     The  F I D O N E W S      Volume 20, Number 52             29 Dec 2003 
     +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
     | |The newsletter of the | | Fido, Fidonet and dog-with-diskette are |
     | |  FidoNet community.  | | US Registered Trademarks of Tom Jennings|
     | |                      | |     San Francisco, California, USA      |
     | |          ____________| |                                         |
     | |         /  __          | Crash netmail articles to:              |
     | |        /  /  \         |          Editor @ 2:2/2 (+46-31-944907) |
     | | WOOF! (  /|oo \        | Routed netmail articles to:             |
     |  \_______\(_|  /_)       |          Bjorn Felten @ 2:203/0         |
     |            _ @/_ \    _  | Email attach to:                        |
     |           |     | \   \\ |          bfelten@telia.com              |
     |           | (*) |  \   ))|                                         |
     |           |__U__| /  \// |         Editor: Bjrn Felten            |
     |   ______   _//|| _\   /  |                                         |
     |  / Fido \ (_/(_|(____/   |   Newspapers should have no friends.    |
     | (________)       (jm)    |                    -- JOSEPH PULITZER   |
     +--------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
            Copyright 2003 by Fidonews Editor for Fidonews Globally.


                        Table of Contents
     1. FOOD FOR THOUGHT  .........................................  1
     2. EDITORIAL  ................................................  2
        Christmas, P4, cooking and more  ..........................  2
     3. GENERAL ARTICLES  .........................................  3
        "BBS: The Documentary" - Progress Continues!  .............  3
     4. FIDONET SOFTWARE REVIEWS  .................................  4
        BBS and FidoNet Software News  ............................  4
        JamNNTPd - a review  ......................................  6
     5. FRANK'S COLUMN - FRANK VEST  ..............................  7
        War, Battles and Circles  .................................  7
     6. FIDONET'S INTERNATIONAL KITCHEN  ..........................  9
        Potato soup and bread  ....................................  9
     7. BEST OF FIDONET  .......................................... 11
        Education and evolution  .................................. 11
     8. BEN RITCHEY'S FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING  ................... 13
        FIDONet Software References  .............................. 13
     9. SPECIAL INTEREST  ......................................... 18
        Nodelist Stats  ........................................... 18
     10. FIDONEWS INFORMATION  .................................... 20
        How to Submit an Article  ................................. 20
        Credits, Legal Infomation, Availability  .................. 22
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 1                   29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                             FOOD FOR THOUGHT
     =================================================================

     By the time your face clears up, your brain starts going fuzzy.

                                     -- Anonymous


     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 2                   29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                                 EDITORIAL
     =================================================================

                   Christmas, P4, cooking and more

        So yet another Christmas is over, and soon the year of 2003 will be
     as well. I hope everyone had a great holiday and that the next year
     will be a good one. Maybe it will be a year with no new wars (or
     whatever the hostilities are being called) but a year when old
     hostilities will come to an end. But I guess noone is willing to take
     a bet on that...

        The 18 month (so far) soap-opera called Changing the Fidonet Policy
     seems to be going on forever. In the forum where the changes are
     supposed to be debated, all kinds of discussions seems to be taking
     place but those over the P4 changes. I was sent a file mirroring the
     latest achievements, but unfortunately the e-mail was empty, with no
     paper clip as far as my eye could spy, so this obviously will have to
     wait until next week.

        My ongoing attempt to give you all a taste of the Swedish Cuisine
     will also have to wait until next week, because this week we have a
     double recipe from Carol, and all contributions from outside will
     always take precedence over "internal" ones, if you get my drift.

        Apart from that we've been blessed with a couple of more articles,
     software reviews and more. Plus I managed to pick up some wonderful
     writings about education and evolution in the POL_INC echo, that I
     thought had a given place in the Best of Fidonet section. So hopefully
     everyone will find at least something readworthy in this the last
     issue of the year 2003.

        Finally, please all, keep your fingers crossed that I will manage
     to find all the places in the configs and bats to change, whenever
     there's a new year. It's not as easy as y'all may think... :)


     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 3                   29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                             GENERAL ARTICLES
     =================================================================

                   "BBS: The Documentary" - Progress Continues!
                      submitted by: Philip Lozier 1:267/169

     For some time now, an individual named Jason Scott has been working on
     a "BBS Documentary" series aimed at portraying the history of the BBS
     through the eyes of those who lived it, as well as those who pioneered
     the technology. It is planned to be a seven episode video series on 2
     DVD's, with release planned for some time in 2004.

