      F I D O N E W S         Volume 17, Number 13             27 Mar 2000 
     +----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
     |  The newsletter of the     |   ISSN 1198-4589 Published by:        |
     |    FidoNet community       |   "FidoNews"                          |
     |          _                 |   1-717-732-6820     1:270/720        |
     |         /  \               |                                       |
     |        /|oo \              |                                       |
     |       (_|  /_)             |                                       |
     |        _`@/_ \    _        |                                       |
     |       |     | \   \\       |   Editor: Douglas Myers, 1:270/720    |
     |       | (*) |  \   ))      |           DougM@paonline.com          |
     |       |__U__| /  \//       |                                       |
     |        _//|| _\   /        |                                       |
     |       (_/(_|(____/         |                                       |
     |             (jm)           |   Newspapers should have no friends.  |
     |                            |                    -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
     +----------------------------+---------------------------------------+
     


                        Table of Contents
     1. ARTICLES  .................................................  1
        The Dash  .................................................  1
        The Future of Fidonet on the Internet!  ...................  2
     2. COLUMNS  ..................................................  5
        Ol'WDB: Correction  .......................................  5
        This Weeks Web Page  ......................................  6
     3. NET HUMOR  ................................................  8
        Golf Humor  ...............................................  8
        Coincidences  .............................................  8
     4. COMIX IN ASCII  ........................................... 10
        cool cows  ................................................ 10
     5. FIDONEWS INFO  ............................................ 11
        Masthead  ................................................. 11
     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 1                   27 Mar 2000


     =================================================================
                                 ARTICLES
     =================================================================


     Note:  The January 31st issue of Fidonews contained a poem derived
     from the original below.  At the time, we did not know that Linda
     Ellis was the original author, nor that her fine poem was
     copyrighted material.  Linda has looked on our inadvertant copyright
     infringement graciously, asking only that we reprint her original
     poem with the copyright notice and properly credited.  We are proud
     to reprint the original below (taken from her web site noted below
     and converted to ASCII format).


     The Dash (1998)
     (Original copyright 1996)
     by Linda Ellis
     www.lindaslyrics.com


     I read of a reverend who stood to speak
     at the funeral of his friend.
     He referred to the dates on her tombstone
     from the beginning...to the end.

     He noted that first came the date of her birth
     and spoke of the following date with tears,
     but he said what mattered most of all
     was the dash between those years.

     For that dash represents all the time
     that she spent alive on earth
     and now only those who loved her
     know what that little line is worth.

     For it matters not, how much we own;
     the cars the house the cash.
     What matters is how we live and love
     and how we spend our dash.

     So think about this long and hard
     are there things you'd like to change?
     For you never know how much time is left.
     (You could be at "dash mid-range.")

     If we could just slow down enough
     to consider what's true and real,
     and always try to understand
     the way other people feel.

     And be less quick to anger,
     and show appreciation more
     and love the people in our lives
     like we've never loved before.

     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 2                   27 Mar 2000


     If we treat each other with respect,
     and more often wear a smile
     remembering that this special dash
     might only last a little while.

     So, when your eulogy's being read
     with your life's actions to rehash...
     would you be proud of the things they say
     about how you spent your dash?


     -----------------------------------------------------------------


                    The Future of Fidonet on the Internet!
                                 Ed Williams



     Internet security seems to be a big buzz word these day's.  I'm left
     wondering, what if...  What if in a year or maybe less, Internet
     Security was addressed as a major issue, and only secure connections
     were allowed on browsers because to allow otherwise was a security
     breach?  The industry is moving toward an era where software will be
     licensed or accessed via the Internet, so that you won't have to
     purchase Word to use Word, you'll just pay for it when you use it.
     Where ISP's will eventually offer specials in their networks where
     "With the cost of Internet Connection you get unlimited Word For
     Windows access, 3 open Access projects, and 2 free Shockwave
     Projects per month!" how far can the offer of "Secure Web Hosting
     for your web page" be behind?  And what would that mean for the
     content you have there already?

