F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.34 (22-Aug-1994) +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS | | _ | +1-519-570-4176 | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | Small animal psychology and | | (_| /_) | Spiritual guidance Department: | | _`@/_ \ _ | Rev. Richard Visage 1:163/409 | | | | \ \\ | | | | (*) | \ )) | Editors: | | |__U__| / \// | Donald Tees 1:221/192 | | _//|| _\ / | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 | | (_/(_|(____/ | Tim | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Submission address: editors 1:1/23 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MORE addresses: | | | | Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Tim Pozar -- pozar@kumr.lns.com | | David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411, deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org | | | submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | For information, copyrights, article submissions, | | obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq | | please refer to the end of this file. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ ======================================================================== Table of Contents ======================================================================== 1. Editorial..................................................... 2 2. Articles...................................................... 2 I need some advice ladies and gentlemen..................... 2 Homepage for Fidonet and the Fidohist project............... 3 REENACT - The Living History Echo........................... 3 SecureMail for Privacy...................................... 4 Dear Reverend Visage,....................................... 5 My Dear Doctor Logger,...................................... 7 My name is James Ankuda..................................... 9 Censorship, Freedom, and Topics in the Snooze............... 10 3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 11 FidoNews 11-34 Page: 2 22 Aug 1994 ======================================================================== Editorial ======================================================================== Interesting issue this week, though if we get anymore articles about Steve Winter that say (yet again), that they are tired of hearing about Steve Winter ... One article this week comes to the conclusion that we have been cutting articles from the snooze. Since we have been editors, two things have been cut (Excepting commercail ads, we turn them down unless they have important information in them). We had a demand to run a weekly bible column ... refused. When the author sent in an "article" instead, consisting of one sentence followed by 35 biblical "proofs", we turned it down. We also turned down a weekly robot mailing of an ad for a religious othernet after the first week. That is about it. There may have been an article or two that were sent back because we could not fit them in without two or three hours of work. (People will send in stuff that is more than a screen wide, and full of quotations that cannot be justified). Just so you know ... Here is the Snooze. ======================================================================== Articles ======================================================================== I need some advice ladies and gentlemen. My internet service provider INS, has a new service called showcase. It is available at no extra charge. What it does is allows me to make info available to the world at large via ftp, gopher and WWW. 10 mg of disk space has been allotted for my files. I'll give you guys the htpp address as soon as I figure out how to use it and get some stuff there. So, while I am slogging through the docs and trying to figure out how to set it up, would you guys give me some suggestions on what to put there? Please!!!! I intend to use it primarily for the history project but am thinking of including some general stuff on Fidonet what it is how to contact it etc..... The service is free, I might as well use it. Right? Marge -- |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | mrobbins@wps.com | |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: : It was the best of times It was the : : worst of times : : : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` FidoNews 11-34 Page: 3 22 Aug 1994 Homepage for Fidonet and the Fidohist project Ok I have a homepage for Fidonet and the Fidohist project up and running. The url is http://www.infonet.net/showcase/fidonet/ There isn't much there yet, just some text files and a link to the archives on Burt's machine. But its a begining. I'll be adding things to it as 1. I get the time 2. I figure out how to do it. Learning to edit hmtl files may not be as brainburning as learning to deal with Unix, but it sure runs a close second. The whole gopher thing confuses me. 8-( I'm still looking for suggestions on what to put there. This stuff is out on the web where anyone can find it, a plus for Fidonet I think. Marge-- |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| | mrobbins@wps.com | |~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: : It was the best of times It was the : : worst of times : : : ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` ---------------------------------------------------------------------- REENACT - The Living History Echo Across the country, men and women portray for us a little