FidoNews · Vol 13, No 32 · 5 August 1996
F I D O N E W S -- Volume 13, Number 32 5 August 1996
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| The newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: |
| FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" |
| _ | 1-407-383-1372 [1:1/23] |
| / \ | |
| /|oo \ | |
| (_| /_) | |
| _`@/_ \ _ | |
| | | \ \\ | Editor: |
| | (*) | \ )) | Christopher Baker 1:374/14 |
| |__U__| / \// | |
| _//|| _\ / | |
| (_/(_|(____/ | |
| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
| Submission address: FidoNews Editor 1:1/23 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MORE addresses: |
| |
| submissions=> cbaker84@digital.net |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
| obtaining copies of FidoNews or the internet gateway FAQ |
| please refer to the end of this file. |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
IS FIDONEWS WORKING FOR YOU YET?
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
So far, so good? ......................................... 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2
Creating Network Wide Bulletins [I] ...................... 2
A GNU Fido? .............................................. 6
Is He In A Godda Da Vida? ................................ 8
ANIMANIACS Echo! ......................................... 13
There might be some point in this ........................ 14
3. FIDONET HISTORY .......................................... 17
FidoNet History 30 Jul 93 [Part 3 of 3] ................. 17
The VERY FIRST FidoNews ever published! .................. 19
4. WE GET EMAIL ............................................. 24
5. NET HUMOR ................................................ 26
Fido is a dog, yes? ...................................... 26
6. COMIX IN ASCII ........................................... 29
Mapping your FidoNet Node? ............................... 29
7. ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT ........................ 30
Sorcery v0.72 Wide Beta RELEASED! ........................ 30
8. QUESTION OF THE WEEK ..................................... 31
How many of you have regular FidoNet gatherings? ......... 31
9. NOTICES .................................................. 32
Future History ........................................... 32
10. FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING ................................ 33
Latest Greatest Software Versions ........................ 33
And more!
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 1 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
FidoNews is moving right along. Submissions are becoming stable and
steady. The format has settled in and folks are even sending in new
dates for the calendar. [grin]
Regarding submissions - if you want to have an article title appear
in the Table of Contents of the Issue, you MUST put the title line
on the FIRST LINE at the FIRST COLUMN of your text. I will adjust
ARTSPEC.DOC to make this more clear. If the asterisk line appears
ANYWHERE else in your text, it will be treated as part of the text
and will neither be added to the Table of Contents nor stripped out.
The FidoNews public-key has been removed from direct publishing in the
Issues due to concerns expressed by ZC1. The public-key continues to
be available by file-request for FNEWSKEY or download from this
system. I have requested a ZCC ruling about its future inclusion in
the FidoNews. Nothing beats the weekly distribution of FidoNews as a
transport mechanism to most of FidoNet.
Please note that the FidoNet Software Listing section begins its
second incarnation in today's Issue. These listings will now be
coordinated by Peter Popovich at 1:363/264. Send your corrections,
additions, and updates directly to him via Netmail. He is beginning
his task by repeating the last version listing that appeared in
FidoNews back in 1992. Obviously, this means MOST if not all of the
listings are hideously out-of-date. If you have personal knowledge of
current versions of any of these listed programs OR of NEW programs
not listed, please let Peter know ASAP and he will verify and adjust
the listing. This will be a cooperative project that will take time
to get up and running 100%. Your assistance is actively solicited.
The Reviews column of Damian Walker is not ready yet while he's
tracking down a couple more updates to test. It should be appearing
next week or the week thereafter.
Once again, EVERYBODY who reads FidoNews is ENCOURAGED to throw their
two cents [or ten bucks] into this forum. The FIDONEWS Echo is flowing
over the Stars and we're still waiting for Planet Connect to update
their configuration to get it out to everyone else. If you don't have
Netmail or email access, you can still contribute via FIDONEWS Echo
once we get that going everywhere.
I hope you're enjoying the renovated FidoNews as much I am. [grin]
C.B.
NOTE: I got several responses to last week's Question of the Week
about archives of ALL the FidoNews issues ever published. My
thanks to all who pointed me to obtaining a complete set. They
are now available here for file-request or download as listed
in the Masthead at the end of every Issue.
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FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 2 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Creating Network Wide Bulletins [I]
Damian Walker, 2:2502/666
My article in FidoNews last week made mention of network-wide
bulletins made possible by document server software. Starting this
week I will elaborate on the idea, with a two-part tutorial on how to
offer your own bulletin to other Fidonet systems and users.
I shall concentrate on three pieces of software for the purposes
of this article. These are NetMgr 1.00.g4, FDInt 1.00 and InfoMail
1.11.
NetMgr is a popular general-purpose netmail tool written by Gerard
van Essen of 2:281/527. It is configured using a text file, and is
capable of acting as much more than a document server. Needless to
say, I will be concentrating on its abilities as a document server for
this article.
FDInt is a utility for FrontDoor sysops, written by Colin Turner
of 2:443/13. Again, it is a general purpose tool, of which the
document server is only a small part.
InfoMail needs no introduction for regular readers of FidoNews, as
it has been advertised in issue 1329. It is my own creation, and it
is a dedicated document server for sysops using a *.MSG netmail area.
Please accept my apologies for the lack of coverage of other
platforms, as it is impossible for me to test the methods described in
this article with any program that doesn't run on a DOS PC. I am also
limited to software which I have found locally, or on the Internet. If
you know of any other software with document server capabilities, be
sure to let FidoNews readers know about it.
Full information is available in the documentation which comes
with the software, and I will not attempt to duplicate that
information here. The purpose of this article is as much to show you
what is involved in producing network-wide bulletins as to show you
how to use the software for this purpose.
Now we move on to the business of the day, that of setting up a
bulletin. Before you start, you really need to know what information
you want to offer, and indeed, if a bulletin is the best way to do it.
A few ideas spring to mind as ideal uses for a document server,
some of which I may have mentioned in my article in FidoNews 1329.
Echo information and rules, BBS adverts, electronic magazines and
details of local events are good examples.
Once you have in mind exactly what information it is that you want
to share with other Fidonet users, you can make a start on setting up
the bulletin.
The first thing you need to do is to install the software you
intend to use, and to supply general configuration details to the
program. The procedure is quite different for each of the pieces of
software this article covers, and so I will touch on the subject only
briefly here. Refer to the documentation for more details.
To set up NetMgr, you need to create its configuration file. This
is a standard text file which you will create using your favourite
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 3 5 Aug 1996
text editor. The file should be called NETMGR.CFG, and you need to
place the following line somewhere in the file:
Home <address>
HudsonPath <path>
ScanDir <area>
If you are using a *.MSG area for your netmail, <area> should simply
be the directory containing the *.MSG's. If you are using Squish,
directory should be preceded by $; if you are using JAM, precede the
area path with !, and if you are using a Hudson message board, <area>
should be a # followed by the Hudson message board.
<Address> is simply your netmail address. You can give as many
Home commands as you have AKA addresses. This is all you need for the
initial installation of NetMgr, although you will have to add your
bulletins (see later) before the setup is of any use as a document
server.
<Path> is the path to your Hudson message base. This is only
necessary if you use a Hudson area for your netmail.
FDInt uses a proprietary setup program which is run automatically
when you first install the software (it comes as an EXE file).
Afterwards you run:
FDISETUP
at the command line. FDINT takes much of its general configuration
from FrontDoor's setup file, so installation takes minimal effort.
First, you need to set up the name(s) which FDInt will respond to
in its capacity as a document server. You can access this option from
the Names and Commands menu, Server Names option. For example, you
could have users address their document requests to 'DocServ'.
If you wish, bulletins may be split into groups. In this case,
group names may be specified using the Groups option on the Names and
Commands menu.
InfoMail does not automatically interface with FrontDoor or any
other mailer, so you will have to spoon feed it with a little more
information. Like FDInt, it uses a proprietary setup program to
access its configuration. To set up InfoMail, use the following
command:
INFOMAIL -S
The screen which appears contains five fields. You need to specify
your netmail directory (the Netmail field): this is the full path to
your *.MSG netmail directory. InfoMail can only respond to one name,
and this is defined in the 'Name' field. You can leave this as
'InfoMail' or change it to something else such as 'DocServ'.
The last mandatory piece of information is the netmail address for
InfoMail; this defaults to 2:2502/666 which will hardly be useful for
your own system. You would usually put your own primary netmail
address in here. The current release of InfoMail does not support
multiple AKA's directly; see the documentation for ways to get around
this.
If you want, you can also specify in the remaining fields global
header and footer files for the bulletins InfoMail posts; these will
be short sections of text placed at the top and bottom of the body of
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 4 5 Aug 1996
every outgoing bulletin.
Once the general configuration has been done, you will want to set
up the entry for the bulletin itself. Again, this procedure is
different for each piece of software, but before examining the methods
in detail, let us sketch out some details of the document record, for
example purposes.
There should be some way of identifying the bulletin from the
user's point of view, as all the software under consideration allows
multiple bulletins to be hosted. This would be the document Tag.
NetMgr, as you will see, allows documents to be requested in whatever
way you please, but both FDInt and InfoMail use a specific name and
address in the 'To:' field and a document tag on the subject line, so
for the purposes of this article I will standardise on this method,
and use the tag 'MyDoc'.
Next, we need to know where the text file is, which will contain
the actual text of the bulletin. In these examples I will use the
filename 'C:\BULLETIN\MYDOC.TXT'. Now for the technical details.