     To date, over 202 hours of video have been shot, and 170 interviews,
     (with 30 more planned), conducted. While there are still some
     interviews on the schedule, Jason has reported that the editing
     process has begun at this point.

     Obviously his documentary is being taken very seriously, as two
     noteworthy people who have granted him interviews for this project are
     Ward Christensen (co-inventor of the BBS and original programmer of
     XMODEM), and Dr. Vinton Cerf (co-engineer of TCP/IP), known to some as
     the "Father Of The Internet".

     While I can't currently locate the list of interviews at this visit to
     his site, I do remember sometime back seeing the list, and there were
     various software developers, BBS SysOps of past and present, and (as
     he puts it) the "regular folk" who have had BBSing in some way make an
     impression on their lives.

     If this is something you find of interest, I would highly suggest a
     visit to his site at http://www.bbsdocumentary.com for a look around.
     Jason has done quite a bit of research in the few years he has been
     working on this and has put together an interesting timeline of BBS
     history, as well as the largest database known about every known BBS
     package ever to exist.

     I can't wait until the final cut is available :)  It is sure to be
     quite interesting.


     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 4                   29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                         FIDONET SOFTWARE REVIEWS
     =================================================================

                             BBS and FidoNet Software News
                         submitted by: Philip Lozier 1:267/169


     *** WWIV Version 5.0 Beta Released! ***

     17-Dec-2003

     WWIV version 5.0 beta1 was finally released yesterday. This is the
     first 32-bit version of WWIV to be released to the public, now
     available in both Windows and Linux flavors. WWIV version 5 Alpha has
     been under development since April 2000, just after version 4.30 for
     DOS was released. These alpha versions were only available to select
     registered users.

     A guy known as Rushfan has been spearheading the development the last
     few years, while the code is still owned by Dean Nash (aka: Trader
     Jack) who took it over from the original author in early 1998.

     Some of the new features in version 5 include:

     * 32-bit Win32 version.

     * Compiles and Runs on Linux.

     * Included GUI Telnet Server.

     * Internal ZModem

     * DOOR32.SYS support.

     * Uses the Synchronet Fossil code from Synchronet BBS.

     http://wss.wwiv.com/wwiv50/




     *** New release of "The Magic Oracle" DoorGame ***

     14-Dec-2003

     Sean Dennis has announced a new release of his doorgame... following
     is his announcement:

     I've released what I hope to be the last version of my door, "The
     Magic Oracle".  It's now at version 7.2.  What is it?  Well, if you've
     ever used the Magic 8-Ball(tm), you know what TMO is, but it's
     completely customizable by the sysop.  Some of its features:

     * No ANSI.SYS needed (has built-in ANSI emulation)
     * Supports unlimited comports and nodes
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 5                   29 Dec 2003


     * Supports DOOR.SYS and DORINFO#.DAT
     * Will run on any system that supports DOS doors
     * Pipe codes are supported

     If you'd like to grab it, go to:
     http://cheepware.midnightshour.org
     and it's there on the page.  Also, you may want to try an email FREQ
     for TMO72DOS.ZIP at midnite1@mchsi.com.

     18-Dec-2003

     Further notes from Sean:

     Well, seems I've made a couple more changes to The Magic Oracle:

     * Added Mark Lewis's RemoteAccess setup example to the docs
     * The user can now abort the door by pressing ENTER in the
       question routine (thanks, Mark!)
       * Changed LANGUAGE.DAT to reflect the new abort routine

     Everything else is the same... you can grab the new archive at
     http://cheepware.midnightshour.org anytime.



     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 6                   29 Dec 2003


                            JamNNTPd - a review
                      Peter Karlsson <2:204/254.222>

     Johan Billing, of CrashMail fame, has released JamNNTPd, a piece of
     software that will serve a set of messages stored in a JAM message
     base over NNTP (Network News Transfer Protocol), the protocol
     normally used to transmit Usenet groups. This means that any news
     reader (rn, slrn, Pine, Opera, Thunderbird, Outlook, ...) can now be
     used to read Fidonet messages in a comfortable manner.

     Of course, reading Fidonet over NNTP is not something new, it has
     been done many a time before, but then the focus has always been to
     convert between Fido and Usenet formats, to be able to gate messages
     between systems. Not so this time, JamNNTPd is not a gateway, it is
     simply a Fidonet reader that speaks NNTP. You need a regular tosser
     (Billing's CrashMail II works fine) to store your messages in JAM
     message bases, and then you run JamNNTPd on top of that. It can not
     be used to further propagate the news messages.

