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God's Work

In the beginning there was Aristotle,
And objects at rest tended to remain at rest,
And objects in motion tended to come to rest,
And God saw that is was boring.
Then God created Newton,
And objects at rest tended to remain at rest,
And objects in motion tended to remain in motion,
And energy was conserved, and momentum was conserved, and matter was conserved,
And God saw that is was conservative.

Then God created Einstein,
And everything was relative,
And fast things became short,
And straight things became curved,
And the universe was filled with inertial frames,
And God saw that it was relatively general,

   but some saw it as especially relative.

--------------unknown

Then God created Fidonet,
And there was the principle,
And the principle was Policy 4.07,
And all things were quantified,
But some things were still relative,
And God saw that it was confusing.

Then God created an Election Guide,
As an election would/should unify,
And he would have peace in theory,
And all would be as one, rosy and merry.
But it was the seventh day and God rested!

Meanwhile the old Elflords did their work,
Screaming Pee Four forever more,

   We will reign no matter the pain,
   The nominations , the seconds, the acceptances...
   Don't really mean a damn thing,
   not until Old policy 4.07 is finally slain!!!

Ol'wdb extension on God's Work, author unknown

ECHO TALK
Food for thought from Fido's echomail.
Purloined without permission by D Myers

Fidonews is American-Oriented

This week's Echo Talk column is drawn from FIDONEWS, the echo to talk about this newsletter. The author, Jodi Crisp, wasn't the first one to comment on the subject (as can be seen from the quotes she included), but her message drew the most response... including one from Andrei Besedin who's article appears in this issue.

----
My sweetest friend,

17 Nov 99 14:14, Matt Bedynek wrote to Malcolm Miles:

MM>> And anyone outside Zone 1 found it utterly boring.

MB> Not that I care for political stuff, but how come other zones
MB> don't submit articles of any type? I would actually like to know
MB> whats going on in other zones (not polically), but general stuff.

I have found that Fidonews does seem to be very America -oriented. I found it interesting to read about a bit of the political stuff, but after a while it did go on a bit- i mean, maybe it's interesting to who it is relevant to, but it would be nice to see articles from other countries sometimes at least.

Love and other grievous bodily harm, jodiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

-!- FMail 1.22
! Origin: jc1198@ecs.soton.ac.uk (2:440/226.6)
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Though Fidonews isn't intended to be Zone 1 oriented, I've got to admit that this is the result. I can think of several reasons for this: Fidonews was started here at a time when the other zones didn't exist; not all countries speak English as a first language... But there's one premptive reason for the Zone 1 orientation - there just aren't too many contributions to the Snooze from other zones. Even when Henk Wolsink published from Zone 6, I was often the sole contributor... and I just don't have the sophistication to supply an international orientation. I've never lived outside the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey in the Eastern United States.

But then, my own lack of international orientation is easily overcome... all it takes is input from sysops in other zones. As a matter of fact, I've tried soliciting from other zones, but without much success. I kinda hope Jodi takes up the invitation expressed in the FIDONEWS echo to write some articles herself. I have a feeling her "Love and other grievous bodily harm" is a more powerful incentive than any I could offer :)