Using NetMgr you specify a mask for each bulletin, and the mask
contains details of how NetMgr will identify a message as a document
request, as well as how it identifies the bulletin. Assuming we want
the bulletin to be posted when a user posts a message to 'DocServ' at
your address with the subject 'MyDoc', you would add the following to
your NETMGR.CFG file:
Mask *,*,DocServ,@myaka,MyDoc,*
The first, second and sixth fields are the originating name and
address, and the attributes of the inbound message, and don't concern
us here.
The third field is the name we want NetMgr to answer to; it is the
equivalent of the global features of FDInt and InfoMail, but has the
advantage that you can specify a different user name for each
bulletin, as well as a different subject tag.
The fourth field is the address which bulletin requests must be
sent to; as with the previous field, it is a global setting in FDInt
and InfoMail which can vary from bulletin to bulletin in NetMgr.
The final field is the document tag; NetMgr will examine the
subject line of the message and identify a subject of 'MyDoc' as a
request for our document.
To get this far with FDInt and InfoMail is much more simple if a
little less versatile. The 'to' user name and address have already
been specified in the global setup, so we just have to add the
document tag.
Using FDInt, make sure you are in FDISETUP, and access the
Document Manager from the main menu. Here you can hit INS and enter
the document name 'MyDoc' in the 'Tag' field.
Using InfoMail, you must be in the document list editor,
accessible from the command line using:
INFOMAIL -L
When the document list appears, currently empty, you can add a new
document by selecting the empty entry. The document list window will
disappear, being replaced by the document record window. Here you can
enter 'MyDoc' against the 'Document' field.
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 5 5 Aug 1996
Next, to the text filename itself. In NetMgr, you post the
bulletin file using the EMPTYBOUNCE action, a command which is placed
on the line beneath the mask. For our document, it would look like
this:
Action EmptyBounce @myaka C:\BULLETIN\MYDOC.TXT
Action Delete
The second line is needed in order to remove the bulletin request
message from the netmail area; otherwise NetMgr will continue to post
the bulletin again and again, each time it is run.
In FDInt, the bulletin filename is specified as part of the
document record in the document manager, specifically the 'Path'
field. In InfoMail, the 'File' field in the document record window
exists for a similar purpose. You should enter C:\BULLETIN\MYDOC.TXT
in the appropriate field.
This is all that is actually necessary for the document record,
but there are some extra features in each of the programs which you
might like to take advantage of.
NetMgr and InfoMail contain features which allow documents to be
updated by remote users. This allows you to set up a document for a
point or user who cannot run a document server themselves, or who
would like users to have a faster turnaround time by hosting the
document at their uplink's system.
Assume that we want the document MyDoc to be updateable by the
following method: The user posts a message to 'DocServ Update' at your
system, with the document tag 'MyDoc' and a password (eg. 'Secret') on
the subject line. In NetMgr you would achieve this by adding the
following mask and actions to your NETMGR.CFG file:
Mask *, *, DocServ Update, @myaka, MyDoc Secret, *
Action File C:\BULLETIN\MYDOC.TXT
Action Delete
In InfoMail you would get the same result by specifying Secret as
the update password in the 'Password' field of the document record
window; InfoMail takes any message to its normal request name, plus '
Update', as a document update, and takes the password as the second
word on the subject line.
Needless to say, NetMgr is much more versatile in this respect, as
you can specify any way you like of identifying document updates. It
has the disadvantage, though, that the message header is included in
the updated document-- therefore the update password is quite useless.
In this case, you could utilise the first two fields of the document
mask to limit updates to a single user, and do away with the password.
As another feature, both FDInt and InfoMail create document lists.
FDInt sends out a document list when the word 'List' is encountered on
the subject line. InfoMail sends out a document list whenever a user
requests a document which doesn't exist (including List, if you do not
host a document of that name).
There are a few details in the document record which concern the
creation of document lists. In FDInt the 'Invisible' field will
prevent a document from being listed if set to 'Yes'. The 'Listed'
field in InfoMail has the opposite effect; setting it to 'No' prevents
the document from being listed. FDInt has another field,
'Description', the value of which will be displayed alongside the
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 6 5 Aug 1996
document tag in a document list.
Now the bulletins are fully set up as far as the document server
software is concerned, but the most important part of the setup, the
document file itself, is not yet present.
To avoid taking over issue 1332 of FidoNews entirely, I will round
off this week's article here. Next week's article will deal with the
writing of the bulletin itself, and will cover both the technical
aspects of netmail bulletins and some non-technical hints on the art
of bulletin writing.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
A GNU Fido?
by Gregg Jennings, 1:331/109
Our new Snooze Editor had asked (in FidoNews Vol. 13 Num. 29):
Are there any reports from the FTSC [FidoNet Technical
Standards Committee] on the state of our Standards?
Updates to our practices? Presumably, software authors
are still at it and things have changed in the last
couple years, yes?
David Rye, 1:3649/10, wrote an article in FidoNews Vol. 13 Num. 31,
"A Call For Programmers Of A New Common BBS Interface", in which he
summed up with the following:
Anyone that has an interest in trying to develop new
software with a published data format that will allow
the point and click, graphic based BBS is more than
welcome to contact me at my FidoNet address of 1:3649/10.
His article was another ponderance about what can be done to improve
FidoNet. We have all heard many death knells before, and, as David,
many people have (and will have) ideas about actually doing something.
So perhaps now more ideas about things to do will be coming in.
As these ideas are brought forth I would like people to ponder
David's statement: "new software with a published data format".
I do not think that a published data format alone will do what he
and others may suggest to improve FidoNet. To me any new
developments in software must make the source code freely
available to do some real good.
We already HAVE published data formats. We already HAVE software.
What we NEED is source code. Freely available source code.
Implementing new programs and formats is a fairly long process.
This implementation process is directly related to the number
of programmers involved. With one it is the slowest, with several
it is faster, with everyone it may not necessarily be fastest
though without some sort of coordination.
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 7 5 Aug 1996
Here is an example:
One programmer writes a new program and distributes it to
testers as an executable and documentation. People use it and
return ideas and bug reports. The programmer makes changes and
the loop continues.
After a while the program is good enough for worldwide distribution.
Then the programmer has a lifestyle change and leaves FidoNet and
improvements can no longer be made.
Some other programmer then takes over with a newer idea and the
process repeats. Sometimes this process takes years. And we
are stuck with a slowly improving, if improving at all, network.
Even if the original programmer passes on the source code to someone
else, or there are a few programmers involved, the process is still
slow and can still stagnant.
Here is another example:
One programmer writes a new program and distributes it to testers
as source. People use it and return improvements and bug fixes.
The programmer keeps track of this and keeps all coordinated during
this process.
After a while the program is good enough for worldwide distribution.
No matter what the original programmer(s) do, as long as there is a
way to coordinate improvements and bug fixes (like via an ECHO),
there is continual and constant on going improvements and enhancements
in the network for as long as there are people using it.
This is an AMATEUR (hobbyist) NON-COMMERCIAL network. I think we
all agree on this. Yes, even the original Fido/FidoNet software was
shareware. But this shareware process is what is holding back
progress and growth.
To me, the idea of, "here's a better way slash improvement slash
enhancement slash cool thing -- but everyone has to gimmee 25 bucks
to use it -- and if I die (or get pissed) too bad" is the biggest
log in the current log-jam of progress within FidoNet.
I propose that people developing software seriously think about
distributing their code under the GNU GPL or Artistic License
or some variation. I am a software developer and I know that there
are GigaBytes of source code throughout the world that is
distributed freely. Why should a hobbyist network not do this?
Now I'm not saying that everyone should give up their current
source code to everything that is now running FidoNet. Many
people worked long and hard and the want of a little bit of
compensation is fine. But before anyone thinks FidoNet can grow
and improve, remember that without the availability of the source
code, any growth and improvement may just be a spurt and nothing
more.
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 8 5 Aug 1996
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Iron Butterfly Member Disappears After Allegedly Working on
Faster-Than-Light Communication - Is He In A Godda Da Vida?
By Fredric Rice (frice@stbbs.com)
The Skeptic Tank (818) 335-9601
Originally appeared in:
Skeptic Magazine, Vol. 4, No. 2, 1996.
Here's a story that is so fragmented, so contradictory, so strange
and bizarre I eventually had to tape all the bits and pieces of the
story to my office walls to try to create some kind of a big picture.
The story is growing and I can't help but think of the possibility
that all of this information on the wall will eventually form the
basis of a legend among must-believers; a legend not quite as
powerful as the Kennedy assanation conspiracy, true, yet a legend
which should last for decades -- if not forever among believers.
I'm going to offer you what I've been able to learn about this story
as well as my own conjectures.
Philip Taylor Kramer, one-time bassist for the rock group Iron
Butterfly, disappeared on February 12'th, 1996, and hasn't been seen
or heard from since. Among the computer networks, news of his
disappearance created only a minor flurry of comments by rock music
fans yet for the most part his disappearance remained of little
interest. Until, that is, the rumors came down from both reliable
and dubious sources that Kramer was working on a faster-than-light
communications system just before his disappearance. In various
paranormal and so-called "advanced science" discussion groups, the
possibility that he had been abducted by a super secret agency of
the United States, the Russians, or aliens from another planet
began. A dozen "real reasons" for his alleged abduction have risen
to the top of the conjecture heap and all of them are, well,
imaginative.
I observed the growing rumors and the widening conspiracy yet I
didn't think much of it -- until KTLA News here in Los Angeles ran a
short five minute report on his disappearance and confirmed that
Kramer had indeed been working on a faster-than-light communications
system. KTLA reported that Representative James A. Traficant Jr. of
Ohio was concerned about Kramer's disappearance due to the fact that
Kramer held nuclear-oriented security clearances tied to the MX
Missile project and due to the type of mathematical research Kramer
was working on.
