ÜÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ßßß ÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ßßß ÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜÜÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ßÛÛÛÛÛÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛßßßßß ÛÛÛÛßÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛßßßßß ÛÛÛÛÜÛÜÛÛÛÛ ßßÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛ ßÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛ ÜÜÜ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛÛÛÛ ßÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ßÛÛß ßÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ßÛÛß ßÛÛß ßÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÉÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ» º March This Month's Features of IceNEWS Volume 2 º º 1993 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Issue 2 º º º º 1. IceNET Support - By: Daryl..................... 1@5900 º º º º 2. Stupid Problems - By: Mr. Blue................. 1@7681 º º º º 3. How To Be a Successful Sub Moderator º º By: Joe Kirsch aka The Fez................... 2@7653 º º º º 4. Gating Subs. To Gate Or Not To Gate. º º By: Sparky................................... 1@4903 º º º º 5. Running WWIV under MS-Windows º º Stealing Your Computer Back From The Users º º By: Daryl A. Rodrigues....................... 1@5900 º º º º 6. What Modem To Buy - By: Odin................... 1@7664 º º º º 7. To Defragment, Or Not To Defragment º º By: Rat Man.................................. 1@6255 º º º º 8. A Blatant Attempt At Humor: º º SysOps, BBSing, and Life. A Commentary º º By: ’lpine áob............................... 1@7416 º º º º 9. Mod Of The Month: CAVEMOD3.MOD º º By: Spelunker................................ 1@7653 º º º º Editors: Spelunker 1@7653 and The Fez 2@7653 º ÈÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IceNET Support ³ By: Daryl (1@5900) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Geot founded the original [ISB] system. It was intended to be a system of BBS' that had Guest SysOp Accounts setup for IceNET SysOps to use. The majority of systems you now see with the designator [ISB] were part of that original system. There was however a flaw in the system, which, though not apparent at the outset, became apparent as time drew on. [ISB] was coined as "IceNET Support Board", a misnomer as the whole purpose was to provide Guest Accounts and not support. Because of this some SysOps experienced dismay when they'd call long distance only to find a few files, and in some cases incorrect advice. Let me state that the majority of the [ISB] systems were and still are, hosted by SysOps who never bargained for being Support Systems but rather, believed they were assisting the growth of IceNET by supporting IceNET SysOps with a guest account. On February 1, 1993, or thereabouts, the Support System changed hands, a number of dedicated SysOps, Darth Vader, Morgul, Jim Wire, and of course Jim Nunn, teamed up and re-created the format of the system to clearly designate Support Systems from those with Guest accounts. It is our hope that those fine SysOps who have supported IceNET all along in their participation will continue to do so, and that those of you who call on the [IPSS] (IceNET Primary Support Systems) will, in every case, find the answers to your questions and solutions to your problems. There are two levels of IceNET Support Systems, one level is for systems that are primarily of a WWIV support nature, and the second level for those IceNET SysOps who are gracious enough to allow fellow IceNET SysOps access to their files by use of a guest account. Admission to the first level [IPSS] (IceNET Primary Support Systems) is made by [IPSS] membership vote and shall be limited to a 1 [IPSS] per 100 IceNET nodes. The larger IceNET grows the more [IPSS] systems will be required. Admission to the second level [ISB] shall be made on a rolling application basis but shall be limited to 10 [ISB] systems per 100 IceNET nodes. The requirements for admission to both levels differ and will be outlined below. [IPSS] IceNET Primary Support System Requirements: 1. Must Be Operating a Full Time BBS. 2. Agrees to remain in operation for the following year. 3. Is operated by an experienced SysOp with a minimum of one year of WWIV SysOp experience. 4. Agrees to ALWAYS have the latest WWIV Software available for downloading. This includes WWIV BBS Software and the WWIV Network Software. 5. Must have at minimum 30 Megs of WWIV Files available, and agree to keep the WWIV File Section as current as possible. 6. It is preferred that the system be capable of running at 14,400+ 7. The [IPSS] system must support Automatic Sysop Validation. 