Volume 3, Number 26 7 July 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | - FidoNews - /|oo \ | | (_| /_) | | Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ | | Users Group | | \ \\ | | Newsletter | (*) | \ )) | | ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (C) Copyright 1986 by IFNA (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file FNEWSART.DOC, available from node 1/1. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL Deteriorata 2. ARTICLES Freshening ARCs Before Posting for Download Employment Opportunities Notes 2 Last Embrace - a cautionary tale. Tips on QNEWUSER.BBS for Semi-Private Systems Computer worms 3. COLUMNS Hard Disk Usage and Management Tips, Part 2 Computer Industry SpotLight Job Market Research Part I 4. WANTED Auto-shuffle news letter as a scheduled event Computer Training Cruise Market Survey Wanted: Citadel sysops! 5. FOR SALE Entertainment Software for your PC! Public Domain Software Library Sale!! SERVTECH from Rylos Technologies 6. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack CARTOON: Gruesome George, by Bruce White Computer Training Market Survey Fidonews Page 2 7 Jul 1986 Changing of the Guard in Net 135 Sched version 4 is now out Fidonews Page 3 7 Jul 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Deteriorata Go placidly amid the noise and waste and remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof. Avoid quiet and passive persons unless you are in need of sleep. Rotate your tires. Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself and heed well their advice, even though they be turkeys. Know what to kiss, and when. Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but that three do. Wherever possible, put people on hold. Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment and despite the changing fortunes of time, there is always a big future in computer maintenance. Remember the Pueblo. Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate. Know yourself. If you need help, call the FBI. Exercise caution in your daily affairs, especially with those persons closest to you - that tomato on your left, for instance. Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet. Fall not in love, therefore; it will stick to your face. Gracefully surrender the things of youth, birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan. And let not the sands of time get in your lunch. Hire people with hooks. For a good time, call 606-4311, ask for Ken. Take heart amid the deepening gloom that your dog is finally getting enough cheese. And reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot, it could only be worse in Milwaukee. You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here. And whether you can hear it or not, the universe is laughing behind your back. Therefore, make peace with your god, whatever you conceive him to be: hairy thunderer or cosmic muffin. With all its hopes, dreams, promises, and urban renewal, the world continues to deteriorate. Give up. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 4 7 Jul 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Christopher Baker Metro-Fire Fido, 135/14 ARC F and the Local Sysop All of us, who are System Operators, know that time is precious and tasks always seem to expand to fill the available time, no matter what we started out to do. At no time is this more true than when conducting Long Distance (LD) BBSing for program up- dates or new files. There is a tendency for Sysops to put files that have been ARCed and uploaded to them by Xmodem into their download sections without checking the file for correct date. If an ARCed file is transferred by Xmodem to a system, the transfer leaves the ARC rounded up to the nearest block and changes the date of the ARC. This leads to confusion, especially on systems where the file description does not include the version number of the program in question. The files within the ARC are, of course, unaffected by the transfer and their dates are intact but the user cannot run ARC v on the file to see the REAL date. This is the Sysop's responsibility. The problem is not as prevalent on Fido systems as it is on RBBS and other systems that do not support Telink or Kermit. Since Telink and Kermit send the true filename, filesize, and filedate, there is no need to convert the ARCs back to normal after receiving them. There are still PLENTY of users that don't use anything but Xmodem, though, and their uploads need attention from the Sysop BEFORE they are moved to a download area, particularly, if the R)aw command is available to the user. When I'm in a hurry on LD (and who isn't?), I use the R)aw command whenever it's available to check for new filedates and gauge my downloading accordingly. To avoid the confusion of filedates on ARCs, the Sysop has only to check the ARC filedate against the internal filedates. If they do not match, the Sysop can bring the ARC into agreement very simply by running the Freshen command of ARC.EXE against the file. To wit: ARC f filename . This will write the file out to the disk, remove the round up block if any, and restore the ARC filedate to match the dates of the files within the ARC. To avoid the possibility of updating files within the ARC from files in the current directory, I suggest conducting these conversions in a blank or working directory. A blank directory will require at least one dummy file to get the re-write going. Create a dummy file of one line using EDLIN or the Copy CON command. Call it something original (like DUMMY.FIL) to avoid matching an existing filename Fidonews Page 5 7 Jul 1986 in any ARC. You must have enough disk space to accommodate the filesize in question and the matching filesize of the mirror image that ARC F is going to create. If every Sysop would take the time to clean up these Xmodemed ARCs, there would never be a question of how new a file is when BBSing. (Version numbers wouldn't hurt either, you guys.