Volume 4, Number 30 10 August 1987 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. Copyright 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 at (314) 576-4067. One Week to FidoCon! Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1 Latest FidoCon Agenda .................................... 1 New stuff from SEA: SEAdog 4.1 .......................... 4 Hotline! (3) ............................................. 6 MegaList: A Cross-System File Listing .................... 8 Tandy Users SIG Newsletter - AUG87 ....................... 9 2. COLUMNS .................................................. 13 The Regular Irregular Column ............................. 13 3. FOR SALE ................................................. 18 ALR 386/2 Special Offer To Fidonet Sysops ................ 18 The UNDER-C (tm) Library ................................. 19 4. NOTICES .................................................. 20 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 20 Special notice for FidoCon goers ......................... 20 Latest Software Versions ................................. 20 International FidoNet Conference Registration Form ....... 22 IFNA Board of Directors Ballot ........................... 23 FidoNews 4-30 Page 1 10 Aug 1987 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Fourth International FidoNet Conference August 20th to 23rd Alexandria, Virginia I. Thursday Night A. 1500 Registration B. 1900 Welcome party - Cash bar - Free hors-douvers C. 2100 Deadline for IFNA Board of Directors votes II. Friday Morning A. 0900 Opening ceremonies - Ken Kaplan Executive Director of IFNA - Thom Henderson Editor of FidoNews - New Board of Directors introduced Bob Morris Chairman of Nominations and Elections Committee B. 1000 Report from the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee - Ryugen Fisher Chairman of the FTSC - Ben Baker International Technical Coordinator - Thom Henderson - Bob Hartman C. 1100 High speed modems - Bob Hartman Chairman of the 9600 baud subcommittee - Ray Gwinn - Gee Wong III. Break for lunch IV. Friday Afternoon - Technical Track A. 1330 Fido Version 12 - Tom Jennings President of Fido Software B. 1430 Opus - Vince Perriello President of VEP Software C. 1530 TBBS - Phil Becker President of eSoft D. 1630 Dutchie - Henk Wevers Representing the Holland Computer Club V. Friday Afternoon - Legal Track A. 1330 Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks FidoNews 4-30 Page 2 10 Aug 1987 - Tom Marshall, Esq. President of TMMnet B. 1430 Amateur and Commercial Electronic Mail - Mike Cavanaugh Executive Director Electronic Mail Association C. 1530 Legal Aspects of Electronic Mail - Philip M. Walker Vice President and Regulatory Council Telenet Communications Corporation D. 1630 Legal Issues Arising for BBS Sysops - Rees Morrison Sysop, Author, and member of the Bar - Jonathan Wallace Sysop of Compuserve Law SIG VI. Banquet A. 1930 Dinner B. 2030 Speaker - George Bond Senior Executive Editor Byte Information Exchange (BIX) VII. Saturday Morning A. 0900 FidoNet in North America - Ben Baker Zone 1 Coordinator B. 1000 FidoNet in Europe - Henk Wevers Zone 2 Coordinator C. 1100 FidoNet on the MacIntosh - Michael Connick Author of "The Mouse Exchange" III. Luncheon A. 1200 Lunch B. 1300 Speaker - Chairman of the Board of Directors (to be announced) IX. Saturday Afternoon A. 1330 Routing - Ben Baker B. 1430 Extended Addressing: Zones and Points - Thom Henderson - Henk Wevers C. 1530 Future Directions for EchoMail - Bob Hartman - Phil Becker - Gee Wong - Thom Henderson D. 1630 The FidoNet<=>UseNet Gateway - Tom Pozar Sysop at KLOK FM in San Francisco X. Sunday FidoNews 4-30 Page 3 10 Aug 1987 A. 1000 IFNA Board of Directors meeting - Open to all IFNA members Pre-registration required - Breakfast will be served ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 4 10 Aug 1987 System Enhancement Associates, 107/6 * New Release * SEAdog version 4.1 System Enhancement Associates will soon be releasing version 4.1 of the popular SEAdog network mail system. The primary impetus behind SEAdog v4.1 was, of course, the large node list compil- ation bug, which has now been fixed. But while we were at it, we enhanced the SEAdog mail system in several ways: * SEAlink with Overdrive; If you have a 9600 baud modem, you'll appreciate this. SEAlink's new Overdrive is especially geared to accomodate high speed half duplex modems, and is capable of coming within 4% of the theoretical maximum thoughput. * More than seventeen alternate message areas; If you are an echomail junkey, then you're gonna love this! SEAdog 4.1 can handle MANY more alternate message areas than ANY other system! It's been demonstrated to reliably handle over FIVE HUNDRED message areas! * Open architecture script facility; It is now possible for third party vendors to supply any desired type of script driver to suit any need. * Passworded file request areas; Have some files you want to be able to request, but you don't want anyone else to get? Now you can protect them! * Passworded mail pickups; Worried about hackers stealing mail that you hold for pickup? Your worries are over! * Magic filenames; You can now define special filenames (like INFO for D:\FILES\GENERAL\MYSYSTEM.DOC) to simplify and standardize file requests. * New routing commands; To support script drivers and password protection. Also including the new DON'T command to override