8. The applicant must subscribe to the IceNET Support Systems Sub. [ISB] IceNET Supported Board: 1. The SysOp agrees to carry a guest account for IceNET SysOps Directions on the Guest Account Setup follow. 2. Must have a minimum of 5 Megs of WWIV Files available though it is not required that the files be current. 3. The SysOp agrees to notify the IceNET Support Coordinator at their earliest convenience if they no longer wish to maintain a Guest Account or if they can no-longer maintain the required amount of WWIV Support Files. 4. The SysOp may elect to subscribe to the IceNET Support Systems sub. For a full listing of [IPSS] and [ISB] systems please E-Mail me at the following addresses: 1@5900 IceNET, 1@15900 WWIVlink, 1@13 S-NET ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Stupid Problems ³ By: Mr. Blue (1@7681) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I am sure all of us Sysops are familiar with the stupid problems that sometimes occur which we can spend hours trying to resolve. When we finally do find a solution, it turns out to be so stupid. For example, when you plug the telephone line into the 'PHONE' jack on your modem instead of the 'LINE' jack, and you wonder why your modem does not work. I recently reinstalled my WWIV software, and ran into a couple of the problems which I am sure you will find humorous. As you know, installing a system from scratch is quite an endeavor, especially with a multitude of source mods. The first problem that I ran into was with my DSZ. I configured my DSZ according to Wayne Bell's documentation in the README.422 file. I was getting an error--line input status register 02, which, according to the DSZ docs, is due to TSRs, usually write cache programs. I was stumped because the only TSRs that I was running were PHONEV4, DOSKEY, and ASSIGN. All of which I used before with DSZ and WWIV without any problem. I am using a brand new modem supporting buffered I/O. I couldn't imagine what was wrong. I downloaded a fresh copy of DSZ directly from Omen, and even registered it. I asked Jim (IceNET 1@1) for his DSZ strings and used them. Still, I consistently encountered this error. I even reinstalled DOS replacing my QEMM with HIMEM.SYS and EMM386. Still no luck. I changed my port configuration from 57,600 to 38,400 and tried several MDM files thinking that perhaps it was my modem configuration. I decided to run PCProbe landmark because recently things have been kind of slow running, and to my amazement, it reported 8Mhz speed! I then opened up my machine and noticed that my turbo connector wire came off, and this must have happened when I installed my modem. I reconnected it and I was back up to my normal speed. No more DSZ errors.... The second problem that I encountered concerned the CHAT available status. I installed a new chat password mod that I found and had installed it on my development system. It was working fine, so I copied onto my BBS. The funny thing is that on the BBS, no matter what, I could not toggle chat on. I was always unavailable. So, I took out my nice little mod and still the same thing, always unavailable. Well, the scroll lock light was on and everything. I changed out the keyboards... still no luck, gave up and the next day I went into my INIT and saw that my Sysop low time and high time were set to be from 5:00-11:00AM. I meant for it to be PM, but forgot to make it in military time!! I zeroed those out and all works fine! Remember... the next time you have a stupid problem, look for the obvious things first before you look for a complex solution. Rob (Mr. Blue), Dementia Praecox, 716-634-6927 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ How To Be a Successful Sub Moderator ³ By: Joe Kirsch aka The Fez (2@7653) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ This text has been written to assist those who are either currently moderating a network sub or those who may wish to do so at some point in time. The following is a list of suggestions to aid those in the task of moderating. These are, for the most part, common-sense tips that I've learned while acting as a network sub moderator myself. Remember, these are only suggestions and not rules of any kind. A person has the right to moderate a sub in whatever manner they wish, provided the sub conforms to any established network rules. It is my belief that by following the suggestions below a moderator will, at least, stand a good chance of running a successful and popular high-quality sub. * * * The first thing you need to do as a moderator is set up and post a written set of rules for your sub. This sounds like an obvious statement, but you'd be amazed how many moderators never take the time to do this. You must determine definable and