Volume 3, Number 31 18 August 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (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. Copyright (C) 1986, by the International FidoNet Association. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact IFNA. 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. ARTICLES Free publicity for your BBS! USR Does It Again Yet Another Article on Shareware ALS...It Ain't Just Sex New Alternate Lifestyles Fido 2. COLUMNS Running 8-bit CP/M software under MSDOS =is= possible Computer Industry Spotlight 3. WANTED FidoNet information needed! 4. FOR SALE Get Your Baud in Shape with BDawg DataCare Hard Disk Utility Entertainment Software for your PC! Public Domain Software Library Sale!! RAINBOW FREEWARE Published 5. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Fidonews Page 2 18 Aug 1986 Need a node in Gainsville, Fla! Fidonews Page 3 18 Aug 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= TAKE A BYTE OF "NEWTON'S APPLE" WITH FREEWARE FROM DU PONT NEWTON'S APPLE, the upbeat popular PBS science series, enters the computer age in October with the introduction of NEWTON'S APPLE FREEWARE FROM DU PONT. Produced by KTCA-TV in Minneapolis/St. Paul, and made possible by a grant from the Du Pont Company, the award-winning series begins its fourth season this fall. For the past three years, NEWTON'S APPLE viewers at home and in the classroom have enjoyed the fun and fascination of scientific discovery. Now viewers can take discovery one step further with free software made possible by a grant from Du Pont. The NEWTON'S APPLE FREEWARE package will consist of five Apple compatible programs that will each treat one of the scientific principles covered in the series. For example, as NEWTON'S APPLE host Ira Flatow relates the laws of probability to the workings of a slot machine, a companion software program brings the lesson to viewers' fingertips. Through computer simulations of coin flipping, dice throwing and slot machine playing, the user learns why gambling doesn't always pay. Additional software will be based on such program segment themes as mirrors, hypothermia, inertia and a season quiz. NEWTON'S APPLE has been endorsed by the National Education Association and has received awards for both the series and its educational materials from Action for Childrens Television and the National Broadcast Promotion Association. NEWTON'S APPLE FREEWARE FROM DU PONT will be made available at no cost to viewers. The software will be available on Compuserve through the Apple Forum and on The Source through the Apple Special Interest Group (SIG) and EdLine. The software will also be distributed via a nationwide network of local computer user groups and bulletin boards, from which users (whether school systems or individuals) will be able to either download or send for the programs. FIDO bulletin boards are ideal for this kind of network, and we are happy to offer NEWTON'S APPLE FREEWARE FROM DU PONT to all interested sysops. If your bulletin board would like to offer this software, please contact Thom Henderson at node 107/7 so that he can send me a list of interested sysops. We would be happy to let you preview the software when it becomes available later this summer. We would also include the name of your bulletin board in all press releases sent to your area. I look forward to hearing from you. Gregory M. Cooke Fidonews Page 4 18 Aug 1986 Senior Associate Stone/Hallinan Associates 441 Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10023 (212) 557-8400 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 18 Aug 1986 Tim Sullivan, 108/62 Thanks USR! Monday July 28, 1986 my U.S. Robotics Courier 2400 modem began to act very odd; by Tuesday it decided not to act at all. After eliminating all other possible causes I determined that the fault must have been with the modem. First thing Wednesday morning I dialed USR's tech support number: (800) 982-5151. After giving the technician only my modem's serial number he said, "What can I do to help Mr. Sullivan". Within moments we determined that there was a physical problem with the modem. We made arrangements to have a new PC board shipped direct to me overnight. Thursday morning UPS arrived with the new PC board and after a quick replacement I was up and running again. I have dealt with many mail-order shops, local computer stores, dealers, and computer manufacturers, and I have never seen anything that can compare with the accuracy of USR's customer infomation, quality of their product, and promptness of their customer support. So, THANKS USR for a job well done! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 18 Aug 1986 Mark J. Welch, 161/459 Does Shareware work? "It depends." Mostly, it depends on what type of product it is, what audience it's aimed at, how often you update it, and, rarely on what the price is. Many authors, with Jim Button being one of the most visible examples, have switched from "Shareware" to "Demo-ware," in which they include a subset of the manual or a crippled version of the program, forcing you to upgrade in order to use the product's full feature set. I think that sucks, but it's also inevitable. Demo-ware deprives the user of the chance to test-drive the product completely. It's like getting to test drive a car, but only for ten feet inside the dealer showroom. You can tell if it moves, and you can see what color paint it has, but you have no idea how it's going to perform on the freeway. Other companies have abandoned Shareware entirely. Take a look at the August 25 InfoWorld. PC-Index, praised by Jerry Pournelle in BYTE, was withdrawn from Shareware, because only three people paid for it. PC-Outline was sold to Brown Bag Software, and is now available only as a commercial product. (Brown Bag also sells PC-Write under its own name, in what I think is a bizarre but quite acceptable compromise: offer the program both as Shareware and commercially, and see what happens.) A good compromise is Chi-Write, which gives you a fully functional program but flashes an advertising appeal for money every once in a while. You also have to pay for the product if you want support for certain displays and printers. That's fair: it gives you a chance to use all the features, but doesn't really let you get away with using the package forever for free. Does Shareware ever work? Ask Bob Wallace (of Quicksoft, author of PC-Write). He has one of the best word processors on the market, and he gives the whole product and the whole manual (except the index) on disk, and he makes genuine product enhancements every six months or so. For him, Shareware sure ought to work. People use the product every day, corporations use it, and they can measure how much the program is worth by looking at comparable commercial packages. Bob makes money. Lots of it. Quicksoft also offers support to registered users, and for your $75 (the price was scheduled to rise soon), you get the manual, the program on disk, and business-reply postcards good for two disk updates. And you get a newsletter a couple or four times a year, notifying you of updates and such. Quicksoft is the best example I could point to. Then, on the other extreme, there's PC-Talk, the original Fidonews Page 7 18 Aug 1986 Shareware program, written by the late Andrew Fluegelman, and Red Ryder, from Scott Watson. In both cases, I have talked to people who sent in their $35 and got absolutely nothing. Not even an eighteen-cent postcard saying "thanks." I've heard that the situation has improved, but the bad reputation will certainly last, and will hurt other shareware authors. I hate to upset our Humble Editor, but Systems Enhancement Associates took my money ($50) and sent me a disk and a photocopied manual, but I never got a notice of the new version. I just found it one day on a local BBS. [Thank Ghu the version I found wasn't 5.13...] Let's be fair, too: despite the fact that every sysop and BBS user [yes, you!] in the country uses ARC regularly, very few people have sent checks to Thom and Andrew. Maybe that explains why SEAdog, the Fido-compatible electronic mail system, isn't Shareware. I guess human nature dictates that more often than not, Shareware won't work. If I can get something for free, I'm not likely to pay for it just to make me feel good. I already have the program for free; I want something more for my $35, and in Shareware that means update notices, upgrades, or at least a thank you that shows that the shareware author has warm, fuzzy feelings. Shareware doesn't work for games. The Generic Adventure Game System (GAGS) has done moderately well -- I've taken in about $3,000 total, in twelve months, against total expenses of about $2,500. My time -- 30 to 40 hours a week for six months of development, and maybe 10 hours a week since then -- will never be paid for, even at minimum wage. (Alas, I collect sales tax from Californians, and take hours to file that paperwork; and I'll file an honest tax return and pay taxes on that $500 profit as well....) Most game authors don't do nearly as well. One author I spoke to received no checks for an entertainment program, even though after a year he know of a users' group that had sold hundreds of copies. Obviously, games are low priority. I use PC-Write every