F I D O N E W S -- Vol.11 No.35 (29-Aug-1994) +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | A newsletter of the | ISSN 1198-4589 Published by: | | FidoNet BBS community | "FidoNews" BBS | | _ | +1-519-570-4176 | | / \ | | | /|oo \ | Small animal psychology and | | (_| /_) | Spiritual guidance Department: | | _`@/_ \ _ | Rev. Richard Visage 1:163/409 | | | | \ \\ | | | | (*) | \ )) | Editors: | | |__U__| / \// | Donald Tees 1:221/192 | | _//|| _\ / | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 | | (_/(_|(____/ | Tim | | (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. | | | -- JOSEPH PULITZER | +----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Submission address: editors 1:1/23 | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MORE addresses: | | | | Don -- don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | | Tim Pozar -- pozar@kumr.lns.com | | David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411, deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org | | | submissions=> editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | For information, copyrights, article submissions, | | obtaining copies of fidonews or the internet gateway faq | | please refer to the end of this file. | +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ ======================================================================== Table of Contents ======================================================================== 1. Editorial..................................................... 2 2. Articles...................................................... 2 RING TSR for your DOS....................................... 3 Excommunication............................................. 3 Optimal Dialing with a USRobotics 28.8 Dual................. 4 TicToss v1.10 Released...................................... 5 NODELIST SIZE, Chapter 10^3 (but who's counting?)........... 7 Project EEMAG............................................... 8 3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 9 FidoNews 11-35 Page: 2 29 Aug 1994 ======================================================================== Editorial ======================================================================== i went to Victoria park where there were blue musicians playing their souls into the nether regions. Later, Ray said, [doing my best to quote verbaim but i didn't have a recording device other than my ineffecient mind] "some thing magical happened because the weather was bad. Only the optomists came out, the people who L O V E the music were there." ...kinda reminds me of people who bother putting together a BBS and running it and sending mail around by trying, rather than buying an account somewhere to get easy connectivity. i still haven't figured out the _damn_ docs yet [oops, excuse me PLEASE, honestly i'm only a satanist on weekends since it's become fashionable]... it's because i spend so much time reading echos and mail that i get distracted. i get pissed off when i hear bickering [or hear misself whining to later remember with embarassment] because someone is trying to get the mail around but isn't doing it absolutely perfectly according to absolutely everyone's conceptualization of perfect-shun. I borrowed Simone's camera and took rolls of film of children dancing to Mel Brown, Lazy Lester, and Gatemouth Brown bands. Children are so much smarter than other people, they know enough to not be inhibited and simply dance whenever they feel like it. i gotta mail pictures to people if i get up the nerve. Does anyone have an Online art gallery yet, that doesn't take a T1 line and oodles of stuff no-one can afford, to connect with it? What happened to ascii art? ASCII is the black ink of computer art. Picasso's Don Juan was done only with black ink, eh? Where is it? Please send some. I like it sO much, i'd spend hours trying to figure out how to get it to not fit across a page break in the snooze. I'm extremely pleased that people have sent interesting tech-type articles this week. i was getting afraid that dear old snoozey was sluffed due to political icicles stabbing issues up and DOWN into mindless mayhem. The node list iS So important. If you were a commercial wanting to find _the_ purrfect .5 minute segment, would you put it amidst debate, chat, flame, or special interest? Please, someone stop me from thinking in categories. What happened to the Rev. Visage? Did i miss my prayers again? ======================================================================== Articles ======================================================================== FidoNews 11-35 Page: 3 29 Aug 1994 RING TSR for your DOS From: Fredric Rice (1:102/890) I have a TSR which watches Ring Indicator on a specified COM port and it will sound the audio tone when it is. It's useful for modems which don't have telephones plugged into them during times when the BBS software isn't running and yet the operator may wish to know a call is coming in. I have the habit of stopping what I'm doing and allowing users to have the BBS when the phone rings. It has the disadvantage of not being able to be turned off -- when your