bit of what life was like "back then." In museums, forts, ships, parks, schools, and many other places, these people take us back in time to meet Johnny Reb or Billy Yank, to meet one of Roger's Rangers, or a family from the prarie. These people show us where we came from, and the way we lived. They show us the tools, the food, the weapons, and they show us the beliefs, the traditions, and the songs of our heritage. These people are "Living Historians." REENACT has recently been added the the Zone 1 echo backbone which means it is available to systems all over North America through local connections! A system local to you may aready be carrying REENACT, check REENACT.LST to see, if not ask your local Fidonet sysop to add REENACT. FidoNews 11-34 Page: 4 22 Aug 1994 -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- SecureMail for Privacy SECUREMAIL FOR PRIVACY Jim Cannell 1:216/21 Since its humble beginnings in 1984, FidoNet has enabled people over the entire world to communicate inexpensively and reliably. Today, it is almost routine for a message to be delivered anywhere in the world in 24 - 48 hours at a very low cost. Yet, for all this speed and low cost, one very important thing has had to be sacrificed -- privacy. A copy of the message may exist on each and every system that the message is routed through, available for the sysop and possibly others to read. Are you unwilling to share your private mail with all these other people, but yet do not want to pay the high price of direct NetMail? Now, you can have the best of both worlds -- the privacy of direct mail coupled with the low or zero cost of routed NetMail. The SecureMail system is a subset of FidoNet dedicated to preserving the privacy of your NetMail. The SecureMail hosts promise to neither monitor nor censor any intransit NetMail on their systems. All enroute traffic is erased as soon as processed by SecureMail hosts. There are no restrictions on the content of mail passed through the SecureMail system. The message content is of concern only to the sender and recipient. For those that want even more privacy, the SecureMail system accepts and delivers encrypted messages with the same dedication to privacy. We are mail movers -- not censors nor voyeurs. It should be pointed out that there is no Policy4 prohibiton against encrypted mail. It only says that routing encrypted mail without prior permission is annoying behavior. Unfortunately, many sysops in FidoNet refuse to handle any encrypted traffic. Again, SecureMail comes to the rescue. All SecureMail hosts have given permission to route encryted traffic through their systems. SecureMail is a part of FidoNet; it is not another vanity network. It exists in the original spirit of FidoNet to provide communications among widely separated people without adding layers of bureaucratic control. It is a totally voluntary and cooperative effort to move mail efficiently while maintaining the privacy of the correspondents. The SecureMail hosts are dedicating their own time and resources to accomplish this goal. To use the SecureMail system, identify your local Net SecureMail host by looking in the nodelist for the U?SMH flag. These hosts will forward your private NetMail into the SecureMail system for quick, reliable, and private delivery. All you have to do to is route your outbound NetMail through this ?SMH. Wouldn't you rather entrust your NetMail to those that care about your privacy than to just dump it into a distribution system where it is delayed and read while FidoNews 11-34 Page: 5 22 Aug 1994 enroute? SecureMail is a rapidly growing international mail system. Currently, there are SecureMail hosts in all ten regions of Zone 1, as well as Zones 2 and 3. Even though we do not yet have hosts in Zones 4, 5, and 6, we will still accept and deliver mail to/from nodes in those zones. We expect to obtain ?SMHs in these three FidoNet zones shortly. If there is not a ?SMH in your net or close by, we encourage you to volunteer for the post. As long as you are willing to forward mail without monitoring or censoring, you will be welcomed. You can obtain a full information package by freqing SECUREML from 1:216/21, 1:374/14, 2:51/8, 2:5100/8, 3:800/857, or any of the ?SMH systems listed in the nodelist. This package contains details on the operation of SecureMail, guidelines, and general philosophy of SeceureMail. It also contains the latest SecureMail routing map. Since there are a number of control phreaks in FidoNet that disallow user flags in the nodelist, you may find a closer ?SMH to you by reviewing the map rather than the nodelist. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBLlAtQyWTIMO3gis9AQFlMQP/YiIenhWLK13avNDlb3MNlwujkZC5OULn IDZabPUmercJWgDCYzRhh4YNtLuvubfLEskrK/uE6qh/CcBmkzMK0ROVjh9+gFPi GeAo6W6Ayjko/ji8HGATLFK25yv0KRi4p5O4WVmYH6PoNifCyzZtrRxx28G0qEsw AuinHycimIk= =BK0x -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Unfortunately, Charles Herriot of 1:163/110 again inflicts another missive from the avenging finger of typewriterdom attached to Doc Logger, a practicing neural liposuction artiste. Roll da' flic, Sylvia. Cookies 'N Milk 'R Us, Kingston, Ontario S0D 0RF Dear Reverend Visage, The day started off with the promise of the usual engagement with mid-range lethal animals as I loaded the car with appropriate supplies and began a voyage to Net250 to attend one of their bunfests. I was so much looking forward to fascinating lectures on