Though several tabloid papers covered this strange story, eventually
reliable sources started to investigate and report. On May 5'th, the
San Diego Union Tribune ran a lengthy story covering the
disappearance. As I had expected, the story also covered the growing
claims of conspiracy and possible abduction by mysterious agencies.
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 9 5 Aug 1996
Ron Bushy, Iron Butterfly's co-founder, was supposed to have been
working with Kramer to schedule an Iron Butterfly reunion tour at the
time of his disappearance. When the Union Tribune talked with Bushy
about Kramer's disappearance, Bushy said "I honestly believe that he
has been abducted by our government or an agency that is part of it
or maybe a foreign government or a company." [Reference 1]
The reason for this suggestion was the fact that just days before
his disappeared, Kramer and his father believed they had worked out
a mathematical breakthrough which would allow the nearly
instantaneous transmission of matter which would also revolutionize
the communications industry. "We're talking 'Beam me up Scotty'
time," Bushy said.
The research deals with a mathematical representation describing
faster-than-light communication employing gravitational waves and
magnetic particles. Current research on the detection of gravity
waves consists of hugely massive aluminum or niobium cylinders,
sitting inside of superconducting tubs of liquid nitrogen deep
underground, and the only events capable of producing gravity waves
of a high enough intensity to be detected by such devices is a
supernova, the collapse of a black hole, or the creation of the
universe. Contemporary research also suggests that using the Earth
itself in conjunction with a distant spacecraft might also be used
to detect these extremely weak waves. [reference 2] How such a
technology can be used to transmit matter or communicate over any
distance instantaneously hasn't been covered in any of the articles
I've found and nothing in any faster-than-light conjecture books I
have on hand talk about it.
The headlines of some of the articles I've found are kind of
interesting and guarantee to provoke the purchase of the publication.
"Alien Abductions? Two Rockers Lost in Space" is a story in a
publication by an organization called "Addicted To Noise" -- ATN --
which covered the disappearance of Richey Edwards and Philip
Kramer -- two rock stars who share a great many similarities in
their disappearances.
Many web pages on Internet which offer comment on Kramer's
disappearance also carry attention-grabbing titles and offer
mysterious conjectures. Several comment upon how the story of
Kramer's disappearance is worthy of something one expects to see on
"The X-Files," the FOX Network's very popular science fiction
series. Some speculate upon the meaning of the title and words of
Iron Butterfly's highly successful song "In a godda da vida," the
meaning of which is widely known among music fans as being a
drunkenly slurred reference to the Christian "Garden of Eden" myth.
Even KTLA's News anchor mistakenly stated that the song's contents
and title remains a mystery. If mankind can learn the "true
meaning" of Iron Butterfly's most famous song, several New Agers
have suggested, we'll find out what "really happened" to Philip
Kramer.
Some of the newspaper accounts conflict slightly with others.
Various report that Kramer either did or did not make an
appointment to pick up an associate at the Los Angeles Airport
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 10 5 Aug 1996
yet a $3.00 bill for 45 minutes of LAX parking was received by the
Kramer residence 10 days after his disappearance containing a
receipt with Kramer's IOU written on it. Kramer, it seems, didn't
have the cash on hand for parking or -- it is considered by some --
he didn't wish to waste three dollars on parking knowing in advance
that he was going to disappear and wanted to save his money. Being
a computer executive, Kramer would have known how easily credit
cards and checking account transactions can be tracked and, if one
wishes to go underground, hanging onto three dollars when one can
write an IOU instead makes good sense.
What's interesting is that Kramer _didn't_ pick up his associate.
Something must have happened to him at the airport while he was
waiting. It seems that he went to the airport parking lot,
receiving a parking stub, and started waiting in the arrival
terminal for his associate to arrive. Sometime during his wait,
something prompted him to simply walk back to his green van, leave
an IOU for his 45 minutes of parking, then drive off into oblivion.
As he was driving away, he made a series of strange telephone calls
to friends and family expressing his love. It seems that the last
call he made was to 911, "This is a Philip Taylor Kramer and I'm
going to kill myself."
I have asked myself, if a man is going to kill himself, why would he
leave an IOU for three dollars unless he seriously just didn't have
it on him? A successful computer executive, I would think, would
always have at least a small amount of cash. If Kramer was intent
upon making himself disappear, planting the suggestion that he was
going to kill himself might have been an attempt to make the
police who would later investigate his disappearance suppose that he
was successful. Kramer's wife also might not stand to get legal
issues resolved until years after Kramer's disappearance made him
legally dead so the claim of suicide might also have been out of a
desire to help his wife. His van hasn't been found. If he did kill
himself, his van might have been stolen and stripped down just hours
or days after his suicide. At this point, all anyone seems to be
doing is employing conjecture, myself included.
What is in agreement is that Kramer's mental stability was slipping.
Just days before he disappeared, he stated that the Earth was going
to end due to a supernova; that his father, a Professor of
engineering at Youngstown University in Ohio, was really a god; that
Jennifer, his wife, was really Mother Earth. As they were looking
for a new home several days before his disappearance, he told his
wife that he was frightened that people were going to come for him.
"Honey, we're going to have to live behind walls. Honey, people are
going to want to get at me."
Perhaps Kramer actually believed that he had stumbled upon an
astounding breakthrough. The paranoia expressed tends to make me
think that perhaps Philip Kramer disappeared to try to protect his
wife and family from what he believed were dangerous government
agencies who would eventually come after him after news of his
breakthrough became known to them. That leads me to think that, if
he is still alive and simply in hiding, he will eventually resurface
and perhaps try to either start a laboratory of his own to develope
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 11 5 Aug 1996
his breakthrough else find a laboratory he feels he can trust and
sign on with them.
For us skeptics, though, what might be more interesting was Kramer's
growing involvement and belief in New Age mysticism. The Union
Tribune reported that Kramer had read "The Celestine Prophecy" -- a
best-selling book about a middle aged man who sets out to find the
"nine insights" of life. Kramer asked his wife to only eat "colors
of the spectrum," asking that she not wear black clothes or eat meat.
This book also factors greatly in must-believers' conjectures among
the computer networks. Perhaps, some suggest, the mathematical
breakthrough that Kramer and his father developed caused Kramer
(and the van he was driving) to "vibrate" out of visibility, just as
happens in the "Celestine Prophecy." This inability to discern
reality from fiction has manifested itself repeatedly since I started
paying attention to this case. Stories from popular fiction -- like
"The X-Files," are being used to "explain" Kramer's disappearance.
Kathy Kramer, Philip Kramer's sister, has been getting unsolicited
letters from self-professed "psychics" pin-pointing her brother's
location using map-dowsing -- the "psychic" lays out a map and
suspends an object from a chain or string and, depending upon the
movement of the object, one pretends to discern where the missing
person or object is. One such "lead" which came through the mail was
from Austria and it stated that her brother was the victim of an
accident yet was alive and being worshipped as a deity among the
Pechanga Indians on a reservation outside of Los Angeles. Kathy
Kramer went to talk with the tribe's council yet they knew nothing
about her missing brother.
This brings us back to Representative James A. Traficant Jr. He
has twice asked for a federal investigation, citing Kramer's
reported mathematical breakthrough and his work with the MX missile
as cause for national security concerns. Traficant states in his
request to the FBI that it's not unlikely that the research Kramer
was working on was such that a foreign power might have "abducted,
apprehended, compromised, or somehow brainwashed" Kramer. He even
suggests that it's possible domestic agencies could use Kramer's
"extraordinary knowledge for nefarious purposes." The FBI, for its
part, at first rejected the suggestion for an inquiry yet has
reversed itself, stating "It's a known fact there are rouge nations
like Iran working on nuclear weapons who could use someone with
Taylor Kramer's knowledge to make long-range missiles. Just because
it's a remote possibility doesn't mean you shouldn't investigate it."
Because of Traficant's request, some believers in either the alien
abduction theory or the foreign/domestic government kidnapping theory
have suggested that Traficant will be the next to disappear if he
doesn't stop asking questions.
The "fact" that Kramer has finally created a "Star Trek transporter"
doesn't seem to be worthy of debate by some of the believers I've
talked with, interestingly enough. To "prove" the "undeniable fact"
that Kramer successfully created a matter transmitter, I've been told
that the electrostatic photocopier is a "case in point." When I
express my ignorance at how this proves Kramer developed a matter
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 12 5 Aug 1996
transporting technology, I'm usually ignored or told to "stop acting
stupid." Doubtless there are connections between these two amazingly
useful technologies, yet I can't help but question how the obvious
existence of photocopiers proves the existence of matter
transmitters. Perhaps the existence of one amazing machine is
"proof" that any amazing machine one might dream up is possible.
So what about faster-than-light communications? Dr. Milton A.
Rothman, former professor of physics at Trenton State College and
former research physicist at the Princeton Plasma Physics
Laboratory, covers the reasons why physicists don't expect to find
undiscovered forces allowing anti-gravity devices, faster-than-light
transportation and communication devices, and ESP, in his book
"The Science Gap: Dispelling the Myths and Understanding the
Reality of Science." Dr. Rothman states that for such things to be
possible, a new particle responsible for carrying a new force would
have to be discovered yet were such a particle to actually exist, it
would have been inferred by experimentation long before now.
Dr. Rothman states, "The conclusion to which we are forced --
unsatisfactory as it might be to many -- is that we cannot depend
upon the discovery of new and radically different kinds of forces in
the future to help us go faster than light, to hold vehicles
suspended in midair, to make objects move by directing thoughts at
them, or to transmit messages telepathically. We must make do with
the forces that exist." [Reference 3]
Dr. Rothman also covers must-believer's arguments to the contrary
when it is suggested that science has been wrong before and thus the
possibility of faster-than-light star travel or communication is
still possible. (What New Agers disdainfully call "the conventional
wisdom.") "What makes this argument invalid is the fact that
it is based upon a myth. The idea that all theories are temporary is
simply not true, even though it is believed by a great many people.
