°°°°°°Ü °°Ü °°°ÜÜ°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°Ü °°°ÜÜ°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°Ûß°°Û °°Û °°Û°°Û°°Û °°Ûßßßß ß°°Ûßß °°Û °°Û°°Û°°Û °°Ûßßßß °°Ûßßßß °°°°°Ûß °°Û °°Û ßß°°Û °°°°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û ßß°°Û °°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°Ûß°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Ûßßß °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Ûßßß ßßß°°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°°°°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Û ßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßßßßßß =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= APR RELAYNET INTERNATIONAL MESSAGE EXCHANGE NEWSLETTER 1991 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article# Subject Author 1 Editors Corner Michael Brunk Node ID ->CSPACE 2 Conference News Dan Deady Node ID ->PGHS 3 Sysops Beware! Myles Marlow Node ID ->CAPCON 4 Blipverts Mike Gunderloy Node ID ->ALBANY 5 Poetry Corner Inez Harrison Node ID ->MOONDOG 6 Hell Conference Update John Dodson Node ID ->CANTINA 7 Admin Announcements 8 Notices --------------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1 - EDITORS CORNER by Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Welcome back to the April issue of Rime Times! As you might expect for the month that plays host to "Fool's Day" we have an extra helping of humor for you to enjoy. A quick note here about story submissions, send 'em in! We'll take just about anything. It does not have to be BBS or computer related, simply something that might interest our readership. Humerous articles, gardening tips, recipes, personal anecdotes, technical information, trivia, you name it! Send it to Michael Brunk at node ->CSPACE for consideration. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2 - CONFERENCE NEWS by Dan Deady, Node ID ->PGHS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Please welcome the new host of the Sysops Conference: NAME: SYSOPS NUMBER: 1 DESCRIPTION: Discussions centering around the operation of bulletin boards including the daily operation from a SysOp point of view and the various software available for BBS's such as PCBoard, GAP, RBBS, Wildcat etc. Personal experiences are always invited and welcomed. HOST: Michele Hamilton Node ID ->SUNSHINE ACTIVITY: high+ Also, it is with great pleasure that we announce the following conference with author support: NAME: WGM SOFTWARE NUMBER: 184 DESCRIPTION: This conference is for support of all software produced by WGM Computer Consulting. This is a support conference by the author. Support includes the WGM-DMS (PCBoard Directory Manipulation System) currently and future programs to be released by the author. HOST: Wayne Maas ->WGMBBS ACTIVITY: * NEW * Date: 03/23/1991 NAME: ASP SUPPORT NUMBER: 195 DESCRIPTION: This conference is for those who use and support ASP HOST: (Association Of Shareware Professionals) software, it's distribution, and it's authors. Also, the conference is to support any problems that may arise from the use of ASP certified software, or problems that may be encountered from the authors of ASP software. HOST: Clint McBee Node ID ->STCOMLNK ACTIVITY: * NEW * Date: 03/25/1991 NAME: CANADIAN NUMBER: 256 DESCRIPTION: Discussions centering around issues regarding those pertinent to the Canadian lifestyle. Such issues as Canadian Politics, the GST, Provincial issues, ecology/environmental issues, and Canadian/American relationships, French/English and Native issues, and also travel information. American input will also be welcomed! HOST: Harv Welch ->CBYTES ACTIVITY: * NEW * Date: 03/29/91 MODIFICATION!!! At the request of the Conference Host the following description is now part of RIMECONF.TXT: NAME: VIDEO EXCHANGE NUMBER: 192 DESCRIPTION: This is a general consumer video conference for discussion of all consumer video products and formats, tape and disc. Reviews on the quality of new releases and products, and the exchange of prerecorded video tapes and discs. HOST: Dave Dennett Node ID ->FERRET =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3 - SYSOPS BEWARE! by Myles Marlow, Node ID ->CAPCON =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Folks, be careful. Mismanaging your upload/download ratio can kill your system. It did mine. A few months ago, I was running a BBS with 200 megs of files and a 4 phone rotary line. Initially I had 1:5 upload download ratio. People complained. They said I already had every file around. They couldn't find any new ones. You've heard it, I'm sure. Some people uploaded junk. So I relaxed the rules. I went to a 1:20 ratio. I stopped getting the junk files; but I still wasn't getting much new stuff. Then I tried an experiment. I removed ALL ratios. I heard where another sysop did this and his uploads actually grew. What the heck, it couldn't hurt to try, right? Wrong. Folks became downloading fools. My 200 megs of files went down to 175 megs as people pulled file after file off my board. 160 megs. 150 megs. 125 meg! They were sucking the files right off my hard disk. Folks were pulling and clawing at each other for this week's version of DSZ. 90 megs. My system was now less than half the size it was when I started. And still the pillage continued as files were sucked through all four phone lines. My hard disk had to spin faster to keep up with the activity. It began growling under the intense strain of downloading. My 9600 bps modems ground down to about 1200 bps. And even this didn't slow folks down. They began cracking open the zipped files and wantonly pulling out the executables. Shareware registration docs were just left hanging out of the lifeless husks. I was at work. Had my printer not been turned on, I'd have never known what struck. Just reading the hardcopy was painful. A user feeding-frenzy is not for weak stomachs. When I did get home, my bulletin board was down to its last 10 megs of files -- just some old .ARC and .LBR files that nobody seemed to want. When some old geezer got those, the system gave a final shudder and lost carrier. I don't have the energy to rebuild my system, but maybe I've helped in some small way prevent a similar tragedy. Keep those ratios high! Don't let your users ever forget, that when they take a file, they should PUT THE DARNED THING BACK when they're finished! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4 - BLIPVERTS by Mike Gunderloy, Node ID ->ALBANY =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= [Editor's Note: These reviews are reprinted from FACTSHEET FIVE #42 and are courtesy of Mike Gunderloy.] C.A.R.S. v.2.2 (registration $40 from Cybernetic Software, PO Box 3594, Skokie, IL 60076): The acronym is for "Complete Automobile Reporting System", and this is a program designed to track to expenses of owning your cars, whether it be one auto for personal use or a corporate fleet. It's a specialized database with a few extra functions, such as calculating mileage, built in, that can help you with planning, taxes, and so on. Not a great thrill graphically, but fast and functional. (IBM)[ASP] Daniels Poetry ($2 from Dan Adams, PO Box 376, Cameron, WI 54822): This is actually a collection of poems on disk, together with a simple batch-file driven interface to view them with. Dan writes about everything from young love to "The Vagina" to the horrors of war. The idea of packaging this on disk is interesting, and doesn't seem to hurt the readability of the material any. He also includes a few public-domain graphics demos on the diskette. Add $1 for 3 1/2" diskette. (IBM) FPLAN 2.0 (registration $30 from First Financial Software, PO Box 592957, Orlando, FL 32859-2967): This is a program designed to help you plan your personal finances, even if your life is pretty complex. It's set up for people who are on a standard, more or less middle class track through life: working at a decent job, owning insurance, saving for the future and so on. It can help you budget for everyday expenses, determine how much life insurance you should carry, investigate the impact of taxes and inflation on your future, and so on. It also has a spot to hold your insurance information so that it can be easily found if it's needed. (IBM)[ASP] GRAB Plus Version 6.0 (registration $54.95 from ZPAY Payroll Systems, 2526 69th Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712): This is the latest incarnation of this memory-resident envelope printing program, designed to get its addresses right off the screen of your word processor. Paul Mayer has been busy, and this is a major upgrade. It now supports style sheets for multiple printers, and includes TSR, command-line and Windows versions, including the GRABDB database program to hold your frequently-used addresses. It also has code built in to handle the standard PostNet barcodes that the Post Office is using, and to do graphics logos, as well as address labels. A fine package that works smoothly and easily. (IBM)[ASP] MAH JONGG v. 3.4 (registration $15 from Nels Anderson, 92 Bishop Dr., Framingham, MA 01701): This is a colorful solitaire EGA/VGA implementation of the Chinese game. It involves a good deal of strategy to get all those little tiles off the screen; meanwhile, they sure do dress up the monitor. The rules are simple, but their application can keep you busy for a long time. Unfortunately, there were a handful of annoying hardware problems that kept me from really enjoying this one: the mouse sensitivity was set too low, with no way to change it; the opening screen produced a nasty flicker on my VGA (which fortunately went away when that screen did); worst of all, winning the game locked my whole system up. Still, that's the virtue of shareware, and if it works better on your computer this is one well worth looking at. (IBM)[ASP] RECAP (shareware for 1 disk and 85cents postage or registration $15 from RK West Consulting, PO Box 8059, Mission Hills, CA 91346): This program does one thing, and it does it well. That thing is to change the capitalization in DBase files. It can take any DBase file and change the data fields to all caps, all smalls, or just first letter capitals. It's quick, it does the job, and it sure can clean up after sloppy data entry. (IBM)[ASP] RECURSIVE REALM 2.5 (registration $20 from Austin Software Design, PO Box 30133, Grand Junction, CO 81503): This is the new release of this shareware fractal program which we previously reviewed. It still features flashy color, Julia set, Newton's method and magnetism simulations as well as the original Mandelbrot. New in this version are mappings for the final sets onto spherical surfaces and 3-d plates, as well as various other methods for transforming your images, including one that makes jigsaw puzzles of them. Registered users also get a free copy of MILLER, which displays dancing parametric equation plots on your screen. (IBM)[ASP] RTM (registered version $30 from WetZoft Applications, 788 Martin Ct. W, Severn, MD 21144-2213): RTM stands for Resident Task Manager, and this is a cross between a calendar program and a project planner. RTM can hold up to 150 tasks and sort them by date, priority, and project -- the latter field can be changed by the user to something else as well. It's got a pop-up calendar, an intuitive interface with full on-line help, and will swap to disk or EMS if made memory-resident. There are also two companion programs, CALRPT and CALTRV, which will make formatted calendar printouts from either RTM or Sidekick Plus. (IBM)[AS] SEARCHLIGHT 2.0 is out. This is an upgrade to the BBS software we reviewed in the last issue. It now features unlimited message and file areas, increased speed, decreased size, better FidoNet support and multiline file descriptions. THe full single user version is now $89 from PO Box 640, Stony Brook, NY 11790. SUPERFLY v 1.1 (registration $15 from