Volume 7, Number 36 3 September 1990 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | FidoNet (r) | | \ \\ | | International BBS Network | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Vince Perriello Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software. FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is a Continuous Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are used with permission. Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software. Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every responsible submission received. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1 I hate it when that happens! ............................. 1 2. ARTICLES ................................................. 2 The BBS Humor Digest ..................................... 2 Too Much Garbage ......................................... 3 An Open Letter to Kwityer Bitchin ........................ 5 Precycle - What is it & How to do it ..................... 8 3. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR .................................... 9 Heidi Seeman update ...................................... 9 4. LATEST VERSIONS .......................................... 10 Latest Software Versions ................................. 10 And more! FidoNews 7-36 Page 1 3 Sep 1990 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Hope everyone has been enjoying themselves in the past week or two. And that nobody out there is overly impacted by the events in the Tigris-Euphrates region. At least not beyond the cost of a "Peace through Superior Firepower" T-Shirt, anyway... But to the point of this brief "editorial": Could you folk who sent me update information on your software please do so again? I'm using a new version of my old favorite message editor and the most recent surprise it handed me caused me to lose your update messages. I can hear my friends chuckling already. So who said I was immune to such foolishness anyway? I feel so stupid. Sorry about that. I'll be more careful next time. Promise! Cheers, Vince ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-36 Page 2 3 Sep 1990 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Danny Scriven Fido 1:152/6 The NEWEST ISSUE of "The BBS Humor Digest" is READY! That's right, the AUGUST issue is now on the stands! To finish off SUMMER we've made it 64 printed pages BIG! What is the BBS Humor Digest? Glad you asked! The Digest is amonthly magazine that is dedicated to all joke enthusiasts aroundthe world. The Digest contains many kinds of humorous materialvarying from jokes to one-liners, limericks to poems, and otheritems. All material is categorized into sections (sexual, clean,gross, ethnic, & uncategorized) to make it easier for the readerto find their area's of interest quickly and to help them stayaway from stuff they would rather not read. Where do you Get Your Next Issue of "The BBS Humor Digest"? Calling on your own: Pandora's Box BBS You can Download right (503) 343-4520 from the MAIN MENU! Eugene, Oregon. Just press 'D' and enter the file name(s) File Request (FREQ) by Sysops and Points: Digest is available on the first call! 14.4k HST Transfer Speeds Address: 1:152/6 and 8:7702/8 To receive all Digests to date Request or Download: JOKE?-90.ARC We are on our 4th issue, so if you are behind here's the info you need to know: April [28 printed pages]: Joke4-90.ARC (available NOW!) May [30 printed pages]: Joke5-90.ARC (available NOW!) June [49 printed pages]: Joke6-90.ARC (available NOW!) July [61 printed pages]: Joke7-90.ARC (available NOW!) August [64 printed pages]: Joke8-90.ARC (available NOW!) Sept. [75 printed pages]: Joke9-90.ARC (available NOW!) The Digest is pure ASCII, and is pre-formatted so all you have to do is print it out and enjoy! If you haven't checked us out, you're missing out! Thank you: Richard Whitten & Owen Morgan * REMEMBER: Don't Screw up the Punch Line! * ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-36 Page 3 3 Sep 1990 Mike Robeson Fido 1:350/21.1 What to do with our garbage! Each week, you probably throw away two to three cans of garbage. If you had to keep all this trash in your own yard, it wouldn't take long before even the mailman might have trouble finding your address ("Neither snow, nor sleet, nor rain, nor garbage....!"). But you don't need to trash so much trash. You can easily cut the amount of garbage you generate in half or even by two-thirds by making a few wise shopping decisions, reusing as much as you can, and recycling the rest. Of all the environmental problems you have to contend with, you can probably have the most immediate impact on garbage overload just by creating less waste in your own home. Every day, Americans jettison food, from potato peelings and apple skins to the leftovers after supper or the last piece of crust in a loaf of bread. For every ten pounds of garbage the average household throws out each week, from one to three pounds are food that could be fully recycled. Here are a few suggestions for keeping the treasure out of the trash: * Separate your food waste and other organic material from the rest of your