T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
| .----------------------. | dr.debug: dr.debug @ filegate.net |
| | A monthly E-Zine | | bbslists: bbslists @ filegate.net |
| | published by Fidonet | | articles: fidogazette @ filegate.net
| | to promote BBSing | +------------------------------------------+
| | ____________. | |
| | / __ | "Anyone who has never made a mistake |
| | / / \ | has never tried anything new." |
| | WOOF! ( /|oo \ | Albert Einstein |
| \_______\(_| /_) | |
| \@/ \ | Got Something To Say? |
| .---.\ _ | Say it in the |
| (jk) _ |usb| \ \\ | =The FidoGazette= |
| / | .___. \ ))| |
| / | /_ | / \// | Editor: Janis Kracht |
| |___| // || _\ / | janis @ filegate . net |
| .--`-. (_|(_|(____/ | janis kracht 1:261/38 |
| |____| (jm) | |
+--------------------------+------------------------------------------+
=======================================================================
==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=Contents=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
=======================================================================
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
=======================================================================
News: New Members (Z1) .............A list of new members! (3)
In the Works (Z1)..........................................(3)
A Hardy Net 129 Welcome....................................(3)
Region 13 Election.........................................(3)
Support your favorite FDN and promote your BBS!............(4)
FidoGazette BBS List.......................................(5)
Dr.Debug Answers Your Questions............................(8)
BBS Gamecorner.............................................(9)
The Old School Toolbox: Bots Part 2........................(11)
Food.......................................................(16)
Region 13 Candidate........................................(17)
Info (Where to Send Articles)..............................(18)
Page 2
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
=====================================================================
New & Returning Members
============================
By Janis Kracht
New SysOps -- Welcome to Fidonet!
=================================
Region 12: Dimitri Papadopoulos
Region 18: Austin Phelps
Region 13: Jonathan Schreiter
=================================
In the Works:
=================================
Region 11: Eugene Joseph
Region 11: Gordon Meyer
Region 12: Matthew Bellerose
=================================
Returning SysOps - Welcome Back!
================================
Region 18: Austin C Phelps
================================
A Hardy Net 129 Welcome
By Michael Luko, 1:129/0
As temporary NC for net 129, I proudly and hardily welcome
Jonathan Schreiter from Macungie, PA and the members of his
BBS, Convolution, to Fidonet 129.
Page 3
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
Region 13 - Regional Coordinator Election
By Michael Luko, 1:13/0
As some of you may know Robert Wolfe the current Election
Moderator is in the process of packing and moving. To help him
out he gave me permission to get the announcement of the
upcoming Regional Coordinator election out on his behalf to keep
things on schedule. He will still be handing the other parts of
the election process and still monitor and moderate the election
itself.
The election this year, 2009, is for Regional Coordinator.
Here is the schedule for the election:
A. Schedule: all schedules start at 00:01 hours and end at
24:00 hours
1. Announcement of the election: April 22nd through April 28th
2. Declarations of Candidacy: April 29th through May 12th
3. Questions to the Candidates: May 13th through June 2nd
4. Vote: June 3rd through June 9th
5. Announcement of the results: within three days of the end of
the vote, or by June 12th
The full election policy can be found on the Region 13 website:
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze2db48/r13/R13EPOL.TXT
Discussion and all election business except the sending in of
ballots are to be conducted in the R13_Election echo. If you
need access to the echo and are a R13 sysop please contact one
of the following hubs for access:
R13 Hubs
Frank Reid 1:109/500, Janis Kracht 1:261/100, Michael Luko 1:266/512,
Robert Wolfe 1:261/20
Outside R13 hubs
Northwest star 1:140/1, West Star 1:10/3, East star 1:123/500
Respectfully submitted by Michael Luko, RC13, 1:13/0
on behalf of Robert Wolfe, Election Coordinator, 1:13/2
Page 4
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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Support your favorite FDN and Promote Your BBS!
by Richard Webb, 1:116/901
In watching a few systems announce available files just
received in more than one file announcement echo over the last
couple of years I've noticed something. Numerous systems telling
me they've got the Nasa picture of the day, or the latest
nodediff or fidonews. NOt that there's anything wrong with the
picture of the day, nodediffs or fidonews. But, I think that many
of us miss a great opportunity to promote our bulletin boards,
for those of us who operate publicly available boards anyway.
I also think some of our file distribution networks don't get
near the promotion they might otherwise get, and not the support
either. WE're missing an opportunity here I think, and it's one
we all see right there in front of us.
People involved in numerous hobbies other than computing
utilize computers as part of their hobby. Crafters exchange
patterns and other files; ham radio folks are always looking for
logging programs; satellite tracking software and data;
newsletters; antenna design programs; schematic diagrams of
circuits, etc.