consistent parameters for topic(s) of discussion to be posted about in your forum. Other decisions that need to be made are such things as what type of language is allowed, if the sub should be flagged with certain restrictions for subscribers (such as adult, male/female-only, age limit, SysOps-only, etc.), if BBS taglines or random titles should be allowed, etc. Keep in mind when creating a new forum that it your topic should not conflict with an existing sub already devoted to that topic. By creating a "duplicate" forum you would not always be able to maximize subscribership due to competition from the pre-existing forum. It won't help your cause out to start up a sub for posting about skateboarding when two or three established subs are already devoted to that topic. Be original! Once this has been done, the rules should be posted on the sub for all to read. This text should also be periodically be re-posted to accommodate new subscribers as well as users who may be new to the forum. Another suggestion to those who have their subs set up to be AutoRequestable is to include the rules text with the automated add-request response. This will also let the subscribing SysOp know of your rules for the sub that he/she has just subscribed to and allow him/her to take any steps concerning the sub that the SysOp may feel are necessary. Once your rules are set, do not vary from them! There may be times where situations may dictate making addendums to your rules, but specific rules should never be deleted or discarded once they've been posted. Do not allow certain users or friends to bend or break these rules you've set. If you do, then the rules you've made are useless and the time and effort you put into creating them was wasted. To allow users to bend, break, or ignore posted rules is hypocrisy and will send a sign to the other readers of your forum that you don't really care what they do there. A lack of consistency could also cost your subscribing systems because the subscribing SysOp is unhappy with the content of your forum. Be true to your rules! The rules that you've laid down must also be enforced by you and you alone. Do not rely or impose upon subscribing SysOps to enforce your rules for you. Rules enforcement should be the sole responsibility of the moderator. The sub should be network validated by the moderator. There are those moderators who prefer to have each individual subscribing system network validate posts on their respective systems. Others feel that there is no need to network validate messages at all. My belief is that a moderator should be in active control of their own forum and be solely responsible for its content. IMHO, a moderator allowing someone else to decide what posts go out on THEIR sub is the same thing as a newspaper editor letting the paperboys decide what stories get printed in the evening edition of the paper that they're delivering. My strong belief is if you don't have either the time or sense of responsibility to network validate your own forum, then you shouldn't be moderating it and should allow someone else who has the time or feeling of responsibility to do so. Don't be afraid to delete unsuitable posts. From time to time you may run into a post that doesn't fit the criteria you've established for your forum. If this happens, you may take a number of courses. You could alter the post (deleting any unsuitable language or subject matter) then re-post it stating the post has been edited by the moderator. Another option is to simply delete the post entirely. A third, but undesirable, option is to allow the post to go out to the subscribers as it is written. This last option should never be used lest the moderator wishes to show the readers of the forum that it's alright to disregard the established rules. In any case, e-mail should be sent from the moderator to the user who posted the message in question informing the user that the moderator had a problem with the post and explain to the user whatever action was taken by the moderator. Also, a text of the sub rules for posting should be included in the mailing. Aside from simply being a courtesy, this could help out the moderator in the long run. If the user decides to contest the action and complains to the moderator about it, this will most likely happen in the form of an auto-reply to the e-mail sent by the moderator and will be kept off of the forum. The moderator and the user may then discuss the problem without clogging the forum with distracting and counter-productive posts regarding the problem. Be fully prepared to delete a subscribing system that you are having consistent problems with. If you're having a problem with the posts of a particular user/users from a particular system, you