SEAdog default routing. * LAN and multitasker support; The SEAdog mailer now uses record locking to prevent collisions, and also releases time slices under DoubleDOS or DESQview for enhanced system performance. The MAIL interface is now DESQview aware, and can be windowed without conflicts or bleed-through. * Extended options; A separate utility is available to give you more control over screen handling, default attributes in alternate message areas, and more! FidoNews 4-30 Page 5 10 Aug 1987 SPECIAL UPGRADE OFFER FOR FIDONET SYSOPS: If you now have a copy of SEAdog version 4.0 which is in use on FidoNet, we will upgrade you to version 4.1 at NO CHARGE! Take your SEAdog distribution disk (the green disk with our label on it), write your name and network address on the label, mail it back to us with a self-addressed disk mailer (or at least a self- addressed sticky label), and we will mail you a SEAdog 4.1 disk free of charge. (Upgrades from earlier versions still require a new manual, and hence still cost $35.) Mail it to: System Enhancement Associates, Inc. 21 New Street, Wayne, NJ 07470 If you are attending the FidoNet Conference in Alexandria, then bring your disk up to our hospitality suite and we'll upgrade you on the spot! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 6 10 Aug 1987 Hotline! (3) (c) 1987 James Zachary Every now and again, a caller to the water and wastewater department will ask about issues of national concern. RING! Southeast Plant, this is Zack. "I am taking a survey for my organization. Do you have time to answer a few questions?" Ma'am, this is a sewage plant... "You are a taxpayer and a voter aren't you?" Yes Ma'am, but ... "This will only take a few moments. Do you think prophylactics should be on television?" Say what? "Prophylactics... condoms... they are..." I KNOW what they are lady. "Should they be on your TV?" What good would they do on my TV? It never leaves the house... "DO YOU FAVOR ADVERTISING THEM ON TV!?" I could care less. "WELL, YOU BETTER CARE! THERE IS AN AIDS EPIDEMIC GOING ON AND THE PUBLIC IS BASICALLY IGNORANT!" You seem to be a living testament to that... "Would advertising them on TV offend you?" After 14 years in sewage, nothing much does offends me. "Now, as a viewer of TV, what names would you find the least offensive?" Trojan. "I mean what descriptive name? Condoms ...? Prophylactics...?" Call them rubbers. I don't much care. FidoNews 4-30 Page 7 10 Aug 1987 "That's a bit crude don't you think?" Here at work, we call them whitefish or bottlebass ... "What do mean 'at work'...? You wear them at work?" No ma'am. Remember that this is a sewage plant and that anything considered disposable usually winds up being flushed down the commode. Everyday we get a few thousand of them buggers floating in the clarifiers and filters. You seem like you are preparing to lobby for having them advertised on TV, so maybe you can give me a break and tell people to quit flushing them. "What harm does flushing them do?" Ma'am, they plug the sewer pipes and everything else. I remember one of the many times that I had to pull a plugged pump. You can never see what is in that mass of goo stuck in the pump impeller, so you just have to reach in and grab hold of it all. Well, some bozo had flushed one of those 'exciter' types... "What type is that?" ... the kind with antlers. I mean to tell ya, it scared the hell outta me when I latched onto that thing! It was wiggling like it was alive! For a moment, I thought I had an octopus by the ears... "Uhhh... you mean... there is more than one type?" Oh yes Ma'am! Should be interesting to see all of the marketing approaches they will use on TV. Should also be REAL educational for the "ignorant public" that you are so worried about. We used to keep a bulletin board filled with all of the different sizes, models and colors... "You are kidding of course..." Oh, no Ma'am! We fished out all of the novelty items and tacked them up for display. My favorite was one that had the American Flag on it. "The Flag? Just where did they put The Flag?" About half-staff... CLICK! Hmmmmm. She must have dropped the phone while saluting... ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 8 10 Aug 1987 Chris Irwin Miami Shareware, 135/68 Submitted By 107/246 MegaList A Cross-System File Listing YOU can easily join! I was in one of my more creative moods the other day; I've finally written a system that I've wanted to for quite some time now: MegaList. The "MegaList" is an alphabetized file listing that combines the files from ALL PARTICIPATING Fido/Opus systems. If you've ever needed a file, but didn't know where to find it, the MegaList is a good place to look; scan down the list for the file you need, and listed next to it are the BBSs that have it online. The MegaList is available for download or SEAdog file request from 135/68. The following files are online now: MEGALIST.ARC/TXT The National (unfiltered) MegaList MEGA-ARC.ARC/TXT The National ARChive MegaList MEGA-TXT.ARC/TXT The National TXT/DOC MegaList ML-UPD.ARC MegaList Update Software YOUR system can be added to the NATIONAL MegaList if you simply run the update program, ML-UPD. This program will create an update file based on YOUR system information and FILES.BBS contents. This data is then ARCed and Net-mailed to 135/68 for central collection. The NATIONAL MegaList is updated each day at 6:15AM and posted for download or file request. Placing your system in the MegaList will let the rest of the world know what's on your system without everyone having to call and look. The ML-UPD program is easy and only takes about 1-2 minutes to run. All you must do is send a MegaList update to Miami at least once every 45 days, and you will be in the daily MegaList update. