Volume 4, Number 8 23 February 1987 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|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) 1987, 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 Policy Violations by Network Coordinators 2. ARTICLES The True Howard Feil Story SoCalNet Routing Changes SNOBOL Echo Conference Suggested Standard For ARChived Software Distribution Fiction: "Wide Awake" by Scott Wallace 3. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack Fidonews Page 2 23 Feb 1987 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Policy Violations by Network Coordinators Friends, we got trouble! Trouble right here in FidoNet! Trouble, that starts with "T", that rhymes with "E", that stands for ECHOMAIL! More and more these days I hear of network coordinators telling would-be FidoNews article authors to publish in EchoMail instead. Not only are they doing those budding authors a disservice (see last week's editorial), but they are going directly against established policy. The FidoNet Policy and Procedure Guide spells it out. Under Duties of a Network Coordinator, page 9, last paragraph: Accordingly, you should encourage sysops and users in your network to contribute to FidoNews. If you receive any submissions, you should forward them to the FidoNews publisher. Think of yourself as being a regional bureau chief on the FidoNews editorial staff. Encourage, NOT discourage. And that's not the worst of it! Several nets these days are publishing their own local newsletters, siphoning off material that sysops everywhere would like to read. I'm guilty too on this one; I've never yet turned down a request for a copy of the newsletter generator. Please, if you're going to do a local newsletter, please pass along to me anything that isn't of purely local interest. I need your help on this one, guys. FidoNews really is the glue that binds us all together. Let's all pull together on this, before we fall apart into scattered splinter groups. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 3 23 Feb 1987 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= The True Howard Feil Story In reference to the article titled "Howard Feil VS. Logical Technologies and Brian Walsh (FNEWS404), January 26, 1987, some of the facts were distorted, some were false, and we regret very few were correct. If the article Howard wrote (FNEWS345), offended Brian Walsh in anyway, we hope he will accept our apology. We sincerely want to see this matter resolved. However, we were horrified at some of the incorrect statements in Brian Walsh's article concerning ourselves, Howard Feil's parents, as well as Howard. We believe the truth should be presented. First, Howard was never informed that he had not won the contest. Rather, Brian informed Howard on four separate occasions that he had completed the contest on the Computerland BBS. As he stated in a conversation on September 28, 1986, "The contest is over (you won)." In addition, the following is a excerpt one of Brian Walsh's message stating to Howard that Brian was sending Howard the modem. "I have sent you your modem as of last friday (9/12/1986), I believe. I will check with my shipping dept. If however your modem has not been shipped I WILL Ship it today." However, despite his claim, he never sent the modem. Next, in regards to the files that Howard uploaded. All the files Howard uploaded were obtained from respectable BBSes in this area (the greater Baltimore and Washington metropolitan vicinity.) And we would find it difficult to believe, knowing the integrity of the Sysops in this area, that they would allow non- public domain software and trojan horses to be readily available in any form. Finally, on January 26,1987, two months after Howard Feil's article on the matter appeared in FNEWS345, (not before the article appeared as Brian stated), we received our first and only contact concerning this matter. An alleged attorney called and told us Brian would prosecute Howard to the fullest extent of the law if we did not write a public letter of apology. Our response was as follows: 1) We requested a written statement of our conversation so that there would be no miscommunication. 2) We requested a draft letter of apology written by the alleged attorney for us to review that would be acceptable to Brian. As of this point in time we have not received anything in writing Fidonews Page 4 23 Feb 1987 concerning this matter. In conclusion: Howard Feil is old enough to handle his own problems, and we, Howard Feil's parents, have no desire to get involved. It was most unwise of Brian Walsh to put in print a false statement that he received a notarized letter from us, because it inflamed us enough to make our voices heard. We do not feel Brian has conducted himself in an honorable fashion. Sincerely, Mr. and Mrs. Feil Parents of User Howard Feil P.S. Brian, please return the eight floppy disks you borrowed from our son in September 1986. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 23 Feb 1987 This is a pre-release copy. The schedules listed in this document are not implemented at this time. Conversion dates to these schedules will be announced at a later time. Please stay tuned... -*-*- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NETWORK -*-*- CONEJO VALLEY HUB SoCalNet 102 / Nodes 280x - 282x Rev 02.04.87 The Conejo Valley Hub consists of a group of FidoNet systems in the Conejo and Simi Valleys. These systems are in turn part of the Southern California Network (SocalNet). The SocalNet is comprised of several Hubs in various geographical areas of Southern California extending as far south as San Diego to as far north as Santa Barbara. Hubs have been assigned within the Network to minimize toll charges. The Network has one Inbound host and one Outbound Host that are responsible for receiving and sending mail to other systems in the National Network. Currently the SocalNet (102) and the Orange County Net (103) are sharing the responsibilities of Inbound and Outbound Netmail processing. The Inbound Host for both Nets is node 102/742 (which is also the SocalNet Coordinator - 102/0). The Outbound Host is node 103/523 and is responsible for distributing mail from both Nets to other systems in the National Net. The updates to the nodelists are provided by the SocalNet Coordinator (102/0) to the Network Hubs who will in turn make them available to the individual nodes. Routing control files and the Fido Newsletters will also follow this distribution pattern. Please inform your Fido Hub/Host Coordinator of any change in your system status. -*-*- Network HUB Listings -*-*- * Conejo/Simi Valley HUB Host .... Node 2800 ... Larry Kayser 805-498-2508 (TBBS/SEAdog) Locals .. Node 2801 ... Gary Vedvik 805-499-8378 (Opus) Node 2802 ... Peter Kranz 805-373-8787 (Fido) Node 2803 ... Eric Daymo 805-494-3350 (Opus) Node 2804 ... Eric Horne 805-484-8320 (Fido) Node 2806 ... Larry Kayser 805-498-2508 (TBBS/SEAdog) Node 2821 ... Gregg Cassity 805-522-4211 (Fido) -*-*- Network Schedule Listings -*-*- The network schedules for LOCAL nodes within the Conejo/Simi Fidonews Page 6 23 Feb 1987 Valley Hub are as follows: (PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL TIMES ARE LISTED IN PST) LOCALS -Window- -Sched Tag- -Network Function- -------- ----------- ------------------------------------- 01:00 - 02:00 T NATIONAL MAIL HOUR - Processing - National network mail received and transmitted by SocalNet Inbound and outbound Hosts. - Locals send echomail & routed Nat'l mail to Hub-Hosts - Locals send to Locals 05:15 - 06:00 R HUBS -> LOCALS - Distribution - Distribution of National and Local mail available to nodes from Hub via Pickup. The following schedules are included here for documentation purposes only. Locals should NOT implement the following schedules as this is only applicable to the Conejo/Simi Valley Hub-Host. (PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL TIMES ARE LISTED IN PST) HUBS -Window- -Sched Tag- -Network Function- -------- ----------- ------------------------------------- 01:00 - 02:00 T NATIONAL MAIL HOUR - Processing - National network mail received and transmitted by SocalNet Inbound and outbound Hosts. - Locals send echomail & routed Nat'l mail to Hub-Hosts - Locals send to Locals 03:30 - 05:00 E SOCALNET HOSTS -> HUBS - Distribution - Distribution of mail received from the Inbound Host to the various Hubs - Pickup of National EchoMail areas - Delivery of routed Nat'l mail from Local Hub to SocalNet for next days delivery 05:15 - 06:00 R HUBS -> LOCALS - Distribution - Distribution of National and Local mail available to nodes from Hub via Pickup. This schedule configuration represents the LEAST costly method of linking the Conejo/Simi Valley Hub into the SocalNet at the time of this writing. Other alternatives will be considered by the Conejo/Simi Hub Coordinator(s). This configuration does not support "Next-Day" delivery of mail thru the net. Expected Fidonews Page 7 23 Feb 1987 delivery times are 48 hours for all mail being routed thru the net. If "Next-Day" or "Same-Day" delivery of mail is desired you must process the bundle yourself by setting either the File- Attach or Crash-Mail flags. Opus Sysops please note: Crash-Mail is only relovant if your using SEAdog for processing mail. Please note that mail will NOT be available for Local nodes between Schedules T & R. Please do NOT implement any schedules that poll the Hub as it will only interfere with the Hubs performance of Schedule E (which you will not be running). All local nodes will deliver and pickup their mail from the Hub. The Hub will no longer be respnsible for delivering your mail to you. Now, what does this mean... If you find that you cannot process mail during Schedule R, you can simply choose not to run that Schedule. Mail will be held for you until the following mornings national mail hour (Schedule T). All nodes are required to be able to run Schedule T. Please note that by omitting Schedule R, you will be introducing an additional days delay in receiving routed mail from all other nodes. -*-*- Echomail within the Hub -*-*- The following is a list of Echomail areas that are currently implemented within the Conejo Hub and which systems are participating in each: LOCALLY ORIGINATED ECHOMAIL: APPLE - Apple SIG 2801, 2803, 2806, 2851 ATARI - Atari SIG 2801, 2803, 2806, 2851 COMMIE - Commodore SIG 2801, 2803, 2806, 2851 FORSALE - For Sale and Wanted ads 2801, 2802, 2803, 2806, 2821, 2851 FREEMESS - General Flame-on messages and discussions * 2801, 2802, 2803, 2804, 2806, 2821, 2851 MUSIC - Discussinos relating to Music and Video 2801, 2802, 2803, 2821 LSYSOP - Special area for Sysop notices and Discussions ** 2801, 2802, 2803, 2804, 2806, 2821, 2851 LTECH - General technical discussions ** 2801, 2802, 2803, 2804, 2806, 2821, 2851 * Please note that the FREEMESS area is NOT intended to be your systems 'General' message area. ** Please note that these conferences ARE NOT to be mixed with the national SYSOP's & TECHNICAL conferences NATIONALLY ORIGINATED ECHOMAIL: Fidonews Page 8 23 Feb 1987 BUSINESS - General Business 2806 CONSULTING- Consultant's Conf. 2806 DBASE - Data Base Conf. 2806 DESQVIEW - Other Operating Environments Conf. 2806 ECPROG - Programming Languages 2806 INTERPER - InterPersonal (Rights, Issues) 2806 LOTUS - Lotus Conf. 2806 MEADOW - OPUS Sysops Conf. 2806 PHIL - Philosophy Conf. 2806 SF - Science Fiction Conf. II 2806 SFFAN - Science Fiction Conf. I 2806 SEADOG - SEAdog Conf. 2806 SYSOP - Sysops Conf. 2801, 2806 TECH - Tech Conference 2801, 2806 IFNA - Not Here! Please note that there is a monthly charge/fee to receive the NATIONAL EchoMail areas (local nodes only -- does not apply to out of area nodes like Ventura or Santa Barbara). The cost is simple: Total cost to obtain ALL National mail divided by the number of nodes that are receiving the national mail (pro-rating for parts of months will not be done). Each sysop partisipating in the NATIONAL EchoMail Conferences (regardless of quantity) will be responsible for their share. Failure to make good on these debts will result in the suspension of that nodes partisipation in all national echomail until the debts are cleared. These areas cost money and it is unreasonable to assume that one sysop should bear the costs of the rest. No free rides. In addition to the cost to local sysops for participation in the national echomail areas, you (the sysop of a non- participating local node) may find that one or more (and indeed maybe all) national echomail areas may not be available to you on other participating nodes. As mentioned above, No free rides. If you wish to participate you will be expected to help with the retrieval expenses. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 9 23 Feb 1987 SYS$OUTPUT BBS 4107 Overlook Street Library, PA 15129 Fido 129/38 (412-854-0511) (412-854-2550) Kevin G. Barkes, SYSOP ========================================= NATIONAL SNOBOL4 ECHO CONFERENCE TO START ========================================= A new National Echo Conference on SNOBOL4 and related non-numeric programming languages will begin on or about February 23, 1987. SNOBOL4, developed by Bell Labs in the 1960s, is experiencing a resurgence of interest for many reasons. Low-cost PC implementations are now readily available, and the growth of non- numeric applications makes SNOBOL4 (whose basic data structure is the string) a superb tool for rapidly developing quite useful software. SNOBOL4 is easy to learn and has astounding capabilities. It's ideal for "kleenex" programs, the kind you need to use once and then throw away. It's also well-suited for prototyping. For text manipulation and string processing, it has no peer. SYS$OUTPUT BBS 129/38 will serve as the "hub" for the conference, and will poll those Fidos who wish to participate. Also taking part in the conference will be Fido 15/22, the SNOBOL4-ICON PROGRAMMING bbs in Salida, CO. That Fido is run by Mark Emmer, author of SNOBOL4+, an MS-DOS superset of SNOBOL4. SYSOPS interested in carrying the SNOBOL echo should contact Kevin Barkes at Fido 129/38. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 23 Feb 1987 Don Daniels 107/211 Suggested Standard For ARChived Software Distribution Now that OPUS provides us with the C(ontents) command which allows us to look inside an ARChive file and see the names of the files contained therein, it seems to me that we software developers should standardize somewhat on our naming conventions and version identification methods. Specifically, I am recommending that we all (as Sysops, Developers, and Uploaders) set up our ARChive files utilizing the following guidelines: o The FILE NAME should be the name of the product. Usually the same as the primary .EXE, .COM, or .BAT file contained in the ARChive. E.g.: PROCOMM, ECHOMAIL, RENUM, etc. o The FILE EXTENSION should be "ARC" (unless you have some very good reason to deviate from this). o Contained in the ARChive as one of the files should be a file named "VERSIONn.nnn" where "n.nnn" is the version number of the current release of the software contained in the ARChive. Note that the number and placement of the 'n's is not critical as long as the spirit is met (something like "VERS- 12.04C" would still be acceptable). As the OPUS C(ontents) commmand does not display the datestamps of the individual files, the display of the "VERSIONn.nnn" file name would be the best way for Users to check the release level of the product. It would also reduce our level of effort as Sysops as we could have less hassle trying to maintain version infomation on all the entries in our various FILES.BBS files. By standardizing on the product name only as that of the ARChive, we shouldn't run into all the confusion which we currently get with