Volume 7, Number 12 19 March 1990 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | FidoNet (r) | | \ \\ | | International BBS Network | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Vince Perriello Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software. FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. 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 a Continuous Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are used with permission. Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software. Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every responsible submission received. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1 FIDOCON 1990 REGISTRATION FORM ........................... 1 You Love State Socialism (You just don't know it) ........ 5 DADS ECHO ................................................ 8 2. COLUMNS .................................................. 10 Talk Me Through It, Honey ................................ 10 3. LATEST VERSIONS .......................................... 13 Latest Software Versions ................................. 13 4. NOTICES .................................................. 16 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 16 FidoNews 7-12 Page 1 19 Mar 1990 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= The Secret Sysop Society presents __ *** Conclave '90 *** / \ The SYSOPS Convention /|oo \ Home of FidoCon 1990 (_| /_) Lyndhurst, New Jersey _`@/_ \ _ August 1-5, 1990 | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm) Rate Plan Schedule: Before 6/1/90: Before 4/1/90: -------------- -------------- A. Single Occupancy.......$595.00 $545.00 $495.00 B. Double Occupancy.......$450.00 $400.00 $350.00 C. Conference w/ meals....$300.00 $250.00 $200.00 D. Conference w/ Banquet..$205.00 $155.00 $105.00 E. Conference only........$175.00 $125.00 $ 75.00 F. Banquet only...........$130.00 $80.00 $ 30.00 (All rate plans except plan F include all conference and hotel fees. Those registering before 4/1/90 get a $100.00 discount, those registering before 6/1/90 get a $50.00 discount.) You must pay by Check, Money Order, or Credit Card. Please send no cash. All monies must be in U.S. Funds. Checks should be made out to: "Conclave '90" The following registration form must be completed and mailed to: PO Box 12 Lyndhurst, NJ 07071 You may register by Netmailing this completed form to 1:1/90 for processing. Rename it to ZNNNXXXX.REG where Z is your Zone number, N is your Net number, and X is your Node number. US Mail confirmation is required within 72 hours of electronic filing. If you are paying by credit card, please include the required information. For your own security, do not route any message with your credit card number on it. Crash it directly to 1:1/90. The official Conclave '90 airline is American Airlines. American offers a 5% discount the lowest applicable round-trip fare, including 1st class travel, subject to availability of inventory. All fare rules and restrictions apply. In addition, American offers 40% off their round trip unrestricted day coach fare. International travelers qualify for special benefits, including complimentary admittance to the Admiral's Club Lounge at any American Airlines terminal. Newark is an American Air- lines city with direct flights to most major cities. When making reservations, you must call American's Toll-free reservation FidoNews 7-12 Page 2 19 Mar 1990 number at 800-433-1790, and reference Star number 13704F. FidoNews 7-12 Page 3 19 Mar 1990 C O N C L A V E '90 R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M Name: __________________________________________________________ Address: _____________________________ Apt. or Suite: _________ City: _________________________ State or Province: ____________ Postal Code: __________________ Country: ______________________ Voice Phone: ______________________ Data: _____________________ Zone:Net/Node.Point@Domain: ____________________________________ Special requirements: __________________________________________ +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | Option | Full | | Pricing | Line | |(Choose 1: A-F)| Name | Qty | Thru 4/1 | Total | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | PLAN A* | | | $495.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | PLAN B* | | | $350.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | PLAN C* | | | $200.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | PLAN D* | | | $105.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | PLAN E* | | | $ 75.