OF THE DAY, BECAUSE IT
|
||
MEANS I HAVE BEEN CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.
|
||
|
||
FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OF IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS BECAUSE IT
|
||
MEANS THAT I AM ALIVE.
|
||
|
||
AND FINALLY.......
|
||
|
||
FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL, BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE FRIENDS WHO ARE
|
||
THINKING OF ME. :-)
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 12 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
This Weeks Web Page
|
||
by Frank Vest
|
||
1:124/6308(.1)
|
||
|
||
What: SkyNET BBS
|
||
|
||
Where: http://www.multimania.com/skynetbbs
|
||
|
||
I really don't know where to begin! I stumbled onto this page and to
|
||
say I'm humbled would be an understatement.
|
||
|
||
<regrouping here>
|
||
|
||
Let's start at the top. When you first hit this page, look in the
|
||
upper right hand corner. You'll see options for [Netherlands ]
|
||
[English ] [ Francais ] [ Deutsch ]. Choose the language of your
|
||
choice. The default language seems to be Netherlands<sp?>. I, of
|
||
course, choose English.
|
||
|
||
This site uses "frames". I'm not overly fond of frames, but for the
|
||
information available here it seems to work very well. The main page
|
||
(frame) tells about the page and gives information on the BBS. I'm
|
||
not going to "cut & paste" any of it because there are too many
|
||
other points of interest to talk about.
|
||
|
||
Steven Leeman is the Sysop of SkyNET. To say he spent "some" time on
|
||
this site might not be true. To say he spent his life on this site
|
||
might be closer. :)
|
||
|
||
I'm really lost on this page. On the left side is a menu. it reads
|
||
as follows:
|
||
|
||
--- Cut ---
|
||
|
||
Screenshots
|
||
Points & Photo's
|
||
Technical Info
|
||
Statistics
|
||
Fidonet???
|
||
Fido via IP
|
||
Downloads
|
||
Setup:
|
||
FD/APX
|
||
F.I.P.S.
|
||
Terminate
|
||
WinPoint 95
|
||
Messageboard
|
||
Distributed.net
|
||
Belgian BBS List
|
||
Mail SkyNET
|
||
|
||
--- Cut ---
|
||
|
||
This is but a small part of what is here. Start at the top of this
|
||
menu and go through it all. Be warned, you'll need some time. The
|
||
one thing, if there is such, that I liked is what appears to be a
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 13 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
meeting of the Point Systems that Steven supports. It looks like a
|
||
Net meeting of sorts where they get together, talk and have a good
|
||
time. I like that idea. :) I also like the support for Point that is
|
||
given here. The "How to" of setting it up and such is great!.
|
||
|
||
Ok... I'm gonna stop here. To tell all that is on this site would
|
||
take all of the average Fidonews article size and still be lacking.
|
||
Drop by this page and see what it's about. Lots of time and effort
|
||
have been put in here.
|
||
|
||
Regards,
|
||
|
||
Frank
|
||
flv@texoma.net
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 14 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NET HUMOR
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
A List of Very Short Books
|
||
Thanks to Roy Reed
|
||
|
||
1) A Guide to Arab Democracies
|
||
2) A Journey through the Mind of Dennis Rodman
|
||
3) Amelia Earhart's Guide to the Pacific Ocean
|
||
4) Career Opportunities for History Majors
|
||
5) Contraception by Pope John Paul II
|
||
6) Detroit - A Travel Guide
|
||
7) Different Ways to Spell "Bob"
|
||
8) Dr. Kevorkian's Collection of Motivational Speeches
|
||
9) Easy UNIX
|
||
10) Ethiopian Tips on World Dominance
|
||
11) Everything Men Know About Women
|
||
12) French Hospitality
|
||
13) Bob Dole: The Wild Years
|
||
14) How to Sustain a Musical Career by Art Garfunkel
|
||
15) Mike Tyson's Guide to Dating Etiquette
|
||
17) Spotted Owl Recipes by the EPA
|
||
18) Popular Lawyers
|
||
19) Staple Your Way to Success
|
||
20) The Amish Phone Book
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 15 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
COMIX IN ASCII
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
The Bard's Barnyard Inspirations
|
||
|
||
(___) (__)
|
||
(0 0) (oo)
|
||
/-------\_O---moo *-\/-------\
|
||
/ | || / || | \
|
||
* ||,---|| * ||-----|| *
|
||
^^ ^^ \/|(/)(/\(,,/
|
||
Romie mooed... while Julie ate.