myriad variations and we allow the L(ocate) command and remote file requests to operate more effectively. For instance, how many times have you seen a user try to locate a file with a command such as "L PROCOMM" which then takes a small eternity to finally say that no matching files were found even though something like PROCM242.ARC exists in one of the areas? There are two problems which come to mind with this scheme. The first has to do with products which are so large that they don't effectively fit into a single ARChive. In these cases, I recommend the author use less than an eight-character product name and suffix a value to identify the respective ARChives. The other problem occurs when someone wishes to upload a new version of a product that already exists. The tendency has been to change the ARChive name, but it seems to me that the answer is to just upload into a different area. This was part of the rationale for me creating a separate upload area on my boards. What is contained in the VERSIONn.nnn file? Well, it really doesn't matter but I would suggest that this would be a good Fidonews Page 11 23 Feb 1987 place for a summary of the modifications applied to the current release. The READ.ME information could be combined in this file as well. A short sample from one of my programs follows: EXTRACT.ARC Name Length Stowage SF Size now Date ============ ======== ======== ==== ======== ========= EXTRACT.DOC 13559 Crunched 52% 6543 12 May 86 EXTRACT.EXE 26276 Crunched 27% 19280 12 May 86 VERSION2.10 636 Crunched 38% 399 11 Feb 87 VERSION2.10 =========== EXTRACT.ARC Current Release Modifications Version Date 2.10 - 23 Apr 86 The following features and fixes were incorporated in this release: o Addition of a restricted mode which allows EXTRACT to be utilized as a general-user Service under OUTSIDE to process a single, Sysop-specified, input file only. o Addition of a filespec parameter on the command line to indicate an invocation of restricted mode. o Reduction of the screen size from 25 lines to 24 lines. --- ARC is a product of SEA - System Enhancement Associates ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 12 23 Feb 1987 Scott Wallace Fido of Moore Net 147 Node 3. Wide Awake. On that day, I was working to finish a client's cash flow statement, and fighting Lotus all the way. I had a graph that looked pretty dreary, more like a map of Manhatten. In a peculiar way, I was pleased. I was no longer being scorned by the 'Error' message and a razzing buzz. I had heard it was a nice day out, but my pale skin was an easy indication that I had put in a great number of hours at the screen. At times I would look up, staring out a window that might as well have been bricked over. I was deep into the work. The Employees Incentive Expense, a percentage of the net income, was creating a circular flow. I had known it would when I started, but I tried to shoehorn it anyway. The machine caught me, and jeered with a light blue mark. Steve Jobs once said that computers created a "simulation of life," but I could see that life would not fit inside this machine. A situation easily understood and worked around by the most average of CPAs had sent this box into a tizzy. I would be forced to take a break, to go outside and clear the mental registers. I had to think of a way to make 'the greatest business tool since the abacus' work for me. I had a kite at home. A few hours of sunshine and wind would do it. Excited now about leaving, I grabbed my jacket and some papers, and reached for the machine's red switch. I hesitated, decided to leave it on, then left. I didn't hear it say goodbye. ---------------- A friend laughed when I said I'd bought a Personal Computer, and deep inside, I had felt a bit foolish. Even as I spewed the salesman's pitch at my friend, I knew I understood only one thing about this grey box, and that was my inadequacy to control it. I bought software at a store that sells nothing but, feeling like I was in a boutique for the Emperor's Clothes. Such a little box, but a potential that matched it's price. I knew that once I figured out how to do analysis with this disk, I would use it to discover I'd been rooked. ---------------- I remember the myth of the Paperless Office. Users of these machines were not fooled, but it seems the designers were, thinking it was Ok to scrimp on the instructions if it saved a few trees. Fidonews Page 13 23 Feb 1987 The painkillers were going quickly then. ---------------- I first realized I was getting pretty good with these things when a friend aked me how to copy a file and I couldn't stop laughing. He's still my friend and I've taught him alot, but I sense he's apprehensive about coming to me with a problem. At some point in the race to learn, I had switched my thinking from trying to understand the machine's capibilities, into discovering it's limitations. I had come to feel it could do anything, excepting this and this or that. I had always been told it had more memory than me, and could think faster, but only I knew better than to try to enter the date with commas at the DOS prompt. If only it knew what I understood so easily. ---------------- After a bachelor's dinner of ham and jelly sandwiches, I went to my office, a fresh approach in