     When you connect to the server with your news reader, JamNNTPd will
     read messages directly from the JAM message bases, converting them
     on-the-fly to a RFC-style format (there are no e-mail addresses,
     though, all addresses are listed in Fido style unless a REPLYADDR
     kludge is found). When you post a message, it will store the message
     in the JAM message base, ready to be scanned out by your tosser
     software.

     Since JamNNTPd has access to the JAM message base, you do not get the
     dreaded "To: All" that is symptomatic for NNTP gates (since Usenet
     news has no recipient field). JamNNTPd will check the message you
     reply to (from your news reader's References header) and fill in the
     recipient address from there.

     The current version as of this writing is 0.5, and it is quite
     usable. It has some shortcomings, such as very limited character
     encoding support, but this problem will be lifted in the upcoming 0.6
     version, planned to be released sometime after the new year.

     The software can be downloaded from the author's home page at
     <URL:http://www.df.lth.se/~billing/jamnntpd.html>. It can be compiled
     for Linux and Win32.

     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 7                   29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                        FRANK'S COLUMN - FRANK VEST
     =================================================================

                            War, Battles and Circles
                                 By Frank Vest
                                  1:124/6308.1

     Disclaimer: There is no rhyme or reason to this. Anything that you
     might think, do, say or otherwise, is wrong. Do not fold.... umm...
     Well, you know. :-)

      Pardon me for being a jerk. I just don't understand the crap about
     wars. We are supposed to love our neighbor? The Bible says this. Most
     religions state this. Even those that don't have a belief, God or such
     seem to feel the same way.

      War is good. War is great. Without wars, where would the economy be?
     War produces jobs. Just think. Without war, all those service men
     would not have a job. All those planes, ships, weapons and stuff, that
     is built by the lowest bidder, would not be needed and the people that
     build these things would be without a job.

      Then you add the cost of human life. All the deaths decrease the
     surplus population. This is good. Fewer people in the world decreases
     hunger since there are fewer mouths to feed. The pollution level drops
     with less people driving cars and using fossil fuels and such. Fewer
     people means more money to go around. Gee. Who wouldn't like more
     money?

      About money. That's what this is all about after all... isn't it? I
     mean, really? Money to fund a war, less people to need money and all
     that. And of course, all this is funded by taxes. No matter what
     country your in, there's some sort of government funding and that
     government is funded through the people in that country. Call it what
     you will. It all boils down the same.

      Even hobbies like Fidonet and BBSs are about money. Ya gotta have the
     funds to support the hobby. Those with more money have the latest and
     greatest. In days of old, many BBSs were commercial adventures funded
     by companies that sold products via the BBS. Sysops and software
     authors tried to, and sometimes succeeded in, making a living from the
     BBS and FTN technology.

      Then came the Internet and a new way to make money. I guess you can
     blame the Internet for the demise of Fidonet and BBSs, but really,
     isn't it money? Or, is it something else?

      In days of old, a pound of corn was worth more than most people made
     in a year. You go to your neighbor and help him/her out and they come
     help you out. You get some corn and give them some meat.

      Then your neighbor decides that his corn is worth more than your meat
     and demands more meat. You refuse and grab your sword to take the
     corn. That works and you take more. People follow you because you can
     provide for them. The next thing you know, you have a kingdom and are
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 8                   29 Dec 2003


     at war with other kingdoms to gain land to provide for your people who
     fight and die to be provided for.

      As this continues, your people learn how to grow their own corn and
     your enemies learn how to produce meat. Soon enough, you find that the
     enemy is just as powerful as you. You can no longer win, but neither
     can the other side.

      Negotiate for trade. That's the answer. They have more of this and
     you have more of that. Trade for it. But... Trade what. You start with
     trading your excess for theirs. Soon, your both run out of excess. You
     must have something else to trade with. How about a promise to provide
     goods? You write the promise and the other side accepts. They then
     write you a promise and you accept.

      What do we call these promises? I know! Money!! We'll print it up on
     paper and use it to pay for the goods we need. The other side can, and
     does, do the same.

      Hey! Wait a minute! They have more money than I do. That can't
     happen! I'll stomp them into the ground until I get more money than
     they have!!!