The reason is, as we have shown, that we do know some things for a
certainty."
Several things are certain in Philip Kramer's case. Kramer obviously
believed that his mathematical breakthrough was going to put his life
and the lives of his family in danger. It's also certain that if
Kramer ever surfaces, either dead or alive, the conspiracy theories
and conjecture as to the "true story" will continue for a long, long
time.
[Reference 1]
San Diego Union Tribune, May 5, 1996, page A-23
[Reference 2]
Jeffries, A. D., et al., "Gravitational Wave
Observatories," Scientific American, June 1987
Trimble, Virginia, "Gravity Waves: A Progress
Report," Sky & Telescope, October 1987.
[Reference 3]
"The Science Gap: Dispelling the Myths and
Understanding the Reality of Science," Dr. Milton
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 13 5 Aug 1996
A. Rothman, page 117.
Fredric L. Rice, Sr. Software Engineer
frice@stbbs.com
Skeptics Socity
Post Office Box 338
Altadena, California.
91001
Voice: (818)794-3119
Fax: (818)794-1301
email: skepticmag@aol.com
web: http://www.skeptic.com/
ftp: ftp://ftp.skeptic.com/pub/skeptic
-----------------------------------------------------------------
By Louie Gonsalves 1:2808/16
louie.gonsalves@phosphor.datasync.com
Introducing the ANIMANIACS echo!
ANIMANIACS is an echo dedicated to the discussion of the Warner
Brothers and their sister, Dot... and any other characters in the
show, such as Pinky and The Brain, Buttons and Mindy, Chicken Boo,
and any others.
Since this is a brand-new echo, distribution is from my system at
this time. Bundles will be placed on hold for you, pending your
poll.
To get the ANIMANIACS echo, please Crash-Netmail or Internet Email
the following info to me at: (Or, get yor REC or whoever you feed
from to grab it).
Louie Gonsalves 1:2808/16
louie.gonsalves@phosphor.datasync.com
+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Sysop Name: |
| Fido Node#: |
| Email address (if applicable): |
| Session level password: |
| Areafix password: |
+-----------------------------------------------------+
PLEASE, don't send the above info by any other means than crash
netmail or email.
It is my intention to backbone the echo, so I'll need all the help
I can get for it. =_) Message will be sent to the ECHOLIST robot
soon. The following are the rules of the echo:
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 14 5 Aug 1996
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
The Rules for the ANIMANIACS Echo:
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
1. No flames. Flames will NOT be tolerated. This is an echo for
fostering growth, not festering growths. All disputes are to be
settled outside the echo, via netmail, email or pistols at dawn.
Personal attacks, i.e.: namecalling, etc, are considered flames,
and will be dealt as such.
Flames WILL result in feedcuts.
2. Language. The official language of ANIMANIACS is English.
Please do not post in other languages.
Since this is an echo that will no doubt be read by children,
please refrain from using "colorful metaphors." I.E.: NO
CUSSING!
3. Real names ONLY. No handles, please. The only handle allowed is
Moderator, and the only person permitted to use it is the
moderator listed in the ELIST.
4. Hi ASCII. Hi-ascii characters are permitted. ANSI codes, are
NOT. Signature lines may not exceed 2 lines. Taglines are OK,
provided they don't exceed 1 line.
5. Gating. This echo may be gated to other networks, ONLY if
expressly authorized by the moderator, via netmail or email.
8. Any infraction of the items above may result in expulsion from the
echo. I warn via netmail. If you wish to contest a moderator's
desicion, please do so via netmail or email... not in the echo.
That's the rules, folks. Now let's get this sucker 'boned and on the
bird. Faboo!
Louie Gonsalves (aka Wakko Warner)
Moderator, ANIMANIACS
Fido 1:2808/16
STN 111:5701/0
louie.gonsalves@phosphor.datasync.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Points thinking about FidoNet
by Frederik Retsema, [2:280/901.35]
Assume, you are new to FidoNet. You don't know anything particular
about it, only that a friend of yours is (he calls it) point, and
that he likes that. He shows you the way he gets his mail and what
he and other people write.
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 15 5 Aug 1996
You like it, you become a point yourself and get interested in the
way BBS-es (woeps... corrected... nodes) exchange mail. You listen
to what the nodes tell, trying to understand why the situation in
your part of FidoNet, Holland (woeps... corrected... region 28) is
the way it is.
And then... Something happens. You think you have a solution to the
problems. A way to solve some unwanted situation. You put this very
logical and simple plan into an echomailarea and... stand corrected
because the situation was a little more difficult than you thought.
This happened about four or five times to me. I still like it to
think with people about the best way to solve problems in region
28. I still like to think about advantages and disadvantages of
some solutions to this situation.
There is a problem, though.
It appears to me that many discussions about FidoNet are in the
sysop-only-areas. Areas that are not readable (not to be spoken
about writable) for points. And that's a pitty, because most
writers in the general available areas about FidoNet _can_ read
these areas. And know more about the situation than I do. Which is
a drawback when wanting to make usable suggestions for the given
situation.
Examples of wanted information that was/is not available for
points are for example: the names of the candidates of NEC-elections
in my net and the way these persons act upon eachother, information
from the RC/REC about the situation in my region, pro's and con's of
the ENC-flag in zone 2, decisions and other information of the
echomaildistributors, etc.
A solution to this problem would be to make sysop-areas read-only
for points. In this way points would at least be able to read what
the real problems of the current situation are. In this way the
points can think about _real_ solutions to these problems which
makes them more valuable to FidoNet. Why should a point not be able
to find good solutions to the given FidoNet-problems ?
Let's be honoust: if the information in these net- and region-
sysop-areas were _that_ secret that points shouldn't know about
them, you wouldn't tell the other x-hundred nodes who can read in it
too. There's no reason to beleave that nodes are better persons than
points or users are. And so there's no reason to beleave that
points will mess up the situation more than some nodes do now
already ;-).
The last time I tried to gain access to a more or less node-only area
was this winter. This discussion lasted 6 months, but some nodes just
wanted to keep their privileges. Some of them just didn't see that
points (and users) _are_ part of FidoNet and that the policy is just
a little outdated on this point.
Because, let's face it, FidoNet is _not_ defined by the nodelist, but
FidoNet consists of private- and public mailservices to nodes, points
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 16 5 Aug 1996
and users. And why would people that are part of these mail-services
not be a part of FidoNet ?!
Some people just don't seem to see that the role of a node to a point
is not really different to the role of a hub to a node or a host to
a hub. For netmail only ZMH and the missing possibility of unrouted
netmailrouting to the point or user are different, but that is
something the point him/herself is choosing for. That's none of the
business of the sender of whatever kind of message. For the way
echomail of points and users are treated there are no differences at
all.
Well, I'll be corrected here. Because of some out-dated policy,
because nodes want to keep their privileges, because some nodes do
not trust points and/or users and think the only thing points and
users want is free and fast net- and echomail on their costs, because
they think it _does_ make a difference whether or not one can send
mail without any system between sender and receiver or because they
see some points with real big mouthes comming up and they try to do
anything to annoy them, hoping them to leave FidoNet.
After 6 months of discussing this subject I'll stop here and now.
That is, as a point. I'm a node since last Friday. That seems for now
the only possible way to gain access to the same information about
FidoNet that FidoNet nodes have.
Sad, but true...
Frederik Retsema
2:280/905
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 17 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
FIDONET HISTORY
=================================================================
FidoNet History 30 Jul 93 [Part 3 of 3]
Date: 09 Aug 93 20:29:00
From: Bart Mullins
To: All
Subj: FidoNet History
______________________________________________________________________
Hello All!
A few days ago, some folks asked questions about the history of
fidonet. Well John Madill is working with Infinite Technologies and I
got the story straight from him. I re-post it here with his
permission.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date and Time: 07-30-1993 at 15:43:02
Originated By: Scott Paterson (rsvp @ novell)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Hey, John Madill was famous in San Jose about two weeks ago. He made
the front page of our Computing section in the San Jose Mercury News
(it's nice to have a newspaper that has a whole section each week
dedicated to Computing). Anyway, it spoke of the inception of FidoNet
but didn't give any specific information on where you could find out
more. How about it.
-Scott
====================
R. Scott V. Paterson
Novell Messaging
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 7/30/93 Time: 11:21 PM
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To: Mullins,Bart (Bart Mullins @ MWRS.12MWRSS)
From: John Madill (John @ Infinite)
Subject: FidoNet History
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message:
Originated By: John Madill (JOHN @ INFINITE)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well, Scott, thanks for that nice intro! <g> If it's the same article
that appeared here (by Steve Snow, Knight Ridder), I could comment
that I only had 1 small mention, and it basically stated that I was a
"co-worker", but thanks for using up my 15 minutes of fame! <g>
Back in the early 80's, I was working at a ComputerLand in Baltimore
(not Boston ... Tom Jennings was living in San Francisco, but he was
working for Phoenix Technologies in Boston.) For those of you that
care to remember, way back then there was a product that was
introduced called the IBM PC ... which everyone wanted, but was in
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 18 5 Aug 1996
short supply. As an alternative, we were trying very hard to sell DEC
Rainbows, which weren't exactly IBM compatible.
