======================================================================= T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume IV Number XII December, 2010 ======================================================================= +--------------------------+------------------------------------------+ | .----------------------. | 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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= ======================================================================= Contents...................................................(i) Editorial..................................................(1) Ol' WDB: Past Fidonews Editor, and a Great Friend, Passes (2) Notes From the Z1C.........................................(3) The Old School Toolbox: It's About Communication...........(4) Dr.Debug...................................................(5) Food.......................................................(6) New UPDATED! Fidonet Compatible Software List BBS/Mailers/Utilities List...............................(7) FidoGazette BBS List.......................................(8) e-Ministries by Jon Justvig................................(9) Info (Where to Send Articles)..............................(10) Page i ======================================================================= T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume IV Number XII December, 2010 ======================================================================= Editorial ========= Warren D. Bonner, who was a past Editor of Fidonews left this world on November, 17th, 2010 - What a terrible loss to his family and to all who knew this wonderful man's gentle nature. Many of us will remember Warren's kind and cheerful attitude and quick witty mind, and miss him, that is for sure. I offer our heartfelt condolences to his family but that doesn't seem enough. Please see information in the next article if you'd like to send condolences to his family. I've put together several clips of Warren's WWII biography in my article in this issue, "Ol' WDB: Past Fidonews Editor, and a Great Friend, Passes". He described his life and the history of his ship, The Mighty "E"astwind for all. I wish my Dad had done so as well with his ship in WWII, The Quincy. Failing that, Warren's history in his book provides a wonderful insight into that era. You can pick up a copy of his ebook here, see info in the article. === Sadly, there has been plenty of Fidonet nonsense going on in the FTSC_PUBLIC echo even though the election has ended. R16C, Jerry Schwartz published a comment in the FTSC echo, but obviously that was barely noticed by some. Richard follows up on that comment in his ToolBox article in this issue. While this kind of argumentation on in that echo is nothing new to some of us - we've grown weary, or at least I do, of the constant childish degrading of some members of Fidonet who are part of the FTSC. FTSC committee members are people who are willing to give their time to help fidonet function while working in the background, updating and writing the technical specs of current practice. At at time when everyone should be happy that we have good and knowledgeable SysOps volunteering to work for all of us via the FTSC, there are some in that echo who it would seem cannot deal with the idea of some new members joining because THEY think the new members may be "technically incompetant". All based on one errant netmail.. The gist of their complaint is that a newly elected member to the FTSC may not have had his GoldEd program configured correctly to allow for proper routing of International netmail.. What's important, I think is that we don't need this kind of attitude towards a newly elected member - it certainly isn't going to encourage others to run for this essentially non-rewarding position. =+= Page 1 ======================================================================= T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume IV Number XII December, 2010 ======================================================================= Ol' WDB: Past Fidonews Editor, and a Great Friend, Passes By Janis Kracht, 1:261/38 From Warren Bonner's family (Courtesy of Jim White, Thanks Jim!) ================================================================== Dear Friends and Loved Ones of Ol' WDB, For many years you have been receiving advice, jokes, rhymes and stories from this address. Today we would ask that you celebrate the life and love you shared with Warren Debrell Bonner who passed away yesterday, November 17, 2010. He has gone to join those in his family who have passed before him. We ask that you respect the wishes of the family and refrain from phone calls during this time. Please feel free to e-mail comments to this e-mail address and we will collect them for Jan. Please celebrate his Life....and all the joy he brought to so many during his 85 years with us. Thank you for your kind thoughts. In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to: Disabled American Veterans P.O. Box 14301 Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301 Attn: Gift Processing The Bonner Home 222 North Shasta Orange CA, 92869 ================================================================== Warren also wrote a fantastic historical document, detailing the part he, his ship, and his crew members played in the North Atlantic Campaign of World War II. You can pick up the entire ebook here: http://www.filegate.net/eastwind.pdf I offer you just some clips from his book, and in them you can see the gentleman he was, and what a great person he was. Thank you, Warren, for letting us share in a small part of your life through Fidonet, and thank you for taking the time to document your life story during WWII, where we can get a glimpse into knowing your life a bit