      Umm... Weren't we just here a few paragraphs back?? <wink>

      You all have a great war... umm.. I mean... day. :)


     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 9                   29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                      FIDONET'S INTERNATIONAL KITCHEN
     =================================================================

                      Cheddar Onion Pepper bread
                   By Carol Shenkenberger, 6:757/1

       1 1/4 c  Milk
           1 tb Butter
           1 tb Sugar
           1 ts Salt
         1/8 ts Shichimi (can use paprika)
         1/8 ts Dry mustard powder
       3 1/2 c  Flour, white breadmakers
         3/4 c  Grated cheddar cheese
         1/4 c  Grated red onion
           2 ts Yeast
           1 ts Black pepper

       SkyHigh bread!  Add the ingredients listed to a breadmaker and set
     to 'french' if you have that setting.  Otherwise, 'normal' will do.

       Shichimi is a very common Japanese spice mix of hot chile powders.
     You can use a powdered paprika or a hotter powdered chile for nearly
     the same effect.

       This one was made to go with a pot of potato soup, of a german base
     where the potato melts away into the soup and there are minimal bits
     of carrot and cabbage about.





                              Potato Soup

           5 c  Chopped potatos
           1 c  Chopped onion
           1 c  Chopped cabbage
           4 c  Beef broth
           1 ts Black pepper
         1/2 ts Caraway seeds
         1/2 ts Nutmeg

       Ok, so not everything I cook is Japanese!  Shoot me (grin).  I can
     think of a million optional additions to this one but the plain
     version is mightly good!

       I had some floury potatoes and I happen to want some hot soup, being
     winter here.  This is also very cheap to make and Charlotte has some
     friends due over tomorrow, so I need lots of food but cant set a
     schedule for just when I need it to be ready.  Crockpot wins again!

       If you like spiffy looks, peel the potatoes first.  Me, I left the
     skin on 2 of the 6.  The potatoes being 'floury types' will just melt
     into the soup so no blender needed.
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 10                  29 Dec 2003


       I also used pretty little baby carrots, but you can just cut some up
     and be fine that way.

       I didnt use as much onion as it may seem as I used a mild sweet red
     one. I'm feeding kids and most of the ones I am feeding don't like too
     much onion.  The recipe I used as a base for this used a leek and a
     hot onion.

       Optional additions to be added just before serving:  Sour cream
     dollop in each bowl, shredded daikon (a very mild sweet radish).

       Serving suggestion: With a crusty bread.  xxcarol's Cheddar Onion
     Pepper bread is a match.

       From the Sasebo Japan kitchen of:  xxcarol 26DEC2003


     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 11                  29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                              BEST OF FIDONET
     =================================================================

                       Education and evolution
                    Originally posted in POL_INC
                     by Don Martin,  1:261/1000



      RW> This dumb American asks a question. Was not all known
      RW> knowledge once a matter of belief only for one class of
      RW> people. Geometry for mathematicians, Astronomy for
      RW> astronomers, etc. Or am I imagining the way things have
      RW> progressed throughout the years?

         The way your question is phrased tends to jumble a number of
     issues together. If you don't mind, I shall attempt to deal with the
     different issues separately.

         The simplistic answer to your question is "yes", but that "yes" is
     incrusted with so many caveats as to be very nearly meaningless. Is
     all knowledge, at least at the moment of its discovery, private
     knowledge? Insofar as only one person, typically, knows it at that
     moment, yes. Given the venality of the human race, pressures are
     strong to keep it private: a trade secret, like the formula for Coca
     Cola, or a great mystery, like how to keep track of time. Either will
     make you rich, either as a businessman with a secret marketable
     commodity or as a priest with a collection plate filled by grateful
     farmers who can sow in safety now that you have told them your god has
     lifted the Time of Frost. Many people make such money or acquire such
     power from knowledge: we call these activities commerce and religion,
     and both are regarded as necessary to civilization.

         Some people, however, cannot keep their mouths shut, and blab
     their discoveries to anyone willing to listen. The typical reaction on
     the part of the listeners is "oh yeah?", after which they might look
     for themselves. When this sort of thing is done systematically, we
     call it science. Make and measure enough circles of different sizes,
     and you can be pretty sure that the ratio of the diameter to the
     circumference is 3.1416... It makes no difference what units of
     measurement you employ, so long as you use the same consistently
     throughout, and it makes no difference who does the measuring -- the
     more the merrier, in fact, for that is the way this stuff gets
     confirmed.

