Volume 8, Number 16 22 April 1991 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|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 1991, 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 and for the Members of the FidoNet (r) International Amateur Electronic Mail System. 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. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 A Conversation with Pablo ................................ 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 17 Sell advertising in your User Group newsletter ........... 17 FidoCon '91 Update ....................................... 19 Online Perspectives ...................................... 26 Non-Standard (SCRIPT) System Usage Proposal .............. 37 Save up to 30% on long distance charges .................. 40 3. LATEST VERSIONS .......................................... 42 Latest Software Versions ................................. 42 4. NOTICES .................................................. 47 And more! FidoNews 8-16 Page 1 22 Apr 1991 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Subsequent to my editorial two weeks ago, Pablo Kleinman, the principal author of the current "Worldpol" proposal, and I exchanged some netmail in which we exchanged our views in an open and frank manner. By mutual agreement I publish the exchange here. I assume that you have read the editorial which started this exchange. From : Pablo Kleinman On: 4:900/101 To : Vince Perriello On: 132/491 Subject: A reply to the last Editorial Dated : 14 Apr 91 13:11:20 Hola, Vince. How are you? I feel a great respect for you and that is the main reason why I reply to your editorial through netmail. I did write to you a net-mail once I was annoyed by some comment you made on FidoNews regarding the ex-Z2C, but never got an answer from you. This time, I hope you do get back to me. I value your opinion, that's on the other hand why I don't simply shut up and question it. > For the past two weeks I have been trying to figure out just > how to tell you what I think about the new Policy proposal. The > exact method that would best serve my need to get it all off my > chest, and your need to figure out whether my comments were > best ignored or heeded. The only thing I heard from you before was the idea of establishing different domains. IMHO, it is even more radical than establishing a basic umbrella policy. I don't necessarily disagree with your idea at all, it looks to me even more fair to those of us in other zones than Policy4. > Before I push you to the point of making that decision > regarding my words, please at least heed this advice: read the > proposed Policy carefully, read the Policy it replaces, and do > some "what if" scenarios. Consider some situations where > someone was kept from doing something by present Policy; > determine whether you feel that person should be able to do > that thing; see if the new Policy addresses it. Consider the > additional freedom of action offered by the new Policy. Good or > Bad? Look at what effect the changes will have on the day-by- > day operation of the net. Do they seem to be positive or > negative? Discuss it with others. Pass on your advice to your > NC. Be a part of this process. > OK. Thanks. Now I'll cut to the chase. FidoNews 8-16 Page 2 22 Apr 1991 We fully agree on this. > Worldpol seems to me to be a well-intentioned effort to correct > a few perceived flaws in Policy 4. For some reason, the > resultant document seems to have basically started from a blank > sheet of paper, without considering the reason for any of those > sections of Policy 4 which demonstated those perceived flaws. Now, let's stop for a moment here. Policy4 was heavily opposed by Zones two and four (yes, we were and still are small, but we don't count?) and still was pursued by the Z1RCs and by David Dodell. In fact, there would have been no questionings if they would have made it a Zone-1 policy, like the Europeans did with Policy4e that is prior to the current, American Policy4. We not only can't live under Policy4, but we don't even want to! It does not represent what we desire for our zone; it goes against the principles we sustain as a group. We want our coordinators to result from legitimate elections, and sincerely the methods proposed by Policy4 are a tough blow to all of us since it is precisely what we hardly reject. And when I say "we", I'm not playing hypocrite. I had the opportunity to begin FidoNet operations in Latin America almost four years ago, and while I'm the zone coordinator, I must act according to what the sysops here want. I was elected by them and therefore, until I resign sometime in the coming weeks (or they for some reason resolve to fire me), I am their representative. > Without going completely Luddite on you, let me still point out > that Policy1-Policy4 seem to have been a fairly good set of > rules. After all, they got us here. I don't see why all of a > sudden the entire fabric needed to be torn out in favor of a > new one. Perhaps I'm just not farsighted enough. Hell, some > mornings I can't even remember the name of the kid who played > Pugsley. Vince: Policy4 is highly disregarded everywhere. And I don't need to refer to the typical cases in Germany or here. Even among those that oppose WorldPol there are Policy4-violators. Did you know that the Taiwanese have a Region policy conveniently written in Chinese that says that among other things, the sysop MUST PAY to be in FidoNet? And how the hell did I know? Somebody downloaded the document from Honlin Lue's board, and my NC, that speaks Chinese, translated it. Now: I'm not at all surprised when I see that there is an important drift from FidoNet to SigNet there. FidoNews 8-16 Page 3 22 Apr 1991 So, is this the goal? To have a policy document to simply ignore it? We could have done that, since everyone here was d'accord in not accepting it. Instead, we went to try to change the world. How naive we were. If I knew that in 1991 I would still have been involved in this, I would have simply not started the whole thing. Imagine the effort that represented to get a MAJORITY of the world's RCs to agree on a document that would drastically cut their "power". Unfortunately, only 3 of the 20something votes came from zone 1 and two of the three were Canadian. It wasn't a vote to support WorldPol, it was just to setup a vote. But a large number not only doesn't trust the sysops, they don't even trust the NCs they appointed themselves. > Right up front, let me tell you what the biggest problem with > this document is. There are a lot of noises swirling around > these days with words like "liability" and "punitive damages" > in them. This document blows enough of the structure of FidoNet > away to make a number of lawyers very rich and send a few > coordinators to a new home in a cardboard box. The fact that it > was written by a person for whom English is a second language > (although his command of it is better than many Americans of my > acquaintance) really doesn't hold a single drop of water in a > court of law. To add to this problem, the disclaimer stating > that fact is in a section that will be deleted should the vote > be in favor of ratification. Sic transit NC's. Thank you for the personal compliment. I lived in the states for a while a few years back and yes I know about this American custom of suing anyone for anything. But maybe then a special statute of limitations should be added by the zone 1 sysops for that matter. Things aren't like that anywhere else in the world. I was told about some cases in the U.S. that involved going to court that for me or any other non-American sound simply like science fiction. And with many Americans reading WorldPol on FidoNews, nobody ever cared to propose such thing. What can I do? Even those from zone 1 that got involved never mentioned such thing. > Next problem: the concept of "areas" is diluted to the point of > being meaningless. This works great in combination with another > feature which I'll address in a minute. But for now, consider > this: there is nothing in Worldpol to keep someone from being > RC of every region in a Zone. All that person has to do is > maintain a node in every region, which is perfectly allowable > under the new Policy -- and that makes him/her part of the > "area" which she/he would be coordinating, and eligible for > election. Yeah, sure, that could never happen. And O-rings > never burn through and the Libyans are only manufacturing > pharmaceuticals. FidoNews 8-16 Page 4 22 Apr 1991 There is one thing that will prevent this: SYSOPS CAN VOTE under WorldPol! That should satisfy you and perfectly ensures that the type of injustices you describe won't occur. > How about the local net policies? Did anyone notice that local > net policy is not subordinate to regional policy? But the RC > has to deal with policy disputes. Now that's fair, isn't it? When there is a dispute between members of two nets, there isn't a single net policy to judge upon, so RC doesn't have to deal with any of them. It is perfectly clear, Vince. You wrote BinkleyTerm, you are a smart guy. :-) > Harry has already mentioned a number of the things that bother > me most about this one. I'll bet anyone five dollars that there > will be at least one white-only net in North America by the end > of the year if this policy passes. That is your problem. Zone-1 policy must perfectly state this is not possible. Or better, do what we plan to do: restrict nets to geography on the Zone policy. That way, you simply eliminate "geography" from the agenda. Do you think that the majority here agree with the Germans or the Dutch on this point? No! We just respect their behaviour. This was the philosophy behind WorldPol and they made themselves be heard. The basic idea is "what is not enforceable all over the world should be left to the zone policies to deal with". > I'll bet anyone ten dollars that Zone 4 will have communists- > not-allowed nets and regions in less time than that. Oh oh. Now you are making an ugly comment here. Of course I accept the bet and double it. Vince: the Zone-4 sysops elected Pablo Kleinman (a Jew) their ZC, Charles Hirakawa de Miranda (a Japanese-Brazilian) RC80, Billy Coen Aleandri (Italian Jew) RC90, and Sunchie Yang (a Chinese immigrant) the zone's largest network's NC. Do you simply think we can now discriminate under basis of ideology? The new Editor of NotiFido is a socialist and gets along well with all the rest, some of them, hardline conservatives. Another local sysop, Tero Karkkainen, is the most popular among the crowd to hold a position that a group is promoting here, consisting on a form of an official Zone Public Database of FidoNet files. Of course, I cite the example because Tero is Finnish and has lived here only for two or three years. > Would the Z4C care to comment on whether Cubans should be > allowed in FidoNet? And how convenient it will be to have a > policy that lets you tell them where to stick their modems? FidoNews 8-16 Page 5 22 Apr 1991 I got a request now from Nicaragua. We are doing our best to have them in FidoNet soon. Not meaning to prove anything, but the example might well suit you. If the Cubans want to join us, then great! I've been sending messages through packet-radio all over South and Central America for a long while promoting FidoNet. A lot of us instead of spending the money on personal entertainment have been contributing in different manners to spread the word across the continent. Please, don't make this kind of accusations to us that operate under the only fully democratic regime in the whole net. I know of at least one sysop here that was kicked out of the country some 18 years ago for being a "red". We couldn't possibly adopt such authoritarian attitudes we actively reject. Do you think he would support WorldPol (as he surely does) if there was such danger? > Has anyone heard from Russia recently, and will prospective > members of FidoNet have to show a prison tattoo or a burned-up > party card to join? :-) I remember once on the ZCC that Region 2:50 was referred to as "the excommunication-Region, Siberia". I can't reply to your question, Vince. The only thing I know is that inititally the RC there used a fake name on the nodelist because he was scared. > What is a Western-style democracy for the purposes of Worldpol? One person, one voice, one vote. WorldPol also proposes a form of federalism, which means that each zone and region and net is given certain autonomy. > The United States? Let's put that to the test. I'll send in a > voter registration form to Duluth, Minnesota. I'll say that > while I actually live and work in New Hampshire, I like > Minnesota best and I want to vote and pay taxes there. I bet > New Hampshire will go along with it, too. This is not how non-geographic nets are used, Vince. The example is right there in Zone-2. And no, you aren't forced to have that too. A simple Zone-1 policy will solve all that. > Here's another thing: There is a substantial body of legislation > and judicial action which helps to dampen the "tyranny of the > majority" in the United States. This takes the form of > representation in local governments by the minority party, > affirmative action quotas, and many other things which if just > left to a popular vote would probably fail resoundingly. Ask the > people of Boston or Yonkers if they favor busing. If the United > States worked like Worldpol, there would be no such thing. FidoNews 8-16 Page 6 22 Apr 1991 FidoNet is not the United States! The U.S. is huge within FidoNet but we are an international network! Failing to understand this principle has made of Policy4 unacceptable to most of the rest. > If not the United States, then perhaps El Salvador? Haiti? > Cuba? (Forget I said Cuba, I just remembered that Communists > live there) This is an important point. You can't just say > "Western standards" and expect that to suffice. It is better than saying "democratic". That was the original idea but someone suggested the word "western" to make things clearer. I bet you would be complaining if it just said "democratic" and referring to things like the ex-GDR to sustain your claims. Please, Vince. Let's play fair. > Worldpol says that FidoNews is the official newsletter. It says > that members of an area (whatever that is) can vote not to > receive it. Did anyone mention that since FidoNews is the > official newsletter, the *C is liable in any case involving > prior notice, if FidoNews was not provided? If the person who > did not receive that prior notice (and because of the "official > newsletter" clause, FidoNews is the only place that has any > legal standing) in FidoNews wasn't in favor of dropping it, the > *C loses and some lawyer gets rich. I thought that important announcements (at least the official stuff) were published on the nodediff. I personally love FidoNews (check out my BBS' database) and read it always (see how fast it got here?). But it is not fair to IMPOSE such an expense (bringing it to, say, Greenland) on the sysops that can't afford it and/or don't want it. We've had tough times here, economically talking. And it is very difficult to sustain such a compromise during those times. > Why didn't the authors didn't put something in Worldpol saying > that I didn't have to accept FidoNews submissions from an area > that has voted not to receive it? After all, why should the > rest of the net have to pay to move, or to read, something > submitted by someone who never intends to read it her/himself? :-) > Most of my other objections have been voiced equally well or > better by others. I'm glad to be able to say that. I'm not a > lone voice in the wilderness. Perhaps I'm one of a few hundred > such voices, but I suspect the real numbers are very different. Could be. I don't deny it. But if FidoNet shall brake up, it will be because the other zones will not be able to continue, due to Zone 1-imposed rules like Policy4. Face it: Policy4 is "Made in USA" and world standards aren't just that, if such thing exists. The new proposal has at least input from all over the world, including but not limited to the United States. FidoNews 8-16 Page 7 22 Apr 1991 > Hello, Jack? Jack Decker? I have an answer to your question > from last week. Why weren't people such as myself involved in > the effort to pull Worldpol from the ashes of Policy4? Perhaps > because unlike yourself, we saw no ashes. Vince: I've been complaining ever since I can remember seeing Policy4. Did you ever read ENET.SYSOP? If there was a possibility of reaching this point (a policy change vote) everybody should have collaborated to have a nice alternative. Many Z1RCs did not do it because they trusted they could have blocked any proposal from being voted, but Zone-2 grew in a way they hadn't expected. > There is some need for improvement in the document, but it > neither needs nor deserves to be discarded just because you and > a few dozen others don't understand why it is the way it is. It's a lot more than that. And it was rejected since before it was law. The mistake wasn't rejecting it (those like me who did), but it was made by those that didn't give a sh_t and IMPOSED it on the whole network. > Discussions leading to corrective surgery would have garnered a > great deal more interest from myself and others than what we > observed to be the case: the proposition that the basis of > FidoNet's "new world order" was the scrapping of previous > documents and a fresh start with fresh minds, unencumbered by > outmoded views. In other words, smart young turks at work, old > fogies stay out! I don't understand that. > So many of us did (BTW, Harry asks me to note that he sent > comments after each published revision to his NC, RC and ZC). Never got any of them. Probably the respective *C(s) didn't care to have a more acceptable (to them) WorldPol by sending in the remarks as everything received was seriously considered. > Since the net continued to work all the time you guys were > plugging away at this, we figured there was no need to fix > anything right away. I still feel that way. Almost. I think > that Worldpol needs a LOT of fixing before it should be adopted I agree that it will need to be brushed, but it is now far better than Policy4 already. On the other hand, it does not grant any type of bureaucracy (more specifically the RCs in this case) any control on what can or cannot be voted. It will be EXTREMELY difficult to replace Policy4 if this initiative fails. > Democracy in FidoNet is a great idea. But just like every great > thing, it's best in moderation. Worldpol proposes too much of > that good thing. We'll all get tummy aches if we have it. FidoNews 8-16 Page 8 22 Apr 1991 I totally disagree with this. If it's a good thing it's not too much of it, otherwise you probably really feel it's not such a good thing. Like Tom Jennings once mentioned, the RCs were not meant to be what they became. But suppressing that bureaucracy would have made WPOL simply impossible to be voted because they actually have total control on what can or cannot be voted. Totally unfair!!! WorldPol, I think, is not the end. It contains radical elements but it doesn't make all the necessary changes yet. Those will come later with time, and I will probably not be directly involved. > Worldpol is not a keeper. Throw it back and let it mature a bit Many of us are sick of Policy4. I think we passed a point of no return. So if it shall fail now, it will not in the future. But I guess things will never be the same again. I just hope that FidoNet survives as a whole if WorldPol fails. Especially if it wins on the other zones and looses just in Zone 1. I just think that the systematic opposition shown by many in the U.S. and Australia (certainly most of them with "important" coordinator positions) is not what the sysops in those places would prefer. I've seen all types of excuses. From the ones saying that it would be imposible to carry on a net-wide election (lies, look at the IFNA election and tell me where were the problems) to the others saying that WorldPol is unacceptable because it has grammar errors. Vince: things did not go as I would have liked. I just proposed a new document and thought that everybody would agree to submit it to referendum to decide. But I found a whole new face of FidoNet. A dirty face. I found people that for some reason do not respect the average FidoNet sysop and are not willing to let him vote. Zone coordinators that say "I would never win in a popularity contest" but assume that the fact refers to the others that don't know what they want, and not to himself that is not what the others want. Unfortunately, I have lead this process all too far to let somebody else replace me right now (I guess nobody would take it), but it would be exactly what I'd do if I could. I admit I've become for many a "difficult" character to deal with here, and no, it was never what I wanted. But how are you suppossed to act when you happen to "discover" that the seemingly hobbyist, pluralist FidoNet is not at all what it seems? FidoNews 8-16 Page 9 22 Apr 1991 I hope that in some way I have now explained why all this WorldPol, why the flames, why I'm so persistent. I think that if you succesfully see the things from a more objective position, you will see them different from what you wrote that I quoted. If you think that publishing this message on FidoNews can help the sysops in the network understand better the motivation of this vote, I would appreciate that you do it. My opinion is that you, like me, want a better future for FidoNet. I want to believe that Jack Decker's last article is really pessimistic and not the harsh reality of our network. Warmest regards from the far south, -Pablo From : Vince Perriello On: 132/491 To : Pablo Kleinman On: 4:900/101 Subject: Re: 02/A reply to the last Editorial Dated : 14 Apr 91 22:46:13 I have read your mail and I am appalled to hear some of the things which you have discovered. I am also amazed at your statements regarding overall evasion or lack of enforcement of Policy 4. I'm glad that we have agreed to disagree. The interesting part is that we have similiar motivation, but strongly divergent views. I'll publish your note and this response in FidoNews next week, if you wish. > I just hope that FidoNet survives as a whole if WorldPol fails. Has it occurred to you that Worldpol in its present form might result in the demise of FidoNet? > Especially if it wins on the other zones and looses just in > Zone 1. Especially if it loses in Zone 1 and wins sufficient support elsewhere to be ratified. > ... WorldPol is unacceptable because it has grammar errors. I am one of those people. Even if I agreed with everything in the document, I would want the grammatical errors fixed. Since the document itself declares the official language of FidoNet to be English, it is in English that precise meaning must be defined. FidoNews 8-16 Page 10 22 Apr 1991 > Vince: things did not go as I would have liked. I just proposed > a new document and thought that everybody would agree to submit > it to referendum to decide. There were others also working on P4 replacements. In fact, at least one of them was published before the first Worldpol. I still don't know why you and the other gentleman wound up not working together. I think that for some folk, the lingering doubts about that one have worked against you. > But I found a whole new face of FidoNet. A dirty face. I see that in NET_DEV every day. Some people think I'm part of the problem too. Join the club :-{ > I found people that for some reason do not respect the average > FidoNet sysop and are not willing to let him vote. I personally don't agree with that attitude. I don't believe in direct elections above NC, however. The Electoral College approach seems useful above NC, and for such things as Policy ratification. This