Volume 3, Number 46 1 December 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. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL What Mean These By-Laws? 2. ARTICLES BackComm, A productivity tool Doug's Column FireNet IS a Reality! MSG - a SysOp's message utility Selective DOS directory search and more for Fido Sysops THE CHEAPEST PHONE BILL EVER! Let's Lease a Satellite! 3. COLUMNS Responses about FidoUtil from FidoNet Coordinator Ramblings 4. FOR SALE UNDER-C(tm) Library 5. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack NY MetroNet System Crash Author Needs Help Fidonews Page 2 1 Dec 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= What Mean These By-Laws? You all, I hope, saw the special By-Laws edition two weeks ago. What do they mean to YOU? Well, right off the bat, they mean that you can continue to operate as before with little or no change. I can't really say no change at all, simply because FidoNet is growing large enough that, for purely technical reasons, a few changes are going to have to happen. One of these technical changes will involve splitting FidoNet into separate "zones", but if you don't do any international mail (as few of us do), then that shouldn't really make much difference to you. So how else will it affect you? Well, if you do nothing at all, then it won't affect you at all. Let me explain that. The whole idea is to set up a membership organization called "the International FidoNet Association", or "IFNA" for short. To be a fully qualified, voting member of IFNA, one must first be the sysop of a public access bulletin board that is in the FidoNet node list, and then one must pay dues. Notice that these are separate. You can be in the node list without paying dues, in which case you are not a member of IFNA and can't vote on how to spend the money that you didn't contribute. But if you DO pay dues, then you get a say in how your money is spent. What could be more fair? In fact, the only problem that I see with the whole thing is that there really isn't much of any incentive to pay dues and be a member. And if there aren't many members, then IFNA will remain a cash-poor, starving association with almost no resources to do anything really constructive. I personally am hoping that IFNA can come up with enough additional benefits to provide to members that there will be some real incentive to join, so that maybe we can start making some progress on the many, many fronts that await us and challenge us. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 3 1 Dec 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Gee Wong Fdio 107/312 BackComm, A productivity tool La Salle Micro's BackComm is no ordinary communications utility. It is a comgolmerate of programs integrated into a mammoth productivity tool. Unfortunately, a great deal of lead and lag time is required between using the utility and reading well over 350 pages of well written documentation before one can become proficient enough to use BackComm readily. Hence, if you are looking for a program that you can use right away, then stay away from BackComm; this is definitely not the utility for you. However, if you are looking for a program that will do almost anything with a modem and a file, then BackComm may just be a utility which you may want to add to your software library. BackComm is enormous, its programs and data are distributed in two 360K non-copyprotected 5.25" diskettes. With a utility of this size, it is senseless to use the utility directly from the diskettes. I strongly recommend that anyone using BackComm installs it onto a hard drive; it is just too clumsy to execute from a diskette. BackComm also requires a minimum of 256K of memory, and it supports a variety of modems such as Hayes and U.S. Robotics. BackComm may also be installed as a resident program which can be entered and exited to perform background file transfers. The resident portion of BackComm requires a minimum of 180K of memory, and three protocols are supported for file transfers: ASCII, XMODEM, and X.PC. Despite its enormity, BackComm's many features may be accessed through a menu driven system with context-sensitive help screens. And although I found the default colors of the BackComm screens disagreeable, an interface is provided for altering the screen colors. Furthermore, interfaces have also been provided for configuring a hierarchical telephone directory which size is limited by the amount disk space available, and for configuring communications parameters so that BackComm may be used with a variety of modems and databases. BackComm also has an extremely powerful script language and a script generator, BackTalk. The script language may be used to completely automate one or more on-line sessions, and the script generator may be used executed in learn mode to convert the user's keystrokes into a script. Furthermore, BackTalk may also be used as a script editor for updating, creating, and merging scripts. Fidonews Page 4 1 Dec 1986 Lastly, BackComm provides an interface for manipulating files. The file services offered by BackComm are similar to those found in 1-Dir and X-Tree. This interface may be used to: display a directory sorted by name, extension, size, or date; copy files; move files; view files; encrypt or decrypt files; compress or expand files. BackComm is an extermely large utility that attempts to do almost everything. Unfortunately, because of its immensity, too much lead and lag time is needed to develop any level of proficiency for my liking, but if you do not find this unsettling then you might find BackComm a utility worth the time and effort to become adept in using it. Product Information ------------------- BackComm by LaSalle Micro, Inc. 1350 Remington Road, Suite W Schaumburg, IL 60185 (312) 882-5171 Computer Bulletin Board (312) 882 4993 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 1 Dec 1986 Doug Mohney Fido 109/74 "The Bear's Den" Doug's Column -- 10/31/86 POSTSCRIPT IS IT: Lots of word-processing packages, including Word Perfect, are providing support for the PostScript language and Sun MicroSystems is endorsing PostScript as a standard to exchange graphics on its workstations. Since Sun is a trend-setter in the workstation market, expect to see lots of printer makers and software manufacturers rush to support PostScript. I know of one Atari ST software developer who will end up supporting PostScript in his desktop publishing/CAD program. Wish he'd paid up for Computerfest earlier tho'. DON'T DO THIS, BUT: A programmer-hacker wrote and maintained a payroll system for a rather important firm. Said firm lost some money and got RIF-fever, and among those to go was our programmer-hacker. When the next pay period rolled around, the payroll program, previously flawless, crashed and died bigtime. The company hired a consultant to look at the payroll system; he couldn't find anything wrong with the system. Meanwhile, the