constitutional law from Alec Grynspan, but as so often happens, fate intervened. I stopped in Kingston to take a respite from the soon to be photo-radar infested roads of Southern Ontario and to give the engine a chance to reconstitute itself from the near molten slag which it had become from my impressively conservative driving. If you return before I do, could you requisition another Lambourgini Diablo from the petty FidoNews 11-34 Page: 6 22 Aug 1994 cash fund. I understand that I didn't miss much at the Net250 bunfest, other than the contralto screeching of a few deposed HUBS and failed NC candidates. When, oh when, will these people ever learn that even though they stand in the blinding white light of their own ambitions, they cannot continually threaten to take their balls and go home without eventually have their bluff called? I shall arrange for a seminar in contract law to be administered to them by an appropriately delirious echomail feed. While in Kingston, I opportuned a good friend to take me sailing on Lake Ontario. I don't know if I have mentioned this, but sailing takes a close third position behind sex and politics as a worthy pursuit. We chanced upon some of our indigenous brethren. When I posited a polite inquiry as to their activity, they assured me that they were fishing. When asked what they had caught so far, they responded: "Mostly Canadian Club & Export A." I could see immediately that their poor success in their traditional gathering endeavours probably had a great deal to do with the fact that their cigarette boat was travelling at a high rate of knots. This almost certainly had nothing to do with the fact that even as we parted company, the .50 calibre bullets of a most agressive Canada Customs vessel were already bracketing our position. Thank gawd I was already wearing Kevlar underwear in anticipation of my welcome from the peace-loving peoples of Net250. In other news, and you'll *love* this, our good buddy Jonathan Hart has been hip-deep in the HOLEY_WINTER echo with the usual hightoned clean-up suggestions. As you may recall, Johnny Hart was one of the California Spam 'N Timmies who helped garrote the Commode d'Or echo. I trust that Johnny will *really* impress the heck out of the Bible tub-thumpers by letting them know that he is the president of the Commodore Computer Users Club. A nice warm hand job for Johnny I say, and may the force be with him. On roughly the same topic, your partner in proseltyzing... the aforementioned Winter fellow, has been tossed from the warm embrace of Fidonet by a ZC who clearly has adequate fax paper to handle the almost certain deluge. Allow me to be the first to predict an impending jihad against "false fido scum." I shall be certain to use those erotic lanolin breath mints that you sent in the hopes that the dark hand pauseth not at my door. Your lack of communication causes me to fear that you have fallen victim to the latest form of brigandry. It seems that a couple in Florida were held up by a bandit brandishing a large snake. Even cutting back on the Ibogaine dosages wouldn't prevent some savage nightmares being evoked by hold-ups at snakepoint. I can only hope you remembered the forked-tongue repellant. I must go, Visage, your secretary has become most concerned at my behaviour and this has almost nothing at all to do with the FidoNews 11-34 Page: 7 22 Aug 1994 fact that I left the cruise control on and retired to the back seat to write this article. She asserts, with some degree of vehemence I might add, that *somebody* ought to be driving the car. She would move to the driver's seat herself, but unfortunately we are following the region 12 echomail topography and the G-forces have sucked her eyebrows to the back of her head. She's not a well woman, Visage, and I would think that as a good and decent gesture that we ought to buy her a commemorative WoodStock '94 T-shirt. Regards, Doc Logger Tuber Self Abuse Help Group, Shuckmagosh, Ohio ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Head Injury Relearning Centre 12 East Hastings St. Vancouver, B.C. Canada I8H 3RS My Dear Doctor Logger, You will be happy to learn that the travel arrangements made for me by the editors of the 'Snooze have far exceeded any past experiences provided for me by our mutual employers at Swamp Swine Magazine. The rather circuitous approach to Vancouver made on a pontooned relic (a classic, I was told) on that occasionally licensed airline known as ScAir BC to the locals, reached a crescendoed finale by putting down in Vancouver Harbour very nearly on top of the cross harbour SeaBus. I had not realized how fragile expensive radar antennae are when struck by a propellor. I was similarly thrilled to find that a room had been booked for me in the sumptuous Ivanhoe Hotel. It was, however, most unfortunate that my cab driver was unwilling to complete the voyage to said lodging, and, having proceded on foot (giving a large number of blessings to very young ladies dressed primarily in mesh hosiery) I arrived only to have the inconvenience of having the entire Hotel condemned as I attempted to check in. Needless to say, I was forced to take shelter in a nearby emporium on Orange Street, in which something called "Kokannee" is served in rather large glasses, and in which athletic young women show their gymnastic ability by swinging on a pole and by performing an extensive floor routine. Here again, I was struck by the sadly