Since I had purchased a Rainbow myself (really *smart* move ... NOT),
and had an interest in BBSes and telecommunications, I started
searching for a BBS and Telecomm software for the DEC. After visiting
*many* BBSes and asking for help, I was beginning to fear that I'd
have to write the stuff myself. Fortunately, someone recommended that
I call a board in SF called "Fido's BBS".
Trivia: The name Fido came from the mishmash of 68000 hardware that
Tom was using to run the BBS on ... a real mongrel. How many 68000
systems did you ever hear of that had DOS as the operating system?
Since Tom did implementations of DOS for Phoenix, he wrote a version
for that system.
Anyways ... I called Tom, we talked, and I found out that he actually
did the original BIOS and DOS for the DEC Rainbow, and converted his
comm programs (TelLink & MiniTel) to run on the DEC so he could port
stuff over to the Rainbow.
Now, I had a comm program. One of the things that we decided to do
was to convert Fido's BBS to run on the DEC. Only one small problem:
I had the DEC, and Tom didn't. We were stuck ... had to work
together.
As a result of this, we ended up working together to enhance Fido, and
spent a lot of time "Yelling at the Sysop" ... chatting thru the
keyboards back and forth. (This is NOT a recommended means of
communicating via long distance, especially when we could have hung
up, and called via voice.)
After many gigantic telephone bills, we pretty much agreed that there
*might* be a better way. The problem was that I'd call his BBS to
leave a message, and he'd see me there, so we'd chat ... or vice-
versa. Since the key was to deposit e-mail at another BBS, the
solution seemed obvious. Make Fido call the other Fido ... deliver
mail, and hang up.
There were only 2 Fidos at that time, Tom's and Mine, so although we
figured we add in a couple of more, we didn't think we'd need much
sophistication for addressing ... just add in a "FidoNet" message
area, secure it, and assign node numbers. Ask the user for the Node
number, let the FidoNet module look up the phone number, and call off
peak to save $.
Well, word got around pretty fast, and nodes started springing up all
over. That's when we got interested in the routing ... allowing the
creation of centralized hubs, and piggy backing mail to nodes within a
local call to a single node thru that node. We actually started
dreaming one day of linking coast to coast only thru local phone
calls! (I wonder if you can do that today?)
Tom took on the responsibility of dishing out the node numbers - this
was the only way we could eliminate duplicates - an since we only
allocated 3 positions for node numbers (nnn), soon we had a *big*
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 19 5 Aug 1996
problem. We had close to 1000 nodes and growing. Now what? We took
the opportunity to alter the Nodelist format so that we had regions
and nodes within regions ... (region-node), divided the USA into
regions, and appointed Sysops as "region leaders" who could give out
node numbers and maintain the nodelist for that region. These lists
were then distributed, and merged together at each site by add-in
nodelist generators.
Another stage in development was when we went international. We
decided to add in Zones (Zone-Region-Node) *before* we ran out of
Regions.
This was pretty cool ... for a while ... and then IFNA got formed.
The International FidoNet Association ... oh boy! Enter politics.
For those of you that have never been there, you really don't know
what missed.
Mandates that the entire structure, protocol, and operation be
documented ... and distributed ... all from people that had nothing to
do with the design, creation or maintenance of the FidoNet software.
Another demand by IFNA was that no changes could be made to the
FidoNet system without approval by the Technical committee. A lot of
really neat things came out of the members (not committees) ... like
Echos, which are similar to Discussion lists (library@infinite and
library@novell) and listservers on the internet. We also saw the
creation of the internet gateway to FidoNet.
People got upset ... alternate nets got created (AlterNet, etc.), and
people left. What started as a grass-roots communications network
grew rapidly out of control due to internal political struggles.
I got disillusioned, and resigned from zone 1, region 2, node number
2.
(I still love e-mail, though! <g>)
P.S. Anyone out there know where Tom Jennings is? Perhaps we need to
get his expertise involved with MHS!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that's it folks. Hope it answers some questions.
Cheers,
Bart
* Origin: The Unofficial BBS (1:387/615)
-30-
[end of Part 3 of 3]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 20 5 Aug 1996
[This was the VERY FIRST FidoNews issue. It is published here
as part of our continuing History of FidoNet information. The
spelling errors of the original have been corrected. The
content is unchanged. Ed.]
Volume 1, Number 1 1 Dec 84
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| _ |
| / \ |
| - FidoNews - /|oo \ |
| (_| /_) |
| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
| ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Editor: Tom Jennings
Publisher: Fido #1
HOT NEWS
THE FIRST FIDONET NEWSLETTER
Well, it finally got done ... FidoNews, the FidoNet Users
Group newsletter is real. It will be published once a week, possibly
once every two weeks if it gets busy.
There will be at least three regular "features": the node
list, Fido list, and the route list. Hopefully there will be more
interesting things later. Now you have a reason to get FidoNews.
I, Tom Jennings, am apparently the editor. I do NOT wish to
be editor; the last thing I need is something else to do. See the
HELP WANTED section. (Not kidding)
We (ahem) are also looking for a publisher; I will do that
for a while at least. A freebie outgoing host would be nice. Not a
short term problem, though, like finding an Editor in Chief is.
*All* articles, etc are user submitted; anything and
everything, as per usual Fidonet protocols (Which isn't saying much
..) Ideas, problems, questions, tips, programs, hardware, etc etc
are all welcome. See the ARTICLE article. (sic)
Distribution is still up in the air; it will be mailed to at
least six hosts across the country. For now, it is available on #1
and #51. Possibly elsewhere in this thing you'll find an article on
distribution.
THE FIDONET USERS GROUP
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 21 5 Aug 1996
Oh yeah, I did mention that ... I hereby declare all Fido
users and sysops members of the FidoNet Users Group. Sounds pretty
stupid, huh? Well ... If there are 100 Fido systems around the
country, and each has at least 100 users, that's 10,000 people. Any
group that large has advantages, if nothing other than letters to
the editor of your favorite magazine. This is just a brainstorm at
this point, but is something to keep in mind.
To make this fake club at least appear real, I am trying to
decide whether or not to have bumper stickers made. This will be 3
3/4" X 8 1/2" white vinyl, with black artwork, will have the
requisite doggie, the words "FidoNet Bulletin Board Network" and
"Fido Node #" on it, and a place for a phone number, and blank
space. These will cost $165.00 for 500 stickers, or about $230.00
for 1000. I'll pay part of it ($40.00?) but no more; if I get
promises to buy say $125.00's worth, I'll have them made, and sell
them at cost. (They cost about 34 cents each; plus 20 cents
postage, plus envelopes, etc, call it a buck a piece.)
The real reason for this is so I can have one, but I don't
want to spend $165 for it!
EDITOR'S SOAP BOX
ARTICLE SUBMISSION
The format of this thing is totally ad hoc; please make
recommendations as to formats, sections needed, liked, or hated,
columns you'd like to see, or see removed, anything at all. If you
want to submit something regularly, we can start a column for you.
You are ENCOURAGED to send things in for the newsletter.
ANYTHING is fit for the newsletter, such as a description of your
board, problems found, questions, jokes, fixes, horror stories about
wrong FidoNet numbers, things for sale, etc etc etc.
SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE
An article should have your name, node number (if
applicable), followed by the text. Text can be any ASCII derivative;
WordStar, soft paragraphs, 8th bit set, etc are all OK.
Articles can be uploaded at either Fido #1 or #51, into the
NEWS File Area, or by sending it by FidoNet. There is a convention
for naming the files, so that the newsletter can be published
automatically.
ARTICLE FILENAMES
file.ART For article type things
file.SAL Things for sale
file.NOT Notices
file.MSC Miscellaneous things
file.EDT an Editorial
file.NEW News items
file.WNT Wanted items
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 22 5 Aug 1996
Make sure the name is unique, especially if you send it by
FidoNet, so you don't overwrite another article.
NEWS
HOW THIS IS PUBLISHED
This is a totally electronic newsletter; articles are
written of course by users and sysops, but all other parts and
procedures are machine generated.
For each newsletter, the Editor (that's me folks) does the
date and volume of the title page (tough job), and whatever
editorial there may be.
Articles are checked out for being readable (ie. more or
less English language), and bum copies (bad uploads, etc) are
deleted.
The lists generated by FidoNet Admin (St. Louis) such as the
node list, Fido list, and the route list, come in via FidoNet during
the week.
On the day the newsletter is to be published, Fido #1 runs
the text formatter (as a schedule) to produce the newsletter, using
all the articles, the node and Fido lists. The completed newsletter
is then copied into the NEWS file area. All of the article
submissions are saved as last week's news, and deleted to make room
for next weeks.
Some canned messages are copied into Fido 1's mail area,
which file attaches the newsletter to the distribution points. This
completes the FidoNews Newsletter publication. FIDO SECURITY -Tom
Jennings
Fido is pretty secure, but there have been a few instances
where callers gave themselves SYSOP privileges, and ran amok ...
the cure is quite simple.
NEVER NEVER NEVER have your "main" Fido directory available
as a download or upload area. Always make sure there is no path that
can reach your .BBS files. It is OK to have it as a SYSOP only area,
never let it be accessed by NORMAL users.
If it is available, all someone has to do is get a copy of
SYSOP.EXE, run it, and make a USER.BBS with them as SYSOP privilege.
After uploading this file, they call back in, with the new name, and
bingo! they are in control.
A nastier version of this is to download your current user
list, use SYSOP.EXE to upgrade them (or two, or three ... in case
you find one of them) the upload it.
If this happens to you, delete USER.BBS *immediately*. Fix
it so that the Fido area is not available to users, and then you
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 23 5 Aug 1996
will be safe.
Better do it quick, now that it's all documented here.
