\input tex
\twelvepointconcreteroman
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\line{\hfill 11 August, 1992}
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\def\subtext#1{\par\bigskip
{\narrower\tenpointconcreteroman\tt\raggedright #1\par}}

Dick --

OK, here goes my first foray into quoted text in a paper letter. I bet
it holds up better than on-screen! I'll start writing macros to do it
automatically\dots

\subtext{Last things first... Lisa Gronke. I think she'd be
a good choice. Have read some of her stuff and she seems to be
level-headed.  Downside: Editorship has tangible benefits. About 4
weeks ago a certain editor stated he was terribly handicapped by
having to use an obsolete RS computer. Presto... no more handicap.
The pen is mightier than the sword or maybe even dough-re-mi. :-)}

I guess I was thinking out loud, and more long term than short. I'm
actually having fun now. I am learning how to handle this kind of
task, which is a very strange job indeed. At one point I was more
serious about it (pre Seattle visit) but already things are changing
here. 

\subtext{Fido docs: Scratch publishing 'em... just provide something
we can dump to prn. Seems to me you'll still earn income from Fido as
a shareware project. I keep getting inquiries about 12u but can only
offer handholding without some paper.}

I don't know why I didn't think this, or hear anyone when they
suggested it before\dots{} just more evidence I need to get the hell
out of it! I will definitely plan on this. You are right, it gets me
off the hook in many ways.

The {\tt FIDO} echo has taken care of basically all of the daily
grief of Fido/FidoNet support. Ray seems to be quite good at running it.

\subtext{The Feds proposal to require data transmission technology to be
restricted, just so they can eavesdrop without being inconvenienced,
is very disturbing.}

Yup. The blatant ones, like these, will probably get shot down. But
they do the usual process, which I ma just becoming aware of, of
simply paring it down and reintroducing it in various other bills.
Luckily for us li'l' peeps, Big Guys like IBM see it as a threat too.
We'll see\dots

\subtext{Afterwards the thought occurred to me that the Feds pornographic
review board (wherever that is) would be hard pressed to make a case
against someone producing, mailing, transmitting, whatever,
electronically created images that, if containing real people, would
otherwise be prohibited.}

Oh how I love things like this! Moral arguments about things that
don't exist will be fun to listen to\dots{} for about ten minutes.
Actually, the arguments against sexually-explicit comics might apply.

\subtext{Speaking of privacy, I might be able to do something for you in
the future if only I knew your full name, incl middle initial, and SS
number. I won't promise anything except to keep such info
confidential. You can tell me to get lost, if you want, and I'll
understand.}

Hey look, even if I didn't trust you (which is not even imaginable)
what the hell, everyone else's got it\dots{} Really, it's also the
``Taxpayer ID'' that everyone who's ever issued me an IRS 1099 has.
You may detect a note of despair here. Here it is: {\tt Thomas Daniel
Jennings, 014-50-6074, DOB 31-July-1955} Speaking of which, the laptop
came the day before my birthday. Umm, let me know what happens?!

\subtext{FidoTerm. Are you going to release a new version before packing
everything away or is this a way-down-the-road project?}

Oh no, it's quite alive. And the delay isn't my doing, really. I've
been hacking it for Sasktel, Ken Ganshirt's employer, as I might have
told you before. The delay was caused by the final testing process as
usual, also by wanting to get the word on whether I could include the
Bit Error Rate tests that were added, or whether they should stay
Sakstel-proprietary. They will be released, which I'm glad of.
FidoTerm has been nicely upgraded. Nicely revised book, too. It
should be completely done, including paper copies of the book, within
a month, as I just gave Ken the ``final version''. (Actually it
should be damn close, as this is the third wave of bugs; all quite
tiny ones, wording changes, etc) Of course you'll get on in the mail.

My modem: our local net, 125, has grown to about 75 nodes, with the
usual arcane hub system. The NEC job moves around as always, and
volunteers not only have to be willing (hard enough) but have
adequate hardware. We were having a hard time lining up these two. So
net members scrounged up a 286 clone, and collected cash for a Dual
Standard modem. We need this thing running quickly to help solve some
social/political problems developing, so I donated my Dual Standard
until the new one comes in. I'm using my genuinely ancient Courier
2400 for now. ``Any day now\dots''

Lost mail: I'm going to get a fake node number (my /0 will cooperate)
and use a fake name and investigate the mail path, node by node, and
turn it into a FidoNews article.

Keyboards: I'll xerox the damn keyboard and mail you the result. You
can see if it fits your needs. I tell you though, the rest of the
thing is just sweet\dots{} Booting DOS from disk is probably slower
than from ROM, but this thing has the usual slow pclone startup ROM
and memory test, with CMOS setup by {\tt<DEL>}, and all that. So
since it's ``slow'' anyways, you get the flexibility of changing DOS
versions. If it's not {\it instantaneous} boot, then disk-based would
seem better.

Batteries: It really does run for two hours, then starts beeping.
Then I turn the beeping off. It'll run for a few more minutes once it
starts beeping, certainly enough to save work. I wonder though when
the batteries get aged, will there still be much time left\dots{} but
of course I have habits forged in the Dark Days of unreliability, so
I save all the time anyways. 'Twas good for something, the bad old
days, I guess.

Paper letters are actually my favorite form, though of course they're
more time consuming. Oh yes, this is all done in \TeX, Donald Knuth's
mathematical typesetting system. It's all public domain. Hundreds of
typefaces, all free. Software to modify typefaces, free. Completely
and thoroughly hardware independent; I took a \TeX{} graphical file
from a big unix box on the East Coast, and printed it out (100 page
book) on my DeskJet, in perfect condition.

It is also the single most complex and difficult to use system I have
ever come across. By a long shot. After three years of programming in
\TeX, I still consider myself barely a \TeX nician. Really. My font
directory tree is about 5 megabytes. (about 200 typefaces in seven
magnifications each\dots) I of course have it installed on the laptop
as well\dots{} I guess it {\it is} a bit excessive.

I am going to the IBECC or whatever it's called in Denver. Jack
Rickard from BOARDWATCH is flying me out there. For what end, I do
not know. I'm not likely to make a good example for selling products.
I'll try not to insult my hosts\dots{} I leave tomorrow AM (Thursday)
and return Sunday.

Well I better wrap this up. I'll send you that xerox this week if I can.

{\bf PS:} I think the experiment failed; quoted text simply sucks.
There is no substitute for just plain old writing. Also, I am having
trouble with print quality, the DeskJet sues these \$20 cartridges,
and they seem to clog or get stuck-off dots before I use up the ink.
It seems to happen mainly after they sit, unused, in the printer for a
while. I guess I'll call HP when I get back. Other than that it is a
great printer.

\bye

