Volume 3, Number 38 6 October 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 ARTSPEC.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 GOOD NEWS FOR FIDO SYSOPS & USERS !!! At last, FrontDoor FIDO Interface! Curbing Shareware Vendor Abuses [Welch] Dealing with Seagate A Proposal for the Funding of IFNA 2. COLUMNS Data Files to dBASE Files A request for files 3. WANTED Device Driver needed 4. FOR SALE DataCare Hard Disk Utility Public Domain Software Library Sale!! The Structured Programming Language for PC/MS DOS Dennis Baer 5. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Fidonews Page 2 6 Oct 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= ON-LINE MAIL ORDER BBS ---------------------- Logical Technologies 5430 F Lynx Lane Suite 342 Columbia, MD 21044 >> Fido 109/640 << (301) - 964 - 8088 Hello there fellow sysops and users! I guess you are wondering what this article is REALLY all about. Well my company, Logical Technologies (LT), has established a fido BBS in Columbia, MD. There are MANY purposes to our bulletin board. These "purposes" are listed below in an outline format. 1 - To allow the FREE exchange of information and public domain software. 2 - To allow LT to recieve orders for computer products via an ol-line user. 3 - To give Fido Sysops & Sysops to be a place to get: a - Fido utilities b - The Latest version of Fido (all formats) c - All the Newsletters On-line to D/L Please Note that this bulletin board system does have many features other that just ordewring product. Now I'm sure you are all asking... "Why Should I Buy From You???". The Answers are sort of simple but complex too. 1 - All Purchases By A Fido Sysop or Fido Users Ends up in a $5.00 or 2% (whichever is greater) to IFNA. 2 - There Are Monthly specials to Fido Users & Sysops. THESE ARE ONLY AVAILABLE THROUGH THE BBS!!! 3 - NOTE: Fido Sysops are MAY be entitled to a Greater Discount. Please Call To See If You Qualify!! 4 - All Of OUR Products Are Guarenteed For A period of 1 year or MORE. NO QUSTIONS ASKED To Fido Sysops & Users. 5 - All Shipments are shipped Fedral Express!!! (Shipments Leave Our Warehouse withing 5 working days) How Does All This Sound To You? Good? Great? Incredible? Fidonews Page 3 6 Oct 1986 If Any Of There Above answers is YES then call TODAY!!! Now Comes The REAL Tease! Our Normal Price On A FULLY HAYES Compatible 2400 Baud Internal Modem Is $349.00. If you Call and mention this Article You Will recieve an additional $20.00 off your price! That means that the typical Fido user can get a 2400 Baud HAYES Compatible Modem For $329.00 Complete And with a 1 year guarrantee. Where can you beat that? If You Can Some where else, tell us and If it is a legitimate price we will BEAT it!!! So Call Today!!! That's... LOGICAL TECHNOLOGIES Fido 109/640 (301)-964-8088 Written By: Brian Walsh 109/640 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 4 6 Oct 1986 Butch Walker 161/1 /2 /4 Echomail Coordinators As you may have heard, several of us met in Chicago to discuss ways to improve Echomail topology, decrease the amount of time to move Echomail around the country, and to lay some ground rules for Echo Conferences. Now we need your help. In order for the Echomail Regional Coordinators to provide the needed help, we need to know which nodes carry certain conferences. Would all of you carrying ANY Echomail conferences please send a list of the Conferences that you carry to your Echomail Regional Coordinator. Please name the file NET-NODE.ECH, as in 161-4.ECH. This will help us assist new boards in finding a logical link up point to all the Conferences out there. The following are the current Echo Reg. Coordinators: Region 10 - Butch Walker 161/1 or 161/4:XP Region 11 - Mike Bader 120/17:XP Region 12 - None Yet Region 13 - Gee Wong 107/312:XP Region 14 - Alex Hartley 100/500:XP Region 15 - David Dodell 114/15:XP Region 16 - Bob Hartman 132/101:XP Region 17 - Randy Bush 122/6:XP Region 18 - Wes Cowley 137/19:XP Region 19 - Jon Sabol 124/210:XP Also, thanks again to Thom Henderson, Gee Wong, Bob Hartman, Don Walker, Mike Bader, Phil Ardussi, and Jon Sabol for going to the trouble and expense of flying into Chicago for a one day meeting. I have published one brief report on the proceedings, the minutes are in the works, and when they are done we will be releasing a comprehensive report of what went on. Film at 11:00. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 6 Oct 1986 By Joaquim Homrighausen Sysop at Future Hacker Central 501/4609 September 24th, 1986 at 10:25 pm. A couple of weeks ago I just ran into a problem with my own FIDO. It was a user who couldn't figure out that he had to press RETURN or SPACE a couple of times to make FIDO start. So I decided to write this GREAT utility. The first thing I did was to call my friend Peter Stewart and tell him about this thing we're gonna write. He said "No problem, sounds like a piece of cake". Done, we started writing this utility last Saturday. And now it's ready...what is ready?! FrontDoor v1.0. This is a program that you put before FIDO to make FIDO start all by itself without any stupid RETURNS or SPACES. What it actually does is that it will sit and wait until one of two things happens: 1) An event is detected within the next 10 minutes. 2) A incoming call at XXXX baud rate is detected. If an event is scheduled, FD will exit w/ an errorlevel (trapable in a .BAT file) so FIDO will just load and wait until the event time comes. If on the other hand a incoming call is detected, FD will exit w/ an errorlevel depending on the baud rate, telling the user that he's connected and the go and get FIDO! The program requires a TRULY Hayes compatible modem such as the Miracle Tech WS3000 (w/ our modified EPROM in it!) and we do not intend to support any other standard. It's really a great thing because the screen has got three windows in FD. One for all the "program messages" such as "Scheduled event in 10 minutes, getting FIDO...", one for the modem's response such as "OK" and other stupid messages that the modem might send. And finally one for the "action" that's happening. It's failsafe even w/ multitasking programs. The sysop has got two options, COM1 and COM2. Future versions may also support COM3. So all you sysops out there: Give me a mail, and I'll send it to ya! So far, it is only available from the Swedish Net (501), but I'll start uploading it to the US net to...the program was written by Peter Stewart (thanks Peter) and me (Happy Birthday to me on the 25th of Sep!). "Let's keep FIDO running..." Regards / Joaquim Homrighausen, Future Hacker Central FIDO ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 6 Oct 1986 From: Mark J. Welch, Fido 161/459 [WelchNet, Berkeley, CA] Curbing Shareware Vendor Abuses [I've tracked down a bit more information about letters being sent by PC-SIG to other vendors, as well as additional information, and I am somewhat (!) upset at the firm. For background, see FidoNews #336, 22 Sept 1986, p. 8-9.] Shareware authors may recall that in its early days, PC-SIG didn't take much care in compiling its library of public- domain and Shareware titles. For a while, it seemed as if they'd cleaned up their act, but I'm beginning to believe that they are now taking many actions that are having very serious adverse effects on Shareware authors. The first action brought to my attention was the letter sent out by PC-SIG to vendors whom it believed were improperly using its name and disk numbering scheme. Yes, folks, PC-SIG, after selling its printed directory through bookstores and allowing other vendors and user groups to use its numbering scheme for several years, now says it will sue anyone who uses the same numbering scheme or, apparently, mentions their name in any way (other than in a disclaimer). I have no problem with PC-SIG's interest in protecting its name. (PC-SIG stands for PC Software Interest Group, but unlike other SIGs in the computer world, PC-SIG is not a user group: it is a private, for-profit company whose only business is duplicating and selling public domain and shareware programs.) However, their method of doing so is at best misleading, and at worst deliberately calculated to damage the rights of shareware authors. In a nine-page threatening letter sent by PC-SIG to several vendors, PC-SIG's attorney (Thomas Caudill, 408-298-4844) makes a number of statements that by themselves threaten shareware authors' copyright and trademark rights: I. Three times in the letter, Caudill claims that all of the programs in the PC-SIG library are in the public domain. Nowhere in the letter is there any acknowledgement that most of the programs' authors retain copyright ownership. This sort of claim, if repeated, has the effect of diluting Shareware authors' rights. II. Three times in the letter, PC-SIG claims copyright ownership of all the disk in the library. In the context of the letter, the claim seems to be that PC-SIG owns all rights to these disks and programs, or simply that PC-SIG owns the copyright to each program in the Fidonews Page 7 6 Oct 1986 library, including mine. However, I presume that they are simply claiming that they can