rank and file were getting Very Pissed over not being paid for nearly a month. Finally, the company re-hired the programmer-hacker and he had the payroll system up and running without a hitch in 10 minutes. Seems he heard about the RIF in advance and had plugged in a simple routine which looked for his name on the payroll. IF NOT(hisname) THEN Crash. Moral of this story: Yes, this was a nifty trick. It was also criminal for the hacker to pull a stunt like that. I guess you could say the people who hired him were criminally stupid to be dependent on a single programmer for a vital task. WISHLIST FOR FIDO: I would really love to see someone publish a "Phone Directory" for FIDOnet, which would list all the nodes by geographic area/city, net and node number, phone number, and specialities which each board may have. There are FIDOs in Europe, Austrailia, and New Jersey. Lotta places. I hope Tom Jennings ports FIDO over to 68000-based machines like the ST and Amiga. My understanding is that FIDO is written in 'C', which is psuedo-portable. It should be relatively easy to port FIDO over to ST, because its' OS deals with files a lot like MS-DOS (e.g.: Directory-based). It'd be nice to also see multi-user support on FIDO, a la RBBS-PC, with an additional capability for chatting. Obviously, Fidonews Page 6 1 Dec 1986 it would take more code to provide for file-locking, etc, Needless to say, this "UltraFIDO" would be restricted to IBM-PC/AT/? and 68000-based machines. JUNKO-HARDWARE DEPARTMENT: Penril "Cadet" modem. A division at Uni. of MD bought 6 of them in the summer, and 4 of the 6 powerpacks have fried out. Further, it does a wonderful job of picking up AM radio stations. Another nomination is the VAXMate (I can hear the DEC purists scream). It took Digital 2 years to develop a pretty AT-Clone with lots of proprietary expansion capability and Ethernet built in. At $4,000 a pop for a diskless workstation, BFD. You can buy a PC-clone, plug in Ethernet, and DEC's MS-NET, and have lots of change left. GRAPHICS STANDARDS WANTED: EGA is old hat now and eyes are on the TI & Intel graphics co-processing chips. Who will set the next generation standards for graphics boards? Or will we have to wait for IBM to put out another medocre "standard"? The current patch is to write drives for Microsoft Windows; if your application will run under Window, it will take advantage of the higher resolution. Euh. I guess it is better than nothing, but it'd be very nice for company "X" to stand up and say "We're doing 1280 by 840, and making our specs public domain so anyone can make clone boards to follow in our footsteps." I also believe in the tooth fairy. BORLAND'S BLUNDER: Borland's latest promo gimmick, the scratch & look contest to win a trip for the final races for America's Cup (just like Roy Rogers, etc.), sounds nifty. But, YO! What happens if you win? You fly down to Australia, get stuck in a town where prices are event inflated (a la L.A. Olympics), and get to watch the yacht race from the shore. Bunkie, as any affectionaido of yachting will tell you, there ain't nothing to watch on the shore, cuz all the yachts are 3 miles and 4 miles out running around. Maybe you get on a boat and cruise out there, but you won't see much, because Aussie ocean conditions are EXTREMELY choppy. Welcome to seasickness. I sure hope I don't win. And second prize, a Suziki pickup, doesn't quite float my boat as well; the Suziki is one UGLY vehicle. I think Mr. Kahn could have better spent his money on reaching out to user groups better, than pouring it into Yuppie sports like 12-meter sailing. It would help if the boat he's sponsoring won a race or two. Oh well, it is his money. We haven't seen Turbo "C" yet, either. I myself am going to get into the "dBASE goes gold" contest. First prize, a gold Porsche 944. Second prize, a trip for two to Las Vegas. Or a gold watch. For some odd reason, I find a trip to Vegas more appealing than to Australia. And Fidonews Page 7 1 Dec 1986 I'd take a Porche over a Suziki pickup any day of the week... YOUR OPINIONS, GOSSIP, FEEDBACK, AND MONEY WANTED: Send me your opinions and good gossip and I'll try to print the good stuff. I won't be at Comdex, but I suspect 97% of us "true users" won't be there either. I'm here at FIDO 109/74, or (301) 350-1437. No obscene phone calls, please. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 8 1 Dec 1986 Christopher Baker Metro-Fire Fido, 135/14(0) East Coast Hub for FireNet FireNet Meets Echomail and The Dream is Realized! I have been writing articles for FidoNews since early 1985. One of my goals, through these articles, has been to unite Fire and Rescue Departments through FidoNet and generate some kind of meaningful exchange of information. It has not been easy to get departments to join in for one reason of another. Many departments, only now, are becoming capable of supporting Fido systems. Those that can are beginning to understand the potential. Many others are unaware that Fido exists. It is my intention to keep at it until EVERYONE knows about Fido, et al, and the possibilities for mass communication of vital data (e.g. Hazardous Material warnings, equipment updates, program availability, conference notices, new services, etc.) within the Fire/EMS community. Toward that end, a NEW Echomail conference has been established. The FireNet Echo, hosted by Colorado's FireNet Leader (128/16), is a reality and available to any Node who wants to hook in. This Echo is available from 128/16 in the West and from 135/14 in the East. It encompasses the following Nodes: 128/16, 135/14, 104/610, 138/411, and 17/38. (Colorado's FireNet Leader, Metro- Fire Fido, DIVE_LINK, The Dalmatian and 65' North, respectively.) Anyone with an interest in the technical aspects of the Fire/EMS services is welcome to participate in this Echo. At the moment, we are discussing HazMat databases, hydraulic friction loss, wilderness Search & Rescue, and a new CHEMTREC service via modem to registered subscribers. If you or someone you know is involved in Fire or EMS, paid or volunteer, and has a PC and a modem and a desire to become part of a new idea in inter-departmental communications, please give them a copy of this article and have them call me or send Net mail to 135/14. If anyone would like an ARC containing all of my previous Fire-related articles to spread around to their local departments, let me know via Net mail and I will file-attach it to you as soon as I receive your request. If you prefer the U.S. Mail (and who would?), send requests to: Christopher Baker Metro-Fire Communications 5680 S.W. 87 Avenue Miami, FL 33173 Telephone: 305-596-8576 (voice) Fidonews Page 9 1 Dec 1986 1430-2230, Mon-Fri 305-596-8611 (data). I would be happy to assist any department or organization in setting up a Fido system. Join us! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 1 Dec 1986 The Urgency of Moral Outrage By Bernard Lown, MD Co-President, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) Fido 101/301, 101/302 We live in an age when intelligent people defer judgment to self- described experts, even on issues that concern their very survival. We have been conditioned to deny the evidence of our senses and to ignore the incontrovertible. We have been assured by experts that nuclear war will not happen. But the elementary laws of probability tell us that an annual risk of nuclear war, even as low as one percent, cumulates to a likelihood of 40% when projected over the expected lifespan of today's young people. It is a statistical certainty that hair- trigger readiness cannot endure as a permanent condition. Ignoring the possibility of accident ascribes to man and his products a godliness that can never be achieved. The world has been spared catastrophe, but our good fortune is fragile. Nuclear war is an accident waiting to happen. There is no dearth of warnings. Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Three Mile Island, Bhopal, Challenger, and Chernobyl are sharply etched vignettes of experience -- lessons, so to speak -- to educate us about the world's end. We shall be given no more precise warnings. We can only hope that the lessons will never be more concrete and tangible. The Trap of Deterrence For two years IPPNW has been calling for a cessation of all nuclear explosions. The Soviet Union has responded with a year- long moratorium. The United States has not reciprocated, a disappointment especially great for us American physicians. Most informed commentators ascribe the US government's position to its desire to develop space weapons, which a test ban would retard. Few supporters of the plan speak of a total defense of the civilian population; the more pragmatic justify space weapons as necessary to strengthen deterrence. If we are to comprehend the threatened escalation in the nuclear arms race, we must examine its justification: the policy of deterrence. In essence, this policy is based on the supposition that nuclear weapons, by threatening unacceptable damage, restrain undesirable actions by an adversary. A number of illusions underlie this policy. First is the illusion of numbers. If deterrence is the objective of military policy, what is the purpose in accumulating 50,000 strategic and tactical warheads, equivalent in the aggregate to more than four tons of dynamite for every man, woman, and child? Why such a blatant exercise in redundancy? Fidonews Page 11 1 Dec 1986 A second illusion is the claim that nuclear weapons have conventional or political value. But all such claims rest on a hidden premise of limited nuclear war -- an event as likely as an explosion restricted to the top third of a keg of dynamite. A third illusion is that deterrence has been a successful policy. It is commonly stated that the avoidance of war between the US and the USSR during the past 40 years is due to deterrence. This unpersuasive assertion is not amenable to proof. The two countries were not at war before the advent of nuclear weapons. They were, in fact, military allies. They do not dispute each other's borders; they do not engage in significant commercial rivalries. Fundamentally, of course, the argument that deterrence has prevented catastrophe fails irredeemably when it fails just once. Any guarantee of peace with such a small margin of error is no guarantee at all. The Immorality of Deterrence On the basis of this policy of deterrence, responsible governments are targeting entire nations. Everyone's home has become the front line. Infants and the aged, the sick and the crippled are all targeted. The irreplaceable artifacts of human history, the creative and artistic achievements of the ages will not be spared incineration. In the sorry recorded history of 5,000 years of endless wars, some limits had been set on human savagery. Moral safeguards were raised to preclude the killing of unarmed civilians and health workers, the poisoning of drinking water, the incineration of open cities, and the spreading of infection. But nuclear barbarism threatens in one stroke all these painfully won but limited constraints. Total war -- unprincipled in method, unlimited in violence, indiscriminate in its victims, and uncontrolled in its devastation -- is now sanctioned military policy. Deterrence is a suspended sentence of mass murder to be executed at any moment. The idea of pointing nuclear missiles at entire nations is without precedent in moral depravity. We fought Hitler to rid the world of genocide. Have we defeated the enemy of mankind only to become infected with his immorality? The Need for Moral Outrage Information is not equivalent to knowledge, and possessing knowledge does not necessarily impart understanding. Nor does understanding consistently stimulate the appropriate activity to achieve change. The gap between cognition and involvement is frequently bridged by moral arousal. We physicians, guardians of health and life, have an ethical categorical imperative to expose the bleak immorality of the policy of deterrence. We must not acquiesce to stockpiling weapons of mass extermination as the guarantors of national security. We must not permit the search for peace to proceed through overt flirtation with death. There are no conceivable circumstances which can justify the use of genocidal weapons. Fidonews Page 12 1 Dec 1986 We need the moral courage to go further. We need to equate the possession of nuclear weapons with crimes against humanity. Would the building of thousands of gas chambers not be deemed repugnant to the laws of civilized society? It is appropriate, from this podium in Germany, to call for activation of a new war- crimes process, a new Nuremberg, to begin to examine the violation of international law implicit in the stockpiling of instruments of genocide. Brooding over the nuclear threat for a quarter of a century now, I am led inexorably to the conviction that without exciting moral outrage among their intended victims, the dismantling of nuclear weapons will not succeed: only unprecedented arousal of moral revulsion will provide the necessary spiritual energy. On VE day 1945, Norman Corwin delivered on radio his poetic drama, On a Note of Triumph. I quote the last stanza: Lord God of test-tube and blueprint who joined molecules of dust and shook them 'til their name was Adam, Who taught worms and stars how they could live together, appear now among the parliaments of conquerors and give instruction to their schemes, Measure out new liberties so none shall suffer for his father's color or the credo of his choice, Post proofs that brotherhood is not so wild a dream as those who profit by postponing it pretend, Sit at the treaty table and convey the hopes of little peoples through expected straits, And press into the final seal a sign that peace will come for longer than posterities can see ahead, That man unto his fellow man shall be a friend forever. This article was from an excerpt of Dr. Lown's speech to the 6th IPPNW World Congress in Cologne, FRG. 6/86. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 13 1 Dec 1986 MSG - a SysOp's message utility MSG is a program that allows the SysOp to read and modify messages from DOS. Any part of the message may be changed. MSG works very similarly to FIDO. You can invoke it with a chain of commands separated by spaces, and you can type a chain of commands at any of the program's prompts. The program assumes an area change command to get it started, so to avoid the initial list of areas, you should type an area number as your first parameter. Example: MSG 3 R 59 A P Q Q G Will select area 3, message 59, switch the state of PRIVATE, and exit the program. Without the trailing "G", you would be presented with the MSG prompt, and allowed to continue by typing other commands to the program interactively. When you select "B" from the Message Reading menu, the body of the message is copied to MESSAGE.TXT in your main Fido directory, and the command "WS MESSAGE.TXT" is executed. The program is easily patched to change the WordStar command to that of a different editor. After editing, MSG asks you whether or not you'd like to save the changes back into the message. The program doesn't need much documentation. Typing "MSG ?" will give a quick syntax reminder. Following are the help menus from the program: Message Command Help A = AREA change G = GOODBYE (quit MSG) K = KILL a message L = LIST of messages R = READ messages ? = HELP (what you're reading) ---------------------- Message Reading Help Enter = read next/previous message # = read message number "#" - = read message that this is a reply to + = read reply to this message A = change ATTRIBUTES of this message B = change BODY of this message K = KILL this message M = MODIFY this message N = read NEXT message P = read PREVIOUS message Q = QUIT reading messages ? = HELP (what you're reading) Fidonews Page 14 1 Dec 1986 ---------------------- Message Attribute Help F = toggle FILE ATTCHD K = toggle KILL/SENT O = toggle ORPHAN P = toggle PRIVATE R = toggle RECV'D S = toggle SENT T = toggle IN TRANSIT Q = QUIT (save changes) ? = HELP (what you're reading) ---------------------- Message Modification Help T = change TO F = change FROM S = change SUBJECT D = change DESTINATION net/node O = change ORIGIN net/node Q = QUIT (save changes) ? = HELP (what you're reading) What follows is a sample session of using MSG: --------------------------------------------------- (C:\FIDO) msg ? Msg V1.0 (c) 1986 by Ron Bemis From Nibbles & Bytes Fido 151/104: 919-942-9267 This program was registered to Fido 151/104 Syntax: MSG [?] [command...] ? displays this help message. "command..." is a chain of commands to execute. At start-up, the program assumes an area change command. i.e. MSG 3 R 7 Q G (to read message 7 in area 3) (C:\FIDO) msg Msg V1.0 (c) 1986 by Ron Bemis From Nibbles & Bytes Fido 151/104: 919-942-9267 This program was registered to Fido 151/104 Type "MSG ?" for help ----- Message Areas ----- 0 ... Messages To/From The Sysop 1 ... Messages To/From The Sysop 2 ... General Message Area 3 ... Clean & Dirty Jokes 4 ... FidoNews And Other Newsletters 5 ... * FidoNet Mail Messages Fidonews Page 15 1 Dec 1986 6 ... Triangle EchoMail Conference 7 ... Technical EchoMail Conference 12 ... Sysop's EchoMail Conference Message Area: 5 Msg Area #5: FidoNet Mail Messages Msg: A L R K G or ? for help: r Read: [1] 1 - 39 - + A B K M N P Q or ? for help: 39 #39 11 Nov 87 20:50:03 From: Ron Bemis on 151/104 To: Amnon Nissan on 151/100 Subj: Test Message for MSG This is a sample message that I'm going to play with a little bit by using MSG. This will show some of the capabilities of the program. -Ron Read: [39] 1 - 39 - + A B K M N P Q or ? for help: a p #39 11 Nov 87 20:50:03 (PRIVATE) From: Ron Bemis on 151/104 To: Amnon Nissan on 151/100 Subj: Test Message for MSG Attributes: F K O P R S T Q or ? for help: k #39 11 Nov 87 20:50:03 (PRIVATE) (KILL/SENT) From: Ron Bemis on 151/104 To: Amnon Nissan on 151/100 Subj: Test Message for MSG Attributes: F K O P R S T Q or ? for help: q Read: [39] 1 - 39 - + A B K M N P Q or ? for help: m #39 11 Nov 87 20:50:03 (PRIVATE) (KILL/SENT) From: Ron Bemis on 151/104 To: Amnon Nissan on 151/100 Subj: Test Message for MSG Modify: T F S D O Q or ? for help: t steve gibbons d 151 105 #39 11 Nov 87 20:50:03 (PRIVATE) (KILL/SENT) From: Ron Bemis on 151/104 To: Steve Gibbons on 151/105 Subj: Test Message for MSG Modify: T F S D O Q or ? for help: q Read: [39] 1 - 39 - + A B K M N P Q or ? for help: q Msg Area #5: FidoNet Mail Messages Msg: A L R K G or ? for help: g Fidonews Page 16 1 Dec 1986 (C:\FIDO) --------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL NOTE TO ALL THE GREAT FOLKS WHO HAVE REGISTERED COPIES OF MY PROGRAMS: This program was sent to you file attached through the net. Don't bother to download it - you neat folks get all my new stuff first. If you haven't gotten it by the time you read this please let me know. Thanks for your support! To everybody who's using OUTER - did you know that version 2.0 is now available? Ron Bemis Fido 151/104 (919) 942-9267 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 17 1 Dec 1986 Jesse Armontrout sysop 108/64 Cincinnati, Ohio 513-662-5884 For those sysops that list the nodediff/nodelist files, as well as the Fido Newsletter in a file area that is available for download by users, as well as other sysops in the area, there is a program that will allow you to automate this process from a batch file. For some time I have been looking for a program that would do a selective dos directory search in order to automate the updating of my file area that contains the latest Nodediff/nodelist files, as well as the weekly Fido newsletter. I have found a program that almost does that. It is called files.com and it allows for a selective directory search and also allows for the insertion of a comment and then outputs the results to a file that can be copied, using DOS + command, into a revised files.bbs. This is all done from a batch file on specified days. The search command line that I use is as follows: files nodelist.a?? /x $f Friday - $d > save.txt This does a directory search for all nodediff.a?? files in the current directory and outputs to a file with the following result: NODELIST.A11 Friday - 11/07/86 NODELIST.A04 Friday - 10/31/86 NODELIST.A97 Friday - 10/24/86 or, files nodediff.a?? /x $f week ending - $d > save1.txt NODEDIFF.A11 week ending - 11/07/86 NODEDIFF.A04 week ending - 10/31/86 NODEDIFF.A97 week ending - 10/24/86 This can be done with the fidonews files with the same results and the output of each can be transferred into a revised files.bbs using the copy command. Or, if you wish, the output can be directed into files.bbs if that is all you have in a particular file area. The program allows for sub-directory searches, so you can execute from anywhere you wish. For those who would like to have the program w/docs, it can be picked up at 108/64 using SEAdog, or you can call, however registration is required so it will involve two phone calls. For SEAdog pickups, request files2.arc. For callers, look in Fidonews Page 18 1 Dec 1986 file area #7 and it is also files2.arc. File size if 16401. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 1 Dec 1986 Daniel Tobias Soft Fido, 380/2 This is a contrary viewpoint to the views expressed by Joe Lindstrom in a recent FidoNews on the subject of "open" systems. My system, Soft Fido, has been in operation for about five months now, and is entirely open. No special registration is required, and there is no mandatory questionnaire. I have not adopted a specific policy regarding the use of "handles", either pro or con. The results seem to be entirely opposite to the experience of Mr. Lindstrom. The vast majority of my users log in with their correct names, and there have been no cases thus far of people posting abusive or "obscene" [however you might define such a vague term] messages. One or two people have posted messages offering or soliciting pirated software, but when I inform them that it is not Soft Fido's policy to promote such illegal activity, these people have cooperated by ceasing to use my system to post such messages. A minor handful of people have logged in under phony names, but they seldom call back again; I guess there isn't much on my system to interest such people. I do have a large number of regular callers, many of whom have answered the voluntary online questionnaire and provided their address and telephone number. These users have participated in stimulating discussions in the message sections, and contributed numerous uploads to the file sections. They also enjoy the online games I provide in the OUTSIDE section; since I have an online scoreboard giving running scores, it is in their best interest to log in under their correct names so their name will show up as system champion. There have been a few extremely minor abuses of the open policies; a couple of people have logged in under multiple names to evade the daily time limits when doing extensive downloads. However, nobody (to my knowledge) has attempted to crash the system, or post abusive messages in other people's names, or such things which are the reason why so many other boards have had to adopt restrictive access policies. I hope this continues, and I don't intend to restrict access unless and until it is forced on me by flagrantly-abusive users. Cumbersome registration requirements are a hassle to user and sysop alike, and make it particularly hard on long-distance callers (such as those who call to download the Fido utilities I have written, and announced the availability of in another FidoNews article), since they must then call at least twice (once to register, another time to actually use the system, and possibly several other times in between to check and see if they've been upgraded yet.) I like to take a general view that people are reasonable and moral; it's only a few "bad apples" that make trouble. It is a shame when everybody's freedom must be curtailed due to the Fidonews Page 20 1 Dec 1986 actions of a few. I think there are better ways to keep a BBS from degenerating into childishness than to adopt rigid access policies; if you set an intelligent tone to the system from the start through such matters as your choice of message and file areas, the tone of your editorials and bulletins, et cetera, you will attract the kind of users who appreciate your interests, and the morons who prefer childish bickering and harassment of each other will stay away from your system and use other systems more receptive to their sort of thing, regardless of what access policies are followed. - Dan ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 21 1 Dec 1986 Richard Epson 151/20 THE CHEAPEST PHONE BILL EVER! ----------------------- Tom Rapone & Associates, Inc. c/o Richard H. Epson 9920-A Plum Creek Lane Charlotte, NC 28210 >> Fido 151/20 << (704) - 542 - 3895 Hello there fellow SysOps and Users! I'll bet most of you spend well over $100.00 per month in long distance calls. If you are a SysOp like me, you send twice or even three times that much on long distance. Well, get this flash..... $100.00 per month gets you... U N L I M I T E D C A L L S U N L I M I T E D T I M E U N L I M I T E D A N Y W H E R E* (* in the United States) Watts lines have been used primarily by large corporations for cheaper rates on volume long distance calls. This is a program that takes average telephone users and combines their usage to obtain volume rates. WHY - The divestiture of ATT has given other companies the opportunity to compete with ATT for long distance phone service. Many companies have done so. The company that I am dealing with offers unrestricted, (in the United States, except Alaska), long distance phone service for $100.00 per month. Most of the other long distance companies are asking you to choose them or ATT. Our service is saying keep your present long distance carrier and also have this, now you have two long distance choices. For heavy long distance users (like we SysOps) this is inexpensive because we use state of the art equipment, access low cost lines, and maximize usage. This is a supplement, not an alternative. I am sure you are asking about long distance rates within your state. Well, presently our service offers INTRA-STATE long distance for the following states; Arizona Colorado Delaware Fidonews Page 22 1 Dec 1986 Dist. of Columbia Hawaii Idaho Michigan Montana New Hampshire North Dakota Oklahoma Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia ....With many more on the way! While you wait for your state, you can still call anywhere outside your state (unlimited). ACCESS - Upon receipt of your application your personal access code will be issued. To access our service you only need dial an 800 number then your personal access code. It is very important that you keep your access code personal! BILLING Our service does not send bills. When you become a customer, you may (if you wish) sign up for the Check-O-matic plan. Your $100.00 monthly long distance phone bill will automatically be deducted from your account and you will not have to worry about forgetting the payment and losing the service. Check-O-matic deductions are made the 15th of each month. Otherwise payment may be made by the 24th of the preceeding month by mail. What a deal, huh? There is more..... Our service is a new company that will not spend money on advertising. They use the most effective and least expensive form of advertising. "WORD OF MOUTH" (OR COMPUTER TERMINAL!). For people who know friends or relatives who would be interested in their long distance phone rates, our service offers and incentive program that enables participants