If a major theme of your system is ham radio, or if you've
got the disk space to devote to the ham-fdn and some ham radio
related conferences you've a ready made promotional opportunity.
In most parts of the country there are a few local ham clubs.
These clubs are always looking for interesting program items. so,
get on the agenda then talk about your bbs and what fidonet
offers the busy ham.
Page 5
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
Support your favorite FDN, Con't
One stop shopping: It's nice to not need a whole bunch of
bookmarks to get the files you want for your hobby or avocation.
The active ham will appreciate the echomail areas as well as one
stop for logging software, satellite tracking elements, antenna
design software and the like. THe same can be said of crafters of
all sorts. USe thesehobby clubs and groups to promote related
file distribution networks, and by extension your bbs.
But, to make it work the file distribution networks you carry
need support from you as well. sYsops with an interest in ham
radio should, for example, be sure to upload their favorite demo
and shareware logging software, satellite trackers, etc. WHen
updates to these come out be sure to submit them to the
coordinator of your favorite fdn for hatching.
How do you contribute to your favorite fdn? See filegate.zxx or
other info which will tell you who the coordinator of your
favorite fdn is. Many file distribution networks offer a "back
channel" area for submitting files for distribution. If your
connection doesn't carry it ask him or her to link to it for you.
or establish a link elsewhere for it.
A backchannel area simply is an area which flows "backwards"..
from _your_ system back to the _coordinator_. That way, the
Coordinator of the FDN can take a look at your file, test it and
see if it's of the proper type, not a duplicate file, etc. and
then release it into the general "file-stream" of the FDN for all
to enjoy.
Page 6
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
Support your favorite FDN, Con't
Be sure to read and understand the submission guidelines for
your favorite file distribution network. Most will offer a
document which will provide them. If you don't know how to find
it netmail the fdn coordinator. You'll find contact info for the
coordinator in the filegate.zxx file, the filegate's list of file
offerings.
Read and follow the submission guidelines. Chances are good that
your favorite fdn hatches files in compressed archives using
pkzip, etc. OFten these files have a comment which, when the file
is decompressed will display to the user. Quite often these
archive comments display information about the international
filegate project and contact information for the fdn coordinator.
Capture this archiver comment to a text file, and use it when
creating archives or modifying them for submittal to your fdn
coordinator.
Be sure that all the requirements of your target fdn are met.
Many will require that the archive contain a file_id.diz or other
such descriptor file. If one is not provided in your upload you
can create one with any text editor. Good shareware and public
domain authors often provide one so you won't have to. If not,
it's not difficult to do. The standard format of a file_id.diz
should be followed: 45 characters in width, no blank lines, no
high ascii characters, 12 lines total. Some file_id.diz
generation programs or .tic hatching programs will generate what
is called "long-description" tics in which the file_id.diz is
much longer than 12 lines long. If you use one of these type
programs, be aware that many bbs software programs will truncate
long descriptions anyway so your best bet is to stay within the
12 line limit.
If there is no fdn for the main theme of your bbs, and there are
many files and programs associated with it then start one of your
own. Remember that file distribution networks aren't just for
computer programmers and other hobbyists whose main hobby is the
computer in and for itself. Crafters, woodworkers, quilters,
outdoor types, many can benefit from a high quality file
distribution network offering interested folks one stop shopping
for items of interest. But, these distribution networks only work
if sysops who carry them support them by submitting files for
distribution as well.
Sysops of specialty boards should also endeavor to make it
widely known that they carry these files. There are a variety of
file announcement echomail conferences in fidonet. Instead of
announcing that you have the latest nodediff (doesn't everybody?)
announce files received in these specialty file distribution
networks. If there are echomail conferences associated with these
file distribution networks be sure to post occasionally in those
conferences that you carry and support the fdn.
-end-
Page 7
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
!!! G A Z E T T E B B S L I S T !!!
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
System.......Prism BBS
FidoAddress..1:261/38
Phone........607-655-5652
Software.....BBBS LiI Flag
OS...........Linux (Gentoo)
C/B Verify...None
Access.......First Call access to Msg bases,
and file areas.
Telnet.......filegate.net
telnet access offers full features
of the standard bbs such as doors,
qwkmail, BWmail,Files, etc.
www:.........http:/www.filegate.net:8090/bbbs
[web interface is limited really
to reading messages and replying
online, or downloading messages
in qwk packets, but not uploading
them], and file download access.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
System.......Time Warp of the Future BBS
FidoAddress..1:14/400
Phone........none
Software.....sbbs 3.15a (very beta)
OS...........win. (xp pro. sp3)
C/B Verify...None
Access.......First Call access to Msg bases, and file areas.