copyright the arrangment of multiple programs combined on a disk (i.e., a "printer utility" disk). The overbroad claim in the letter, however, seems to order the recipient to stop distributing the programs, not just the programs in the same order PC-SIG puts them. III. PC-SIG also claims, in the letter, that the recipient cannot use the same disk names and titles as PC-SIG, as the disk names are copyrights (trademarks?) of PC-SIG. This claim is absurd: I own the trademark right to the names "GAGS" and "Generic Adventure Game System." I believe other shareware authors own their programs' titles as well. IV. The letter also implies that the program authors somehow work for or with PC-SIG; this is unnerving not just because I allow many vendors, user groups and BBSs to distribute GAGS, but because it implies an affiliation that may lead buyers to assume that PC-SIG has paid the authors for the programs somehow, thus reducing the likelihood of anyone ever sending me money. (I've received many registrations, including some from people who bought GAGS from other vendors: no one has ever registered after buying GAGS from PC-SIG.) V. In the letter, PC-SIG also claims that it can collect the damages provided in the US Copyright Act, which implies that they have registered the disks. If so, they would be in big trouble, since I have not given them permission to register GAGS as a "derivative work." I was assured by PC-SIG owner Richard Peterson that the firm has not, in fact, registered the disks. (Of course, that means that the list of damages is simply a bluff that cannot be asked for.) VI. The letter also says that it has filed legal actions against other Shareware vendors and that it has obtained injunctions against others. (One vendor, National Public Domain Software, has sent its own letter out, telling its customers that PC-SIG drove it out of business with a lawsuit.) Now, as I noted above, I can't object to PC-SIG's legitimate interest in protecting its name and its directory. However, when I read the letter and talked to other Shareware vendors, it wasn't clear whether the goal was to protect its rights or to drive its competitors out of business. It is using the money it has made selling MY SOFTWARE to drive other vendors out of business, thus limiting the overall potential of this distribution channel. These other vendors, in many cases, are individuals who can't afford to hire a lawyer. The most offensive fact is that PC-SIG's letter simply Fidonews Page 8 6 Oct 1986 tramples on my legal rights. One vendor, who had obtained my permission to distribute GAGS, pulled it (and other programs) from his library after receiving PC-SIG's overbroad letter. It's back in the library, but both that vendor and I lost sales as a result of PC-SIG's aggression. If other vendors pull my disk or go out of business because of PC-SIG's letter, I lose money so that PC-SIG can have a bigger share of a smaller marketplace. Of course, if this one letter were the only problem with PC- SIG, I'd not be so worked up. But GAGS originally made its way into the PC-SIG library before I gave permission. I found that it was in the library, and decided to give PC-SIG permission to distribute the program despite its discourtesy (and the fact that its earlier distribution was illegal). I gave them permission, and notified them of each update. They never sent me anything. PC-SIG completely ignored my update notices, instead insisting four months later that I had to mail them the update free in order to get the new versions into the library. (What a great idea: their cost of goods is ZERO. They buy disks for 39 cents and sell them for $6 each, with no costs in between.) Other authors' programs have found their way into the PC-SIG library without permission, and in at least one case was sold despite a clear disclaimer in the program stating that for- profit vendors like PC-SIG could not distribute it. (This latter incident speaks well for PC-SIG's claim that it screens every program carefully.) And just a few days ago, I discovered that PC-SIG has begun selling a CD-ROM version of its library, and included GAGS on that disk in direct violation of the permission letter I gave them. Again, it never occurred to them to even write me a letter asking for a change to my permission letter. To this date, I have never received *anything* by mail from PC-SIG, not even a catalog. Yesterday, at the PC-Faire in San Francisco, I picked up their catalog update/newsletter at their huge booth. In the catalog comes yet another slap in the face. I expect companies like PC-SIG