** F I D O N E W S ** +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | 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 | | hwolsink@catpe.alt.za | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 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 Stepping into the Hornet's Nest .......................... 2 3. ARTICLES ................................................. 3 Nodelist Robot ........................................... 3 4. NET HUMOR ................................................ 4 Elections - What's happening or not ...................... 4 5. ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT ........................ 6 Announcing the WRESTLING_CHAT Echo ....................... 6 6. NOTICES .................................................. 7 7. FIDONET BY INTERNET ...................................... 8 8. FIDONEWS INFORMATION ..................................... 11 FIDONEWS 15-41 Page 1 12 Oct 1998 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Greetings, How many Policies does FidoNet need? Is Policy 4 not enough? Now there are moves, to have an Echo Policy - again. And how many hats does a *C's have to wear? Is one not enough? Yes, call me the question _man_ if you like. And you may wonder why this time. :-) Personally, I do not believe the *EC structure should exist. Get rid of them bunch as they do nothing worth while. Let the *C structure take care of ALL that it is suppose too, including that what the current *EC structure is doing. During my stint as Z5C, I voted for the current Z1C, to take the IC position. So he got it, but is it not time for Bob to hand the Z1C chair over? Just after the election of IC, Bob sent me e-mail, asking what I thought of a few items, including that if he should resign as Z1C. My answer to him was, YES! I do not believe, that the interest of the Nodes in Z1 is best served by having him holding office of both positions. Sorry Bob, this is not a vendatta to have you removed as Z1C, in fact, I could care less if you wear the hats of both. One of these days, we'll have more office bearers than Nodes. What's an office bearer? Someone, who carries his office on his shoulders. But you get my idea, no? Talking about Policies. Region 24 in Zone 2, has asked the IC for approval of a Policy. Sure, let them have a Policy of their own, but should it override Policy 4? Happy reading, ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-41 Page 2 12 Oct 1998 ================================================================= GUEST EDITORIAL ================================================================= Stepping into the Hornet's Nest Welcome me to the ranks of one of Fido's most persevering entities: the rebel without a clue. In a brilliant display of naivete, I've managed to mention the terms "feed cut," "policy," and "committee" all in the same breath... in the MODERATOR echo! Judging by the heat, there are no other terms used in Fidotalk so emotionally charged. Actually, this particular hornet's nest has been swarming just about forever, and I'm not the first who has ever stirred it. Perhaps that's the reason Policy 4 speaks in hushed tones about matters echomail. Lacking any formal policy, moderators and sysops have generally followed an informal set of guidelines collected in the North American Backbone's BOFAQ text file, distributed on the BACKBONE file area on a monthly basis. Most agree that the informal method has worked well, and may even be optimum. But now we're talking about feed cuts, which aren't going to work well no matter what system is used. A feed cut is the ultimate confession that the purely voluntary approach to echo moderation and distribution has failed in one small area. A moderator doesn't like to employ it - he's spent a lot of time trying to promote the conversation, not kill it. A sysop doesn't like to make the cut - he's spent a good part of his life bringing people into his system, not ushering them out. No one even likes to talk about feed cuts. But then, that's the reason such a thing should be talked about in advance. When it's necessary, when the heat is on and the atmosphere is emotionally charged, it's just the wrong time to be discussing philosophy and organizational charts, who's in charge and who does what. But the conversation is going well. My motives have been challenged, my premises have been challenged... but my lineage is still not a subject for discussion :) It's a good start for a Fido bash! -- | 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 15-41 Page 3 12 Oct 1998 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Nodelist Robot Date : Fri Oct 09, 00:17 From : Nodelist Robot 2:292/854 To : All Subj : Nodelist evolution in Zone-2 on day 282 +--------+-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+--+ !Zone/Jul!Ndl-254!Nodel.-261!Nodel.-268!Nodel.-275!Nodel.-282!%%! +--------+-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+--+ ! 1/282 ! 4248 ! 4227 -21! 4184 -43! 4142 -42! 4121 -21!22! ! 2/282 ! 13401 !13390 -11!13401 11!13355 -46!13328 -27!70! ! 3/282 ! 375 ! 372 -3! 369 -3! 369 0! 362 -7! 2! ! 4/282 ! 353 ! 349 -4! 289 -60! 289 0! 275 -14! 1! ! 5/282 ! 61 ! 61 0! 61 0! 61 0! 60 -1! 0! ! 6/275 ! 906 ! 906 0! 906 0! 906 0! 913 7! 5! +--------+-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+--+ ! 