Telnet.......time.synchro.net:24 or time.darktech.org:24
or timewarpfuture.dyndns.org:24
telnet access offers full features
of the standard bbs such as doors,
messages or file area etc.
www:........http://time.synchro.net:81
Web interface is limited really
to reading messages and replying online, or
downloading messages in qwk packets, but not
uploading them, and file download access.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
System.......Lionsden BBS
FidoAddress..1:224/303
Phone........613-392-8896
Software.....Sunchronet
OS...........Windows XP
C/B Verify...None
Access.......First Call access to Msg bases, and file areas.
Telnet.......lionsden.darktech.org
telnet access offers full features
of the standard bbs such as doors,
qwkmail, Files, etc.
www:.........http:/www.lionsden.darktech.org
You will redirected to a menu where you can choose
one of three sites. The first one is private and
requires PW to get into.
FTP..........FTP://lionsden.darktech.org Files only
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Page 8
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
=================================
Dr. DeBug Answers Your Questions!
=================================
I want to add my BBS sig to the archives on my bbs.
How do I add add a comment file to an archive?
It depends on the type of Archive..
Say we have a Comment file named Bleh.Hdr:
==============================
|This File Came From BlehBBS!|
| Great Files EveryDay! |
==============================
[contents of Bleh.Hdr]
Use Zip -z to apply it to a zip archive like so:
zip -z filename.zip &< Bleh.Hdr
With a rar archive, you use Rar -c like so:
rar c filename.rar -z Bleh.Hdr
Lha: no method to comment
Arc: no method to comment
On a linux system, you can write a script to take care of it like
so:
for file in `cat filelist.txt`
do
zip -z $file &< bleh.hdr
done
The contents of "filelist.txt" would be list of files, one per
line, for instance:
mmdos048.zip
mmos2048.zip
mmxt048.zip
storm3d.zip
morutl56.zip
mmdos049.zip
mmxt049.zip
Regards,
Doc
Page 9
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
BBS TITLES AND AUTHORS CROSSWORD
================================
By Janis Kracht, 1:261/38
[1]
[2][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][3]
[ ] [ ]
[4][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ] [ ]
[ ] [5][ ][ ]
[ ] [6] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [8]
[9][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]
[11][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][12] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]
[13][ ][ ][ ] [ ]
[14][ ][ ][15] [ ] [ ]
[16] [ ]
[18] [ ]
[17][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ][ ]
[ ]
[ ]
ACROSS DOWN
====== ======
2 Scott Dudley
4 Peter Davies 1 Tim Stryker
5 Victor Capton 3 Mike Woltz
9 Rob Swindell 6 Cott Lang
10 Brent Shellenberg 7 Russell Lane, Tom Mack
11 Jim Harrer Ken Goosens, et.al. l.
13 Mark Kimes 8 Frank LaRosa
14 Wayne Bell 12 Mark Goodwin
16 Kim Heino/Tapani Salmi 15 Roland De Graaf
17 Adam Hudson 18 Michiel Broek
Page 10
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
The Old School Toolbox
By Richard Webb, 1:116/901
Bots, Pt II.
This was originally intended to be a two parter, but when
looking closer at the topic I saw that three might be more
effective. so, apologies good reader, you'll have to put up with
this topic in this space for one more issue after this one, if
the editor chooses to run it . This installment will
hopefully answerthe question you're probably asking which is
"what can this do for me to promote my bbs?"
In this column last month we looked at these little tools, and
we'll have a closer look at them in these next two. Before we do
that however I'd like you to take a little trip down memory lane
with me. Yes, this little peek into the past is relevant.
I recall writing an article for fidonews about a decade ago
lamenting the loss of some old familiar search tools, wais,
archie, gopher. Also the loss of ftpmail.
I really liked waismail, used a couple of waismail servers to get
all sorts of interesting things. The same with other search tools
usable from email. Yes I used them through the fidonet gateway
back in the day, and taught my users how to as well.
Using bots such as I described in my last article can bring a
world of such capability to the fidonet sysop. When coupled with
the tools we'll discuss in the next installment they can equal
the power of these search tools of yesteryear that I remember so
fondly.
Why do I still miss them? To be honest with you, I wouldn't
mind so much if the hosts of those old search tools wanted to
send me an advertisement along with my return email. But, I
really don't find many search tools as currently implemented that
user friendly to me, even when I am near a computer with a web
browser that they support. But, with an email search tool I'll
generate my search request, then go on about my business knowing
that the results of my query will return to me sometime later
that day or early the next depending on the hour.
Page 11
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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The Old School Toolbox, Con't.
I utilize just such an email search server to look up amateur
radio call signs for the U.s. and Canada as well as many other
countries in the Americas. IT works the way I work, i hear the
call sign, want to send the operator a card in the mail to verify
the contact, or just want to see if the operator has privileges
to be operating where he is. A simple little batch file appends
my look up request to a file. When there are five requests
pending an email is generated, and back come the results in a few
hours.