day, perhaps for 10-20 hours a week. It is a tool, and I value it highly. I play Trek 2.3 once a week at best. And I can see the value of PC-Write: it helps me make money as a professional writer. Trek, on the other hand, is simply fun. We pay $5.50 to see a movie, for two hours of entertainment, yet most users will never send the $10 Shareware contribution for Trek. Yes, I paid for PC-Write, PC-Windows, ARC, and Trek. I have a vested interest in paying for my Shareware, of course, since I'm a Shareware author. I've briefly used dozens of other programs -- the Disk Organizer (DOG101A), Fansi-Console, PC-Outline, Instant Recall, and others Fidonews Page 8 18 Aug 1986 -- and not paid for them because, despite their high quality, I don't use them. That, of course, is the whole point of Shareware: if you use it, pay for it. But if you use it, pay for it. That's what they mean when they say "User-Supported Software," which is more awkward but also more appropriate. If I were doing it all over again, would I release GAGS as Shareware? Yes. I released GAGS as Shareware because I wanted to be certain of success. If I'd sold it to a publisher, in the dismal game market of mid-1985, it certainly would have lost money, since it would have cost a fortune to create packaging, print manuals, and so on. By distributing GAGS as Shareware, I've managed to get the program into thousands of people's hands, and I've gotten checks from a few dozen. And my name is in the limelight, since many BBSs have GAGS available for on-line game playing. All in all, GAGS has turned out about as I'd expected. Better, in fact, since I was much more pessimistic. I was surprised when I hit the $1,000 mark, and when I hit that point I actually turned around and put extra effort into upgrading GAGS to meet the requests of my registered users. That, I suppose, is what proves that paying for Shareware is important: getting checks prompted me to provide service to those users. (The $15 registration for me has been a mixed blessing: I've sent out four or five update notices, which take time, energy, paper, envelopes and postage.) My wildest dreams haven't come true, though. Bob Wallace takes in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for PC-Write, and he's got an office and staff people. Jim Button even has an 800 number. They are the exceptions. An aside: Public domain, for the IBM PC, is much rarer than it was for CP/M. I guess that's because of Shareware. A lot of people who would once have released a package as public domain are deciding instead to put a little request in, saying, if you like this program, please send $10, or $25, or whatever you think it's worth. They get a few checks, maybe some get a couple hundred dollars, and maybe that encourages them. If it were public domain, maybe people who'd paid nothing would be more willing to offer suggestions. Hmm. The next project? I'm working with some other programmers on BIX [the BYTE Information Exchange] to write a set of programs to test for IBM compatibility. It will be pure public-domain, because we all agree that a public-domain project is much more likely to elicit help from software vendors and other programmers (hint, hint) than a Shareware or commercial project where someone would get money for other people's suggestions. Fidonews Page 9 18 Aug 1986 The Compatibility Test Program Suite will be public domain because of the nature of the project. If I were doing GAGS again, given the fact that the market for games is better, I'd think seriously about selling it commercially. I doubt I'll write another game program, though, so there's no way to be sure. I'll probably port GAGS to the Macintosh this fall, and release it as Shareware. I won't go to the effort of porting to any machine that Borland doesn't release Turbo for: I don't believe enough Amiga or ST owners would pay for it to make it worth it. If someone came to me with a proposal to take GAGS commercial for the Mac or another system, or even enhance it and take it commercially for the PC, I'd think about it very seriously. What effect has Shareware had on the industry? In the case of communications software, it's been devastating. I think PC-Talk, Procomm, and Qmodem have more installed base than the commercial packages. Most of them aren't paid for, but people keep writing new Shareware communications packages. The effect is that, unless you're Microstuf with a solid, recognized product like Crosstalk, you don't have a chance. Microsoft hasn't even made a dent with Microsoft Access, although part of the reason may be its problems with its copy-protection scheme. Other areas haven't been as