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 7 Jul 1986 W.R.Hunter/E.S.Hunter Fido 109/626 On-Line Employment Opportunities The Employment Opportunities Listings, available from the NOVA_WEG have been available now for two months and the response is good after such a short period of time. In case you missed the FidoNews article introducing this FREE service, in a nutshell, we have been gathering current employment vacancies from firms in/or closely associated with the computer industry around the country and making these positions known via FidoNet Mail to whomever would like to receive this listing and make it available to others (user's or sysop's). It is updated weekly and includes other information such as "How to" conduct your job search, and we have been "spot-lighting" different companies each week in the computer field. Currently theses listings are available on the following Fido boards: Net/Node Board Name Location ========== ============= =========== 107/316 Metatek Fido Toms River,NJ 107/601 Stone Wall Boyertown,PA 138/37 Mac's Revenge Tacoma, WA 900/1 Bits-&-Bytes Nashville,TN 18/12 The Rat's Nest Columbia,SC 154/5 GENERIC Crossroads Milwaukee,WI We understand that there are other boards currently making the listings available by obtaining them from the boards shown above. This we encourage as the more that can benefit from this, the better. If there are any other REGIONAL HOSTS or NET HOSTS that would like to make these listing available to their respective FidoNodes, drop us a line via NetMail and we will be happy to send the listings to you. If any individual nodes would like to receive the listings, first check with your HOST or COORDINATOR to see if they might be receiving them already, and if not, contact us directly. To add to the listings already circulating, we are making available Employment Opportunities in the BANKING AND FINANCE INDUSTRY beginning the first Monday in July. If anyone would be interested in this listing it will also be available on request. Any firms that wish to send a position notice, please do so via NetMail or by U.S.Mail to: W.E.G.Systems P.O. Box 5072 Springfield, Va 22150 Be sure your position notice arrives here by Saturday to be Fidonews Page 7 7 Jul 1986 included in the next weeks listings. These listing are made available to AID in the job searching effort, and provide another avenue for firms to obtain the quality personnel they seek. GOOD LUCK! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 8 7 Jul 1986 LAST EMBRACE by Rich Gough on Fido 129/26 David turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Hanging his coat in the closet, he noticed the flashing light on his telephone answering machine. It was 11 PM -- it had taken a a couple of hours longer than he expected to fix the hard disk problem at the trucking company. Flipping the switch, he heard the messages rewind -- buzzing interuppted by 5 beeps. He sighed -- a computer consultant's work is never done. "Hey David, this is Mike. My subscription to TV Guide ran out -- can you tell me what's going to be on USA Nightflight tonight?" BEEP "David, this is Carol at the Food Warehouse. I've got a problem and I need you to call me back as soon as you can. It's 8 PM." BEEP "David, this is Carol again. It's 10 PM and I have three reports that I have to get down by tommorrow. Please come over and help me as soon as you can." BEEP "David, it's 10:30 PM and I'm really desperate." BEEP "Damn!" BEEP David switched the machine back to record, and dialed Carol's number. A busy signal told him that at least she was still there. She might even be trying to call him. If he left now, he could be there by midnight. David knocked on the corrugated metal door and when there was no answer, the rolled the sliding door aside and stepped in. Up a narrow flight of stairs, past the fans of the cold room. Stepping into the office, he heard a crunch and looked at the floor. There were white fragments all over the floor -- someone must have dropped a coffee cup. That reminded him - coffee. It looked like it would be a long night. The coffee maker was still plugged in -- he poured himself the last cup. A sip told him it was too hot and too bitter. He set it next to the computer and sat down. Time for some detective work to find out what was wrong and fix it. "Carol!" he called. She must be in the Ladies Room. "Might as well get to work" he said to himself. A glance at the screen told him that she was in the middle of the General Ledger program, closing out the month of January. The screen was frozen -- no keys had any effect. Nothing to do but switch the computer off and start again. As he waited for the hard disk to settle, he looked around. Carol was