to profit from commissions. THERE IS NO COST FOR PARTICIPATING IN THE MARKETING PLAN. HOW - For each new customer who purchases our service, you will receive a $25.00 commission each month that customer participates. For example, if you sign up four people for our phone service, you would receive 4 x $25.00 ($100.00), per month, during their participation. You would still have to pay your own $100.00 bill for your long distance service but you would receive a seperate commission from us for $100.00. IN EFFECT, your long distance calls would be at NO COST. We have designed a marketing plan so that you can earn even MORE commissions. If the first four people you sell the service also sell the service to others, you receive a $5.00 commission for each additional participant each month they continue the Fidonews Page 23 1 Dec 1986 service. This $5.00 bonus plan pays down through 5 levels* *Where payment through more than a specified number of levels is prohibited by state law, payment will be made only to the levels permitted by such law. EXAMPLE - You sell Mike $25.00 Level 1 Mike sells Tom $ 5.00 2 Tom sells Ken $ 5.00 3 Ken sells Vick $ 5.00 4 Vick sells Bill $ 5.00 5 Bill sells Richard $ 5.00 6 You may offer this program to as many people as you choose. You are saying "What's the catch?" There isn't one!! And even if you don't sell it to anyone, $100.00 per month long distance is still the best deal around! If you are interested, send a check or money order for $4.95 made out to; *Tom Rapone & Associates, Inc c/o Richard H. Epson 9920-A Plum Creek Lane Charlotte, NC 28210 *Member of The Greater Charlotte, NC Chamber of Commerce The $4.95 is used for processing and there are no other costs except the $100.00 per month! ONE MORE THING!!! NO INSTALLATION FEE IF YOU APPLY WITH THIS OFFER!! AND THAT'S THE WHOLE DEAL!!! Fido 151/20 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 24 1 Dec 1986 Ken McVay Fido 340/20 Let's Lease a Satellite! As a new Fido SysOp, I tend to read my MAILER.LOG a lot. I am part of CanWest Net, and am located 36 cents-a-minute North of my Host, DataWest (340/10) in Victoria, British Columbia. My routing calls for SCANMAIL just prior to the NMW; I collect my mail, send it to Victoria, and pick up inbound. Well after NMW, I poll 340/10 for mail received from the other nodes, and for inbound from outside the Net. The log tells me that polling my host is a relatively expensive proposition. Typical connects run from 1.5 to 4.0 minutes, even if no packet is received. I assume this has something to do with the polling process, as NMW connects are rarely in excess of 20 seconds, unless files are attached. In the real world, it means an extra expense of about $30.00 a month, just to get the echo's on time. As I have come to devote more and more time to Fido, I have begun to realize that there are thousands of hard-working, dedicated people slaving away to improve and expand the net. It would appear, from my point of view, that all of this effort has yielded spectacular results. A system has been created that may very well grown into the most significant communications network on the planet; as the low-cost benefits from mass- production bring more powerful and more advanced tools within range of those hard-working people, the costs of the services they provide will go down, and the service will expand. Satellite communications channels have been a fact of life for our culture for a long time. The profusion of satellite receiving stations in the back yards of homes and offices is just a beginning - wait until they're only $1.99 at K-Mart, and then watch the frantic conversion from cable TV! Commercial use of these satellites is commonplace - the evening TV News is evidence of the quality possible, if you've got the money. What's this all have to do with my MAILER.LOG? I propose that we begin to gather data relating to both the cost of leasing commercial satellite channels, and of building our own XMT/RCV earth stations. One friend suggests that a station capable of utilizing commercial satellite channels could be built for very little more than the cost of my pc - about $3000.00. As they sell in the $20,000.00 range, I have my doubts. I would like to alleviate these doubts, and GET THE FACTS. I would rather, if the price was right, forget the phone and zap the satellite with my own transmitter. If Fido's Regional Co-ordinators utilized such technology first, with the Hosts following next, I wonder how long it would take before we could forget our late-night routings and communicate whenever we damned-well pleased via satellite. I would be happy to serve as a clearing house for data. (If there is an EchoMail conference already, my apologies - just tell me how to link - if there Fidonews Page 25 1 Dec 1986 isn't, let's start with me.) Ken McVay 1B Systems Management (Fido 340/20), Nanaimo, British Columbia ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 26 1 Dec 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Jerry Hindle 123/6 123/0 MemphisNet 2400 baud MAX 901-353-4563 Well, it seems that certain segments of FidoNet do not like my assessment of them as Shareware users, while other segments seem to agree 100%. First for the disapprovers...... You are definitely a MINORITY of ONE. I mean out of all the responses I got you are the ONLY one that seemed to think I was personally attacking you! Why? I would name you here but I feel that you should remain anonymous since you feel that my referring to persons who use something they did not purchase was a personal attack on you. I will only say that of the marketing studies that were returned to Mr. Presnell by persons who tried FidoUtil that your area/net was the 3rd largest response. I seem to think that there is more to your flame then you are admitting, but then again maybe not. In either case the old saying he who denies it the most is usually the guiltiest of the bunch (or something like that). The breakdown of responses for FidoUtil is as follows: 1) California had the most responses with NO registrations. 