The F I D O N E W S Volume 19, Number 04 28 Jan 2002 +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | |The newsletter of the | | Fido, Fidonet and dog-with-diskette are | | | FidoNet community. | | US Registered Trademarks of Tom Jennings| | | | | San Francisco, California, USA | | | ____________| | | | | / __ | Crash netmail articles to: | | | / / \ | Editor @ 2:2/2 (+46-31-944907) | | | WOOF! ( /|oo \ | Routed netmail articles to: | | \_______\(_| /_) | Bjorn Felten @ 2:203/0 | | _ @/_ \ _ | Email attach to: | | | | \ \\ | bfelten@telia.com | | | (*) | \ ))| | | |__U__| / \// | Editor: Bj”rn Felten | | ______ _//|| _\ / | | | / Fido \ (_/(_|(____/ | Newspapers should have no friends. | | (________) (jm) | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ Copyright 2002 by Fidonews Editor for Fidonews Globally. Table of Contents 1. FOOD FOR THOUGHT ......................................... 1 2. INSIDE ................................................... 2 The Fidonews at a Glance ................................. 2 3. EDITORIAL ................................................ 3 USA vs. Canada, zero to nothing .......................... 3 4. GENERAL ARTICLES ......................................... 5 OL'WDB's Column .......................................... 5 A Day in Japan ........................................... 6 Catcalls from the Cheap Seats ............................ 8 What is it for? .......................................... 13 5. FIDONET'S INTERNATIONAL KITCHEN .......................... 16 Japanese Coleslaw ........................................ 16 6. CLEAN HUMOR & JOKES ...................................... 17 BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL #2 ............................ 17 That American Language. :-) .............................. 18 The Bacon Tree ........................................... 19 7. FIDONET CLASSIFIED ADS ................................... 21 FidoTel .................................................. 21 8. TODD COCHRANE'S FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................. 23 Fidonet Software List .................................... 23 9. JOE JARED'S FIDONET BY INTERNET .......................... 27 Fidonet-related sites .................................... 27 10. SPECIAL INTEREST ........................................ 33 Nodelist Stats ........................................... 33 11. FIDONEWS INFORMATION .................................... 35 How to Submit an Article ................................. 35 Credits, Legal Infomation, Availability .................. 36 FIDONEWS 19-04 Page 1 28 Jan 2002 ================================================================= FOOD FOR THOUGHT ================================================================= If you find yourself in a hole the first thing to do is stop diggin'. - Texas Bix Bender ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 19-04 Page 2 28 Jan 2002 ================================================================= INSIDE ================================================================= The Fidonews at a Glance It's like the tongue returning to the broken tooth, this North American war. In the "Editorial" this week, I couldn't help myself, I just had to comment on it in "USA vs. Canada, zero to nothing". The "General Articles" section has four submissions. One from Warren Bonner in "OL'WDB's Column", on the theme that if you walk through life with a closed mind, you never learn anything new (what a waste of that life). Carol Shenkenberger writes about everyday life in the Far East in "A Day in Japan". In "Catcalls from the Cheap Seats", Luke Kolin gives us another bunch of thoughts about Fidonet from an apostate's point of view. Finally Frank Vest writes more about much the same issue, but from a BBS operator's point of view in "What is it for?" In our "International Kitchen" section, Carol makes "Japanese Coleslaw". Another episode from "BASTARD OPERATOR FROM HELL" in the "Clean Jokes..." plus "That American Language" by Frank Vest about those diphthong oddities that make English spelling so hard. From Warren Bonner "The Bacon Tree" also goes along the language line, if not to the same extent. In the "Classified Ads" section the turn has come to "FidoTel". You do remember that this section is a rotating section? We don't have that many ads yet, so those posted will occur rather frequently. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 19-04 Page 3 28 Jan 2002 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= USA vs. Canada, zero to nothing So the R12 trench war goes on. Like in the infamous trench war of WWI, the fighting over a couple of gained yards, with huge loss of resources from both parts, results in absolutely nothing, and the gain is soon lost in the next couple of days. Stale mate. In world politics, the reaction from those outside of a major conflict, is almost always to try to find some mediator that can be accepted by both parties. Until such a person can be found, there's no big hope to end the conflict, unless one of the parties is likely to inflict almost total obliteration to the other party. Is this total obliteration, of the other party, what we want in Fidonet whenever there's a conflict? No, of course not! So why don't we try to agree on a policy that stipulates a mediator to be suggested and either rejected or accepted by both fighting sides? To all of the readers outside of Z1, it may not be obvious to you, but region 12 is Canada and all the other nine regions of Z1, i.e. 10-11 and 13-19 is USA. Canada may be a huge country areawise, but is a rather small one inhabitantwise. In fact R12 would, in size, end up somewhere in the middle of the 32 regions of Z2. So you might imagine the frustration, and other similar emotions, when they feel they have been run over by their mighty, Southerly neighbour. I don't say they have been, just that only the feeling can be enough to start a war... The main concern now, in this editor's humble opinion, is to get the fighting parties to the negotiation table and try to resolve the conflict, with all the give&take necessary. Many will probably think they'll have lost face if an agreement is made, but I don't think anyone is going to demand they cut off a finger or something, to make up for this imaginary loss of face. Please guys and gals of zone 1! What Fidonet do not need now is a neverending war, with all the waste of resources it means. There are never any winners of a war, only losers. Spend your valuable resources on something that will benefit Fidonet, rather than on something, that will only ill-favour our