Volume 2, Number 43 9 December 1985 +----------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | - Fidonews - /|oo \ | | (_| /_) | | Fido and Fidonet _`@/_ \ _ | | Users Group | | \ \\ | | Newsletter | (*) | \ )) | | ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +----------------------------------------------------------+ Publisher: Fido 1/1 Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Review Editor: Allen Miller Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 1/1. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in Fidonews. Article submission standards are contained in the file FIDONEWS.DOC, available from Fido 1/1. Disclaimer or don't-blame-us: The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them; everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING received. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL The Two Faces of Users 2. NEWS Rover, Rovermsg, Renum, and the UN*X Gateway They've struck again New Kaypro PC Announced The PC's Space Program 3. COLUMNS Why I Buy Mail Order USRobotics Courier 2400 Baud Modem Rainbow Corner 4. WANTED Fido's Wanted- Earn Money! 5. NOTICES Software Listings from BYTE Articles Available on Disk The Interrupt Stack ============================================================ EDITORIAL ============================================================ The Two Faces of Users There seem to be two general classes of BBS users out there. One group is into long-distance BBSing, calling boards all over the country. The discussions are generally (though not always) technically oriented. Systems frequented tend to be one or two established BBS packages, such as Fido or RBBS. Users tend to share files a great deal, and the most popular boards are those with a large selection of downloadable files. Almost everyone has either an IBM-PC or a DEC Rainbow, and anyone who doesn't have a 1200 baud modem is trying hard to get one. The other group tends to stick with local boards, rarely making toll calls. Discussions range far and wide, covering hacking, phreaking, fantasy and RPG, and "war boards". Almost any sort of BBS system will do, and many seem to be "home grown". Users have almost total disregard for files, and many popular boards have no downloadable files at all. People use a mixed bag of hardware, mostly Apples, Commodores, and TRS-80s, and the 300 baud modem is the universal standard. One obvious difference is that the long distance crowd is spending alot more money on this. They have more powerful machines, faster modems, and heftier phone bills than the local crowd does. Perhaps they are the "serious computer users", while the local callers are the "recreational computer users". So which group are we in? I'd say most Fido sysops are in the former group, and perhaps most users as well. Our own board has several users in each group, though they all tend to stay in separate subboards (Fido is handy that way). We've come to expect that some of our most frequent callers won't really understand the whole "message area" idea, and why should they? After all, they spend their time calling dozens of other boards, each of which works differently. Most of our "general" callers understand how the board works quite well, since they mainly talk to other Fido boards. I guess I'd class myself in the long-distance crowd. I have an IBM-XT, a 1200 baud modem, and my phone bill is delivered with a forklift. I'm much more into shooting the breeze with another techie than I am into fantasy games, and I can't see why anybody would join in on a war board. I guess I'm glad I've found a niche among fellow techies like myself. But, boy, they sure do seem to have fun. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 2 9 Dec 1985 ============================================================ NEWS ============================================================ Rover, Rovermsg, Renum, and the UN*X Gateway by Bob Hartman Sysop Fido 132/101 The UN*X Gateway and Home of Rover Ok, I have been receiving enough FidoNet mail to choke a horse lately. This article is simply an update to keep people (especially other sysops) up to date on what is happening with my many ongoing projects. Let me start with the stuff that people are most interested in - the UN*X Gateway itself. The software seems to be working flawlessly, and it has been in use now for a couple of months. My Fido BBS can send mail destined for remote UNIX systems, and accept mail from remote UNIX systems, and forward it to the appropriate Fido nodes, I also receive many of the USENET newsgroups, including net.micro.pc, net.lang.c, net.games.hack, and a few more. Since I have received many requests to repeat the information on how to use the gateway, here it is: To send from Fido to a UNIX host: Send a FidoNet message to node 132/101 and make the recipient be 'Usenet' instead