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | PLAN F | | | $ 30.00 | | +===============+=====================+=====+==========+=======+ | NJ Beach Trip | | | $ 24.50 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | AC Casino trip| | | $ 22.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | Eve. NYC Tour | | | $ 37.50 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | Broadway Show | | | $ 75.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | NYC Shop Tour | | | $ 36.50 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ | Costume Ball* | | | $ 50.00 | | +---------------+---------------------+-----+----------+-------+ * includes all conference fees & Hotel | Total $ | | ** includes dinner, show, and costume +==========+=======+ MC _____ Visa _____ Card Number: _____________________________ Expiration: ___________ Signature _____________________________ ( Credit card registrations require valid signature ) FidoNews 7-12 Page 4 19 Mar 1990 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-12 Page 5 19 Mar 1990 You Love State Socialism (You just don't know it) Tom Jennings 1:125/111 The essay below speaks for itself. It's not an exercise in commie-bashing, in case you were wondering. Taken from a book of essays written by Miklos Haraszti, a Hungarian dissident, it is on the surface a harsh criticism of state socialism, told in terms of western capitalism. (The manuscript for the book was smuggled out of Hungary, to be published first in France as "L'artiste d'Etat" then as "The Velvet Prison: Artists Under State Socialism" in the U.S. (Basic Books Inc, New York).) * * * "Outside the capitalist corporation's walls there is still an ideal free market where total freedom of opinion and speech, the right to assembly, and the freedom to organize flourish. Everyone goes his own way and can become a proud and independent artist, free of censorship. But inside the company it is a different story. There; the employee must reckon with a microcosm of socialism. His human rights are severely circumscribed -- except of course, his right to work. He cannot go outside the walls, cannot wander at will around the factory, cannot say, write or organize whatever he wants. In these matters, it is the firm's interests, conveyed by its owners and managers, that determine right from wrong within the corporate culture. The employee may love his work, but he cannot do what he likes *unless* his ideas have first been approved by his superiors. His skills have no value in themselves; they exists to sustain the fiscal health of the corporation. His relations with other members of the company are not strictly private; they are defined by the hierarchy of professional skills. If he does not live for his work, the company will let him go. As long as there are other corporations for whom he can work, he is all right, even if he is fired. He could even, if he wishes, leave of his own accord! "How is this (admittedly simplified) state of affairs different from state socialism? Only one aspect is truly different: the existence of other companies. Under socialism it is the same giant firm everywhere. "Suppose that the company for which you work buys and sells art. The board of directors, faithful to the owner's wishes, seeks free and independent art. Anyone can come in from the street. If his art is marketable, the whole company will work for him; no one will intervene in his business. If his artistic freedom is curtailed, he can threaten to leave the company and look for another, or he can choose to become self-employed. FidoNews 7-12 Page 6 19 Mar 1990 "Now consider the free artist who is asked by the company to paint a portrait of the owner, or to create a sculpture that symbolizes the company's ideals, or simply say something nice about the firm on television. The money he is paid is not a part of profits; it is renumeration for having complied with the ideas of the firm's management. Creative freedom has undergone a subtle change: the more successfully the artist has identified himself and his ideas with the interests of management, the more creative freedom he can retain. He has become a *directed artist*. He has become a company artist. "How is this state of affairs different from socialism? Only to the extent that, under capitalism, the artist is free to resign and go to another company. On our part of the world artists can only find employment with the artistic department of the national company or with one if its branches. All artists are the firm's employees, and their colleagues (the other employees in other departments and branches) are their audience. "The distinction between directed and free artists, between directed and free art, disappears at a stroke. The artists' existential uncertainty is over. A steady paycheck is assured. The