fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:25:31 Page 1
Volume 2, Number 4 19 Feb 85
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| _ |
| / \ |
| - FidoNews - /|oo \ |
| (_| /_) |
| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
| ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Editor: Tom Jennings
Publisher: Fido #1
Chief Procrastinator: Tom Jennings
.........................................
Disclaimer or dont-blame-me:
The contents of the articles contained here are not
my responsibility, nor do I necessarily agree with them;
everything here is subject to debate. I publish EVERYTHING
received.
You can take this to mean anything you want, but
hopefully as an invitation to comment, make suggestions, or
write articles of your own.
.........................................
HOT NEWS
Yes, the newsletter is late. Once again.
I had to reject a couple of newslatter articles
cause I could not handle the text format I was supplied.
Most, though, are just fine, and many thanks to the people
who gave me text files I can use without manual editing.
I have semi-smart software that can reformat
paragraphs from almost any editor, but the problem is tables
of items get destroyed in the process. In the past, I edited
them manually, but it's something like half an hour a piece.
Bumper stickers aren't selling too well; I'm stuck
here with over 400 left! They're cheap: I'll repeat myself.
.....
Fido Bumper Stickers, the little doggie, the legend
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:25:37 Page 2
"FidoNet Bulletin Board Network" along the bottom, black on
white, with space for your phone number and so on.
3 Stickers $1.00
20 Stickers $5.00
A SASE is very helpful; I'll thrown in a fourth
sticker if you send me an SASE. Oh yes, the address:
Tom Jennings
2269 Market St. #118
San Francisco CA 94114
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:25:38 Page 3
NEWS
ARTICLE SUBMISSION
All articles you see in this issue are written by
users and sysops, and have one way or another managed to
consume disk space on Fido #1. In order to get rid of them,
and free up my precious disk space, I include them here,
then quickly delete them. Then they are YOUR problem.
EDITORIAL CONTENT:
Totally up to you; I publish anything at all.
Article are generally Fido or BBS related; this is by no
means a decision on my part, nor a requirement.
FOR SALE, WANTED, NOTICES:
Pretty much self explanatory. Commercial ads are
welcomed, if of reasonable length. These will be run each
issue, or until I lose them. (Dont laugh, Ive already lost a
few.)
SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE:
Manage to get a copy of your article to Fido #1,
preferably by Fidonet mail, or by uploading. If manual
upload, please put it in the MAILFILE area, so that I can
find them all at once.
ARTICLE FORMAT: VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!
The requirements are a little tighter in this
department, due to purely practical constraints. I cannot
devote hours to converting every text format in the world to
the one I use.
1. NO LEFT MARGINS! Flush left please. These are
extremely difficult to remove.
2. RIGHT MARGIN AT COLUMN 60 OR LESS! Less is OK,
more is definitely not. This includes fancy
boxes, dotted lines, etc.
3. KEEP FUNNY CONTROL CHARACTERS TO A MINIMUM!
This includes formfeeds and other oddities.
These areent as dificult to handle, but on long
files still takes a while.
4. WORDSTAR IS FINE IF THERE ARE NO LEFT MARGINS!
5. PLAIN ASCII (EDLIN, ED, etc) IS FINE IF LINE LENGTH
IS UNDER 60 COLUMNS!
6. NO GRAPHIC CHARACTERS! Believe it or not, not every
one in the world has an IBM PC. My computer
understands printable characters from 20 hex to
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:25:44 Page 4
7e hex. (Space to tilde) This is ASCII; "American
Standard Code for Information Interchange". We are
"Interchanging Information". Everything else is
GARBAGE. ASCII is universal; Graphics are not.
7. TOTAL ARTICLE LENGTH: Up to you; note, however, that
I will probably avoid publishing dictionaries,
bibles translated into NAPLPS, and ASCII encoded
LANDSAT pictures of Russian wheat farms.
8. WHERE ON EARTH IS THIS ARTICLE FROM? Well ... good
question! A good idea to identify yourself
somewhere, unless you wish to remain anonymous.
Thats OK too, but I may balk at publishing rude
or otherwise racy submissions.