NOTICES
FOR SALE
WANTED
THE ROUTE LIST
This is the latest route list (ROUTE.BBS). Please put this
into ROUTE.BBS if you are not part of a local Fidonet Host system.
If you are (or think you are) contact the host nearest you. One way
to tell is to poke through FIDOLIST, and see if a local system found
there is also in the list below.
Route-To 1
1,99
Route-To 27
14,21,27,44,45,73,202,310,315,318
Route-To 51
4,10,16,17,22,51,65
Route-To 56
56,77
Route-To 59
59,309
Route-To 61
61,302
Route-To 69
63,69
Route-To 85
85,306,308,312,326
Route-To 79
79,204,205,317
Route-To 207
42,203,207,320
Route-To 327
327,328
-30-
[How many of you still around remember what this Route-to file
was for? [grin] Ed.]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 24 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
WE GET EMAIL
=================================================================
--- Following message extracted from NETMAIL @ 1:374/14 ---
By Christopher Baker on Sat Aug 03 12:03:44 1996
From: Kerry Grissett @ 1:3607/4
To: Christopher Baker @ 1:374/14
Date: 03 Aug 96 01:47:15
Subj: FIDONEWS echo
Hey Chris,
First let me thank you for taking over the editing of FIDONEWS! Your
efforts and changes to our "rag" have made it, once again, something
worth reading and with the "History" section, something worth saving!
Now, to the point(s) of my message...
Is the FIDONEWS echo going to be carried on Planet Connect? If so,
when?
Also, this may be more than you want to do, but I thought it might be
of use...
The version of FIDONEWS is published with the "next page" printer
control codes in place. I would love to automate a process where the
FIDONEWS is incorporated as a bulletin on my system, processing
updates as they come in. The control code causes a problem, though.
I see 2 solutions, having a program to strip the code before posting
it as a bulletin or dual versions of FIDONEWS.
If you know how I could *easily* strip the page codes in a batch file
automatically, then I'll try that. <g>
Thanks again and keep up the excellent work!
Kerry Grissett
NC3607
ksgrisse@hiwaay.net
P.S.
You may post this in FIDONEWS if you see fit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Area: Sent_Netmail
Date : Jul 13 '96, 08:52
From : Cindy Ingersoll 1:2623/71.0
To : Christopher Baker
Subj : Fidonews: R13 Sinking...
_____________________________________________________________________
Where are all the *Cs? Philip Dampiere (R13C) seems to have
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 25 5 Aug 1996
disappeared. It's time for replacements. Bob Satti doesn't seem
inclined to do anything about the situation either, so how do we go
about replacing him?
In the meantime, I'm a node without a net. The fellow who 'took over'
as our N2623C insists on removing my node, just 'cos he don't like
me'. That's pretty much the expected in this region. I've been trying
to resolve the situation, but the NC refuses to discuss the issue, no
replies from the RC. I've been given a temporary node # in another
net, until such time as R13
and South Jersey's net 2623 have *Cs that follow fidonet policy & do
not delete nodes on their whim.
-1:2623/71
CiAo
---
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 26 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
NET HUMOR
=================================================================
From: top5@walrus.com
Comments: Authenticated sender is <top5@walrus.com>
To: topfive@news.zdnet.com
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 1996 01:10:18 +45
Subject: TopFive -- 7/24/96 -- Reasons Dogs Don't Use Computers
Reply-To: Top5@walrus.com
Sender: owner-topfive@news.zdnet.com
_____________________________________
_________| |________
\ | The Top Five List | /
\ | www.topfive.com | /
\ | | /
\ | Sponsored by Windows Sources | /
> | www.wsources.com | <
/ | | \
/ | July 24, 1996 | \
/ |_____________________________________| \
/___________) (__________\
[ This list copyright 1996 by Chris White and Ziff-Davis ]
[ *To forward or repost, you must include this section.* ]
[ The Top Five List top5@walrus.com www.topfive.com ]
The Top 5 Reasons Dogs Don't Use Computers
20> Can't stick their heads out of Windows '95.
19> Fetch command not available on all platforms.
18> Hard to read the monitor with your head cocked to one side.
17> Too difficult to "mark" every website they visit.
16> Can't help attacking the screen when they hear "You've
Got Mail."
15> Fire hydrant icon simply frustrating.
14> Involuntary tail wagging is dead giveaway they're browsing
www.pethouse.com instead of working.
13> Keep bruising noses trying to catch that MPEG frisbee.
12> Not at all fooled by Chuckwagon Screen Saver.
11> Still trying to come up with an "emoticon" that signifies
tail-wagging.
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 27 5 Aug 1996
10> Oh, but they WILL... with the introduction of the
Microsoft Opposable Thumb.
9> Three words: Carpal Paw Syndrome
8> 'Cause dogs ain't GEEKS! Now, cats, on the other hand...
7> Barking in next cube keeps activating YOUR voice
recognition software.
6> SmellU-SmellMe still in beta test.
5> SIT and STAY were hard enough, GREP and AWK are out
of the question!
4> Saliva-coated mouse gets mighty difficult to manuever.
3> Annoyed by lack of newsgroup, alt.pictures.master's.leg.
2> Butt-sniffing more direct and less deceiving than
online chat rooms.
and the Number 1 Reason Dogs Don't Use Computers...
1> TrO{gO DsA[M,bN HyAqR4tDc TgrOo TgYPmE WeIjTyH P;AzWqS,. *
Today's Top Five List contributors are:
----------------------------------------------------------------
John Hering, Alexandria, VA -- 1 (5th #1) (Hall of Famer)
Sterling Smith, Houston, TX -- 1 (3rd #1)
Bruce Ansley, Baltimore, MD -- 2, 14 (Hall of Famer)
Lloyd Jacobson, Washington, DC -- 3, 11
Rob Winchell, Arlington, MA -- 4, 12
Lisa Stepaniak, Dearborn, MI -- 5, 20 (Rookies!)
Lee Oeth, San Diego, CA -- 6, 20
Matt Diamond, Holland, PA -- 6, 17
Doug Johnson, Santa Cruz, CA -- 7, 9
Marc Cukier, Toronto, Canada -- 8
Vickie Neilson, Carlsbad, CA -- 9
Boyd Johnson, San Diego, CA -- 9
Kermit Woodall, Richmond, VA -- 9
David Hyatt, New York, NY -- 10
Jim Louderback, New York, NY -- 11 (Hall of Famer)
Paul Lara, Temple, TX -- 13
Tony Hill, Minneapolis, MN -- 15 (Hall of Famer)
Jennifer Hart, Arlington, VA -- 16
Steve Hurd, San Ramon, CA -- 17
Ed Brooksbank, Sacramento, CA -- 17
Randy Wohl, Ma'ale Adumim, Israel -- 17, 18
Chris McKenna, Malibu, CA -- 17
Greg Pettit, Houston, TX -- 17, 20
Dennis Koho, Keizer, OR -- 19
Chris White, New York, NY -- List owner/editor
----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 28 5 Aug 1996
Selected from 140 submissions by 47 contributors.
================================================================
*** Windows Sources Spotlight ***
> Hot Spots for NT 4.0 at <
www.zdnet.com/wsources/content/current/exchange.html
================================================================
Top Five List Helpful Hints
To subscribe: Send a message to "Majordomo@news.zdnet.com"
with "subscribe topfive" in the body of the message.
To unsubscribe: Send a message to "Majordomo@news.zdnet.com"
with "unsubscribe topfive" in the body of the message.
For further info (including how to become a contributor):
Send an e-mail message to "top5@walrus.com" with the word
"INFO" in the *subject* line of the message.
================================================================
Maybe It Just Might Be True!
Elvis is still alive, and is living in Vegas
disguised as an Elvis impersonator.
(Thanks to Agnes Tomorrow)
(Send items to top5@walrus.com with "MAYBE" in the subject.)
================================================================
** The Top Five List http://www.topfive.com **
** Sponsored by Windows Sources http://www.wsources.com **
* 1> Too Damn Hard To Type With Paws.
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 29 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
COMIX IN ASCII
=================================================================
--- Following message extracted from Z1_BACKBONE @ 1:374/14 ---
By Christopher Baker on Mon Jul 31 22:38:59 1995
From: George Vandervort
To: Scott R. Godin
Date: 30 Jul 95 10:17:02
Subj: Map This!
Here's a start, your welcome to use this Map as a sample to complete
your on Fido USA Map? <grin>
=== Cut ===
Here's a Birds EYE view..
Central Texas Sysop Association (Fido 1:382/89) ..
........................................ : :
: SEA :: : BIS : | ' ., ,. : PWM
: .......: : MSO BIL:........: |.''.. '..'. .--. .''
: PDX .' :........: : MSP ':.' :. .. SYR: BOS
: : BOI : : PIR :...... MKE : :......:...:
:.......:......: :'''''''': DSM :---::...-'''': PIT JFK
: : : :.... CYS. :.....' : : DAY:......:.:
: : RNO : SLC: :'''''''' MCI : : :....' .' :
: SFO' : : DEN ICT : STL :.' :..' RIC:
: '. :.....:......:.........:......:'- BNA-'-.'''''''':
:. ': : :''': OKC: :........:-----. CHS
' LAX: PHX: ABQ: '--....:. LIT : : ATL. .'
'':. : : DFW :---: JAN: MGM ' SAV
'''--.::':''' '. '.. : ..:.....:
: .. AUS ..:... MSY'''''''-. :
'' : SAT .' ''' : :
'. / '. MIA
. BRO '.'