Many like that same organization's web site. Yes the web site
offers you capabilities not available via the email server. You
can get all the call signs in a zip or postal code, search on
first and last names, etc. But you've also got the advertising
that pays for the site, an exhortation to join their forums, all
sorts of good stuff. I think there may even be popup ads and
other fun stuff you have to jump through to enter your search
parameters. But, all you want is your four or five call signs
that you worked in a session of chasing awards on ham radio. You
scribbled them down on a piece of paper, but your spouse is
nagging that the grandkids will be over soon and you promised
little Joe you'd take him fishing this evening.
So, you sigh, forego the web search and walk away from your
den. The next day you maybe find that scratch paper and go to the
site to look up those calls, and maybe you don't until you look
at your logs months later and see that you haven't followed up on
those contacts with the desired qsl card (a post card with data
confirming a contact redeemable for operating awards) and now
you've got a bunch to do.
Contrast that with the email server approach I use. I work
the station, and while we're still talking I add the station I'm
in contact with to the queue of call signs to be looked up. I
can even force the email to go out before there are five waiting
in the queue. I've done further automation. When the email comes
back to my fidonet system with the results of the call signs it
is exported to a text file from my message base and a process
triggered which parses this file and puts the information in the
proper places. I might, for example, be looking up the call sign
of an operator off the coast of South America; two stations for
awards pursuit contacts needing a qsl card; an operator on a
public service net and just an operator I heard while tuning
around.
Page 12
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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The Old School Toolbox, Con't
When the message with my results returns the call sign of the
vessel operator will be search for, and that information placed
in a special file that corresponds with ham radio operators
operating while out to sea. The two that need a postcard will go
into another file, and the others elsewhere, depending on the
need. Then, a backup of the whole file will be appended to my
station log file.
Another one of my favorites back in the day was a waismail server
from a university. I can't even recall which university these
days it's been so long. This waismail server had the latest CIA
world fact book as one of its resources. You sent a message to
waismail followed by the rest of the university's address, and
put your desired source to be utilized in the subject line. For
our example again, the CIA world fact book.
In the body of the message you typed your query. For example, you
want to retrieve information on Liberia. You send off your email,
and soon an email returns telling you which documents
encompassing the World Fact Book have information on Liberia.
You can then send another message and retrieve the full text of
those documents.
At this point you're asking yourself "But what does this have
to do with my bbs? I really want folks to come by and check it
out, maybe use the message bases, play a door game ... "
Don't tune out just yet. Some folks still like these old
email response query engines, and by offering such services you
have a ready made promotion tool for your bbs. Heck you do it
anyway if you offer freqs via email, file requests with binkd
etc. These little bots can bring more traffic to your board by
promoting it to people who may not otherwise use telnet anymore.
Some bots that you might wish to create will require a
bit of ingenuity to get the information requested compiled and
sent to the user. An example of this is the response function
I've built which sends the requester information on missing or
overdue vessels which I have available.
Page 13
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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My missing/overdue/attempt to locate list purges by day of the
week. IN other words, if it's TUesday only information received
since last TUesday will be sent the requester. All these alerts
are held as individual files with the name watch and an extension
corresponding with the three letter abbreviation of the day of
the week. FOr example, if it's Tuesday and we received a missing
overdue or attempt to locate for a vessel today it will be named
watch.tue.
All the "watch" files are combined into one file in a
different directory which is called watch.txt and is rebuilt
whenever an additional alert is received, or at midnight
universal time daily.
What if there are no alerts on file this week? Well then,
our requester will get no response at all, and we can't have
that. tHe requester *must* receive a response.
NEtmgr is well suited for building response bots that are
fairly complex because of its capability to invoke an external
program from a shell whenever an appropriate search mask is
encountered. OF course, one must have the registered version of
artware's netmgr to do this, but that isn't really a big issue
these days.
So, back to my vessel alert response function. When netmgr
encounters a netmail or email requesting "boat watch" it shells
out and runs a batch file. The batch file time stamps the
appropriate file which will be sent to the requester and thanks
him/her for the request. THen the batch looks for watch.txt in
the appropriate directory. IF watch.txt is not found there it
branches to a section which then appends text to the proper file
telling the requester that we have no missing, overdue or
attempts to locate a vessel active at this time.
This one's fairly simple, the batch file can accomplish its
mission even within the limited memory confines of a shell from
netmgr. but, if the batch file must be quite complex and store
numerous environment variables then this isn't going to work. FOr
this sort of job we store such details as the sender's name,
address and other details elsewhere, in this case creating a
batch from within a batch file. When this batch is invoked later
the appropriate response will be created, and sent to the
requester using the automatic message posting utility of one's
choice. SOme make it easier to do this than others, and we'll
discuss them in the next installment.