9. AN EXAMPLE:
Article from Tom Jennings
Fido #1 4 Feb 85
Here is what an article could look like for
submission. Very simple: plain old dumb ASCII, WordStar,
PMATE, Vedit, or whatever. WordStar Document mode is fine.
Note no left column; that is done when FidoNews is
published. Note the total width is only 60 columns; it looks
narrow on your screen, but fine when formatted later.
END irrational tirade on text files ... on to bigger
and better things!
I figured out that what I initially interpreted as a
security breach was really just Fido protecting me. I use
my name for my sign on with Sysop level priveleges. I
found a private message to 'Sysop' from 'Allen Miller' which
I knew I did not enter. My first thought was that someone
had gotten or guessed my password and would have had full
access to the system. I reviewed the callers log and did
not see a sign on with my name at or around the time that
this message was recorded. I do not give access to the Name
change command to normal users, even though Fido should not
let them change to a name that already exists.
After this initial panic, it finally dawned on me. There is
a way that a user can enter a private message to the sysop
without having their name entered in the SYSOP.LOG file.
It's the 'forgotten password' routine. Three More ?
incorrect guesses at a password, and they are taken directly
to 'enter a private message to sysop'.
Sooooooooo, everything is safe once again. Even though
someone was able to create a message from me, 'Allen
Miller', they were not on the system with my privelege
level as I had initially feared. Just wanted to share this
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:25:51 Page 5
with you.
Allen Miller Fido 85NetWare Column #2 3-Feb-85
Last time, I proposed a network wide software development
project, in particular, a tool to transform datasets of
popular micro (and mini) computer software packages
between each other.
There are three major factors that influence the potential
success of such a project. The first is the precision of
the initial design. Assuming we all agree on the target
(disagreement is welcome!), in future issues, I will
present some of my ideas on the overall design, as well as
those that hopefully will be pouring in from FidoLand. In
general, I believe it will take weeks or months to arrive
at a precise specification of any of these projects,
longer on this first one.
The second major factor is choice of tools. At an obvious
level, this means development language(s). There are a
wide variety of choices. MicroSoft Basic comes to mind.
Assembler does too, but we should try for at least an
appearance of planning for the future, and non-PC's.
Turbo Pascal would be my choice. If this is used, should
the Toolbox be used as well?
There are sound arguments for using the MS development
family - that way everyone can use the language of their
choice (so long as its in the family). There are
ramifications to such a choice. The central site (more
later) would have to have all the appropriate compilers,
or act on faith that the source matched the objects
provided by contributors. Another question is that of
royalties (last time I asked, there were some when using
MS-Basic compiled stuff.)
For that matter, it should be possible to implement some
or all of such a translator in FrameWork or Symphony
itself (although it would run slowly, and could not
succeed as a public domain project. You'd have to own
Framework or Symphony ... kinda defeats the purpose.)
Just as important but far less obvious is the selection of
design documentation maintenance tools. It is ironic we
have to consider this; if the project is successful, we
will have a transformer to render the issue moot!
However, for now, we have to decide what the form of our
design documents will be. Not just in the logical form,
or the physical appearance, but the tools used to produce
same. My preference would be a high level text tool, such
as Framework or ThinkTank. However, such tools cannot be
assumed. About the most that should be is a word
processor, and possibly text output processor standard.
Should the specs be maintained using Wordstar, which I
neither own nor intend to own? Or should we "be true to
our school" and use PC-Write or DVEd or sumpin similar?
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:25:58 Page 6
Or should the documents just be simple ASCII text files?
If this is the case, do we have carriage return (and
possibly line feeds) to indicate lines or paragraphs? You
get the point ... and we have not even considered headings
and subheadings and page numbering, etc.
A third aspect of the choice of tools is the use of style
of their use. Under almost any conditions, I would rather
have a copiously documented, albeit inefficient MS Basic
program than a totally uncommented assembly language
program. Before I dropped out, UMass professors taught me
that a well documented program with bugs is worth more
than an undocumented one that runs. The former, you can
fix now, and later, when you will inevitably change it.