better. ================================================================== From The Tale of the "Mighty 'E’astwind" Written by Warren Debrell Bonner The Tale of the "Mighty 'E’astwind" USCGC ICEBREAKER W279 1943 to 1968 A biography from WWII, North Atlantic campaign, Arctica & Antarctica Warren Debrell Bonner 222 North Shasta Orange, CA 92869-3432 wdbonner@pacbell.net About the author: I was born in Fisher County, Texas August 25,1925 on a ranch named "The Ole Eighteen", because it was eighteen miles square; and was a cattle and farming ranch, I was told by my father Owen E. Bonner. I became aware of my surroundings a couple of years later when my father built our house in the town of Sweetwater, Texas on a lot at 805 Lubbock St. We lived there until 1930. The Ole eighteen was subdivided and sold off to satisfy the depression debts, loss of cattle to Hoof & Mouth disease from Mexican cattle drives across the ranch. Later my father bought a Dairy farm East of Sweetwater and I mostly grew up on a Diary farm of 360 acres. When WWII calls for enlistments by Uncle Sam, I was finishing my junior year in Newman High School. All of my friends were already enlisted. I did too. That will be covered later in the electronic pages of the book I'm writing about a great lady of the Polar Seas. "The mighty ‘E'-astwind". [...] Chapter 1 The Mighty "E"astwind She was born on June 3, 1943... a bright warm sunny day in San Pedro, California, in the Western Pipe & Steel Company's navy yard. She was the first all diesel electric icebreaker built for Polar service, and commissioned into the Coast Guard fleet, which operated under the auspices of the US Navy in time of war. Her name was the Eastwind W279. Commissioning day, June 3, 1943 Western Pipe & Steel, San Pedro, Ca. I first saw her a few days before her commissioning day while on liberty from my temporary beach patrol duty station, N21 at Santa Barbara, Ca., while waiting for the Eastwind's completion. It had been rumored that most of us would be assigned to her. My buddy Chuck had a Harley Davidson motorcycle and we went to San Pedro, Ca. Navy Yard to get a look at her. We found her in the 'Roosevelt Dry Dock' San Pedro, Ca. What an awesome sight she was from the floor of the dry dock! She had the width abeam to almost fill the Drydock wall to wall. Almost 70 feet wide. Her keel appeared to be approximately three foot square resting on concrete supports waist high for her almost two hundred seventy foot length. Looking upward, a good forty feet to the top of the painted waterline line, and continuing our upward gaze to the antiaircraft antenna atop the mast one hundred and ninety six feet was astounding to a country boy from the middle of Texas. Looking at the mammoth screws, (propellers), made of a brass alloy we could not even guess their weight. Later we were told they weighed thirty tons. The shafts that supported these huge propellers were about three feet in diameter. It was a presidential order that compressed the five year ship building estimate into three years. He knew from his advisors that the Nazi were using weather radio stations near the North Pole, where all weather begins in the northern hemisphere, to calculate weather conditions for the V-2 rockets Hitler's war machine were raining on England, and later for recon flights and raids on Murmansk bound convoys with supplies for Russia, and amassing men and armament, for the "D-Day" invasion of Normandy. [...] Morning of September 28 found the Eastwind well off Shannon Island and running southward before a whole northerly gale. She lurched heavily at times as mountainous seas caught her in a wide yaw. Fine particles of driving snow kept the decks white and slippery, making it difficult and somewhat dangerous to get about the laboring vessel. I was on the bridge-wing, clinging tightly to the bulwark on the uproll, pressing heavily against it on the downroll. Suddenly the angry hissing of the sea and the wail of the wind were shattered by a crash. I slid along the bulwark until I could look aft and see the deck. What I saw was not a happy sight. The hold- down chains securing our plane had snapped under the terrific wind pressure. The little aircraft was lying on its side with its port wing smashed against the deck. Lieutenant M.J. Cummings and his damage-control party were passing a six-inch hawser around the plane to keep it from being carried over the side. But even from where I stood it was evident that the J2F would never fly again. This was a serious handicap. More than ever, now that the enemy might be approaching the area, we needed air reconnaissance. We would have to figure out something. The figuring out did not take long. It was dictated by the weather. Obviously winter was taking a hand and I soon would have to send the smaller ships to Iceland. The crippled Northland gave me particular concern. In spite of Butcher’s capabilities, I did not relish having her meet the advancing polar pack with her jury steering rig. Clearly it was time to re-estimate the situation. We had one new factor to take into consideration: the Eastwind’s sister ship, the brand- new Southwind. The day our plane was damaged I received a dispatch saying the Southwind was departing Boston to join my task unit. But she could not reach northeast Greenland for at least a week. If weather and ice permitted, I wanted to keep the Northland, Evergreen and Storis in the area until the Southwind arrived. What about a plane for the Eastwind? Well, since the Storis must soon depart, I would take her plane. And in view of weather conditions it would be wise to rendezvous as soon as possible. Then we could bring the Storis’ plane aboard the Eastwind at the first favorable moment.. Consequently I sent a dispatch to Lieutenant Commander Thresher, ordering him to take the Storis to Freden Bay without delay. We also ran toward Freden