Volume 6, Number 3 16 January 1989 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief Dale Lovell Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Contributing Editors: Al Arango FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is available for network mail between NMH-1 hour to NMH+1 hour. At all other times, netmail is not accepted although submissions can be uploaded. Copyright 1989 by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and are used with permission. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING received. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1 Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette ...... 5 FidoNews Policy Changes by Rick Siegel 1:107/27 .......... 12 2. COLUMNS .................................................. 14 RegComm - Communications From RegCon ..................... 14 3. NOTICES .................................................. 17 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 17 Latest Software Versions ................................. 17 FidoNews 6-03 Page 1 16 Jan 1989 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Are These Christian Views on AIDS? Fredric L. Rice (103/503.3) "I'm getting out of my closet with this issue. We are under siege. The homosexuals didn't create this plague; God did. But they are the primary distributors. "Of course, it is really a waste of time to get angry with them. They won't be around much longer. A decade from now, they will all be dead. There will be no gay lobby because there will be no male gays. (The irony of all this is that the one group that is probably safest is the lesbian community). But we must recognize what we face. The disease will be here in a decade because Judgment has come!" - Gary North, p.h.D., President of the Institute for Christian Economics. Normally, you wouldn't see me write this kind of article. You may have seen many submissions such as Voyager and the Deep Space Network. What prompted me: I read an article posted on several Christian systems in the Southern California area which was titled "AIDS: God's gift to mankind." The file name was PLAGUE.TXT. Its description peaked by interest, to say the least, so I downloaded it and took a look. FidoNews is generally considered to be a forum for dissemination of the technical aspects of the network as well as a forum for the distribution of network news. I would also like to mention that its potential for dissemination of other information is likewise always there. Views and opinions have been expressed and I generally appreciate their being included. I have also tried to post astronomical articles in the hopes that there are a great many SysOps and users who enjoy such things. This posting didn't come easy but I have some questions to ask. The authorship is listed as Gary North, president for an economics institute. The references at the back, (which I always check for before reading any article), mention that the majority of the source for Norths' article came from an interview with Gene Antonio, author of "The AIDS Cover-Up?", which was made available through Focus on the Family, a quasi-religious organization which guides its followers with heavy family relationships being stressed. Further references were also interesting: "Homosexuality: A Biblical View by Greg Bahnsen". "The AIDS epidemic, A Citizen's Guide to Protecting your Family and Community from the Gay Plague". There were also tapes from "Joseph C. Morecraft the FidoNews 6-03 Page 2 16 Jan 1989 Third, pastor of the Chalcedon Presbyterian Church, Atlanta", which sells "Homosexuality and AIDS, tapes 1 and 2", and "How God Removes Dross from a Culture". A few more quotes from this article: "On the final weekend of February, I attended a conference. Because of restrictions imposed by the organization, I am not allowed to mention its name. This was a rule established in 1981, at the first meeting. It's not a secret society; it's more of a publicity-shy group. The major 'New Right" leaders in the U.S. belong, and a lot of them were in attendance this time." "Dr. Koop is preaching condoms for teen-agers. He wants a huge sex education program in the public schools. Here is the ultimate irony: the Christian conservatives are now promoting the one program above all others that conservatives have fought for three decades: Federal sex education in the schools. The Koop report could have been written by the Gay liberation Task Force on AIDS. Its solution is educational and technical, not moral and religious. "The only long-term solution is MORAL AND RELIGIOUS! We are not saved by knowledge! For three decades we have seen that sexual promiscuity increases with every sex education program introduced into the public schools! Conservatives have been yelling about this the whole time. Now, I fear, they will remain silent, and a full-scale sex education program with no holds barred will be given to our children!" "An EVOLVING virus: what a perfect means of bringing the age of Darwinian self-confidence to an end! God has a sense of humor!" The article