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 9 10 Aug 1987 Bill Crawford OpusNODE 1:362/1.0 Chattanooga, TN (615) 892-7773 TRSDOS 6 EXPIRATION DATE Model 4 owners discovered some time ago that the way TRSDOS 6.2 was written, the date function would not accept any year beyond 1987. We said at the time that something would be done about it before that "expiration date." Logical Systems has announced an upgrade which extends that date to 1999. You'll also be able to obtain an upgrade (Ver. 6.3) from your local Radio Shack store later this month. The new version also includes speed enhancements and automatic time stamping capability. There will be a charge of $39.95 for the package. Ask for Cat. No. 700-2297. The year 1999 is not an arbitrary limitation. Due to the way the operating system is written, going beyond that numerical value will require some "non-trivial" re- programming, an issue which will be addressed at a later time. MODEL 6000 XENIX While we're on the subject of operating systems, I've received a couple of questions from Linda Hapner, Editor of "T-BUG". First, Linda questions the rumor that the Tandy 6000 will be discontinued this year. Not true, Linda. You'll see the 6000 in our 1988 catalog which will be distributed this Fall. The second rumor is about a new version of Xenix for the 6000. That one's true. It's currently in test. Any of you who know anything about software understand that it's risky to quote availability dates until the testing procedure is complete, but our best current estimate is late third quarter. From what I hear, it will be worth the wait. Xenix 3.2 will include speed enhancements, support for console graphics and the 20Mb, 8-inch disk cartridge system. I don't want to spoil your very pleasant surprises by listing all the enhancements here, but a couple of others include an automatic re-boot in case of power failure, and the ability to do an automatic daily adjustment of the clock, for those who predictably loose (or gain) time each day. MS-DOS There are frequent questions about MS-DOS, since it operates on several of our computers which have different capabilities. It could be said that all versions of that system are not necessarily just alike. The Tandy 3000 family's MS-DOS 3.2 (current Ver. 3.20.02 with BIOS Ver. 1.02), for example, includes partitioning of the over-32Mb hard disks. (MS-DOS supports only 32 Mb of storage per disk.) I understand IBM didn't do partitioning until their version 3.3. We will have a new version soon. Ver. 3.20.03 (with BIOS Ver. 1.03) will include some minor fixes, more hard disk support added to the table, and 3.5-inch 1.44Mb floppy support, for the 1.44Mb drives I told you last month were coming. MS-DOS 3.3 is scheduled around the end of this year. FYI - The Tandy 3000 and 3000 HL use the same OS, but BIOS ROMs are NOT interchangeable between the two systems. FidoNews 4-30 Page 10 10 Aug 1987 There will be a similar new version for the 1000 SX also. Remember that although MS-DOS supplied for the Tandy 3000 and 3000 HL may run on the 1000, our release versions for the two are different. The BASIC language supplied for the 3000 does not support the 1000 family's enhanced graphics and sound capabilities. In case you want to be sure your own system is up-to- date, the current versions of MS-DOS for the 1000 family are 2.11.25 (BIOS 1.02) for the EX, and 3.20.00 (BIOS 1.02) for the SX. The original Tandy 1000 uses MS-DOS 2.11.25 or 3.20.00, with BIOS Ver. 1.01. The Tandy 2000 current version is 2.11.03, and is not expected to change. MS-DOS for the Tandy 1200, is version 2.11.41. OS-9 Lest I be accused of leaving out the Color Computer, the current version of OS-9 for the CoCo 2 is LV. I, Ver. 2.00.00, and for the CoCo 3 it's Lv. II, Ver. 2.00.01. There are no anticipated new versions of either coming this year. CoCo 3 owners will be happy to hear, however, that the Lv. II development system is expected to be available in the next 60 days. OTHER COCO MATTERS I received a letter from a concerned CoCo owner recently. He actually wrote to a magazine, and they forwarded it to me. The letter said that local computer departments had "shuffled" the CoCo to the back of the department and appeared to be placing all the emphasis on MS-DOS. He feared that this signaled the end of his favorite personal computer. Our terminology "computer department" refers to the computer section or "Plus Computer Center" within a Radio Shack consumer store. If he's seeing the CoCo shuffled in those locations, something is wrong. Our merchandising plan for all consumer stores calls for the Color Computer to be just about the first item you find in the front of every store. That hasn't changed. In my reply, I told the writer that the CoCo is one of those products that refuses to die... or even slow down. The heaviest sales, as you might expect, occur in the Christmas quarter of the year. But every year, we sell more units than the previous year. Last October - December, according to InfoCorp, a Cupertino, California research firm, Tandy's share of the PC-compatible unit sales though retail channels was a staggering 41%! (The second place brand was Epson with 14%.) But you know what?? We still sold more Color Computers than MS-DOS machines. The end of a computer's lifespan is almost exclusively up to you, the consumer. When you stop buying them, it's a pretty clear signal that the end has come. Until then, I told our friend, I don't think CoCo enthusiasts have much to worry about. 