The latter you can do neither to. What stylistic
standards should we use, and how do we handle
contributions not meeting any of the standards we
establish? (One solution might be to have two releases -
the frozen and official one, and one which is "beta test",
including modules that do not come up to snuff.)
The final major consideration is the control of the "true"
product. Any public domain product with source provided
undergoes mutation. That's the whole point, hopefully the
mutations will be improvements. In this particular
product, mutation (in the form of added tool support) is a
planned part of the growth. There must be a careful
control of the "official master" sources and
specifications, and a method for "checking in and out"
modules. Another function of such a center is the testing
of the new integrations, and distribution of same. This
testing is not as easy as it sounds, for reasons similar
to the use of variant development languages ... the
testor(s) will have to have each of the transformed tools,
or an elaborate project wide testing mechanism will have
to be designed. (The latter will probably be the case.
It will involve the construction of worst case datasets by
the owners of the individual tools, which will be
submitted with the master code.)
The distribution of new versions will get to be an
expensive proposition, and a difficult one. There are a
number of projects going on the net that involve what I
refer to as "publication" functions. These include the
newsletter, and the distribution of the routing
information weekly. There is also a library project under
discussion (which seems a great idea that will also clog
the net).
The ability to send a file once to a local host, and then
have it distributed to one or more of the Fido's served by
that host is essential both for the success of this
project, and the ability of the net to handle publication
class without clogging out message class traffic.
Last time, we got our first comment. It was from the
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:06 Page 7
editor, regarding the technical quality of Kermit. What
Tom said may or may not be true; however, the point was
that Kermit is successful because it covers a wider
variety machines than any public domain comm tool, and
nearly all proprietary packages. (If you go by my
criteria, which is diversity, there are only two packages
I know of that even think about Kermit's range: Blast and
Poly-XFer.) This ability in turn was due to the fact that
people intimately familiar with the particular machines
took the generic Kermit spec and did an implementation.
Kermit is useful to our shop because I can transfer data
between any of the diverse machines we use. There might
be some vagaries, but by and large, it works, especially
under the direct link conditions we tend to use it. This
is more valuable to us than a tool that transfers
"perfectly" between a more limited range of machines.
This same general goal is one I have for this project.
For instance, I am much more concerned with the ability to
transfer data between a wide variety of spreadsheets than
I am to be able to transfer the equations. I would like
to transfer the equations, and it is a longer term goal of
the project to do so as well. We will design the beast in
such away to allow future perfection in each of the
particular transforms, but for now, a bunch of minimal
implementations is more useful to the project. (It gets
more people involved, and gets results quicker, which will
get more people involved.)
If what Tom says about Kermit's technical deficiencies is
true (and I have no reason to doubt him, although it is
known he does not like the C implementation of Kermit a
whet!), the problem was in the initial design, not the
specific implementations. The point to this project is to
go the Kermit development project one better. In that
project, the implementation development was distributed.
In these, the design can be as well. How successful this
is is up to you the reader. You the participant.
Next time, I will present my overall ideas on the
structure of the conversion tool, and hopefully, some of
your ideas on this, or other potential net-wide projects.
As always, direct any response to Fido 336, Berkshire,
(714) 632-9117.
FROM FIDO 357 TO ALL FIDO CALLERS
PRODUCT SPECIFICATION SHEET
MICRO-TALKER 1 MULTI USER VOICE MAIL SYSTEM
Leading communications consultants estimate the elimination
of telephone tag by using VOICE MAIL systems will REDUCE
both coporate and personal communications costs by 50% or
more.
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:15 Page 8
Multi-user VOICE MAIL is here for your PC. The MICRO-TALKER
has 100 mail boxes with private retrieval code numbers for
each user. You may change the greeting message for any mail
box from any touch tone phone. It is the ONLY voice mail
system that's so simple, anyone can use it.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
The Micro-Talker message center is a total function, voice
network, software application designed for the IBM-PC and
offering users a new order of magnitude in communications
efficiency.
FEATURES
Automatic voice prompts for callers.
User created greetings and system messages.
Completely menu-driven for ease in use.
Recording and playback function via touch tone command.