An example of a rather complex response would be my nodelist
search mailbot. The batch file which does the nodelist search
itself is quite memory intensive and utilizes several different
environment variables. SO, we must receive the request, create a
batch which invokes the nodelist search batch, then invoke the
batch which sends the response.I can be done, it just took some
tinkering. WIthout those automatic message posting utilities it
wouldn't be possible however.
In the next installment we'll talk about some of these, and
look at the advantages and disadvantages of a few automatic
message posting offerings.
So, gear up your brain. IF you're like many of us your bbs
has a theme, be it restoring classic cars; ham radio; gaming,
etc. IT's easy enough to develop some email and netmail response
bots which will be useful to folks who might have an interest in
the topical focus of your bbs but haven't paid a visit to your
system. Along with the response you can send him or her a
blurbadvertising your bbs and possibly gain another regular user.
Page 14
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
WHodunit?
Who tried to kill fidonet?
By Richard Webb, 1:116/901
I began this piece on an April night in 2009. FIdonet will soon
be 30 years old. IN this thirty year span it has grown from the
humble beginnings of two tinkerers who wanted their bulletin
boards to exchange mail during the small hours of the day when
they were in their bed to keep costs down to the largest amateur
compputer network that ever existed to a fraction of that size.
IT went from those humble beginnings to a position where it
could have demanded its place in the forefront of the online
world to a footnote in the histories of computer wide area
networking and online communities.
How did this happen, and why did it happen? IT's easy to
explain the exponential growth of the years of its first decade.
Fidonet was in a unique position to reach those new computer
users, a demographic that was growing as fast as fidonet itself,
if not faster. Computers in homes, in kitchens and family
rooms, on childrens' desks were going mainstream. NO longer was
the computer that unfriendly box at the office you blamed when
the irate customer couldn't be placated any other way.
Computers weren't tended by men and women in lab jackets
mumbling arcane jargon and carrying stacks of punch cards,
watching over large reels of tape. Computers were everywhere.
Computer games; computer magazines; scan that picture of the
mountain meadow that you took on your last vacation and display
it on your screen. Play music, share your writings with others.
Fidonet was there, in the small villages, and in the big cities.
Not enough money to pay while the meter runs as you'd have to if
you used the pay to play online services? fidonet offered the
same level of satisfaction at little or no cost. Dial a
friendly local bbs. Get that update to your favorite computer
game or database manager. Unlock the hidden power of that box
on your desk, all with a local phone call.
But, then the internet came to town. AT least, that's the
excuse we hear. That familiar mantra has been heard since 1994.
IT was being heard when my fidonet bulletin board was still
quite busy. IT was trotted out so often that it's one of those
answers you hear before you even get the question fully
formulated. What happened to fidonet? The internet killed it.
Not so fast! The members of the fidonet community, i.e. those
listed in its nodelist or phone book killed fidonet. At least,
they gave it a real good try. They argued to the point of
hateful words flying across the network aimed at each other,
filed complaints; called those whom they disagreed with vile
names you would never call somebody face to face unless you
expected the war to become physical. They hurled insults and
epithets, but when the war of words or flame war was done they
sat back and did nothing. IT was too much trouble to move past
the flame wars to actually working to promote an avocation they
professed to love and said they wished to nurture. They brought
out the ascii weapons of mass destruction, sowing the death of
fidonet by flame war in the echoes and in fidonews, the official
journal of fidonet. SO-and-so is an autocratic coordinator who
won't listen to reason, and won't hold an election for his
replacement, he's scum. the moderator's a power tripping hitler
wanna be. she's a witch. Mention backbone operating policy, or
echopol, or Steve Winter in a fidonet echo and listen to the
oldtimers.
How does this happen to a hobby or avocation that is supposed to
be about communication? Quite easily. Tune around the ham
radio frequencies and you'll note some of the same behavior, but
toned down a bit thanks to rules and regulations and forbidden
language. But, the rules and regs are only part of the
equation. These folks on the ham bands still are voices, or a
"fist" or style of sending Morse Code. IT's hard to call a man
a Charlatan scumbag when you're face to face with him, or when
you've heard his voice. When you've heard him laugh at a joke,
or heard the sadness in his voice when he tells a friend about a
mutual buddy who's died after a long illness. IT's hard to
discount that voice or that face and call him a reprehensible
Charlatan scumbag ...
These flames were launched into that early form of cyberspace
because the target of the flame wasn't a man or a woman. IT was
just words on a screen, just pixellated dots. Besides, sticks
and stones may break my bones ...