goes on at length about his children being in private schools and that "Public schools are going to be abandoned", in capital letters. Because of the semi-hysterical content of the article, I dismissed it half-way through and set it in a binder where I keep a copy of everything I have ever downloaded. A day later, I brought it out again to see if I could verify the authorship and see if the Christian community in general actually retain these views about AIDS. I was able to verify that Gene Antonio actually exists and has written several books. The Institute for Christian Economics also exists yet appears to be a business which offers courses in tax evasion for church members, (this because the ICE yields extensive incomes through multiple publications, qualifying for tax exemption under the U.S. tax laws, and show no visible product or services other than postal freight). This is an opinion that _I_ hold due to all facts available when denied the possibility of enlightenment due to 'publicity-shy' organizations. Finally, I called Focus on the Family in Pomona, California, to FidoNews 6-03 Page 3 16 Jan 1989 arrange an interview with Gene Antonio. The request was refused with no explanation Offered. This was probably due to my lack of credentials; how does writing about Christian views on AIDS for a million above-average intelligent computer users affect the possibility of my gaining an audience with a Christian leader? Had I misrepresented myself as a fellow church newsletter writer, my request for an interview may have had a better reception. Thus the validity of the article remains in doubt and I elected to consider its source as questionable: The article was not written by someone who represents the views of Christian Religions. I filed it away again. There remained in my mind, however, the references at the end of the article. Many of these books were available for sell at a local Christian book store. Spending time in the store wasn't very comfortable, I kept waiting for someone to look up from the shelves of book, point at me and chant "An unbeliever! An unbeliever in our midst! Punish the non-believer!" Not wishing to give money to their organization, I simply looked through the books quickly and was able to confirm the overall consensus that AIDS _is_ considered Gods Gift To Mankind, stripping away the gays and junkies of the world, leaving the planet cleansed for the few chosen Christians. This didn't strike me as a particularly Christian view to take. The United States Federal Government, under the guidance of the Surgeon General, has published and distributed a pamphlet to all the residences in the United States. If your city or town was not targeted for this federal mail-out, it basically listed, (in _very_ clear and unambiguous language, complete with graphic pictures), what can and can not propagate AIDS. Also was offered how to protect yourself and family against this disease. The Christian community would have us abandon technology and request Gods mercy to keep from getting AIDS. Certainly we have seen, by virtue of the media, that morality alone does not keep people from having sex with whores, (rana' Swaggert, Fallwell, Graham, Bakers, et. all), or not using protective devices. It has been mentioned before that such devices are considered unclean because they keep sinners from receiving the negative results of their sins while allow the positive results to be, um, realized. It boils down to believing the Federal Government, (not an easy thing to do in light of the many naughty things our leaders do), or having faith in our religious leaders, (likewise not easy to do in light of they many naughty things they do). As the ads say: Get the facts on AIDS. If you have doubts, I would urge you to contact an AIDS hotline; there's bound to be one in your area. Likewise, contact your church leaders if they don't already have seminars and learn what they have to say about AIDS. It's possible that not all churches retain the same FidoNews 6-03 Page 4 16 Jan 1989 views as the authorship of the "Plauge.Txt" article does. I have read Tom Jennings comments about the problems he has had confronted with ignorance and prejudice and would have to agree with his comments about the fear AIDS has generated causing violence against gays. This is an education problem, not truly a social problem that needs to be solved. To be fair, gays make me nervous when I am working someone I know is gay. I should also mention that I avoid them all the more since the disease has met the media the way it has. This attitude is a carry over from my many prejudices and is an attitude that will never change; The ignorant among us, however, react with violence. The Christian community react by praying for salvation. I have read a short upload that mentioned some Christian doctors abandoning research on AIDS. In the same upload, it mentions still other not willing to treat AIDS victims. It was not because they feared they would contract the disease, it was because they felt that it was a God-sent plague; all with the corresponding