     Is the Internet really about free speech?  Or is it about money, of
     money, and solely about money?  Is the structure used by people to
     exchange that free speech something that lies in the interests of
     those with the money who run it?  Or is it more likely that such
     activities are some of the very first mentions at DotCom's Internet
     Security Briefing?  If Microsoft licenses Word to every ISP who
     provides only secure connections, how likely is that ISP to host
     your IP address or the web page that you have which links to your
     BBS?  How likely is it that we will suddenly see a change which
     could be called SecureIP which could be easily added (at least on
     the users side, not the providers) with software patches and
     drivers?  How much as well would these companies be to making
     SecureIP compatible with old TCP/IP connections with Telnet and FTP
     compatiblities if they are the very reason for the SecureIP change?

     And with those secure connections, and their requisite browser
     changes, will Telnet fall the way of UUCP?  Try to find Shell
     Internet Access from an ISP in your area, and you'll end up in the
     same boat as if you looked for UUCP.  How much farther down the road
     is basic FTP and Telnet access?  Isn't Telnet access one of the most
     common forms hackers use to attack other systems?  Isn't FTP access
     how many oversights on individual PC's allow information to be
     leaked and organizations to be hacked?  Would a company be more or
     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 3                   27 Mar 2000


     less inclined to "Secure itself" by going SecureIP and blocking
     these common attack forms completely and thus securing all inbound
     and outbound connections?

     Is all this attention on the Internet more or less likely to
     associate the individual provider with the content acquired from
     their service? How many more times does AOL have to be linked with
     some horrific content on their service before they take measures to
     combat it?  And would those efforts to control the content be based
     on a technological basis wherein Telnet like services were suddenly
     no longer available because this new SecureIP connection denies all
     Telnet access?  Or would AOL be more likely to have machines or even
     real people sift through each individual bit of information
     available to protect their customers at the same level a SecureIP
     connection would?

     When all the software on your machine is now licensed and rests
     physically on another server, where does the data itself lie?  Much
     is now being discussed about having your data lie on a secure site,
     where it can be encoded, encrypted, and locked up to a degree where
     with a SecureIP connection you have nothing to fear.   With
     BroadBand connections arriving daily, is the computer you work on
     more likely or less likely to actually hold data itself to include
     the Operating System?  Is it possible that someday shortly here you
     will literally boot your WorkStation to the Network itself?

     If that happens, I wonder, what will become of the price of Hard
     Drives?  Would the sudden and dramatic decrease in Hard Drive
     technology make them more or less affordable?  Or would the demands
     of these now Secure ISP's create Hard Drive technology that is no
     longer affordable or usable to someone with a PC?  What about
     modems?  Will there be some technology to allow continued direct pc
     to pc access which will be easily affordable to the common man or
     will all their intellectual efforts be confined to the limits of the
     Internet and it's ever changing rules and standards making
     information obsolete unless carried in a certain fashion?

     What would all of this mean to FidoNet?  Would there be a sudden
     outcry to allow Telnet accesses to BBS's or would there be some
     FidoNet Sysop's who forked out the money to have SecureIP BBS's who
     would proclaim it as the wave of the future and how in a few years
     Telnet BBS's would all be dead?  Would that help Fidonet or would it
     continue to reduce the Amateur nature of the network itself?  Are
     those BBS's that can run in a SecureIP nature more or less likely to
     promote the rest of Fidonet?  Or will they more likely shut it off
     entirely insisting that anyone who is left in Fidonet is backwards,
     clueless, and unconnected from reality.

     And what of those that say "This is the future man, it is a place of
     change!  There will be another way for us to run our BBS's."  I am
     so well reminded of the early day's of Windows.  When one of the
     largest complaints was the "Ease of Use. Everything you ever need to
     do with your PC has been pre-determined and optimized for Windows"
     nature of this new "unconfigurable, and reduced option software
     trend."  I wonder at what point of reducing your options does it
     become blatantly apparent you have lost control over your BBS or
     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 4                   27 Mar 2000


     your "Free Speech"

     Is it before or after it is already too late to fix it?

     What if there was another way?

     Ed Williams
     The Goblin's Reach BBS
     1:128/148

     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 5                   27 Mar 2000


     =================================================================
                                  COLUMNS
     =================================================================


                                Ol'WDB COLUMN
                           Correction Please Note:

     The modified poem I presented in a previous newsletter is
     copyrighted. Although I received it in one of several "Joke" type
     echoes, labeled as "Author Unknown", the true author has contacted
     me to make known her authorship.  I visited her web page :
     http://www.lindaslyrics.com , and am completely satisfied that she
     is the author.  As an author myself, I do understand her concern
     about her work being distributed and possibaly decreasing her book
     of poems sales on her web site.