100 mail boxes with seperate security code for each.
BENEFITS
Reduce telephone costs by 50% or more.
Improve information flow.
Provide current message status & location of personnel.
Provide 24 hour VOICE communication capability.
PRICE STRUCTURE
RETAIL PRICE $ 695.00...OUR LOW COSTS ARE LISTED BELOW.
Quantity Dealer Price Our retail price
================================================
1-4 458.70 550.00
5-9 420.48 502.96
10-25 401.56 475.53
26-50 386.11 457.25
51-99 370.67 438.95
100 + call for special pricing
To arrange an actual demonstration call 914-623-3143
from 5 pm to 10 pm voice. (EST)
To order send FIDO MAIL TO FIDO 357-SYSOP
Fido and AT&T 6300 + Prometheus 1200 Modem From Justin
Marquez, SysOp Fido 60 - Artichoke - Houston,TX
Using Fido on the AT&T is very easy. Pretend your AT&T
is an IBM and truck on into BBS-land. Now that the AT&T
matter is out of the way, let's go on to the fun part....
The Prometheus ProModem 1200 is a fine modem, offering
all of the Hayes' Smartmodem command set and more.
Unfortunately, you'll have to perform a partial lobotomy on
the ProModem for Fido's benefit. (You can get up now; said
lobotomy is temporary. All 10 of the Prometheus' switches
are accessible from the outside, so setting or resetting
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:21 Page 9
isn't a hassle. ) Set Prometheus' switches as follows for
Fido use one of these as a starting point :
Switch Number Setting (Alternate Setting)
------------- ------- -------------------
1 ON ON
2 ON ON
3 ON ON
4 ON OFF
5 OFF ON
6 ON ON
7 OFF ON
8 OFF ON
9 ON ON
10 OFF OFF
I have used both settings as a test, and they are
workable. Note the Switches #3 and #9 are the ones which
turn the Prometheus Promodem 1200 into an ordinary Hayes
1200 when they are ON. In the OFF position, they allow
automatic re-dialing from within the MODEM's control (not
nice for Fido use !!) and allow an extended message set to
be in effect (BUSY, WILL RE-DIAL IN 30 SECONDS.....) which
would probably confuse poor Fido, smart though he may be.
Use 128/V as the CD-Bit Switch, and use the same
FIDOMDM.BBS file as recommended for the Hayes 1200B, if you
insist on using a FIDOMDM.BBS file at all. I nearly gave up
on the Pro1200 for Fido use, until I discovered I had a
"custom" RS-232 cable, inherited from the previous occupant
of this computer (IBM at the office, not the AT&T). I bought
the Pro1200 for home use, as I'm broke all the time, and was
trying to save money with the Pro1200. When I plugged it
into the office machine to try out, it worked with EVERTHING
except Fido. When I got an AT&T for the home use, I tried
out all the software I had access to on it, including Fido.
And lo and behold, it worked flawlessly. Being a curious
sort, I brought the Pro1200 and cable from the house to the
office, and that combo worked on the IBM-PC at the office!
Of course, I've always had to use 32/V for the PC, so I knew
something was kinky. Anybody want a STRANGE cable.........
=========================================================
From: Mark Welch, San Francisco
via Fido #104, BYTEnet_Listings, Peterborough, NH
To: Sysops with high FidoNet node numbers
I've been operating a private "test node" Fido and made a
discovery which may be of interest to other FidoNet users,
especially newer Sysops who have a relatively high node number.
Now that there are almost 200 nodes, having your number at the
end of the NODELIST causes a delay every time Fido tries to
figure out who is sending or receiving a particular piece of
mail. I was sending mail from my test fido, whose number was
at the end of the list, to Fido just being brought up, whose
"fake" number was at the end of the list. Fido would say
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:29 Page 10
"Message 123 from Mark Welch on Fido1102,<long, long delay>
WelchNet, SF"
and then "To: John Smith on Fido 3000, <long, long delay>
Revap_Data, Keene...NH"
To fix this -- and reduce the delay to an almost imperceptible
level -- move YOUR NODE information to the top of the list, and
also move the information for commonly-called nodes up in the
list. This is especially important if you're up in the 300 or 400
block, since Fido apparently searches sequentially for your
system's name for EVERY message it lists. I don't know what
effect this might have on FidoNet -- it can't hurt the speed.