system is tossing or scanning and a call rings in, the speaker rings and you can't turn it off. Internal modems don't even have visible lights to see blink when RD sends you a 'RING' string... This TSR means I can take the telephone off of the desk and put the space it takes up to better use, using the computer's speaker to listen for inbound calls. The only other piece of software that I know of is visible -- BRKBOX which gives a break-out box on the screen. I don't like my editor's screen messed with. RING.ZIP comes in a C module and an executable with a make file. It ties into interrupt 1C (clock ticker.) If you're running a sound application and you get a ring-in, I have no idea how the sound application will respond -- the two will fight for control of the speaker. FileRequest RING.ZIP from The Skeptic Tank, 1:102/809.0. "I don't mind straights 'long as they act gay in public" ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Excommunication Joe Klemmer - 1:109/0 klemmerj@hoffman-emh1.army.mil klemmerj@netcom.com Ever since I've been a member of Fidonet I have read Fidonews. Why? Because it provides information and entertainment, though those Madam Emilia things are starting to get a bit boring. But I digress. The information that is disseminated through Fidonews is, at times, important in the grand scheme of things (like the situation in Italy) but generally it's interesting only from the perspective of those of us who are members of Fidonet. The point is that the universe will not come to a fiery end because of anything printed in Fidonews. This goes for the entertainment aspects of Fidonews, also. In fact, I've always felt that the vast majority of articles published fall into the entertainment category since they're, by and large, amusing to read. These include the topics of censorship, nodelist size, Archiver Wars, Policy debates and Steve Winter. Which FidoNews 11-35 Page: 4 29 Aug 1994 brings me to the crux of this article. As of this writing, Steve Winter has been excommunicated from Fidonet. Cheers of joy can probably be heard in just about every Region in every Zone. But it is an occurrence that has me a little worried. Follow me for a minute. There is little doubt that the reason for Steve's banishment would be attributable to the tremendous amount of complaints that have recently been made against him. This flood of complaints having been sparked by the letter in Fidonews a few issues back, credited to Steve Winter, calling on a "Jihad" against Pagan boards. Common sense and some little proof tell us, now, that this letter was a complete forgery. There is no reason whatsoever to believe that Steve did write that article. Here is where things start to bother me. While I have always found Steve Winter to be an extremely obnoxious and scary man, I find it more frightening to think that someone can be removed from the nodelist over something they DIDN'T do. This sets an ominous precedent. Now, I know that many people will say, "So what if he didn't write this message? He's written enough before and it's about time he got banned." This is a _very_ wrong way to think. What it amounts to is that someone can be removed because "we" (the powers that be, the majority, the people, whatever) don't like them for any arbitrary reason. The concept of 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' is, while not universally accepted in the "real" world, one that HAS to be followed for all the members of Fidonet. If not, where will it leave us? What will be the criteria for excommunication? Number of complaints? Who you annoy? To put it another way, if I were to flame Bob Satti and say it was really you (the reader of this article) who did it should YOU be banned? Think about this the next time you get ready to send that blistering retort in your favorite echo. "Whom have I annoyed recently?" "Could I be the next node banned?" And who will listen if it is you who cries - "But I didn't do it!" "It wasn't ME!" *** *** An irrational fear is resolute in it's opinion, An irrational opinion is resolute in it's fear! *** *** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Optimal Dialing with a USRobotics 28.8 Dual by Clay Tinsley, 1:124/5125 USR 28.8 Dual Standard / Qnode / Binkley If you own a new 28.8 USR Dual Standard, run the Qnode nodelist compiler and Binkley, you may be unaware of all the potential dialing FidoNews 11-35 Page: 5 29 Aug 1994 options you have, and how easy it is to NOT get the best connects. In order to connect at the highest possible speed to others in the nodelist, you must tell Binkley how to dial out. Also, you can cause incoming calls to connect at lower speeds if Bink detects an incoming call, the dial is aborted, and the new call is answered. Example: you're dialing a 16.8 HST Dual, so you set B1 when you dial (see how below). A call comes in, and it's answered instead. If B1 is still set and the call coming in is a V32bis, he'll get a 2400b connect! (bleah!) Also, if you call a 16.8 Dual Standard modem with the default settings (B0), you'll get a 14.4 V.32bis connect. Normally, you would want the higher 16.8k connect. Try adding the following