80386 No, I'm not going to tell you about a new Tandy 80386 machine just now. What I am going to tell you, is that Intel's "Inboard 386" board (for 80286 computers) has been certified to run on our Tandy 3000 family. The 3000 and 3000 HL are two of the very few machines which have been certified. This FidoNews 4-30 Page 11 10 Aug 1987 board will be available through Express Order. PRICES REDUCED Good news! Effective July 1, the prices on our 20 and 40Mb internal hard disk kits are being substantially reduced. The 20Mb kit is reduced from $799 to $599, and the 40Mb drops from $1,799 to $1,399. Also on July 1, the CM-11 monitor was reduced from $459.95 to $399.95, and the T-1000 256K memory kit dropped from $99.95 to $79.95. GRAPHICS MATTERS We really think two features of IBM's April 2 announcement are outstanding. We like the 3.5-inch disk format, and the new VGA graphics. You know we were already offering 3.5-inch disks as an option. VGA graphics offer the promise of greatly improved graphics at reduced cost. We're already seeing third-party prototype boards. Will Tandy offer them? Yes. We're currently sourcing monitors, and we expect to be able to offer monitors, and boards soon... surely by the time any software is available to take advantage of them. Will we incorporate VGA into future products? You won't see them in our next generation, but down the road... who knows. You may see VGA, or even something better, with VGA as a subset. FUTURE DIRECTIONS I still get several calls each week... "Will Tandy clone the PS/2 line?" There's enough smoke in that area that it's difficult to identify the real issues. There are a lot of industry press reports confirming my earlier statements about the questionable immediate advantage to those systems. Despite all the claims of wide PS/2 acceptance, PC Magazine surveyed a number of large corporate customers. Based on their findings, PC editors told a recent industry gathering in Dallas, Texas, "There will be far fewer PS/2 computers sold than anyone in this room thinks will be sold." An InfoWorld reporter told me this week that they ran a similar survey, with almost identical results... it's a "wait (on OS/2) and see" attitude. Byte Magazine's computer laboratory has been examining the operating speed of the PS/2 systems and trying to determine what portion of the increased speed can be attributed to the bus, disk caching, and zero wait state. As of last month, they had not been able to accurately break it down. Theirs isn't the first such report I've heard. Aside from the PS/2 features we believe are winners, we have no plans to clone the systems or even other system features, until or unless the market tells us we should. After all, customers who need OS/ 2's capabilities have the option of running it on PS/2 or existing 80286 computers, including the Tandy 3000 family. On May 27, at a press reception in New York City, we demonstrated OS/2 running on the 3000 HL. At the reception, Tandy Chairman John V. Roach and R&D Vice President Dr. John Patterson discussed Tandy's view of "post-April 2 compatibility". We believe the important compatibility is software. Hardware compatibility, beyond the ability to use existing expansion boards, is no longer a real FidoNews 4-30 Page 12 10 Aug 1987 issue. IBM put it to rest by adding two new system families (the Model 30 and the Models 50, 60, and 80) which aren't compatible with the existing PC/XT/AT standards. If you accept that premise, then the door is open to some real hardware innovation by a number of capable industry players. We intend to take advantage of the opportunity. Tandy development efforts are being concentrated in several areas. We want to offer the best value in computers. We believe customers should be able to configure their systems the way they want them, rather than specific manufacturer- selected configurations. And finally, we're involved heavily in trying to make computers easy to use... even for those folks who today refuse to touch one. In fact, that's a major objective of our in-house software team. Stay tuned... Material contained herein may be reproduced in whole or in part in user group newsletters. Please quote source as Tandy Corporation/Radio Shack. Send questions/suggestions to: Ed Juge, director of market planning Radio Shack 1700 One Tandy Center Fort Worth, TX 76102 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 13 10 Aug 1987 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= -- The Regular Irregular Column -- Dale Lovell 1:157/504.1 Now that I've become used to WordPerfect, I can actually start learning more about it. My only regret is that it doesn't use the mouse, of course it does some things easier without the mouse than Word does with the mouse (almost requires the mouse to be more honest). I'm getting ready to attend the FidoCon in August, it's going to be nice to actually see some of the people whose messages I've been reading (or programs I've been using) for over a year. But enough on that, last week