requires a local vote, and for NC's, RC's, etc to vote according to the expressed wishes of their majority. That helps to dampen the effect of one large net throwing its weight around. Perhaps too far -- and tuning it to allow a net or region to cast some arbitrary number of votes based on its size might apply. > Zone coordinators that say "I would never win in a popularity > contest" but assume that the fact refers to the others that > don't know what they want, and not to himself that is not what > the others want. I'm uncertain of exactly what you are trying to say here, but in a system where NC's are elected by sysops, RC's by NC's and ZC's by RC's, you have less of a popularity contest and more of a technical merit contest. Personally, I think that the ability of an average FidoNet sysop to distinguish between technical merit and noisy rhetoric is at best suspect. On that basis, I would rather separate the technical management of the net and judicial action totally -- and elect technical management by indirect means (as mentioned above), while judicial elections are more direct. Add to that some kind of checks and balances so that neither side gets too powerful, and you have all that a World Policy should have to concern itself with. > But how are you suppossed to act when you happen to "discover" > that the seemingly hobbyist, pluralist FidoNet is not at all > what it seems? FidoNews 8-16 Page 11 22 Apr 1991 You can start with enforcing present Policy. I see no reason why creating a Policy that lets a net do almost anything it wants somehow makes things better than before (like in the case of the Chinese pay-to-join net). That's like suggesting that we deal with arsonists by legalizing arson. > I think that if you succesfully see the things from a more > objective position, you will see them different from what you > wrote that I quoted. I see things exactly the same: 1) Regardless of what the current existing Policy happens to be, we must enforce it. 2) We must replace Policy4 3) Worldpol needs work before we make it our governing Policy. > I want to believe that Jack Decker's last article is really > pessimistic and not the harsh reality of our network. It's sort of redundant to call Jack a pessimist. Can you see this? Jack goes hunting with you. You shoot a duck. Your dog goes after the duck. When it reaches the water, your dog walks on top of the water, never even leaving a ripple. The dog gets the duck and brings it back to you. Jack says nothing. This happens twice more. You finally ask Jack if he has noticed anything unusual. Jack says, "Yeah. Your dog can't swim." > Warmest regards from the far south, Far regards from the not-yet-warm-enough north, Vince From : Pablo Kleinman On: 4:900/101 To : Vince Perriello On: 132/491 Subject: Re: Re: 02/A reply to the last Editorial Dated : 15 Apr 91 16:54:55 Hola, Vince. Thank you for replying. > I have read your mail and I am appalled to hear some of the > things which you have discovered. I am also amazed at your > statements regarding overall evasion or lack of enforcement of > Policy 4. FidoNews 8-16 Page 12 22 Apr 1991 Well, there was always an important reason to promote a policy change. Most of this is news to you and most of FidoNet is not yet aware, but isn't to the International Coordinator as well as most of the FidoNet RCs. > I'm glad that we have agreed to disagree. The interesting part > is that we have similiar motivation, but strongly divergent > views. Yes, I thought that too and I am glad to see it now confirmed. > I'll publish your note and this response in FidoNews next > week, if you wish. Sure, go ahead. > > I just hope that FidoNet survives as a whole if WorldPol > > fails. > > Has it occurred to you that Worldpol in its present form might > result in the demise of FidoNet? To be sincere, no. In fact, I think WorldPol is perfectly viable everywhere in the world, while Policy4 is not and this is a proven fact. >> Especially if it wins on the other zones and looses just in >> Zone 1. > > Especially if it loses in Zone 1 and wins sufficient support > elsewhere to be ratified. I don't agree with this. While Policy4 is a comprehensive policy, it fails on its purpose because it does not consider the fact that needs and customs around the world vary. It leaves a great portion of the network in a situation where it daily violates Policy4 just to survive. WorldPol instead, proposes a simple worldwide enforceable policy doc that should be accompanied in every zone with a zone- formulated policy. Zone-1 could perfectly recreate most of the current Policy4 conditions if she wished, with certain limitations like the prohibition of recreating the current anti-democratic election procedures. >> ... WorldPol is unacceptable because it has grammar errors. > > I am one of those people. Even if I agreed with everything in > the document, I would want the grammatical errors fixed. Since > the document itself declares the official language of FidoNet > to be English, it is in English that precise meaning must be > defined. FidoNews 8-16 Page 13 22 Apr 1991 WorldPol was at one stage revised and corrected by a British FidoNet sysop. He found some errors and modified the text to get it right. I can't imagine him leaving many things wrong. I would accept this position (rejecting the doc because of grammar) if there was a risk of it being misinterpreted due to those errors. But I believe that this is not the case. >> Vince: things did not go as I would have liked. I just >> proposed a new document and thought that everybody would >> agree to submit it to referendum to decide. > > There were others also working on P4 replacements. In fact, at > least one of them was published before the first Worldpol. I > still don't know why you and the other gentleman wound up not > working together. I think that for some folk, the lingering > doubts about that one have worked against you. Yes: Jason Steck in Colorado,USA and Ron Dwight in Helsinki, Finland were promoting other two different docs. I got in touch with both of them. With Jason: we had several voice conversations and he agreed that while WorldPol would be left as worldwide-policy proposal, he would draft a Zone-1 policy proposal. I kept him informed during the whole WorldPol evolution, but I think that other things (he got married, I think he moved to another city, etc.) got him too busy to take care of it. With Ron Dwight, former Zone-2 Coordinator: he dropped his policy proposal and was very active on WorldPol development. Not only by himself, but thanks to his continuous feedback to his zone's sysops, many of them got involved and that is why Europe had the most important impact on the current document being voted. >> But I found a whole new face of FidoNet. A dirty face. > > I see that in NET_DEV every day. Some people think I'm part of > the problem too. Join the club :-{ Well... I was talking about my personal experience. I never got to see the conference you mention. >> I found people that for some reason do not respect the >> average FidoNet sysop and are not willing to let him vote. > > I personally don't agree with that attitude. I not only don't agree, but I think it should be condemned by us all. FidoNews 8-16 Page 14 22 Apr 1991 > I don't believe in direct elections above NC, however. The > Electoral College approach seems useful above NC, and for > such things as Policy ratification. This requires a local > vote, and for NC's, RC's, etc to vote according to the > expressed wishes of their majority. That helps to dampen the > effect of one large net throwing its weight around. Perhaps > too far -- and tuning it to allow a net or region to cast some > arbitrary number of votes based on its size might apply. What you say you like is exactly the default mechanism proposed by WorldPol. In fact (and this is an answer to those that say that WorldPol is "Zone4pol"), what WorldPol proposes as "default" is not what we actually use in Zone-4. Here all elections are direct. But maybe that is because we are small enough to "afford" such thing or consider it positive. I agree that maybe in North America the WorldPol default is the best. Though the Policy4 standards are for me unacceptable no matter which zone we talk about. >> Zone coordinators that say "I would never win in a >> popularity contest" but assume that the fact refers to the >> others that don't know what they want, and not to himself >> that is not what the others want. > > I'm uncertain of exactly what you are trying to say here, but > in a system where NC's are elected by sysops, RC's by NC's and > ZC's by RC's, you have less of a popularity contest and more > of a technical merit contest. Well... I was referring to what the previous and the current Australian ZCs said. I believe that the sysops in Australia and New Zealand are not stupid and would know very well how to choose a ZC. In fact, I speak because a couple of sysops in Tasmania and South Australia I am in touch with, always complain that they are completely ignored and not considered (among several things). > Personally, I think that the ability of an average FidoNet > sysop to distinguish between technical merit and noisy > rhetoric is at best suspect. It is acceptable, though I do not agree. Experience here has shown that not always the most "popular" wins the election and that sysops know what they do and what they elect. > On that basis, I would rather separate the technical > management of the net and judicial action totally -- > and elect technical management by indirect means (as mentioned > above), while judicial elections are more direct. Add to that > some kind of checks and balances so that neither side gets too > powerful, and you have all that a World Policy should have to > concern itself with. FidoNews 8-16 Page 15 22 Apr 1991 That is clever. See? I told you that I think that no policy document is final in such an organization like ours, in constant development. But finding new things is no basis to say that what is being proposed is not okay. Nobody is saying that after this, Policy can't be modified again. In fact, WorldPol makes a policy change more possible than Policy4. >> But how are you suppossed to act when you happen to >> "discover" that the seemingly hobbyist, pluralist FidoNet >> is not at all what it seems? > > You can start with enforcing present Policy. I see no reason > why creating a Policy that lets a net do almost anything it > wants somehow makes things better than before (like in the > case of the Chinese pay-to-join net). It is the present policy that grants unfair privileges to certain individuals and therefore allows all these injustices to exist. If the sysops could replace a coordinator that does not perform correctly, he would be much more careful. On the other hand, I don't think that I can force the Chinese or whoever to properly enforce Policy4 from far away. But if we grant rights to the sysops there, they will probably take care of getting the things straight. In fact, I don't dare to say that "pay-to-join" is worst than "free-to-join" in the specific Zone-6 case. I do confidently say that it is NOT the best for Zone-4. > That's like suggesting that we deal with arsonists by > legalizing arson. Not quite. I know what you mean, but what I mean to say is that the U.S. Supreme Court cannot succeed in attempting to enforce the law in, say Paris, France. We must allow the people in France to do it, and they will. But Policy4 tells the people that they are under a dictatorship with no voice or vote. > I see things exactly the same: > > 1) Regardless of what the current existing Policy happens to > be, we must enforce it. I understand your point. But again, the mistake was to declare worldwide Policy a document that in practice is not enforceable worldwide. > 2) We must replace Policy4 Oh, you know we totally agree on this. FidoNews 8-16 Page 16 22 Apr 1991 > 3) Worldpol needs work before we make it our governing Policy. I think