FidoGazette ** Volume 1 Number 4 ** 22 October 2007
The FidoGazette: An Alternative Fidonet Newsletter
Editor: Sean Dennis - 1:1/23 - sean@outpostbbs.net
"There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in his
home." - Ken Olsen, President, Digital Equipment, 1977
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Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL ................................................ 1
The Best Time of Year .................................... 1
2. ARTICLES ................................................. 3
Apple Pastry Napolitano .................................. 3
New Location for the Region 19 Site ...................... 3
3. STATIC STUFF ............................................. 5
BBS Lists ................................................ 5
4. FIDOGAZETTE INFORMATION .................................. 6
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EDITORIAL
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The Best Time of Year
By Sean Dennis (1:18/200)
It's my favorite time of year again: autumn...when the heat
down here in Georgia dies down a little (we're still in the
80s) and the nights are cool and crisp, which is a good thing
since I work nights. Already I'm seeing Christmas decorations
and other things in stores, which really doesn't make sense
to me since it's not Christmas yet in my mind. The day after
Thanksgiving was the traditional time in my family that we'd
put up our Christmas tree.
Right now, though, Halloween is on our minds in our household.
My wife is going to be carving a couple of pumpkins soon and
she's heading to a costume party on Halloween. Where will I
be? At work, of course! I have the honor of working Halloween,
Thanksgiving and Christmas. Then again, my pocketbook won't be
hollering too much at me.
It's also the season that I start to see a bit more traffic in
Fidonet, as people are driven indoors by the weather and decide
to start chatting more in Fidonet. I've seen quite a few new
boards go up here recently, but many of the sysops refuse to
join Fidonet.
Why? Well, to put it simply, in their mind, Fidonet is nothing
but a bunch of old stuffy sysops arguing to no end about rather
inane things and not actually enjoying the community and camradrie
that should be inherent in such a setting. They also tell me that
it's "too hard" to set up and use Fidonet, but I think that the
poliferation of QWK-style networking built into Synchronet may be
the root of that idea (however, if they'd look, Synchronet is no
harder to set up FTN than QWK).
So, what can we, as a community, do about this? Granted, we've all
contributed in some way to this warped view of Fidonet. I know I
have and am trying to better myself to refrain from getting into
arguments that just turn into ad hominem attacks that degrade into
plain and simple flamewars. Nobody needs that.
I don't have any answers myself. Being a member of Fidonet for over
ten years now, my view is probably rather biased and jaded about what
we can do and/or not do. I still enjoy being in Fidonet as I've made
lifelong friends through the network and even to this day, it's my
favorite hobby aside from my ham radio tinkering (although, lately,
with the lousy propagation, it's not been so enjoyable). I moderate
six echoes and run the FidoGazette, so I guess that should say
something about my interest in and hopes for Fidonet.
Maybe in this holiday season, we should be thankful that Fidonet's
lasted for 23 years already and for what it is, it seems to be going
FGAZ 1-04 Page 2 22 Oct 2007
pretty strong. We should try to resolve our differences and try to
keep Fidonet thriving-not just alive, but thriving-and see to it
that Fidonet just doesn't become another thing of the past.
My thoughts may be idealistic and unrealistic, but perhaps we can all
work together to create a stronger and more cohesive organization.
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ARTICLES
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Apple Pastry Napolitano
By Janis Kracht, 1:261/38
This was my grandmother's recipe - I once saw a show where Mario
Batali was opening a new restaurant in Manhatten - and this was one
of the desserts he featured. I thought it looked familiar :)
Filling:
6-8 medium apples, peeled, cored, sliced.
10 almonds
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter, room temperature.
5 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon grated lemon rind
Pastry:
3/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
Enough milk to moisten
Mix filling ingredients and let stand while you make the pastry. Put
the pastry ingredients in a bowl and mix. Let the pastry sit for 5
or 10 minutes. Form a ball of the dough. The dough should be soft,
but not sticky. Turn dough out on a floured board and knead a few
minutes. Flatten and stretch the dough from the center with your
hands. Keep stretching to a large thin sheet (similar to pizza).
Spread the Apple filling mix over the pastry. Roll the pastry
starting from the back toward you. Pinch any holes together that may
form. Pinch the edges together to seal the pastry. Cut the roll in
2 or 3 sections almost to the edge, pinching to close. Lift the
pasty onto a buttered cookie sheet. Bake at 350F for 20 minutes, or
until golden brown.
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Location for the Region 19 Site
By Frank Vest
Jeff Schrunk informed me that he would be closing his server in the
not to distant future. This left me seeking a new host for my domain
and put the Region 19 site in jeopardy as well. I can't complain about
the hosting Jeff provided and I wish him well.
Since my new hosting allows a fair number of sub domains, I have
moved the Region 19 site to:
"http://region19.collincountystation.com"
FGAZ 1-04 Page 4 22 Oct 2007
At least it now has a sub domain instead of just a directory on a
site.
For those that might have links to the old address, please make
corrections to your links.
For those that are curious, nothing much has changed on the site
except for the URL.
Regards,
Frank Vest, Collin County Station
web: http://collincountystation.com
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STATIC STUFF
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BBS Lists
By Sean Dennis
TELNET/DIALUP BBS GUIDES
------------------------
If you're looking for a new BBS to try or are trying to find one from
the past that may still be around, here's a few places to try:
** The BBS Corner's Telnet and Dial-Up BBS Guide
Maintained by Dave Perrussel (1:275/89)
http://www.telnetbbsguide.com
Dave maintains one of the most up-to-date telnet and dial-up
BBS lists in the world. There are over 450 BBSes listed on
his site. You can get to the dial-up BBS guide by clicking
on the "Dial-Up BBS Guide" link on the left side of the page
under the "Other Useful Information" header.
** Synchronet BBS List
Automatic maintenance
http://www.synchro.net/sbbslist.html
The Synchronet BBS List has the unique ability to check all of
the nodes listed in it nightly to make sure they are actually
responding if someone calls (note that it just means the port
is open, not that there may be a BBS there). There are over
160 active Synchronet-based BBSes listed and that number changes
slightly each night.
** BBSFinder.com
Automatic maintenance
http://www.bbsfinder.com
BBSFinder.com is a site that uses special clients that telnetable
BBSes run every five minutes to let the website know that they're
"alive", so you can be assured that if you connect to a BBS that's
listed on the website, it's active.
For sysops: there are several BF clients to choose from on there,
but there is not an OS/2-native one. However, Shawn Highfield
has written one and it is available at:
http://t1ny.kicks-ass.org:9080/file/tsoft/bfcon2v1.zip or by
email FREQ to freq@rogers.com with the subject "FREQ" and the
message body "FREQ bfcon2v1.zip" (both without quotes).
If you know of another -actively maintained- BBS list, please feel
free to send me the information and I'll make sure it gets in here.
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FIDOGAZETTE INFORMATION
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FidoGazette is a weekly publication for the sysops of Fidonet.
This newsletter has no association with the Fidonews and is
edited and published by an independant editorial staff.
Editor: Sean Dennis - 1:1/23 - sean@outpostbbs.net
For submission information, please FREQ FGAZSUB from 1:1/23 or
send an email to bbs@outpostbbs.net with the subject line of
FREQ and the message body of FREQ FGAZSUB. If neither of those
are workable for you, please send the editor a netmail and he
will make sure you get what you need.
Thank you for reading the FidoGazette.
We welcome your submissions! After all, this is for you, the sysop.
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