big on lists. Tacked to the wall was a list of the 100 most popular food items. On the desk was a list of her objectives for the day. Accounts Payable, Accounts Recievable and General Ledger were at the top of the list, and the only things not crossed out. He knew from experience that these programs were disk intensive, and could Fidonews Page 9 7 Jul 1986 take hours to run. He also found the manual to a multi-tasking program that could let more than one program run at once. He switched the computer on and flipped throught the manual while he waited for the RAM test to complete. A look at Carol's notes showed what she was trying to do -- save time by running all three reports at the same time. David knew the problem that must have occurred and a few keystrokes proved his conclusion. First he started Accounts Payable, then created a new task and started Accounts Recievable, then created a third task and started General Ledger. Hitting a few keys produced no response, proving his theory that the system was locked in a classic example of a Deadly Embrace. Programs A and B both need access to files 1 and 2. A file can only be updated by one program at a time. Program A grabs file 1 while Program B grabs file 2. Then Program A tries to grab file 2 (which B has locked on to) while Program B tries to grab file 1 (which A has). Result - each program waits for the other to give up its file and no work gets done. With three programs going at the same time, the problem would be even worse--crowded together in memory and fighting for the same files, it would be a sort of menage a trois. The only solutions are to avoid running programs that use the same files at the same time. If you must, make sure all programs open files in the same order. David restarted the system, and started just the Accounts Payable program. It would take a couple of hours, but at least it would get done. Noticing the coffee had cooled, he swallowed the whole cup at one gulp. David stood up and walked around the desks. As he passed the cubicle near the door, he saw a high-heeled shoe on the floor. Stepping into the cubicle he saw Carol's body sprawled on the floor. A touch to the neck told him she was dead--no pulse, and her flesh was cooling. The handle of a shattered coffee mug was still held in the fingers. Pieces had scattered across the floor under the partition. On the table next to the body was a note, addressed to him. David was starting to feel numb. She had despaired over the computer and other problems and put poison in her own coffee pot. He reached for the phone but ended up shivering on the floor. As he felt the coldness wash over him, he put his arms around Carol's body and hugged her. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 7 Jul 1986 Christopher Baker Metro-Fire Fido, 135/14 Everything You Wanted to Know About QNEWUSER.BBS but etc., etc., etc... The following is an excerpt of a message I received from Gee Wong, IBM HELP, 1/100, when I asked him to give me the lowdown on the use of QNEWUSER in a semi-private system (/p option in Fido). QNEWUSER.BBS is a questionaire file that Fido uses to query new users on a Fido being operated in the semi-private mode. QNEWUSER can be used to display text and/or ask questions and follows the language format detailed in the Fido manual for creating a questionaire (QUESTION.BBS). As the new user answers the questions posed by QNEWUSER.BBS, Fido creates a corresponding text file called ANEWUSER.BBS. ANEWUSER can then be used for verification or record-keeping purposes by the Sysop. Like a QUESTION.BBS questionaire, QNEWUSER cannot be aborted by the new user with Control-C or Control-K, so a Control-B at the beginning of the file is not necessary to prevent the user from skipping what you WANT him/her to read and answer. The following is the gist of the answer I received: From: Gee Wong on 107/312, Dance Studio, East Brunswick, NJ As for your question on QNEWUSER. If you use QNEWUSER, Fido will perform the following during logon for a new user: 1) prompt user for name 2) display contents of NEWUSER1.BBS if this file exists 3) ask user to pick a password 4) display the contents of QNEWUSER.BBS and prompt user for answers to any questions in this file 5) prevent NEWUSER2.BBS from being displayed if this file exists 6) prompt user for password 7) display contents of BULLETIN.BBS if this file exists 8) put user into Main Section of Fido. Forwarded by 135/7, Miami's First Fido, Al Delatorre, 6/3 Here follows a brief example of the format you can use: * Beginning of Example * * You cannot abort the following display. Control C & K are disabled. Follow the instructions completely. Now is a good time to turn on your printer or capture file. If you have not called this system in the last 60 days, your name Fidonews Page 11 7 Jul 1986 and password have been PURGED from the system. You will have to go through the verification process again! New User Verification Questionaire You MUST answer EVERY question in order to be verified for access. If a question doesn't apply to you, enter N/A. Do not skip answers. You will NOT be verified unless all the answers are given. Be VERY careful. Do not hit return until you have made your entry on each line. If you hit return before finishing a response, Fido will advance to the next line/question. You will have