to make a good-faith effort to encourage buyers to pay for their disks. Instead, the firm's newsletter seems to suggest that Shareware authors make megabucks. Direct quote: "Q: Do the authors who ask for a donation or contribution really make money? A: The high end of scale for people using the Open Software concept to distribute their software is $1.5 million to $2.5 million a year. My estimate is that the average developer earns about $40,000 to $50,000 a year per program. Others make less than $500 a year." [I must disagree, Mr. Peterson: the average Shareware author Fidonews Page 9 6 Oct 1986 probably sits a lot closer to your $500 figure, and if the average author makes $40,000 I'll eat a floppy disk.] The effect of such a quote is to make buyers think there's no need to pay Shareware authors, since they already do so well. The only folks I know who have large grosses are folks like Bob Wallace and Jim Button, who also do hard marketing. It looks to me as if most of the money being made in Shareware is going into PC-SIG's bank account. By itself, that's not too upsetting: I decided to distribute GAGS as Shareware, knowing that vendors like PC-SIG may make more money than I. But I never expected any company to start firing a gun at the authors who are necessary to its very existence. Another recent discovery for me is that PC-SIG is in the complete distribution business now. Not only do they sell disks by mail order and at trade shows, but they have "authorized dealers" in the US and even overseas. I don't know what the result of all of this ought to be. I've sent a nasty letter to PC-SIG, asking that a retraction of its letter be sent to everyone who received it, and demanding that GAGS be removed from the illegal CD-ROM version of the PC-SIG library. I am still awaiting their reply. >>>> I'd like to hear from other shareware authors about their experiences with companies selling public-domain and shareware programs for profit. I'd also like to hear from other vendors, and user groups, about their feelings about this issue. I'll summarize the response in a future issue of FidoNews. Mark J. Welch P.O. Box 2409 San Francisco, CA 94126 (415) 845-2430 [Berkeley] Fido 125/459 [private] BIX 'mwelch' * "GAGS" and "The Generic Adventure Game System" are trademarks of Mark J. Welch. "PC-SIG" is a trademark of the PC Software Interest Group, Sunnyvale, CA, 408-730-9291. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 6 Oct 1986 Robert A. Rudolph Fido 109/628 Seagate disk parts revisited... Several weeks ago I wrote a somewhat negative piece for these august pages regarding Seagate, small parts for Seagate drives and a generally irritated editorial comment about what I think of folks who maintain a monopolistic attitude. For what it is worth, I never heard from Seagate. Apparently nobody at Seagate reads FidoNews. But now I know of at least TWO people who read FidoNews. Bob Hartmann does (I am sure nobody is surprised). So does Brian Walsh, of Logical Technologies in Columbia, MD (Fido node 109/640). After the article appeared I heard from Brian, who is among other things a Seagate distributor. Brian shipped me the parts I needed via Federal Express, and refused to bill me even for the express charges. When I talked to him about the cost, he said that with normal discounts the parts (two terminating resistor packs) cost less than a dollar and the cost of paperwork to invoice that amount was more than the amount was worth. I have changed my mind about Seagate; not about dealing with them (I STILL won't deal with them directly), but about the continued use of their products. I'll buy Seagate again one day. From Brian Walsh, at Logical Technologies. Even if Father Seagate does not care, Brian Walsh does. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 11 6 Oct 1986 Kilgore Trout, 107/7 FidoNet Study Group A Proposal for the Funding of IFNA This is a proposal for one method of providing basic funding to the International FidoNet Association (IFNA). It is assumed that the reader already feels that providing funds for IFNA is a worthwhile objective. In short, this proposal outlines a method whereby IFNA can obtain funds by charging dues to its members in a fair and equitable manner. Membership in IFNA is determined primarily by ones presence in the node list. Therefore, I propose that each node be charged a small, fixed amount for every week that it is in the node list. I would suggest a fixed fee of one dollar per week. At this level I would estimate that approximately half of the existing nodes would drop out, leaving