=== Cut ===
Regards,
George Vandervort
InterNet: gvandervort@infomail.com (No FTP)
Origin: Lounge Lizard's Retreat <tm> (1:382/8)
-30-
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 30 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
ADVERTISE YOUR FREE SERVICE/EVENT
=================================================================
Sorcery v0.72 Wide Beta RELEASED!
by Chris Reiter, [1:280/205/Hark@Clubmet.Metrobbs.Com]
SORCERY v.72a - Imagine yourself a wise sorcerer, with many spells
at your fingertips. What would you do? Be nice? Nah. You'd kill off
everyone in your path. Now more bug fixes and additions than ever!
Sorcery is now in Wide Beta, and can be FREQ'd from 1:280/205, with
the most current version under the magic name: SORCERY. It can also
be downloaded from The Dead Zone BBS (913)362-9922. Logon as GUEST
with the password GUEST. Select "D" from the Main Menu. That will
download the most current version of Sorcery also.
Any questions can be directed to Chris Reiter, 1:280/205, or
Hark@Clubmet.Metrobbs.Com.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 31 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
QUESTION OF THE WEEK
=================================================================
Back in the dim time when I was NC135 in Miami_FL, we used to have an
annual picnic for all the Sysops and Users. We had a barbecue and
games related to computing like floppy disk throwing. One year, we
even had a hard disk toss. [grin]
So, the Question of the Week is:
Do you have local FidoNet parties and what do you do there?
Send your answers in as .ART submissions or Netmail or email to the
addresses listed in the FidoNews Information section.
Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 32 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
Future History
15 Aug 1996
Liberation Day, South Korea
12 Oct 1996
General Elections, New Zealand.
29 Oct 1996
Republic Day, Turkey.
5 Nov 1996
Election day, U.S.A.
5 Nov 1996
Guy Fawkes Day, England.
1 Dec 1996
Twelfth Anniversary of FidoNews Volume 1, Issue 1.
12 Dec 1996
Constitution Day, Russia
26 Jan 1997
Australia Day, Australia.
6 Feb 1997
Waitangi Day, New Zealand.
16 Feb 1997
Eleventh Anniversary of invention of Echomail by Jeff Rush.
11 Jun 1997
Independence Day, Russia
26 Jul 1997
FidoNews Editor turns 48.
6 Dec 1997
Gallileo takes close-ups of Europa to resolution
of 11 meters at the north pole.
1 Dec 1998
Fifteenth Anniversary of release of Fido version 1 by
Tom Jennings.
-- If YOU have something which you would like to see in this
Future History, please send a note to the FidoNews Editor.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 33 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING
=================================================================
Latest Greatest Software Versions
by Peter E. Popovich, 1:363/264
This column will once again become a regular feature of Fidonews.
Upon suggestion from ARTSPEC.DOC, I'll write a smidge about myself:
Hi. I'm Peter Popovich. I first read Fidonews around 1986. I actually
used to print the darn thing out and read it thoroughly even though I
wasn't running a Fido-compatible BBS at the time. I've only been a
node for two years, but I do remember the "good old days".
About two weeks ago, I opened my big mouth and agreed that reviving
this column would be a good idea. The result: I got "volunteered" to
write it. Critics beware: Our esteemed editor has a talent for
turning suggestions for improvement into offers to write columns. ;-)
When I accepted the inevitable, Chris forwarded me a copy of the most
recent versions list -- 4 1/2 years old! Rather than tracking down
authors for each of the hundreds of programs below, I figured I'd run
the last list verbatim and use it as a starting point. Hopefully the
rather limited readership will start making noises to authors and the
authors will write in with updates. The added benefit is that it will
help encourage active reading of the good ol' Snooze. ;-)
I expect the format to change slightly in the coming weeks. For those
packages I hear from authors for, I'm considering adding one Fidonet
address for contact and one magic name for FREQ at that site --
hopefully I can keep it down to one line per program:
Program Name Version S? Contact Name Node Magic Name
----------------------------------------------------------------
NNNNNNNNNNNNNN VVVVVVV X FFFFFFFFLLLLLLLL X:XXXX/XXXX MMMMMMMM
(S: Shareware, freeware, crippleware, etc. -- I'm still thinking
about how best to classify this. I may modify the flags used in the
old format as well.)
One additional note: Articles submitted directly to the Fidonews
Editor don't get forwarded to me; I don't see them until they're
published. If you want your entry changed in a timely fashion, you
are encouraged to send me notice of an update directly. I'll be happy
to put blurbs about new versions in a leading section (no vaporware,
please). As always, authors are encouraged to submit articles as
well.
Constructive criticism on format and procedure is welcome.
Updates and suggestions should be sent to: Peter Popovich, 1:363/264
-=- Snip -=-
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 34 5 Aug 1996
Latest Update: 01/27/92
---------------------------------------------------------------------
MS-DOS Systems
--------------
BBS Software NodeList Utilities Compression
Name Version Name Version Utilities
-------------------- -------------------- Name Version
ADTBBS 1.50@ EditNL 4.00 --------------------
Aurora 1.32b FDND 1.10 ARC 7.12
DMG 2.93 MakeNL 2.31 ARJ 2.20
DreamBBS 1.05 Parselst 1.33 LHA 2.13
Fido/FidoNet 12.21 Prune 1.40 PAK 2.51
Genesis Deluxe 3.2 SysNL 3.14 PKPak 3.61
GSBBS 3.02 XlatList 2.90 PKZip 1.10
Kitten 1.01 XlaxNode/Diff 2.53
Lynx 1.30
Maximus-CBCS 2.00
Merlin 1.39n Other Utilities(A-M) Other Utilities(N-Z)
Opus 1.73a* Name Version Name Version
Oracomm 5.M.6P@ -------------------- --------------------
Oracomm Plus 6.E@ 2DAPoint 1.50* Netsex 2.00b
PCBoard 14.5a 4Dog/4DMatrix 1.18 OFFLINE 1.35
Phoenix 1.07* ARCAsim 2.31 Oliver 1.0a
ProBoard 1.20* ARCmail 3.00* OSIRIS CBIS 3.02
QuickBBS 2.75 Areafix 1.20 PKInsert 7.10
RBBS 17.3b ConfMail 4.00 PolyXarc 2.1a
RemoteAccess 1.11* Crossnet 1.5 QM 1.00a
SimplexBBS 1.05 DOMAIN 1.42 QSort 4.04
SLBBS 2.15C* DEMM 1.06 RAD Plus 2.11
Socrates 1.11 DGMM 1.06 Raid 1.00
SuperBBS 1.12* DOMAIN 1.42 RBBSMail 18.0
SuperComm 0.99 EEngine 0.32 ScanToss 1.28
TAG 2.5g EMM 2.11* ScMail 1.00
TBBS 2.1 EZPoint 2.1 ScEdit 1.12
TComm/TCommNet 3.4 FGroup 1.00 Sirius 1.0x
Telegard 2.7* FidoPCB 1.0s@ SLMail 2.15C
TPBoard 6.1 FNPGate 2.70 SquishMail 1.00
TriTel 2.0* GateWorks 3.06e StarLink 1.01
WildCat! 3.02* GMail 2.05 TagMail 2.41
WWIV 4.20 GMD 3.10 TCOMMail 2.2
XBBS 1.77 GMM 1.21 Telemail 1.5*
GoldEd 2.31p TGroup 1.13
GROUP 2.23 TIRES 3.11
Network Mailers GUS 1.40 TMail 1.21
Name Version Harvey's Robot 4.10 TosScan 1.00
-------------------- HeadEdit 1.18 UFGATE 1.03
BinkleyTerm 2.50 HLIST 1.09 VPurge 4.09e
D'Bridge 1.30 IMAIL 1.20 WEdit 2.0@
Dreamer 1.06 InterPCB 1.31 WildMail 2.00
Dutchie 2.90c ISIS 5.12@ WMail 2.2
FrontDoor 2.02 Lola 1.01d WNode 2.1
InterMail 2.01 Mosaic 1.00b XRS 4.99
Milqtoast 1.00 MailBase 4.11a@ XST 2.3e
PreNM 1.48 MSG 4.5* YUPPIE! 2.00
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 35 5 Aug 1996
SEAdog 4.60 MSGED 2.06 ZmailH 1.25
SEAmail 1.01 MsgLnk 1.0c ZSX 2.40
TIMS 1.0(mod8) MsgMstr 2.03a
MsgNum 4.16d
MSGTOSS 1.3
OS/2 Systems
------------
BBS Software Other Utilities(A-M Other Utilities(N-Z)
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Kitten 1.01 ARC 7.12 oMMM 1.52
Maximus-CBCS 2.00 ARC2 6.01 Omail 3.1
SimplexBBS 1.04.02+ ConfMail 4.00 Parselst 1.33
EchoStat 6.0 PKZip 1.02
EZPoint 2.1 PMSnoop 1.30
Network Mailers FGroup 1.00 PolyXOS2 2.1a
Name Version GROUP 2.23 QSort 2.1
-------------------- LH2 2.11 Raid 1.0
BinkleyTerm 2.50 MSG 4.2 Remapper 1.2
BinkleyTerm(S) 2.50 MsgEd 2.06c SquishMail 1.00
BinkleyTerm/2-MT MsgLink 1.0c Tick 2.0
1.40.02 MsgNum 4.16d VPurge 4.09e
SEAmail 1.01
Xenix/Unix 386
--------------
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
ARC 5.21
C-LHARC 1.00
MsgEd 2.06
|Contact: Willy Paine 1:343/15,| MSGLINK 1.01
|or Eddy van Loo 2:285/406 | oMMM 1.42
Omail 1.00
ParseLst 1.32
Unzip 3.10
VPurge 4.08
Zoo 2.01
QNX
---
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
QTach2 1.09 QMM 0.50s Kermit 2.03
QCP 1.02
NodeList Utilities Archive Utilities QSave 3.6
Name Version Name Version QTTSysop 1.07.1
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 36 5 Aug 1996
-------------------- -------------------- SeaLink 1.05
QNode 2.09 Arc 6.02 XModem 1.00
LH 1.00.2 YModem 1.01
Unzip 2.01 ZModem 0.02f
Zoo 2.01
Apple II
--------
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
DDBBS + 8.0* Fruity Dog 2.0 deARC2e 2.1
GBBS Pro 2.1 ProSel 8.70*
ShrinkIt 3.30*
|Contact: Dennis McClain-Furmanski 1:275/42| ShrinkIt GS 1.04
Apple CP/M
----------
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
Daisy 2j Daisy Mailer 0.38 Filer 2-D
MsgUtil 2.5
Nodecomp 0.37
PackUser 4
UNARC.Com 1.20
Macintosh
---------
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Software
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