should contact the SysOp of that system explaining your problem. Ask the SysOp to limit or deny access of your forum to the user/users in question. Be sure to include a copy of the offending post or posts as well as your rules for the forum to the SysOp to show him/her that the user/users violated existing policy for posting on your forum. If the SysOp of the system you're having a problem with is unable or unwilling to work with you on the problem, simply remove that system from your subscriber list and inform the SysOp of the deleted node of your action. Take an active role in moderating your forum. While there are certain types of forums that will essentially take care of themselves (ie. general discussion forums), most will require a certain amount of prodding and re-directing by the moderator to stimulate posts relevant to the subject matter of the forum. One method I've found to work is to ask for the opinion of your users on a topic relevant to the subject matter of your forum, but general enough to allow for a maximum number of responses. Let's say, for the sake of argument, that you are moderating a sub for the discussion of films. One question a moderator could put to the readers would be something like "are sequels to popular films really needed, or even wanted, by the public?" A question like this would be sure to bring numerous and varied responses from the users. Do this on a regular basis and you will have a very active sub. Weigh the quality against the quantity of new posts. A moderator likes to see new posts on their forum, but the ultimate goal of a moderator is to make certain that the conversation doesn't stray too far from the topic of the sub. Imagine the surprise of a new subscribing nodes' SysOp and users when they discover posts speaking about baseball when your forum is supposed to be for the discussion of football. A moderator also has to consider the relevance of the new posts, as well as their format. It is somewhat common to find posts that were made "with regards" to a previous post. Posts of this nature often contain a quote (in whole, or in part) from the message it was regarding. What should be looked at by the moderator is the size of both the quote and the response. Sometimes a user will quote a 20-line message in it's entirety, while only giving a one or two line response. A moderator may wish to establish set rules regarding the maximum amount of lines a user may quote in a post as well as a minimum number of lines for response. A very good reason for implementing such a rule would be cut down on meaningless one-line posts like "I agree!" or "Yeah, I think that's really cool!" and other such nonsense. Another reason would be to aid in keeping the network information packets as small as possible by limiting excessive quotes. This would help save costly telephone transmission time for everyone that has to handle the packets for your forum. Advertise your sub. A moderator should wish their forum to reach as many users as possible. To do this, you MUST advertise! Each network usually has a sub devoted to the posting of ads for other network subs. Subscribe to it. If you're a moderator who isn't a SysOp, request that the host system subscribe to the advertisement sub. If there isn't an established network sub advertisement forum, host one! Post regular ads on the sub to "sell" your forum to other systems on the network. Another option that is now more widely available to moderators is the option of "gating" their forum to multiple networks to increase subscribers. Most networks have established policies regarding the use of the "gating" feature. It is the moderator's responsibility to ensure that the he/she know and follow the established policies. Also, one should consider the "competition" factor discussed earlier when deciding in "gating" a sub to multiple networks. * * * It is my sincere hope that this text has thoroughly covered the aspects and responsibilities of moderating a successful forum. I also hope that this will prove to be some measure of help to those who wish to moderate a sub. I welcome any questions and/or feedback regarding this article. Responses should be addressed to #2 @7653 IceNET. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- (Editor's Note: Joe Kirsch is Co-SysOp of The Cavern BBS IceNET @7653 and is SysOp in charge of the message bases there. As The Fez, he has acted as moderator of the IceNET sub "Strange But True Facts" for slightly more than one year. The Fez is currently serving as moderator of the new multi-gated forum "Star Trek: Creative" (IceNET subtype 47653) and is the moderator of two local forums on Tower of Zot BBS IceNET @4, "The Room of Visions [Entertainment]" and "The Colour of Space [Sci-Fi]") ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Gating Subs. To Gate Or Not To Gate. ³ By: Sparky (1@4903) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Well there seems to be quite a controversy going on about gating subs. I personally thought that the problems would not have gotten this far, before people just accepted it. Well this has not happened, even though I have heard less against gating than for it. With all of the WWIV compatible networks going on out there simple gating seems the only next logical step. It brings the networks closer together and will weed out all of the "Fly-by-night" networks a little sooner. Then will it also hurt the larger networks? I don't really believe so, after all ICEnet is still growing at an amazing rate. If any network has something so special that gating a certain sub could hurt it, then common sense says DON'T GATE IT! But still, that is up to the host of the sub, and the Network Coordinator. I really don't believe that there are any NC's out there who would completely disallow a host from gating a sub. From a host's point of view, it helps generate competition to get the good sub on the nets before anybody else. This brings out more quality subs on all networks, also weeding out the lesser of the subs. A big disadvantage to gating is the question, "Why join that other net? It is just like this one." Sure, that may be true to some extent; but if a network is worth keeping around it has to be worth something to somebody. It is also quite good to gate subs in the local nets to increase network activity, and sub activity. What is the use of having a sub or network that never gets used. All in all, as we come to an end to this rambling little article, it is evident that gating is now occurring, and as with everything,it will work fine as long as it's not abused. I think that gating subs is a fine addition to WWIV, WWIVnet, ICEnet and all of the other networks out there. Hats off to Wayne Bell for keeping WWIV on the up and up, and always looking to the future. Sparky, Mental Meltdown BBS, 1@4903 IceNET, 1@4903 WWIVnet, 1@1 LiquiNet ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Running WWIV Under MS-Windows ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Stealing Your Computer Back From The Users ³ By: Daryl A. Rodrigues (1@5900) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Credits to Jim Wire, Life Arts Network SysOps, and Matthew (MACMODS). Spelunker 1@7653 is the Editor for this edition of the IceNET News and had asked that I publish something regarding operating WWIV under Windows. I'll start by suggesting that interested SysOps subscribe to Subtype 55900 Hosted by @5900. The sub is titled "Window Pains - WWIV<->Windows." An important caveat to consider as you paw your way through the smoke of misinformation and "Windows Bashing" is that the majority of those who say Windows is useless have neither the hardware nor the need to use it. Also WWIV is written for DOS and DOS alone, therefore problems you may have heard about regarding running WWIV with Windows or DeskQview are problems with WWIV not the multi-tasking systems. Before you commit to using Windows in order to multi-task your BBS ask one simple question "Do I need Windows for anything else", if the answer is NO, there are many SysOps around who can help you to figure out DesQview, which admittedly has a lower overhead and reduced hardware demands. If you, like I, NEED to be able to use Windows applications WHILE your BBS is in use by all means please read on. There are three stages of assuring full compatability for WWIV with Windows, I do not (and am not likely to) run DeskQview so I'm unable to say much about that. Perhaps one day one of the "Mod Guru's" will make WWIV fully Windows compatable - perhaps even Wayne Bell. STEP 1 - Hardware Your system must be capable of running Windows, this means a 386 or better and a minimum of 2 Megs of RAM. Windows can run on a 286, however it will not be able to multi-task while running WWIV (so if you have a 286 read no further - YOU can't do it). Multi-tasking with 2 Megs of RAM will also prove to be a frustrating experience so consider that a 386dx-33 or better and 4 Megs of RAM as the operational minimum. I run a 486sx-25 (114Mhz Landmark) with just 4 Megs of RAM. 16550AFN UART chips are recommended for your serial card for those of you running external HIGH SPEED modems. If you have a newer internal you likely have a 16550AFN built in, if not you're our of luck as I don't know of any way to change a UART chip that's on an internal modem. The 16550AFN UART offers an extra 16K buffer for data that's being received, which will prevent data loss on high speed modems while multi-tasking or task switching. One