Bay, working through some ten miles of ice before we came to anchor in the Ice of Shannon Island near Cape Philip Broke. [...] When the Storis joined us the storm was raging stronger. The two ships could not moor alongside each other to make the exchange of aircraft. Then around midnight the Northland broke radio silence. Butcher reported he was having “a little difficulty” due to his jury steering cable having parted. Heavy seas and floes of polar ice prevented him from making repairs. A little difficulty! It was typical of the capable, self-reliant Butcher to imply he could get along without help. But I was convinced that we had better lend a hand. Ordering the Storis to stand by at Freden Bay, we hove up our anchor and stood out of our snug haven. After nearly ten hours of battling the weather and crashing through a belt of heavy ice at the entrance of Hochstetter Bay we found the stricken Northland. She was drifting helplessly in the trough and in constant danger of being thrust against wicked storis and bergs. There is little point in describing in detail the delicate maneuvers necessary to pass a line to the Northland in those heavily running seas and take her in tow. But I want to say that Chief Quartermaster Archie Brooks had the Eastwind’s wheel and gave a demonstration of unusual judgment and skill in counteracting the wave motions which yawed us violently and tended to send our ponderous bulk crashing into the Northland. We got her in tow and quickly worked up to twelve knots, giving her that fastest ride of her career---save, of course, for the night she was caught in the storm off Cape Farewell at the completion of our Jan Mayen job. The Storis was now ordered out of Freden Bay to screen us against the possibility of submarine attack, while the Evergreen was called up to scout the pack for a lead to open water. Once again that day we saw a demonstration of unusual judgment and skill. Lieutenant John E. Klang, USCG, skipper of the Evergreen, proved himself a worthy sea sailor. Without the aid of aircraft he readily located a lead into Pendulum Strait and took station outside to guide us in. We had the Northland in relatively calm water by 5:00 P.M. Then we hove short the hawser and fitted her bow into our towing crotch. Thus coupled together we proceeded like a two-car train. The Evergreen now commenced an antisubmarine patrol around the Northland, Eastwind and Storis, which huddled together in Pendulum Strait while the Northland repaired her steering rig and the Eastwind and Storis exchanged planes. Our experience with the Northland during these last twenty-four hours made me even more certain that I must get the three small ships away from northeast Greenland without delay. An air reconnaissance on September 30 added weight to this conviction. Using the plane we had taken from the Storis, Little Mac found the southern limit of the polar pack at Cape Bismark. From eastwind-2.PDF "The Tale of the "Mighty 'E’astwind", by Warren Debrell Bonner August 25,1925-November 17th, 2010 Fondly Remembered and missed by us! =+= Page 2 ======================================================================= T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume IV Number XII December, 2010 ======================================================================= Notes from the Z1C This month our FTSC election comes to a close. Elected into office: | Name | Node nr | Yes| No | |----------------------|-------------|----|----| | Stas Degteff | 2:5080/102 | 15 | 2 | | Fred Riccio | 1:132/174 | 13 | 2 | | Dieter Ringhofer | 2:2476/14 | 13 | 1 | | Alexey Vissarionov | 2:5020/545 | 12 | 5 | | Carol Shenkenberger | 1:275/100 | 15 | 4 | | mark lewis | 1:3634/12 | 15 | 4 | | Robert Wolfe | 1:261/20 | 14 | 2 | | Andrew Leary | 1:320/119 | 13 | 2 | New members are Robert Wolfe and Andrew Leary. Congratulations to All! Thank you very much for agreeing to work for the betterment of Fidonet. We appreciate the time you are willing to give our hobby. Returning Members: ================== Region 17 Charles Waters Tacoma, Washington USA Region 14 Eric Oulashin Welcome Back Charles! Welcome to Eric! Page 3 ======================================================================= T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume IV Number XII December, 2010 ======================================================================= The Old School Toolbox By Richard Webb, 1:116/901 It's About Communication Recently a question was posed in response to the medium temperature flame war going on in the ftsc_public echo. For those who didn't see it, Jerry Schwartz states: "FidoNet was perhaps more than just a hobby once, when it had more users than Prodigy or Delphi; but it is hardly anybody's lifeline now. "Yet here we are with a flame war going on in at least two echos, and over an FTSC election of all things. With all due respect, this is unseemly at our age." It is no surprise that the temperature in ftsc_public is so high. First, you have a candidate for reelection who, although it appears is technically competent might not have the greatest people skills. The members of the FTSC must be technically competent, but also need good communication skills, because being able to communicate effectively is part of their mission. After all, the job of the ftsc is to document existing Fidonet standards. The documentation they produce must be understandable to folks with varying levels of technical mastery. This has been the job of the FTSC since it was revived after the days of IFNA. Many have misunderstood that role over the years, instead believing that the FTSC dictates standards. IT has been explained numerous times in FIdonews, and in the echoes over the years that the duties of the FTSC are to document standards in use throughout Fidonet. This means that not just do the committee