F I D O N E W S -- Vol.12 No. 3 (16-Jan-1995) +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | 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 | | | | \ \\ | | | | (*) | \ )) | Editor: | | |__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 | | 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..................................................... 1 2. Articles...................................................... 2 Cutting Edge UFO and Science Information.................... 2 Subject: An article......................................... 4 Subject: Hello, it's me again............................... 4 subj: Dictatorship in Zone 4................................ 5 New Echo: U2............................................... 7 3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 8 ======================================================================== Editorial ======================================================================== FidoNews 12-03 Page: 2 16 Jan 1995 Well, the echos are still full of Mr. Winters. It is getting quite boring. Maybe we should all pledge not to write a word to or about Steve for a week. It would probably lower the world's energy consumption by 50%. It seems to me that about 99% of all the serious fights in Fidonet are the result of either CRP disputes or nodelist maintenance being used as a dispute settling mechanism. Maybe nodelist maintenance should be made a separate function from net chairman, and net treasurer a separate function from NEC. Maybe some people already do that. On to the articles. ======================================================================== Articles ======================================================================== Cutting Edge UFO and Science Information Hmmm..... What _is_ all the fuss about anyway? What fuss you say? Well, if you are into the UFO phenomenon, and you monitor Fido echoes that cover that topic, then you would have seen a big FUSS that started the very day that a new 'kid' hit the block. Last May, 1994, the I_UFO echo hit the backbone, and the attacks began from the start. First there were accusations of "She told everyone it was on the backbone before it really was... we oughta start a policy complaint against her". Say What? Later, they recant, "oh our Fidonet.NA was the wrong date, sorry". But the story is still repeated as if true, seven months later. So, what _is_ the problem? Why, I_UFO is just another echo..... Guess there is more to it than that. Then within the first few weeks of the new echo trying to get settled in, comes the barrage of "skeptic approved" articles. Now, I understand that for some, being a skeptic is the exact same thing as a religion. To some skeptics, saying you believe in Extra-terrestrials, is like calling their Momma a dog in heat. So, during the bombing run of skeptic articles, I say, "um, excuse me, this area does not allow ridiculing people who have had UFO related experiences. Will you please stop posting the skeptic magazine articles?" Figure if you ask nice, you can get results. Naw. No. No. No. See the point is, either I_UFO comes under control of the Net-UFO-censors and their cronies, or I_UFO can't be. Oh, that was the choice alright, only it took me about four months to realize that destroying I_UFO by any means possible was the real intent and goal. But again, it begs the question, Why? Who'd'a'thunk that the UFO topic was that touchy a subject? Apparently to some, it is, when it involves views that they do not agree with. But, what happened to, "if you don't like an echo, bone your own"? Well, I did that, so now why have I had to suffer this relentless abuse for EIGHT SOLID MONTHS! By the fourth month, I had done all that I could, to reason with these handful of annoying antagonizers, and I banned the whole FidoNews 12-03 Page: 3 16 Jan 1995 lot of them in one fell swoop; branding them "excessively annoying". Oh Boo! Hoo! The cry-babies have been whining ever since, and they wage their attacks in the other UFO areas; actively coercing net-users, with their inflamed, and fabrication-filled rhetoric, not to participate in I_UFO. But, again, I say, WHY? Then, I catch one of them, a moderator of a Fido echo, implementing a publicly-admitted plan of "attack" against a user in I_UFO; which attack he waged, for over two weeks, and I SUSPENDED him for 90 days. Guess what he did? He announces that he is gonna file a policy complaint to have me removed as Moderator of my own echo! He cites a handful of meaningless, and trumped up charges, and starts the ball of flames rolling again in his echo. SHEESH! If this doesn't take the cake? Why is I_UFO such a threat to these people? Will someone explain this? So, then he posts in I_UFO, violating his suspension, so I BAN him forever. OH MY GOD! An irate SysOp says he won't allow his users to post in I_UFO. A new kind of censorship, I guess. A couple of weeks later, everyone realizes his policy complaint would not hold water; this from a SysOp and Moderator. Then he posts in I_UFO again. Well, I guess we _have_ to ask to have his feed cut; so much for the honor system. You would think it would be all over by now, but these people will not be satisfied until I_UFO is not a Fidonet echo; that much is clear. The discussions they are flaming nowadays might well be moderated in a FLAME echo. The lies they make up and say about people are the products of sick-minds! This situation is more than echo-politics, or echo-rivalries, or even ego-wars. These people are sick! They work feverishly to persuade anyone who will believe them, not to read the I_UFO echo. Well, that begs the same ole question; WHY? Well, I have one