19344 !19305 -39!19210 -95!19122 -88!19059 -63! +-------+----------+----------+----------+----------+ --- Robo 0.37 by Kash --- DB 1.58/001877 * Origin: Many Glacier / Preserve - Protect - Conserve / (2:292/854) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-41 Page 4 12 Oct 1998 ================================================================= NET HUMOR ================================================================= Elections - What's Happening or Not I'd promised in earlier editions to keep you all informed on the election for Z1EC. Unfortunately, after I'd made this commitment, things started not happening. The Z1EC had been replaced, and an interim Z1EC assumed the duties. Or should I say "duty," for the job description specified that the interim Z1EC's sole duty is to conduct an election for the permanent ZEC. Bob Satti, however, charged the RECC to determine how to select the next ZEC. This led most to assume that there would be some minor changes before a sysop-level election was held, but rumor has it that the RECC has other thoughts. So the news is that the RECC is poised to not decide to appoint a ZEC, or else they're poised to decide not to appoint a ZEC. In stark contrast to the non-election in the ZEC echo, the folks in the FN_SYSOP echo are taking a wham-bang no nonsense approach. After a couple weeks of nominations, I missed reading for a few days and found, upon catching up, that we were in the middle of a three day election. I'd mention the candidates and urge you to vote, but if you didn't vote yet, then it's over. Just in case either of the above echoes want to alter their election methods, I figured I'd outline how some of the other echoes handle it. FN_APATHY The moderator is expected to keep a low profile here. Elections are held every five weeks when the echo falls off the backbone for low traffic. The first person to elist the echo is moderator for the next five weeks. Some guy named Bob is serving his 13th consecutive term. MY_FAVORITE_MARTIN Elections here are held on demand. Demand is off topic. NINJA_LITERARY The International Order of Teen-Aged Mutant Ninja Literary Commandos meets in enclave annually, selecting qualified members from it's rank to participate in a double-elimination duel with asparagus. The survivor is elisted. There can be only one. LEMMINGSnnn The twelve thousand critters in this echo scamper to the top of the backbone, whereupon the moderator orders camp to be made. One of the troops protests this order and elists a new echo, and then leads a FIDONEWS 15-41 Page 5 12 Oct 1998 charge off the backbone. This method of election has been adapted in other echoes and is commonly called "voting with your feet." DALLAS The moderator in this echo is appointed against his will and administered mind-altering drugs to ward off outside influences. He spends his days trying to convince any of the other residence of his echo to take the job, but they reject his pleas. His only hope is for rescue from one of the freedom fighters from other echoes, but he is conditioned to send them away when they succeed in breaching the walls of his echo. -- | 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 15-41 Page 6 12 Oct 1998 ================================================================= ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT ================================================================= Emanuel Edwards 1:348/963 emanuel@escape.ca Hello all Fidonet Sysops: Where else can you find a great echo that will increase the users on your BBS? Well here is the answer to your question. The WRESTLING_CHAT echo can be classified as one of the best echo on Fidonet today. If you don't have internet access and want to read all the latest news in the wrestling world this echo will provide you with all the valuable information. In the last 6 months the echo been getting well over 200 messages a week. Once you request the WRESTLING_CHAT on your BBS you will see a great increase in news users on your BBS. Make that important decision today and request this great and interesting echo on your BBS. If you need more information about the echo you can contact me by email at emanuel@escape.ca The Areatag for the echo is WRESTLING_CHAT Moderator for the echo is Emanuel Edwards Co_Moderator for the echo is Barry Laws JR Volume of Mail in one months 1000 to 1200 Emanuel Internet emanuel@escape.ca Fidonet 1:348/963 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 15-41 Page 7 12 Oct 1998 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= Future History 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. 21 Sep 2000 10 years of FidoNet in +7 (xUSSR) 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 15-41 Page 8 12 Oct 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 17: http://www.nwstar.com/~region17/ Region 18: http://techshop.pdn.net/fido/ Region 19: http://www.compconn.net Zone 1 Elist http://www.baltimoremd.com/elist/ ============ 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 FIDONEWS 15-41 Page 9 12 Oct 1998 Region 29: http://www.rtfm.be/fidonet/ (French) 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://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 42: http://www.fido.cz 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 please make use of ip address: 196.37.151.41 until all the DNS entries have been rectified. ============ 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 FIDONEWS 15-41 Page 10 12 Oct 1998 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 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 15-41 Page 11 12 Oct 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 15-41 Page 12 12 Oct 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 15-41 Page 13 12 Oct 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 -----------------------------------------------------------------