that WorldPol needs more work, but it is perfectly viable as it is today. On the other hand, if WorldPol is not passed, then again the RCs will have veto power on what can or cannot be voted and next time the group we all know might be succesful in blocking a policy vote. > Far regards from the not-yet-warm-enough north, Wow... :-) ... Saludos, -Pablo ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-16 Page 17 22 Apr 1991 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Dave Appel A user on 1:231/30 SELL ADVERTISING IN YOUR USER GROUP NEWSLETTER I've been the advertising manager for our user group's monthly magazine for about 4 months. The INDY PC NEWS is the monthly magazine of the Indianapolis Computer Society. Several months ago we switched from a "newsletter" format to a "magazine" format and received many positive responses. Our magazine goes to our 950 members plus libraries, schools, and other user groups around the country. We print a total of 1600 copies monthly. I have a list of contacts, phone numbers, and fax numbers for about 30 national computer related companies. Not all of these advertise with us. These are mainly "user group coordinators." I would be willing to share these with newsletter editors of other user groups. I am trying to get a good mix of local and national advertising accounts. I would also like to hear from other user group newsletter editors who have been successful in supporting their newsletters or magazines with advertising. I would be interested in how you do prospecting, how you present your newsletter, how you go about getting the big companies, and what your rates are. I can be reached at: Indianapolis Computer Society P.O. Box 2532 Indianapolis, IN 46206 Phone: 317-297-8192 We charge $150 for a full page, $90 for 1/2 page, $65 for 1/3 page, $50 for 1/4 page, $25 for a business card size, $245 for the back cover, $195 for the page inside the front cover, and $175 for the page inside the back cover. Those may seem high, but those are in line for a magazine of our circulation. We also give discounts for multiple months paid in *advance*. 10% for 2 months, 15% for 3 months, 20% for 4 months, 30% for 6 months, and 40% for 12 months. So, for $1080 a company gets a full page for a year. Some groups may not want to sell advertising in their newsletter in order not to appear to be sponsored by anyone. That is understandable. Our group had concerns along those lines, but strict policies about not playing favorites with advertisers can avoid problems. One good rule is to always require cash payment for ads, and not offer them in exchange for freebies, door prizes, donated software and equipment, etc. Accurate records of ad sales and payments are important. Issue an invoice for every ad you sell, and issue a receipt for every payment you receive. Donated items sometimes have a habit of ending up in someone's personal possession instead of being used for user group business. If you make a sweetheart deal with one business, FidoNews 8-16 Page 18 22 Apr 1991 others will get wind of it and expect the same, and you just end up tee-ing people off. Advertisers are business people and need to be dealt with in a business-like way. Unfortunately, volunteer-run user groups sometimes have a problem with this. Suggestion: always put everything in writing. When a magazine or newsletter can be supported through advertising it helps keep dues LOW. It also frees up membership dues for things like renting a meeting location, partially paying the expenses of an out-of-town speaker to make a presentation, bulletin board equipment (yeah!), phone lines, educational seminars, and even advertising your own group in other publications. You might even be able to afford renting office space for your bulletin board instead of imposing on one full-time sysop and risking sysop burn-out. (Yeah, we all know about sysop burnout.) It's easier to change sysops that way, and it keeps your bbs equipment from being held hostage by one person. Office space serves as a neutral location for work parties, storing your club's records and property, and as a semi- permanent delivery location for shipments that can't be made to your group's P.O. box. How many of you still have things being sent to your EX-president's home address? Back to advertising. There's nothing wrong with selling advertising to the companies who make money selling software and hardware to your members. I'd like to hear from you, "let's do lunch." ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-16 Page 19 22 Apr 1991 FidoCon '91 August 16th through 18th, 1991 1:1/91@Fidonet {or something like that} FidoCon '91 Membership P.O. Box 486 Louisville, CO 80027 Contact telephone (303) 426-1847 FidoCon '91 VIP Membership: $104 US* Rate Changes July 15th Banquet 25 US === $129 US * Membership After July 15, and at the door * $169 * Banquet 25 * ==== * $194 *NEW* A "No Frills", good from 9am to 6pm, for Seminar and Dealers Rooms ONLY membership (no Convention Hospitality Suite access or ticket for the SuperSystem Drawing) is available for $45 US for the three days or $20 US per day. Full credit can be applied to a VIP membership if you elect to upgrade. *NEW* A "Supporting Membership" for those unable to attend, is available for $25 US. Supporting members Will receive the progress reports and program book. Hotel: Sheraton Lakewood 690 Union Blvd Lakewood, CO (303) 987-2000 Rooms: Single/Double $59 US per night Adjoining Rooms (Pseudo-Suite) 118 US Triple/Quad 78 US Adjoining Rooms (Pseudo-Suite) 156 US Suites from 450 US Guests of Honor: Tom Jennings -- FidoCon '91 Guest of Honor Tim Pozar -- Gateway Guru Ray Gwinn -- The Fossil master his self Vince Perriello -- President of Bit Bucket Software & FidoNews 8-16 Page 20 22 Apr 1991 publisher of FidoNews. Alan Applegate -- VICE-President {president in charge of vice?} of Bit Bucket, Writer of the infamous Binkley Docs & Technical Support for eSoft. Bob Hartman -- Author of ConfMail, ReMapper. Co-Author of Binkley and TIMS. Major asset of eSoft's program development team. Phil Becker -- CEO of eSoft .. publisher of TBBS/TDBS/TIMS Steve Jackson -- CEO of Steve Jackson Games .. Publisher of GURPS CYBERPUNK and center of Secret Service attention for over 8 months. John Perry Barlow -- Internet Guru and one of the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Guests of Dishonor: Terry Travis -- Vince and Alan's prime target in the SYSOP Mud pie Fight Those indicating they will be attending: Tom Tcimpids Several notable writers of computer columns Several popular Science fiction authors Mitch Kapor Founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. Invited and not yet committed: Steve Wozniak The WOZ, one of the founders of Apple Convention Hospitality Suite by: Kevin "DOC" McNeil and the FidoNet COOKING echo. Featuring: Seadog Casserole, Zip-Tarts, Pak-Man Cookies, Roast Opus Paid Memberships: Marshall Barry & Daniel L. Bonner & Michelle Weisblat Linda L. Bonner James H. Dunmyer & Michael Kanavy & Janice L. Dunmyer Elizabeth Kanavy Thomas Pat Nefos & George Peace & Judy Nefos Christine Keefer Terry N. Rune' & Steven G. See & Wayne A. Rune' Pam See Peter Stewart & William M. Van Glahn & Michele Hamilton Janet Van Glahn FidoNews 8-16 Page 21 22 Apr 1991 Peter N. White & Rodney A. Aloia Chris Anderson Alan Applegate Brian P. Bartee Charlie Bass Jeff P. Brothers George R. Cornell Don Daniels Joe Dehn Emmitt W. A. Dove Mike Eckles Fabian R. Gordon Ray Gwinn Norman B. Henke Stanley A. Hirschman Steve Jackson Tom Jennings Bruce H. Kirschner Mark K. Kreutzian Don Marquart Andrew Milner Tim Pozar Michael Pratt Steve Raymond John P. Roberts Jr. Sam Saulys Daniel D. Segard John R. Souvestre Zhahai Stewart Terry L Travis Girard Westerberg Vincent E. Perriello Roy Timberman Jack Winslade Steven Sherwick Jim Burt & Ben Cunningham Karen Burt Brenda Donovan Scott Munhollon & Tony Goggin Tammy Munhollon Bob Hartman Mike Ratledge & Joaquim Homrighausen Donna Ratledge John Johnson Eric L. Smith & Thomas Lange Diane B. Smith Ed Moore Bob Whiston & Chris Rand Cheryl Whiston Steven L. Rusboldt Russell Anderson James F. Smith Bill Bacon Jeff Tensly Phil Becker Ken Zen Brian Godette Attending Banquet Daniel L. Bonner & Rodney A. Aloia Linda L. Bonner Russell Anderson Jim Burt & Chris Anderson Karen Burt Brian P. Bartee James H. Dunmyer & Charlie Bass Janice L. Dunmyer Phil Becker Michael Kanavy & Jeff P. Brothers Elizabeth Kanavy Ben Cunningham Mike Ratledge & Don Daniels Donna Ratledge Brenda Donovan Steven G. See & Fabian R. Gordon Pam See Ray Gwinn William M. Van Glahn & Bob Hartman Janet Van Glahn Norman B. Henke Peter N. White & Joaquim Homrighausen Cheryl Gordon Tom Jennings FidoNews 8-16 Page 22 22 Apr 1991 John Johnson Daniel D. Segard Mark K. Kreutzian James F. Smith Don Marquart John R. Souvestre Andrew Milner Terry Travis Ed Moore Girard Westerberg Tim Pozar Roy Timberman John P. Roberts Jr. Brian Godette Steven Sherwick Seminars: Surviving Government Scrutiny The Ultimate BBS/BBSing in the future TBBS\TDBS\TIMS Getting the most from BinkleyTerm AMAX made easy Gateways - the internetwork connection Dealing with SYSOP burnout BBSing in the 90's and beyond The Ethical Software Hacker For this I gave up my Love Life? How to moderate an Echo Copyrights demystified Software Development Roundtable DOS 4/5, Windows Developers Roundtable Modem Roundtable File your own copyrights for $10 XRS/RAX/QMX/SeX/XOR/ OREO/MORE Association of Shareware XRS (the Universal Professionals Offline Reader Editor BBS Role Playing Gaming Forum Promoting your BBS BBS Business Sense MASS Storage/CD ROM's BBS Users Groups Activities: TBBS Users Group will be convening as FidoTUG '91 during the convention. AlterCon will be sharing the facilities. AlterNet Costume Banquet Royal Court Meeting of the Dukes Fun Activities: FidoNews 8-16 Page 23 22 Apr 1991 Traditional Hard Diskus Throw Floppy Fling The Big Three Brewery Bash National SYSOP Mud Pie Fight Air Force Academy Tour Garden of the Gods Psychic and Physical Tours Golfing Tours of of Colorful Colorado Colorado We are scheduling additional seminars and social activities. Fire off a message letting us know what you'd like to see and do. If you would like to see someone special, let us know as well. *** FidoCon '91 Dealers Room will be open from 9:00 am to *** 6:00 pm Friday and Saturday, 9:00 am to 3:00 pm Sunday Manufacturers Invited: AAC Telecomm Adaptec, Inc. Alloy Computer Products, Inc. American MiTAC Corporation Anchor Automation Artisoft AST Research, Inc. ATI Technologies Inc. Bit Bucket Software BIX Borland Chesterfield Financial Corp. Clark Development Company, Inc Coconut Computing, Inc. Compucom Connect Tech, Inc DigiBoard Everex Systems, Inc. Fujitsu Galacticomm, Inc. Gates Distributing GVC Technologies Inc. GW Associates Hayes Microcomputer Products Hitachi Microcom, Inc. Microsoft Motorola Computer Group Multi-Tech Systems, Inc. Online Communications Inc. Practical Peripherals Prodigy Services Quarterdeck Office Systems Searchlight Software Supra Corporation Surf Computer Services System Enhancement Associates Telebit Corporation U.S. Robotics, Inc. VSI Telecommunications Inc. Western Digital Zoom Telephonics, Inc. Confirmed dealers Bit Bucket Software CDB Systems eSoft Mustang Software, Inc. FidoNews 8-16 Page 24 22 Apr 1991 Drawings & Prizes Including: 16 Line TBBS/TDBS/TIMS Sysop Dream SYSTEM CPU with a 486 or a 386 at least 3/4 Gig disk, 16 ports and several modems .. depending on number of attendees. A portion of the memberships go to purchasing this system. Autographed copies of the books that made Steve Jackson a household name, GURPS CYBERPUNK. For the SYSOP that has everything 300 baud acoustic Sysop Nightmare System All kinds of donated equipment and software, some even working. Hospitality Suites eSoft Bit Bucket Software More as it comes to being. Subscribe to the FIDOCON_91 Echo. This will be THE BBSing Event of '91, BE