good. PC-Write has done well, and I love it, but I don't think it's even in the top ten word processors in terms of regular users. The same applies to databases and spreadsheets. I don't even know of a good Shareware spreadsheet. Shareware has done its part to cut the cost of software, but I think Borland was much more important at that. The whole idea, to me, is that if I pay for a package and get lousy support, buggy code, bad documentation, or just plain bad software, I'm going to jump ship at the first chance I get, whether it's shareware from Mark Welch or commercial software from Lotus or Ashton-Tate. -- Mark J. Welch P.S. By now, most everyone knows that the generic terms for this method of distribution are "Shareware" and "User-supported- software." "Freeware" is a trademark of the Headlands Press, and applies only to PC-Talk. In some ways, it's a good thing, since "Freeware" implies that the program is free, while the other terms better express what's going on: people sharing software, and users supporting software authors. Fidonews Page 10 18 Aug 1986 P.S.S. For those who are curious: I moved, left InfoWorld, and WelchNet is now a private mail-only FidoNet node, all because I am starting law school at the University of California at Berkeley. (Hmm. Maybe if Shareware had worked better, I'd be going to Stanford or Harvard....Then again, no.) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 11 18 Aug 1986 Fido 107/269 ALTERNATE LIFESTYLE(S) by "Adam * Gillian" Utopian Quest calls itself an "Alternate Lifestyle(s)" BBS which has been created largely to find and network with other "ALS" boards, organizations and individuals. WHAT IS "ALS" AND WHY IS FIDO BEING "AFFLICTED" WITH IT? First of all, the FidoNet itself has some deep philosophical roots in the Alternate Lifestyle(s) Movement ... The "shall not be too easily annoyed" dictum is a basic reality of communal living. Dedication to "free and gratis" BBSs is something Hippie and Digger survivors can recognize as their own economic utopianism in a new context. The Fido wizard's attitude toward individual creativity and responsibility would strike a responsive chord among Beatniks and Libertarians. The term ALS has carried with it connotations of benign secular humanism, leftish politics and sexual adventurousness. The "alternatives" in ALS usually referred to replacements for diadic romanticism. Celibacy (lifelong singleness ... not necessarily chastity), and various forms of plural marriage and communalism ... were (and still are) explored. SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT ... so to speak. There has been a deplorable trend in the BBS world to use ALS as a euphemism for Gay. This bit of NewSpeak usually describes a SIG in a commercial data service run by people who are neither Gay nor ALS. Not all Gays are living alternate lifestyles. Conversely, not all ALS people are Gay. Gay and ALS are are not synonymous; nor are they mutually exclusive. In the BBS world, Gay BBSs are among the most numerous, oldest and most sophisticated non- technical boards. NOW, ABOUT "SWINGERS" ... ARE THEY ALS? There are different kinds of "swingers": among them are the Recreationals, Utopians, and the "Would-Be's." The Bees and their sons are by far the most numerous, the least ALS, and the most catered to by the erotic entertainment industry. Fantasy dominates in these BBSs, with "hot chat" an increasingly popular activity on commercial, mainstream data services. AND WHOM ELSE ?? An Alternate Lifestyle(s) BBS, in addition to addressing the issues of Gay men, Lesbian women, Family Synergy households, non- exclusive couples and polyfidelitous individuals (be they Fidonews Page 12 18 Aug 1986 straight, biSexual, or Gay), can also legitimately find itself providing an electronic center for Feminists, single parents, Naturists and members of many other groups that find themselves ill-served by mainstream media. THE UTOPIAN QUEST On Valentine's Day, 1985, The UTOPIAN Network's TBBS became one of the few reality based, sexually oriented, Alternate Lifestyle(s) BBSs in the country. In March of 1986, Utopian Quest LI joined the FidoNet and EchoMail capability was added in July. We want to find other nodes in the FidoNet that see themselves, partially or totally, as ALS boards. If any of what we have said in this article strikes a responsive chord, we want to hear from you ... and soon. Mitch Kessler & Gerrie Blum ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 13 18 Aug 1986 Mitch Kessler, Gerrie Blum, 107/269 Adult but not X-rated UTOPIAN_QUEST_LI, Fido 107/269, Copiague NY is looking for other nodes and individual users involved