inadequate -- or in some cases, total absence of clothing possessed by the poor dears. As a man of charity, I was forced to act. I'm sure Sylvia will FidoNews 11-34 Page: 8 22 Aug 1994 understand that I had to take matters into my own hands, and I'm sure that she'll understand that it was necessary to rent several suites in the Pan Pacific Hotel under her name. Likewise, the clothing ordered for the girls from La Vie en Rose was just for the purpose of basic necessity, and the dozen or so cases of Glenfiddich was just to help them warm up after being so poorly clad for so long. Be a good sport and explain to Sylvia that sometimes expense accounts must be used for the greater good. Besides, I think we can make a killing on the video -- some of the young ladies discovered an extremely innovative means of worship with Rosary Beads. You'll also be pleased to know that I've been on the trail of our missing, beloved RC. A recent photograph included one of a creature surfacing briefly in Lost Lagoon, clearing its blowhole, and diving again. It is clearly no coincidence that this siting coincides *exactly* with the brief moment that the RC's system actually functions. A further lead has proved even warmer - here at the Head Injury Relearning Centre, I found that a recent inmate had checked in under the name of "Not Rick, Honest". In his recently vacated cell I found the words "Luke, Die, Die, Die" etched into the walls, and a clipped advertisement for an "All Nude Russian Girl Review" at a fine establishment in Calgary. There's something sinister afoot here, Logger, and I fear the very worst -- naked Bolsheviks have kidnapped the RC. Obviously, I shall proceed posthaste to Calgary. I fear the financial resources of the 'Snooze may be insufficient to cover the special needs of this assignment, so I've told the editors of Swamp Swine that I've uncovered a major international scandal, and will need a suitably large advance. I've also spoken to Ms. LaBamba (she was shrieking something about a Woodstock Revival, Brown Acid and needing more shells for the howitzer at the time) and she has agreed to bring out appropriate supplies for an extended visit to Western Canada. I'm sure you'll understand that she was forced to raid your ibogaine stash to accomodate this quest, which clearly must continue. I've also been following your movements as you proceed to France. As your spiritual advisor, might I suggest that you stamp "We Do No Animal Testing" on the fresh baby seal pelts you've acquired for Brigitte Bardot? I understand she absolutely refuses on principle to use cosmetics made by companies that perform said testing, and not just because they clash with her ocelot suit. I'm sure this will win you bigtime points. Religiously yours, Rev. Richard Visage Spiritual Advisor, Region 12 Gymnastics Coach Pay-per-view Entrepeneur FidoNews 11-34 Page: 9 22 Aug 1994 My name is James Ankuda My name is James Ankuda, I've been in Fidonet for about 5 years now. I go by the name of Coota most places. And am at 1:101/665.0, In reading the Fido Snooze every week for the last few years, I've seen many people complain about "Cursing" or "Profanity". To tell the truth, I don't believe in any "GOD" of any sort. And, I do not PUSH my beliefs on others. And, let me point out, for those who DO believe in GOD, there are TONS of Religions and everyone CLAIMS theirs IS THE ONE. I personally find these people weak, and most of them were in need of help at one time. So, instead of making friends they got support from some people who once needed support themselves. So, what happens is they then get so caught up in their NEW Religion. they BUG THE HELL OUT OF OTHERS! For those of you who are SICK AND TIRED of these WHINE-ASSES complaining about profanity, I suggest you sit back and ask yourself these questions: 1) Was I popular, or well liked in school? 2) Did I make friends when I wanted to, and easily? 3) Do I NEED to TRY and run others lives? If you answered YES to 1 & 2, and NO to 3, you're probably not concerned about Profanity. Granted, you may not use it all the time, but you don't CONDEM or JUDGE others who use it. I myself try not to teach it to others but I don't JUDGE people or put myself on a high horse. Also, lets look at CURSING shall we? to Curse someone is to put a HEX or SPELL on them . Also, what are like 90% of the WARS fought over? RELIGION, Religion is one of the BIGGEST killers in the world. I personally would like to see Fido Snooze remain a FREE SPEECH weekly Newsletter. I find it nice to read and like seeing some Sysops blow off steam. I don't think it's a "Enquirer" type Newsletter. If people can't handle the TRUTH then join a Religion! Hehehe... Laters All... --Coota PS - For those people who Whine about the size of the nodelist, I know it's a pain, BUT I happen to like having all the nodes in the world so I can FREQ Files from anyone! Also, so I can find some connections to locate old friends etc!!!! FidoNews 11-34 Page: 10 22 Aug 1994 Censorship, Freedom, and Topics in the Snooze by Frank J. Perricone, 1:325/611, perricone@wsyd.com I don't know if the rumblings for censorship of the Snooze are getting louder, or it's just that I've been reading it long enough for the cumulative sound to start echoing in my ears. But either way, there is definitely an issue here. The FidoNews has been (almost) a truly free press, based on its policy of "Everything that we receive we print" which has been its