members need a good technical knowledge base, but they need to communicate this knowledge to all sorts of folks. Just like Fidonet in general, the work of that committee is about communicating, not with machines, but with human beings. Is it any wonder that when some region coordinators poll their constituents this individual receives a resounding no? Additionally, is it a surprise that certain folks would react to some of these comments in a rather partisan manner? I smelled this one in the wind as soon as the referenced individual was nominated to retain his seat on the FTSC. But, I also note that the party he picks on relentlessly has stated that he is technically competent and should probably retain his seat. In its days of large numbers of users Fidonet was about facilitating communication between people, and could be very much so again. It offers some of the advantages of usenet without some of the liabilities. But, today's fidonet is largely made up of people whose interest is the hardware, and facilitating communication between flesh and blood humans secondary. It work in a profession where the folks handling the technical details are often those who spend their days locked in a windowless room fiddling with their machines, but without the people on the business end of the microphone there would be no need for all their fiddling. Those who achieve the best results consistently in this process are those who can bridge the gap between interacting with their machines and interacting with humans. Often this means that to bring the project to completion a producer is needed, and his/her job is often bridging this gap. This gap is not well bridged in today's Fidonet. All one need do is look at the echoes which see consistent activity. The best conferences in terms of readability are those where there is actually some human interaction taking place. Hence, echoes such as cooking; memories, and the various political discussion echoes still survive. Some special interest echoes within fidonet that used to be quite active back in the day limp along with the assistance of posters who provide posts of information via autoposters and the like. OTherwise, most of the echomail conferences seeing high traffic are populated by robots. During the last election cycle for FTSC members Nick Andre and I talked a bit about ways to get web based forums linked to Fidonet echoes. Many specialized internet forums would benefit greatly from an echomail conference. Some denizens of usenet who would otherwise benefit from web-based forums in their areas of special interest refuse to use them, the interface is poor, no method of offline reading and replying such as usenet and Fidonet offer, etc. I'm one of those folks. We could benefit greatly from those specialized forums helping populate our special interest echoes. Would a concept such as Groupmail be more appropriate to some of these forums? Maybe, but that's the subject of a whole different article. Still, we have virtually no work going on in this area, and a candidate for a committee whose job is to communicate with those interested who's receiving a resounding no from some of those eligible to vote because of the way he interacts with people in the public echo. IS the man technically qualified? Indications are he is. Does the man have the skills needed to communicate well with a variety of people in the most common international language? Obviously, there are some who have doubts. One regional coordinator polled his net coordinators and independents and voted according to the results and was questioned and criticized roundly for doing so. But, it should be remembered that this RC has not forgotten what the goal of Fidonet is, and that's to facilitate communication among human beings, those flesh and blood things that sit in front of the machines. I lobbied for one of the candidates myself with numerous netmails going about, because not just is this candidate quite competent technically, but just as important is the ability he has to explain things so that folks who aren't experts can understand them. This is the true job of the FTSC and we would do well to remember that. Page 4 ======================================================================= T h e F i d o G a z e t t e! Volume IV Number XII December, 2010 ======================================================================= ========= |Dr. Debug| ========= Using 'Float' in a CSS StyleSheet When you use float with CSS Style Sheet, an element can be pushed to the left or right, allowing other elements to wrap around it, or be aligned one next to the other if there is room for both elements. Float is often used for images when you want them placed in a certain way, but it is also useful when working with layouts on your web page. How Elements Float Elements float horizontally. An element can only float left or right, not up or down. You can use this feature to force elements to align across a page. An element which is floated will move as far to the left or right as it can. Usually this means all the way to the left or right of the element. The elements after the floating element will flow around it. The elements before the floating element will not be affected. If an image is floated to the right, the following text flows around it, to the left. If you place several floating elements after each other, they will float next to each other if there is room. You can use this behavior to cause elements that might have taken up the same place on your page to force the elements to appear one next to the other if both elements are floated left. Pseudo example: .myelement{ element 1; float: left; } .myelement2{ element 2; float: left; } ------- ------- | 1 | | 2 | ------- ------- Real example:
You can resize the window to see what happens when the images do not have enough room.