     I hope most sincerely that all Fidofolks who read my column
     containing the poem,will visit her web site and inspect the many
     things she has to offer for your Mothers, Sweethearts, and friends.
     You will be very pleasantly surprised at some of her
     "Signed/autographed" heirloom presents for special calender events.
     I feel I owe this announcement to all FidoNews readers, to correct a
     accidental wrong to Linda Ellis, and correct the record. Copy below
     of e-mail Linda sent to me.  I don't yet know what she may charge me
     for modifying her poem, hoping to pull Fido Sysops closer as a
     family. I hope she will be kind to Ol'WDB.

     ===============8<--------------her e-mail notice to me-------------

     To: <wdbonner@pacbell.net>
     Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 5:26 PM
     Subject: The Dash poem is copyrighted

     > Hello,
     >
     > I am the author and copyright owner of "The Dash" poem that
     > was in your January 31, 2000 column, I believe.  I found it on
     > the web site: http://www.fidonews.org/prev/1705/columns.html
     >
     > There is a charge to reprint or distribute this poem in any way.
     >
     > Please contact me regarding the unauthorized use of my
     > copyrighted poem "The Dash."
     >
     > Thank you.
     >
     > Linda Ellis
     > Linda's Lyrics
     > http://www.lindaslyrics.com
     >
     =================8<-----------------------------------------------

     Editor's Note:  The message below was recieved from Linda Ellis by
     Warren Bonner after he sent his column for publication.  It is
     appended here to complete the story, and as a tribute to Linda's
     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 6                   27 Mar 2000


     grace :)

     > Sorry I'm late responding!  I understand your mistake was
     > unintentional. If we could just repost the poem in this newsletter
     > with proper credit and www.lindaslyrics.com, all will be fine.
     >
     > Thank you for writing me back.
     >
     > Linda Ellis
     > Linda's Lyrics
     > http://www.lindaslyrics.com


     -----------------------------------------------------------------


                                This Weeks Web Page
                                   by Frank Vest
                                   1:124/6308(.1)


     What: Welcome to Fidonet Zone 3

     Where: http://www.z3.fidonet.org

     What's there?:

     If you haven't figured out yet... This is the Fidonet Zone 3 web
     page. Here's the description from the page:

     "This is the home page for Fidonet Zone 3 (Oceania) which covers
     Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea."

     The page starts out with an animated picture of a dog wagging it's
     tail and a diskette in it's mouth. Opposite this is the "Welcome to
     Fidonet Zone 3" graphic. The page goes on to give a short
     description of what Fidonet is and then list Zones 1 - 6 with links
     where available. Next, it gives the E-Mail address of the Zone 3
     coordinator (nice idea) and then lists the Regions covered by Zone
     3. Under each Region are Nets in that Region with links where
     available.

     There is a section for "Other Fidonet links" that include "The Zone3
     Fidonet IP Web Site", "What is FidoNet?", "FidoNet Standards and
     Protocols", "Old Fidonet Papers", "FidoNet Nodelists and Node
     difference files", "FidoNet Zone 3 Nodelisting", "FidoNews Homepage"
     and more. I looked at some of these links and they have some
     interesting stuff in them.

     All in all, this is a good web page for a Zone. It has information
     for the Zone first and other Fidonet stuff later. A good thought for
     getting information "up front" to someone interested in the Zone.

     I did notice this note at the bottom of the page:

     "Note: I am finally returned from hospital after a very long stay
     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 7                   27 Mar 2000


     and am not aware of all the changes in Zone 3. Please let me know
     everything that needs fixing on this page."

     I assume this means that changes and updates will be forthcoming.
     The page indicates that it was last updated on Dec. 31, 1999.

     Check this page out and give some encouragement to Zone 3 and Peter
     Lane-Collett 3:640/306

     Till next time,

      Frank - flv@texoma.net

     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 8                   27 Mar 2000


     =================================================================
                                 NET HUMOR
     =================================================================


                                  Golf Humor
                              Repeated by Ol'WDB

     Once upon a time a guy was talking with his girlfriend and she
     invited him over to dinner the next night. He graciously accepted
     and then she proclaimed after this big event she would make love to
     him.

     So before dinnertime, he was out getting a golf lesson at the club,
     but he couldn't concentrate at all. The pro asked him what was on
     his mind. So he told him that his girlfriend wanted to make love
     with him tonight. The pro was excited for the young man, and instead
     of giving him golf lessons he gave him lessons on making love. He
     taught him everything and by the end of the lesson he was an expert.

