F I D O N E W S -- Volume 15, Number 37 14 September 1998 +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet community | "FidoNews" | | _ | +27-41-515-913 [5:5/23] | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | | | (_| /_) | | | _`@/_ \ _ | | | | | \ \\ | Editor: | | | (*) | \ )) | Henk Wolsink 5:7104/2 | | |__U__| / \// | | | _//|| _\ / | | | (_/(_|(____/ | | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Submission address: FidoNews Editor 5:5/23 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 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. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 2. GUEST EDITORIAL .......................................... 2 Fido's Ugly Duckling with the Funny Web Feet ............. 2 3. ARTICLES ................................................. 3 FidoNet Technical Standards Committee Year 2000 program .. 3 4. NET HUMOR ................................................ 5 Gone from the Backbone ................................... 5 5. NOTICES .................................................. 7 6. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 9 7. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 12 FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 1 14 Sep 1998 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Greetings, Some write a lot and some don't. Is it important that your editor writes more or less in the editorial? What does it matter, if he writes anything at all. What matters, that you write article(s) for FidoNews, as that makes the newsletter, not what I utter, good or bad. ;-) Two notices were received about BBS's being available via Telnet. Should a reader be interested in keeping such a list, please let me know, as it might be a good idea keeping a list to be included in FidoNews. Thanks to Colin Turner, for sending us the FTSC2000 details. Hope to see more news from the FTSC in future. Happy reading, ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 2 14 Sep 1998 ================================================================= GUEST EDITORIAL ================================================================= Fido's Ugly Duckling with the Funny Web Feet Douglas Myers 1:270/720 doug@mdtnbbs.com I got some feedback this week from a strange duck who used to hang around the local net. He didn't leave us like I'd thought... he just moved for a job. But he doesn't walk a straight nodeline following Mother Fido like the rest of us ducklings any more - he's put on some Web feet. He wrote to let me know that sysops aren't threatening to put up HTML-based bbses as I'd reported... he's doing it now. And some of the other creatures with Web feet are seeing a BBS for the first time, and they're impressed. He's not alone, of course. Though few BBSes are completely HTML-based right now, access through telenet has been with us for some time. This community is growing and talking about interconnecting through networks a bit kinder to Web feet... and there is a growing perception that Mother Fido is getting old and won't be able to lead her ducklings off the familiar paths she can still see. To you ugly ducklings out there, I send my wish that Maw Fido consents to have her cataracts removed soon. Removed so that she can see that the pond opens into a big river... removed so that she can know that her ugly ducklings have grown to become graceful swans. -- | Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/720@fidonet.org | Internet: doug@mdtnbbs.com | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. | From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ] ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 3 14 Sep 1998 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= FTSC2000 - FidoNet Technical Standards Committee Year 2000 program. By Colin Turner 2:443/13 ct@piglets.com Have you checked the year 2000 compliance of your hardware and software yet? Have you told us the results? If the answer is no, please read on. Recently Group Y of the FTSC (FidoNet Technical Standards Committee) released a package of tests to help nodes and points examine the compliance of their hardware and software with the change fast approaching in the year 2000. This has already been announced in FTSC_PUBLIC, and a reasonable number of nodes have requested the test package either over FidoNet as a file request or from the web site, but not enough. This article has two purposes, firstly to inform the wider FidoNet community about this, and also to remind you that we need your help. FidoNet is (at least in theory) a co-operative venture, and participation from all nodes and points is greatly appreciated. The changeover