         Now, was there some "hunch" or matter of belief involved?
     Probably, but at a greater level of generality. I doubt that anybody
     would have had a hunch that 3.1416... was the magic number: more
     likely somebody would have had a hunch that circumferences bore a
     regular relationship to diameters and decided to look into the matter
     more specifically.

         Has knowledge been kept and employed for the power and enrichment
     of particular classes of persons? Of course. Go far enough back in
     time (or deal with sufficiently primitive people -- it amounts to the
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 12                  29 Dec 2003


     same thing), and you'll find that the only educated class is very
     likely the priesthood, whose livelihood absolutely depends upon
     keeping all knowledge within their closely held corporation. I find it
     hilarious that today, biologists and other experts are astonished to
     find that rather scruffy shamans in the wilds of the Amazon know the
     medicinal virtues of just about every plant and animal part within
     their tribe's territory.

         We have never paid much attention to such "inferior" people
     before, but damned if they don't have the same priestly education
     system found around the globe to pass on, from generation to
     generation, the knowledge they need to stay important to their tribes.
     I would imagine that the first guy who got the hunch about circles was
     probably a priest, since back then priests were about the only class
     of persons who had enough knowledge to build upon.

         Look at the roots of all of the sciences, and you can trace a
     "family tree" back to the solid trunk of the queen of sciences,
     theology, 6-700 years ago.

         But to cut all this short (and it threatens to go on and on)
     people have choices about what they do with knowledge. Those of a
     scientific bent tend to groove on it for its own sake: I would guess
     that the guy who demonstrated the feasibility of magnetic resonance
     imaging (MRI) probably went on to explore it in greater depth or to
     explore other ways in which energy and matter interact. I do not know
     him, but I am pretty sure that the hospitals and radiologists who
     apply his discovery to patients make a whole lot more money each year
     than he has done altogether.

         Given any single thing that becomes known, the commercial man will
     try to make money from it, the religious man will try to induce
     worship with it, and the scientific man will try to confirm it.

         People are different, with different interests and goals. That is
     the basic flaw of your question, which tends to assume that all people
     are alike, and lumps them all together on our lowest impulses. Science
     ain't pure as the driven snow -- scientists differ as much as people
     in other fields -- but it at least tries to examine knowledge closely
     to determine whether it is real or a fraud. For that reason, I
     reaffirm that teaching stuff that is known is more appropriate to a
     science class than is teaching stuff that is a matter of belief for
     one segment of the population. Matters of belief are never so
     examined; indeed the very attempt to do so is often classed by the
     believers as a sin. If religionists want Genesis taught as biology,
     they had better be prepared to have Genesis looked into with some
     rigor.


     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 13                  29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                  BEN RITCHEY'S FIDONET SOFTWARE LISTING
     =================================================================

                    -=:{ FIDONet Software Reference }:=-

         Type: M=Mailer  T=Tosser  B=BBS  D=Door  C=Comm/Terminal
               P=Points  E=Editor  I=Internet  U=Utility  ?=Info

     .- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -.
     |Software: Author     |Type |URL, Contact, Ver, Notes      Help Node|
     `- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -'

      Argus                |M    |http://www.ritlabs.com/argus/  2:469/84
                           |     | argus@ritlabs.com  Tel: 373-2-246889
                           |     | v3.210 on Mar 20th 2001

      BeeMail:             |M    |http://beemail.gexonline.net   1:105/10
       Stephen Proffit     |     | beemail@gexonline.net

      BinkleyTerm XE       |M    |http://btxe.sourceforge.net     1:1/102
                           |     | v2.60XE/Gamma-6 on Nov 11th 1998

      BinkD                |MI   |http://2f.ru/binkd/
                           |     | maloff@corbina.net
                           |     | v0.94 on Jul 24th 2000

      FIDO-Deluxe IP       |MPUI |http://www.fido-deluxe.de.vu 2:2432/280
       Michael Haase       |     | m.haase@gmx.net
                           |     | v2.4 on Sep 26th 2003

      Fidonet to Internet: |MI   |http://www.terminate.com
       Bo Bendtsen         |     | sales@terminate.com
                           |     | v2.00 on Mar 23rd 1997

      FrontDoor, FD/APX:   |MTPC |http://www.defsol.se          2:201/330
       Definite Solutions  |     | sales@defsol.se                1:1/101
                           |     | v2.26SW & v2.33ml FD, v1.15 APX