I mentioned that I'd do a quick look at the WordPerfect Library (which is actually a very nice set of programs even if you don't have WordPerfect). -- The WordPerfect Library (WordPerfect Corp., $99.95) -- As I mentioned above the WordPerfect Library is not only for WordPerfect users, most of the programs can be used by themselves or as memory resident utilities or TSRs. Included in the library is an appointment calendar, a notebook/database, a calculator, an ascii text editor, the Wordperfect macro editor, a DOS shell, and game (nothing fantastic, just something cute and stupid). While I am by no means a fan of most of the DOS shells out there, I can see how this one could be a lot of help to many people. It is a simple menuing system and while your typical new user probably wouldn't be able to set it up (unless they're only using the library programs, WordPerfect and PlanPerfect), the dealer it's purchased from should be able to set it up for them. It took me awhile to figure out how to set up sub-menus, but once I found the section in the manual it was simple. The only drawback I can see is the lack of any password protection in the shell. I've found the appointment calendar moderately useful. It contains a daily memo area, a "things to do" list, and a straight appointment list. All of these are kept for each day and the upper left section of the display is dedicated to a graphic picture of a monthly calendar with tags for each of the three functions in the appointment calendar. For the daily appointment you can set it up to give you an audible alarm (you can control how long it advance and how often it repeat). It's capable of printing out several different reports (or at least the same report just looking different), and the date and time format control will look very familiar if you use WordPerfect. I've been trying to avoid using it, as when I forget about an appointment it's usually because I WANT to forget it. For those of you are more conscientious than I am, you may find this part of the Library to be very useful. The Notebook is actually a small database. You can set up the database to contain any information you're often using. You can switch between two different views, a list view and a FidoNews 4-30 Page 14 10 Aug 1987 notecard style view. It's intended to be kept in the list view (showing all the names and phone numbers in the sample file) and when you add or edit a record it switches into the full screen view. All you have to do in order to see the full record is move a highlight bar to the record you're interested in and press return. If you have a modem attached to your machine, the Notebook can also dial the phone numbers for you. Someone of you may be saying "But SideKick already does all of this." Well, the biggest difference is that using the Library and WordPerfect, all the keys stay the same. F7 always means quit, you no longer have to remember different keystrokes that do the same thing in different programs. All your programs use almost identical keystrokes (not much sense having a graph key in an appointment calendar). Besides, SideKick doesn't give you a DOS Shell. Another feature of the Notebook is that it keeps it's records in the WordPerfect merge format. If you're using the notebook to manage a mailing list of some sort, you can use the notebook files when you create a form letter with WordPerfect. I've already used the notebook to help me create a form letter. I merely wrote up the letter in WordPerfect incorporating the merge codes that are used when I actually have it print the form letter, brought up the notebook and created a one shot file with all the names and such in it, went back to WordPerfect and loaded the merge file (that was just created in the notebook) and had it print my finalized forms. A friend of mine who works at a local hospital, and bought WordPerfect at the same time as I did, uses the notebook to maintain a list of doctors at the hospital. Every Monday he has to send out a weekly report of some kind, that contains information on where the physician hasn't been up to par. Since all of that is in the notebook, he's been able to get his secretary to manage the notebook records. Now every Monday morning the secretary merely brings up WordPerfect and loads the notebook file from the past week and the standardized report. She calls up a macro and the machine proceeds to print out several dozen reports. In the past this took the secretary most of the morning, going over the notes on the doctors and manually typing up several dozen reports. Now she's done in a few minutes. Things like this have made a big difference for many people and the easier it becomes, the more time they can spend doing real work instead of going through rote procedures that just take a lot of man hours. The calculator is one of the best I've ever come across. It is actually several different calculator programs built into one. For people like me there's a programmer's calculator; also built in is a financial calculator, a statistical calculator and a scientific calculator. You can switch between the several different calculators by hitting a few switches. It maintains a "tape" of all it's work on the screen. If the screen isn't large enough you can have it generate a physical tape by sending everything to your printer. The programmer's calculator has all of my favorite functions and number bases. I've found it very useful