date is fast approaching, and it isn't realistic (or even possible) for a small group like a subset of the FTSC to check all existing software. If you are a developer, download the test set, check out your software. We want to hear from you if its compliant, we want to hear from you even if it's not compliant and you have a release date for a compliant version. We even want to hear if it's not compliant and will no longer be developed. It's in your interests to use this opportunity to tell your users you are on top of the problem, or no longer want to deal with your software. This responsibility does not fall on the developers alone. If you are an "ordinary" node or point and feel that you have a moderate technical understanding, then you can also help. Check the software that is running on your system, it's in your interests to determine if you need to change it or ask for upgrades from the author. Don't just test the software, please send us the results, so that other nodes and points can benefit from your findings. If you are a FidoNet user who does not feel capable of testing your software, then there are still ways you can help. Ask your software author if they have checked the software for compliance, ask if they have submitted the results to us. Tell other people about our project, and include the contact details below on your web page if you have one. FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 4 14 Sep 1998 It is the ambition of this project to build a database of software in use in FidoNet (and other compatible networks) in all platforms. It's even more important on obscure platforms where variety of software is sorely limited. We want to be able to post results in FidoNews to keep you posted of test findings by ourselves, developers and other FidoNet users. This group is interested in working with anyone who wants to constructively deal with the year 2000 problems in FidoNet Technology Networks, if you want to participate, please contact us. For information, please file request (from 2:443/13 or 2:443/14): FTSC2000 For the tests sets themselves, in various compression formats, please file request: FTSC2000ARC (ARC compression); FTSC2000ZIP (ZIP compression); FTSC2000LHA (LHA compression); FTSC2000RAR (RAR compression). You can also obtain them from the Internet at http://www.piglets.com/ftsc2000 Colin Turner, 2:443/13, ct@piglets.com, Working Group Y (Year 2000 Issues) co-ordinator, FidoNet Technical Standards Committee. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 5 14 Sep 1998 ================================================================= NET HUMOR ================================================================= Recently, the Overseer of Backbone Operations announced that the backbone would cease the practice of automatically deleting low-traffic echos. This action did not meet with wide approval from the ZHUBS and RHUBS, and these folks are meeting right now to discuss the issue. While final details of a new plan are yet to be announced, there has been considerable compromise. All are agreed that the following echos should not be restored to the backbone for any reason: Z&Z&Z&Z This now sleepy echo was once the gathering place the various identies of Zorch, rumored to have been the head of one of the most powerful voting blocks ever seen on Fido. Dropped by the Elist Robot when the moderator failed to produce evidence that he existed. HORNY14 This echo stands as an empty tribute to the fourteen year olds who once dominated the chat echos as the carrier pigeon once dominated the skies of North America. The plaintive wails of lonely hearts attempting contact with their adolescent peers of the opposite sex are but a memory, commemorated only by their intellectual heirs, the fifty-ish crowd who preserve their traditions. P5 Designated the public conference for continued policy improvement, the echo just never caught on. ELC Designated the ElfLord Contact conference, this echo fell into disuse in 1989 at a time when the ElfLords scribed their collective wisdom onto great stone tablets which still stand at the entrance to Fidonet. FTSC_DOCS This echo is for the release of new documents by the Fidonet Technical Standards Committee. Dropped by the NAB due to no volume. BIBLE_THUMPER This write-only echo accounted for 21.6% of all backbone traffic when it was removed from the elist. The moderator was discovered to have no valid Fido address, and evidence indicates that he was probably a fictitious character who frequented the DISNEY echo. Z1C_INPUT Another popular write-only echo, the idea was that end-nodes could write to the Z1C without being burdened by