      Husky Project        |MTPUI|http://sf.net/projects/husky/
                           |     | v1.4 RC2 on Sep 22nd 2003

      InterMail, InterEcho |MT   |http://www.ifido.com            1:1/133
                           |     | bob@nwstar.com
                           |     | v2.50 IM, v1.19 IE

      Radius (based on     |M    |http://radius.pp.ru           2:5012/38
               Argus)      |     | fido5012@zaural.net Tel: 7-3522-469463
                           |     | v4.009 on Jan 2nd 2003

      Terminate            |MBP  |http://www.terminate.com
                           |     | v5.00 on Aug 7th 1997

      Tmail                |MI   |http://www.tmail.spb.ru  v2608

      WildCat! Interactive |MTBEI|http://www.santronics.com
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 14                  29 Dec 2003


       Net Server, Platinum|     | sales@santronics.com
       Xpress: Santronics  |     | Tel: (305) 248-3204
       Software, Inc.      |     | AUP 450.2 on Jul 9th 2002
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      Fidogate             |TUI  |http://www.fidogate.org
                           |     | Martin_Junius@m-j-s.net  v4.4.4

      FMail                |T    |http://fmail.nl.eu.org       2:280/1076
                           |     | wijnstra@fmail.nl.eu.org  v1.60

      JetMail: JetSys      |TU   |http://www.jetsys.de  js@jetsys.de
       (ATARI ST only)     |     | v1.01 on Jan 1st 2000

      Squish               |T    |http://www.lanius.com
                           |     | sales@lanius.com  v1.11
                           |     |http://www.vector11.com/maximus/

      Watergate            |TUI  |http://www2.sbbs.se/hp/ramon/
                           |     | ramon@sbbs.se
                           |     | v0.93p9 on Dec 14th 1998
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      BBBS                 |BI   |http://www.bbbs.net  b@bbbs.net
                           |     | v4.00MP on Oct 25th 1999      2:22/222

      ELEBBS: The Elevator |B    |http://www.elebbs.com
       Software Production |     | elebbs@elebbs.com
                           |     | v0.10.RC1 on Jun 9th 2002

      EZYCom BBS           |BT   |http://homepages.ihug.com.au/~dcbbs/
                           |     | pjs@optushome.com.au         3:633/104
                           |     | v2.0 on 3 May 2003

      Falken BBS           |B    |http://falkenbbs.com
                           |     | v12.0 on Feb 2nd 2002

      Hermes II Project    |B    |http://www.hermesii.org
                           |     | info@HermesII.org  v3.5.9 Beta Final

      Maximus BBS          |B    |http://www.lanius.com
                           |     | sales@lanius.com  v3.01
                           |     |http://www.vector11.com/maximus/

      MBSE BBS:            |BI   |http://mbse.sourceforge.net  2:280/2802
       Michiel Broek       |     | mbroek@users.sourceforge.net
                           |     | v0.33.21 on Jun 4th 2002

      Mystic BBS           |B    |http://www.mysticbbs.com
                           |     | v1.07.3 on May 13th 2001

      Nexus BBS            |B    |http://www.nexusbbs.net
                           |     | groberts@nexusbbs.net
                           |     | v0.99.41.001 beta on Jun 10th 2001

      Proboard BBS         |B    |http://www.proboard.be
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 15                  29 Dec 2003


                           |     | v2.17 on Jun 9th 2002

      RemoteAccess BBS:    |B    |http://www.rapro.com            1:1/120
       Bruce Morse         |     | bfmorse@rapro.com
                           |     | v2.62.2SW

      Spitfire BBS: Buffalo|B    |http://www.angelfire.com/ia/buffalo/
       Creek Software      |     | MDWoltz@aol.com                1:1/150
                           |     | v3.6 on Aug 20th 1999

      Synchronet BBS       |BT   |http://www.synchro.net
                           |     | sysop(at)vert(dot)synchro(dot)net
                           |     | v3.10L Beta

      Telegard BBS         |B    |http://www.telegard.net
                           |     | support@telegard.net
                           |     | v3.09g2 SP4
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      Atlantis Software    |D    |http://www.jimmyrose.com/atlantis/
                           |     | last update: Jun 2002

      BBS Central          |D    |http://www.rpcomputers.com

      Bentstone            |D    |http://www.srupc.com/mall
       Capabilities Group  |     | info@stonebenders.com