while entering code with their program editor. Whenever I'm trying to determine the correct values for some of the numbers (I've been playing with my assembler recently), I call it FidoNews 4-30 Page 15 10 Aug 1987 up with a few keystrokes. While I do have a very nice Casio programmer's calculator, I've found the WordPerfect Library calculator to be a lot handier at times. The program editor is supposed to be the same editor used at WordPerfect. While I take this statement with a grain of salt (I've known too many programmers who are fanatical about text editors), I will concede that it is a good editor. Once again we find the key strokes continuing over across the product line. I'm quickly becoming accustomed to having everything use the same function key combinations for similar tasks. The editor itself is almost a very cut-down WordPerfect. You don't have any of the fancy formatting, spell checkers or a thesaurus; but it does work fairly quick (it does take it a few seconds to go from one end of the 132 column nodelist to the opposite end) and has only one drawback in my eyes. I haven't been able to discover any one key line delete function including the carriage return/linefeed. I've only been able to get it to delete to end of line (from the beginning of a line) and then delete the CR/LF combination. I wrote a quick macro to help get around this and everything has been fine since, but I would have preferred it to be built into the editor. The program editor has the same sophisticated macros that WordPerfect does, and the Macro Editor is capable of editing the macros from the program editor just as easily as it works with the WordPerfect macros. While it doesn't do windows as easily as I've heard Brief does, it does allow me to work with two files at the same time and I've found that to be sufficient. The macro editor is the reason most WordPerfect user's buy the Library. While I have to agree that it should be packaged with WordPerfect instead of a separate product, I've got both so I'm not complaining. If you're using WordPerfect macros, you should definitely get the Library for the macro editor. When I first created the macro I use for the end of this column, I went crazy trying to get everything as close to perfect on the first try. I eventually ended up with several macros linked together to correct the mistakes. After I looked at the library, I was able to correct the original macro (and get rid of the patched macros) in minutes. Instead of having to re-key the entire macro, or link several macros together as I did, you can go in and correct or expand on your original macro. If you're using WordPerfect in a business environment, it would make it unnecessary to re-do a complicated macro whenever something in it changed. Some of you reading this won't understand how useful this can be, but bear with me for another moment. Imagine if you were able to go through your usual log-on procedure on a bulletin board merely by typing in everything once with your communications package. Every time after that you would merely press an Alt key and a letter and your communications program would automatically check for any new uploaded files or mail in the several different areas. This is one of the things a macro can do for you. But wait, the sysop has added a new menu into the early parts of the board. Your macro doesn't work any more. If you don't have a means of editing the macro, you'll have to go through the entire log-on procedure being careful not to make any mistakes (or else FidoNews 4-30 Page 16 10 Aug 1987 every time you use it, it will go through and re-do your mistake). The ability to edit the existing macro will make your life a lot easier as you don't have to go through any long procedures to adjust or change something. While this is a little bit better explanation of a macro than I gave last week, it's still a little weak. I've heard of people having macros that do everything short of wash the windows when doing certain types of form letters. A change in the data format doesn't spell the end of a macro, it can still be modified to work under the new system. While I'd be the first to agree that the Library isn't for everyone, it can fill several niches not really supported under Sidekick or most of the other TSRs. Under the DOS shell you can make all of WordPerfect Corp's programs memory resident, and I may start using the shell to keep the program editor resident while working on some programs (I prefer it to SideKick's editor). All I should have to do is save the program every time before I recompile it (keeping the editor loaded with the code), some of my programs are beginning to take a significant amount of time to load and this should save me some time. Since I can also keep the calculator resident (and using the programmer's functions), it should turn out to be very useful when combined with a few macros to make things even easier. If you're currently using SideKick and are happy with it, don't worry about the WordPerfect Library. If you don't have SideKick or are having too many problems with it, take a look at the WordPerfect Library as it may be what you've been trying to find. If you're currently using WordPerfect, run out and get it as soon as possible (and I mean run, not walk). -- Winding Down... -- For many of you, DeskTop Publishing is only a phrase. You may not have any substantial thoughts on what it means or how it