beloved hobby! At least save your adrenaline for the upcoming winter olympics in Salt Lake City, and give us a really good game in the ice hockey semi-finals, where USA and Canada will fight over who'll meet Sweden in the final. Not that either one of you will stand a chance against Sweden on a big rink, you'll lose the final in the corners. Forsberg or no Forsberg doesn't matter, we have plenty more to pick from where he came, but never the less. If you perform good on the rink, maybe you'll not be so disappointed when another Swedish Forsberg, the sharp-shooting lady Magdalena, not related to Peter as far as I know, shoots the crap out of you, and shows you all how to really handle a rifle. FIDONEWS 19-04 Page 4 28 Jan 2002 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FIDONEWS 19-04 Page 5 28 Jan 2002 ================================================================= GENERAL ARTICLES ================================================================= OL'WDB's Column wdbonner@pacbell.net Received from a friend I've learned that I like my teacher because she cries when we sing "Silent Night." Age 5 I've learned that our dog doesn't want to eat my broccoli either. Age 7 I've learned that when I wave to people in the country, they stop what they are doing and wave back. Age 9 I've learned that just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up again. Age 12 I've learned that if you want to cheer yourself up, you should try cheering someone else up. Age 14 I've learned that although it's hard to admit it, I'm secretly glad my parents are strict with me. Age 15 I've learned that silent company is often more healing than words of advice. Age 24 I've learned that brushing my child's hair is one of life's great pleasures. Age 26 I've learned that wherever I go, the world's worst drivers have followed me there. Age 29 I've learned that if someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it. Age 30 I've learned that there are people who love you dearly but just don't know how to show it. Age 42 I've learned that you can make some one's day by simply sending them a little note. Age 44 I've learned that the greater a person's sense of guilt, the greater his or her need to cast blame on others. Age 46 I've learned that children and grandparents are natural allies. Age 47 I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow. Age 48 I've learned that singing "GOD BLESS AMERICA" can lift my spirits for hours. Age 49 I've learned that motel mattresses are better on the side away from FIDONEWS 19-04 Page 6 28 Jan 2002 the phone. Age 50 I've learned that you can tell a lot about a man by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights. Age 51 I've learned that keeping a vegetable garden is worth a medicine cabinet full of pills. Age 52 I've learned that regardless of your relationship with your parents, you miss them terribly after they die. Age 53 I've learned that making a living is not the same thing as making a life. Age 58 I've learned that if you want to do something positive for your children, work to improve your marriage. Age 61 I've learned that life sometimes gives you a second chance. Age 62 I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catchers mitt on both hands. You need to be able to throw something back. Age 64 I've learned that if you pursue happiness, it will elude you. But if you focus on your family, the needs of others, your work, meeting new people, and doing the very best you can, happiness will find you. Age 65 I've learned that whenever I decide something with kindness, I usually make the right decision. Age 66 I've learned that everyone can use a prayer. Age 72 I've learned that it pays to believe in miracles. And to tell the truth, I've seen several. Age 75 I've learned that I still have a lot to learn. Age 76 Warm Regards, Ol'wdb ----------------------------------------------------------------- A Day in Japan Sasebo, Japan, 20 Jan 2002 Today was pretty traditional for me, but as we all live in different places, you may enjoy a typical day in Japan. Like many of you, I am a sysop so that too will be mentioned. I awoke late at 7am. It's a weekend so I slept in. My husband Don got up as normal at 6am. I wandered out to start the teapot again to make me a cup and Don a second cup. Charlotte, our 8 year old daughter, still dreaming of whatever little girls dream of. Don and I slurped tea for about 30 minutes and got something ready for FIDONEWS 19-04 Page 7 28 Jan 2002 breakfast while awaiting Charlotte to explode on the scene. Most promptly at 8:30, she did! Well, maybe explode is the wrong term. She was still rubbing her eyes awake but within 15 minutes she was bouncing off the walls and wanting to go out. Breakfast as normal involved almost tying her to a chair to make her sit long enough to eat it. Fried eggs with a little mirin sauce and some left over veggies and a slice of Pooh Bread and milk, and she's fueled for the day (or at least 1.5 hours). Pooh Bread is just home made bread with honey and butter, warmed in the microwave. At about 10am, Don took Charlotte shopping. Nothing big needed, just 'wander about' time. I'm not sure where they got off too totally but one of the places was a fishing lure store as Don cam back with new toys . They also went to the local version of a '1$ store' called 100 Yen store here and got some 5-6 'hello Kitty' things for Charlotte. One was a sticker that now adorns my bicycle in one of the few unadorned spots . By noon, Charlotte was playing 'dress up' with some of my old clothes and some costume jewelry while I updated some software on my system. At about 2pm, I looked in the larder and decided Charlotte and I needed to go out for a bit, so we grabbed the shopping carrier and walked to to local Market and wandered about a bit. 2000 yen later (about 16$USA) we had a goodly assortment of fresh stuff and some new veggies we have never seen before. At the same time, we hit the local computer store and grabbed a new mouse and some decent speakers (50$USA roughly-Kid machine fine for her needs). We came home and had a late lunch and Charlotte jumped on our futons til she was giggly. We sleep on futons here, not American/European beds. It's a space thing. They get rolled/folded out of the way in the day. We forgot this time to put them back but they are happy being jumped on. I must admit, I jumped a little too with Charlotte! Came along late afternoon I installed her spare computer at last. It was the one I used for work for various OS/s and last had OS2/Warp on it. It's now WIN98 with some decent speakers. She helped install it. Along came evening, w