garbage. Even if you live in a high-rise apartment building, you can keep your food scraps separate from the trash; and if you dispose of them in a paper bag, rather than plastic, they'll compact more densely in the landfill and make room for more garbage (if the landfill is designed correctly organics will not decompose, as the landfill should be virtually air tight). To prevent the bag from leaking, put some newspaper in the bottom of the bag, or wrap juicy waste in newspaper before you toss it out. * Compost it. If you live in a house, townhouse, or apartment that is on or adjacent to some parcel of land, you should not only separate your organic waste from the rest of your garbage but compost it as well. Compost is nothing more than decayed organic matter. In many ways, it is the perfect form of recycling, not only because it converts organic wastes into rich fertilizer and thereby helps restore the soil, but because it's easy. Once the compost bin itself is built, it is just as quick to take your food scraps out to the compost pile as to your garbage can. * Reduce the amount of organic garbage you produce. Instead of tossing leftovers out, freeze them for later use in soups and stews. Or, if that doesn't suit your cooking style, try to cook more accurate portions so that you only prepare as much food as you're going to eat at one sitting. And don't go out to a restaurant when you have a refrigerator full of food at home; eat what's in the fridge first, and save dining out for an FidoNews 7-36 Page 4 3 Sep 1990 occasion. In addition to food waste, packaging creates an unholy amount of trash. Fully one tenth of the average weekly shopping bill is spent on the packaging alone. To minimize your rubbish: * Use cloth napkins and dish towels instead of paper. Keep old towels, stained napkins and cloth diapers around to use as rags for mopping up spills. * Bring home groceries in the fewest number of bags possible. Ask for paper bags and remember, the fewer bags you bring home, the fewer you'll have to throw away. Try to reuse the bags you do bring home by taking them back to the store the next time you shop, using them as garbage bags, or storing your newspapers in them for recycling. * Buy food and other products wrapped in the least amount of packaging possible. Skip prepackaged produce in favor of bulk fruits and vegetables you can bag yourself, and ask your grocery store to stock paper, not plastic, produce bags. If paper isn't available, plastic produce bags can be washed out, dried and reused time after time. * Use glass dishes and cups and metal silverware instead of plastic. In fact, avoid buying anything that's plastic unless it's extremely durable, you can use many times over, and you have no other option. * Recycle glass and aluminum. If you can, buy the largest size glass container of the product you want, and reuse the container at home for iced tea, juice, or other food storage. No matter how many containers you reuse, though, you'll reach a point where you'll either have to start throwing them out or recycling them, along with your aluminum cans. Ask your local recycling center if it will accept aluminum, glass and newspapers. If not, find one that does. Remember, if you're not recycling you're throwing it away. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-36 Page 5 3 Sep 1990 Mike Riddle Fido 1:285/27 An Open Letter to Kwityer Bitchin Dear Kwityer: While the minor brouhaha over the switch from FNEWS*.ARC to FNEWS*.LZH appears to have died down now, I still must respond to what I think are some problems with your approach. It seems to me you are confused over the true nature of both today's network and its users. While Fidonet started life as a loose organization of computer hobbyists, it has grown to be much more than that. While studies show that entirely too many people today are computer-illiterate, when Fido got its start the problem was substantially worse. Computers were rare and expensive, small and underpowered, compared to today. Initially, much like amateur radio, the content of the messages was subordinate to the fact that they were sent. Today that has changed. The typical user of virtually all of the bulletin boards that I know about is /much/ more interested in the content of the message than the mechanics of how it is transmitted. I can think of more than a few sysops who don't know diddly about programming, and who are able to run their boards quite competently because of the few well-documented programs that are available and because of co-operative, friendly net coordinators and fellow sysops. In today's world, IMHO, some sysops and most users are here strictly for the information exchange. "Fixing a batch file" is quite a task for some of them. This is not intended to be a put- down. I have done quite a few different things in my life and like to think of myself as competent and successful. I use the medical system when I need it and, along with most people, I imagine, view many operations as "simple." I wouldn't, however, want to remove someone's appendix. It might be simple to a doctor, but it's not simple to me. Because of these changes in the network, and if we assume for this discussion that the switch to .LZH was a good thing, ranked with motherhood, apple pie, and the Fourth of July, we have to make some observations: 1. We needed notice, at least a week, about the change. A lot of people needed to take action, preferably on a planned basis. 