rent will be paid, food on the table, and a roof overhead. But artists' creative freedom is also over. Nevertheless they have gained a great deal: by becoming state employees they are given special attention. Their position is not competitive but hierarchical: they gain a measure of control over the consumers of their art in exchange for being controlled themselves by the coordinating authority of the state. The company's neutrality in the thorny question of aesthetics is over. "The ethics of state socialism resemble the ethics of a large company. Its discipline and freedom are like those of the company's workers. Further, if you will imagine the greatest possible "industrial democracy" that such a concern might achieve within the constraints of its corporate culture, you will have arrived at an almost exact model of freedom in today's modern socialist society. "Is it censorship that guarantees that the employees of Twentieth Century Fox will create movies that serve the interests of the entire company? Do relationships within the film studio require censoring? Is the unavoidable process of creative compromise and self-correction properly called censorship? Voluntary discipline, identification, and devotion are essential elements in the professional's acceptance of the company as his own/ Is this not freedom? After all, didn't someone once observe that freedom is simply the recognition of necessity? "It does not matter whether the answer is yes or no: we know what this is all about. This form of censorship is far more effective than a negative, externally imposed restriction of private freedom. It is quite irresistible when it bathes the employees of the socialist supermonopoly -- the nation -- in its amniotic warmth. Don't forget: under socialism, there are no longer any owners." FidoNews 7-12 Page 7 19 Mar 1990 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-12 Page 8 19 Mar 1990 DADS ECHO by Bob Hirschfeld, Moderator (Sysop of National Congress for Men BBS 114/74 (602) 840 4752 ) The National Congress for Men, a coalition of Fathers Rights and Divorce Reform organizations founded in 1981, is sponsoring the new DADS ECHO. NCM, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, has an elected board of directors, holds annual national conventions, provides resources for DADS nationwide, and is active in lobbying Congress and state legislatures regarding parental access and support issues. DADS Echo is primarily focused on the relationship between DADS and their children. This is not limited to any category of DAD; that is, happily (or unhappily) married DADS, unwed DADS, Divorced DADS, adoptive DADS.....and women who sympathize with them and the needs of children for relationships with BOTH parents, are welcome to participate. Messages on DADS ECHO deal with DADS' difficulties in dealing with or preserving "The Promise of Fatherhood". As such, messages dealing with all aspects of Fathers' Rights as they relate to children, are fair game. That is: Divorce upsets the relationship; the relationship includes a financial responsibility as well as a psychological/emotional bond; allegations of child abuse (true or false) can adversely impact the father-child relationship, etc. Subjects that the DADS Echo is especially intended to address differ from the focus of other Fidonet Echos: *** Parenting Skills *** Role Reversal, Gender Stereotyping: "Superdads" and "Mr. Mom" *** Homemaking Skills: the Father's viewpoint *** Psychological Bonding between fathers and children *** Recreation involving fathers and children *** Scouting (Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Indian Guides, Campfire) *** Dealing with problem children at various ages *** Dealing with government agencies regarding children *** Prenatal and Delivery-Room participation by DADS *** The Father's relationship with his unborn child *** Historical perspective of Fathers and Paternal Status *** Strengthening the nuclear family *** Sex Education of children *** Education generally; the father's participation *** Care of infants *** Self Esteem, Transactional Analysis of Relationships, etc. *** DADS special problems raising children alone *** Distance isolation between DADS and children *** Parental Alienation Syndrome *** Dealing with 3rd-party interference in father-child relations *** Teaching DAD'S values to the child *** Father-bashing in the legislatures and courts *** Experience-sharing between DADS who've been there *** Discipline of children; what is reasonable, who does it? *** Resources available to DADS FidoNews 7-12 Page 9 19 Mar 1990 *** Nearly-adult teenagers: leaving the nest *** Effect of divorced dads new female relationships on