Biblical references, chapter and verse. To combat it would be to fight the will of God. Tom mentioned that it's time to speak out, take a stand; try to disperse the ignorance spreading faster than the disease itself. This won't happen very easily, Tom: Speak out in favor of sex education for the prevention of AIDS, and you get branded a fag. Speak out in favor of a national public education for the prevention of AIDS series on television and you need to tell the networks where the money is coming from. Speak out for truthful education on the disease in the church, and you get branded a devil worshiper. - PLAGUE.TXT. can be file requested from Astro-Net, 103/503, 24 hours a day. Fredric Rice requests any rebuttals from the Christian community in response to my findings. I _would_ like to hear if the view that AIDS is from God is generally accepted. Another interesting article available is "Evolve.Txt", a paper on why evolution is an unworkable theory. I wonder how the authors of some of these Christian articles are able to function in a world where the age of the gas they put into their cars contradict their belief in the age of the planet; or what the age of the star light that they see at night from galaxy clusters over 170 million light years away might do to their beliefs of they understood parallax. I'm sure some do but why continue to think the universe is only a few thousand years old? ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-03 Page 5 16 Jan 1989 Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette Newsgroups: news.announce.newusers Subject: Emily Postnews Answers Your Questions on Netiquette Original-from: looking!brad (Brad Templeton) [Most recent change: 24 October 1988 by looking!brad] **NOTE: this is intended to be satirical. If you do not recognize it as such, consult a doctor or professional comedian. The recommendations in this article should recognized for what they are -- admonitions about what NOT to do. "Dear Emily Postnews" Emily Postnews, foremost authority on proper net behaviour, gives her advice on how to act on the net. ==================================================== Dear Miss Postnews: How long should my signature be? -- verbose@portal A: Dear Verbose: Please try and make your signature as long as you can. It's much more important than your article, of course, so try and have more lines of signature than actual text. Try and include a large graphic made of ASCII characters, plus lots of cute quotes and slogans. People will never tire of reading these pearls of wisdom again and again, and you will soon become personally associated with the joy each reader feels at seeing yet another delightful repeat of your signature. Be sure as well to include a complete map of USENET with each signature, to show how anybody can get mail to you from any site in the world. Be sure to include ARPA gateways as well. Also tell people on your own site how to mail to you. Aside from your reply address, include your full name, company and organization. It's just common courtesy -- after all, in some newsreaders people have to type an *entire* keystroke to go back to the top of your article to see this information in the header. By all means include your phone number and street address in every single article. People are always responding to usenet articles with phone calls and letters. It would be silly to go to the extra trouble of including this information only in articles that need a response by conventional channels! ------ Dear Emily: Today I posted an article and forgot to include my signature. What should I do? -- forgetful@myvax FidoNews 6-03 Page 6 16 Jan 1989 A: Dear Forgetful: Rush to your terminal right away and post an article that says, "Oops, I forgot to post my signature with that last article. Here it is." Since most people will have forgotten your earlier article, (particularly since it dared to be so boring as to not have a nice, juicy signature) this will remind them of it. Besides, people care much more about the signature anyway. See the previous letter for more important details. Also, be sure to include your signature TWICE in each article. That way you're sure people will read it. ------ Dear Ms. Postnews: I couldn't get mail through to somebody on another site. What should I do? -- eager@beaver.dam A: Dear Eager: No problem, just post your message to a group that a lot of people read. Say, "This is for John Smith. I couldn't get mail through so I'm posting it. All others please ignore." This way tens of thousands of people will spend a few seconds scanning over and ignoring your article, using up over 16 man-hours their collective time, but you will be saved the terrible trouble of checking through usenet maps or looking for alternate routes. Just think, if you couldn't distribute your message to 9000 other computers, you might actually have to (gasp) call directory assistance for 60 cents, or even phone the person. This can cost as much as a few DOLLARS (!) for a 5 minute call! And certainly it's better to spend 10 to 20 dollars of other people's