2. We need to remember the difference between portabili- ty and interoperability. FidoNews 7-36 Page 6 3 Sep 1990 Even if the proper executables were available for all machines in the network, sysops and coordinators deserved the opportunity to prepare on a reasoned basis for the event. Even a week would arguably have been enough, but it's not considerate to do it without any notice at all. In my own mind, it was annoying. Probably not excessively annoying, since I use an MS-DOS machine and had all the right files somewhere, but still annoying. What you appear to overlook is that .LZH utilities were not, and maybe are still not, available for all machines used by sysops, not to mention users, in the network. Since the network today exists much more for the information it transmits than for the joy of transmitting it, this becomes important. While the founders of FidoNet were invariably programmers, and often talented programmers, such as your yourself appear to be, that is simply not the case of users and sysops today. One simply cannot assume that the public existence of source code for one machine equates to a working program on another. /You/ might be able to port it over in a relatively short time, but not everyone can and maybe it just can't always be done. Since LHARC source code is available, we can say that .LZH is portable (this might not always be true, but let us assume so for this discussion). It still was not interoperable until someone wrote or obtained the utility programs. In our network we have several systems using CP/M. While within a week or so they were able to obtain workable utilities, many of them did not have it when the FNEWS*.LZH arrived in the mail. Other letters in previous issues of FidoNews have pointed out that some other systems (the CoCO, for example?) still don't have .LZH compatibility. This does not bode well for information exchange. Finally, let me point out that someone suggested that it might be a violation of policy for an intermediate node in the distribution to change the flavor of the compressed news. Policy, as I remember it, provides that: 2.1.5 No Alteration of Routed Mail You may not modify, other than as required for routing or other /technical purposes/, any message, netmail or echomail, passing through the system from one FidoNet node to another. (emphasis added) I would note that FIDO*.NWS is the message, and the compression method is a mere technique of transmission. I personally don't feel repacking from .ARC to .LZH is modifying the message. Given the problem of interoperability, it seems to me that it would at least be annoying, and perhaps excessively annoying, for a coordi- nator /not/ to repack FidoNews for a system that didn't have .LZH capability, and his doing so would seem to be purely for "technical purposes." FidoNews 7-36 Page 7 3 Sep 1990 So Kwityer Bitchin, I think you need to reassess the differences between the network of today and the network started by Tom, Dick and Harry. To sum it up, Kwityer Bitchin. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-36 Page 8 3 Sep 1990 Mike Robeson Fido node 1:350/21.1 PRECYCLE Have you ever heard of "Precycling"? This is the practice of buying products packaged in biodegradable, recycled, and/or recyclable material. One out of every $11 that Americans spend on food goes for packaging. In fact, we spent more on the packaging for our food last year than American farmers received in net income. Did you know that: * Each American uses about 190 pounds of plastic per year - and about 60 pounds of it is packaging which we discard as soon as the package is opened. * About 30% of all plastics produced are used for packaging. * Americans go through 2.5 million blastic bottles every hour. * Packaging waste accounts for approximately a third of all the garbage Americans send to landfills. * Roughly 5 million tons - more than half of all plastics we throw away each year - are packaging. Simple things you can do when you shop: * Keep your eyes open when you shop. everything you buy has an effect on the environment - try to make it a positive one. * Buy eggs in cardboard - not styrofoam - cartons. * Most cereal boxes are made of recycled cardboard. It's easy to tell - the boxes are grey on the inside. The packaging for many varieties of cookies, crackers, dry goods etc. are also recycled. look for the "recycled" logo, or send for the "Environmental Product Shopping List" from, Pennsylvania Resources Council, 25 West 3rd St., Media, PA 19063. * Buy in bulk: It's cheaper, and uses minimal packaging (in some places you can even bring your own container). * Buy beverages in glass or aluminum containers, which are easy to recycle. You can also choose sauces, condiments, baby foods, spreads, etc. that are packaged in glass instead of plastic. * Avoid plastic containers, especially "squeezable" ones, which are ade up of different types of plastic in several layers, and are dramatically non-biodegradable. If 10% of Americans purchased products with less plastic packaging just 10% of the time, we could eliminate some 144 million pounds of plastic from our landfills, reduce industrial pollution, and send a message to manufacturers that we're serious about alternatives. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-36 Page 9 3 Sep 1990 ================================================================= LETTERS TO THE EDITOR ================================================================= Nick Mesquiti Fido 1:387/406 Vince, I want to thank you for putting the Heidi Situation Sheet in the current newsletter. Unfortunately Heidi's body was found Saturday in Wimberly, TX about a 1 hour drive from San Antonio. I and the other volunteers appreciate your help. Thanks ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 7-36 Page 10 3 Sep 1990 ================================================================= LATEST VERSIONS ================================================================= Latest Software Versions MS-DOS Systems -------------- Bulletin Board Software Name Version Name Version Name Version DMG 2.93 Phoenix 1.3 TAG 2.5f* Fido 12s+ QuickBBS 2.64 TBBS 2.1 Lynx 1.30 RBBS 17.3A TComm/TCommNet 3.4 Kitten 2.16 RBBSmail 17.3A Telegard 2.5 Maximus 1.00 RemoteAccess 0.04a* TPBoard 6.1 Opus 1.13+* SLBBS 1.77* Wildcat! 2.15 PCBoard 14.2 Socrates 1.00 XBBS 1.13 Network Node List Other Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version BinkleyTerm 2.40* EditNL 4.00 ARC 7.0* D'Bridge 1.30 MakeNL 2.20 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 3.11 Crossnet v1.5 SEAdog 4.51b XlatList 2.90 EMM 2.02 TIMS 1.0(Mod8)* XlaxDiff 2.35* Gmail 2.05 XlaxNode 2.35* GROUP 2.16 GUS 1.30 InterPCB 1.30* LHARC 1.13 MSG 4.1 MSGED 2.00* PK[UN]ZIP 1.10 QM 1.0 QSORT 4.03 Sirius 1.0w SLMAIL 1.35 StarLink 1.01 TagMail 2.20 TCOMMail 2.2 Telemail 1.20 TMail 1.15 TPBNetEd 3.2 TosScan 1.00 UFGATE 1.03 XRS 3.40 ZmailQ 1.12* FidoNews 7-36 Page 11 3 Sep 1990 Macintosh --------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Red Ryder Host v2.1b10 Tabby 2.2 MacArc 0.04 Mansion 7.15 Copernicus 1.0d* ArcMac 1.3 WWIV (Mac) 3.0 StuffIt 1.6b1* FBBS 0.91* TImport 1.331 Hermes 0.88* TExport 1.32 Timestamp 1.6 Tset 1.3 Import 3.2 Export 3.21 Sundial 3.2 PreStamp 3.2 OriginatorII 2.0 AreaFix 1.6 Mantissa 3.21 Zenith 1.5 UNZIP 1.02b Amiga ----- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailers Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version Paragon 2.06+ BinkleyTerm 1.00 AmigArc 0.23 TrapDoor 1.50* AReceipt 1.5* WelMat 0.35 booz 1.01 ConfMail 1.10 ChameleonEdit 0.10 ElectricHerald1.66* Lharc 1.10 MessageFilter 1.52* oMMM 1.49b ParseLst 1.30 PkAX 1.00 PK[UN]ZIP 1.01 PolyxAmy 2.02* RMB 1.30 TrapList 1.12* UNzip 0.86 Yuck! 1.61* Zoo 2.00 Atari ST FidoNews 7-36 Page 12 3 Sep 1990 -------- Bulletin Board Software Network Mailer Other Utilities Name Version Name Version Name Version FIDOdoor/ST 1.5c* BinkleyTerm 1.03g3 ConfMail 1.00 Pandora BBS 2.41c The BOX 1.20 ParseList 1.30 QuickBBS/ST 0.40 ARC 6.02* GS Point 0.61 LHARC 0.51 LED ST 0.10* BYE 0.25* PKUNZIP 1.10 MSGED 1.96S SRENUM 6.2 Trenum 0.10 OMMM 1.40 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 7-36 Page 13 3 Sep 1990 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 5 Oct 1990 21st Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" 6 Nov 1990 First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28 14 Nov 1990 Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at 2:332/16.0 1 Jan 1991 Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description. 16 Feb 1991 Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush. 7 Oct 1991 Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland, Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay Islands will retain area code 415. 1 Feb 1992 Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport, West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and Montebello) will retain area code 213. 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 7-36 Page 14 3 Sep 1990 Brad Thurber 1:236/9 The following is an excerpt from a letter I received a few days ago: Dear Sir; We would be grateful if you would, like us, respond to this request and help Craig. Craig is a seven-year-old boy who has a brain tumor and has very little time to live. It is his ambition to gain entry to the Guiness Book of Records for the largest number of get-well cards ever received by an individual. Please send a card to: Craig Shergold 36 Selby Road Carshalton Surrey, CN8 1Ld England The letter requested that I send this information on to ten (10) other people. As a Fidonet sysop, I have decided sned it to the 10,000 plus readers of FidoNews instead. Please pass this information on to as many people as you can. Better yet, if you are a sysop, place it as a bulletin for your users to read. Send Craig a card today! Very truly yours, Brad Thurber, Productive Resources -----------------------------------------------------------------