2) New York had the second highest total with 1 registration 3) Colorado had the third highest response (none registered) 4) 3 states tied with 2 registrations among the three Florida, Georgia, Tennessee Now for the remark you made in your message to me about my not paying for the program myself....I TRIED TO but the author declined my money and registered my copy as a way of saying thanks. I had written the review and sent the $$$ before it ever hit FidoNews and I got my check back from him by return mail 3 days after the review came out. I did go you one better... I at least TRIED ! You stated that to your knowledge there was no one using FidoUtil in your net. Well I will take this on faith as true since I have no need to doubt you at this time. I was assuming that out of the 497 responses to the marketing study that Mr. Presnell got back that about 50% of those were one time only runs. This would leave about 250 or so that used the program more then once and about 20% of this figure could still be using the program. This would mean that somewhere out there are 50 persons using FidoUtil on their system (this is 10% of the total response) of those only 5 are now registered. This means that only 1% of the total response decided the program was worth anything. I find this HARD TO BELIEVE, NAY IMPOSSIBLE !!!!! I have received one response from a sysop that specifically stated that he did not use FidoUtil after trying it out. He decided Fidonews Page 27 1 Dec 1986 that waiting for updates to the individual modules was too much for him, which is by the way a very good reason. I received 10 responses from others praising me for my stand (although one said that he agreed with my idea but said I picked the wrong program to flame about). So it seems that the ONLY negative response was from someone who decided that I was attacking HIS integrity personally. All I can say to you is this: If the shoe fits wear it !!!!! I am a staunch supporter of the ShareWare concept and will continue to support it any way I can. I might not be able to send as much as I would like to for the programs I use but I will at least send something which is more then most shareware authors expect. From what I can see most shareware authors decide on the front end that there will be absolutely no return on their investment and thus are totally shocked when they do receive any funds back. Again responses welcome..... P.S. this is to the one disagreeing comment I got in FidoMail....I have done a little checking and find that this is not my first contact with you. I also had contact with you on another program and got no reply at all. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 28 1 Dec 1986 Rob Barker, 138/34 Coordinator Ramblings XXIV Don't let them tell you any different; the inside of one hotel is no different than any other hotel. I spent the weekend in Nashua, New Hampshire, smoking too many cigarettes, drinking too much coffee, and raising my voice in discussion too many times, and still have no mortal idea what New Hampshire and Boston look like. We left the hotel for a grand total of two hours in three days, other than the drive to and from the airport. And I think I was suppose to say "Am I having fun yet?" Anyhow, I am ahead of schedule (for the first time in six days). As I mentioned in my last Ramble, I was going to the BY-LAWS Committee meeting in Nashua, New Hampshire over the weekend of Nov 7 through 9. I spent close to twelve hours getting from here to there, and thought I was probably the last to arrive on Thursday night. As Ken Kaplan and I wandered around the hotel together, we discovered we were probably the first to arrive. (Hint - don't try to find anything to eat in Nashua after midnight unless you have a car. No pizza deliveries. Hotel bar closed down, and forget the restaurant.) When the first wave of late arrivals was over, we commenced to gather in fellowship (a nice way of saying I stayed up until after 4 am drinking beer and talking. I don't know when the rest of them gave up, but think it wasn't much later). Friday started out with a dull thud. By the time people rolled out of bed and finished breakfast (lunch for the early risers), we were almost ready to begin. We set up a suite and began our attempt at figuring out exactly what we were there to do. I know it sounds easy to say we were going to formulate Articles of Association and a set of By-Laws, but that is really an over simplification. Believe it or not, we spent a whole day 'defining' what we were to do, set up our draft agenda and a proposed By-Law outline. We used a dual monitor PC and MAX Think (tm) to brainstorm our goals, desires and objectives. Friday night was a nice dinner (the one trip out of the hotel) and a little more socialising in the evening as the rest of the crew arrived. We felt we had laid out a good set of plans for the next day. It was really kind of funny because we really hadn't accomplished that much, but then again, we had progressed with leaps and bounds, and everyone was riding high over what we had done. Saturday began much quicker and went a lot longer. Now was the day to fill in the MAX Think Outline and argue all the points raised while building the outline. Tempers were short, but good natured. We were constantly reminded there was a rule stating that if a person lost their sense of humor, they would be taken to the fourth story roof and thrown off. Dinner came, but almost slipped us by as we refused to take a break and loose the head of steam we had built up. We were simply cooking down the road, and Fidonews Page 29 1 Dec 1986 continued to do so on into the night. In the mean time, the Fido Standards Committee was meeting in the suite next door. They would occasionally wander over to our room for a refill on a soda or a cold beer, but would leave very shortly thereafter with some comment about being techie's and not being able to handle the politicians. Personally, I took those comments as insults, but after sitting in on their meeting for a couple of minutes, I was happy to be labelled a politician because I certainly had no idea what they were talking about. Another long night Saturday, and an early start on Sunday because we had more to finish before meeting flights at the airport. I couldn't believe it when we started taking the equipment down 10 minutes before we were required to checkout. We could actually take it down and not move it over the Bob Hartman's apartment and set it up for more last minute things. We were finished with our task. And what did we do? Gosh, I don't know how to put it in a nutshell other than to reference you to a file; IFNA1109.ARC (I am ROBOTing it to all Region 17 HOSTs this evening and have it posted on my System in File Area #1 - will move to Area #5 later in the week). The files are the major products of our weekend in New Hampshire. This is a proposal package that has been presented to the Board of Directors. We were not in total agreement on everything, and minority opinions are being written at this time. In fact, we had hoped they would be available for inclusion. YOU are encouraged to comment on what you read. (Constructive comments, not just a rash of FLAMES). These comments should be forwarded to Randy Bush (122/6). Or if you choose, and desire an open forum, you may enter your thoughts in the IFNA ECHO. This is the ECHO that was started for the members to discuss the By-Laws and policy matters. Who and why it turned into a basket weaving circle, is beyond me and I shall stay off that subject this go around. I will be happy to try and attempt to answer any questions that people have, but before you ask, PLEASE READ the documents we have presented. I believe I remember everything that was presented, but then again I have read, and reread the darn thing so many times over the weekend, and was involved in so many changes, I seriously doubt I really know what it says any more. I think I need a day or two to sort it out, then I will read it again. However, I am comfortable with what was presented to the Board. I don't believe any one person dominated the group or forced us to go in one direction or the other. It was simply a joint effort of a group of individuals who were looking out for the interests of others. It was neat to watch people push different items as far as possible to see what the long range ramifications were for each statement. We believe we have have presented a document that will service our needs now, as well as for the next few years. Fidonews Page 30 1 Dec 1986 Now it is up to YOU TO VOTE. EDUCATE yourself on the issues. DISCUSS them rationally with others in the IFNA ECHO without destructive flames. Yawl have a GREAT week. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 31 1 Dec 1986 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= Stanley Quayle Fido 126/1 The UNDER-C(tm) Library Quayle Research, Inc. is proud to announce release 2.1 of the UNDER-C Library. The UNDER-C Library works with IBM PC-compatibles using the following C compilers: Microsoft C, version 4.0 (NEW!) Lattice C, versions 3.10 (NEW!) and 2.15 Computer Innovations C86 DeSmet C Instant-C The UNDER-C Library: - Has 122 functions, including BIOS, DOS, and other useful functions. - Includes the following utilities: MAKE CPRINT, a general-purpose printing program PFS2TXT, which translates pfs:Write and IBM Writing Assistant files to text format - Includes functions to build screens similiar to dBase. Complete SOURCE CODE -- No royalities -- Not copy-protected. Includes 200-page manual and five 5-1/4" floppy disks. Send $95 to: Quayle Research, Inc. 6548 Edgerton Road N. Royalton, OH 44133 Ohio residents please include 6-1/2% sales tax. For more information, contact Stanley Quayle on 126/1 or Myrna Quayle on 157/502. UNDER-C is a trademark of Quayle Research, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 32 1 Dec 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 3 Dec 1986 Start of the Electronic Mail Association conference in Washigton, D.C. 7 Dec 1986 The Next Occasional MetroNet Sysop Meeting. Contact Gee Wong at 107/312 for details. 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Don Daniels 107/0 (107/210) NY MetroNet System Crash During the weekend of Nov. 16, the inbound Host system for the New York Metropolitan area (Net 107) had a head crash. The system has finally been restored as of the backup of October 27. However, all files for the host since that date and all messages in-transit at the time of the crash have been lost. It is suggested that you re-send any transmissions which you feel may have been affected. ----------------------------------------------------------------- $$$$ Business and Economics Echomail $$$$ Are you interested in investments, stock market, general finance, and government fiscal policy? With today's highly complex financial markets it is exteremely difficult to find adequate information on investing. National Business and Economics Echomail is an open forum of discussion for those interested in investments, the stock market, and government fiscal policy along with all related areas of finance. Both novices and professionals are invited to to share their knowledge with others. Whether its high or low finance all are encouraged to participate in this new and exciting forum. Like to Dabble in the market?? Or do you have questions about investing?? Just Ask!!! So you want Big Buck$ ? Get the inside word and tie into Fidonews Page 33 1 Dec 1986 National Business and Economics Echomail For information about Tie in conact : Randall Kobetich (150/130) Wilmington, Delaware ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 34 1 Dec 1986 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) Charter Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications.** Name _________________________________ Date ________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Country_______________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Board Name____________________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Baud Rate Supported___________________ Board Restrictions____________________ Special Interests_____________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Is there some area where you would be willing to help out in FidoNet?_______ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to: International FidoNet Association P. O. Box 41143 St Louis, Missouri 63141, USA Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to insure the future of FidoNet. ** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization in formation and BYLAWS are presently being prepared by an International Rules Committee. Membership requirements and fees are subject to approval of this Committee. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the BYLAWS Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 35 1 Dec 1986 Larry Kahaner Fido 109/612 Established author writing book about SATANIC CULTS in America. Looking for personal and professional experiences and anecdotes about this practice. Serious parties only. Anonymity guaranteed (if you wish). Contact Larry Kahaner, P.O. Box 39103 Washington DC 20016. Tell me how to contact you. You may also contact me via Fido 109/612 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 36 1 Dec 1986 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) Charter Membership for the International FidoNet Association Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to increase worldwide communications.** Name _________________________________ Date ________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Country_______________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Board Name____________________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Baud Rate Supported___________________ Board Restrictions____________________ Special Interests_____________________ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Is there some area where you would be willing to help out in FidoNet?_______ ______________________________________ ______________________________________ Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to: International FidoNet Association P. O. Box 41143 St Louis, Missouri 63141, USA Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to insure the future of FidoNet. ** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization in formation and BYLAWS are presently being prepared by an International Rules Committee. Membership requirements and fees are subject to approval of this Committee. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the BYLAWS Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference. -----------------------------------------------------------------