hallmark for many years. And there is a great need for such a thing. Fido is an underground river of communication that the Powers That Be barely are aware of and do not understand, but which lets communication cross political borders and dodge, for the most part, the standard avenues of oppression. What better thing to act as its flagship than a truly free press, one of the very few in the world which does not conform to the famous phrase of A. J. Liebling: "Freedom of the press is limited to those who own one." (Unfortunately, the above paragraph turns out to be a bit idealistic. Apparently, FidoNews has been turning away articles based on criteria other than formatting already. All the more reason for this article.) One thing that many in Fido, and in the U.S.A., and perhaps in the whole world, do not understand about censorship, however, is that it is NOT censorship to refuse to print something because it is OFF TOPIC. But every moderator of a Fido echo has had to grapple with this, when accused of being a censor. Topics are not meant to impinge on free speech; they are merely meant to organize it, so that the READER has the ability to only read the topics which interest him. THAT -- and I believe *ONLY* that -- is a legitimate reason to not print something, or not allow it. Enforcing a topic does not mean "don't say this", it just means "don't say this HERE". Therefore, if the pressures on FidoNews grow too great to be dodged, I suggest that you, our faithful Editors, head off the possibility of true censorship, while still meeting the demands of many, and establish a firm TOPIC for the FidoNews. And there can be only one topic: Fido news! Then, let the TOPIC do the "censoring". No one can accuse you of quashing free speech (at least, not without being hosed) if you then turn away articles on topics totally unrelated to the news of running FidoNet. And after all, the only thing you can say with surety about all the readers of FidoNews is that they're interested in the news of Fido: so there's nothing inappropriate about this topic. This is the *ONLY* answer, other than no answer, that you can give to those who hound for censorship, that I will support, and that I think could possibly make sense. (The "profanity" hounds will still be annoyed. But how hard could it be for them to get a program which scans a text and converts words in a given list into asterisks? If such a program doesn't exist, I'll write one, if necessary.) The only problem, then, is this: who will fill the gap? In this FidoNews 11-34 Page: 11 22 Aug 1994 week's (as I write this) FidoNews, Michael Seneco (1:141/536) suggested much the same thing. I think the ideal solution would be to have two parallel newsletters of a FidoNews format: "FidoNews" and "FidoFreePress" might be two good names. The latter would be published automatically -- not even read by its editors, only assembled. In fact, if a fileecho existed for it, or if it could tag along in an existing one like FIDONEWS, I could write up a quick-n-dirty program that would "publish" it automatically, and would be glad to do so. You can consider that an offer. The main reason I propose this plan is this. The pressures to censor seem to be growing, and eventually, they will not be able to be resisted. (To a certain extent, they already aren't being resisted.) I propose you "head off at the pass" these forces by doing it RIGHT, now, while it still can be done right. Make the topic fundamental to the FidoNews, and make it painfully clear that it is the TOPIC doing the censoring, not your personal tastes, or those of anyone else. This will hold off those that want to censor based on how "dangerous" or "unpleasant" or "inappropriate" the topic is -- since nothing is as dangerous as censoring dangerous communications. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================== Fidonews Information ======================================================================== ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ---------------- Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar Tom Jennings "FidoNews" BBS FidoNet 1:1/23 BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS) more addresses: sylvia -- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Rev. Richard Visage -- 1:163/409 Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411 (Postal Service mailing address) FidoNews 128 Church St. Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2H 2S4 max & Don voice: (519) 570-3137 Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international volunteer electronic mail system. It is a compilation FidoNews 11-34 Page: 12 22 Aug 1994 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 1994 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors. OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet. PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail address, or trade for copy of your 'zine. INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may freq 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 should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the previously listed address. 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 BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable from 1:1/23 as file "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. "the pulse of the cursor is the heartbeat of fidonet"... -- END ----------------------------------------------------------------------