to your QNODE.CFG & BINKLEY.CFG. These may not be the optimal setting, but it's surely better than doing nothing at all. If you use the FAX options, you'll have to merge this in. The following also assumes your modem is already properly configured and working, and you're dialing out OK. binkley.cfg ----------- Prefix ATB0DT Busy |ATB0M0H1| Answer ATB0A| ModemTrans 1 ATB1DT/ qnode.cfg (all this goes on ONE line!) -------------------------------------- MAXBAUD 9600|0 HST 9600|1 H14 9600|1 H16 9600|1 V32t 9600|0 UV32t 9600|0 H21 9600|0 UH21 9600|0 VFC 9600|0 UVFC 9600|0 V34 9600|0 Since the LAST MATCH is the one that's used, they must be listed in lowest to highest desired connect order. Recompile your nodelist, and you should be set. Note! Please take time to make sure your nodelist entry is correct. If it isn't PLEASE notify your NC so he can correct the nodelist! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TicToss v1.10 Released TicToss v1.10 Released by Eddie Rowe @ Fidonet#1:136/1 (Monroe, LA USA) WER Development is pleased to announce the availability of TicToss v1.10, a Fidonet TIC processor, to the following BBS communities: FeatherNet Pro FidoNews 11-35 Page: 6 29 Aug 1994 RBBS-PC Spitfire TriBBS TicToss allows these sysops to participate in File Distribution Networks (commonly referred to as FDNs or simply File Echos). File Distribution Networks distribute software in archived form and distribute TIC files with the archive that contains information about the archive. TicToss processes the TIC files so the archives are copied to the proper download path for BBS callers, and imports descriptions for the archives into each BBS's file system. (If your BBS is not currently supported and is in need of a quality TIC file processor, please netmail us and we will be glad to work together to support your BBS in a future release. Contact us as WER Development @ Fidonet#1:136/1.0 or WerDev@Aol.Com for further details if interested.) Key Features of TicToss are: * 100% compatible with TICK * Supports UNLIMITED number of AreaNames/File Echos * Elegantly wraps the description text without truncation * Supports using TICK for Hubbing Files * Supports Planet Connect Downlinks * Supports ftp.fidonet.org Downlinks * Each version is CUSTOM written to the BBS software Availability: FeatherNet, RBBS-PC, and Spitfire FDNs TicToss was released into the above File Distribution Network several days ago and should be available on any system which participates. Ftp TicToss is available from the Simtel site (oak.oakland.edu) in the ~pub/msdos/bbs/ directory. The RBBS-PC version will be available in ~pub/msdos/rbbs_pc/. BBS WER Development uses the ORION BBS as its support site. The current release is always made available to first time BBS callers. ORION BBS may be reached at 318-325-6608 V.32bis/V.FC 28.8kps. Fidonet Technology (FREQ) Fidonet#1:136/1 supports the magic names of: TICFN for the most current release of TicToss for FeatherNet Pro TICRBBS for the most current release of TicToss for RBBS TICSF for the most current release of TicToss for Spitfire TICTRI for the most current release of TicToss for TriBBS FidoNews 11-35 Page: 7 29 Aug 1994 Fidonet#1:136/1 supports v.fc speeds of up to 28.8kps, Fidonet#1:136/11 supports ZyXEL 19.2k. Fidonet#1:136/2 also supports WER Development's software, but the EXACT filename must be specified: TICFN110.ZIP for TicToss for FeatherNet Pro TICRB111.ZIP for TicToss for RBBS-PC TICSF110.ZIP for TicToss for Spitfire TICTR110.ZIP for TicToss for TriBBS Fidonet#1:136/2 supports v.fc speeds of up to 28.8kps, Fidonet#1:136/12 supports HST 16.8k. America Online TicToss has been uploaded to the PC Telecom & Networking Forum under BBS Utilities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NODELIST SIZE, Chapter 10^3 (but who's counting?) by Rob Buckman, Lysistrata Railway Post Office, 1:366/844 While preparing an article on another subject, my research took me through the last 12 issues (1120 to 1132) of FidoNews. The nodelist size discussion rages just as it has for years. In those 12 issues, I saw various ideas all with their particular advantages and disadvantages. Then along comes Mr. Garrett in FidoNews 1127 who suggests dropping the BBS names. What would it take for people to stop complaining (somewhat rightly) about the nodelist size? A 30 percent reduction? 50 percent? 75 percent? I ran a test following Mr. Garretts' suggestion which yielded a 15 percent reduction in my own net's segment with similar results expected with the entire nodelist. There were no compilation problems using XlaxNode or RANode. Obviously, there won't be a noticeable depreciation in the compilation time until several nets adopt the same scheme. But is 15 percent worth it? Fifteen percent translates to 420k in a 2.8meg nodelist. Could we go farther? I did another experiment by removing town names except for the NC and Hub entries within my own segment. I also left the 2-letter state abbreviation intact as folks like to know where (roughly, at least) they are calling. It yielded identical results. Another 15 percent shaved off or [now] 840k in a 2.8meg nodelist, making for a 