IFNA with total revenues of $25,000 per year. With luck, we would be back to our present 1,000+ nodes by the middle of 1987, giving revenues of $50,000 per year. The mechanism to accomplish this can be largely automated. The current MAKENL system would need to be enhanced to make use of an accounting database. The database would contain a credit balance for every node, and MAKENL would deduct the weekly fee from the account for each node for every week that it is in the node list and neither down nor on hold. If the balance for a given node goes negative, then MAKENL could remove that node from the generated node list. Human intervention would be reduced to entering credits as dues are recieved, and entering changes when someone changes their node number. Bells and Whistles: We will need some mechanism to notify sysops when their credit is running low. Either MAKENL or, more probably, a separate utility could generate messages with canned text to remind sysops when they have 15, 10, 5, 2, 1, and 0 weeks left. We assume here a one week "grace period", where a sysop is still "in" if he has a zero balance, and doesn't get dropped until his balance goes negative. This might, in fact, be left as a program parameter to allow the grace period to be varied. Hosts and hubs are generally (always?) duplicate entries. They are also involved, active sysops. At the very least a host or hub should not be required to pay for the alternate node number. We may also wish to make his primary node number free as well. This could be accomplished (albeit at some difficulty) by Fidonews Page 12 6 Oct 1986 comparing phone numbers. We would not want to start out by hitting everyone at once. It is also to our advantage to spread out people's payment schedules. This can be accomplished by giving each node now in the system a credit, randomly chosen between, say, 20 and 50 weeks worth. While we should have a minimum, it should be very low. Given the example of charging $1/week, we could set the minimum at $5, thus allowing a new sysop to join for a relatively brief period to check things out. We might also offer a discount for longer signups (such as $50 per year, saving $2) in order to encourage sysops to sign up for longer periods. Objections: We long ago stated that we would continue to provide existing services for free, and only charge for new services which would be optional. Hence, this proposal, if pushed by IFNA, would be rightly seen as a breach of promise. Attempting to establish a system such as this by fiat would be unethical, immoral, and (more to the point) would not work. The systems which choose to drop out rather than pay dues might form their own network. I would imagine that the majority of such systems would be those which are not actively involved with or interested in network mail, so I regard this possibility as slight. Still, since it would most probably result in the destruction of FidoNet, it is one which we must consider. Many sysops, while perhaps not actively objecting, will fail to pay their dues in time, and be dropped from the list. A few of these will then pay their dues, but most will not. This will include sysops who actually agree with our objectives. This will cause a definite and drastic drop in the size of FidoNet. System growth will also be slowed. If the reaction is bad enough, we may actually start to loose systems over the long haul. FidoNet may end up condemned to a slow, wasting death. One way or another, a great many people will raise bloody hell about it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 13 6 Oct 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= DBASE BASICS or BEHIND THE BLINKING DOT The first question the curious ask about Dbase II is "Why bother?" And first acquaintances may be put off by the program's silence: Instead of an inviting menus of choices there is only the eternally blinking dot. In what will probably be an irregular series in our newsletter, I'll try to take you "behind the Dbase dot" to show some of the power of Dbase II and drop some hints that may make it easier to use. The blinking dot is really a kind of question mark. Dbase is waiting for you to type in a command telling it what to do (the first four letters will do--that's Hint #1). That means you have immediate access an astounding amount of power. Dbase lets you use the information in your files in ways Perfect Filer never dreamed of--but you do have to know what to ask for. Fortunately, the commands are words you'd expect: LIST, DELETE, APPEND, LOCATE, FIND, etc. The manual is hardly a great one, but