FBBS 0.91 Copernicus 1.0 ArcMac 1.3
Hermes 1.6.1 Tabby 2.2 AreaFix 1.6
Mansion 7.15 Compact Pro 1.30
Precision Sys. 0.95b EventMeister 1.0
Red Ryder Host 2.1 Export 3.21
Telefinder Host Import 3.2
2.12T10 LHARC 0.41
MacArd 0.04
Mantissa 3.21
Point System Mehitable 2.0
Software OriginatorII 2.0
Name Version PreStamp 3.2
-------------------- StuffIt Classic 1.6
Copernicus 1.00 SunDial 3.2
CounterPoint 1.09 TExport 1.92
MacWoof 1.1 TimeStamp 1.6
TImport 1.92
Tset 1.3
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 37 5 Aug 1996
TSort 1.0
UNZIP 1.02c
Zenith 1.5
Zip Extract 0.10
Amiga
-----
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Software
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
4D-BBS 1.65 BinkleyTerm 1.00 Areafix 1.48
DLG Pro. 0.96b TrapDoor 1.80 AReceipt 1.5
Falcon CBCS 1.00 WelMat 0.44 ChameleonEdit 0.11
Starnet 1.0q@ ConfMail 1.12
TransAmiga 1.07 ElectricHerald 1.66
XenoLink 1.0 Compression FFRS 1.0@
Utilities FileMgr 2.08
Name Version Fozzle 1.0@
NodeList Utilities -------------------- Login 0.18
Name Version AmigArc 0.23 MessageFilter 1.52
-------------------- booz 1.01 Message View 1.12
ParseLst 1.66 LHARC 1.30 oMMM 1.50
Skyparse 2.30 LhA 1.10 PolyXAmy 2.02
TrapList 1.40 LZ 1.92 RMB 1.30
PkAX 1.00 Roof 46.15
UnZip 4.1 RoboWriter 1.02
Zippy (Unzip) 1.25 Rsh 4.07a
Zoo 2.01 Tick 0.75
TrapToss 1.20
|Contact: Maximilian Hantsch 2:310/6| Yuck! 2.02
Atari ST/TT
-----------
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
FIDOdoor/ST 2.5.1 BinkleyTerm 2.40n9 ApplyList 1.00@
FiFo 2.1v The Box 1.95* Burep 1.1
LED ST 1.00 ComScan 1.04
MSGED 1.99 ConfMail 4.10
QuickBBS/ST 1.06* NodeList Utilities Echoscan 1.10
Name Version FDrenum 2.5.2
-------------------- FastPack 1.20
Compression ParseList 1.30 Import 1.14
Utilities EchoFix 1.20 oMMM 1.40
Name Version sTICK/Hatch 5.50 Pack 1.00
-------------------- Trenum 0.10
ARC 6.02
LHARC 2.01i
PackConvert
STZip 1.1*
UnJARST 2.00
WhatArc 2.02
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 38 5 Aug 1996
Archimedes
----------
BBS Software Network Mailers Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
ARCbbs 1.61 BinkleyTerm ARC 1.20
Odyssey 0.37 2.06f-wimp !AskFor 1.01
RiscBBS 0.9.85m BatchPacker 1.00
DeLZ 0.01
MailED 0.95
NetFile 1.00
ParseLst 1.30
Raul 1.01
!Spark 2.16
!SparkMail 2.08
!SparkPlug 2.14
UnArj 2.21
UnZip 3.00
Zip 1.00
Tandy Color Computer 3 (OS-9 Level II)
--------------------------------------
BBS Software Compression Utility Other Utilities
Name Version Name Version Name Version
-------------------- -------------------- --------------------
RiBBS 2.02+ Ar 1.3 Ascan 1.2
DeArc 5.12 AutoFRL 2.0
OS9Arc 1.0 Bundle 2.2
UnZip 3.10 CKARC 1.1
UnLZH 3.0 EchoCheck 1.01
FReq 2.5a
LookNode 2.00
ParseLST
PReq 2.2
RList 1.03
RTick 2.00
UnBundle 1.4
UnSeen 1.1
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
Key: + - Netmail Capable (Doesn't Require Additional Mailer Software)
* - Recently Updated Version
@ - New Addition
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --
NOTE: 8 Mar 92
FidoNews versions list update process is about to change, once again.
It will be taken over by someone else. In the mean time hold onto
your hats (and programs).
Watch for an announcement within a week or two.
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 39 5 Aug 1996
-=- Snip -=-
Updates and suggestions should be sent to: Peter Popovich, 1:363/264
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 40 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
FIDONEWS PUBLIC-KEY
=================================================================
[this must be copied out to a file starting at column 1 or
it won't process under PGP as a valid public-key]
-----BEGIN PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Version: 2.6.2
Comment: Clear-signing is Electronic Digital Authenticity!
-----END PGP PUBLIC KEY BLOCK-----
Pending a formal decision about including 'encrypted' material inside
FidoNews from the Zone Coordinator Council, the guts of the FidoNews
public-key have been removed from this listing.
File-request FNEWSKEY from 1:1/23 [1:374/14] or download it from the
Rights On! BBS at 1-407-383-1372 anytime except 0100-0130 ET and Zone
1 ZMH at 1200-9600+ HST/V32B.
This section will contain only this disclaimer and instructions until
a ZCC decision is forwarded to the Editor.
Sorry for any inconvenience.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 41 5 Aug 1996
=================================================================
FIDONEWS INFORMATION
=================================================================
------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
Editor: Christopher Baker
Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell,
Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar,
Tom Jennings, Sylvia Maxwell,
Donald Tees
"FidoNews Editor"
FidoNet 1:1/23
BBS 1-407-383-1372, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(ds)
more addresses:
Christopher Baker -- 1:374/14, cbaker84@digital.net
cbak.rights@opus.global.org
(Postal Service mailing address)
FidoNews Editor
P.O. Box 5921
Titusville, FL 32783-5921
U.S.A.
voice: 1-407-264-2994 [1400-2100 ET only, please]
[1800-0100 UTC/GMT]
------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET
INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation
of individual articles contributed by their authors or their
authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation
does not diminish the rights of the authors. OPINIONS EXPRESSED in
these articles ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHORS and not necessarily those of
FidoNews.
Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
Copyright 1996 Christopher Baker. 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 [FNEWSDnn.LZH] for a
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 42 5 Aug 1996
particular Issue. Monthly Volumes are available as FNWSmmmy.ZIP
where mmm = three letter month [JAN - DEC] and y = last digit of the
current year [6], i.e., FNWSMAY6.ZIP for all the Issues from May 96.
Annual volumes are available as FNEWSn.ZIP where n = the Volume number
1 - 12 for 1984 - 1995, respectively. Annual Volume archives range in
size from 48K to 1.2M.
INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via:
http://www.fidonet.org/fidonews.htm
ftp://ftp.fidonet.org/pub/fidonet/fidonews/
STAR SOURCE for ALL Past Issues via FTP and file-request:
Available for FReq from 1:396/1 or by anonymous FTP from ftp.sstar.com
in the FIDONET\FNEWS directory:
FNEWSTOC.ZIP FidoNews, Table of Contents, all issues (1984 - 1995)
FNEWS1.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 1, all issues (1984)
FNEWS2.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 2, all issues (1985)
FNEWS3.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 3, all issues (1986)
FNEWS4.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 4, all issues (1987)
FNEWS5.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 5, all issues (1988)
FNEWS6.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 6, all issues (1989)
FNEWS7.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 7, all issues (1990)
FNEWS8.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 8, all issues (1991)
FNEWS9.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 9, all issues (1992)
FNEWSA.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 10, all issues (1993)
FNEWSB.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 11, all issues (1994)
FNEWSC.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 12, all issues (1995)
FNEWSD01.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 13, Nr. 01 (January 1, 1996)
FNEWSD02.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 13, Nr. 02 (January 8, 1996)
(etc)
FNEWSD31.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 13, Nr. 31 (July 29, 1996)
FNEWSD32.ZIP FidoNews, Vol. 13, Nr. 32 (August 5, 1996)
(etc)
Each yearly archive also contains a listing of the Table-of-Contents
for that year's issues. The total set is currently about 11 Megs.
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A PGP generated public-key is available for the FidoNews Editor from
1:1/23 [1:374/14] by file-request for FNEWSKEY or by download from
Rights On! BBS at 1-407-383-1372 as FIDONEWS.ASC in File Area 18. It
is also posted twice a month into the PKEY_DROP Echo available on the
Zone 1 Echomail Backbone.
*=*=*=*=*
Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may
file-request GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message
to fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is
necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated
response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch
FIDONEWS 13-32 Page 43 5 Aug 1996
should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the
previously listed address.
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SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews Editor, or file-requestable
from 1:1/23 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, 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
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