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 16 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
INTERNET INFO
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
|
||
! = New entries this week
|
||
? = not responding
|
||
?? = unknown content, doesn't look like fidonet
|
||
|
||
. -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- .
|
||
| FIDONET-RELATED SITES |
|
||
` -- -- -- -- --- -- -- -- -- '
|
||
Last update: April 30, 2000
|
||
|
||
FidoNet
|
||
Homepage: http://www.fidonet.org
|
||
FidoNews: http://www.fidonews.org [HTML]
|
||
ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/fidonet/fidonews/
|
||
ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/
|
||
Echolist: http://www.baltimoremd.com/echolist/
|
||
Echomail links: http://www.osirusoft.com/fidonet/fidoip.html
|
||
SDS Files: http://fidobbs.dk/download (Web Access to SDS)
|
||
FTSC page: http://www.ftsc.org/
|
||
General: http://www.writebynight.com/fidonet.html
|
||
|
||
List server:
|
||
http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/fidonet-discussion
|
||
|
||
Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org
|
||
Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html
|
||
http://www.tnl-online.com/andy/rgn10.htm
|
||
Net 103: http://www.webworldinc.com/club103/
|
||
Net 203: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/8687/net203index.html
|
||
Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/
|
||
Net 2410: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/net2410/
|
||
Region 12: http://sparkys.dyndns.org
|
||
Region 13: http://www.net264.org/r13.htm
|
||
Net 264: http://www.net264.org/
|
||
Net 275: http://www.homershut.net/~mahoover/net275/
|
||
Region 14: http://www.ouijabrd.com/region14
|
||
Net 282: http://www.rxn.com/~net282/
|
||
Region 15: <vacant>
|
||
Region 16: <vacant>
|
||
Region 17: http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/
|
||
Region 18: http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/
|
||
|
||
Region 19: http://bise.tzo.com/r19
|
||
Net 124: http://www.startext.net/np/net124
|
||
http://texoma.net/~flv
|
||
Net 130: http://www.startext.net/homes/net130
|
||
Net 393: http://www.chatter.com/~wb/
|
||
|
||
Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org
|
||
ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/zone2 (Z2 nodelists etc.)
|
||
Region 20: http://www.fidonet.pp.se (in Swedish)
|
||
Region 23: http://www.fido.dk (in Danish)
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 17 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
Region 24: http://www.swb.de/personal/flop/gatebau.html (German)
|
||
Fido-IP: http://home.nrh.de/fido/ (English/German)
|
||
Region 25: http://www.literary.freeserve.co.uk/net2502/
|
||
Region 26: http://www.nemesis.ie
|
||
REC 26: http://www.nrgsys.com/orb
|
||
Region 27: http://telematique.org/ft/r27.htm
|
||
Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (French)
|
||
http://Welcome.to/skynetbbs/
|
||
Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (German)
|
||
? Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (Italian)
|
||
Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (Spanish)
|
||
REC34: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/4552/
|
||
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 (Greek/English)
|
||
Region 42: http://www.fido.cz
|
||
! Net422: http://www.fido.sk (Slovak/English)
|
||
Region 50: http://www.fido7.com/ (Russian)
|
||
Net 5010: http://fido.tu-chel.ac.ru/ (Russian)
|
||
Net 5015: http://www.fido.nnov.ru/ (Russian)
|
||
Net 5028: http://5028.yaroslavl.ru/
|
||
Net 5030: http://kenga.ru/fido/ (Russian & English)
|
||
Net 5049: http://www.n5049.z2.fidonet.org (English/Russian)
|
||
?? Net 5085: http://www.fidonet.uz/ (Russian)
|
||
|
||
Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org
|
||
|
||
Zone 4:
|
||
Region 80: http://fidobrasil.8m.com (Portuguese)
|
||
Region 90:
|
||
Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish)
|
||
|
||
Zone 5: http://www.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/
|
||
|
||
Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org
|
||
Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html
|
||
(Chinese)
|
||
|
||
|
||
Fidonet Via Internet Hubs
|
||
|
||
See also: http://www.osirusoft.com/fidoip.html
|
||
|
||
a @ preceding an individual's name implies a virtual email
|
||
address. The email is translated as follows
|
||
firstlast@osirusoft.com will automatically route to the
|
||
appropriate individual's email. Anyone in this list will
|
||
also receive routed notice of this feature. In my case, it
|
||
would still be joejared@osirusoft.com, but you get the idea.
|
||
|
||
Also, as information is provided to me, I will be adding a
|
||
latency field to each node, which is defined as the maximum
|
||
time between when the message is received, and when it is
|
||
sent on to other nodes, or available to be sent onward,
|
||
defined in minutes. A latency of ! implies that there is an
|
||
immediate response, and an attempt to deliver immediately
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 18 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
after processing, or a "MinuteMail System", as it were.
