Volume 3, Number 29 28 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 The Faceless Crowd 2. ARTICLES DataCare Hard Disk backup Utility Notes on ConnCentral Fido Sysops Meeting Goals of the FidoNet Standards Committee EchoMail and Genealogy Starting Up Luther_NET Z-100 based Fido update 3. COLUMNS Adding RAM is easy! Computer Industry Spotlight Job Market Research Part IV 4. FOR SALE DataCare Hard Disk Utility Entertainment Software for your PC! Public Domain Software Library Sale!! Special Offer to FidoNet Sysops 5. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Starting a Conference for Computer Genealogists WATCH OUT Genealogical Computing Seminar Fidonews Page 2 28 Jul 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Who Are You? I've been writing to you for over a year and a half now, but I can't really say I know you. I've carried on correspondence via FidoNet mail with many of you. I've spoken to quite a lot of you by phone. But there are only a handful of you that I've ever met. Do I really know you? Electronic mail is wonderful, I can't deny that. It's given me a chance to meet people I'd never have known otherwise. I've formed valuable friendships that I'd be much the poorer without. But I can only use "meet" in a figurative sense. While I've gotten to know many people, I can never be sure just how well I really know any of them. There is some quality of face-to-face meetings that's missing in electronic mail. So much of human communication is undefined. There is so much that gets relegated to facial expressions, tone of voice, and so forth, that I find myself often sending follow-up messages on the order of "I didn't really mean that, I was just trying to make a joke!" Perhaps I'm just not that good at making jokes, or perhaps (as I suspect) there's a whole spectrum of human communication that just doesn't come through in cold, ASCII text. I've seen this before. I'm not all that "old" to FidoNet, but I've been communicating through computers for quite a long time. Two of my best friends today are people I met through a real-time conferencing system on the DTSS computer, way back when I was in college (hating to reveal my age, but we're going back ten years or more). One thing I've found, again and again, is that email goes down smoother when you've had a chance to actually meet the people you comunicate with. In fact, of those two friends, I had a serious problem with one of them until we had actually met and found out what each other was really like. Things just didn't work out right between us over the comm lines until we knew each other. This is why I see the upcoming FidoNet Conference as such an important event. This is the second conference, and the first was rather a closed affair (I wasn't even invited, though I was editing FidoNews at the time). That was the one where multinet operation was first established as the way to go. This one coming up may be equally important, or even more so. FidoNet was smaller last year, and didn't seem such a big deal. Now it's larger, and has problems that were never envisioned a year ago. One may safely assume that equally weighty matters will be discussed. But even if not, it's still an important event. EchoMail makes it even more important, because it makes you interact with that Fidonews Page 3 28 Jul 1986 many more people. So there are all those people you talk (type?) with every day; what are they really like? Say you've been talking with "Mikey" every day for months. Even if you think now that you don't like him, how can you really know? You might feel differently once you've actually met him. You might find that he's a jerk, as you already thought, or you might find that he's really a nice guy once you get to know him. The main point is that you CAN'T know until you've met him. Remember, of those two friends I'd mention earlier, one of them and I never got along until we'd met. We've been good friends ever since. So THAT is why this conference is so important. Never mind all the stuff about the IFNA business meeting and such. Oh, yeah, that's important too. Especially if you're into political type maneuvering and such. But the real importance of it all is that you get to meet these people you've been talking with. Even if you haven't been talking with people, then this is still important, because it'll give you a chance to meet interesting people to talk with in the future. This isn't some group of strangers you've never heard of and will never see again; this is a meeting of folks you've talked to or heard of that you can keep in touch with for the rest of your life. Believe me, this counts. We hope to have a Third International FidoNet conference next year, but we can't plan on it. All we know for