with Alternate Lifestyles. UTOPIAN started as a correspondence club more than a year ago, running under TBBS. Until now, it has been used primarily by bisexuals, non-traditional couples and a few Gay participants. However, we hope participation in FidoNet will lead to a more diversified user and information base. UTOPIAN's efforts are concentrated on issues of social and sexual (rather than dietary or religious) options. For example; in conjunction with London's OUTSIDER'S CLUB, we are beginning to explore how electronic communications can meet the the social and creative needs of disabled people. UTOPIAN QUEST is Adult but not X-rated. Mature and non judgmental discussion of any subject is welcome, although Alternative Family and Family Surrogate structures: Line, Contract, Egalitarian and Group Marriages; Multi-Adult, and Cooperative Households, Singles-By-Choice and Sexual Minorities, are uniquely appropriate in The UTOPIAN. In addition to providing a forum and information resource for the Alternate Lifesyles, UTOPIAN QUEST will operate like any other Fido node, although with a distinctly non-technical slant. The files section will specialize in programs with liberal arts applications and in guides and tutorials which help bring microcomputer technology to new users. Combatting both Sexism and CompPhobia through education is part of the Utopian Committment. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 14 18 Aug 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= --: 80MATE :-- Running CP/M 80 Under MS-DOS Scott N. Loveall A unique and fascinating product crossed my path the other day. At first I hardly noticed its existence. Similiar to many of todays utility-type software packages, this one was bundled in flat vinyl covered 5 by 7 book-jack, and contained only a slim 40 page manual and a disk. It whispered hoarsely as if lacking in confidence and self image. No wonder, it sat only inches from a towering box of Symphony. 80MATE screamed in a dreary washed-out graphic on a sickly creme background. It almost seemed ashamed to be what it claimed; a lowly CP/M co-processing package for the mighty IBM and its ever present opening act "The Compatables". The image, marketing (or lack of), and claims of this product were too much. That 80MATE could do what it claimed, seemed too good to be true. Here was a product few had ever heard of, claiming to do the task of a chunk of hardware often exceeding $300 dollars. All seemed a ruse until I noted the software company, VERTEX. This was a plus. Vertex already had a highly touted (though overrated) DOS disk format conversion product on the market called Xenocopy. 80MATE was worth a second look. Upon close perusal of the enclosed "pamphlet", I found a number of CP/M formats supported: APPLE CP/M-80, Heath Z/19 - Z89, Kaypro II/IV, Osborne, Morrow Designs, Televideo 900 series, and the Zerox 820. I would try it. Further reading revealed that the thrust of the program was directed at 80MATE being capable of emulating CP/M in memory when run in your friendly neighborhood DOS machine. It claimed to set up an island in memory that intercepted the Z80 code before it could be processed by the 8088 CPU (Central Processing Unit) of most MSDOS computers. A worthy concept, if it worked. To create a workable model, the CP/M programs of choice must first be transferred to a formatted MSDOS diskette. On the Kaypro and many others, this requires a CP/M format conversion program such as COMPAT or UNIFORM [or MEDIA MASTER by DG Systems]. This is not at all obvious until AFTER the product is purchased, and should be stated on the cover. Obviously, Vertex finds this a crafty way to sell its Xenocopy disk format conversion product. My first two UNIFORM copies that I was able to obtain, just hung up. A friend tells me that such conversion programs are drive alignment sensitive, and may be finicky. He reported needing to try 3 copies before finding one that would work properly. My experienced confirmed this. I formatted a fresh DOS diskette on my Compaq Deskpro, placed it drive b: of my Kaypro 4-84, and ran Fidonews Page 15 18 Aug 1986 UNIFORM in drive a:. When UNIFORM prompted me, I placed Perfect Writer in a:, and transfered all files to b: I repeated this process with Wordstar, dBase II, SuperCalc2, and The Word Plus. In about 20 minutes, all was complete. Moving over to the Compaq, I eased 80MATE into the drive and asked for a directory. I typed DIR and received a full report. Z80 was among the many choices present. I typed in Z80. Response: "Someone has tried a disk copy. Aren't you nosey?". It immediately locked up. Investigating this phenomenon