      Cheepware:           |D    |http://www.midnightshour.org/cheepware/
       Sean Dennis         |     | hausmaus@midnightshour.org    1:11/200

      DDS (Doorware        |D    |http://www.doorgames.org     1:2404/201
       Distribution System)|     | ruth@doorgames.org
       Ruth Argust         |     |

      DoorMUD              |D    |http://www.dmud.thebbs.org
                           |     | v0.98 Jun 1st 2002

      Elysium Software     |D    |http://www.elysoft.com
                           |     | mpreslar@mailcity.com

      Jibben Software      |D    |http://www.jibbensoftware.com
                           |     | scott@jibben.com
                           |     | 1995-99 Release dates

      JNS Software:        |D    |http://www.geocities.com/jnssoftware/
       Rusty Johnson       |     | rustyjohnson57@hotmail.com
                           |     | Tel: (304) 733-0113

      John Dailey Software |D    |http://www.johndaileysoftware.com
                           |     | support@johndaileysoftware.com

      LORD (Legend of the  |D    |http://www.lordlegacy.org
       Red Dragon) Reborn  |     | mike@lordlegacy.org
                           |     | v4.06 on Feb 5th 2001

      Lord-II IGMs         |D    |http://www.shelby.net/wizards/lord2igm/
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 16                  29 Dec 2003


      PC Pursuits          |D    |http://www.pcpursuits.com
                           |     | brucep@pop.kis.net
                           |     | Tel: (301) 240-6653

      Shining Star         |D    |http://www.shiningstar.net/bbsdoors/
                           |     | nannette@shiningstar.net

      Sunrise Doors:       |D    |http://www.sunrisedoors.com
       Al Lawrence         |     | al@sunrisedoors.com
                           |     | Tel: (404) 256-9518

      The Brainex System   |D    |http://www.brainex.com/brainex_system/
                           |     | stanley@brainex.com  1994-99 Releases

      Trade Wars           |D    |http://www.eisonline.com/tradewars/
                           |     | jpritch@eisonline.com
                           |     | v3.09 (DOS-32) in 2002

      Vagabond Software:   |D    |http://www.vbsoft.org        1:124/7013
       Bryan Turner        |     | vagabond@vbsoft.org
                           |     | last update: Jul 17th 2002

      (various)            |D    |http://www.webnexus.com/users/etow/
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      APoint               |PI   |http://www.apoint-mail.de
                           |     | dirk.pokorny@apoint-mail.de
                           |     | v1.25                   2:2426/1210.13

      CrossPoint (XP)      |P    |http://www.crosspoint.de
                           |     | pm@crosspoint.de  v3.12d Dec 22nd 1999
      FreeXP               |P    |http://www.freexp.de         2:2433/460
                           |     | support@freexp.de
                           |     | v3.40 RC3 Aug 31st 2003 (Snapshot)
      OpenXP/32            |PI   |http://www.openxp.com        2:248/2004
                           |     | mk@openxp.de  v3.8.7 beta Aug 3rd 2002

      PPoint               |P    |http://www.alcuf.ca           1:249/114
                           |     | v3.04 on Jan 10th 2000
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      GoldEd+              |E    |http://mik.nu/golded-plus/   2:203/6600
                           |     | v1.1.5 Snapshot on Feb 28th 2003

      SqEd32               |E    |http://www.sqed.de
                           |     | v1.15 on Dec 15th 1999

      TimEd                |E    |http://blizzard.dnsalias.org/fidonet
                           |     | mail@ozzmosis.com            /timed
                           |     | v1.11.a5 in March 2003       3:633/267
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      Allfix               |U    |ftp://ftp.nwstar.com           1:140/12
                           |     | bob@nwstar.com
                           |     | v5.13 (v6?)

     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 17                  29 Dec 2003


      GiGo                 |UI   |http://www.gigo.com
                           |     | v0109 on Jan 9th 1997

      Internet Rex:        |UI   |http://members.shaw.ca/InternetRex/
       Charles Cruden      |     | telnet://xanadubbs.ca        1:342/806
       (Khan Software)     |     | v2.29 on Oct 21st 2001

      PeopleComm Terminal  |CUI  |http://www.peoplecomm.org     1:128/148
       (BBS & Telnet w/    |     | edward.williams@adelphia.net
        ZModem)            |     | v1.01a on Feb 11th 2003

      TransNet             |UI   |http://www.ressl.com.ar/transnet/
                           |     | transnet@ressl.com.ar
                           |     | v2.11 on Jul 18th 1998