idea. We have a lot of cutting-edge information in the I_UFO echo. These people act like censors, in that they do not want net-users to see anything that would disagree with their view of reality. I told ya, it is like a religion with them. All I and anyone who uses I_UFO, want, is to be left alone. It is just a message echo, for Pete's Sake! Grow Up! You can't control all the Science and UFO information in FidoNet! Nor Politics and Religion! Areafix I_UFO to see not only the great info we share, but also the pleasant atmosphere we keep for people to share all viewpoints related to UFO's and New Science. So, if you have a mind of your own, and can think on your own, and don't need ufo-net-censors to tell you what to believe, check I_UFO out, where you can post your views without being ridiculed. Glenda Stocks I_UFO Co-Moderator 1:330/201 FidoNews 12-03 Page: 4 16 Jan 1995 From: Federico Joselevich (4:900/109) Subject: An article On Fidonew's January issue, Jow Shear wrote: > One of the biggest frustrations I have as a SysOp when it comes to > users, is why won't they use the message bases? Well, it seems to be a WWP (Wide World Problem). I'm the SysOp of a cultural BBS. The shot of my BBS is to make a contact between the users and the Literature (such a problem). I've got a lot of seccions of good writters like E. A. Poe, Julio Cortazar, Mario Benedetti, etc. But the users entered to seek files... So, the point -I think- is only to see what is the idea of a BBS: if you want a literary BBS, make it -literaly-, if you want a messageistic BBS, make it messageistic. Forget on providing files or such things. A lot of users will go away, but, who stays will use the BBS as it is, in the way it was thought. Well, a short answer with english problems. It seems to me that I need an English School BBS with no files, no messages and no literature. ;) Federico Joselevich SysOp of Carreteras del Viento (+54-1-544-6241) federico@appeal.uba.ar 4:900/109 4:900/700 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: William Scott Lockwood (1:2235/429) Subject: Hello, it's me again. Reply to Brendan Keyport By WIlliam Scott Lockwood III This will be the final word on this subject my be in the Snooze. I'd be happy to discuss this in IM_HELP or any of the sysop echos. >Lee L. The current moderator, has never made any unwarrented cuts from >the echo. William is angry for his being moderated agaist in a problem >between him and several others over a file he was advertising (I got a >warning too). Unwarrented is when your feed is cut for flaming the moderator for being a geek and a gimp -IN NETMAIL. His decision was arbitrary, and not based on anything other than the knowledge that he would get away with it if he did it. This is not only unfair to me, but it is unfair to everyone else he's done this to in FidoNet. I had every right to express my displeasure in any way I saw fit! Why? Because it was not in the echo, I ALWAYS complied with his requests there. Give it up FidoNews 12-03 Page: 5 16 Jan 1995 man, no one is falling for this. You need not worry about IM_HELP. After Speaking with one of the authors at Intermail, I have agreed to do nothing further until I hear back from them. At that time, if all goes well, I will simply turn over the password to Lee or Peter or Patrick, and all will be happy. The real point here, is that moderators have much to much power over how they exercise their offices. After all, who's paying for this? What FidoNet as a whole needs, is a policy like ECROC to insure that FEEDS ARE NOT CUT FOR BULLSHIT like mine was. I was not the only person that this happened to. I have recieved mail from several others stating they had had a similar problem, and refuse to carry the conferance as a result. This is not fair and equitable, this does not do the greatest good for the greatest number. That is what I feel we need. >PS to WSLIII - Flames can be sent to NUL. P.S. to Brendan Keyport, your whole messages belongs there. Yours, William Scott Lockwood III ---------------------------------------------------------------------- subj: Dictatorship in Zone 4 Hello Fidonetters! Recently we've heard many cases of arbitrariety against lots of persons in Fidonet. Here in Z4 isn't quite different. In the last days, a dictator took place in the ZC4 position. This week our current ZC4, Mr. Gamey Garcia, suddenly decided to excommunicate our RC80 (Mauricio Andrade) from his position, and assigned another person, without known reasons or previous communication. Here follows the message posted by Mr. GG in the LATIN.SYSOP echomail, with my own comments included: ----------8<----------8<----------8<----------8<----------8<------------ From : Gamey Garcia, (4:970/1) Mon 09 Jan 95 10:51 [LATIN.SYSOP] To : All Subj : New R80C appointed Due to the circumstances that have been taking place in Region 80, I have decided to appoint a new coordinator to replace the current one, to bring the situation back to normal. This is a radical move that I have FidoNews 12-03 Page: 6 16 Jan 1995 never had to make before, and expect I will not have to again in the future, but that was needed in this case. *---[Comments ON]---* Mr. Gamey Garcia has a long experience in such cases. He was appointed as a temporary-ZC4 for a 4 months period, and one of his jobs was to coordinate a new election. But guess how long this guy took to start this election?? Only TWO YEARS, and not to mention that it wasn't a clean election. He simply changed the election method, and won against our excommunicated RC80, Mauricio Andrade, in a 4x3 result. Normal ?! What this guy knows as "normal situation in Brazil" ?! He lives in Mexico, isn't member of