works. All you know is that it's quickly becoming the catchword of 1987. Even if you do know a little about it, "The Art of Desktop Publishing" by Tony Bove, Cheryl Rhodes and Wes Thomas (Bantam Computer Books, $19.95) can help explain a lot about what's currently available. The Art of DP explains many of the basic concepts of DeskTop Publishing and how you can use the technology. If you haven't started looking into the products available it goes into an explanation of the advantages and disadvantages of many of the different products currently available. My only complaint is that I find it to oriented towards the Macintosh, and not enough attention is paid to the IBM PCs and compatibles. This is understandable because until recently there wasn't much in the way of professional quality DeskTop Publishing programs and tools. For those of you more experienced in DeskTop Publishing, there are sections covering layout and design of various types of publications. Unless you know almost everything there is to know about DeskTop Publishing, you should find a few useful items in this book and for the less experienced it provides a good introduction. As always, I'd enjoy hearing from you. Down below you'll find my US Mail, FidoNet and uucp address. Those of you sending FidoNews 4-30 Page 17 10 Aug 1987 mail through FidoNet should mention to your sysop that mail to me must be routed through 157/0 (157/1) because I'm a private node. Dale Lovell 3266 Vezber Drive Seven Hills, OH 44131 FidoNet 1:157/504.1 uucp: decvax\ >!cwruecmp!hal\ cbosgd/ \ >!ncoast ames\ / talcott \ / >!necntc/ harvard / sri-nic/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 18 10 Aug 1987 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= John Hamilton, IFNA 143/8 About six months ago, I said self, when will someone sell a '386 "clone" base system unit for $1600? Well, this has nearly been realized if you are listed in the nodelist! If you are interested, call the number below and discuss it. Feel free to negotiate more than the base unit, but use this page as the order form (note any additional components agreed to here). You must send this "order form" in, and the offer is limited to one per SysOp. I will verify the order by netmail to preserve your rights. Purchases will be shipped direct from the dealer to you. I am just the sponsor! Mail order to: EXECUTIVE COMPUTER TECHNOLOGIES 1190 Coleman Avenue, San Jose, CA 95110 Phone: (408) 727-3000 Paul Darbo Circle To Order Description Price --------- --------------------------------- ----------- FIDO100 Advanced Logic Research 386/2 $1675 Phoenix BIOS (32 bit) 1MB 32 bit interleaved ram, expandable to 2MB on board 16Mhz 80386 Support for 10Mhz 80287 and 12Mhz 80387 1.2Mb floppy drive Serial port, parallel port 101-key 'board Slots: two 8 bit, four 16 bit, two ALR 32 bit 1 year parts/labor with dealer FIDO101 ALR 32 bit ram expansion card w/1MB $625 FIDO102 1MB ram upgrade (chips) for above $300 FIDO103 WD 1:1 interleave HD controller $225 Nonstandard: _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ _______________________________________________ Terms: Check, money order, VISA, or MasterCard. California residents add sales tax. Add $30 shipping/insurance to total. Ask dealer for delivery time. Name:____________________________________ Net/Node:_________ Total Price:_________ +tax:________+$30 s/h = $_____________ Payment: ( )check ( )money order ( ) VISA ( ) MasterCard VISA/MC Number:_________________________ Exp.Date __________ Signature:_______________________ Voice phone: ( ) - Shipping Address:_________________________________ _________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 19 10 Aug 1987 Stanley Quayle, 126/1 The UNDER-C (tm) Library The UNDER-C Library is now available for TURBO C! Other modifications made to the Library are various bug fixes, support for the EGA, and archived libraries. The UNDER-C Library is a collection of functions and utilities callable from C and other languages. It has 126 BIOS, DOS, and other functions, including functions to build screens similiar to dBase. Also included are utilities such as MAKE; CPRINT, a general- purpose printing program; and PFS2TXT, which translates pfs:Write and IBM Writing Assistant files to text format. Complete SOURCE CODE -- No royalities -- Not copy-protected. Includes 215-page manual and software on 5-1/4" disks. 3-1/2" and 1.2Mb AT disks are available for an extra fee. The UNDER-C Library works with IBM PC-compatibles using the following C compilers: TURBO C, version 1.0 NEW! Microsoft C, version 4.0 Lattice C, version 3.10 Computer Innovations C86 2.10J DeSmet C 2.4 Instant-C Prices: UNDER-C Library $39.95 Shipping in U.S. 3.50 3-1/2" or AT disks 5.00 Ohio residents please include 6-1/2% sales tax. Overseas buyers--write for current shipping rates. Send checks to: Quayle Research, Inc. 6548 Edgerton Road N. Royalton, OH 44133 MasterCard and Visa orders: (216) 237-4395 voice, or Myrna Quayle on 157/502. For more information, contact Stanley Quayle on 126/1. UNDER-C is a trademark of Quayle Research, Inc. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 20 10 Aug 1987 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 20 Aug 1987 Start of the Fourth International FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel in Alexandria, VA. Contact Brian Hughes at 109/634 for more information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with all this time. We're hoping to see you there! 