THERE. ================== FidoCon '91 Registration Form =============== Name: __________________________________________________________ Street Address: ________________________________________________ City: ________________________ State/Province: _________________ Postal Code: ________________________ Country: _________________ Voice #: ___________ Work #: ____________ Net Address: _________ Domain (FidoNet/AlterNet/RIME) _________________________________ Membership types VIP $104 No Frills $45 Day $20 Supporting $25 Name: ___________________ Membership Type: ______ Amount: ______ Name: ___________________ Membership Type: ______ Amount: ______ No. of T-Shirts: ___ Sizes(S/M/L/XL): _____ @ $15/ea = ______ Complaints (Print Legibly): _ Banquet Tickets: _ @ $25/ea= _____ TOTAL $ _______ FidoNews 8-16 Page 25 22 Apr 1991 Visa/Mastercard Number ____________________ Expire Date: _______ Signature: _______________________ Date: ________ Please make checks payable (in U.S.A. Dollars) to FIDOCON '91 and Mail To: FidoCon '91 P.O. Box 486, Louisville, CO 80027-0486 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-16 Page 26 22 Apr 1991 Online Perspectives by Michael A. Banks I've often wondered what might be the best way to explain what being online is all about. How you approach it depends in part on to whom you're speaking. It also depends on your own perspective. I find the cultural perspective the most interesting. And perhaps the most neglected, save for a few get-over theses written by people from outside the community, as it were. That in mind, I've put together some basics on what it's like to be online, and the online culture. I'm trying for a broadband perspective, for newcomers and old hands. Whether you're online or not, I hope you'll find this a bit horizon-expanding. I offer some new facts, new facts, and a bit of speculation ... a different perspective. # So, I've finished writing this intro to the online world, and I'm still asking myself, how can I introduce the topic? Give you a reading list? A step-by- step walkthrough? Blast out with descriptions spiked with provocative metaphors? Hm ... nope, none of the above. Let's try this: "There's a place ... in my mind ...." So go the lines of an old Beatles' tune. It's a tune that many modem users (aka computer "networkers") might sing as they sign on to their favorite online services, because they are indeed going to a place in their mind--albeit a place that exists in part because of and in/on computers. A place that exists as a true multi- human/multi-machine interface. Right. The human-machine interface is here. Now. It's not waiting for scalp connects and nerve or brainwave inductance devices, nor is it waiting for drug-enhancement. And it's not waiting for you. While many people are imagining the virtual world that the uninformed think cyberpunk writers "created," a million or so people are doing it, living it--living online lives that mirror or are distortions of their real-world existences (or lives that are what they would like to be). As you read this, gigabytes of information are quietly moving at near-lightspeed via telephone lines and satellite downlinks. With the movement of that information, worlds and personas are created and die by the nano-second. And the virtual world is virtually nothing like the seers and science fiction writers and cultural predictionists tried to tell you it would be. While public- or self-appointed gurus in the aforementioned categories were carefully laying out the online world, the people they thought they were writing about picked up the tools and parts lying about and created real online worlds, linking themselves in a global network that transcends whatever you thought cyberpunk was, along with most of science fiction. To be sure, the media with which those of us online deal with on a day-to-day basis are far less exotic than those marvelous mind-links brought to you in fiction. Screw all that intense poking around in single-vision futures, anyway, for what is fiction but polished reality, pre-shaped to fit the needs of plot and character and theme? FidoNews 8-16 Page 27 22 Apr 1991 I'm talking clacking keyboards and computers and modems and online services like GEnie, CompuServe, DELPHI, BIX, etc., and computer BBSs that reside in someone's unused basement or bedroom or den. I'm talking reality. Besides, the destination is the point, and is Nepal any less exotic if you fly there aboard a DC-3 rather than a 747? Think about it. It's real. It's here. It's now. And it's what this article is about. What I'm Doing Here I'm here to talk about the worlds online--worlds to which some of your, or your friends, are denied access. Which is too bad, because most of you would enjoy being online, where you can be and do virtually anything you wish. You can cruise for software and data of all sorts, meet old friends and make new ones, and the proverbial "much, much more." Why me, rather than some famous "name" cultural hero or whatever? Because I am literally and in all modesty the only person who can write about this subject from this perspective. I'm the only fiction and non-fiction writer I know of who is uses as many online services as I do (hell, I'm the only person I know of who is online in as many places as I am). I like this stuff. I write books and columns and articles about it, and those works are published in the U.S., Japan, Argentina, and the U.K. (In Japan, I'm a "famous American networker and SF author" to Yomiuri Shimbun's 9 million readers, and to readers of various magazines.) I include it in my fiction. And all else like that. (If this indicates something of an ego, well, having an ego is a pre-requisite for getting published. Not that you need an overinflated, abrasive ego like some writers of my acquaintance. But you gotta have an ego, to be able to present youself, and this is the only one I have. What you see is what you get.) Where is this going? In the direction of strangeness and facts and oddities and whatever else comes to mind, ever-mindful that you are reading this, so I'll work to avoid overindulging in games of style and technique, hewing to my subject as much as I can. Be warned, though: I'll drop in random blocks of commentary and facts at times, because when I'm writing about this stuff my viewpoint tends to change shape from moment to moment, just because online worlds are that way. Which is no less than appropriate, so pardon my skewed-ness. Since this is the first time out, I'm going to try to give you an introduction to and a "feel" for what's online and what's done with it. First, for those of you who aren't online, or who have limited online experience, here's a taste of the strangeness: # My modem brings strange people and events into my home. No, I mean really strange, like you could write a million genre-fiction stories about it. Better than The Naked City FidoNews 8-16 Page 28 22 Apr 1991 and The Twilight Zone and Vernor Vinge's True Names all rolled into one. (Oh, add True Names to the reading list I'm not giving you.) Far better, because my modem links me to my choice of a bizarro group of worlds beyond the world we physically inhabit--and the access is under my control. I flick through them with almost the same ease as I flick through cable-TV channels, running realtime and multi-level interactive. These worlds are created almost without limitations by those who inhabit them. Created on computer bulletin boards and online services (networks, to some of you). Consider ... in a given week, I might communicate online with pleasant Japanese editors and irate British writers and journalists seeking quotes and avowed transsexuals and rock singers and 60s TV sitcom stars and a West German computer consultant who's willing to spend twenty minutes of international telecom money figuring out what a palindrome is, and a Japanese translator who's equally willing, but never does figure it out (he did come back to get the lowdown on puns); or horny people cruising live-prose accompaniment for masturbation; or Dead-heads and wigged-out role-playing gamers and microcosmic power- trippers and general jerks; or jokers and hackers and voices of reason and maybe even you. Via electronic mail and realtime chatting, on sixteen online services with twenty-odd IDs, I daily flow in and out of virtual worlds created by people who have one thing in common: they have access to something you don't. Endless virtual worlds offering endless information resources. And some of them have discovered that the power to create worlds in metaphor and sometimes fact is real. It's interesting, it's fun, it's entertaining, it's absurd, and sometimes it's profitable--as is the case with anything put together by people with almost no guidelines. # Some might be tempted to say being online is participating in a work of art, but that would be bulls*** (and it will continue to be bulls*** when being online is "discovered" by the next Andy Warhol crowd); being online is grabbing and giving and sharing hard information and idle chatter and gossip and intense ideas. There are similes and metaphors galore for "the online experience," but I'll skip those for now, because the none of them are right on. Skip all the flash-hip glitz cyberpunk that's been zoomed at you, too, and all that silly Frankenstein stuff from the old-line science fiction writers. None of that's going to happen. (A note for intense science fiction readers: most modem the users don't read a lot of SF, so if you're an SF reader don't look for people talking about "jacking in," and don't look for them to recognize the reference if you sign on to a system and tag the realtime conferences "anarchy parks," however appropriate that may be.) FidoNews 8-16 Page 29 22 Apr 1991 Likewise, skip the "information utility" and "communications medium" and "data resource" stuff laid out in the promo for commercial online services. Despite the fact that someone else owns the hardware and software that make online worlds possible, and have laid out careful designs for those worlds, it is the users who shape those worlds. Why and how? Because those worlds exist in and depend on the interaction of the minds of thousands of modem users. (No--don't hand me any "group mind" concepts; put that stuff over in the corner, in the pile with channeling and crystals. Or, get a modem and find someone who wants to play the game.) In sum, being online is a 48-hour day communications and information freak out and pig out and party, depending on who you are. And you're invited. (If you want to find out how to R.S.V.P. that invitation and get online, see the accompanying sidebar. And the time dimension really does include a 48-hour day; consider Tokyo, 12 hours or more in your future ....) What are They Doing There? (Or, Why are They Online?) Beyond the strangeness I rolled out a few paragraphs back, you may well wonder exactly what are people are doing online, or why. Or maybe not. But I'll tell you anyway; anything that people pay lots of money to do begs explaining. (But it's all strange, depending on the context.) Modem users find all sorts of applications for being online. Friends separated by hundreds or thousands of physical miles can communicate faster and at less cost than via conventional communications media. Agorophobics can mingle and be vivacious. Nervous investors can check and recheck and calculate and have decisions made for them. What else? You can play formal games, alone or with others. You can play informal games (like adopting a persona and seeing how many people you can fool with it, as a substitute for not being the person you want to be in real life). You can stumble into some of the most amazing conversations (14 gay males comparing length, for instance, or half a dozen role- players bellying up to a virtual bar in a neo-Medieval inn, or an anonymous male teenager chatting about sex with a self-labeled feminist female schoolteacher who invariably terminates such