of a person's name. This keys my software that this is destined for a UNIX system. The subject can be anything that you want it to be, and it will be placed in the outgoing message. Now comes the tricky part, the first line of the message MUST be the UNIX host path to take to get to the message destination. If you don't know what I am talking about, then don't use the gateway. A quick example is to get to my UNIX address the first line would be "vaxine!rch", to get to someone at microsoft it might be "decvax!microsoft!someone". Anyway, that is the general idea. To send from UNIX to a Fido node: Send a mail message addressed to: vaxine!spark!net!node!user where net is the FidoNet net number, node is the FidoNet node number, and user is the user who is supposed to receive the message. The user name should have all blanks converted to underscore characters. An example to get to me would be vaxine!spark!132!101!Bob_Hartman. The messages are sent as private FidoNet messages. For sysops interested in receiving USENET newsgroups messages: Fidonews Page 3 9 Dec 1985 You must contact me and tell me which newsgroups you would like to receive. I currently forward net.micro.pc, and net.lang.c, but I am willing to forward others if asked nicely. The only catch is that you must be willing to poll my node to get the messages. I simply ARC all of the messages once a week (after deleting those that are more than a week old), and send out the archive. When you receive the file, simply delete all the old messages from the message area, and un-ARC the new ones. They are already in Fido message format, so you have an instant message base! So much for the UN*X Gateway. If you have any questions, feel free to send me FidoNet mail and ask them. As for Rover, that project seems to be on hold for a little while. Rovermsg seems to be pretty complete (at least I haven't received too many complaints lately), and I will probably release another update to it in the near future. The rest of Rover is on hold until I complete some of the consulting projects that I have been working on, since the consulting projects generate a lot more money (although Rovermsg has generated some money - sysops are a lot better about sending money for freeware than I thought!). Anyway, to recap, Rovermsg is a standalone Fido message base reader. It was designed to be used in place of Fido in /T mode. Since I generally only read messages in /T mode, Rovermsg is a total replacement. It also has some additional features that make it much nicer to use. For example, you can use your favorite word processor/editor to create messages, you can also change messages that have already been saved, you can exit to DOS temporarily, and some others that are too numerous to mention. Anyway, if you want a copy, it can be downloaded from my board, and probably countless others also (at last count there were 100+ sysops using Rovermsg). Finally, my standalone message base renumbering program (RENUM) is at version 1.5. It can be used to do whatever can be done with the Fido '8' command for renumbering messages. It can kill old messages, and it can renumber messages. The new version now properly handles messages created by SEAdog (at least I think it does, how about it Thom?). Anyway, that is the status of the UN*X Gateway, and the software that I have been responsible for creating. I hope that this helped answer some questions. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 4 9 Dec 1985 The Associated Press reported today (10/17) that a ring of juvenile computer hackers (their term) broke into a data base containing financial records of Chase Manhattan Bank, according to the FBI. No arrests were made Wednesday, but the FBI spokesman said more than 40 agents armed with 23 search warrants confiscated computers, keyboards, modems and software from the youths' homes Tuesday. The investigation, which began in July, is continuing. An affidavit filed in San Diego U.S. District Court says the juveniles gained entry via their home computers to the records of Interactive Data Corporation in Waltham, Mass. The database is used by 25,000 subscribers. The affidavit says some records were modified and/or destroyed and on July 22 and 23 an unauthorized person gained access to an account which could transfer funds. There were 40 attempts to penetrate the system in August. Four attempts were made on Aug. 14, all from computers in San Diego County. Attempts to break into the system were observed as recently as Oct. 9, according to the affidavit. The AP also reported that Ronald Mark Austin, 21, was sentenced in Los Angeles Wednesday to three years probation plus being ordered to serve 600 hours of community service "not to involve computers in any shape." Austin, a former UCLA student, was convicted of 12 felony counts of malicious accessing of a computer system in June. Austin reportedly taught himself to use a $200 home computer when he couldn't get into an overbooked computer course. He said he didn't know he was breaking the law. Prosecutors said he broker into more than 200 computer accounts through ARPANET. Among them were the Defense Dept., the Rand Corp. and UCLA. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 5 9 Dec 1985 THE NEW KAYPRO PC: TOPPING THE DESK AND THE REST The KAYPRO PC combines features and value to meet and exceed "IBM compatibility." As a complete desktop business associate, it commands a place above the others. Envision an accurate picture of the KAYPRO PC. First, clear your memory of the angular grey machine that is so characteristically Kaypro. Next, paint a beige beauty with eggshell trim, whose profile closely resembles that of the KAYPRO 286i. Finally, visualize an external 12-inch diagonal monitor displaying no-nonsense output in eye- soothing green. Handsome, no. Strong Internal Control Looks can only take you so far in the computing world; intelligence is the real key to success. Although the KAYPRO PC breaks tradition with its striking countenance, it still maintains the Kaypro hallmark of superior computer intellect. Analytical power is provided by an 8088 cpu, operating at a timely 4.77 MHz. An extra socket accepts an 8087 math co-processor, providing more calculating users with an easy upgrade for their number-crunching pleasure. The 8087 option permits business and research operations to be executed by a single computer. The KAYPRO PC's short-term memory begins with a standard 256K RAM, expandable to 640K by plugging 256K DRAM chips into the multifunction board. Accessing the board requires hood removal via a simple four-screw procedure. Long-term memory? The KAYPRO PC has total recall from two double-sided, double-density disk drives totalling 768K storage. While we're on the subject of memory, 1986 will introduce a mega-memory version of the KAYPRO PC, the KAYPRO PC-10, with one 360K diskette drive and a 10 megabyte hard disk. The best administrators exchange information with external sources. The KAYPRO PC is no exception. A serial and a parallel port are compatible with all peripherals produced for the giant IBM after-market. The KAYPRO PC can make all the right connections for successful import/export of data. The KAYPRO PC becomes a more versatile personality by utilizing its nine expansion slots. Three slots contain a multivideo card (capable of monochrome, color graphics, or composite video display output), multifunction card, and a CPU card. The remaining six slots can accommodate luxuries like a networking card, digital to analog converter, internal modem, and more. Even with numerous hardware additions, the KAYPRO PC Fidonews Page 6 9 Dec 1985 won't get caught with its power down. The 132 watt power supply can be jumpered to operate on 110 or 240 volts (60/50 cycles). Human Relations Expert IBM compatibility is terrific, but what about user compatibility? Can the KAYPRO PC relate? In addition to displaying a professional character, the KAYPRO PC also has the common touch. Dance your digits across our IBM PC AT-style keyboard with easy to reach RETURN, SHIFT, and CTRL keys. Forget the other guys with IBM PC XT-design keyboards; why stifle typing speed while promoting premature arthritis It is clearly seen that the 12" diagonal monitor won't advance CRT-induced myopia. The crisp character set is brilliantly displayed in shades of monochrome green. Sit back, relax, and stop squinting; the KAYPRO PC is a visual communications expert. The KAYPRO PC is not abuser friendly. A keyswitch has been included to lock out all unauthorized keyboard input. Take your byte out of computer crime and rest assured of tamper-proof files. Programmed for Performance Complementing its impressive list of attributes, the KAYPRO PC has proven programs for immediate business success. Disciplined under MS-DOS, the KAYPRO PC includes GW- BASIC as its programming language. BASIC is probably the most widely used and easiest to learn of all programming languages. Furthermore, if you already use a library of programs written in BASIC-A (IBM's verion), GW-BASIC is BASIC-A compatible. Plan to cut costs for all typing assignments with WordStar, a professional word processing program. This all- purpose industrial-strength program can manipulate everything from memos to manuscipts. Teamed with MailMerge (a terrific file merging program), it can generate hundreds of form letters from a mailing database. Time consuming? Not really. Remember, the KAYPRO PC is willing to work nights so you don't have to. Not implying that there will be operator errors, but the KAYPRO PC and company can act as dutiful copy editors. CorrectStar checks for spelling errors, while StarIndex creates reference material such as indexes, tables