Echomail Areas Closing
======================

Today I am announcing changes to the echomail areas carried on fsxNet.

The following echomail areas are to be retired and will close down
effective 22 Feb 2025 (New Zealand time)

FSX_ENG ENiGMA 1/2 BBS Support/Dev
FSX_MAG Talisman BBS Support/Dev
FSX_LFE Lifestyle
FSX_MUSIC Music
FSX_SPACE Space/Astronomy
FSX_STA Echomail + Network Stats
FSX_FIL File Announcements

The Enigma 1/2 BBS and Talisman BBS discussions are to move to the
BBS Support/Dev echomail area FSX_BBS which will be able to
accommodate them.

Lifestyle and Space topics are moving to the General Chat + More..
echomail area FSX_GEN

Music topics are being merged into the existing FSX_VIDEO echomail area.
The description for FSX_VIDEO will expand to reflect the wider range of
topics in this echo.

Echomail + Network stats will now be posted to the Automated roBOT Posts echomail area FSX_BOT

File Announcements are to move also to FSX_BOT thanks.

The FSX_HAM echomail area now has a more general/expanded radio flavour.
The community requested we broaden the scope of this one so it was not
just Amateur/HAM radio specific. The FSXNET.NA short description of the echomail area has been updated as has the longer description in FSXNET.TXT
See below for more.

Discussions about fsxNet in the FSX_NET echomail area has also received an updated short and long description. See below.

Ads + ANSI Art are now welcome in FSX_ADS .. the feedback from the community was that it was desirable to still have a specific space for BBS ads and
folks liked the ANSI ads being posted for BBS too.. so as an extension of
that from time-to-time we do see some ANSI art shared in echomail areas
and figure spotlighting this art in FSX_BBS would also be a nice thing
to encourage. Let's see how it goes.

For avoidance of doubt it's still fine to post ANSI art to other echomail
areas in fsxNet but let's see if we can focus most of it in one echomail area... FSX_ADS.

As per fsxNet Housekeeping messages containing ANSI should use a [ANSI]
prefix in the message subject line please. This allows members who can not view ANSI content to opt out reading it if they are unable to do so.
e.g. Subject: [ANSI] Something I drew last night.


De-linking Retired Areas / Read-Only
====================================

From 22 Feb 2025 onward please ensure the retired echomail areas listed
above are set to 'read only' at your BBS and that no traffic for these
echomail areas is exported to your fsxNet HUB.

Your fsxNet HUB admin will also de-link your BBS from the above mentioned echomail areas and make these areas unavailable to link/post to.

Updated FSXNET.NA
=================

The infopack is being updated with a new .NA file containing the revised echomail areas carried in fsxNet. Note that there have been some changes
to the names of certain echomail areas. You may like to update your
message base descriptions accordingly. We've re-jigged the order of the echomail areas in the NA files also.

[snip]

FSX_GEN General Chat + More..
FSX_BBS BBS Support/Dev
FSX_MYS Mystic BBS Support/Dev
FSX_RETRO Retro Computing/Tech
FSX_GAMING Games/Gaming
FSX_VIDEO Movies/Music + More
FSX_HAM HAM + Radio Chat
FSX_TST fsxNet Test Arena
FSX_NET fsxNet Admin
FSX_CRY Cryptographics
FSX_ADS Ads + ANSI Art
FSX_BOT Automated roBOT Posts
FSX_DAT InterBBS Data

[snip]

Updates to FSXNET.TXT
=====================

The FSXNET.TXT document that outlines echomail and file areas in fsxNet will
be updated with these changes and also contain revised descriptions for
some echomail areas. Here's the notable changes for your info:

Changed description for FSX_HAM echomail area to:

FSX_HAM - Discussions about radio. Transmissions, receptions, hardware
This area caters for all radio enthusiasts - transmitting
and non-transmitting alike. HAM/Amateur and unlicensed
enthusiasts are all welcome. Topics might include (but are
not limited to) CB, PRS, DX, HF, VHF/UHF, FM, LPFM, antennas,
any/all digital modes, LoRa, etc.

Changed description for FSX_BOT echomail area to:

FSX_BOT - Non-human automated roBOT posts. Gated or original content
(e.g. weather, telemetry, entertainment etc.) is welcome.
Echomail area statistics, mailer traffic and files received reports
also live here and limited to weekly posts where able and no more
than once per day. Less is more! BBS ads / ANSI Art (FSX_ADS) live
elsewhere.