children *** Step-parenting *** AND MUCH MORE Moderator Bob Hirschfeld is an attorney in Phoenix, AZ who specializes in representing Fathers in contested custody cases. A long-time Fathers Rights activist and NCM board member, he published "Single Dads Lifestyle" magazine between 1978 and 1983 DADS initially is distributed by direct polling of the NCM BBS, 114/74, and at this writing reaches Texas and Tennessee as well as area 114 (Arizona) distribution. Once there is enough coverage, it is intended that permission to place DADS on the backbone will be obtained. There are other Echos available for "flaming", such as LAW, FEMINISM, MENS_ISSUES, RIGHTS (Men's Rights). Please use this Echo for constructive, topical messages. If you're a divorced Dad, you're probably legitimately angry about some aspect of how the system treats you. But you're sharing this Echo, hopefully, with happily married DADS, or DADS for whom the anger has subsided and the challenge of promoting/maintaining the father/child bond is now of major importance. Keep that in mind, please. To arrange your BBS's direct link, please Netmail Bob Hirschfeld at 114/74, so that DADS can be picked up by you via subsequent periodic polling. In genuine hardship situations, NCM may be willing to bear the long distance cost to your BBS initially until backbone status is obtained. This Echo offers hope to Fathers separated or alienated from their children, and practical help to that great majority of responsible Dads who want to continue and improve their relationships with their children. Therefore, please consider providing this echo to users of your local BBS. PATERNALLY and FRATERNALLY, BOB HIRSCHFELD, MODERATOR, DADS ECHO 114/74 (602) 840 4752 "Make Every Day Father's Day" ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-12 Page 10 19 Mar 1990 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Talk Me Through It, Honey Henry Clark 124/6120 The Art of Deception -- SQL and C. What do they have in common ? SQL is the 4-GL language for database manipulation. C is the 3-GL language of systems and applications programmers. Both provide a convenient means of deceiving management, and especially IM departments. C is really ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE in disguise. Management doesn't want you coding in assembler, but C is OK because it's a 3-GL language. SQL is how user's maintain programming control over their database systems; while IM thinks it's in control because it has control of the 3-GL languages. SQL is an effective tool because our databases are organized for SQL. We get away with these white lies because a) management and IM really don't know what's going on; b) the user community is really pretty sharp; c) both a and b. "Plug Away" -- I'll steal this SNL theme for a while. I have completed, somewhat, a new Call Statistics Reporter utility, it's called CallStat, and you can get the program and source by f'req. : namely CFL.ZIP. I needed something to tell me how well I was doing in my attempt to slow down Bink's call timer. I was making over 400 calls per day. I know you do, but I don't. Any way, it's got some bells and whistles, writes message format reports, and tells you about individual nodes, and hours in the day. Net 124 has a Machine echo, specifically for those computer generated kinds of info that vaguely interests the human members of the network. So far I've seen : TICKET V1.20 RFP 2.03 ANALYZE V1.1 QMLog v0.03 QUPDN v4.0 CallStat v3.3 FidoNews 7-12 Page 11 19 Mar 1990 Ron Bemis has a large suite of utilities under the ANALYZE moniker, and credit for the Machine echo goes to him. I am looking forward to the computer reading of these echoes for some kind of consolation reporting. This is the network, in and of itself. Interface 90 -- Dallas, TX. What happened to OSI ? The Interface 90 expo was dotted with conferences on OSI, yet there was only 1 vendor with an OSI product. I find this somewhat misleading. IBM spends more on OSI research than all other players combined. I find this totally misleading. One could argue that OSI is very active, but the big players have taken over and that's that. Another point of view is that OSI itself is free ( it's CCITT and it's public domain ). A company can't make money selling OSI, just like you wouldn't normally pay for breathing air. You to sell completely vertical applications, off the shelf. This alone has brought the cost of direct OSI connects down to the point that the 'PAD' facilities are not cost effective. I think it's very revealing to find the big manufactures with the big OSI networks forcing it's suppliers to use OSI protocols for all communications, including filling