But, those words cut as deep as the sharpest knife. Those words
inflicted deep wounds, mental wounds that could not be easily
healed when it came time to sit down and look for solutions.
When it came to working together to promote this endeavor they
professed to love and wished to nurture the flames had already
done their work. The words had destroyed friendships, the words
had caused good people to decide that if this was what they had
to endure to endeavor to be a leader in fidonet then they'd just
pull the plug on Fidonet, walk away from it. some good
potential leaders never got a chance to show what they could do
as fidonet leaders, because they were driven away by the high
octane flamethrower with his need to belittle, to pummel, even
if only using words. The bullies who couldn't have their way in
the schoolyard because a teacher or hall monitor stepped in got
their way.
Not that all the leaders who remained weren't good leaders.
They did their jobs. The mail moved, the files moved. Broken
links were fixed, duplicate loops corrected, new sysops
mentored. Still, after doing the day to day work of keeping the
network humming along and doing one's day job there wasn't a lot
of time left to actually sit down and devise ways to promote
fidonet. That's what pr people do. The coordinators, after all
were just "nodelist clerks" and were reminded of that at every
opportunity.
The pioneers of Fidonet understood that these coordinators were
to be "nodelist clerks" who occasionally had to be a judge when
there was a policy complaint. But, for the most part, their
duties were that of said "nodelist clerk" and there was an
organization, yes an organization called IFna which was supposed
to take care of those little details. Ifna was supposed to
devise ways to promote fidonet, to polish its public image; get
the word ouWHEre the network itself needed net region and zone
coordinators Ifna needed a board of directors, a secretary,
treasurer, president, public relations people. Ifna needed
people who could write a press release; conduct a seminar; chair
a meeting. Had Ifna still been in existence when the growth had
peaked and the decline began a possible different outcome could
have resulted. Had Ifna existed at that time the PR folks would
have been writing those press releases, talking up fidonet in
communities large and small, sending out mailings via old snail
mail, and yes, collecting dues. Those dues would have helped
organize national and international conferences, subsidize
travel expenses of speakers to visit meetings of networking
professionals and other special interest organizations. The
Scuba diving instructor would have gone to a meeting of like
minded folks to talk up the scuba diving conference, and been
able to bring along professionally prepared literature provided
by ifna. Ifna would have been able to do what the Fidonet
structure could not, spend money to run that full page ad in the
ham radio magazine touting the friendly folks in the ham_tech
conference that will help you understand how a log periodic
antenna works, or the ham file distribution network where you
can download that trainer program to help you get your Morse
code speed up.
Recently the registered trademark for FIdonet expired. Your
author also noted a commercial product using the term echomail,
which has been the term used to describe a major part of fidonet
now for over two decades. Ifna, or an organization like it
could have been spearheading the effort to contact TOm JEnnings
and see to the renewal of that copyright or trademark. SUch an
organization could have taken the lead on alerting the
"echomail" folks with the commercial product that although we
aren't lawsuit crazy we can prove prior use of the term for two
decades plus. LEt the clerks clerk, the programmers program,
and the organization folks organize. OUr fidonet pioneers
showed some wisdom, and quite a bit of smarts when you really
think about it.
It was not to be however. The fidonet sysops gave Ifna a
resounding thumbs down, and in so doing lost what could have
been the best promotional tool they ever had. But, nobody
needed promotion anyway. After all, the nodelist was growing by
leaps and bounds. The program which made the nodelist they all
used had to be patched and reworked because Fidonet's phone book
had outgrown the capabilities of the software which was used to
create it. Who needs promotion? All we've got to do is more of
the same, it's like a perpetual motion machine.
But, as any good physicist will tell you, there is no perpetual
motion machine. The laws of physics apply, especially the law
of inertia. AT first it is a thing at rest, and to get it into
motion you had to apply quite a bit of energy to set it into
motion. Then to keep it in motion you'll have to supply a bit
of energy occasionally. After all, things in motion tend to
remain in motion, but a machine by its very definition is
supposed to do work. Doing work takes energy, and energy taken
to do the work of the machine is not available to keep the
machine running. Without an organization such as Ifna to do
that work the machine chugged along, eventually slowing down,
declining if you will. The big mainspring wound down and there
was nobody there to wind it up again. After all, the
coordinators were the gears that were driven by the mainspring,
and the mail must move. Nodelist segments need to be submitted
to the level above, nodediffs and fidonews as well as other
files and mail need to be distributed to downlinks. systems
need maintenance, and sometimes rebuilding from scratch. After
all this, said coordinator still has a job, a family, other
interests. WHO has time to become a promoter too?
Would Ifna, or a replacement organization have contributed to
the growth of fidonet as I asserted earlier? we can't know for
sure, because there never was an actual organization formulated
to replace it. But, one can only think that separating the
functions as described above would have made a positive
difference.