word about the 16550AFN UART cards. Not everyone needs one. I have a very inexpensive I/O card with a 16450 chip and have little problem at all. Others, however say the diference is like "Night and Day". STEP 2 - Configuring Windows Load up CONTROL PANNEL from Program manager, you meed to make two changes here, first select PORT SETUP and make sure that you have the port that your modem uses set to it's highest speed, and that XON/XOFF is set to HARDWARE CONTROL, do not let Windows manage your Com Port, WWIV does that itself. Second elect 386 ENHANCED MODE and make sure your settings for Windows are 100 FORGROUND 50 BACKGROUND and that the "Exclusive in Forground" toggle is OFF. That should about do it. If you're capable of using 32bit access for virtual memory please do it, however if you're using STACKER 2.0 or 2.1 NEVER use 32 bit access - 32 bit access is safe with STACKER 3.0. If by some fluke you're using a battery powered Laptop or portable Windows will warn you about toggling the 32bit access, and I might add you'd do well to heed the warning. STEP 3 - Creating a PIF file The following is my WWIV.PIF un UUCODE form, please use UUDECODE to view it. If you don't have UUCODE please feel free to logon (sysop validation for IceNET WWIVlink, WWIVnet, and S-NET SysOps) and download either BBS.PIF or UUEXE513.ZIP the current version of UUDECODE/UUENCODE. section 1 of uuencode 5.13 of file wwiv.pif by R.E.M. begin 644 wwiv.pif M`,]$051!*DY/4E1(*E=%4U0@0D)3("`@("`@("`@(""``(``1#I<5U=)5EQ7 M5TE6+D)!5``@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@ M("`@("`@("`@$`!$.EQ75TE6`"`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@ M("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@("`@```````````````````` M```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` M```````!`/\94```!P`````````````````````````````````````````` M```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` M```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` M`````````.`@34E#4D]33T94(%!)1D58`(> The smell of the magnetic tape in the floppy drive. The constant noise emanating from the computer fan ALL NIGHT LONG. The hum of the monitor when you flip it on. Yes, if you actually like this stuff, you must be a SysOp. Yes, in and out, down and up, obtuse and acute, we are the SysOps. The proud and few, we sacrifice our time and money so that the user population can have a thorough enjoyment of the boards that we run. We are self-less, whole-hearted, and we just love hyphenating words that describe us. We are a separate breed! Yep, most scientists place us somewhere between Homo Erectus and Homo Habilus. 'Forcing a network to callout,' 'Modifying a chain,' 'Hammering out the source,' 'Defining a macro,' and 'Deleting an inactive user.' If the normal person heard these atrocities, they would think that you're some kind of low-life, sub-human, (uh-oh.. starting to hyphenate those SysOp adjectives again..), piece of sado-masochism punk. Of course, you may be able to impress women if the network connection that was being forced was, indeed, a long network connection. SysOps are the shoe-horns of our communities, and, therefore, require a very understanding family in order to prosper. For example, our kids didn't even mind back last month when we were installing TradeWars and forgot to pick them up from school, did they? (did they even get to school?) And when our wife left us at 2 a.m. one night when we were having a hell of a time setting up WWIVnet, it didn't even bother us, did it? (are we even married?) SysOps are the ones that set up things called NETS. Nets are things that people can send mail over, except they don't have to pay for things called Elvis stamps. But, if the message you want is over 200k (or lbs), it is preferred that you go ahead and use that Elvis stamp. It's an Elvis kinda thing... <> Most SysOps become SysOps (no, they're not born with a keyboard attached to their fingertips) because they want to have a hobby. I don't know about any other SysOps, but I just couldn't handle any REGULAR hobbies, like stamp collecting, or religion or something. First of all, I can't afford to buy the new stamps that the U.S. Postal service issues every week to mark such unmissable events as National Unmade Bed Week. Of course, as I understand it, a REAL thrill is when a stamp is printed with a mistake, like National Bunmade Ued Week instead of National Unmade Bed Week, which causes stamp collectors to just about wet their polyester pants. So, for a while now, I've had nothing in the way of a hobby. Just for fun, I used to put 'narcotics' on my job applications, but unfortunately, my employers (or employers-never-meant-to-be) didn't share my jovial enthusiasm. I tried beer-drinking as a