      TransX: Multiboard   |UI   |http://www.multiboard.com/software/
       Communications, Inc.|     | support@multiboard.com      1:2401/305
                           |     | v3.5
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      National BBS List    |?    | http://www.usbbs.org

      Hispanic FIDO/BBS's  |?    | http://www.conecta2.org/pucela_bbs/
       (in Spanish only)   |     |  (Extensive software & BBS Listings)
     +- - - - - - - - - - -+- - -+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -+

      File Archives: http://archives.thebbs.org  http://www.filegate.org
       http://sysopscorner.thebbs.org                http://www.juge.com
       http://www.dmine.com/bbscorner/             http://garbo.uwasa.fi
       http://www.simtel.net                  http://wuarchive.wustl.edu
       http://hobbes.nmsu.edu

      Note: most also provide FTP access (use ftp:// vice http:// above)

     *=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*=.=*=-=*

      Note: Please send corrections & additions to: Ben Ritchey, 1:393/68
               ( or FReq Magic INFO direct for E-mail address )
             WildCat! BBS at +1-337-232-4155  24/7  33.6kBps,8,N,1
          Internet: http://bellsouthpwp.net/c/m/cmech617/fidosoft.txt

      Emeritus: Todd Cochrane, Frank Vest, Peter Popovich


     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 18                  29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                             SPECIAL INTEREST
     =================================================================

                         Nodelist Stats

      Input nodelist  nodelist.360
                size  928.1kb
                date  2003-12-26

      The nodelist has   7909 nodes in it
        and a total of  10682 non-comment entries

              including     6 zones
                           58 regions
                          437 hosts
                          560 hubs
         admin overhead  1061 ( 13.42 %)

                    and  1032 private nodes
                          311 nodes down
                          369 nodes on hold
      off line overhead  1712 ( 21.65 %)


      Speed summary:

               >9600 =    653 (  8.26 %)
                9600 =   6864 ( 86.79 %)
                              (HST  =  141 or   2.05 %)
                              (CSP  =    1 or   0.01 %)
                              (PEP  =   11 or   0.16 %)
                              (MAX  =    0 or   0.00 %)
                              (HAY  =    1 or   0.01 %)
                              (V32  = 3620 or  52.74 %)
                              (V32B =  354 or   5.16 %)
                              (V34  = 4606 or  67.10 %)
                              (V42  = 3879 or  56.51 %)
                              (V42B =  369 or   5.38 %)
                2400 =     72 (  0.91 %)
                1200 =      6 (  0.08 %)
                 300 =    314 (  3.97 %)

                ISDN =    666 (  8.42 %)

     ----------------------------------------------------------
      File Req Flag   Applicable software     Number of systems
     ----------------------------------------------------------
      XA              Frontdoor <1.99b             2609
                      Frontdoor  2.02+
                      Dutchie 2.90c
                      Binkleyterm >2.1
                      D'Bridge <1.3
                      TIMS
                      Xenia
     --------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 19                  29 Dec 2003


      XB              Binkleyterm 2.0                 8
                      Dutchie 2.90b
     --------------------------------------
      XC              Opus 1.1                       11
     --------------------------------------
      XP              Seadog                          6
     --------------------------------------
      XR              Opus 1.03                      40
     --------------------------------------
      XW              Fido >12M                     314
                      Tabby
                      KittenMail
     --------------------------------------
      XX              D'Bridge 1.30                3564
                      Frontdoor 1.99b
                      Intermail 2.01
                      T-Mail
     --------------------------------------
      None            QMM                          1357
     --------------------------------------

      CrashMail capable =   2432 ( 30.75 %)
      MailOnly nodes    =   4370 ( 55.25 %)
      Listed-only nodes =    615 (  7.78 %)
      Other             =    492 (  6.22 %)

      [Report produced by NETSTATS - A PD pgm available from 1:106/100]
      [                                 Revised by B Felten, 2:203/208]

     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 20                  29 Dec 2003


     =================================================================
                           FIDONEWS INFORMATION
     =================================================================

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     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 21                  29 Dec 2003


     Send Articles via E-mail or Netmail, file attach or message to:

              Bjrn Felten
     Fidonet  2:2/2
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     Please include a message, telling me that you have sent an article.
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     -----------------------------------------------------------------
     FIDONEWS 20-52               Page 22                  29 Dec 2003


                    Credits, Legal Infomation, Availability

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     |                                                                |
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