Changed description for FSX_ADS echomail area to:

FSX_ADS - BBS, NETwork Ads and ANSI Art. Run a BBS you want to tell the world
about? Have some ANSI art you would like to showcase to others?
Use a roBOT or manually post your BBS ASCII / ANSI ads/art here.
Please don't post the same thing more than once a week (min 7 days)

Changed description for FSX_VIDEO echomail area to:

FSX_VIDEO - Watched a good movie? Seen an awesome TV show? Found a cool
streaming series? Reviews are welcome but preface spoilers with
[spoilers] or [sp] in your subject heading. This area also covers
all musical topics... from instruments to artists/bands, all
formats, genres and eras.

Changed description for FSX_NET echomail area to:

FSX_NET - Discussions about fsxNet. Administrative news and other network
operations announcements (new nodes etc.) are posted here.

Next Steps
==========

We'll be posting announcements into each echomail area where they are to
be retired in the coming days or if there has been a change to the focus/ description of the echomail area.

The fsxNet infopack will be updated this week with the new information
detailed in this announcement as will the fsxnet.nz website.

If you have any comments/further feedback, niggles with implementing any
of these changes please discuss them in the FSX_NET (fsxNet Admin)
echomail area.

Thanks to everyone who gave their thoughts to the recent discussions about
this subject in the fsxNet Admin echomail area. Like all things these
changes are a work in progress. At their heart is an effort to try and
strike the right balance between the number of echomail areas carried
in fsxNet, the demand for specific echomail areas for certain topics and
all while trying to keep things [F]un, [S]imple, and e[X]perimental :)

I'm sure we'll end up making more changes along the way but I'm happy
with reducing the number of echomail areas down a bit. After trying to
expand things based on prior demand/feedback etc. I think we've got to a
point where a bit less will be more.

Best, Paul AKA Avon

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Ads + ANSI Art are now welcome in FSX_ADS .. the feedback from the community was that it was desirable to still have a specific space for
BBS ads and folks liked the ANSI ads being posted for BBS too.. so as
an extension of that from time-to-time we do see some ANSI art shared
in echomail areas and figure spotlighting this art in FSX_BBS would also be a nice thing to encourage. Let's see how it goes.

Am I going to need to change where I post my ANSI adverts??? I'll have to look at my Mystic .ini - but don't wanna be posting BBS adverts in the wrong msg area..



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

On 16 Feb 2025 at 06:23p, paulie420 pondered and said...

Ads + ANSI Art are now welcome in FSX_ADS .. the feedback from the community was that it was desirable to still have a specific space fo BBS ads and folks liked the ANSI ads being posted for BBS too.. so a an extension of that from time-to-time we do see some ANSI art share in echomail areas and figure spotlighting this art in FSX_BBS would a be a nice thing to encourage. Let's see how it goes.

Am I going to need to change where I post my ANSI adverts??? I'll have
to look at my Mystic .ini - but don't wanna be posting BBS adverts in
the wrong msg area..

No I don't think so, it looks like you post your BBS ads in the FSX_BBS echomail area already. so it's steady as she goes :)

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)

Am I going to need to change where I post my ANSI adverts??? I'll hav to look at my Mystic .ini - but don't wanna be posting BBS adverts in the wrong msg area..

No I don't think so, it looks like you post your BBS ads in the FSX_BBS echomail area already. so it's steady as she goes :)

Thanks papa bear - I'm really bad with all these BBS things... :P



|07p|15AULIE|1142|07o
|08.........

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbs>>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

Hello Avon!

On 16 Feb 2025, Avon said the following...

Today I am announcing changes to the echomail areas carried on fsxNet.

Thank you, Paul, for the super-clear information! I wish the communication experts at work would be this good. :-D

Thanks again, and all prepared here,

Best regards
Zip

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Star Collision BBS, Uppsala, Sweden (21:1/202)

On 17 Feb 2025 at 06:44p, Zip pondered and said...

Thank you, Paul, for the super-clear information! I wish the
communication experts at work would be this good. :-D
Thanks again, and all prepared here,

Cheers Zip, appreciate the kind feedback.

Kerr Avon [Blake's 7] 'I'm not expendable, I'm not stupid and I'm not going' avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
* Origin: Agency BBS | Dunedin, New Zealand | agency.bbs.nz (21:1/101)