orders. If you can't 'talk' to me, you can't *talk* to me. Look out for 'old-boy'-ism. Tax Time, Honey -- Do you know the Number 1 tax shelter for the past 9 years ? Sure, it's the Foreign Earned Income Deduction. This is HOT. If you earn income while physically present in a foreign country, and you stay out of country 330 days out of 365, the IRS gives you a whopping $ 75,000 deduction. Notice the words "physically present". This is a bunch different than the bona fide residence criteria. You don't want to become a resident of a foreign country because then you will surely have to pay income tax there, and that's a whole lot more expensive than here. The earnings can come from anywhere. So here's what you do : get a 1 year project, buy a laptop, and see the world. Don't stay in any one country too long, and send completed works back via modem. FidoNews 7-12 Page 12 19 Mar 1990 "Can we speak English?" ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-12 Page 13 19 Mar 1990 ================================================================= LATEST VERSIONS ================================================================= Latest Software Versions MS-DOS Systems -------------- Bulletin Board Software Name Version Name Version Name Version Fido 12q+ QuickBBS 2.62 TBBS 2.1 Lynx 1.30 RBBS 17.2B TComm/TCommNet 3.4 Kitten 2.16 RBBSmail 17.2 TPBoard 6.0 Opus 1.10+* RemoteAccess 0.01 Wildcat! 2.10 Phoenix 1.3 TAG 2.5d1 Network Node List Other Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version BinkleyTerm 2.30 EditNL 4.00 ARC 6.02 D'Bridge 1.30 MakeNL 2.20 ARCAsim 2.30* Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ARCmail 2.0 FrontDoor 1.99c* Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00 PRENM 1.47 SysNL 3.01 EMM 2.02 SEAdog 4.51b XlatList 2.90 Gmail 2.05 XlaxDiff 2.32 GROUP 2.16 XlaxNode 2.32 GUS 1.30 LHARC 1.13 MSG 4.0 MSGED 1.99 PK[UN]ZIP 1.02 QM 1.0 QSORT 4.03 StarLink 1.01 TagMail 2.20 TCOMMail 2.2 TMail 1.14* TPBNetEd 3.2 TosScan 1.00* UFGATE 1.03 XRS 3.20* ZmailQ 1.10 Macintosh --------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities FidoNews 7-12 Page 14 19 Mar 1990 Name Version Name Version Name Version Red Ryder Host v2.1b4 Tabby 2.1 MacArc 0.04 Mansion 7.15 Copernicus 1.0d* ArcMac 1.3 WWIV (Mac) 3.0 StuffIt 1.51 TImport 1.331 TExport 1.32 Timestamp 1.6 Tset 1.3 Import 2.52 Export 2.54 Sundial 2.1 UNZIP 1.01* Amiga ----- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Paragon 2.00+* BinkleyTerm 1.00 AmigArc 0.23 TrapDoor 1.11 booz 1.01 WelMat 0.35* ConfMail 1.10 ChameleonEdit 0.10 Lharc 1.10* oMMM 1.43b* ParseLst 1.30 PkAX 1.00 PK[UN]ZIP 1.01* RMB 1.30 UNzip 0.86 Zoo 2.00 Atari ST -------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailer Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version FIDOdoor/ST 1.5c* BinkleyTerm 1.03g3 ConfMail 1.00 Pandora BBS 2.41c The BOX 1.20 ParseList 1.30 QuickBBS/ST 0.40 ARC 6.02* GS Point 0.61 LHARC 0.51 PKUNZIP 1.10 MSGED 1.96S SRENUM 6.2 Trenum 0.10 OMMM 1.40 FidoNews 7-12 Page 15 19 Mar 1990 + Netmail capable (does not require additional mailer software) * 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 7-12 Page 16 19 Mar 1990 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 3 Jun 1990 Comdex/Spring, which will run from June 3-6 in Atlanta, will be held at the World Congress Center and other locations. 5 Jun 1990 David Dodell's 33rd Birthday 12 Jun 1990 Fifth anniversary of FidoNet's switch to multiple nets. 13 Jul 1990 Start of Eurocon / Techcon conference in Antwerp, Belgium. Further information will follow. 27 Jul 1990 The beginning of the REGION 17 Convention at Menucha Resort in the Columbia Gorge, Oregon. For details contact Ken Zwaschka, 1:105/54. 1 Aug 1990 Start of FidoCon '90. Contact Bill Vanglahn at 1:1/90 for details. 5 Oct 1990 21st Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" 6 Nov 1990 First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28 14 Nov 1990 Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at 2:332/16.0 1 Jan 1991 Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description. 16 Feb 1991 Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush. 7 Oct 1991 Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland, Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo, FidoNews 7-12 Page 17 19 Mar 1990 Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay Islands will retain area code 415. 1 Feb 1992 Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport, West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and Montebello) will retain area code 213. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. -----------------------------------------------------------------