Nels Anderson, 92 Bishop Dr., Framingham, MA 01701): Another beautiful EGA/VGA game from Nels Anderson. This one features the player as a fly swatter up against a horde of flies (and occasional other bugs), but it's more than an action game. You also have to think about what you're doing, because the fly carcasses get in the way of winning as you go along. Beautiful graphics, fast action, three levels of play, and support for mouse, joystick and keyboard make this a definite winner. (IBM)[ASP] TOTAL INVESTOR (registered version $45 for 1-2-3 or $50 for Symphony): I can't actually review this one, since I lack the specialized knowledge and software to try it out, but I can at least let you know about it. Total Investor is designed for people interested in seriously managing their portfolio of securities. There are two different versions, one for use with Lotus 1-2-3 and the other for Symphony. Either one will chart your stocks and help you make decisions based on technical indicators such as momentum or relative strength. Total Investor will keep track of historical prices, and can also be ordered with an add-in to retrieve prices automatically from Compuerve or Dow Jones News Retrieval. (IBM)[ASP] =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5 - POETRY CORNER by Inez Harrison, Node ID ->MOONDOG =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= We've written about Howard and Bonnie Quite frankly most times it was funny They take it in stride They run but can't hide Information smack dab on the money! There's a fellow that hails from Cantina An editor with a wonderful demeanor He's helpful and kind Don't test him you'll find Nice people can sometimes cream ya! We now move on to the Ross I've heard he's a hell-of-a boss Keeps his files up to date But please don't mistake Skip Ross can sometimes be crossed! Others keep a low profile This Host can tell you child Don't blame them a bit Admin. get's some $hit Situations can sometimes be wild! My home is on the MoonDog Wonderful Sysop I do tend to hog The name is Inez Harrison To the Harrison's no comparison Don Barba is great so I on log Popularity certainly spells RIME Each user can certainly find A conference to go They'll like it you know Posting time after time after time! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6 - HELL CONFERENCE UPDATE by John Dodson, Node ID ->CANTINA =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= It seems Hell conference participants are getting just what they deserve this month: >All off-line readers are configured for 81 characters per line, so ever >y >message and quote now looks like this. All conference members are now using triple-boxed quotes and 5 line signatures complete with beeps. Every day members receive a get rich quick pyramid-scheme chain letter.... and must send a dollar to each one. Every other day members receive a message from Al Szoldatits informing them that he is STILL tracking down lost messages. Every week all regional conferences are now renumbered. Consequently, 1 out of 3 messages is discussion about the current and/or future number for the Florida Regional conference. Chuck Gilmore places a Network Sysop message in the conference; asking, "Who is stepping on my timeslot at NETNODE?" ALL 700 sysops in the network respond by saying "Uh? ..I don't relay with NETNODE!" Every day members receive a 4 page message from JM Dolan explaining the difference between Bps & Baud and "Real" & "Fake" modems. Someone in the conference tells Dave Shubert that version 4.2 of PCRelay was released two months ago and no one has upgraded. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7 - ADMIN ANNOUNCEMENTS =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= It is with great pleasure that we announce that Dan Deady of node PGHS has accepted the job of Conference Coordinator!!!! Dan brings a great deal of experience and hard work to this position as he has been Skip's assistant and is quite familiar with the various ins and outs of the needs of this network. (wonder why he took it then right? ) Welcome Dan to his new position! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 8 - NOTICES =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The RIME Times staff is now maintaining the newsletter AUTOSEND list. If you are a RelayNet node and would like the newsletter sent to your board automatically each month send a message to Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE or John Dodson, Node ID ->CANTINA. Please check to see if your hub will AUTOSEND it to avoid duplication. Current listing of Bulletin Board software participating in RelayNet: SpitFire GAP QuickBBS GT Power Remote Access MajorBBS PCBoard/ProDoor dBBS RBBS EIS Wildcat! To make life easier for the editors, the following submission guidelines are suggested: 1) To be included in the current month newsletter all articles must be submitted by the 5th of the month. 2) A routed private message in either the COMMON is acceptable. Please address and route to: Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE or John Dodson Node ID ->CANTINA. 3) Your name as used on RIME. 4) Your node id if you are a RIME sysop or your "home" board id if you are a RIME user. 5) Any special instructions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- The RIME Times is published monthly by the membership of RelayNet International Message Exchange as its official newsletter. Users and Sysops are encouraged to contribute. Submissions and questions may be directed to the editor Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE. (c)Copyright 1991, The RelayNet International Message Exchange. Permission is hereby granted for unlimited distribution and duplication, provided such distribution and duplication are strictly for non-commercial purposes only. All other rights reserved. RelayNet and RIME are registered trademarks. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------