money distributing the message then for you to have to waste $9 on an overnight letter, or even 25 cents on a stamp! Don't forget. The world will end if your message doesn't get through, so post it as many places as you can. ------ Q: What about a test message? A: It is important, when testing, to test the entire net. Never test merely a subnet distribution when the whole net can be done. Also put "please ignore" on your test messages, since we all know that everybody always skips a message with a line like that. Don't use a subject like "My sex is female but I demand to be addressed as male." because such articles are read in depth by all USEnauts. ------ Q: Somebody just posted that Roman Polanski directed Star Wars. What should I do? FidoNews 6-03 Page 7 16 Jan 1989 A: Post the correct answer at once! We can't have people go on believing that! Very good of you to spot this. You'll probably be the only one to make the correction, so post as soon as you can. No time to lose, so certainly don't wait a day, or check to see if somebody else has made the correction. And it's not good enough to send the message by mail. Since you're the only one who really knows that it was Francis Coppola, you have to inform the whole net right away! ------ Q: I read an article that said, "reply by mail, I'll summarize." What should I do? -- weemba@brahms A: Post your response to the whole net. That request applies only to dumb people who don't have something interesting to say. Your postings are much more worthwhile than other people's, so it would be a waste to reply by mail. ------ Q: I collected replies to an article I wrote, and now it's time to summarize. What should I do? A: Simply concatenate all the articles together into a big file and post that. On USENET, this is known as a summary. It lets people read all the replies without annoying newsreaders getting in the way. ------ Q: I saw a long article that I wish to rebut carefully, what should I do? A: Include the entire text with your article, and include your comments between the lines. Be sure to post, and not mail, even though your article looks like a reply to the original. Everybody *loves* to read those long point-by-point debates, especially when they evolve into name-calling and lots of "Is too!" -- "Is not!" -- "Is too, twizot!" exchanges. ------ Q: How can I choose what groups to post in? A: Pick as many as you can, so that you get the widest audience. After all, the net exists to give you an audience. Ignore those who suggest you should only use groups where you think the article is highly appropriate. Pick all groups where anybody might even be slightly interested. Always make sure followups go to all the groups. In the rare event that you post a followup which contains something original, make sure you expand the list of groups. Never include a "Followup-to:" line in the header, since some people might miss FidoNews 6-03 Page 8 16 Jan 1989 part of the valuable discussion in the fringe groups. ------ Q: How about an example? A: Ok. Let's say you want to report that Gretzky has been traded from the Oilers to the Kings. Now right away you might think rec.sport.hockey would be enough. WRONG. Many more people might be interested. This is a big trade! Since it's a NEWS article, it belongs in the news.* hierarchy as well. If you are a news admin, or there is one on your machine, try news.admin. If not, use news.misc. The Oilers are probably interested in geology, so try sci.physics. He is a big star, so post to sci.astro, and sci.space because they are also interested in stars. Next, his name is Polish sounding. So post to soc.culture.polish. But that group doesn't exist, so cross-post to news.groups suggesting it should be created. With this many groups of interest, your article will be quite bizarre, so post to talk.bizarre as well. (And post to comp.std.mumps, since they hardly get any articles there.) You may also find it is more fun to post the article once in each group. If you list all the newsgroups in the same article, some newsreaders will only show the the article to the reader once! Don't tolerate this. ------ Q: How do I create a newsgroup? A: The easiest way goes something like "inews -C newgroup ....", and while that will stir up lots of conversation about your new newsgroup, it might not be enough. First post a message in news.groups describing the group. Hold discussion for a short while, and then ask for a vote. Collect votes for 30 days. Every few days post a long summary of all the votes so that people can complain about bad mailers and double votes. It means you'll be more popular and get lots of mail. At the end of thirty days if you have 100 more yes votes than no votes you may create the group. No matter what the group, it is not necessary to get the approval of admins at backbone sites. They will be happy to create any group if it passes the above test. To liven up discussion, choose a good cross-match for your hierarchy and group. For example, comp.race.formula1 or soc.vlsi.design would be good group names. If you want your group