R80... how he knows what's normal ? Another question made by 100% of the Region80: Based in which facts Mr. GG take this action?! It's not mentioned in his message, or am i blind or what?!? *---[Comments OFF]---* The new coordinator for Region 80 will be Jorge Martins. He will be responsible of enforcing Policy4 in the region to avoid the situations that have taken place for some time now. Jorge Martins is hereby appointed for a period of 4 months that will be extended by myself only if necessary. If everything works out as expected, there will be new RC elections in Region 80 in May. *---[Comments ON]---* Huh... who's this guy appointed by him?! Everybody in R80 knows Mr. Jorge Martins by it's "good" behaviour. It's a person without any knowledge in performing a job like this, as he never was even a HUB, nor a NC and much less a RC. Very interesting the person appointed by Mr. Gamey Garcia... it's a well-known blind follower of our ZC's thoughts... *---[Comments OFF]---* There will be no excommunications without my authorization. However, the RC has my support in the process he will carry out to normalize the situation in the region, in which he will possibly have to replace certain coordinators and hold new elections for some nets. *---[Comments ON]---* Again, another surprise. One of the first acts of the appointed RC80 was to KILL four growing nets (4:8027, 4:8062, 4:8082 and 4:8085) created in the our excommunicated administration. It's a clear demonstration of R80's power-cutting performed by Mr. Gamey Garcia and its gang. *---[Comments OFF]---* I have instructed the newcomer to clean up the nodelist from unnecessary PVT HOLD and DOWN entries, as well as provided him with guidelines on how to use those entries, that he will pass on to the NC's. I have instructed him to immediately remove all region- independent administrative entries from the region's segment, and assign new ones in the future, as he sees convenient. FidoNews 12-03 Page: 7 16 Jan 1995 *---[Comments ON]---* Another arbitrary decision. Mr. Gamey Garcia decided to excommunicate all his oppositors, in a clear wish to excommunicate me, as i'm one of his great oppositors and of the new appointed RC80. Mr. GG's decision isn't very smart, as he didn't notice that his own region has PVT nodes, as well as others regions... Thinking well, it was a very good decision, so everybody may understand now our ZC's intention. *---[Comments OFF]---* Regards to everybody, and good luck to the sysops in Region 80. *---[Comments ON]---* Oh well, buy a pack of aspirines and pray for God, because you will need him much more than luck. *---[Comments OFF]---* Gamey............... E-Mail: alex%netpe@ibase.org.br ---------------------------------------------------------------------- New Echo: U2 by Ryan Shaw The U2 Fan Echo Rules and Guidelines for the Fidonet Echomail Conference: U2 ============================================================= EchoTag: U2 Description: U2 is a place for fans and nonfans of the Irish Rock band U2 to get together, discuss their music, trade gossip tidbits, exchange U2 guitar tablatures, and trade recordings among other things. Posts from the U2 Internet mailing list "Wire" are also gated to the conference so there will never be a shortage of traffic or new information out of Dublin. General Echo Guidelines: 1) The moderator is the moderator and has the final say of anything that has anything to do with the echo U2. 2) While criticism of the band and its music is tolerated and even encouraged, insults directed at individuals based on their personal taste will not be tolerated. 3) Gating of the conference is allowed as long as permission is granted by the moderator before gating begins. Now that all that mumble-jumble is over with, on to U2! Enjoy. Ryan Shaw FidoNews 12-03 Page: 8 16 Jan 1995 Sysop, Zoo Station - Eugene, Oregon (1:152/67) Moderator, U2 Note: The echo will be in the next EList. Also, due to the recent relaxation of the backbone policy it could easily be backboned in the near future due to the current volume of 30+ messages/week. If you are interested in getting a feed at this time, please contact me at 1:152/67@fidonet.org or at rshaw@gladstone.uoregon.edu. In your message please include session-level and packet passwords, as well as desired compression method and the times you wish to poll. Or, if you'd like to check the echo out before deciding to hook up to it you can file request U2MSGS from my system 24 hours a day seven days a week. This is a small archive containing last week's messages. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================== Fidonews Information ======================================================================== ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ---------------- Editors: Donald Tees, Sylvia Maxwell 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: Rev. Richard Visage -- 1:163/409 Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com (Postal Service mailing address) FidoNews 128 Church St. Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2H 2S4 voice: (519) 570-3137 Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FIDONET INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR ELECTRONIC MAIL system. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in FidoNews 12-03 Page: 9 16 Jan 1995 these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews. Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is Copyright 1995 Donald Tees. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or the eds. Articles by Madam emilia may be retransmitted freely through cyber-space. 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------