|
||
|
||
v-email flag firstnamelastname@osirusoft.com
|
||
| email address or
|
||
Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed,| Basic Rate
|
||
| | |latency|
|
||
-----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+------------
|
||
Zone 1 | | | |
|
||
10/3 @ Brenda Donovan | FTP,UUE,BinkP | 384K,30| n/c
|
||
10/345 @ Todd Cochrane | FTP,BinkP,VMOT | T1,! | n/c
|
||
12/12 @ Ken Wilson | FTP | T1 | $24mo.
|
||
13/25 @ Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo.
|
||
103/5 @ Mark Luetger | BinkP | 384k,!| n/c
|
||
103/153 @ Michael Box | BinkP | aDSL,!| n/c
|
||
103/301 @ Joe Jared | BinkP,FTP | 384k,!| n/c
|
||
103/401 @ Warren Bonner | BinkP | aDSL,!| n/c
|
||
105/8 | Russ Johnson | FTP,BinkP,VMoT | 384k | n/c
|
||
105/72 @ Larry James | FTP, BinkP | aDSL | $50/yr
|
||
106/1 @ Matt Bedynek | BinkP, FTP | 128k | n/c
|
||
106/6018 | Lawrence Garvin | FTP, VMoT | aDSL,60| n/c
|
||
107/453 @ Jeffrey Estevez| FTP,BinkP,VMoT,UUE| 56k,60| $10 mo.
|
||
140/1 @ Bob Seaborn | FTP,BinkP | T3,30 | $5/$16
|
||
167/133 | Stephen Monteith | BinkP | 128k+ | n/c
|
||
211/417 @ Korombos | BinkP,UUE,FTP | T1 | n/c
|
||
218/109 @ Matt Munson | BinkP,UUE | 33.6k | n/c
|
||
244/2 | Kari Suomela | FTP,VMoT,BinkP,UUE| T1,! | $25.00/mo
|
||
246/160 @ Mason Vye | FTP, UUE | 56K | n/c
|
||
271/140 @ Tom Barstow | UUE,FTP | T1 | n/c
|
||
280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo.
|
||
342/3 @ Richard Dodsworth | BinkP,FTP | 128K+ | n/c
|
||
395/670 | Arthur Stark | BinkD,FTP | 128k | n/c
|
||
396/1 @ John Souvestre | FTP,VMoT | T1,10 | $5/mo
|
||
396/45 | Marc Lewis | UUE | 33.6 | $26/yr
|
||
2604/104 @ Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo
|
||
2613/404 @ David Moufarrege | BinkP,FTP,VMoT | 128k+,!| n/c
|
||
2624/306 @ David Calafrancesco | VMoT | 33.6 | n/c
|
||
3613/2 @ jyates@bsdi.ldl.net | UUE | 28.8 | n/c
|
||
3632/84 | Robert Todd |FTP,VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 57.6k | n/c
|
||
3639/93 @ Ross Cassell | FTP, BinkP |128K+,!| n/c
|
||
3651/9 @ Jerry Gause | FTP,VMoT | 33.6 | $3/$6
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Zone 2 |
|
||
20/11 | Henrik Lindhe | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
31/1 | Gabriel Plutzar | BinkP | T1+ | n/c
|
||
203/600 | Mikael Karlsson | UUE | 64k | n/c
|
||
221/360 @ Tommi Koivula | BinkP,UUE | ??? | n/c
|
||
236/205 @ Michael Kaaber | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
246/2098 | Volker Imre | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
284/800 @ Jeroen VanDeLeur | FTP,UUE | 64k | n/c
|
||
292/620 | Eddy Missoul | VMoT, UUE | 64k |N/C
|
||
292/624 | Steven Leeman | UUE | 64k | N/C
|
||
292/2003 | Eric Vaneberck | BinkP | 768k | n/c
|
||
301/1 | Peter Witschi | BinkP | 768k | n/c
|
||
332/807 | Roberto Mascolo | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
335/535 @ Mario Mure | BinkP,VMot,UUE | 64k | n/c
|
||
335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 19 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
344/201 | Julio Garcia | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
346/3 @ Carlos Navarro | UUE | ??? | n/c
|
||
382/100 | Sinisa Burina | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
406/555 | Ofir Michaeli & | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
406/555 | Marius Kaizerman | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
423/81 | Milos Bajer | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
464/4077 | Serguei Trouchelle| UUE | 19.2 | n/c
|
||
465/204 | Va Milushnikov | BinkP | 33.6k | n/c
|
||
469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c
|
||
480/112 | Adam Sarapata| FTP, VMoT, UUE,BinkP| 128k | n/c
|
||
2411/413 @ Dennis Dittrich | UUE,BinkP | 64k | n/c
|
||
2446/301 | Lothar Behet | BinkP,VMoT,UUE,FTP | 64K | n/c
|
||
2474/275 | Christian Emig | UUE | 64k | unkn
|
||
5030/115 | Andrey Podkolzin | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
5100/8 | Egons Bush | BinkP | ??? | n/c
|
||
5020/1159 | Gennady Kudryashoff | UUE | 33.6 | n/c
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Zone 3