created quickly, include an interesting word like "sex" or "bible." ------ FidoNews 6-03 Page 9 16 Jan 1989 Q: I cant spell worth a dam. I hope your going too tell me what to do? A: Don't worry about how your articles look. Remember it's the message that counts, not the way it's presented. Ignore the fact that sloppy spelling in a purely written forum sends out the same silent messages that soiled clothing would when addressing an audience. ------ Q: How should I pick a subject for my articles? A: Keep it short and meaningless. That way people will be forced to actually read your article to find out what's in it. This means a bigger audience for you, and we all know that's what the net is for. If you do a followup, be sure and keep the same subject, even if it's totally meaningless and not part of the same discussion. If you don't, you won't catch all the people who are looking for stuff on the original topic, and that means less audience for you. ------ Q: What sort of tone should I take in my article? A: Be as outrageous as possible. If you don't say outlandish things, and fill your article with libelous insults of net people, you may not stick out enough in the flood of articles to get a response. The more insane your posting looks, the more likely it is that you'll get lots of followups. The net is here, after all, so that you can get lots of attention. If your article is polite, reasoned and to the point, you may only get mailed replies. Yuck! ------ Q: The posting software suggested I had too long a signature and too many lines of included text in my article. What's the best course? A: Such restrictions were put in the software for no reason at all, so don't even try to figure out why they might apply to your article. Turns out most people search the net to find nice articles that consist of the complete text of an earlier article plus a few lines. In order to help these people, fill your article with dummy original lines to get past the restrictions. Everybody will thank you for it. For your signature, I know it's tough, but you will have to read it in with the editor. Do this twice to make sure it's firmly in there. FidoNews 6-03 Page 10 16 Jan 1989 ------ Q: They just announced on the radio that Dan Quayle was picked as the Republican V.P. candidate. Should I post? A: Of course. The net can reach people in as few as 3 to 5 days. It's the perfect way to inform people about such news events long after the broadcast networks have covered them. As you are probably the only person to have heard the news on the radio, be sure to post as soon as you can. ------ Q: I have this great joke. You see, these three strings walk into a bar... A: Oh dear. Don't spoil it for me. Submit it to rec.humor, and post it to the moderator of rec.humor.funny at the same time. I'm sure he's never seen that joke, and I know he loves to have jokes sent to rec.humor and rec.humor.funny at the same time. ------ Q: What computer should I buy? An Atari ST or an Amiga? A: Cross post that question to the Atari and Amiga groups. It's an interesting and novel question that I am sure they would love to investigate in those groups. ------ Q: What about other important questions? How should I know when to post? A: Always post them. It would be a big waste of your time to find a knowledgeable user in one of the groups and ask through private mail if the topic has already come up. Much easier to bother thousands of people with the same question. ------ Q: What is the measure of a worthwhile group? A: Why, it's Volume, Volume, Volume. Any group that has lots of noise in it must be good. Remember, the higher the volume of material in a group, the higher percentage of useful, factual and insightful articles you will find. In fact, if a group can't demonstrate a high enough volume, it should be deleted from the net. ------ Q: My fanzine isn't doing well in the readership surveys because it is only quarterly. What can I do? A: Simply have the articles take three months to expire, so that FidoNews 6-03 Page 11 16 Jan 1989 they always show up in the surveys. All those sites probably aren't using their disk space for anything useful, so what not use it to boost your ego? ------ Q: What does foobar stand for? A: It stands for you, dear. -- Gene Spafford NSF/Purdue/U of Florida Software Engineering Research Center, Dept. of Computer Sciences, Purdue University,W.Lafayette IN Internet: spaf@cs.purdue.edu uucp: ...!