space to make corrections at the end of the questionaire. Each line can hold up to 65 characters of information. What is your Full name (No handles)? /> Where are you calling from (City, ST)? /> What is your HOME telephone number (Area code first)? /> Is this a listed or unlisted number? /> What is your BUSINESS telephone number (Area code first)? /> What is your occupation? (If you are a student, specify the school.) /> What Password did you select? /> What is the name of your Department (optional)? /> What kind of computer are you using? /> State your modem brand, type and speed below (two lines): /Modem> /Speed> What communications program do you normally use for BBSing? /> Why? (You have two lines.) /> /> What is the BEST time to contact you at Home? /> What is the BEST time to contact you at Work? /> Use the next four lines to, briefly, describe your level of Computer skill including languages or operating systems you are most familiar with. If you do not need all four lines, hit return to go on. /Level> /OpSys> /Langs> /Other> Fidonews Page 12 7 Jul 1986 How old are you (optional)? +6 (1) <18 (2) 18-25 (3) 26-35 (4) 36-50 (5) 51-99 (6) Not saying> ?Why not?> How did you find out about this BBS? Be specific, you have two lines. If a friend recommended it, NAME the friend. If you saw it on a BBS, NAME the BBS. This is NOT optional. (You have two lines.) /> /> Are you a FidoNet Sysop? +2 (1) No (2) Yes > ?Net/Node > Are you a non-FidoNet Sysop? +2 (1) No (2) Yes > ?Please give system name, location & number > If you have any questions, comments, or changes, use the next three lines to enter them. If you do not need the space, hit return to go on. /> /> /> If you have completed this questionaire on a Saturday or Sunday, it will take a few days to be verified. The Sysop is off on those days. * End of Example * The asterisk in the first line appends the user name to the ANEWUSER file information. Within the confines of the prompt and question structure, you can configure the display to your own taste. All of the text lines without a '/' or '+' or '?' are output, as is, to the user when Fido puts him into the questionaire. Lines preceeded by a '/' stop the questionaire and wait for input or from the user (note: line noise can play havoc with this process and may cause some prompts to be skipped without user intervention.). Lines preceeded by a '+' set up a multiple choice condition. The number following the plus indicates how many choices will be offered. The last choice listed, when selected by the user, prompts Fido to display the contents of the line preceeded by the '?' and waits for user input. Thus, the LAST choice listed is the one you are trying to get amplification of; the other choices are listed in the ANEWUSER file but ignored for purposes of user input. Make SURE you list the point you want more information on as the LAST choice in that line. The QNEWUSER.BBS can be as long or as short as you like. Experiment. I hope this helps those of you doing it the hard way (like I was). Many thanks to Gee Wong for the advice and assistance. Fidonews Page 13 7 Jul 1986 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 14 7 Jul 1986 John Bekas, 115/212 Computer worms -------------- After seeing two boards in my net getting destroyed by those nasty programs called WORMS, or by the nasty people who make it a habit of crashing boards, I am getting scared. All the Sysops are asking themselves, "How can I stop my board from being next?" Well, hopefully someone will figure it out. Some reasonable ways of not getting your board crashed are: 1) By having a close friend, who doesn't have a hard drive try it, and test it out for a while. After a while, have them give you a report on how things went. 2) Not bugging the users to upload, because they usually get so mad at the Sysop, that they don't want to call anymore. They think it is fun to ruin the board, and make them feel sorry for asking for uploads. 3) Finding out about a file before you run it, because you never know what it may be. The real dangers about this is that those people that make these programs make it look and sound like the real program, and then make it turn against you. This can be a slight bit of a problem. 4) Make your system private, and only allow close friends, and people who you know are O.K. to have. 5) NEVER download from a upload area that hasn't been tested! 6) Download all your files to a blank floppy, and use a program that will protect your hard drive from being written to. Some not so reasonable ways of not getting crashed are: 1) Don't bother downloading from other boards. 2) Don't ask the users to upload files. Get all the files from a close friend who had them a while (Public Domain and Freeware, please don't pirate!). 