revealed that the product is protected by a sleazey form of Prolock that ruins your disk if a copy is attempted. Now that would only be half bad if bright bold letters warned of this feature, but nowhere was it written that this will occur. To make matters more irritating, I had not attempted a copy of this product. Apparently this protection scheme is a means for Vertex to acquire an additional 20 clams for replacing your violated diskette. On the pricipal of this practice alone, I was sorely tempted to just ignore the product all together. Why publicize such obvious victimization and arrogance. My other self cried for justice through the poison pen. A third self said, forget it, it will do no good. The third self was probably right. Upon finally obtaining a bootable and workable copy, I was greeted with an "A>Z80 CP/M" prompt. I inserted the Perfect Writer programs and typed PW. Sure enought up it came. I had also tranferred a data file written with Perfect Writer, and called it to the fore. It came up justified, and styled just as I had written it. I was astounded and pleased. I tried the same for the dBase II, Wordstar, and Word Plus. The result was the same. Flawless performance of CP/M under MSDOS. SuperCalc2 I'm sorry to say, did not fare so well. It seems that 80MATE only supports those programs for the older Kaypro IIs and IVs. Anything with graphics calls such as the "new" versions of the Micropro software packaged with the 2-84, 4-84, and 10 will cause moderate to severe alterations in the screen output. SuperCalc2 is such a program in that the version run, was installed to support reverse video. Normally SuperCalc2 for the Kaypro does not do this, so it should run with this conversion if purchased and unchanged. I retried an non-graphic installed version and it performed just fine. In retrospect, the video problem is to be expected. The major drawbacks of most co-processors are their inability to interpret and re-route various video calls. This is true of the Co-Power 88 board for the Kaypro and even the Quadlink Apple co-processors for IBM. The ROMS are just too different. Vertex has included in its 80MATE manual, a section on terminal emulation. Again, however, the virtues of reverse video, underlining, and boldface are not taken into consideration for the older Kaypro models incapable of such functions. It can be asked why you and I would even consider acquiring such a product as 80MATE. The vast majority of programs which run on our Kaypros are also available for MSDOS. In most all cases, the many other applications that run on the IBM (et. al.), can run Fidonews Page 16 18 Aug 1986 circles around our prehistoric(?) CP/M stuff. Well that could certainly be debated at length, but the point is that what most of us would be after is text file compatability, not 80MATE's functions. What 80MATE provides is a means of achieving universality. An associate writer and teacher tells the tale of how he would like to have Perfect Writer in MSDOS so that he could use the IBMs that fill the rooms at his workplace. Programs such as Kamas, Plu*Perfect Writer, and various CP/M utilities can be run while not worrying about the unlearned or forgotten commands of Wordstar or Perfect Writer. Although not a big ticket application item, 80MATE nonetheless provides a function that is valuable for many but not most. Although thouroughly turned off by the company's protection/numbers racket, I recommend the program. It works without a hitch, supports a comfortable number of CP/M formats, at $140, though expensive it doesn't cost an arm and a leg, and it is easy to learn and run. With the Kaypro 16 entering the marketplace, a number of us will no doubt become a multi-DOS user as I have. Programs such as the Perfect Software series, Thw Word Plus (Absent from the 16's software lineup), and Microplan, may also represent programs strongly invested in. To be sure 80MATE has a place for those in need. Should you search out this program and buy it, please take a moment to trounce its company Vertex, thats V E R T E X, with a bit of hate mail about its protection scheme. It probably won't do any good, but you'll feel better, I'll be grateful, and heh, you never know. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 17 18 Aug 1986 William/Eunhee Hunter Fido 109/626 Computer Industry Spotlight on: ALLEN-BRADLEY COMPANY -- Allen-Bradley's products range from simple on-off switches to state-of-the-art programmable controllers, microelectronic networks, custom-developed speed drives, and business consulting. Privately held, it has over 14,000 employees and 30 plants worldwide. The Systems, Industrial Control, Electronics Group, Drives, and Packaged Control Products departments are looking for technical graduates for entry-level positions in development engineering, technical marketing, applications engineering, and manufacturing. The company also has ongoing openings in the sales division. After sales training in Milwaukee, recruits are assigned to a field sales office and serve customers using the entire range of Allen- Bradley products, systems, and services. Contact: Corporate College Relations, Allen-Bradley Company, 1201 South Second St., Milwaukee, WI 53204. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 18 18 Aug 1986 ================================================================= WANTED ================================================================= James Whorton, 14/623 FidoNet technical information needed! Have you ever tried to write a FidoNet clone system? I recommend it as a way to truly appreciate the Fido environment that we use. I decided to write a clone system for two reasons. First, already having written a somewhat complex remote system called RTE (Remote Turbo Environment) I had no wish to abandon that system and all the effort that had gone into creating it. Second, and perhaps more important, I run a Z80 based CP/M-80 system with an 8088 coprocessor card with 512K ram utilizing MS- DOS 2.11. The BIOS functions are emulated fairly well, including the basic monochrome graphics mode, but that is a far cry from having a "clone" system. I was fortunate enough to have several excellent Fido nodes in my local area (14/609, 14/621 and 14/608), the SysOps of which have all been most helpful and supportive of my efforts. But the primary stumbling block to writing this clone software was, and is, solid technical information. To date, using the formal network protocol definition that Tom Jennings wrote back in October of 1984, I have managed to put together a system that is capable of both sending and receiving mail and attached files, although I have not yet been able to implement either 2-way transfer of packets and files, or the POLL and PICKUP functions. The reason is simple: I do not have any current technical information on these aspects of the FidoNet protocol. Having read the latest FidoNews I see that a new formal definition is apparently going to be put together. We should all applaud this effort. However, an effort of this type can take an indeterminate amount of time, and I must admit to being impatient to bring my hybrid system up to full Fido node status. If anyone can provide any current technical information or assistance, it would be greatly appreciated. My node, 14/623, is on-line and ready for your input! Thank you for your kind attention, and long live FidoNet. Bark Bark! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 18 Aug 1986 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= Bill Bogartz, 102/901 Get Your Baud in Shape with BDawg Bogartz Software (BS is our business) Has it never troubled you that Fido is a surly beast when first he wakes? An ill-mannered cur with downcast eyes who shows a dull blank face to the world, cowering with his tail between his legs, and too fearful to speak unless spoken to? Oh, the shame of it! Have you never dreamed of a happy Fido with his eyes bright and smiling, tail wagging, ears erect, ready to greet each caller with a pleasantly well-bred, cheerful welcoming bark? Of course you have. Rest easy, my friend. If your computer is IBM compatible, all those sleepless nights have ended. Your fondest fantasy has been fulfilled. For only $25.00, a jot, a tittle, a mere bagatelle, you can purchase a little friend for Fido, a pup named BDawg who can change Fido's disposition overnight. BDawg wakes when the phone rings, announces the baud rate and the time of day, and gently nips at Fido until he clears the cobwebs from his fuzzy head, gives a friendly bark, and goes out to work singing. Faithful little friend that he is, BDawg lets Fido think he found the baud rate by himself, and Fido glows with sweet satisfaction in a job well done. Think of it! All those bitter days of loneliness ended for Fido. No more new users staring at a blank screen in ignorant dismay. No more switch hook blips from cheapie modems that trigger the wrong rate. No more nights spent dreaming of a better day. No more CRs, no more spaces, No more users' angry faces! Be kind to man's best friend. Be kind to yourself. Order BDawg today! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 20 18 Aug 1986 Ellicott Software, 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 21 18 Aug 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 22 18 Aug 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 23 18 Aug 1986 RAINBOW FREEWARE Bruce Jackson's RAINBOW FREEWARE -- a 170-page book which describes, evaluates, and provides working instructions for more than 150 of the best public domain, shareware, and freeware programs now available for the DEC Rainbow computer -- has been published by New South Moulton Press. Jackson discusses MS-DOS programs that manage the computer, handle directories, manipulate files, control printers, and prepare texts. He also describes games and graphics programs. RAINBOW FREEWARE is the only book devoted to public domain software for the Rainbow. It is designed as a practical, working manual. Program descriptions are organized so even novice users can be running a specific program within minutes. The book also provides full information on using the FIDO network to obtain programs and technical assistance. The "Technical Notes" section of the book describes in practical detail MS-DOS functions and operations necessary to take full advantage of both commercial and free software. RAINBOW FREEWARE is available by mail from the publisher for $20 ($17 for FIDO sysops) plus $2 for postage and handling ($12 for foreign orders). Foreign orders must be paid in US dollars by check drawn on a US bank or International Money Order. New York residents please add the appropriate sales tax. Prepaid orders for 10 or more copies from Rainbow users groups will be accepted at 10% discount and will be shipped via UPS; add $10 shipping and handling for the first 10 books included in such orders and $0.60 for each additional book. Send payment and shipping information to: NEW SOUTH MOULTON PRESS 96 Rumsey Road Buffalo, New York 14209 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 24 18 Aug 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- I recently gave my sister my old cp/m computer/printer/modem so I could stay in touch with her via FidoNet. I live in Miami, Fl. and she is attending school at the U. of Fla. in Gainsville. I drove the six hours up there, set her up and bootstrapped my list of local bbs's up from the one I initi-ally found by calling a local computer store. Boy was I suprised to find there is NO FIDO IN GAINSVILLE! Imagine a university town with all the computer science students and NO FIDO. This letter is a solicitation for anybody up there to start one. If you want I'll modem you the software, or even make another trip up to help you get one started. A side note: prior to all this I searched the nodelist and did find one listed for Gainsville. Node 101/345, Alligator Board, sysop Sharon King. Unfortunately it is a private board. I tried calling Gainsville info, but there was no listing for Sharon King, I tried sending a note via fidonet but never got a reply. Funny thing is the board is listed as being in net 101 which is in Massachusetts! If anybody can tell me how I can get in touch with Sharon please let me know. Al de la Torre sysop 135/7 305-554-4602 voice 305-554-9346 ----------------------------------------------------------------- \ !!!! A T T E N T I O N !!!! / \ / \ PC Techniques (108/62) / \ / --------> Has a new phone number: <-------- / \ / --> (513) 745-0037 <-- \ / \ / Hours: 6p-8a Mon-Fri, 24hrs Wkends \ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Frank Thornley, 503/2 Fidonews Page 25 18 Aug 1986 Hi Guys, just a quickie to let you know that the UK will be represented at the conference in August. My wife and I will be travelling out on the 5th of August to New York, and travelling on to Colorado. Can't wait to meet the other Fido sysops. St. Louis sounds like a nice place. Hope to visit there too. Any offers to show us the sights would be greatly appreciated. I think it would be a good idea to start some sort of exchange program with US sysops, any ideas? I think I will turn one of our lines over to run a Fido specifically for this purpose. I'll be glad to turn my house over to a US visitor if he will do the same for us... sounds like fun.... In the meantime any offers to show us the sights whiile we are in St Louis would be greatly appreciated.... Bye for now. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Adam Selene, 107/269 ALTERNATE LIFESTYLE(S) Conference with EchoMail There is a wide range of Alternate Lifestyles. UTOPIAN QUEST LI (107/269) has a special interest in options concerning sexual and sex role behavior, partner choice, family structure, and polyfidelity. Other Fidos will, of course, have other viewpoints on ALS. Can we use EchoMail to find our own E Pluribus Unum? -----------------------------------------------------------------