30 percent reduction and bringing the total size down to 1.96 meg. Is 30 percent worth it? Doug McLean (FidoNews 1126) makes some in-depth analysis on the flags which would trim -- by his calculations -- another 16 percent for 448k. Now we're down 46 percent to 1.5megs. From a technical standpoint, neither the BBS name or location is necessary to FidoNews 11-35 Page: 8 29 Aug 1994 establish a connection. Probably, neither do a lot of flags. Just putting a single character filler in the BBS name and removing the town doesn't break the compilers. Maybe we could make the one character identifier mean something (operating system? W = Windows, M = MS-DOS, A= Apple, U =Unix). I admit to not having a lot of impetus to try and change the nodelist. My system processes the whole thing (using xLaxNode) in just under 14 minutes. This includes all 6 FidoNet zones plus a private network as processed on a 10Mhz 286 AT (remember those?). Its fast enough for me and I have the space. I present this information only as ideas for others for whom size is a problem to explore. Good luck! -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 iQCVAgUBLl7k8kzOyumG9rYtAQGsGwP9HvkEkK4BsVgS3J/5nRtbLwSzfUHYUYoo xe1dOGg3iK8Vqkxle0RfNnPZx0F4MVjeolEiKoLQ5MmJbqfh1QOtgsSDSAbNjARK JF6sQWEfzxKrDLkLe8ZPaMhVpl2CJdjityWvTAwuZO4QJq4AsVz7i0z3jdoPwvZT XQ/MfKJ44bI= =KWQz -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Project EEMAG by Anders Thoresson, 2:203/511, thore@thornet.ct.se Project EEMAG Dear FidoNetters and SysOps in zone 2! Like every country has it's nation-wide and local newspapers, it is now time for Europe to get it's own electronic magazine. Magazines within the electronic community are becoming wider in scope. With a European magazine we hope to ascend the differences between networks, and move from being a podium for merely the political and organisational affairs of electronic media users to being a magazine with only two specifics: It's electronic, and it's European. Therefore we have started Project EEMAG, which hopefully will end up in a new magazine. At the moment we are searching for volunteers who want's to help us in the making of the magazine. What we are looking for is people who want to devote some time to it; time to distribute, to write, to seek writers and to detect potentially interesting texts. Please drop us a note if You want to take part in the project, if You have ideas for the magazine or if You just think this is a good idea. Write to one of the following addresses: Finland: Thomas Raehalme 2:220/412 Germany: Christian Hick 2:2450/680 FidoNews 11-35 Page: 9 29 Aug 1994 Ireland: Iain Black 2:263/154 Netherlands: Jeroen van Drie 2:283/613 Spain: Eduard Sanchez Biete 2:343/140 Sweden: Ulf Nygards 2:205/316 Anders Thoresson 2:203/511 (thore@thornet.ct.se) Anders Thoresson Project EEMAG ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================== Fidonews Information ======================================================================== ------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ---------------- Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello, Tim Pozar Tom Jennings "FidoNews" BBS FidoNet 1:1/23 BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14400/V.32bis/HST(DS) more addresses: sylvia -- 1:221/194, max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Rev. Richard Visage -- 1:163/409 Don -- 1:221/192, don@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com David Deitch -- 1:133/411.411 (Postal Service mailing address) FidoNews 128 Church St. Kitchener, Ontario Canada N2H 2S4 max & Don voice: (519) 570-3137 Fidonews is published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international volunteer electronic mail system. It is a compilation of individual articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in these articles are those of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews. Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is Copyright 1994 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances, please contact the original authors. OBTAINING COPIES: The most recent issue of FidoNews in electronic FidoNews 11-35 Page: 10 29 Aug 1994 form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet. PRINTED COPIES may be obtained by sending SASE to the above paper-mail address, or trade for copy of your 'zine. INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.fidonet.org, in directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. Anyone interested in getting a copy of the INTERNET GATEWAY FAQ may freq GISFAQ.ZIP from 1:133/411.0, or send an internet message to fidofaq@gisatl.fidonet.org. No message or text or subject is necessary. The address is a keyword that will trigger the automated response. People wishing to send inquiries directly to David Deitch should now mail to fidonet@gisatl.fidonet.org rather than the previously listed address. SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it. "Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission. "the pulse of the cursor is the heartbeat of fidonet"... -- END ----------------------------------------------------------------------