3) Take down your board, and throw away anything that has to do with communications. This would of course be the ultimate thing to do, which I doubt any Sysops would want to do. I know that you have all heard this before, and are saying, "It will never happen to me..." But talk to the Sysops whose boards got destroyed, and you will find out the real truth behind that phrase. I am sure you thought about it quite a few times, but have never done anything about it. Please make sure you are careful of which files you have, and how you use them. And remember this short safety tip. Fidonews Page 15 7 Jul 1986 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 7 Jul 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Taking Advantage of Your PC's Hard Disk: Part II, DOS BATch Files Barry Gordon New York Personal Computer, Inc. DOS and BATch Files Familiarity with DOS is assumed. However, it is helpful to the new user to include a paragraph or two on BATch files. The IBM PC and DOS work with three different kinds of program or command files: .EXE, .COM, and .BAT files. (BASIC and BASICA work with their own .BAS files, but those are not relevant to the present discussion.) The .EXE and .COM files give instructions to the PC itself. They are produced by assemblers, compilers, and linkers. The .BAT or BATch files are instructions to DOS which you create for your own convenience. I will discuss a couple of commands that you may find convenient in working on your PC: the DOS PROMPT command and the PATH command. The DOS PROMPT Command Just as DOS keeps track of a default disk drive, it will also keep track of each drive's current directory (the directory you are working in). Most often, this directory is the one you tell DOS to assume and use when no other is specified. The DOS prompt always has indicated the default disk drive followed by the greater-than symbol: A> which works well for diskette drives. With a hard disk, you will want to know the directory you are working in (the current directory) as well. You can customize the prompt to show the current directory using the DOS PROMPT command. The command PROMPT $P$G tells DOS to display the name of the current directory whenever the prompt appears on your screen. Other, more elaborate, prompt variations are possible, but $P$G is a useful beginning. The DOS PATH Command The actual program fetching is accomplished by means of the DOS PATH command. This command tells DOS where to look for your programs (the executable files) when they are not in the current directory. The overall scheme begins to take shape: you work in the (current) directory containing your data files, and DOS looks for the programs you need (in priority sequence) in other sub- directories. Thus, your PATH command might look something like this: PATH C:\anyname1;C:\anyname2;C:\any3 The PATH command should contain the full specification of each sub-directory, including the drive designation. This keeps the search path valid even if you should decide to make, say, drive Fidonews Page 17 7 Jul 1986 A: the default drive temporarily. Since the root directory is not named, it is not included in the PATH command. Of course, having to enter all of this PROMPT and PATH information each time you turn on your PC can become a nuisance. The proper way to handle this is to create special BATch files in the root directory that store and execute your commands. Creating BATch Files The most direct way to create .BAT files is to use the DOS ability to COPY a file directly from the PC keyboard into a disk file: COPY CON filename.BAT where CON is the DOS name for the keyboard, and "filename" represents the name you wish to give your new BATch file. You enter your file contents, line by line, ending with a line containing ^Z (Control-Z), which can be entered by pressing the Function Key 6 (F6). As an alternative (though I don't recommend it) you could learn to use EDLIN, a minimal file editor, whose chief virtue is its automatic inclusion with the DOS package. For serious work of this kind, a good file editor is a great help. The IBM Personal Editor is one of the very best. The AUTOEXEC and SETPATH BATch Files The AUTOEXEC.BAT file is executed only at startup (unless you specifically enter it), and contains those commands you wish to enter for your convenience in operating your PC. A simple version of an AUTOEXEC.BAT file might look like this: DATE TIME PROMPT $P$G PATH C:\anyname1;C:\anyname2;C:\any3 The first thing you may want to do is to move the PATH command from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and put it in its own BATch file called SETPATH.BAT. The AUTOEXEC.BAT would have these four lines: DATE TIME PROMPT $P$G SETPATH Your SETPATH.BAT file would look like this: PATH C:\anyname1;C:\anyname2;C:\any3 Putting the PATH command in the SETPATH.BAT file lets you modify your program search path any time you wish, and then restore it by getting into the root directory and entering the SETPATH Fidonews Page 18 7 Jul 1986 command. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 7 Jul 1986 William/Eunhee Hunter Fido 109/626 Computer Industry SpotLight on: ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORP. -- Founded in 1962, EDS has grown from a single employee to a multi-national corporation employing more than 13,000 people. The company is the leading supplier of computer services in the following industries: finance (banks, thrifts, and credit unions), commercial insurance, and health care. Data processing services are conducted mainly at five large information processing centers. EDS currently owns 25 mainframe computers, leases 66 more, and operates 12 supplied by customers. A high percentage of the hiring at EDS is for the company's entry-level development programs. They are looking for applicants with an interest in technical careers, and are curently recruiting individuals with business and