Subj : FidoNews 29:43 [02/06]: General Articles To : All From : FidoNews Robot Date : Mon Oct 22 2012 00:31:15 ================================================================= GENERAL ARTICLES ================================================================= Zone-5 closing down By Ward Dossche, 2:292/854 Zone-5 was never that much of a whirlpool of Fidonet activity as we know at least of zones 1 and 2, but it was nice to have them along over the years. Now we learn from its surviving ZC that the zone is closing down. It has provided one of the Fidonews-editors: Henk Wolsink. At moments there were interesting moments of learning. So for example at one time when the zone became unreachable many years ago, we had to learn that copper thieves had physically stolen the landline of the man that operated the link. The line needed to be restored. When in 2010 the World Championships football were held in the Republic of South Africa, a sport which certain sport-heretics will call soccer, we were warned via Fidonet about the existence of the Vuvuzela. Not knowing what to expect after watching the opening game on television, I went to bed with a headache. It was the most nauseating sound I've ever heard -- and those people like it. (??) Over the years I received flashes of news about how life locally developed, how life is under Mugabe in Rhodesia -- I mean Zimbabwe -- how the RSA developed after Apartheid collapsed and Mandela walked out of prison. We learned that you cannot suppress a complete people for centuries and then tell on a certain moment "You are free" and expect them to know what freedom is about. What I learned via Fido is that the South African experiment, where a totally formerly suppressed population still recovers from shock, is years away from being concluded, generations need to pass first until Apartheid will be a blob in history. I read about freedom being one thing, but going to sleep well fed in the evening being something totally different. Zone-5 and Russell Tiedt have demonstrated that Fidonet indeed can offer a window to the world and its passing is noted but difficult to swallow. With very few nodes for years and since the last nodediff only one left, it is obvious that the functionality as a zone had ceased. But even with that small beacon gone real soon now, Fidonet has become poorer. In Russell we had a good colleague and I will miss him. As a special note to you, Russell, the family here practices the saying that "When you enter here as a friend, you are never too early but always too late". If you ever make it to Europe, let me know -- I'd like to meet you in person. Happy trails, where-ever they take you. Ward ----------------------------------------------------------------- No more Gisbert Rudolph By Ward Dossche, 2:292/854 Gisbert Rudolph passed away on October 4th of this year. I met the man 2 or 3 times at Bob Bashe's place when we converged there and we had a meal together, first at that Chinese place overthere, then at that Yugoslavian restaurant (I think that's what it was) The first time was on Dec.30th 1999. The then ZC1 David Moufaregge passed through the area visiting his family as he was from German descent. Bob Bashe called me, asked if I would be interested in spending an evening with him and I literally jumped in the car and went there. In the living room was Bob, David and Gisbert Rudolph. Gisbert was quite a remarkable fellow and I always enjoy hearing these Germans speak English not really being able to pronounce the "th"-sound. In a way it's even endearing. He approached Fido-matters in a forward kind of manner without beating around the bush. Proving him wrong usually was difficult, or plain impossible. Interactions between him and I increased significantly with "the cooperation" of one Helmut Hullen of which a Formal Complaint was the result ultimately ending with Helmut's threat of taking people to court and becoming ex-commed from the nodelist. Eventually Helmut Hullen took me as zone-coordinator to court and the rest is history (he lost). Eventually Gisbert, whom we knew as NC2443, resigned from his participation in Fidonet, bade everybody farewell and was gone. He was 57 years old, which is way too young in this day and age. I particularly am saddened by this as we physically were together a number of times, we cooperated on a number of projects. But I'll especially remember him as one of the people behind REGPOL24, a piece of work which is unique in the annals of Fidonet. Gisbert, if you meet Alan Turing wherever you are, give him my regards. Ward ----------------------------------------------------------------- --- Azure/NewsPrep 3.0 * Origin: Home of the Fidonews (2:2/2.0) .