replies. Dropped at the moderator's request because it duplicated the function of the Z1C echo. FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 6 14 Sep 1998 NMAD The Naked Mother's Against Dyslexia echo was accidentally unlisted in 1997 when the organization's founder discovered that her autopost robot had failed. She attempted a manual update, thus creating the DAMN conference. Ironically, 2000 naked mothers who had tried to areafix the NMAD conference previously found themselves auto-connected within two hours of DAMN's addition to the backbone. SUPER-BATCH Bitching does strange things to the eyes, and the batch file writers found that they had to retreat to the BATPOWER conference when two blurry-eyed super-bitches found their way into their now defunct conference. The @echo off @ffectionados hope that a BITCHPOWER movement is not in the offing. -- | Fidonet: Douglas Myers 1:270/720@fidonet.org | Internet: doug@mdtnbbs.com | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. | From Mdtn_BBS @mdtnbbs.com [ In the Heart of Three Mile Island ] ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 7 14 Sep 1998 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= Future History 5 Oct 1998 29th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus". 10 Sep 1998 9th Anniversary of Zone 5 operations. 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. 23 Nov 1998 35th Anniversary of Doctor Who. 1 Dec 1998 Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by Tom Jennings. 16 Feb 1999 13th Anniversary of the introduction of EchoMail by Jeff Rush. 12 May 1999 12th Anniversary of Fido Operations in Zone 4; 10th Anniversary of the creation of FidoNet Zone 4. 24 Jul 1999 XIII Pan American Games [through 8 Aug 99]. 9 Jun 1999 Tenth Anniversary of the adoption of FidoNet Policy 4.07. 10 Sep 1999 10th anniversary of Zone 5 operations. 26 Oct 1999 Thirty years from release Abbey Road album by the Beatles. 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. FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 8 14 Sep 1998 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Henk, Fidonet Region 18, Net 133 hosts two telnetable systems: ASN BBS, Fido 1:133/504, telnet to bbs.asnbbs.com Boxax Bulletin, Fido 1:133/5007, telnet to bozax.iainc.net We also host several web sites, including Net 133's Home Page at www.net133.org. Lastly, Fido material, including the nodelist, nodediffs, fidonews, etc. are available via FTP at ftp.asnbbs.com. Larry Cody (Net133 NEC) ASN Consulting Services (404) 713-4978 On the Web at www.asnbbs.com! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Greetings from Sunny Clearwater, Fla. (USA) I was reading an article in fido news where a poster has lost access to fidonet. My suggestion is to put fidonet bbs's accessable via the internet in fido news. Mine is accessable either by Telnet or Http, Features the complete Zone-1 backbone.na & no conferences, Fido news is avalible as a bulleton, or can be downloaded from the file areas. Nodediffs & Nodelists are also avalible. This bbs is a free service to the fidonet community at bbs.docsplace.org If anyone needs a telnet terminal program, I recommend Netterm which is avalible at http://www.tucows.com Ed Koon, Sysop, Doc's Place Bbs Online. 1:3603/140 ed.koon@bbs.docsplace.org ... We toss the Whole Fidonet Backbone! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 9 14 Sep 1998 ================================================================= FIDONET BY INTERNET ================================================================= This is a list of all FidoNet-related sites reported to the FidoNews Editor as of this issue; see the notice at the end. 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.goldware.dk/ftsc Echomail [pending] WebRing http://ddi.digital.net/~cbaker84/fnetring.html [TFN] General http://owls.com/~jerrys/fidonet.html http://www.trak-one.co.uk/foti ============ Zone 1: http://www.z1.fidonet.org Region 10: http://www.psnw.com/~net205/region10.html Region 11: http://oeonline.com/~garyg/region11/ Region 18: http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/ Region 19: http://www.compconn.net ============ Zone 2: http://www.z2.fidonet.org ZEC2: Zone 2 Elist: http://www.fbone.ch/echolist/ 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 (German) Fido-IP: http://home.nrh.de/~lbehet/fido (English/German) Region 25: http://www.bsnet.co.uk/net2502/net/ 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) Region 30: http://www.fidonet.ch (Swiss?) FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 10 14 Sep 1998 Region 33: http://www.fidoitalia.net (Italian) Region 34: http://www.pobox.com/cnb/r34.htm (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 (Greek/English) Region 48: http://www.fidonet.org.pl 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 5030: http://kenga.ru/fido/ (Russian & English) Net 5073: http://people.weekend.ru/soa/ (Russian) ============ Zone 3: http://www.z3.fidonet.org ============ Zone 4: http://www.altern.org/zone4 Region 90: http://visitweb.com/fidonet Net 903: http://www.playagrande.com/refugio Net 904: http://members.tripod.com/~net904 (Spanish) ============ Zone 5: http://www.eastcape.co.za/fidonet/index.htm ============ Zone 6: http://www.z6.fidonet.org Region 65: http://www.cfido.com/fidonet/cfidochina.html (Chinese) ============ Pages listed above are as submitted to the FidoNews Editor, and generally reflect Zone and Regional Web Page sites. If no Regional site is submitted, the first Network page from that Region is used in its place. Generally, Regional pages should list access points to all Networks within the Region. TCP/IP accessible node access information should be submitted to the FidoNews Editor for inclusion in their Region or Zone. -----------oOo------------- Fidonet Via Internet Hubs FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 11 14 Sep 1998 Node# | Operator | Facilities (*) | Speed | Basic Rate -----------+-------------------+----------------+-------+----------- 1:12/12 | Ken Wilson | FTP | T1 | $24mo. 1:13/25 | Jim Balcom | FTP | 56k | $20mo. 1:124/7008 | Ben Hamilton |FTP,VMoT,F2I,UUE| 64k | $10/$20mo. 1:140/12 | Bob Seaborn | FTP | T1 | $5/$20 1:270/101 | George Peace | FTP | T1 | $30mo. 1:271/140 | Tom Barstow | F2I | ??? | $2mo. 1:275/1 | Joshua Ecklund | UUE,F2I | 28.8 | $10/yr. 1:280/169 | Brian Greenstreet | FTP | 33.6 | $2mo. 1:2401/305 | Peter Rocca | FTP,UUE | T1 | unkn 1:2424/10 | Alec Grynspan | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $1mo. 1:2424/3121| Earl Clark | UUE | 33.6 | n/c 1:2604/104 | Jim Mclaughlin | FTP,VMoT,UUE | 33.6 | $1mo. 1:2624/306 | D. Calafrancesco | VFOS | 33.6 | $15yr. 1:345/0 | Todd Cochrane | FTP | T1 | n/c 1:346/250 | Aran Spence | FTP,UUE | T1 | $10mo. 1:342/1022 | Steve Steffler | UUE,F2I | 33.6 | n/c 1:3651/9 | Jerry Gause | FTP,VMoT | 33.6 | $3/$6 1:396/1 | John Souvestre | FTP,VMoT | T1 | $15mo. 2:2411/413 | Dennis Dittrich | UUE | 64k | n/c 2:33/505 | Mario Mure | VMoT,UUE | 64k | n/c 2:335/610 | Gino Lucrezi | UUE | 33.6 | n/c 2:469/84 | Max Masyutin | VMoT | 256k | n/c 2:2474/275 | Christian Emig | UUE | 64k | unkn 2:2490/5170| Lenny Murphy | F2I | ??? | n/c 5:7104/2 | Henk Wolsink | FTP | 28.8 | n/c -- + VMoT = Virtual Mailer over Telnet (various) + F2I = Fido2Int (W95) + UUE = uuencode<->email packet transfers compiled by C. Ingersoll, 1:2623/71, (609)814-1978, fbn@dandy.net Posted on the 1st of every month in FN_SYSOP, R13SYSOP and Fidonews. - ___ ! Origin: * Fly By Night * (609)814-1978 *(1:2623/71) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 12 14 Sep 1998 ================================================================= FIDONEWS INFORMATION ================================================================= ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ------- Editor: Henk Wolsink Editors Emeritii: Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar, Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg "FidoNews Editor" FidoNet 5:5/23 BBS +27-41-515-913, 2400/9600/V.34/V.90 more addresses: Henk Wolsink -- 5:7104/2, hwolsink@catpe.alt.za (Postal Service mailing address) FidoNews Editor P.O. Box 12325 Port Elizabeth, 6006 South Africa ------------------------------------------------------ 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 and/or the Editor. Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is Copyright 1998 Henk Wolsink. 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. =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= 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. FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 13 14 Sep 1998 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/ ftp://ftp.nwstar.com/Fidonet/Fidonews And in non-English formats via: http://www.hvc.ee/pats/fidonews (Estonian) http://www.fidonet.pp.se/sfnews (Swedish) *=*=* 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/ FIDONEWS 15-37 Page 14 14 Sep 1998 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. =*=*=*= 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. =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= 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 5:5/23 [5:7104/2] 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 -----------------------------------------------------------------