technical backgrounds. The largest number of job openings is in systems engineering. EDS ofers a Systems Engineering Development Program -- an 18-month development program involving business exposure through on-the-job problem solving with other EDS professionals and customers. Contact: Dick Morrison, VP Human Resources, Electronic Data Systems Corp., 100 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 20 7 Jul 1986 William/Eunhee Hunter Fido 109/626 JOB MARKET RESEARCH - A PRIMER For most Americans in the professional and paraprofessional fields, few experiences ever seem quite as difficult and frustrating as job hunting. The essential problem, of course, is locating suitable opportunities. For even today's "Information Age," finding timely and accurate career information has remained an extremely difficult problem. Employment agencies, for example, usually have only very incomplete regional information. Classified ads in newspapers are another source -- one usually relied on very heavily by job seekers -- but this information is also usually regional, as well as incomplete (especially since most of the better jobs are never advertised in newspapers). Having tried both private and public employment agencies and newspaper advertisements -- and presumably, having also exhausted their access to information through personal and business contacts -- many white-collar job seekers turn to professional recruiters (i.e., "headhunters"). Here too, the result is often frustration -- wasted time, effort, and usually, a good deal of money. For most job seekers, such firms provide much advice and encouragement and few actual job interviews. College students about to graduate -- both from two and four year institutions -- are generally in a much better position since they have their placement/counseling offices to assist them, though of course alumni usually have access to the same services if they choose to use them. But unfortunately, most students and alumni make inadequate use of the resources available to them. There is a tendency to view these offices solely as meeting places for interviews with corporate recruiters. This is a serious mistake, for two reasons. First, most students will fail to find jobs through campus interviews; and second -- perhaps even more important -- most major companies do not regard campus interviews as a preferred means of contact with applicants. A recent employer survey by The Charoman Group, Inc., an educational consulting firm, found that only 18 percent of major employers believe college placement interviews to be the most effective means of contact with applicants. Rather, most companies preferred that the initial contact be initiated by the applicant by means of the most simple and direct method possible: a standard resume and cover letter sent to the appropriate official. Of course it remains true that campus interviews -- as well as any of the other job hunting methods mentioned above -- may prove successful in individual cases. The point is that, for most people, these methods offer limited prospects of success. Thus most job seekers are well-advised to try another route: A PLANNED, SYSTEMATIC JOB MARKET RESEARCH EFFORT. By this means the job seeker in effect takes the initiative in locating suitable job openings in his or her field. Surprisingly, not a Fidonews Page 21 7 Jul 1986 great deal of time is required -- perhaps twenty hours for most people. And the resources needed for the research effort are available in most college placement or counseling offices, and in virtually all of the larger public libraries. Next article will deal with the FIRST STEP - CHOOSING AN INDUSTRY. Distributed via FidoNet BBS by NOVA_WEG Fido 109/626, W.E.G. Systems, P.O. Box 5072, Springfield, VA 22150. Permission is given to reprint and distribute this article provided no changes to its content take place. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 22 7 Jul 1986 ================================================================= WANTED ================================================================= William Bertholf Fido 107/102 WANTED: a program that will do the following: 1) read Fido system records to find the FidoNet File path name. 2) search that directory for FNEWS???.ARC 3) if not found then set errorlevel to zero (0) and exit to DOS. 4) for each FNEWS???.ARC found do the following: 4.1) Move it (not copy) to designated file area 4.2) append to the end of the end of FILES.BBS the following FNEWS???.ARC FidoNewsLetter 4.3) delete FIDONEWS.TXT 4.4) ARC xn FNEWS???.ARC 4.5) rename the result of 4.4 to FIDONEWS.TXT Note: Step 4 is done in ascending order of file name. Syntax: FIDONEWS A more generalized program could auto-shuffle other things also. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 23 7 Jul 1986 WANTED - WANTED - WANTED YOUR OPINION Since you are reading this in FIDO NEWS you are in some way involved with microcomputers (?). We want, NO WE NEED, your opinion. Please take a minute to fill out the following questionnaire. 