sure is that we're having one this year. It takes money to stage one of these things. COSUG has graciously (too graciously, it's members might say) offered to sponsor it this year, but there aren't that many dues-paying organizations in FidoNet. Who else can afford to sponsor a major convention? It'd be nice if IFNA could afford to provide the seed money, but IFNA is, at least at present, a very cash-poor operation that can just barely afford the paperwork involved in being recognized as an "official" non-profit corporation. For now we must look elsewhere, and elsewhere looks pretty bleak indeed. So now might be your last (and only) chance for quite some time to come. If you don't make it, I, at least, will be very disappointed. I'll be there, and I'm looking forward to meeting you. If you can't make it this year, then I don't know when we'll ever be able to meet. Like I said, I've been writing to you every week for over a year and a half. I can't really say that I know you, but I sure would like to. Please come. I'll miss you if you don't. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 4 28 Jul 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Robert A. Rudolph, 109/628 Hard Disk Peace of Mind Those of us who operate Fido boards know that the sanctity of content of the hard disk on which Fido resides is of utmost importance if the BBS is to operate day after day in a manner that is reliable and free of trouble. NOBODY wants to make it into the doghouse. My PC Clone has 2 20-megabyte Seagate drives that I love. These are among the most reliable drives in the world. STILL, without regard to intrinsic reliability, they have to be backed up to some other medium on a regular basis, so that neither lightning nor your friendly utility company can scramble your FAT or do some other violence to the data that is so precious to proper operation of Fido. Here at the Reindeer Shed we use DataCare, which just recently received a very favorable review from PC Magazine. It is easy to use, being either command-line OR menu-driven, is reliable, NOT copy-protected, and well documented. It is not as fast as FastBack, but is at least as reliable. Because it writes the backup diskettes in IBM backup format, no restore utility is needed, so no matter what happens, your PC-DOS or MS-DOS disk will restore your files, sub-directories or complete disks in whatever way you wish. DataCare also includes a file compare utility, a revised (and much smarter and more useful) DIR replacement, and a file and directory RENAMER that even allows INTERNAL DOS commands to be renamed. As DataCare operates, it creates backup diskettes (if you have the good fortune to have 2 floppy drives, it will alternate be- tween them) that are labeled, and it will refuse to overwrite a diskette that it knows it has just created. It maintains a file that can be searched to fine the diskette on which a particular file resides, so that you needn't feed 30 diskettes to it to restore a file on diskette 31. Its last act is to back up the locator file to the last diskette, so the diskettes ALWAYS have the index set associated with a given set resident on the last diskette in the set. DataCare will also do incremental backups, and is smart enough to request the last diskette in the series to which files are to be appended to be mounted in a drive, at which time it reads off the index of files, appending to both the diskette series AND the index of files, again backing up the index of files as the last file on the diskette set. Fidonews Page 5 28 Jul 1986 DataCare verifies diskettes as written, and does not require that diskettes (after the first diskette in a backup series) be formatted, being capable of formatting them "on the fly". The error checking that is done on both the primary and backup medium is exceptional - files that I could not read with any other utility DataCare has been able to read. Because it does not depend on the error recovery in DOS, it is not subject to DOS error recovery flakes, as are some other utilities. Another unique feature of DataCare is that each licensed user is not only permitted but encouraged to give a limited copy (by limited I mean that the program works for three weeks) to a friend or acquaintance who wants to try it out. I personally have sent more than a dozen copies out to friends, many of whom were impressed enough to have paid the old price. I have saved the best part for last. The price of DataCare has been $129.95 for over a year. The price has been cut to $49.95. How long this price will hold I do not know. DataCare is published by: Ellicott Software 3777 Plum Hill Court Ellicott City, MD 21043 (301) 465-2690 Questions may be addressed to me at Fido 109/628, or to the publisher at the above address. Fido 109/628 has no financial interest in Ellicott Software, and receives nothing in return for this review. We just like to see someone who has done his homework be rewarded for his effort, and the author of DataCare has done his homework well. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 28 Jul 1986 NOTES ON CONNCENTRAL FIDO SYSOPS MEETING, 7/5/86 A small group of Fido Sysops met at Jim Ryan's office (Presco) in Woodbridge to discuss matters pertaining primarily to the ConnCentral Net. The following topics were discussed: 1. Picnic: A picnic will be held on Saturday, July 19, at the Lake Quassapaug Amusement Park. The picnic will be open to all Bulletin Board people (and their families). Sysops can announce the picnic on their boards. Bring your own drinks and food to share. Jim Ryan is in charge and will send out a file on it. 2. Responsibilities of Sysops: Chuck Venter made the point that although he is the Net Coordinator, it is not his responsibility to monitor individual nodes, or provide all the answers to everybody questions. The Sysop EchoMail area is a good place to leave questions. Chuck feels he doesn't have time for everything so decided to delegate some of his responsibilities. New Users: Bill Lyman volunteered to help new sysops get started. He is going to put together an archived disk with all the files a new sysop needs to get started, including utilities. Fido Utilities: Ed Rauh will take charge of keeping a collection of all useful Fido Utilities up-to-date. He would like all sysops to send him a list of the Utilities they have and the version number. The files will be kept on Cheshire Fido for convenience. Ed will set up a Server on his board for sysops only so they can request files from him. He will send around documentation on how to use the server. Modem Help: Jim Ryan is available for technical help with modems. Reorganization of FidoMail: Because of the heavy flow of FidoMail and EchoMail through Cheshire Fido, it was decided a decentralization of the mail was needed. Based primarily on calling areas, the Fidos were divided into four groups each with their own hub. Chuck will send mail to each hub and they will distribute to their own members. Conversely, each node will route all net mail to their hub who will send it on to Chuck (or to another node in their own group. This should greatly simplify matters and eliminate backlog at Cheshire Fido. Bob Morris will be the hub for the Bridgeport and Milford area, as he has toll-free calling. The hub assignments are as follows ( all net 141 unless otherwise noted): Hub: 333 215 710 820 ------ ------- ----- ------ Nodes: 335 9 730 550 375 42 560 269 320 810 Fidonews Page 7 28 Jul 1986 212 16/209 485 16/630 328 16/207 491 350 Bill Wonneberger will also receive mail from 333 when he has his Fido set up. Each sysop should put the new routing files into effect on July 15 (for mail the morning of the 16th) This should give us a few days to test it and discuss any problems at the picnic. 4. Connection with Hartford Net: A few sysops from the 142 net were present. They were asked if they were interested in linking up with our net. Bill Unghire (142/214) said he would bring it up with the other sysops. Bob Morris will try hooking up with Bill for EchoMail. We do not have a connection to the Hartford area now but Bob can manage it somehow. 5. Arbitration: The question arose how to resolve various conflicts that come up between boards. At first an arbitration board was suggested, but was considered unnecessary. Problems can first be discussed via EchoMail, then if there is still a problem, it can be arbitrated at the next sysop meeting. The meetings will be held every two months. Problem boards can be dropped from the net and the information sent to the Region Coordinator. 6. User problems: Problems with user's are left up to the individual sysop. EchoMail should be used to alert other Fido's. Ed Rauh mentioned a bogus version of Fido 11u which was uploaded to his system which caused it to crash. 7. Next meeting: The Next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9 at 7:30pm at the AT&T office in Hamden. 2750 Dixwell Ave. Bob Morris will be host. 8. New EchoMail: Ed Rauh has version 1.31 which he will distribute. 