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T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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-=-=-=-=-=-
F O O D Even sysops have to eat!
-=-=-=-=-=-
By Janis Kracht, 1:261/38
Family Grain Mill. So you wonder what I spend my money on when
I'm not buying computers? This is one thing. What a
difference it makes. Hand ground flour will make a difference
beyond your wildest imaginations - healthwise! This is the one I
use. I've got the electric motor base and the hand crank base,
the grain mill and the flaker. I also bought the same for my
daughter, along with the vegetable processor for her - I figured
I could wait for that for me, since I have other tools that
already do the same job. Recently I was told my trigycerides had
jumped to (catch this ) 530.. my doc had connipitions to
say the least.. called me on the phone and in a bit of a panic
needless to say .. So along with some Niacin, fish oil, and a
breakfast of flaked whole wheat cereal or flaked oatmeal, I was
able to get that count down to 140.. and so he requested my
permission to brag to all his other patients about my
accomplishment . As a sysop, I sure wasn't going to give
up beer. Let's be real here!
Information from http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/:
Any component of the Family Grain Mill ("FGM") may be purchased
either individually or in multi-component packages. You can
purchase the hand base or the electric drive base (or both), and
all accessories will interchange between the two, locking in
place easily with a twist of the wrist. The grind is infinitely
adjustable, from fine for bread flour, to medium for "Cream Of
Wheat" style cereals, or coarse for steel cut or cracked grain.
The milling head grinds corn, soybeans, wheat, oats, rye, barley,
rice, spelt, flax, buckwheat, millet, coffee, kamut, quinoa, and
sesame (doesn't grind popcorn.) It will also mill some chopped,
dry, non-oily herbs and spices. The Family Grain Mill grinds cool
to preserve nutrients. Large 5 cup hopper capacity.
Available options for the Family Grain Mill include The Vegetable
Processor which slices and shreds vegetables, nuts, fruits and
cheese with 3 included stainless steel drums. The Flaker Mill
head flakes soft grains and is popular for fresh homemade
oatmeal, making a hearty flake from oat groats (oats with the
hulls removed) that's thicker and chewier than store-bought
flaked oats.
Manufactured in Germany by Messerschmidt, the Family Grain
Mill is built with high carbon steel and premium Lexan
polycarbonate (football helmets and industrial safety shields are
made of Lexan) with great attention to detail. It's a durable
grain mill capable of a lifetime of dependable use.
The milling head's "conical steel burrs shear grain without
friction, avoiding the heat created by most grain mills heat that
can destroy many of the nutrients in your flour". And unlike stone
burrs, steel burrs won't gum up or glaze, and don't add grit to
your flour. The Family Grain Mill's high carbon steel burrs are
long lasting and easily replaceable. See my note about how my
daughter has already seen a need for this towards the end of this
review .
A cup of fine flour is produced in just 2-4 minutes in hand
operation, or 1.5 minutes with the electric drive. Because the
Family Grain Mill grinds with a cutting action rather than with
friction, its hand operated base turns much easier than most hand
operated mills. Overall time/effort is 4X less than required by
most hand mills that produce a coarser flour. Hopper has generous
5 cup capacity. I don't use the hand mill, but it's nice to know
that I have it if the power goes out.. especially around here in
no man's land .
What it Mills: Wheat flour, corn meal flour, oat flour, rye
flour, barley flour, rice flour, spelt flour, flax flour,
buckwheat flour, millet flour, coffee, kamut flour, sesame, and
more. Also cracks grain to any size - you can set the adjustment
dial to any size from flour or meal to cereal grind or cracked
grain.
Electrical: 110-120V, 150W, 60HZ
Warranty: Manufacturer's lifetime warranty. (excluding
replaceable burrs)
Motor base and grain mill $259.95
Motor base and flaker $250.95
Motor base Grain Mill and Flaker $328.95
Motor base Grain Mill, Flaker, Veg. Processor and free hand
crank base $396.95
http://www.pleasanthillgrain.com/
Recipe: Cream of Wheat [ Made with Flaker and Grain Mill Base]
3-4 servings
2 cups Flaked Wheat berries or Oat groats, flaked.
3 cups water
Place water in medium size pot, add flaked wheat, bring to a
boil. Simmer 3 minutes on low heat. Let stand 2 minutes until
thickened, serve with honey if desired.
Recipe: Spiced Hot Cereal: [Made with Flaker and Grain Mill Base]
2 servings
1/3 cup Flaked wheat berries
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 tsp. salt
Combine ingredients and bring to boil on high heat. Simmer for
2 minutes on low heat.