I've noticed no side effects from having the NODELIST out of
numeric order.
Perhaps the folks who developed the NODELIST.EXE program could
also get it to move things around in the nodelist file? I haven't
tried the program yet; maybe it already does it....
===============================================================
Date : Feb 15, 1985
From : David Strickler, SYSOP of #45
To : All FIDO sysops
Re : 'bug' in file.bbs reader
Just a quick note to let you all know I have found a strange
problem (if you can call it that) in the reader for
files.bbs in FIDO. When the lines that are left justified
are read in, they are assumed to be files. Being human, we
all have forgotten to indent a few times for comments
in the file. This is not a big deal, and is easyly
corrected with a text processor. Here's the 'bug':
When there are 3 or more lines of text in a row that you
have forgotten to space in, FIDO reads them in as one long
file. This causes an '** OVERFLOW **' message, and
bombs FIDO. FIDO drops to batch, and tries to restart, but
locks up while booting.
For all interested, I have a Rainbow 100 (A) with 256K and a
Racal Vadic modem. Hope this helps some of you...
Stricks
------------------
By Thom Henderson, sysop of Fidonode 375
Message Routing Failures
or
What Do You Do When a Host is Down?
A good question, eh? Fidonet is already faster and cheaper
than the U.S. Mail, but there is still a minimum turnaround
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:35 Page 11
of two days. If you are sending to a local whose host is
down for the night, the lag extends even longer. It is
somewhat disconcerting to check your mail log in the morning
only to find that a message you entered for node XYZ didn't
go through just because node ABC, his host, had a problem.
So what does one do to handle this case? Well, we found a
solution, though it might not suit everyone.
We figured that the locals would probably be receiving for a
half an hour after national mail hour, so that they can get
their messages from their host. So we set up a second
transmission schedule during that slot, where any messages
that didn't go during the national hour get sent again
without any routing. We haven't been doing this for long,
but it has already "backstopped" the routing schedule on two
separate occasions.
This method does have a couple of drawbacks. The biggest is
that it can cost more money. You might end up paying for
five calls where you would have only paid for one.
Also, I can already imagine the screams from some folks
about how this would trash the whole network routing scheme.
Still, assuming that host outages are rare, this seems to me
to be a viable method of making the whole Fidonet system
more robust.
Your comments, of course, are always appreciated.
NOTICES
As a matter of brief introduction, I am Bill
Macneill, SYSOP of FIDO node #202 in Boston, Massachusetts
(1-617-721-1688).
Recently, one of the members of my Board (DEC-Line
-- a DEC Micro oriented board) uploaded a game file known as
JETSET.BAS...a jet plane simulator, and one of the great
classic public domain games. The problem with JETSET,
however, is that it is SOOOOOOO SLOWWWWWWW!
I would very much like the readers of this
newsletter to advise me as to whether JETSET has been
compiled to operate directly as an 'executable' under the
MSDOS operating environment. If one of you is familiar with
such a file, please advise me where I can obtain a copy...or
even better, why don't you just call and upload to DEC-
Line?? Again, we are at 1-617-721-1688 in Boston....
Bill Macneill, SYSOP
DEC-Line FIDO#202
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:41 Page 12
FOR SALE
I HAVE 2 NEW 20 MEG HARD DRIVES WHICH ARE EXTERNAL
WITH CASE AND POWER SUPPLY, CABLES AND CONTROLLER CARDS.
COVERED BY ONE YEAR WARRANTY.
DRIVES MADE BY CMI. CONTROLLER-DTC CARD.
EACH UNTIL IS SELLING FOR $1375.00
ALL ARE BRAND NEW IN THE BOX WITH FULL DOC'S
CONTACT RICHARD LEVEY VIA FIDO 79.