9. Misc.: Bill Lyman is going to the Fido Conference out west. If anyone has anything they want him to bring up, let him know. Ray Brand ( sysop of Lido Hotel) wants people to know he does NOT work at Computer Factory, so don't ask him prices already. Ed Rauh says he is restraining from mentioning his prices in EchoMail and others should do so too. All agreed. The meeting lasted about 3 hours. The attendees are as follows: Jim Ryan Silver Screen 141/9 Woodbridge Ellen Snyder B.O.M.C. 141/350 Orange Joel Robb Ganymede 141/730 Watertown Chuck Venter Cheshire Fido 141/600 Cheshire Bill Lyman Compusoft#1 141/810 Wallingford Mike Mortell Compusoft#2 141/820 Meriden Fidonews Page 8 28 Jul 1986 Vince Perriello Naugy-Net 141/491 Naugatuck Eric Nilsson Eric's Fido 16/645 New Britain Bob Morris ASCII Neighborhood 141/333 West Haven Pete Rosenthal Fido/First State Net Wilmington,DE Ed Rauh BCP Tech 141/215 New Haven Bill Unghire Bill's Fido 142/214 Newington Bob Beaudoin Dave's Fido 141/xxx Bridgeport Dave Beaudoin Dave's Fido 141/xxx Bridgeport Raymond S. Brand Lido Hotel 16/630 Hamden Bill Wonneberger Calllahan's Stratford ---- Submitted by Ellen Snyder (141/350) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 9 28 Jul 1986 FidoNet Standards Committee This article is intended to describe the purpose and goals of the FidoNet Standards Committee. Your input and feedback will be very much appreciated. The Problems ------------ 1. Implementors of FidoNet software (Fido itself and the many emerging "FidoClones") need a rigorous definition of FidoNet. 2. When deciding whether to list a class of nodes in the node list, the IFNA has no way of knowing if a FidoClone is sufficiently compatible with FidoNet to be "safe" to list. 3. Sysops need to know if a particular system will allow them to access FidoNet. 4. There are already two significant FidoNet standards, the one that is implemented by Fido, and SEAdog's extensions; plus at least one clone that seems incompatible (not by intent). The situation is becoming urgent. The Goals --------- The goals of the FSC are, of course, primarily aimed at solving the above problems. Our first priority is to document the existing FidoNet protocol, as designed by Tom Jennings, sufficient to implement a FidoClone without recourse to other sources. We must also provide IFNA with some means of quickly and decisively determining the degree of compatibility of a given FidoClone, thus providing a wider range of systems to FidoNet sysops. Once this initial task is complete, the next step is to document the existing extensions to the basic FidoNet protocol, specifically including the added capabilities of SEAdog. Finally, when all of the existing protocols have been documented, we may then look at how the standard can be improved. We optimistically hope to have the first stage (documentation of existing protocol, as implemented by Fido) ready for the International FidoNet Conference in Colorado Springs. In any event, we will be there and will present a progress report at that time. We are also, of course, always open to suggestions and comments, and are available to answer any questions. Randy Bush 122/6, Chaircreature Fidonews Page 10 28 Jul 1986 Ken Kaplan 100/22, IFNA Administration Ben Baker 100/76, IFNA Technical Tom Jennings 125/1, Fido Thom Henderson 107/8, SEAdog Gee Wong 107/312, Random techie Bob Pritchett 107/414, Neighbor of Colossus ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 11 28 Jul 1986 David James, 132/104 EchoMail Can Help You Find Your Roots More people than ever are barking up the family tree and many are using the latest in high tech to do so. Now a Genealogy EchoMail Conference has been started to enable those who have computerized their family research to take advantage of FidoNet's unique message-sharing capabilities. At present, the conference is running on two systems: Commsoft Fido (143/26) in Mountain View, California and Downeast Roots Fido (132/104) in Rye, New Hampshire. We believe this is the first time automatic unrestricted message communication across the country has been available for genealogists. Genealogy is the third most popular hobby in America (only coin and stamp collecting appearing to have a larger following). But, personal computing is rising rapidly as an avocation, and for good reason. We've never before had an in-home tool that gives us the power to amplify our minds and labors as we go about performing intellectual tasks and enjoying the pursuit of our hobbies. We hope the new Genealogy EchoMail Conference will be a guide to combining the power of the computer with the fascination of genealogy. Technology and interest in family origins and relationships are the engine and fuel which will drive family research to new levels of popularity, adequacy, accuracy, and importance. But it is involvement with personal computers which will make each of millions of genealogists advocates of better documentation, greater standardization, more adequate access to existing (but hidden) information, and more sharing of unpublished data. Large numbers of people involved in microcomputing are rapidly producing a society as familiar with technology as genealogists are familiar with genealogical research methods. The marriage of technology and genealogical methodology is ripe and most promising. The potential for involving genealogists in computing is awesome. The knowledge is dawning on genealogists that the computer is a new, affordable, and powerful tool for research and records management or book production. For the present, telecommunications is the most untapped area of microcomputing and nowhere moreso than in the area of genealogical computing. We hope the Genealogy EchoMail Conference will begin to change that. If you would like to join the conference, contact Ken Whitaker, Sysop of Commsoft Fido 143/26, via FidoMail. Ken is conference coordinator. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 12 28 Jul 1986 by Rev. Brian Hughes, INSIGHT 109/634 Hunting Lutherans Amid the Fidos Scattered about out there in the far reaches of Fido's touch there must be a few Lutherans. For those of you who don't even know what a Lutheran is, well, you may never know just how deprived a life you lead, though Garrison Keillor has helped to promulgate our reputation. But just in case this message may grace the eyes of one of these rare birds, are you interested in forming a net? We could co-ordinate the list, might even help with some kind of newsletter. As it stands now, Dr. Mau, recently of General Secretary fame from the Lutheran World Federation is on staff here and he is able to obtain the latest news from Geneva via telenet which we've been putting up on our board. We've also been putting up selected "hot" news items from the World Council of Churches from their Ecumenical News Service, but we're not as timely with them. We could pass these news releases on through a net, or just help pass around info on computer use in the church, lesson plans and materials on faith development, ecumenical concerns, i.e.; the dialogues and education, sermon helps, Adult Forum ideas, Young Adult ideas (we minister with the yuppies of Capitol Hill in Washington - what an interesting lot they are), or perhaps you would want to echo mail some message areas on ethics or theology. If any of the above sounds at all interesting, send us a line, or if someone out there is already invloved in this, send us a line too and we'd be happy to join in. Send Fidomail c/o Brian Hughes 109/634. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 13 28 Jul 1986 Joseph E Rock, Jr Fido 128/15 An improved handler for Generic Fido on a Z-100 Hello again. This is just a quick note to let all H/Z-100 owners know of an improved version of the Generic Fido interrupt handler that I wrote. Being the typical type of person that is not satisfied to leave well enough alone, I have added a few features to the handler that I think are useful. First, there is now a "watchdog" function for use when someone is outside Fido remotely. When activated, it simply monitors the modem and reboots the system if the caller hangs up. The second function, and the one that was much more difficult to implement, is an "answer and send message" function. The idea behind this function is that I wanted to not have incoming callers get either a constant busy signal or no answer at all when I was using the machine (and therefore Fido was not running). This function monitors the modem and when a caller has connected it determines the incoming baud rate and then sends a message. The message can be set at any time with a simple program from the console (or a file) and activated/deactivated with two other small programs. The complete set of programs can be downloaded from my system (Fido 128/15 -- phone 303-591-4273). One thing I would like to do is to compile a list of all Z-100 based Fido's. Therefore, I would appreciate it if everyone who is running a Z-100 based Fido would leave me a note (easy to do if you call to get the new version). I would also like to know if anyone has their own version of a Z-100 Fido interrupt handler. I think that I have the first Z-100 based Fido and would like to confirm or (hopefully not) disprove this thought. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 14 28 Jul 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= INSTALLING COMPUTER CHIPS Guy Pinte New York IBM PC Users Group It's no real problem to install chips in your computer. Just a little common sense and care are all that is required. TURN OFF THE POWER. Remove the PC cover and any cards, but remember which slots the cards were in. [Marking them with tape and writing the location is a good idea.] An installation tool is not required but a chip extractor, a special tweezers with hooks at the tips, is highly recommended when removing chips. NEVER DISCONNECT A CABLE, INSTALL OR PULL EITHER A CARD OR CHIP WITH THE POWER ON!!! The three main problems encountered are static electricity, broken pins, and carelessness. STATIC. Do not wear synthetic clothes or leather soled shoes. Work and stand on newspaper. Discharge yourself before beginning [by touching the metal chassis of the computer]. Do =not= use aluminum foil as a work surface!! PINS. The pins on most chips are spread apart in too much of a "v" shape to align easily with the socket holes. You may need to place the chip on its side and press on it gently, bending the set of pins resting on the table inward SLIGHTLY to move them more near vertical. Do this one chip at a time as you install them into the sockets. [Learning to install chips without this bending is strongly recommended -- it =can= be done.] Each chip has a "U" shaped notch at one end. This is important! This notch should match up with a similar mark on the socket or you may have to use other chips of the same type [on the board] as a guide. Set each chip into its socket GENTLY and push it firmly in with both thumbs. DO NOT RUSH. [Installing a chip backwards may be harmful to its health when the power is turned on.] ------------ | | > | | | ------------ ^ | NOTCH After the chips are installed, you will need to set the dip Fidonews Page 15 28 Jul 1986 switches if you are adding memory chips. There are two switch units on the PC and one on the XT. Positions 1-4 of switch #2 reflect the total memory of all the installed memory on the PC. The single switch unit on the XT reflects only the total on the system board and does not deal with expansion card memory. Some switches 'slide' while others 'rock'. Consult the Guide to Operations manual or expansion card documentation for the proper switch settings. [But read it BEFORE all else fails.] Note: Rocker settings are not always intuitive. The active end is pushed down (use a ball point pen). However, some diagrams show the raised end of the rocker as black. Black in this case is the 'other end'. Confusing? Beware of illustrations. Compare the illustration for the pre-upgrade settings to what you had before, this will help you determine whether a switch should be down or up in the illustration. Some expansion cards have switches to 'switch in' individual banks of memory as needed. This should not be confused with setting the starting address of the card which is usually equal to the amount of memory on the system board. Some cards require to be told the total memory on the card itself. Now, reinstall the cards, insert DOS in drive A and turn on the power. It will take longer than you are accustomed to. Run CHKDSK and note the total memory at the bottom of the screen. this should be your new total memory. If it is not, then the switches are set incorrectly. If the memory failed the diagnostic and gave an error message on the screen, you may have a bad chip. This is rare but it does happen. If you have a special diagnostic that can locate the chip use it. The first step is to locate the row of chips with the bad one(s). POWER OFF. Set the memory switches to the next lower 64K and power on again. If the diagnostic passes, then the bad chip is in the last 64K. If it does not pass, reduce the memory (by the switches) by another 64K etc. until the row harboring the culprit is isolated. Note: Since the XT switches do not deal with expansion card memory and therefore the total memory, a different technique will have to be used. If the card allows the switching out of individual memory banks, use them. Otherwise you may have to remove chips a row at a time until the fault goes away. Once the row has been isolated, pull a chip from a good row and set it aside. Pull a chip from the bad row and install it in the good row. Repeat until you get a failure. Remember when you pull and install each chip Power Down first. There could be more than one bad chip. After you have tried all the chips from the bad row and not found a bad one, things may be okay. If a chip was not fully seated, Fidonews Page 16 28 Jul 1986 or if oxidation has formed, an undeserved error may point to a perfectly good chip. When you moved the chip, you may have corrected the fault when it was reseated. Install the chips you removed from the good row and install them in the row that you removed all the "suspect" chips from. Rerun the diagnostics with all the memory switched on again. If all goes well, power off, button up, and enjoy. ADDITIONAL NOTES: 1) Not all IBM compatibles can be upgraded merely by adding the extra RAM. Some may need some other addition. For example, the machine I used required a proprietary chip from the manufacturer. 