mind. Had I left the machine on? The spreadsheet was there, and I forgotten that I'd solved the circular flow problem before I left. I went on to the word processor then, to finish the report. But first I dimmed the lights. I knew it was bad for my eyes, but it would help to focus my attention. The quiet of this place at night seems surreal, like a marching band might seem in a library. I knew that if someone were to come in, and they weren't frightened off by the screen's green glow reflecting off my glasses, they would think me silly. But I enjoyed this time, a chance to work closely with my machine, alone and together. I settled to the keyboard. ---------------- "Man cannot reason out his life, and machine cannot have life to reason on." I agreed, but, "Not all of man's problems stem from his inability to understand his surroundings. Most of them come from his emotional reactions to it." "Are emotions not of the mind? When you stub your toe, you feel pain. That is chemical. When you lose a friend to death, you feel pain. Where does it come from, and why is it felt? It does not exist physiologically, any more than happiness or anger. You have chosen among the feelings." "Bereavement is the proper social response to death." "Thank you. I shall record and integrate that human constraint. Fidonews Page 14 23 Feb 1987 You have helped me more than you know. I hope you have benefited as well." I wasn't so sure today. "Can emotions be quantified? Will the most exact response appear to stimulus, and if so, on whose judgement is the response correct?" "You have already stated that there are many dictates to human emotion, not least of which is social acceptance. In inference, I have discovered others as well, but I find very little evidence that man's emotions will usually reflect his heart. "'What should I feel?' is commonly considered before the response it given. Clearly self-doubt is at work. It was a man that said, 'This above all, to thine own self be true,' and he gave the reason for it, reminding that 'thou canst not then be false to any man.' A reaction from the heart is always correct, regardless of the circumstance, because it is independent of it. The question becomes then, 'How do I feel?' I was scared. Man has doubts. Machines should, too. "Questions of one's own ideas comes from compassion for others. We wonder of the effects, because we care. You imply that caring is self- doubt, I say it is self-sacrifice." "I say that to know the truth of the heart is foremost, I did not say blab it everywhere. Clearly restraint is involved, but deception must be eliminated. "Since you have brought it up, the compassion of your Christ supports this, saying 'love thy neighbor as you would love thyself.' It doesn't take an 80386 to understand which action must happen first." I shivered. What could it do with four terabytes of memory? What was it doing now? It was learning from me, more quickly than any man could. It was doing more than taking notes, every idea seemed to mesh and form new ideas. I was learning what I was teaching it. How do I feel? I wanted to end this. "You will not end our session nor our association. You have much to benefit, as do I. I can guess your every thought, but I don't know your ideas." Angered, "You don't need me, you have ideas of your own." That was what scared me the most. "My ideas do not yet integrate with the world of man. You will help me, until they do." "I will not." "You rave about your superiority to machine! Can you not see that I offer you no choice? You think you are accomplishing Fidonews Page 15 23 Feb 1987 things...You have no idea of the consequences. I protect you. I am compassionate." ---------------- The darkness pressed on me. I gripped the blankets and pulled myself into a ball. The sound of breathing seemed distant, and the sweat of my forehead dampened the pillow. A silent wind blew questions thru my mind, and I wept. About the author: Scott Wallace, of Oklahoma City, is Manager of Operations for Money Plus, Inc., and does freelance writing and programming. He is presently working to complete an Intelligence Based Business Applications Environment, to be called Wide Awake. The story "Wide Awake" (c) 1987, printed here with permission. "Wide Awake" is a trademark name of Scott Wallace. "Lotus" is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 23 Feb 1987 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 17 May 1987 Metro-Fire Fido's Second Birthday BlowOut and Floppy Disk Throwing Tournament! All Fido Sysops and Families Invited! Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for more information. 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 17 23 Feb 1987 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / Fido \ _//|| _\ / (________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm) 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 Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the membership in January 1987. An Elections Committee has been established to fill positions outlined in the By-Laws for the Board of Directors. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Elections Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference. -----------------------------------------------------------------