We now have the PC to XT upgrade chip in stock for immediate
delivery. This chip allows your PC to emulate the XT in
speed for both super fast disk access, and super fast memory
access. The boot up time for a 640K machine complete with
TOTAL ram check is a mere 20 seconds...not 3 MINUTES !!!!!
The chip is a ROM replacement easily installed by any PC
owner. We sell the chip for $145.00 shipping included.
CONTACT SYSOP NODE 357 FOR DETAILS OR TO ORDER.
DELAER INQUIRIES INVITED !!!!!
I HAVE THE FOLLOWING FOR SALE AT THIS TIME.
1 D.S.D.D. DRIVE BRAND NEW NEVER USED
2 S.S.D.D. DRIVES BRAND NEW NEVER USED
ALL COVERED BY MANUFACTURERS WARRANTY.
PACKAGE PRICE IS $200 (AMERICAN)
CONTACT ME VIA NODE 79 UNTIL I GET MY
NODE NUMBER.....RICHARD LEVEY
--------------------- From: Robert E. Spivack Sysop Fido
#346 (408) 972-8164
Subject: For Sale!
I have the following items for sale. If you are
interested please drop me a note via Fidonet. (All prices
are negotiable, all items sold on an "as is" basis.)
CP/M-80 Software:
Bottom Line Strategist (Eagle II) The Financial Planner
(Eagle II) Star Accounting Partner (Eagle II) Friday (Eagle
II) Microtax Client Write-up Software Money Maestro
Supersoft Diagnostics II MITE Telecommunications (Eagle II)
PC-DOS software:
Zipco Visischedule Visiword Versaform Datafax Arlington
Software Systems (telemarketing s/w) PC-Tutor Crossdata
Hyper Typer Infotory Amber Language Knoware
Other Operating Systems:
VENIX/86 (6 Manuals)
Computers:
Eagle III Computer (I'll throw in some good Eagle Software)
S-100 Boards:
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:46 Page 13
Dynabyte 32 KB static ram Matco 64 KB static ram with full
extended addressing Matco Prom programmer/emulator
IBM PC Boards:
4 Nestar NIC's (ARCNET local area network link boards)
Microlog 256 KB ram board with ram Sigma Designs 256 KB ram
board with ram Hayes Smartmodem 1200B
Misc:
Large roll thermal paper (80 column) Omninet Apple
diagnostic controller board (peeping tom) Radio Shack
acoustic coupler for Model 100
PLEASE NOTE! I am not a dealer, discounter, or professional
junk collector. I have just managed to acquire these
bits 'n pieces over the past few years.
FROM SYSOP:FIDO 357
TO:ALL FIDO SYSOPS
SUBJECT:TURBO 10 HARD DISK SALE
WE ARE NOW IN A POSITION TO OFFER YOU THE FOLLOWING
SPECIAL PRICES ON 10 MEGABYTE HARD DISK DRIVES FOR
YOUR IBM PC'S.
TURBO 10 10 MEG. HARD DRIVE WITH CONTROLLER CARD.
300% FASTER THAN XT HARD DRIVE. MTBF 16,000 HOURS
13 MONTH WARRANTY.................................
RETAIL PRICE...........................$ 949.00
OUR LOW FIDO SPECIAL PRICE.............. 775.00
==================================================
YOU SAVE A TOTAL OF....................$ 172.00
AND GET THE HIGHEST RATED DRIVE IN THE INDUSTRY
==================================================
CONTACT:SYSOP-FIDO 357 FOR DETAILS AND ORDERING
==================================================
WANTED
WANTED TO BUY: One used Gavilan computer.
Send details (accessories, condition and price) to:
Andy Meyer, FidoNet, Fido #317 - or contact Sysop of
SMC-70 Citadel: (201) 930-6483 [24 hours, 300 baud]
WANTED: INFO ON TANDON 8 INCH DRIVE
I have a Tandon somethingorother-2, a double sided
eight inch drive, half height. I do not have any docs on it,
and need to know how to turn the drive motor off, if
possible. Isn't it set up like a minifloppy?
If you know what jumper, etc affects motor on/off,
please send a msg to:
fidonews -- 19 Feb 85 20:26:52 Page 14
Tom Jennings
FidoNode #1