{decwrl,gatech,ucbvax}!purdue!spaf ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-03 Page 12 16 Jan 1989 FidoNews Policy Changes by Rick Siegel 1:107/27 As chairman of the publications committee of IFNA, I have been requested, by the president, to solicit opinion on changes to FidoNews policy and to compile a consensus and advisory to him by Jan 17, 1988. I ask anyone interested in expressing himself on this matter send netmail to Rick Siegel at 1:107/27 prior to that, and preferably a few days prior so that your opinion may be included in the consensus. I have never written anything for FidoNews, and this is my first shot at this. I am not a writer, please forgive my corruption of the English language. I would, however, like to let you all know my opinion of this affair. It seems that the crux of the complaints about FidoNews revolve around an article by Tom Jennings. I have read the article. I have not seen any complaints. Then again, I do not subscribe to SysOp or IFNA echoes. I find it quite incredulous that anyone did not understand the content and intent of the Jennings article. Certainly it was not computer oriented in it's content. However, it was a "piece of life" for Tom Jennings, and he shared it with us, the SysOps in a network he envisioned and created. Yet this network is full of the diversity from which Tom had spoken, so it does stand to reason some will be offended in many ways. For those that were offended, may we look deeper. Tom Jennings is the founding visionary of the network we call owe him is to keep the ideals he envisioned within his creation communicate the frustrations he faces in his daily life. It interest, if only to note what is going on with the granddad of FidoNet. Additionally, using this article as a ram rod to put shackles on the editor of FidoNews and make moves to constant bickering among the wolves of the echoes. a majority of negative comment sway the flow of information to the majority. I find the policy for FidoNews fine for the purpose, and time proven. Since there is a limited time for any of you to respond to this, I have taken the liberty of contacting some SysOps direct. I would however like to hear from anyone, and as soon as possible. Please let me know what you feel by contacting Rick Siegel at 1:107/27, which is #CM at 1200/2400 baud. I appreciate your time and efforts to making this research work. FidoNews 6-03 Page 13 16 Jan 1989 Rick Siegel (107/27) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-03 Page 14 16 Jan 1989 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= RegComm - Communications From RegCon. Last weeks column mentioned a rumor about one of the *C team who was injured and his net helped him return to active status. Well, it wasn't a rumor after all. We recently received the following from Chris Baker: A Holiday Ode to Net 135 by Christopher Baker RC 18 / NC 135 Twas two weeks before Christmas and all thru my house, my body was aching, I started to grouse. "If I don't dump this backache and get back to work my Users and Sysops will think I'm a jerk." I'd been laid up at home for many a week and I had no computer through which I could speak. It's tough to do business without a remote and I'm sure many NCs thought things I can't quote. All the while in the background quite unknown to me, the folks of my own Net were planning a spree. They talked and they chatted and gathered up parts to build me a system for home, bless their hearts. They Netmailed and Echoed and telephoned, too, deciding just which part was what and from who. They assembled a system that was based on a Tandy; with modem and hard drive, I mean, it's a dandy! I was tired and cranky the night it was due and had NO idea this dream would come true. I had pains in my back and a pain in my head but my wife kept insisting I not go to bed. It didn't seem normal the way she cajoled. It wasn't till later she said, "I was told." So unknown to me I was being prepared for a real demonstration of how my Net cared. It was close to eleven P.M. when I said, "I can't stay up longer. I'm going to bed." Then suddenly and very much to my shock came a tap on the door and then a loud knock. "Ho, Ho, Ho!", said a voice not too clear through the door. "Open up! I have presents for you by the score!" The door was thrown wide to allow the sprite in but he wasn't in red; not a hair on his chin. FidoNews 6-03 Page 15 16 Jan 1989 He was thin as a rail and no Santa was he. I recognized Peter; our own NEC. "What the heck's going on?" I exclaimed to the air. He said, "Just a small token to show that we care." He said nothing else but went straight to his work and set up the system then he turned with a smirk. "No more excuses!", he said, "Now, get cracking!" "Your traffic's piled up and the stuff keeps on stacking!" I stood there dumbfounded, amazed and confused. My mind boggled speechless and he seemed amused. "What? How? Who and why?", I managed to say. "It's nothing", said he, "now, get back in the fray!" It wouldn't sink in that such things still take place that confirm all your faith in the rest of the race. The best I could do was to stammer my thanks and then write this poem to honor our ranks. I still can't believe it and simply must say, "All the folks in my Net, you made my whole day!" "I never can thank you enough for this gift." "Your generous act brings a permanent lift!" So, all of the rest out in FidoNet land, keep your faith that our concept continues to stand. The FidoNet concept of help and of sharing is here. Look around and you'll see people caring. It's never too late to put egos aside. Let go some bygones and take them in stride. This Network is people and people are kind. When your urge is to