2) Some IBM compatibles run diagnostics on power up. One way to check out new chips is to swap them with original RAM chips and run the diagnostics. You may be able to find a bad chip this way. Running the diagnostics overnite may help isolate a marginal chip. This is suggested as a method only if you cannot isolate a new RAM chip as bad any other way. But be careful. It means =carefully= removing chips you know are good. 3) A useful tool to help installing the new chips is a plastic (disposable) putty knife available in most hardware stores. If it slips, it is less likely to damage the mother board. 4) Probably the most common problem in this process is the correct setting of the DIP switches. For example, I thought I had done everything right, but on first power-up I lost graphics capability and could only address 256k. I was SURE I had done everything right. But it was a matter of having flipped the wrong DIP switch. Not all compatibles follow IBM's standards in which switches do what. IF ALL ELSE FAILS, TRY READING YOUR OPERATING MANUAL. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 17 28 Jul 1986 William/Eunhee Hunter Fido 109/626 Computer Industry Spotlight on: DATA SYSTEMS DESIGN, INC. -- Data Systems Design, Inc. manufactures computer peripheral systems such as mass storage subsystems in control boards. Positions are available in engineering and sales. There are on-the-job instruction and training programs for each field of service. Contact: Dick Krenshaw, Employment Administrator, Data Systems Design, Inc., 2241 Lundy Avenue, San Jose, CA 95131. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 18 28 Jul 1986 William/Eunhee Hunter Fido 109/626 THE ALL-IMPORTANT "HUMAN FACTOR" When you have completed the second phase of your research -- and have compiled a substantial list of firms that seem likely to have current suitable opportunities (including names of hiring officials whenever possible) -- then you must prepare a customized cover letter for each firm and mail this, together with a copy of your resume, to each company. Note that, in preparing your cover letter it is extremely valuable if you can cite a referral or other contact within the firm. In fact, anything you can do to personalize your application -- thereby separating it from the daily tide of anonymous applications most large firms must deal with -- will greatly help your chances of being called in for an interview. Even if you don't know someone inside the firm, you may have made some indirect contact with the firm or industry that can be mentioned; for example you may have attended a lecture or meeting where a company official presided; mention this as having sparked your interest in the firm. Use your imagination: try to find some way of relating yourself in a personal way to the hiring official, his department, his occupation, his firm, or his industry. This latter point suggests the great importance that virtually all employers attach to dealing with the applicant AS A PERSON. Employers, like all human beings, tend to be favorably disposed to people who share their own interests and views. Your cover letter is only one of many ways you can create a favorable personal reaction from an employer. Another way -- probably the best way -- is by talking directly with him (or her), or with someone he works with. Of course, you may find a personal conversation very difficult to arrange, even via telephone. Still you should be keenly aware of the importance of personal contact with prospective employers. Whenever possible, put aside your resume and talk as often as you can, as much as you can, to anyone in the industry. Discuss the industry, the company, or even yourself. For usually, it's the "human-factor" -- identifying yourself to the employer as an individual -- that makes the difference. Whether you call this "networking," "informational interviewing," or simply "an informed approach to job hunting" it is the best way known to land the job you want and deserve. Distributed via FidoNet BBS by NOVA_WEG Fido 109/626, W.E.G. Systems, P.O. Box 5072, Springfield, VA 22150. For more information regarding the series of articles printed here, contact the NOVA_WEG direct at (703)-425-0695, 1200baud, 24hrs daily. OR contact the FidoNet Host Node nearest you carrying the employment listings and download the file RESEARCH.TXT which contains all 4-parts in one article. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 28 Jul 1986 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= Ellicott Software Fido 109/628 DataCare, a PC Magazine choice in its recent review of hard disk products, is available at a new low price - $49.95, down from $129.95. This is the same product that has been favorably reviewed. The price is for a limited time only. This product is used by a number of Fido BBS's in net 109, and has found favor with many people that are not SYSOPS in the Baltimore - DC - Virginia area. Three-week trials are available from any user of the product. The review can be read in the PC magazine issue that had as its emphasis EGA boards. A review has been submitted to FidoNews for publication, but it is uncertain when it will appear. DataCare is published by: Ellicott Software, Inc. 3777 Plum Hill Court Ellicott City, MD 21043 (301) 465-2790 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 20 28 Jul 1986 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 21 28 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 22 28 Jul 1986 SEAdog Electronic Mail System Special Offer for FidoNet Sysops System Enhancement Associates, the makers of the popular ARC file archive utility, are proud to announce the release of the SEAdog electronic mail system. SEAdog is a PC-based electronic mail system which is fully FidoNet compatible. In addition to all the functionality of FidoNet mail, SEAdog adds the following: o User directory support, for automatic lookup of node numbers o Return receipts o Audit trails o Message forwarding, with or without a retained copy o Twenty four hour mail reception o High priority mail for immediate delivery o The ability to request files and updates of files from other SEAdog systems. o No route files needed! o A full screen user interface that our beta test sites fell in love with! SEAdog is NOT a bulletin board system, but it can be used as a "front end" for Fido (version 11q or later), allowing you to add the full functionality of SEAdog to your existing system. SEAdog normally sells for $100/node, but for a limited time only we are offering SEAdog to registered FidoNet sysops for only $50! Orders may be placed by sending a check or money order to: System Enhancement Associates 21 New Street, Wayne NJ 07470 Or by calling (201) 473-5153 (VISA and MasterCard accepted). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 23 28 Jul 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 1 Aug 1986 Registration deadline for the International FidoNet Conference. Late registrations cost extra, so register now! 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Ken Whitaker, 143/26 GENEALOGY Conference Using EchoMail I am looking for Fido nodes in the U.S who would like to participate in an EchoMail conference dedicated to genealogy. This conference would be for the computer genealogist and the sharing of genealogical information. Currently we have only one other node in Rye, NH (132/104) and we're looking for more. If you are interested in carrying this conference on your board, contact me via FidoMail at 143/26. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Doug goens Sysop of Node 108/45 WATCH OUT FOR THIS I have just discovered that when a user logs on under the first name ALL and no second name he has just become one of the mose written to users on the board. If he has access to the message area (as he does on my system), he also has the ability to delete message to that name. So all of those messages that were previously written to ALL then this person has all the power to delete these messages. I hope that this notice doesn't get to you too late. Fidonews Page 24 28 Jul 1986 ----------------------------------------------------------------- David James Fido 132/104 Genealogical Computing Seminar The New England Historic and Genealogical Society will sponsor another Genealogical Computing Seminar September 20, 1986, at the Boston Museum of Science Computer Place. This will be an opportunity to learn from qualified professionals in both computers and genealogy, to experiment with different genealogical computing software and word processing programs available, and to gain valuable hands-on experience under expert guidance. Familiarity with either and IBM (or IBM-compatible) or an Apple personal computer is necessary, and you should be in a stage in your genealogical research where you can benefit from computerization--you may need a system to organize your own data, or you may be working on a book for your family association. There will be an advanced class for those ready to try database programming, but the seminar is primarily designed for intermediate level computer genealogists. The costs since last year's computer seminar have risen dramatically, so the seminar fee has been raised accordingly, to $85.00 for the day. Hotel accommodations within mass transit distance of the museum are available for NEHGS members at a discount. Space is limited! For more information, or to register, call or write Marian White Education Department New England Historic Genealogical Society 101 Newbury Street Boston, MA 02116 (617) 536-5740 -----------------------------------------------------------------