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fourth International FidoNet Conference With the conference rapidly approaching, I want to remind everyone to send in your registration forms. Even though registrations will be accepted on Thursday Evening and Friday Morning at the Conference, It will not be possible to sign up for the Banquet on Friday or the Luncheon on Saturday if you do not pre-register. We need to have a final head count for these functions by Tuesday, August 18th. Please send in your registration forms before that date. Anyone wishing to charge their registration fees on either Visa or MasterCard, feel free to contact Brian Hughes at the number listed below. Remember, your participation will help insure a successful conference. Brian Hughes: 202-543-4200 (work) 202-546-0883 (home) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.51 EDITNL 3.3 ARC 5.21 Fido 11w LISTGEN 05.25.86 ARCmail 1.00 Opus 1.01* MakeNL 1.00* ConfMail 3.00 SEAdog 4.00 Prune 1.40 EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M XlatList 2.81 Renum 3.30 FidoNews 4-30 Page 21 10 Aug 1987 * Recently changed Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 22 10 Aug 1987 OFFICIAL REGISTRATION FORM FOURTH INTERNATIONAL FIDONET CONFERENCE RADISSON MARK PLAZA HOTEL ALEXANDRIA, VA. AUGUST 20 - 23, 1987 Name _________________________________ Date _____________ Address ______________________________ City & State _________________________ Phone (Voice) ________________________ Net/Node Number ______________________ Phone (Data) _________________________ Number in Your Party _________________ Staying at the Radisson? _____________ Number of Rooms? _____________________ Arrival Date? ________________________ Departure Date? ______________________ Registration Fees: How Many Total Full Conference $60.00 each ________ $________ Late registration $10.00 each ________ $________ (after Aug. 1) Friday Night Banquet $30.00 each ________ $________ Saturday Luncheon $16.50 each ________ $________ Total Amount Included (Registration and Meals) $________ IFNA MEMBERS ONLY: How many in your party will be attending the Sunday morning Board of Directors meeting? ________ Send your registration form and a check or money order to: Fourth International FidoNet Conference 212 E. Capitol St., Washington, D.C. 20003 Attn: Brian H. Hughes -- voice: (202) 543-4200 This registration form does not include hotel accomodations. If you wish to stay at the Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel, please contact them directly and mention you are with the FidoNet Conference. Conference room rates are $80/night for single or double occupancy, and $20/night for an extra cot. Radisson Mark Plaza Hotel 5000 Seminary Rd., Alexandria, Va. 22311 1-800-228-9822 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 4-30 Page 23 10 Aug 1987 Bob Morris 141/333 Chairman, Elections and Nominations Committee The next two pages are your Official ballot for the Election of the IFNA Board of Directors. The following are the few rules which must prevail in this election: 1. You must send a legible copy of this ballot to the address listed on the ballot. It must be signed and bear your net/node number. 2. You may vote for any one person in your region for the position of Regional Director. This vote is to be cast in the LEFT column of the ballot. 3. You may vote for any eleven people in any regions for the position of Director at Large. These votes are to be cast in the RIGHT column of the ballot. 4. Voting will continue until the end of registration at the Conference in August. The results will be read during the opening of the business meeting on the first day of the conference. 5. Write-in Votes will be accepted and are requested during this election. FidoNews 4-30 Page 24 10 Aug 1987 IFNA Board Of Directors Ballot Regional At Large Region 10: Steve Jordan _________ ________ Region 11: Ryugen Fisher _________ ________ Theodore Polczynski _________ ________ Region 12: Region 13: Don Daniels _________ ________ John Penberthy _________ ________ Thom Henderson _________ ________ Gee Wong _________ ________ Brian Hughes _________ ________ Region 14: Ben Baker _________ ________ Ken Kaplan _________ ________ Brad Hicks _________ ________ Region 15: David Dodell _________ ________ Larry Wall _________ ________ Region 16: Bob Hartman _________ ________ Hal Duprie _________ ________ Region 17: Rob Barker _________ ________ Bob Swift _________ ________ Region 18: Wes Cowley _________ ________ FidoNews 4-30 Page 25 10 Aug 1987 Region 19: Mark Grennan _________ ________ Wynn Wagner _________ ________ Region 2: Henk Wevers _________ ________ Write-in candidates: ___________________ _________ ________ ___________________ _________ ________ Name ______________________________ Net/Node ___________ Signature______________________________ Date ___________ Please complete this and mail it to: Robert Morris IFNA Elections Committee 210 Church Street West Haven, Ct. 06516 or bring it with you when you come to the conference in August. These ballots will be counted by myself since with 200 members the charges for a CPA would be very high. Hard copies will be made available to anyone wishing to insure that their vote was included. Thank You Bob Morris Elections and Nominations Committee -----------------------------------------------------------------