|
||
633/260 @ Malcolm Miles | FTP,BinkP | 64K | n/c
|
||
640/954 | Rick Van Ruth | FTP,VMot,UUE,BinkP| 56K| n/c
|
||
774/605 @ Barry Blackford|BinkP,VMoT:10023,ifcico,FTP |33.6| n/c
|
||
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Zone 4
|
||
905/100 | Fabian Gervan | VMoT,UUE,BinkP | 128k | n/c
|
||
902/18 | Javier Tejedor | UUE | 33,6 | n/c
|
||
|
||
--
|
||
* FTP = Internet File Transfer Protocol
|
||
* VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various)
|
||
* UUE = uuencode<->email type transfers
|
||
* BinkP = front end mailer for TCPIP networks
|
||
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
Fidonet oriented news servers
|
||
|
||
news.osirusoft.com
|
||
news.tardis.net
|
||
|
||
Fidonet oriented chat rooms.
|
||
|
||
room #fidonet 5PM (PDT 11AM GMT) Sundays
|
||
irc.osirusoft.com (Peers wanted)
|
||
|
||
----------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Please send updates, corrections and suggestions to
|
||
Joe Jared, 1:103/301, joejared@osirusoft.com. All email addresses
|
||
here for purpose of corresponding with fidonet members about
|
||
obtaining a feed. Improper use of the virtual email addresses, and
|
||
most especially, email addressed to blockme@relays.osirusoft.com
|
||
will be considered a request to be blocked by my open relay spam
|
||
stopper at http://relays.osirusoft.com
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 20 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
FIDONEWS INFO
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Masthead
|
||
|
||
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- FIDONEWS STAFF - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
|
||
| |
|
||
| Editor: Douglas Myers, 1:270/720, DougM@paonline.com |
|
||
| Webmaster: Jim Barchuk, jb@fidonews.org |
|
||
| Columnist: Joe Jared, 1:103/0, jarhead@osirusoft.com |
|
||
| (Fido Via Internet Hubs column) |
|
||
| Columnist: Warren D. Bonner, 1:103/401, wdbonner@pacbell.net |
|
||
| (Warren uses the pen name "Ol'WDB") |
|
||
| Humor: Roy Reed, rcreedv@juno.com |
|
||
| Features: Frank Vest, 1:124/6308.1 |
|
||
| |
|
||
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
|
||
|
||
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- - EDITORS EMERITI - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
|
||
| |
|
||
| Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince |
|
||
| Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, |
|
||
| Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg, Henk Wolsink |
|
||
| |
|
||
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
|
||
|
||
"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.
|
||
|
||
Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of Fidonet.
|
||
Fidonews is Copyright (C) 2000 by Douglas Myers, though authors
|
||
retain rights to their contributed articles. Opinion expressed by
|
||
the authors is strictly their own. Noncommercial duplication and
|
||
distribution within Fidonet is encouraged. Authors are encouraged
|
||
to send their articles in ASCII text to Douglas Myers at one of his
|
||
addresses above.
|
||
|
||
The weekly edition of Fidonews is distributed through the file area
|
||
FIDONEWS, and is published as echomail in the echo FIDONEWS. These
|
||
sources are normally available through your Network Coordinator.
|
||
The current and past issues are also available from the following
|
||
sources:
|
||
|
||
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- - FIDONEWS AVAILABILITY - -- -- -- -- -- -- +
|
||
| |
|
||
| Freq FIDONEWS @ 1:270/720, 1:140/1, or 1:396/1 |
|
||
| ftp://ftp.sstar.com/fidonet/fnews/ |
|
||
| ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/fidonet/fidonews/ |
|
||
| http://www.fidonews.org |
|
||
| email subscription: majordomo@fidonews.org |
|
||
| (subject: help body: list) |
|
||
| ftp mail: ftpmail@fidonews.org (subject: help) |
|
||
| |
|
||
+ -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
|
||
FIDONEWS 17-19 Page 21 8 May 2000
|
||
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
|