of contents, and lists of illustrations, etc. These gems take the drudgery out of word processing. Fidonews Page 7 9 Dec 1985 The KAYPRO PC software entourage also includes MITE, an expert telecommunications translator. Programmable auto- dial, protocol, file transfer, modem type, and numerous other options make unlimited electronic correspondence a snap. There may not be a more sophisticated telcommunications program on the market today. And last, the KAYPRO PC acts as your personal assistant through PolyWindows K-Desk. This memory-resident program provides instant access to a document editor, file card library, calendar, appointment book, calculator, telephone list with dialer, puzzle, key redefinition, and alternate file access. The only thing it can't do is make coffee. If you need a professional business associate and consultant, then bring the new KAYPRO PC on board. For only $1595, it's a small price to pay for success. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 8 9 Dec 1985 The PC's Space Program by Gene Plantz I've often wanted just a bit more room on a start-up floppy disk to store more of my favorite programs. Before I installed my hard disk, I attempted to transfer the utilities that I used most frequently to my start-up disk. Invariably, I'd need a tad more room. By not placing the desired utilities on that basic disk, I wasted time swapping disks when I needed a stray utility program. This cumbersome process is no longer necessary. Spacemaker, from Realia, lets you compress the .COM and .EXE files of your favorite programs to conserve space on the disk. After the files are compressed, you can run the programs as you normally would. Spacemaker is designed not for novices but for active PC users who have more floppies - and less free space - than they'd like. Programming expertise can help you make the most of the utility but it is not essential. The program works on just about any .COM or .EXE file that can be executed from the DOS prompt. Application programs, of course, require at least one of the two files to function. Spacemaker can also convert .EXE files to .COM files if the compressed version takes up less than 64K. The advantage of doing so is that loading and directory searches are generally faster for .COM files than for .EXE files. To make the conversion from .EXE to .COM files, you use Spacemaker as you would the DOS utility EXE2BIN (which performs a function similar to Spacemaker's but, unlike Spacemaker, alters the file's logical format.).COM files are understood by the computer at its most basic level and thus differ from files written in source code, which is far more accessible. The computer always loads .COM files into a specific location in memory..EXE files, which can be loaded anywhere in RAM depending on how much memory is used, are capable of supporting bigger programs. Functionally the two are the same; the difference is in how DOS handles them. Other file compression programs are on the market, but none allows you to leave the program compressed and still use it; most file compression programs require that you reconstitute the program before running it. HOW THE PROGRAM WORKS: Spacemaker reads your .COM and .EXE files, then produces fresh .COM or .EXE files that retain the original files' information. The program compresses binary zeros as ti reformats the file. The result is a smaller file that is equivalent in every way to the original program file except that superfluous disk space has been eliminated. The Spacemaker process actually adds code to the beginning of a program file. This code is called the "loader." It reconstructs the program file in memory to its precompression form. This loader routine uses little space and is hardly noticeable when the program is running. The Fidonews Page 9 9 Dec 1985 routine is designed to work when the program is loaded under DOS (via COMMAND.COM). This means that virtually any program you initiate from the DOS command prompt is a candidate for compression. You start Spacemaker by providing the program with file specifications, such as the names of the input and output files. If anything is missing the program will ask you for the necessary information. To compress a program, you simply give the command SPACEMKR INFILE OUTFILE, with INFILE representing the name of the input file and OUTFILE representing the name of the output file. You must use a different name for the output file than you've used for the input file. Spacemaker does not alter the input file in any way. Under the program's default settings, .EXE files are input and .COM files are output. SPACE TO SPARE: The program's results are noteworthy. When I ran Spacemaker with the PC-DOS LINK.EXE program, I recorded a 22 percent savings in disk space - about 10K - upon completion of compression. The program file now requires