chats by typing "Ohgodohgodohgod ..." until the screen is full. You may imagine the reason for this. So much for the sensationalistic. Modem users also use the online services and BBSs to get software (pirated or not), conduct business (buy, sell, or deliver products), get news and do research. And, for some of us, being online constitutes a big slice of our social life. The networks provide a venue for experimentation, too. For instance, I'm collecting a lot of interesting data with a simulacrum I created. It signs on to an online service, finds a realtime conference, and talks. And yes, it's interactive. Artificial Intelligence? I don't know; perhaps it would be better tagged as Intelligence Implementation. Chat with me online some night, and see if you can tell whether it's me or the simulacrum .... FidoNews 8-16 Page 30 22 Apr 1991 A Few Words Concerning Elitism As you've probably figured out, being online can be as useful as being able to read or drive a car, depending on your lifestyle, profession, and interests. Until recently, the majority of people who could benefit from being online were barred from access, because online worlds were largely restricted to the techno-elite. But now all you have to be is techno-aware; hardware and software have become less user-belligerent, and basically if you are aware that the resources are there, you can use them. Still, the majority of the world cannot relate to being online the way they can relate to, say, VCRs or pizzas. Thus the techno-elite who used to make up most of the online population have been diluted with an influx of what you might call a sort of "plug-n-go" elite. You no longer have to know a lot to access online worlds; just get the equipment, introduce yourself to those aspects of the world you want to use, and that's it. (To borrow an overused simile, it's as if the explorers and frontier-expanding types have finished marking the trails and identifying and clearing out the dangers, and now the settlers, who have intentions other than exploring--like shaping the land and bending it to their will--have moved in.) There's another group of elitists that separates the public at large from those online, and is the main reason that computer communication is not fully "legitimized" (like, say VCRs or pizzas). That group consists of the economically elite--and let me hasten to add that they are not an elite group by choice, in case that's not obvious. Those who cannot afford the money for the equipment to get online (anywhere from five hundred bucks for used equipment, to three grand or more for an upscale computer system and V.42/MNP error-checking 9600-bps modem with online help, power steering, A/C, 21 jewels and all the other options), and/or cannot afford the time to become aware of all this stuff and learn about it, well, those people are cut out. Thus, while the online worlds are no longer restricted to the techno-elite, they are restricted to another kind of elite, in terms of financial resources and/or personal background. Note that, in aggregate, this is true only in the U.S. In Japan and Europe and third-world countries, they're either living in the past (like in Japan or the U.K., where it's still 1985 online) or clamping on to American culture (as is the case in certain South American countries). So elsewhere, it costs even more to be online, and there's a higher techno-awareness required. In some cases, the techies still rule, and in others being online is almost a covert operation (consider the Soviet Union, or African nations). Who's Out There? Hopefully, I've not given you too distorted a picture of who is online. After all not everyone online (nor even a majority) assumes alternate personas. You'll find people like the woman up the street from you, who you didn't even know owned a computer, online. You'll find writers online, in need of an excuse not to write or carrying on business with editors. Writers who don't mind talking with their fans are online, too--like Tom Clancy, who hangs out on GEnie, or Jerry Pournelle, or George Alec FidoNews 8-16 Page 31 22 Apr 1991 Effinger (who writes about this stuff anyway), or Douglas Adams. Bored night-shift workers dialing out of factories, grocery stores, and warehouses are not uncommon. (People who are flat- out bored for any reason are not uncommon.) Singers and performers and actors are online, too. Who? Lots of names you'd recognize, but many traveling incognito. Let's see ... B.J. Thomas, called realtime conferencing "the interview wave of the future"; several soap opera stars, who log on between rehearsals and takes; Martha Quinn of MTV fame (though she's kinda busy now); someone who may or may not be Peter Falk; maybe Carlos Santana or Patti Scialfia or Pete Townshend or John Poindexter; maybe lots of other people you'd never expect to meet anywhere outside of the world's "hip" cities. Lots of computer techies, of course; they've made room for the plug-n-go crowd, but they haven't given up their turf. Lots of special-interest people, too--people who share hobby or professional or personal interests. All of which not only tells you a bit of who's online (pretty much a cross-section of the American middle and upper class), but also a bit more about why they're online. 'Nuff said. # So much for the basic intro. Between the foregoing and the sidebar, and what's coming up, you'll know your way around the online world fairly well soon enough. # "And Now, the News" What the Wall Street Journal Didn't Tell You About the 'Quake of 89 Perhaps I should have used this header: "How the News Media Prevented Black Tuesday on Wall Street without Even Trying (or Knowing)." Put it up there yourself if you like; either header applies. Anyway, if you're into conspiracies and paranoia, you'll probably enjoy this. Picture this: It's October 19, 1989, and I get a call from guy named Tom Curry at Time magazine; he'd been online asking for info on the central California earthquake that involved computer networks and I agreed to give him some info. The same day, I get a call from the Associated Press to be interviewed on the same subject. On October 20, I'm asked by a writer friend to phone Mr. So-and-so at the Wall Street Journal about the subject. So I tell Time and the AP and the Wall Street Journal about how the San Francisco area is data-relay central between the Pacific Rim and the U.S. mainland and points between. I further explain how RCA, the record carrier that moves data to and from the Pacific Rim for major American packet-switching networks, lost its satellite link, and how the domestic networks' equipment went down anyway (thanks to equipment that was vulnerable because of poor power-backup and lack of alternate link provisions). A little more about how the technicians engineers at the packet- switching networks had a particularly interesting priority: get the financial data-links up first thing. I also tell them that this meant money-heads throughout the U.S. (and elsewhere) were FidoNews 8-16 Page 32 22 Apr 1991 trading their pieces of paper based on totally outdated information. So, what happened? Why didn't you hear about all this? Well, the Time story was killed. The AP never called back to complete their "interview," and the Wall Street Journal staffers with whom I spoke carefully explained that I wasn't a writer (as if I hadn't published three million words, and edited a few hundred thousand more), and therefore couldn't provide them with any useful information. The sum total of information having to do with computer communications and the San Francisco earthquake provided to the public was: * A front-page article in the Wall Street Journal concerning mainly local emergency communications on a relatively tiny multi-user system in the area hit by the 'quake (written by a guy who was on retainer by WSJ). * A few mentions of same in the computer press. * A few bits here and there about the emergency communications network that sprung up, controlled by the people who could, for reasons involving which online services' private packet-switching networks had reliable power backups and immediate microwave links rather than landlines. (Imagine that--for the first time, emergency communications in a disaster area the hands of mostly average people. Lots of amateur radio operators' stations were "down," and voice telephone was all but impossible, but those with telecom capability could get out--many relying on battery-powered computers and modems.) Most of these were the results of fast-acting network publicity people. That was almost it. There were a few stories about automatic teller machines (ATMs) being turned off, since they were updating with out-of-date information, and about a couple of relatively brave banks turning theirs back on and trusting the honesty of the people who needed to get cash from ATMs. Having been involved in relaying messages and information among several networks on behalf of the Science Fiction Writers of America (and, less formally, for the SF community in general), I was online quite a bit in the hours and days following the earthquake, and I learned quite a bit, formally and informally, publicly and privately, some of it being information of the "you didn't hear it here" variety. So I wrote an article about the combination telephone/computer communications emergency network that got word into and out of the disaster area and about the financial crash for Japan's largest telecom magazine Networking. And I mentioned a bit of this (though not the part about the financial network being down and out) in a column I do for a magazine called Computer Shopper. The Japanese recognized the importance of the story, of the facts concerning the financial networks (of course, the Japanese were acutely aware of the lack of data communications). Asahi Shimbun, Japan's second-largest daily newspaper, picked up the story, and I'm still getting fan letters. FidoNews 8-16 Page 33 22 Apr 1991 On this side of the Pacific, though, the facts were suppressed or ignored. Why? Was there a conspiracy? Hm. Well, I have my own ideas on that, which I'll get to presently. But first, some background ... You may well wonder why San Francisco is so important to East-West finance. It's like this: you got your Bank of Hong Kong and Bank of America and Bank of this and that there, and a heavy concentration of Japanese and Japanese-Americans there (in Tokyo alone, KDD phone company was going nuts trying to handle 60,000 attempted calls to San Francisco per hour, for hours after the 'quake). But, rather than leave it to you to infer what's what, here's a basic fact: San Francisco is the financial gateway to the Pacific Rim, physically, on paper, literally, and, in the computer sense of the word, virtually. The bottom line: almost all commercial telecommunications with the entire Pacific Rim were lost due to the knockout punch the earthquake delivered to satellite ground stations, telephone switching stations, power lines. (All of this information is straight from those who were in the trenches; from the techs working to get things up and running again, among others.) So the money-heads went on trading and making and losing ghost money, blissfully unaware that they were cut off from the right now! information they needed. And , the economic advisors and analyst types were likewise cut off--and didn't know it. (For the economic advisors and economists, being cut off from information is not unusual; take look at how they justify their predictions sometime. Too many of 'em are regarded as such bona-fide seers that their predictions become self-fulfilling, which more often than not screws up the economy royally. The predictions are bulls**t: for the majority plying that trade, the "bottom line" is making a name and money by making those self- fulfilling predictions. (But this is a topic for elsewhere. Still, it's worth noting that we now have a little hard evidence about the economic predictions; they come out the same with or without accurate information. Bottom line--since we're talking money I'll over- use that cliched phrase: these people don't know what they're doing. (There. I've taken my shots. Now, back to the main track.) "So what?" you say. "So these business types didn't have up-to-the minute info on Asian corporate activities, stock prices, money values, and the like. So what?" Okay, look at this: the money-heads were trading as if nothing had happened but an earthquake with mainly regional effects. But what if they had known that the info wasn't coming in from the Pacific Rim? What if they had known that what they were doing was based on the wrong information? The answer's not obvious until you think about it: they would have, as a Wall Street acquaintance put it, freaked. They would have absolutely freaked out! And how many points would the Dow-Jones Average have dropped? 