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• This Week's Web Page
• ECHO TALK - Why Read This Echo?

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

Comment:
In the fast paced world of computers, it is easy to look to the "latest and greatest" for our needs and desires... And... after the Y2K talk of how the old systems weren't Y2K and would die in the year 2000, it's easy to forget them. I'm reminded by a User on my system, that calls via an old Atari, that the old systems didn't all die. :)

What: JetSys - Home of JetMail, JetStat and other Atari FidoNet utilities

Where: http://www.jetsys.de/

Going for it:

This is one of those pages that explains itself well. Rather than boring you with an attempt on my part to describe the page, here it is;

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JetMail is the best available FidoNet technology based mail processor for the Atari ST computer series. And it's the only one which is supported (there are other free mail processors, but with no support and no further developement). JetMail is now freeware and the sources are available under GPL for download from this site or by FidoNet file request from 2:2432/1101 with Magic JETSRC.

Features included in JetMail:

• Full 5D capability
• Integrated Areafix with forwarding capability
• Integrated Filefix
• FileEcho maintenance functions
• Integrated messagetracker
• Handling of different netmail areas
• Echomail/Packet statistics
• Includes nearly all IOS/ACS features and much more
• Highly configurable
• Very fast

There is a demo package available which includes JetMail (Version 1.01) and JetStat (Version 1.01) and a preliminary documentation in ASCII format (sorry, the doc's are only availabe in english language) together with sample message files for the internal areafix and filefix. If you want to run the JetMail internal message tracker you need to download the BTNC nodelist compiler and the Xvision browsing utility.

JetMail is only a mail processor for FidoNet networks. You can't read or write net- or echomails with JetMail. I recommend LED for this purpose.

Y2K fixed version 1.01 is now available. There is a problem with the PureC library function strftime which expands %y to 10 instead of 00. This only effects the date in JetMail generated messages. For LED you had to pick up another update file.
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If you're into the Atari computers, drop by this page.

Regards,

Frank, flv@texoma.net

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

Though the messages below were taken from the MODERATOR echo in response to Jim Hanoian, I thought they were applicable to all echoes and might be of interest to all FIDONEWS readers.

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Echomail from Douglas Myers to Jim Hanoian

JH> I signed up for this echo since I am a Fido Moderator. I was
JH> under the obviously mistaken impression that I was going to
JH> actually find something here that would help me do my job
JH> better.

I dunno, Jim... maybe you were sold a bill of goods by someone... or maybe you talked with someone who genuinely believed that the echo did them a lot of good, and you took it as a warranty. My guess, though, is that you read the tag name "MODERATOR" from the echolist and thought it might be nice to interact with folks of the same interest. Am I correct in assuming that no one actually promised you anything to induce you to join the echo, and that the dissapointment is based on your own expectations?

JH> Can you give me any good reason to keep reading this echo?

I can't, and I don't know if anyone should be expected to. Don't get my wrong... you're welcome here. Well, I'm not the moderator or anyone official, but I think I can say that as one of the folks who speaks up in the echo from time to time. You see, this is just a gathering place of moderators - the moderators aren't required to show up and they're not required to offer anything inspirational. So what you get out of it is going to depend on what you put into it. If you're looking for good, strong arguements... pick a fight and see who will accomodate you. Heck, you can probably join one of the ongoing ones with no trouble :)

If you're looking for inspiration, try saying something inspirational and see who joins you. If you're looking for tips and techniques, try offering your own or asking specifics. Try nudging the conversation along the lines you want to hear - otherwise there's no reason to keep reading :)

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Echomail from Thom LaCosta to Jim Hanoian

JH> Can you give me any good reason to keep reading this echo?

JH> hehe... I've learned to (a) resubmit before expired and (b) do it
JH> yourself or you've only got yourself to blame.

See ... just those things alone can outweigh all the other things (g).

Reading some Fido echoes is very similar to copying morse code signals when the bands are filled with interference(QRM) and static(QRN). It's amazing, but if you really concentrate of the signal you want to hear, the other stuff doesn't seem nearly as loud.

Thom LaCosta
baltimoremd@baltimoremd.com
http://www.baltimoremd.com/
-!-
! Origin: Home of The Other Robot (1:1/21)

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Echomail from Kay Shapero to Jim Hanoian

JH> Can you give me any good reason to keep reading this echo?

When I joined in it was exactly what you describe in the first paragraph... and frequently it still is. The trick is to ask for advice on something moderation related and watch helpful people come out of the woodwork to assist.

The folks doing most of the arguing do it everwhere, not just here, so it's not enough to leave one echo I'm afraid. I wonder if perhaps somewhere in the description of this echo the words "Warning - this is NOT the Supreme Court of FIDOnet." should appear.

! Origin: StormGate Aerie: FILK, BABYLON5 & SFFAN (1:102/524)