Hi Bonnie!  I've been kinda cut off, backbone-wise, for the last month or 
so...
And so it came to pass, on 12-24-96 23:07,
   that Bonnie Goodwin spake unto All :
 BG> We can do so much more neat things on the Internet than in this
 BG> format, and make available some of the goodies by file request to
 BG> those continuing on via Fidonet. A web page is also under
 BG> consideration that is echo related.
As always though, there are numerous advantages to this transport format as 
well.  In most areas, one can always find somewhere to access FidoNet for 
free.  Hooking up to another ISP when yours is down or you're out of town is 
generally a far more complex matter.
I've checked out the rec.audio.* newsgroups from time to time.  Even used to 
port them into the BBS.  The signal-to-noise ratio there is far worse than 
you'll ever find on Fido, even when you include the Internet email messages 
"accidentally" posted to echoes :)  Far too many losers, whiners, spammers 
and just general twits to hold my attention for more than a couple days.
Besides, I have yet to find a newreader that I like as much as my Squish 
message-base reader.  Now if I could just pipe my newsgroup feed into Squish 
bases... :-)
I'd hate to see the echo move to the internet, and I'm not sure I'd enjoy 
seeing it even made available on Usenet, where it can fall prey to the same 
lunacy that makes most of the rec.audio.* groups practically unuseable.
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Love, luck, and lollipops...
Matt


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