HI TOm,

On Tue 2036-Dec-30 11:59, Thom LaCosta (1:261/1352) wrote to Richard Webb:

 RW> user base.  I know a lot of those echoes are gated
 RW> newsgroup content, hoepfully with the noise and spam from
 RW> China filtered .  

TL> Never tried a feed from Bob....I'm finding out that what I do read
TL> on the internet is easier to do without running it through Fido
TL> stuff...and a lot of what I do is so dreadfully boring that no one
TL> would ever want to port it to Fido.

Probably so, especially some of the newsgroups I read,
because of my professional life.  SPeaking of which, been
helping out a bluegrass player from out west.  HE and his
buddies like to do the old put a good condenser microphone
up, everybody gather around it, step forward or back to take their moment
in the spotlight, let themselves balance
themselves, no stage monitors or any of that foolin' around
.  YEt he can't understand why it doesn't work in small
rooms for them.
I explained that it works well for them on festival stages,
but not in small rooms because that good condenser
microphone and speaker cabinets just *must* interact.  I
suggested that in small rooms, though it seems
counterintuitive, they go with  a close mike for each
instrument, and a couple small monitors to hear if they
need.  Or, forego the sound reinforcement altogether and
just play to the crowd .

 RW> YEp, and one reason many who used to utilize fidonet think
 RW> that we're no longer in existence.  THings that should have
 RW> happened while we were a major player or close to it didn't
 RW> and .... you know the rest.  US diehards are still out here
 RW> doing it .

TL> My theory is that since Fidonet is basically self-serving("I" are a
TL> SYSOP, "I" have a BBS, "I" have users,
"I" am a *C in Fidonet), that
TL> when the Internet offered content that was easy to get, a lot of
TL> folks could care less if they massaged the Sysop's ego.

BUt in many ways at that time, we had the better content!!!
I recall looking at the ham radio newsgroups, and then
looking at the fidonet ham radio echoes.  Night and day.
fIdonet offered helpful folks that could help you see why
that antenna you built from plans in the magazine didn't
play like you thought it ought to.  I built a uhf repeater
from scratch, except for the old GE Master II rig that was
the heart of the system, the duplexers controller and whole
nine yards came from deals made over fido .  YES, we had
moderators that sometimes might act in a "heavy handed"
manner, yada yada whine whine.  Signal to noise still beat
the usenet hands down, and fido echoes would still be good
content for some of these java based web discussion groups
which are basically offering the same thing as a fidonet
echo, i.e. moderated discussions.  WE sure fiddled while
rome burned around us with that one.

TL> My argument is one that I can never win....I used to make posts in
TL> various ham-related mailing lists and forums about our
TL> responsibility to provide a service....and most of the feedback was
TL> negative...who was I to even presume that one had a responsibility
TL> to operate in the Public Interest Convenience and Necessity.  So,
TL> after having the "experts"(they act very much like the
TL> self-annointed Fido Lawyers) tell me I was all wet, I'd simply tell
TL> them that I would admit to being wrong...and asked if I should
TL> refund the money I had been paid over the years to teach about the
TL> Communications Act.

YOu got that right, and I"m still beating that drum TOm.  I
point out that if you pick up a copy of Part 97, (the fcc
rules governing ham radio for the uninitiated) you don't see
"hobby" mentioned there once. YOu see a whole lotta language
about a "service" however.  IN fact, right up front in the basis
and purpose section, and I mean *right* up front it says that amateur radio
is to provide a "trained pool of
operators ... "  THe operative word here is "trained" of
course.

TL> But, what are US diehards doing?

DOn't know about some of the die hards, but many I know are
still doing our thing, and trying to educate, and show the
newcomers that getting the training they need can actually
be fun and rewarding.  AS I've said before, "if you can't
walk the walk, don't talk the talk.'  DOing my best to walk
the walk and help the newcomers learn, and to improve my own skills as I go
along too.

TL> I'll retire and wait for the brickbats (g).....but I suspect the
TL> comments here will be far more mannered than those in FN_CESSPOOL or
TL> FIDOFIGHT. 

I'm tuned into cesspool, but fidofight, aka fidonews, don't
care.  FIdonews has no content it seems these days, so
usually I watch it come in, see if there's actually an
article in it worth reading, if not send it to the bit
bucket.  seems like the only actual discussion that's taken
place in the fidonews publication itself this last year was
one that the FTSC chair and I both weighed in on, then it
too fizzled and died .


 RW> SPeaking of which, you might appreciate some of what's going on
 RW> elsewhere.  CHeck out those emcomm monthly issues I cause to be
 RW> hatched out in the hamnews file echo.

TL> File echoes....I don;t even remember how to request them....are they
TL> on filegate.net?  I could dlownload them.

Yep, and ROss moves them through his system.  Usually
filename with numeric for month of year.  tHis current issue is
emcomm12.zip and will of course be replaced by next
year's.

Janis should have them, and ROss moves ham-fdn through his
system as well.  Iirc he feeds you these days.
VIew their complete archives at www.emcomm.org as well.

Regards,
           Richard
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+