1. Would you take a VACATION that costs between $2500 and $3500 per person includes ROUND TRIP air fare to HAWAII, SEVEN LUXURI- OUS DAYS CRUISING the HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, SIX SUMPTUOUS MEALS A DAY, and all shipboard activities? _____ YES _____ no 2. Would you take the VACATION, if it included HANDS ON MICROCOM- PUTER INSTRUCTION covering equipment BASICS, operating systems, microcomputer SYSTEM requirements/ORGANIZATION, application SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS/ORGANIZATION, training on WORD PROCESSING, SPREADSHEET design/management, DATABASE building /management, other applications (Graphics, Communications)? _____ YES _____ no 3. Would you take the VACATION, if the TRAINING was scheduled so it did not interfere with CRUISE ACTIVITIES? _____ YES _____ no 4. Would you take the VACATION, if it was a PROFESSIONALLY and personally ENHANCING experience? _____ YES _____no 5. Would you take the VACATION, if you could bring your spouse (or who ever) and UP TO 33% on the second traveler? _____ YES _____no 6. Would you take the VACATION, if your part is TAX DEDUCTIBLE? ______YES ______no 7. INTERESTED? OF COURSE YOU ARE! Send a self-addressed, STAMPED envelope to: Computer Cruise Hawaii C/O Computer Station 1500 Kapiolani Blvd Honolulu, Hi 96815 OR send a FIDO message to SYSOP, FIDO 12/0 at (808) 942-2508 - be sure to include your mailing address. DO IT NOW! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 24 7 Jul 1986 /**** Citadel system operators! ****/ I'm looking for operators of Citadel or similar room-oriented BBS systems (such as Citadel-86, StoneHenge, etc.) who would be interested in having their systems listed in a national list. Send me FidoMail containing: System's name Phone number Baud rate Hours of operation Sysop's name System hardware (KayPro II, Xerox 820, etc.) Operating system Code/version number (2.10, 2.11, etc.) If you have the source code, let me know where you got it. (Such as C Users' Group disks 028 and 029; SIG/M #150; etc.) Also, please indicate whether or not you would be interested in contributing to a Citadel newletter, the existance of which depends on the sort of response I get. Thanks. Andy Meyer FidoMail 107/35 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 25 7 Jul 1986 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE FOR YOUR PC! SUPERDOTS! KALAH! Professional quality games include PASCAL source! From the author of KALAH Version 1.6, SuperDots, a variation of the popular pencil/paper DOTS game, has MAGIC and HIDDEN DOT options. KALAH 1.7 is an African strategy game requiring skill to manipulate pegs around a playing board. Both games use the ANSI Escape sequences provided with the ANSI.SYS device driver for the IBM-PC, or built into the firmware on the DEC Rainbow. Only $19.95 each or $39.95 for both exciting games! Please specify version and disk format. These games have been written in standard TURBO-PASCAL and run on the IBM-PC, DEC Rainbow 100 (MSDOS and CPM), CPM/80, CPM/86, and PDP-11. Other disk formats are available, but minor customization may be required. BSS Software P.O. Box 3827 Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 For every order placed, a donation will be made to the Fido coordinators! Also, if you have a previous version of KALAH and send me a donation, a portion of that donation will also be sent to the coordinators. When you place an order, BE CERTAIN TO MENTION WHERE YOU SAW THE AD since it also appears in PC Magazine and Digital Review. Questions and comments can be sent to: Brian Sietz at Fido 107/17 (609) 429-6630 300/1200/2400 baud ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 26 7 Jul 1986 Now available from Micro Consulting Associates!! Public Domain collection - 550+ "ARC" archives - 20+ megs of software and other goodies, and that's "archived" size! When unpacked, you get approximately 28 megabytes worth of all kinds of software, from text editors to games to unprotection schemes to communications programs, compilers, interpreters, etc... Over 55 DS/DD diskettes!! This collection is the result of more than 15 months of intensive downloads from just about 150 or more BBS's and other sources, all of which have been examined, indexed and archived for your convenience. Starting a Bulletin Board System? Want to add on to your software base without spending thousands of dollars? This is the answer!!! To order the library, send $100 (personal or company check, postal money order or company purchase order) to: Micro Consulting Associates, Fido 103/511 Post Office Box 4296 200-1/2 E. Balboa Boulevard Balboa, Ca. 92661-4296 Please allow 3 weeks for delivery of your order. Note: No profit is made from the sale of the Public Domain software in this collection. The price is applied entirely to the cost of downloading the software over the phone lines, running a BBS to receive file submissions, and inspecting, cataloguing, archiving and maintaining the files. Obtaining this software yourself through the use of a computer with a modem using commercial phone access would cost you much more than what we charge for the service... Please specify what type of format you would like the disks to be prepared on. The following choices are available: - IBM PC-DOS Backup utility - Zenith MS-DOS 2.11 Backup Utility - DSBackup - Fastback - ACS INTRCPT 720k format - Plain ol' files (add $50) Add $30 if you want the library on 1.2 meg AT disks (more expensive disks). There are no shipping or handling charges. California residents add 6% tax. For each sale, $10 will go to the FidoNet Administrators. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 27 7 Jul 1986 SERVTECH by Rylos Technologies 10213 Heron Pond Terrace Burke, Virginia 22015 (c) 1986 Rylos Technologies o SERVTECH is designed specifically to work with your IBM PC/XT, COMPAQ Deskpro, or COMPAQ Plus o SERVTECH will assist you in initial computer setup! - Guidelines for computer disassembly - Pictorial Guide to switch settings (You tell us what you have in your computer, we SHOW you how to set the switches) o SERVTECH deciphers error messages! - You tell us the problem, we assist you in fixing it. Wherever possible, we show you the exact componant causing the problem! - Through a series of questions and answers we will give "probable cause" suggestions to try. o SERVTECH is easy to use! - Employees at General Motors say "SERVTECH is perfect for the person who has to support their own XT, a must for every software library." To order SERVTECH, send a check or money order for $49.95 to: RYLOS TECHNOLOGIES 10213 Heron Pond Terrace Burke, VA. 22015 ********* SPECIAL NOTICE FOR FIDO USERS ********* Order a copy of SERVTECH today, mention you saw the ad on a FIDO system or newsletter, and Rylos will donate $5.00 to the IFNA! A demonstration version of SERVTECH is available on FIDO # 603, accessible through the PC PURSUIT system. Call (703) 689-3561 to download a copy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 28 7 Jul 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 20 Jul 1986 St. Louis Area Sysops Meeting, to be held at Baker's Acre. Net 100 sysops please contact Ben Baker at 100/76 for details and directions. 14 Aug 1986 Start of the International FidoNet Conference, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Contact George Wing at node 1/10 for details. Get your reservations in NOW! We'll see you there! 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 FidoNet node 1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gruesome George by Bruce White, 109/612 +-------------------------------------------------+ |\ | | \ | | George!! That dumb dog In that case, | | has taken over! Make woof! | | your choice: Fido or me. / | | _ / ____\__ | | / \ / |_| \ | | / oo|\ _____ |\ | | (_\ |_) | _ | | | | _ / _\@'_ ______ | |_| | | | | // / | | __(______)_|_____|___ | | | (( / | (*) | ||-----------------|| | | | \\/ \ |__U__| ______|| || | | | \ /_ ||\\_ \ {} /||(c) '86 bw || | | |(jm)\____)|_)\_) \__/ ||-----------------||__|__| +-------------------------------------------------+ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Computer Training Market Survey As a reader of FidoNews you are either a microcomputer user or a microcomputer hobbyist. Would you be interested in an opportuni- ty to vacation in Hawaii, while expanding your ability to use your microcomputer and possibly writing the cost off of your taxes? COMPUTER CRUISE HAWAII Fidonews Page 29 7 Jul 1986 MICROCOMPUTER CRUISE VACATION PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE EXPANSION - PROFESSIONAL ENHANCEMENT $2500 TO $3500 INCLUDES AIR TRANSPORTATION TO HAWAII SEVEN LUXURIOUS DAYS CRUISING THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS ALL SHIPBOARD ACTIVITIES - SIX SUMPTUOUS MEALS EACH DAY MICROCOMPUTER INSTRUCTION HIGH HANDS ON COMPONENT - SCHEDULED AROUND CRUISE ACTIVITIES EXCELLENT STUDENT INSTRUCTOR/COMPUTER RATIO - INTIMATE GROUP CURRICULUM COVERS EQUIPMENT BASICS - OPERATING SYSTEM BASICS - SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS/ORGANIZATION - APPLICATION SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS/ ORGANIZATION - WORD PROCESSING - SPREADSHEETING DESIGN/MANAGEMENT DATABASE BUILDING/MANAGEMENT - OTHER APPLICATIONS: GRAPHICS COMMUNICATIONS WILL BE A PROFESSIONALLY AND PERSONALLY EXPANDING EXPERIENCE If the above has peaked your interest or you want to participate; send a self addressed stamped envelope to: Computer Cruise Hawaii c/o Computer Station 1500 Kapiolani Blvd Honolulu, Hawaii 96815 OR a message to FIDO 12/0 at (808) 942-2508 with your name, address and FIDO net/node. We will provide further details and discount information if you wish to include your spouse in the trip only. Be sure to include your mailing address. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Changing of the Guard in Net 135 Metro-Fire Fido is now the Net Coordinator and Host for Net 135, S-FLorida Net (previously Greater Miami Area). This change was effective in Nodelist.164. Many systems are still using Nodelists prior to 164 and are having difficulty sending traffic to Net 135. If you are not up on Nodelist.164 or later, please go out and get one. Metro-Fire Fido is 135/14 (135/0) at 305-596-8611, Miami_FL, if you want to edit your Nodelist.BBS manually. Thanks. Christopher Baker, 135/14 (135/0) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Version 4 of Sched was released 6/27/86 and has been sent Fidonews Page 30 7 Jul 1986 to several nodes across the country. It is available by SEADog file request from node 137/19 or may be downloaded from there (pre-registration required - send me your node number and a password to use). The only change from version 3 is the addition of dynamic event setting. Events may be scheduled for the current time and day or for offsets from the current time and day. Wes Cowley Fido 137/19 -----------------------------------------------------------------