less disk space than it formerly did, and being smaller, it also loads faster than before compression. I've used the compressed LINK program for four months without a hitch. Although Spacemaker is best suited to help you get the most from floppies, it also enables hard disk users to store more files and reduce program load time. My hard disk, for instance, contains roughly 700 files. Using Spacemaker, I compressed 17 .COM files and 25 .EXE files. The .COM files used an average of 8 percent less space following compression; savings for the .EXE files averaged 15 percent. Crunching these 42 files freed up slightly more than 500K. Ironically, some files grew slightly after compression. My bulletin board programs, written in Compiled BASIC were larger following compression. If the program code doesn't contain many groups of binary zeros, there won't be much to compress. Unfortunately, there is no way to tell in advance whether a file will benefit from the compression process. Other Compiled BASIC programs have realized significant space savings from Spacemaker's efforts. TO COMPRESS OR NOT TO COMPRESS: As these examples suggest, Spacemaker is easy to use and the results can be impressive. The only difficulty is in determining what you can and cannot compress. A few programs that start from the DOS prompt - including the word processing program MultiMate - did not run after compression. And compression will prevent some .COM files from running, including 1-2-3 utilities like FILEMGR.COM. But of the hundreds of programs that I compressed, only ten or so failed to run properly after compression by Spacemaker. Fidonews Page 10 9 Dec 1985 Discussions with the utility's author revealed that a problem could occur if a program's developers use a linker program other than the standard DOS LINK. The rule is, if a .COM or .EXE file is loaded by a program other than DOS, you should not attempt to compress it. If you do, you'll lock up your system, lose any new data, and need to reboot. The documentation for Spacemaker includes sufficiently detailed explanations of what the program does and how it works. The manual is concise and particularly insightful for the technically inclined. I found it interesting that the files that Spacemaker compresses are hard to debug. Conceivably, software developers could use the program as a copy-protection technique that avoids unconventional disk formats yet "hides" code from those who know how to use DOS's DEBUG feature to disassemble programs. Overall, I found Spacemaker to be an effective means of getting more from less. Active PC users can, with minimal effort, save both space and time. Spacemaker Realia, Inc. 10 S.Riverside Plaza Chicago, IL 60606 312-346-0642 Retail price: $75.00 Note: there are at least three switches /O /N and /S /O is for converting files complied under DOS 1.0 or 1.1 /N is for converting files compiled under DOS 2.x or 3.x /S functions are unknown ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 11 9 Dec 1985 ============================================================ COLUMNS ============================================================ Why I Buy Mail Order By Fred Povey CKCS Board Member Imagine that you are about to buy a new car. One dealer will sell you the car you want for $10,000 and will throw in a free driver education course. Another dealer will sell you the same car for $7,000, but leaves it up to you to learn how to drive it. Which dealer would you buy from? Of course, if you already know how to drive, as most car buyers do, the answer is easy. In the early 1900s, when the automobile was as new as personal computers are today, the decision might not have been so easy. You might have been willing to pay extra for someone to spend time with you, showing you how to run the car. Today, with personal computers still not as simple to use as they will be someday, you may find it worthwhile to pay full retail price in order to get advice and support from a computer dealer. But you should know that when you pay full retail price, you are buying two things -- the product, and support for the product. If you need only the product, and can support yourself, mail-order can save you a lot of money. I have been working with computers for 12 years, so I already knew something about them when I bought my system four years ago. By buying mail-order, I saved enough money to buy a disk drive. Since then I have bought other hardware and software, nearly all by mail-order, and have been well- satisfied. That doesn't mean I haven't had problems. But the minor ones I solved myself, and the few major ones I solved the same way a dealer would -- calling the vendor. Price is not the only reason I buy mail-order. No computer store this side of Silicon Valley can offer you the range of hardware and software available to you by mail. While you