its tutorials are a decent introduction to these basic commands. The most-asked question is "How can I get the files I already have into Dbase II?" It's simple. Take your Christmas card list as an example; each entry has a First Name, Last Name, Street, City, State, and Zip. The entire entry is called a RECORD, and each item is called a FIELD. The first step is to CREATE a Dbase file with specifications something like this--call it XMASLIST.DBF: Field name Field Type Field width ----------------------------------- FIRSTNAME - CHARACTERS 10 spaces LASTNAME - CHARACTERS 10 spaces STREET - CHARACTERS 15 spaces CITY - CHARACTERS 10 spaces STATE - CHARACTERS 2 spaces ZIP - CHARACTERS 5 spaces To get your list into Dbase II, you need to make an ASCII text file of your data. Let's call it MYFILE.TXT. The "ASCII" simply means "letters & numbers only" --no control codes. Another way of saying this is to make a list of your data that your word processor can read (in the NON-DOCUMENT MODE for Wordstar users). Dbase II accepts text data in two forms: 1) In the first form, the spacing is critical. To match the Dbase file above, you'd want a document that looked like this: Santa Claus Icy Way Fidonews Page 14 6 Oct 1986 Sally Doe 101 2nd Ave. ---> 12345678901234567890123456789012345 Toytown NP01225 New York NY10101 12345678901212345 (the numbers are for reference only--don't put them in your file.) Notice that each piece of information occupies exactly the number of spaces specified in the database, and there's a Carriage Return at the end of each record. Your present database can probably create a document like this with its Report or List function. 2) In the second method, spacing is unimportant, although the data items can't be longer than specified in the Dbase file or they'll be chopped off. This time the data would look like this: Santa,Claus,Icy Way,Toytown,NP,01225, Sally,Doe,101 2nd Ave,New York,NY,10101, Now each piece of information is separated from the next by a comma. And there's another comma as well as a Carriage Return at the end of each line or record. This form might be easy to produce with a word processor. To get the data from these forms into the Dbase File, get to the infamous dot prompt. (I'll let you fill in the appropriate A: or B: depending on your system in these examples.) At the prompt enter "USE XMASLIST" which makes that file active. Then, for form 1, say "APPEND FROM MYFILE.TXT SDF". SDF means Standard Data Format. For form 2, say "APPEND FROM MYFILE.TXT DELIMITED"- -DELIMITED tells Dbase to look for comas between each field. Dbase II will read your text file and fill the database with your information. The next question is "Now What?!" The real power of Dbase lies in the fact that you can write a sequence of the commands in a file- -which makes it a programming language. That's how Dbase II is used for so many business applications, custom-tailored to specific needs. In my own work, a Dbase program of these commands keeps track of business contacts, writes my letters, keeps track of my appointments, and even dials my phone. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 15 6 Oct 1986 Jerry Hindle 123/6 Memphis TN I am making a request from all authors of Fido clones, support programs, and utility programs associated with the running of Fido. I am setting up my system to be the "first??" all Fido support system in the net. I will be adding files related to the operation of or configuration of Fido in all available formats (ie DEC, SANYO, etc) and am attempting to set up a file area for utilities, another for Fido software, yet another for modem help including made to order "fidomdm.bbs" files and last but not least messagebases for use as a central information point for suggestions, ideas or what-have-you concerning our illustrious dog. I have also acquired ALL back issues of FidoNews and have these available for d/l along with as many Fido related files as I could possibly locate. I have been robbing systems from coast to coast amassing these files and would like to invite you to call, look around, take what you want and Upload anything you have that I don't ! I am doing this without any consultation with national (although I don't think they will mind too awfully much (please Ken, can I , huh, can I PlEEEEEEEASEEEEEE). I would like to try to set up a system that anyone can call and find what they need for operating Fido. This would end a great amount of confusion as to where to locate any utility needed for operation of your system. I mean after all, one call does it all, right? I will