     So later that evening the boy arrived at his girlfriends' house.
     They sat down for dinner and the girl said grace.

     The boyfriend just kept his head down. Finally after 20 minutes the
     girlfriend whispered "I never knew you were so religious", and the
     boy whispered back, "I never knew your dad was a golf pro."

     -----------------------------------------------------------------


                                 Coincidences
                              As told to Ol'WDB

     A father put his three year old daughter to bed, told her a story
     and listened to her prayers - which she ended by saying "God bless
     mommy, God bless daddy, God bless grandma, and good-bye grandpa."
     The father said, "Why did you say good-bye grandpa?" The little girl
     said "I don't know daddy, it just seemed like the thing to do."

     The next day grandpa died. Father thought it was a strange
     coincidence. A few months later the father put the girl to bed and
     listened to her prayers,which went like this - "God bless mommy, God
     bless daddy and good-bye grandma.

     Next day the grandmother died. My gosh, thought the father, this kid
     is in contact with the other side. Several weeks later when the girl
     was going to bed the dad heard her say "God bless mommy and good-bye
     daddy."

     He practically went into shock. Couldn't sleep all night and got up
     at the crack of dawn to go to his office. He was nervous as a cat
     all day, had lunch sent in and watched the clock. He figured if he
     could get by until midnight he would be OK. He felt safe in the
     office, so instead of going home at the end of the day he stayed
     there, drinking coffee, looking at his watch and jumping at every
     sound. Finally midnight arrived, he breathed a sigh of relief and
     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 9                   27 Mar 2000


     went home.

     When he got home his wife said "I've never seen you work so late,
     what's the matter?" He said "I don't want to talk about it, I've
     just spent the worst day of my life." She said "You think you had a
     bad day, you'll never believe what happened to me. This morning the
     mailman dropped dead on our porch."


     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 10                  27 Mar 2000


     =================================================================
                              COMIX IN ASCII
     =================================================================


     cool cows....


                                        (__(  .-<
                                        (oo)  |
                 (______)             ___\/___|
                 ( o  o )            |  |  |
            /-----\    /             |  |  |
           / |     |\/             >-'  |  |
          *  ||----||               *----/\
             ^^    ^^                   /  \
                                       /    \
            Conceited                  ^     ^
              Cow                   Egyptian Cow


                 (__)
                 (oo)     ____________________
          /-------\/     |                    |
         / |     |\ /    |  o  o  o  o  o  o  |
        *  ||----| /     ======================
           ^^    ^       ||                  ||
           Cowncillor            his cowch



                  \___/
                  (O O)
                   \ /
                    O

               Cow exclaiming
                 "Holy Cow"


               (__)                  |====|
               (oo)                   \oo/
        /-------\/             /-------\/
       / |     ||---->        / |     ||
      *  ||----||            *  ||----||
        ___/  ___/              ^^    ^^
                             Cowcatcher
       Cow waterskiing      (Major league)


     -----------------------------------------------------------------

     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 11                  27 Mar 2000


     =================================================================
                               FIDONEWS INFO
     =================================================================

                                   Masthead

     + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --  FIDONEWS STAFF - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
     |                                                                |
     | Editor:     Douglas Myers, 1:270/720, DougM@paonline.com       |
     | Webmaster:  Jim Barchuk, jb@fidonews.org                       |
     | Columnist:  Joe Jared, 1:103/0, jarhead@osirusoft.com          |
     |             (Fido Via Internet Hubs column)                    |
     | Columnist:  Warren D. Bonner, 1:103/401, wdbonner@pacbell.net  |
     |             (Warren uses the pen name "Ol'WDB")                |
     | Humor:      Roy Reed, rcreedv@juno.com                         |
     | Features:   Frank Vest, 1:124/6308.1                           |
     |                                                                |
     + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +

     + -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -  EDITORS EMERITI - -- -- -- -- -- -- -- +
     |                                                                |
     |       Tom Jennings, Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince         |
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     |       Christopher Baker, Zorch Frezberg, Henk Wolsink          |
     |                                                                |
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     "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
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     Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of Fidonet.
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     The weekly edition of Fidonews is distributed through the file area
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     FIDONEWS 17-13               Page 12                  27 Mar 2000


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