hobby, but being a minor, I found some problems with that. I finally found a Quickie-Mart that would sell beer to me, but unfortunately, the wise-guy made me sit down beside him and drink it. I drank until I passed out, or until he got my wallet. Whichever came first. (Of course, when I passed out, he got it anyways.. so I just couldn't win) As a nice alternative, I got into computers. I started out in March of 1991 with a 300 baud modem. That's right... a 300 baud modem. I 'upgraded' to a 1200 that december, and got a 2400 in February of '92. It's not a lot of fun calling board with a 300 baud modem, but it gives me an opportunity to understand what 'those jerks' go through. Now that I'm at 14.4, I just think to myself... aaaahhh how could I have spent that much money on a modem when I can barely put gas in my forerunner. I feel muuuuuucch better after that. I liked calling BBS's a lot, so I thought that I could do it one better by running my OWN board. Yep... stupid stupid me. I tried a number of BBS programs. VBBS, RA, Celerity, PBBS, SBBS, and EBBS, but I think that I found a winner in WWIV. WWIV is by far the easiest to set up and the easiest to understand. I find the format quick to learn and easy to understand. I just love to read the documentation. It's almost as exciting as picking those little hairs from my nose. Upon reading the documentation (I use a strobe light), I found a number of interesting paradoxes. Like, in the docs where it says 'pay 50 bucks for the source.' I thought, hey! I'm paying 7.50 a month to be in WWIVnet. Do I actually need to pay 50 bucks for a source code? What is a source code anyways? So, I paid it. You know what I got? A bunch of files!!! files!! What are these files, anyways? Oh well.. I'm still amazed that I unarchived it into the right directory. (c:\) So.. now I have this hobby. And with it I learned a lot about a brand new language. 'BBS language.' It contains a lot of abbreviations of various types. So, from now on, in this column, we'll devote a little section to BBS language of all types. And on with the show.... Bob's Book of Phrases 1. IMHO - "In my humble opinion." - It's a cordial way to say, 'I know I'm right, so just shut up and live with it, you little toad.' 2. TSIA - "Title says it all." - For those short messages that you post at 1 O'clock at night when you're debating posting a long one when all you need to do can be done in one sentence, usually your title. 3. WWIV - "World War IV" - (1)- What we're causing. (2)- Software. 4. ASV - "Auto-SysOp Validation" - Something that SysOps erroneously think attracts other SysOps. Often combined with GSA. 5. GSA - "Guest SysOp Account" - It doesn't get any brighter than this, does it? An account for SysOps that don't understand ASV and are too stupid to sign on as new and waste that precious 2 minutes of logon time. (I've never met a WWIV SysOp that couldn't logon new in under 2 minutes on an unmodded WWIV board, even at 2400 baud) 6. GOTDCADYDH - "Get off that damn computer and do your damn homework" - Do I really need to expand on that one? I think not. Well.. that's it for the first edition of the column. What did you think? Send me some mail... go on, do it. It'll make me feel better. Maybe then I can get out of the mental ward. Don't get me wrong, Belvue has a lot to offer, but you just need to branch out sometimes. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Mod Of The Month: CAVEMOD3.MOD ³ By: Spelunker (1@7653) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ CAVEMOD3.MOD - The Cavern - IceNET @7653 - 716-677-0232 ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÂÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ Author ³ Spelunker #1 @7653 ³ ³ Difficulty ³ ÛÛ°°°°°°°°° ³ ³ Files affected ³ SUBEDIT.C, BBS.STR ³ ³ Version of WWIV ³ v4.22 ONLY (external strings used) ³ ³ Description ³ This MOD will spruce up the otherwise bland looking ³ ³ ³ //BOARDEDIT routine. Colorizes and puts a box around ³ ³ ³ the modification section. ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ IMPORTANT: PLEASE READ THROUGH THIS ENTIRE MOD BEFORE YOU START. This mod will add a few strings to your BBS.STR file. If you are already using these string numbers for another mod on your board, you will need to change them here so you can use this mod. You can change the color numbers to suit your own taste. This mod comes with a batch file and all the strings needed for it. It is uuencoded below. Please read the README.1ST file before you run the batch file. Also make a backup copy of your BBS.STR file in case it writes over strings you are already using for another section of your board. NOTE: This file was zipped with Pkzip v2.04G. 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