keep the latest versions on-line where possible and ask that if you have a later version then mine, upload it. I will be assembling a list of the files each week and placing it in area 1 under the name ALLFILES.ARC so that you may call and d/l it, peruse it, call back and get what you want. Authors......you got something you want distributed...LET ME HAVE IT ! You got an update to one of my files. LET ME HAVE IT ! You wanna make a suggestion for a new utility, TELL ME. Looking for ideas for yet another utility, LOOK HERE FIRST ! I can't offer much in the way of physical support for INFA and what they stand for but I have a computer, a phone line, and the desire to help out. And if this will help, GREAT ! Jerry Hindle 123/6 123/0 MemphisNet Memphis Tn. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 6 Oct 1986 ================================================================= WANTED ================================================================= Michael Klein 109/610 Does anyone out there know of a device driver or other resi- dent program that I can use in place of a "CTTY COM1:"? The goal is to have standard output simultaneously redirected to both the console AND the modem, thereby making it possible for me to see what my users are doing while they're O)utside Fido. It's a simple concept, but having little knowledge of device drivers and even less of the internal BIOS of my IBM XT clone, I'm finding that capturing standard output for re- direction to two places at once isn't as easy as I thought. Please send replies/suggestions to me at 109/610. Any help in this matter would be GREATLY appreciated. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 17 6 Oct 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 also appeared in FidoNews Volume 3 Issue 29, written by the Sysop of Fido 109/628, the Reindeer Shed in Reisterstown, who uses and loves the product. DataCare is published by: Ellicott Software, Inc. 3777 Plum Hill Court Ellicott City, MD 21043 (301) 465-2690 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 18 6 Oct 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 66 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 166/1 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... The following format choices are available: - IBM PC-DOS Backup utility - Zenith MS-DOS 2.11 Backup Utility - DSBackup - Fastback - ACS INTRCPT 720k format (Requires a 1.2m floppy drive and PC-DOS 3.2) - 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, $10 will go to the FidoNet Administrators. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 6 Oct 1986 The Structured Programming Language is a SHARE WARE free format block structured programming language that runs on MSDOS and PCDOS computer systems. It may be obtained by calling a bulletin board system at 516 334 8221. Download SPLLIB.ARC at 1200 or 300 baud. It takes only 20 minutes to download at 1200 baud. It is also available from PC BLUE in New York City. If you like the software I strongly recommend that you REGISTER and PAY for the software because I would like to make an honest living just like you do. There is no need to be validated on the bbs to download files. For software support call Electronic Digital Computer Systems at 516 694 5872. In the near future look for the language on net.micro.pc conference on USENET. Some major features and advantages of SPL o SPL is an alternative to the PASCAL and C languages o SPL programs can be run on MACINTOSH,AMIGA,ATARI ST,CP/M o The SPL processor will run on MSDOS emulators on MACINTOSH, AMIGA,ATARI ST o PROCEDURES o WHILE loops o FOR loops with REAL and INTEGER indicies and increments o REPEAT loops o Powerful IF THEN ELSE constructs o Powerful RANDOM and SEQUENTIAL INPUT/OUTPUT including formatted OUTPUT o GRAPHICS statements PSET DRAW LINE CIRCLE PRESET SCREEN ..... o BEGIN END blocks o ERROR trapping o Statement labels (multiple labels supported) o Strong data types INTEGER REAL STRING scalars and arrays o Names of variables and labels up to 40 characters upper and lower case o Supports mathematical functions SIN COS TAN LOG EXP ..... o STRING functions MID$ LEFT$ RIGHT$ STR$ VAL$ ASC$ ..... o Your compiled BASIC programs do not become obsolete link them together o SPL programs run faster than PASCAL programs o SPL programs can take advantage of an entire 640k IBM PC o The SPL processor will work on an IBM PCjr with 128k and 1 drive ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 20 6 Oct 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. 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