One note from my daughter: The burr on this machine will not
survive your 3 year old throwing a fork down the grain mill's
hopper but it's proof of how easily and cheaply it is replaced :)
:) (it still worked, but was rather dull she says ).
-end-
Page 16
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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Crossword Solution:
M
MAXIMUS
J P
O I
R TAG
B R F
R B E I S
B SYNCHRONET
B E E A
SHOTGUN R
A C
WILDCAT H
E R L
I I
B G
B H
XBBS T
WWIV S
B
B
M S
QUICKBBS
S
E
Page 17
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
================================================================
(The following information was submitted by RC candidate Michael
Luko to FidoGazette for publication. The Gazette does not back
any candidate. All candidates for election are encouraged to
forward information for publication and I'll be glad to publish
additional copies of the gazette, weekly if necessary Ed. )
=
Region 13 Coordinator Election - Candidate Background and Plans.
By Michael Luko, 1:266/512
I Michael Luko am running as a candidate for the Regional
Coordinator position for Region 13. Here is some info about my
background as well as plans and actions that I will perform if
re-elected to the RC13 position.
Personal Info:
Name: Michael Luko
Sysop, Christian Fellowship 1:266/512
Net Coordinator - Net266
Regional Coordinator - Region 13
Age: 40
Email: Michael.Luko@verizon.net
Background:
Been a member BBS in fidonet since April of 1997.
Took over as NC for Net 266 June of 2005.
Cleaned up Net 266's node list segment.
Assisted with the regionalization process in 2006.
Expanded Net 266 to include all of New Jersey and Delaware.
Currently serve and perform duties as RC13.
Function as a regional POTS netmail gate for systems that need it.
Provide echomail feeds for those who need a feed.
Help new sysops with getting their system setup and promote growth.
Duties to continue to perform if re-elected as RC13:
1. Provide NC's with any help the may need or request.
2. Let NC's handle their network matters unless asked to become
involved.
3. Promote growth to the region by directing potential BBSs to
their Networks within our region.
4. Provide Fido Nodelist's Nodediff's and Fidonews to any node
that request it.
5. Maintain the Independent node list segment and process
Network segments, sending the regions segment to the Zone
Coordinator.
6. Ensure smooth operation of the region and the networks that
make up the region as per policy 4.
7. Act as Temporary NC for a network that is without one,
and rise up a suitable NC from within that network.
8. Provide Netmail routing for the region.
9. Maintain contact with NC's within the region and the ZC1.
10. Webmaster and host the Region 13 website.
11. Appoint and support the election coordinator.
12. Perform all other specific RC duties policy4 mandates.
13. Will abide by the terms and conditions of approved regional
policy, so that it can be maintained in perpetuity for the
benefit of the members of the region as stated in section 6
in the R13 election policy.
Action Plan:
1. Seek out NC's for net 129 and 261 even if from a new member bbs
with proper teaching and coaching on my part.
2. Seek out BBSes that are with in our region and invite them to
be part of fidonet and link them up with the NC that covers
their location.
3. Continue to maintain and update the Region 13 website with
the current nodelist, nodediff, fidonews and gazette.
If any member of Region 13 needs a copy of the election policy
or a feed to the region 13 election or sysop echoes let me know
and I will get you connected personally or put you in touch with
an alternate feed. Thanks for taking the time to read though. If
you are a member sysop of Region 13 I look forward to seeing you
in the Region 13 echos and taking part of this election.
Page 18
T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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INFO:
Where to Send Your Articles
Unlike most editors, I surely do not mind running my mouth when
there is a sparcity of articles for the 'zine. I'd MUCH rather
you sent in material but I think until someone starts a
discussion you feel like commenting about, you evil dullards
(just kidding!!!) will no doubt complain about "no issues"
So I will fill these issues with my meanderings and thoughts and
hopefully we will grow into something of consequence here :)
Don't be offended.. write an article!
If you WOULD like to submit an article and prove me wrong about
the dullard aspect of you guys and gals , feel free to drop
your article off at:
By email attach to address: janis @ filegate.net
Fidonet attach: Janis Kracht 1:261/38 Modem: 607-655-5652
1:261/100 filegate.net via telnet mailer
filegate.net via binkp mailer (don't send
articles as routed attaches, send them
direct to filegate.net).
Give it a title, sign your name and network address if you have
one and send it along!
Don't worry about the format, I can take anything you send me
and mutilate it further as you can see above. Linux is nice
that way . Spell checking your own work will help though
(something I'm typically guilty of ).
More specifics with this issue :)
To send a question to Dr. Debug, email a question to
dr.debug @ filegate.net or post in the fidogazette echo! :)
To send a listing to the fidogazette internet bbs list, send your
bbs listing to bbslist @ filegate.net or post it in the fidogazette
echo! :)
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T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume III number III May 2009
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