flame them, please keep that in mind. To all of my Net, I say "Thank you, nth times!" To the rest of the world who are sick of my rhymes I say "I hope the New Year will bring you much joy!" Now, I think I'll stop here and go play with my toy! [grin] The End Happy Holidays and Happy New Year to the wacky world of FidoNet! Christopher Baker MetroFire, 1:135/14(0), 305-596-8611 Miami, FL SFLorida Net 135, Miami_FL_USA Roster of Net 135 Santas: 1 RAM-SOFT_Archive_Library, David_Gilbert & James Gilbert 2 Eclectic_BBS, Tark_Henderson 3 Medical_Software_Exchange, Richard_Kaplan 4 The_Kendall_BBS, Mike_Janke 5 CAP-BBS, Duane_Ellis 6 Dungeons_of_Darkness_OPUS, Mike_Jones 7 Miami's_First_Fido, Al_DelaTorre FidoNews 6-03 Page 16 16 Jan 1989 8 Coral_Gables_Medterm_BBS, Mario_Diaz 9 EPICS_Opus, Sandy_Schurtz 10 AMS_Support-Net_135_NEC, Peter_Adenauer 11 Power_Station, Mike_Lombana 12 Off-Duty_Inc._BBS, Kathryn_Fanning 20 FrontDoor_Headquarters, Joaquim_Homrighausen 24 TURBO-Soft, David_Kerley 27 Bitsy's_Place, Henry_VanLeer 30 SMURFIT_Latin_America_Opus, Jeff_Wolach 33 Byte_Size_Bits, Jean_Prophet & Buddy Prophet 34 The_Jailhouse, Kenny_Star 35 The_Sober_Way_Out, Robert_Egan 36 Town_Crier_Opus, Orville_Bullitt 38 C-Board, Jack_Bowman 39 The Expressions_BBS, Daniel_Johnston 40 The_Cable_Connection, Jerry_Iovine 41 BBS1-PC!, John_Theed 43 Key's_Paradise, Steve_Froeschke 46 Bullitt_-_80_Opus, Guy_Bullitt 47 MOBS_Opus_Humor_South, Andrew_Adler 48 The_Road_Runner, Luis_Hernandez 88 Chatterbox_BBS, Marc_Moyantcheff 204 BerkShire_Board, Bill_Kraski 901 Miami's_Personal_Consultant, Dave_Steinman 942 wHy_bE_NoRmaL?, Tim_LaVan 990 Friends_of_Dorothy, Scott_Samet Thank you all for the fabulous Tandy T1000 w/20 meg hard drive, 1200 bps modem, 384K RAM, floppy drive and completely configured with DOS and programs! It is a gift I will always cherish and never forget. You ARE an amazing and generous bunch of people and Sysops! We all thank you Chris, for bringing it to our attention that FidoNet still consists of a lot of caring people. The RegCon team wishes you well and we hope to hear from you often. ("RegComm" will be a regular column in FidoNews and your comments are welcome. Please address your concerns and comments via NetMail to your Net or Regional Coordinator, you should receive an answer within a few days. It's your net and we would like to have your input.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-03 Page 17 16 Jan 1989 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. 5 Oct 1989 20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions Bulletin Board Software Name Version Name Version Name Version Fido 12i Opus 1.03b TBBS 2.1* QuickBBS 2.03 TPBoard 5.0* TComm/TCommNet 3.2 Lynx 1.10 Phoenix 1.3 RBBS 1.71C Network Node List Other Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.90b EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.32 SEAdog 4.10 MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1 BinkleyTerm 2.00 Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00 D'Bridge 1.10 XlatList 2.86 TPB Editor 1.21 FrontDoor 2.0 XlaxNode 2.31* TCOMMail 2.0* PRENM 1.40 XlaxDiff 2.31* TMail 8812* ParseList 1.30* UFGATE 1.02* GROUP 2.04* EMM 1.40 MSGED 1.96 * Recently changed Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-03 Page 18 16 Jan 1989 OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIVISION AT-LARGE 10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210 11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1 13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777 14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5 15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1 16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628 17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871 18 Christopher Baker 1:135/14 Bob Swift 1:140/24 19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18 2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 6-03 Page 19 16 Jan 1989 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm) Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications. Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________ Address _________________________________________________________ City ____________________________________________________________ State ________________________________ Zip _____________________ Country _________________________________________________________ Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________ BBS Name ________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________ Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________ Board Restrictions ______________________________________________ Your Special Interests __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in US Funds to: International FidoNet Association PO Box 41143 St Louis, Missouri 63141 USA Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to insure the future of FidoNet. Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your input to this Conference. -----------------------------------------------------------------