100? 300? 500? It would have been interesting to find out. But it didn't happen. Why? Because the news of the data-link loss didn't get out. FidoNews 8-16 Page 34 22 Apr 1991 And why didn't it get out? Well, it would be nice to imagine that it was intentionally suppressed because someone "in power" was aware of the damage that the fictions of stocks and commodities and money markets do to our society. Conspiracy fans will, of course, believe that the information was suppressed because "behind the scenes" types wanted it suppressed, for whatever reasons. But it wasn't suppressed as a part of some power group's hidden agenda. (Blame it on the Illuminati or the Rockefellers if you wish; I don't take stock in such speculations.) No, it was none of that. This potentially panic-generating information was suppressed by simple air-headedness and ego- tripping, because it came from the "wrong" sources, and because the news types couldn't understand it. And I'll note that I wasn't the only such "wrong" source. In other words, the facts didn't get out because the people who decide what's news didn't hear them via their legitimate sources, and being unable to comprehend the facts, ignored them. (Normally, each news decision-maker uses her or his own power trip or personal political agenda or sensationalism rating to determine what's news, but if they don't understand it, it takes too long to figure it out, and there's no blood, it ain't news. No conspiracies here, either; just a lot of small- and big-time would-be conspiracies. End of shot.) Side note: all of this says a lot and implies more about the importance of data communications to the existence of our society. Final note: if you doubt the importance of the financial information flow just cited, remember the fact that the number one priority of the data carrier networks was to bring the financial elements of the Pacific Rim data net back online. Everything else was ignored until financial data communication was back in place. Hell, the packet-switching networks didn't even bother to bring Hawaii back up until 22 hours after the 'quake hit. So What Else is New? Speaking of significant items that didn't make "the news," the first-ever computer BBS in the Soviet Union went online at the end of 1989. This is a landmark event, because BBSs were all but unheard of in the Soviet Union until this BBS opened. The board, called Eesti BBS #1, is in Tallinn, Estonia. International links are via Helsinki. The multi-user system is set up for messaging and file transfer, and is intended to function as a open communications channel to Soviet and non- Soviet countries. The system is set up on a PC with 40 megs of storage and a 300/1200-bps modem that recognizes both international (CCITT) and American (Bell) standards. If you want to give it a try, the number is +7 0142 422 583 ("+7" is Finland's country code from the U.S.). You may have to wait up to two minutes for a carrier, depending on the phone routing from the U.S. to Finland. You may also have to delay the dialing speed, to compensate for delays caused by the number of phone exchanges through which the call is routed. Evening hours are the best time to dial up the system-- try for a time slot when you're hitting evening/nighttime hours FidoNews 8-16 Page 35 22 Apr 1991 in your corner of the world as well as in Estonia. # Michael A. Banks is the author of 21 published non-fiction books and science fiction novels (including the definitive work on personal computer communications, The Modem Reference, published by Brady Books/Simon & Schuster). He's also published more than 1,000 magazine articles and short stories, lively technical documents, and "... a few catchy slogans." He can be found online "almost anywhere," but if you want to reach him fast, try E-mail to KZIN on DELPHI, to MIKE.BANKS on GEnie, to BANKS2 on AOL, or to mike_banks on BIX. # BOOKS BY MICHAEL A. BANKS "If a technical thing is troubling you, just wait a bit. Michael Banks is probably writing a book that will make it clear." --The Associated Press Do you use DeskMate 3? Are you getting the most out of the program? To find out, get a copy of GETTING THE MOST OUT OF DESKMATE 3, by Michael A. Banks, published by Brady Books/Simon & Schuster, and available in your local Tandy/Radio Shack or Waldenbooks store now. Or, phone 800-624- 0023 to order direct. (The all-new 2nd edition is now available!) "GETTING THE MOST OUT OF DESKMATE 3 is more than a guide to DeskMate; it's an enhancement..."--Waldenbooks Computer NewsLink Interested in modem communications? Check out THE MODEM REFERENCE, also by Michael A. Banks and published by Brady Books/Simon & Schuster. Recommended by Jerry Pournelle in Byte, The New York times, The Smithsonian Magazine, various computer magazines, etc. (Excerpts from this book accompany this file.) THE MODEM REFERENCE is available at your local B. Dalton's, Waldenbooks, or other bookstore, either in stock or by order. Or, phone 800-624-0023 to order direct. (1st edition currently available; all-new 2nd edition available in January, 1991!) "I definitely recommend it." --Jerry Pournelle, BYTE Magazine Want the lowdown on getting more out of your word processor? Read the only book on word processing written by writers, for writers: WORD PROCESSING SECRETS FOR WRITERS, by Michael A. Banks & Ansen Dibel (Writer's Digest Books). WORD PROCESSING SECRETS FOR WRITERS is available at your local B. Dalton's, Waldenbooks, or other bookstore, either in stock or by order. Or, phone 800- 543-4644 (800-551-0884 in Ohio) to order direct. Other books by Michael A. Banks UNDERSTANDING FAX & E-MAIL (Howard W. Sams & Co.) THE ODYSSEUS SOLUTION (w/Dean Lambe; SF novel; Baen Books) JOE MAUSER: MERCENARY FROM TOMORROW (w/Mack Reynolds; SF novel; Baen Books) SWEET DREAMS, SWEET PRICES (w/Mack Reynolds; SF novel; Baen Books) COUNTDOWN: THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO MODEL ROCKETRY (TAB Books) THE ROCKET BOOK (w/Robert Cannon; Prentice Hall Press) SECOND STAGE: ADVANCED MODEL FidoNews 8-16 Page 36 22 Apr 1991 ROCKETRY (Kalmbach Books) For more information, contact: Michael A. Banks P.O. Box 312 Milford, OH 45150 Submitted in entirety with permission from the author by Dennis McClain-Furmanski, 1:275/42, UMOD, Apple, Writing ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-16 Page 37 22 Apr 1991 David C. Lee - at Virginia Tech (shameless plug) FidoNet 1:264/715.0 (HUB ROUTE MAIL) Telnet VTCBX.CC.VT.EDU (128.173.5.4), 'C 21873' at prompt Non-Standard (SCRIPT) System Usage Proposal We here at Virginia Tech run systems on a computerized data exchange network (in essence a digital phone line) in which AT commands do not work and connections must be established by determining a 'character connect code' for each baud rate. This, in itself, stops running FidoNet mailers since all (that I have seen, at any rate) use the AT command set. Sure, you could probably get away with a script (for outbound dialing through an outbound modem pool), but you could not answer the 'phone', so calls made to you (even by an on-campus system) won't get through! However, this has been now accomplished by two means. First, by a TSR that runs on top of a FOSSIL and intercepts calls, providing AT emulation and call answering. Secondly, by a modification of the BinkleyTerm source code for direct use by the points under me. The former source is available, providing that you agree to a distribution and source non-disclosure agreement (no fees, noncommercial use only), for use if you have a similar situation. The BinkleyTerm source ('ported') is also available for distribution. That said, let me get to the primary reason why I am writing this! On campus, we have been running a network (a Fidonet Technology Network, of course) since the fall semester. We have been in FidoNet for roughly three or more months, first few months of its existence was for testing. Since we are 'non- standard' nodes, not reachable by other systems except by script files, the coordinator structure is loath to have a bunch of private nodes and only assigned us one. I can agree with the line of reasoning here. However, most of those under me (if not all) would like to have full node status for reasons of software development contact site, beta status, SysOp conferences, etc. They are full systems providing services to the campus. This situation may (have) develop in other areas as well! So, what to do? I came up with a way that should not take any major modification to current software. What I propose is to use the phone number field in the nodelist to identify where to get a script to dial in from -- the field would be filled with the following ,SCRIPT_XXX, where XXX is the node(s) (in the network that the node in question is listed in) that you should file request 'SCRIPT.TXT' (magic filename 'SCRIPT') from -- it will contain scripts for whatever software and a capture file of a sample log-in for users to develop (with ample discussion on use, of course ;). And, in the case of different script necessities for different nodes, ALL the different script varieties would be provided in one file. So, for example, my listing would go: FidoNews 8-16 Page 38 22 Apr 1991 Host,264 ... Hub,700 ... ,715,The_DataLink,Blacksburg_VA,David_Lee,SCRIPT_700_0,2400,CM,XX The listing above, with the usage of SCRIPT_700_0 means that nodes 700 and 0 (in Net 264) would be the places to file request SCRIPT from. The node (XXX) portion is really unnecessary since it should be understood that mail should either be hub or host routed and by default you should contact the host at least! So, a plain 'SCRIPT' is all that should be necessary! And, a nodelist processor should not need to be updated to handle the proposed addition -- when the SysOp attempts to dial with SCRIPT as the phone number, it cannot or will not! And, it is fairly simple to figure out even if a node is not up to date on FidoNet Technical Standards for the nodelist. And, to also insure that the mailer will not dial, the system can be marked as private. In other words, no complete over-haul of existing standards need to occur and all current software should be able to handle it. This would circumstance the wrong idea that since we are non- standard full service systems (in the way to get to us), we should be points -- and (from the previous issues of FidoNews) should know how points are treated! I feel that it is a viable kludge that will serve FidoNet by providing a basis for expansion into more new and exciting technology, like the system we run on, which is also a Telnetable address. It is an efficient use of existing standards that does not require special software to use (unlike an 'user defined flag'). Please comment and route mail through 264/700! Or, Telnet to VTCBX.CC.VT.EDU, type 'CALL 21873' at the CALL, DISPLAY OR MODIFY prompt and hit carriage return until FrontDoor comes on-line. Directly reachable through the same method through 703-232-9100 or 703-232-2020 (2400 Max), suggested with MNP/ARQ off (due to possible flow control problems). For a campus BBS listing, try 'C VTCOSY' (VTCOSY.CNS.VT.EDU 128.173.5.10) and use 'bbs' as the user id. You may also contact me at that system, user id 'dlee' (YOU CANNOT MAIL (INTERNET) TO ME AT THIS SITE). However, since there is only two weeks left this term, I would suggest routing mail through 264/700, since I have shifted to mail only for finals :-(. However, scripts should be available from 264/0 (BinkleyTerm) and 264/700 (FrontDoor), if need be. I would note, though, there's a good chance that you will need to ask for them! FidoNews 8-16 Page 39 22 Apr 1991 Thanks! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-16 Page 40 22 Apr 1991 Jack Decker 1:154/8 Fidonet SAVE UP TO 30% ON LONG DISTANCE CHARGES Disclaimer: I believe the information in the following article is correct, but you should verify any information you read in an article like this with the appropriate long distance company before switching carriers! In the past I have tried to let you know when new programs come through that can lower your long distance bills, and here's just a couple more that I've recently found out about that may be useful to some of you. First of all, if you are a member of Sam's Wholesale Club (also known as The Wholesale Club or just Sam's Club), you can join the SAM'S/MCI program, which gives you a discount on either regular MCI Dial "1" Service (if you spend under $100 per month in long distance) or MCI PRISM PLUS (primarily a business service intended for those with over $100/month usage). The ad says "Call 1-800-444-4486 and tell the operator you saw the SAM'S/MCI ad in Buyline" (Buyline is a tabloid publication put out by Sam's Club). Sam's Club is a "members only" wholesale store, but virtually anyone can become a member. If you are employed at certain places, or are a member of certain groups or credit unions, or are a Wal-Mart stockholder, you may be entitled to a free membership; otherwise you can get a membership for $25 annually (the $25 membership allows you to buy at lower prices anyway). They have over 200 locations, mostly in the Eastern half of the U.S. (but they do have locations in Texas, Colorado, and Nevada). For the nearest location, you could call the corporate offices at (501) 277-7041. I was told that the SAM'S/MCI discount for Dial "1" Service is 10%, so that's a 10% savings right there. The other program that may be useful to some of you is MCI's new "Friends and Family". They've been heavily advertising this one, and you can make it work for you if: 1) You are an MCI residential customer, 2) One or more of the people you call is an MCI residential customer. In other words, if your BBS is on a residential line and your echomail feed is on a residential line and you are both MCI customers, you can sign up for "friends and family", put your echo feed on your list (presumably the sysop who gives you your echomail is a friend!), and get an additional 20% savings OVER AND ABOVE any other discounts you may be entitled to (e.g. the SAM'S/MCI discount, or any volume discounts). A couple other notes: If you're not currently an MCI customer, your telephone company will charge you $5.00 to switch carriers. MCI will reimburse you for this changeover charge, BUT ONLY IF YOU REQUEST IT. So if you're not currently an MCI customer and you sign up for one or both of these plans, be sure to ask about a credit for the telephone company charge. Now, suppose your echo feed is happily using some other carrier and doesn't particularly want to switch carriers? Well, there may be a way around that, too, if your feed is cooperative. All he has to do is call up MCI and ask to have a "Ten-Triple-X" account. This will make him an MCI customer, FidoNews 8-16 Page 41 22 Apr 1991 but he will have to dial the 10222 access code (see Dave Appel's article in Fidonews 8-15 for an explanation of the "10XXX" access codes) to actually make any calls on MCI, meaning that any calls made WITHOUT dialing the "10222" will go by his usual carrier. Or, if he wants to also use "Friends and Family" but gets a better rate on some calls through another carrier, he can get his "dial 1" service switched to MCI but use the proper "10XXX" code to access another carrier whenever necessary. Remember: Just because you get an account with a new long distance carrier does NOT mean that your previous accounts are automatically inactivated. For example, you could have AT&T's "Reach Out World" program for international calls and an MCI or Sprint plan for domestic calls, and use the appropriate "Ten-Triple-X" code to access whichever of the two carriers that's not your default carrier. That's just an example, I don't know too many cases where you'd actually want to do this because all major carriers offer discount international calling plans, but you could do it. So, for those lucky enough to be entitled to both the "SAM'S/MCI" discount AND the "Friends and Family" discount, you'd save approximately 30% on calls that fall under both discounts (assuming the information I received from the MCI rep was correct). If you are signing up for MCI service, be sure to also ask about MCI's PrimeTime and SuperSaver programs, since one of these in combination with the "SAM'S/MCI" and/or "Friends and Family" plans could cut your bill even further. However, PrimeTime and SuperSaver both have a minimum usage requirement (albeit a very small one) while the "SAM'S/MCI" and "Friends and Family" plans have no minimum usage requirement. And yes, you can combine plans for greater savings in some cases. I've always had the best luck in getting correct MCI rate information by calling their customer service department at 1-800-444-6240, rather than one of their sales offices. The customer service people seem to be better informed. One caveat: The long distance market is highly competitive and when one carrier comes out with a new plan, the other carriers sometimes copy it. So if you are reading this information six months after the date of publication, you may wish to check with the other carriers to see what new plans they've come up with. --- via AutoNews 0.1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 8-16 Page 42 22 Apr 1991 ================================================================= LATEST VERSIONS ================================================================= Latest Software Versions MS-DOS Systems -------------- Bulletin Board Software Name Version Name Version Name Version DMG 2.93 Phoenix 1.3 TAG 2.5g Fido 12s+ QuickBBS 2.66 TBBS 2.1 GSBBS 3.02 RBBS 17.3B TComm/TCommNet 3.4 Lynx 1.30 RBBSmail 17.3B Telegard 2.5 Kitten 2.16 RemoteAccess 1.00* TPBoard 6.1 Maximus 1.02 SLBBS 1.77A Wildcat! 2.55 Opus 1.14+ Socrates 1.10 WWIV 4.12 PCBoard 14.5 SuperBBS 1.10 XBBS 1.17 Network Node List Other Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version BinkleyTerm 2.40 EditNL 4.00 ARC 7.0 D'Bridge 1.30 MakeNL 2.31 ARCAsim 2.30 Dutchie 2.90C ParseList 1.30 ARCmail 2.07 FrontDoor 1.99c Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00 PRENM 1.47 SysNL 3.14 Crossnet v1.5 SEAdog 4.60* XlatList 2.90 DOMAIN 1.42 TIMS 1.0(Mod8) XlaxDiff 2.35 EMM 2.02 XlaxNode 2.35 4Dog/4DMatrix 1.18 Gmail 2.05 GROUP 2.16 GUS 1.30 HeadEdit 1.18 IMAIL 1.10 InterPCB 1.31 LHARC 2.10 MSG 4.1 MSGED 2.06 MSGTOSS 1.3 Oliver 1.0a PK[UN]ZIP 1.20 QM 1.0 QSORT 4.03 ScanToss 1.28 Sirius 1.0x SLMAIL 1.36 StarLink 1.01 TagMail 2.41 FidoNews 8-16 Page 43 22 Apr 1991 TCOMMail 2.2 Telemail 1.27 TMail 1.15 TPBNetEd 3.2 TosScan 1.00 UFGATE 1.03 XRS 4.10* XST 2.3e ZmailH 1.14 OS/2 Systems ------------ Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Maximus-CBCS 1.02 BinkleyTerm 2.40 Parselst 1.32 ConfMail 4.00 EchoStat 6.0 oMMM 1.52 Omail 3.1 MsgEd 2.06 MsgLink 1.0C MsgNum 4.14 LH2 0.50 PK[UN]ZIP 1.02 ARC2 6.00 PolyXARC 2.00 Qsort 2.1 Raid 1.0 Remapper 1.2 Tick 2.0 VPurge 2.07 Xenix/Unix ---------- BBS Software Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version BinkleyTerm 2.30b Unzip 3.10 ARC 5.21 ParseLst 1.30b ConfMail 3.31b Ommm 1.40b Msged 1.99b Zoo 2.01 C-Lharc 1.00 FidoNews 8-16 Page 44 22 Apr 1991 Omail 1.00b Apple II ---------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version GBBS Pro 2.1 Fruity Dog 1.0 ShrinkIt 3.23* DDBBS + 5.0 ShrinkIt GS 1.04 deARC2e 2.1 ProSel 8.66* Apple CP/M ---------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Daisy v2j Daisy Mailer 0.38 Nodecomp 0.37 MsgUtil 2.5 PackUser v4 Filer v2-D UNARC.COM 1.20 Macintosh --------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Red Ryder Host 2.1 Tabby 2.2 MacArc 0.04 Mansion 7.15 Copernicus 1.0 ArcMac 1.3 WWIV (Mac) 3.0 LHArc 0.41 Hermes 1.5 StuffIt Classic 1.6 FBBS 0.91 Compact Pro 1.30 Precision Systems 0.95b* TImport 1.92 TeleFinder Host 2.12T10 TExport 1.92 Timestamp 1.6 Tset 1.3 Import 3.2 Export 3.21 Point System Software Sundial 3.2 PreStamp 3.2 Name Version OriginatorII 2.0 FidoNews 8-16 Page 45 22 Apr 1991 AreaFix 1.6 Copernicus 1.0 Mantissa 3.21 CounterPoint 1.09 Zenith 1.5 Eventmeister 1.0 TSort 1.0 Mehitable 2.0 UNZIP 1.02c Zip Extract 0.10 Amiga ----- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Falcon CBBS 0.45 BinkleyTerm 1.00 AmigArc 0.23 Paragon 2.082+ TrapDoor 1.50 AReceipt 1.5 TransAmiga 1.07 WelMat 0.44 booz 1.01 ConfMail 1.12 ChameleonEdit 0.10 ElectricHerald1.66 Lharc 1.30 Login 0.18 MessageFilter 1.52 oMMM 1.49b ParseLst 1.64 PkAX 1.00 PolyxAmy 2.02 RMB 1.30 Roof 44.03 RoboWriter 1.02 Rsh 4.06 Skyparse 2.30 Tick 0.75 TrapList 1.12 UNZIP 1.31 Yuck! 1.61 Zippy (Unzip) 1.25 Zoo 2.01 Atari ST/TT ----------- Bulletin Board Network Node List Software Version Mailer Version Utilities Version FIDOdoor/ST 2.2.3* BinkleyTerm 2.40l ParseList 1.30 QuickBBS/ST 1.02 The BOX 1.20 Xlist 1.12 Pandora BBS 2.41c EchoFix 1.20 GS Point 0.61 sTICK/Hatch 5.50* LED ST 1.00 MSGED 1.96S FidoNews 8-16 Page 46 22 Apr 1991 Archiver Msg Format Other Utilities Version Converters Version Utilities Version LHARC 0.60 TB2BINK 1.00 ConfMail 4.03 LHARC2 3.18* BINK2TB 1.00 ComScan 1.02 ARC 6.02 FiFo 2.1m* Import 1.14 PKUNZIP 1.10 OMMM 1.40 Pack 1.00 FastPack 1.20 FDrenum 2.2.7* Trenum 0.10 Archimedes ---------- BBS Software Mailers Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version ARCbbs 1.44 BinkleyTerm 2.03 Unzip 2.1TH ARC 1.03 !Spark 2.00d ParseLst 1.30 BatchPacker 1.00 + 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 8-16 Page 47 22 Apr 1991 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 12 May 1991 Fourth anniversary of FidoNet operations in Latin America and second anniversary of the creation of Zone-4. 15 Aug 1991 5th annual Z1 Fido Convention - FidoCon '91 "A New Beginning" Sheraton Denver West August 15 through August 18 1991. 8 Sep 1991 25th anniversary of first airing of Star Trek on NBC! 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, Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay Islands will retain area code 415. 1 Nov 1991 Area code 301 will split. Area code 410 will consist of the northeastern part of Maryland, as well as the eastern shore. This will include Baltimore and the surrounding area. Area 301 will include southern and western parts of the state, including the areas around Washington DC. Area 410 phones will answer to calls to area 301 until November, 1992. 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. 1 Dec 1993 Tenth anniversary of Fido Version 1 release. 5 Jun 1997 David Dodell's 40th Birthday If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. FidoNews 8-16 Page 48 22 Apr 1991 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Greylock Software is currently beta testing a message editor and is interested in your feedback. If you'd like a look at it, it can be file requested from JonesNose, 321/202 under the name EMEdt009.Lzh with the password FidoNews. This editor is primarily designed for point utilization, in conjunction with BinkleyTerm or Igor (which can also be requested from JonesNose.) Thank you for your time and interest. -----------------------------------------------------------------