might not be surprised if the local dealer doesn't stock the LISP interpreter you want, you may have just as much trouble finding more common products, because some have minimum-order requirements that are too steep for your local dealer. That's understandable. But often, the reason you can't find what you want at the dealer's is that he hasn't kept up with what's available, or that he gets a better markup on other products. If you keep up with the products yourself, and find that dealers can't answer your questions anyway, you may as well save money and buy mail-order. This may sound like a slam at dealers, but it isn't. True, many dealers could do a better job of keeping up and Fidonews Page 12 9 Dec 1985 of supporting customers. But you don't necessarily expect your grocer to know about gourmet foods, and it makes sense for a computer dealer to concentrate on selling Lotus 1-2-3 or Appleworks, where he can make money, instead of learning how to answer your questions about assembly language. On the other hand, you can't have it both ways. If you buy mail-order, don't expect a retail dealer to bail you out of a bad purchase unless you plan to buy something from him. Send your friends to dealers unless you plan to support them, or unless they can support themselves. Mail-order is not without its risks, but the way to minimize them is to do your homework. Read magazine reviews, talk to other users, and find out who the reliable vendors and mail-order dealers are. Whenever possible, pay by credit card; you have much better legal protection against fraud then if you pay by cash or check. I hope I've made it clear that mail-order isn't for everyone. The discounts are good, but they are essentially a reward to you for doing your own research, your own training and your own installation. If you enjoy doing that anyway, mail-order may be the ticket for you. (c) copyright 1985 Fred Povey. All rights reserved. Permission to reprint in non-profit user group publications granted. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 13 9 Dec 1985 Allen Miller, 108/10 USRobotics Courier 2400 Baud Modem I run a Fido electronic bulletin board at (513)- 579-2587 and would like to take this opportunity to record some of my impressions of the USRobotics Courier 2400 baud modem. Let me qualify my comments as those of someone that uses modems a lot but is not up on the technical or engineering side of the little boxes. I had previously used Hayes 1200 Smartmodems and Hayes 2400 Smartmodems. While I always liked the widespread acceptance and compatibility of the Hayes 1200, I finally chose to try the Courier after many compatibility difficulties experienced with the Hayes 2400. Currently, the Courier list price is $200 lower than the Hayes price. The Courier is noteworthy upon first removing it from the box. It has a plastic case that is a little cheaper looking than the aluminum type case of the Hayes. If you turn it upside down and look at the bottom you will only find everything you ever wanted to know about your modem. There is a small window exposing the DIP switches making them easy to access and change. Adjacent to the window is complete notations on the function of each switch. Also on the bottom of the modem is complete notation on the entire set of AT modem commands, special dialing commands and the Sn storage registers. There is a slide type variable volume control near the front of the modem that takes the volume from 100% down to 0%. If all that information on the bottom of the case were not enough, there are HELP commands that can be entered from the keyboard of your terminal program (like AT$) that will give you all that reference information on your screen. Just imagine that. Operationally, the Courier modem functions at 2400, 1200 and 300 bauds without any of the non-intuitive tricks need to, say, initialize the Hayes 2400 nonvolatile memory to autoanswer a Fido system at 2400. Since installing the Couriers on my Fido system, I have had several users leave messages saying that they had not been able to sign on my system before and all of a sudden they were able to sign on. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 14 9 Dec 1985 Rainbow Corner by Ted Needleman The folks at Hardcopy are real nice to me, but they do insist that occasionally I let some of the other writers have some editorial space. This translates into Rainbow Corner having a finite length (usually about 900 words) rather than the verbose meanderings that I am truly capable of. Now that the Rainbow Corner Fido is actually in existence, it struck me that I have the opportunity to exercise these uncontrollable urges to run off at the word processor. Welcome to the first of my Rainbow Corner Ramblings. This will be an irregular feature here at the fido, and will be completely unpublicized. The only people who will get to read this trash, are those who are adventurous enough to call and explore. Future "Ramblings" depend entirely on 1> the response to this one (leave a message to the sysop) 2> whether or not I have something to say and 3> the phase of the moon. This first "column" concerns DEC's immanent announcement of the PC500. This machine, describe in a text file elsewhere on the board, is DEC's IBM-AT compatible. It sure sounds great to me, but considering the drubbing DEC got the last time around in the retail market, I can't help but wonder how they are going to sell it? Maybe telemarketing? DEC Direct? After all, DEC has closed most of their "Business Centers". Actually, secret documents, obtained at great personal expense and cost, show that Digital has come up with a plan unique in the industry. If you REALLY want a PC500 bad enough, DEC may let you adopt one! The way this works, is that you make an application to DEC, spelling out your qualifications to be a "PC Parent". This application, together with a processing fee of about seven thousand dollars, goes to "Adoption Central". If DEC's initial processing doesn't disqualify you, they send a "special investigator" out to your office or home (i.e.- the "PC Domicile") to verify that it is a proper place to bring up your PC500. It must be clean, well lit, comfortable temperature, and not have excessive static. Furthermore, you must be sufficiently financially responsible to insure that "PEECEE" gets fed only the best in diskettes (i.e.- DEC Brand). If you can't provide your new arrival with a room of its own, don't bother to apply. Of course, not everyone will be able to meet the stringent requirements DEC will establish to permit adoption of a PC500. But there is at least one consolation. If, after six or seven months, Digital can't make up their minds about you, or turns you down, they WILL send you a Cabbage Patch Kid. That's it for this time around, see you on the phone line. Fidonews Page 15 9 Dec 1985 (c)opyright 1985 by Ted Needleman-all rights reserved ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 16 9 Dec 1985 ============================================================ WANTED ============================================================ Steve Nyman Fido 107/22 NEED FIDO'S TO PRINT E-MAIL My company, Micro Information Services, needs Fido's from across the U.S. to receive our customer's e-mail, print it and mail it via U.S. Mail. We anticipate moderate mail volume, depending upon the region. NO COST TO YOU: All envelopes, paper, and postage will be provided in advance. PROFITS: You will be paid for your services. IF INTERESTED: Direct inquiries via e-mail to Steve Nyman on Fido 107/22. Thanks. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 17 9 Dec 1985 ============================================================ NOTICES ============================================================ Software Listings from BYTE Articles Available on Disk Starting December 9, 1985, program listings associated with articles in BYTE magazine will be available in a wide variety of disk formats. The listings are text files of source code and available for noncommercial purposes only. Listings from BYTE have been available for over a year now on the magazine's BYTEnet listings electronic bulletin board service and the magazine's readers have called the service an estimted 50,000 times since the service began in October of 1984. That service will remain in operation at (617) 861-9764 is accessible 24 hours per day at 300 or 1200 baud. Through an agreement with Control Data's Media Duplicaion Services subsidiary, BYTE readers can now obtain those same listings on disk. Cost will be $5 for most 5 1/4 inch floppies and $6 for micro floppies, high-density 5 1/4 and single-density 8 inch CP/M disks. Prices include postage shipping and handling in North America. Add $1 for orders to Europe and South America and $2 to Asia, Africa and Australia. BYTE says that while it cannot guarantee availability of all formats, it will endeavor to meet as many requests as it can. More details on the new service are found in BYTE's December, 1985 issue editorial. Order forms are found on Page 60 of the same issue. --------- Questions or more information, contact: Doug Webster Director of Public Relations, BYTE, 70 Main Street, Peterborough, NH 03458 (607) 924-9027. ------------------------------------------------------------ The Interrupt Stack 24 Jan 1986 Voyager 2 passes Uranus. 9 Feb 1986 Halley's Comet reaches perihelion. 9 Feb 1986 Diana Overholt (109/74) has another birthday. 11 Apr 1986 Halley's Comet reaches perigee. 19 May 1986 Steve Lemke's next birthday. Fidonews Page 18 9 Dec 1985 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to Fido 1/1. ------------------------------------------------------------ Fidonews Page 19 9 Dec 1985