BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News COPYRIGHT 1989 December 1989 Volume 2, Issue 12 Table Of Contents ----------------- Article Title Author Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Mark Maisel Editorial Column...............................Mark Maisel An Early Christmas Present.....................Dean Costello 2nd Annual Unofficial Birmingham BBS Poll......Tyros ProDoor 3.1: An Overview......................Ricky Morgan Insights.......................................Ron Albright Multitasking In Brief..........................Kelly Rosato Profile: Dean Costello........................Chris Mohney The Windows Column: Command Post ver 6.2K.....Eric Hunt Backup Heaven..................................Dr. Ebcdic Book Review With...............................Karsten Propper Message Board..................................Barry Bowden Known BBS Numbers..............................Mark Maisel EzNet Multiple Echo List.......................Randy Hilliard ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for damage due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability,if any for BTN, its editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions, etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN, even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood of such damages occurring. With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article. Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles, please forward a copy of your publication to: Mark Maisel Editor, BTN 221 Chestnut St. BHM, AL 35210-3219 We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing all of this and not get too serious about it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W S F L A S H! The Matrix Since the system is on a rotary dial, when you dial the main 323-2016 number, it rolls to the first node that is available. If for some reason, one of the nodes locks up or does not answer the phone, the rotary will not continue on to the other numbers. Though this happens seldom, it can be very frustrating if it happens the one time that YOU really need to get on and get a program. Therefore, just in case it does happen or for some reason, you want to get on a specific node, here are the direct dial numbers for each node; Node 1 - 323-2016 (Rotarys to Node 2-4 if 1 is busy) Node 2 - 323-1828 (Nodes 1-4 300-2400 baud) Node 3 - 323-2031 Node 4 - 323-2032 Node 5 - 251-2344 (not on rotary 300-9600 USR HST) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial by Mark Maisel What a year it has been! Things have really been stirring on boards and in BTN. We have had, with this one, 12 successful issues of BTN out MOSTLY on time, several very enjoyable parties, and a whole lot of communicating in general. America Online became The Matrix and a whole lot more bulletin board, all in one fell swoop. Several boards have come and gone with at least one notable return. Scott Ferguson's Penny Arcade came back with a new look after being absent for far too long. A bizarre thing called Crunchy Frog came into being early this year and its effects are still being enjoyed by the more bizarre among us. Many more events, persons, and what we will call "others" have entertained, angered, amused, and enlightened us over the year than there is room or inclination to mention here. With this in mind, lets have a look at the what awaits us in this "special, super-duper, wowee-zowee, Christmasy?" issue of BTN. I have, much to the disappointment of certain parties who shall identify themselves later, taken over, at least for this month, the editor's much coveted spot. According to the poll, more of you were able to agree on this person as your favorite user. After you have read his special present to each and every one of you, we shall see if your opinion remains the same. The big star of this issue is, of course, the 2nd poll. I have deliberately understated it here since I know you will be or will have already jumped ahead to it to see what it might say about you. Using my typical charm; regular contributors can tell you all about it; I have convinced Ricky Morgan of the merits of a series of articles describing and critiquing ProDoor 3.1. If you use ProDoor and or have been intimidated by it, please follow Ricky as he guides you through it as he intends to cover it all by the time he is through. Ron Albright is amazingly enough, still with us and has this month got some information on a book that looks like it is a "must have" for anyone who is an avid user of bulletin boards and/or information services via modem. Kelly Rosato faces off two of the most popular multitasking options available for IBM & compatible computers, Desqview 386 and Windows 386. If you have need or desire of multitasking on your machine, don't make a move until you have read this article. When we zing it to someone here at BTN HQ, we don't fool around. This being the case, it just so happened that Dean Costello's name was chosen for this month's ProFile. It really was a random drawing from the famous hat, honest! All will become clear as you read on so get to it. In the event that you don't know of a Dean Costello, he is also known as Elvis, Lord Dean, Cardinal Dean, and sometimes God (his own personal sort of joke). Speaking of jokes, I must wonder if this person, whoever he really is, is sane? Eric Hunt takes a look at Command Post for MicroSoft Windows in his Windows column. This shareware makes Windows a much easier to use environment. If you have ever had backup trouble with your hard disk or have been inhibited by the costs of same, then Doc might just have some help. Doc has had these problems and has solved them with VIDEOTRAX. We finally, thank God, are closing the issue with our usual, Barry Bowden's Message Board, the Known BBS List, and the EzNet Echo List. I hope that you enjoy this king-sized issue and have the best of holidays! If you have any comments or articles of your own, please leave me messages on EzNet. In closing, I would like to thank the many, who shall remain nameless (read their names in BTN), who over the last two years have turned a small idea into a big reality for all of us. Keep up the good work! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- An Early Christmas Present by Dean "Bubba" Costello Preface Before you guys read this, let me explain something to you first. This was first written when I was bumming pretty hard about a year ago after I first got to Birmingham, and was experiencing serious culture shock. I thought that Mark would be amused by it so I brought it over for him to read. In the meantime, he was bugging me to write something for BTN. You figure out the rest. Remember, this was not meant for human consumption. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy the following article. Here We Go Similar to The Apology by Plato I have decided to put down some things that bother me about Alabama, and the South, in general. I think for lack of a better name, I will call this: A MARYLAND YANKEE IN KING GEORGE'S STATE I. STOP CALLING ME HONEY. All right, so I am from the impersonal North. I am a standoffish kind of guy, I suppose, as a result of growing up there. I don't mind being friendly, and have made a few pretty close friends since I have been down here. In fact, I am in great debt to the people in the Student Affairs office at my school for their help over the past year or so. But come on now, too much of anything is not a good thing. And this leads to: II. FRIENDLY, OR WHAT? If you guys are so damn friendly all the time (or at least you are on the surface), how do I know whether or not you are being just personable or genuinely friendly? Do something out of the ordinary if you wish, but don't call me "Honey" unless you mean it. III. GET A LIFE! Who gives a damn who wins between the fighting Hoover Gophers and the bad-ass Vestavia Hills Muskrats? Football is not the end-all be-all of existence, people. I am sorry to point this out. What do you do during the spring and summer, just dream about football? I have come to believe that this insatiable mania about football must have been a reason the South got beaten in a little tiff 130 years ago. IV. TALK NORMAL. Either have the accent, or don't have the accent. Don't get me wrong, it is nice in and of itself, and when females speak to me with it, I have the strange compulsion to do whatever they ask of me (ie. open doors for them, give them flowers and such, make large deposits in their checking account, etc.). But some of you have it, and some don't, and I am taking into account the "Damn Yankees": The people such as myself who have come down here from the North. Make up your minds and stick to it. V. LET'S TALK ABOUT GOD FOR A MOMENT. Yes, I couldn't let this get by. Who's kidding who here, folks? This is an unusual topic, in that usually normal people all of the sudden lose all semblance of critical thought and any analytical skills. Take a research biologist, for example. If he were to do some research, and tell everyone that they should take his results on faith, he would be laughed out of the lab. Any body of knowledge, that has only one supposedly infallible source of data, and you have to take everything on faith, is not very consistent with the scientific process of proving/disproving hypothesis. As I think of this, CNN just had a thing today on the data of the Shroud of Turin being from about 1260 AD (thus destroying the credibility of a number of 'religious scientists' who felt that the Shroud would prove that something curious happened to a carpenter 2000 years ago). By now, you have probably labeled me a heretic or something, but before you think I am God-bashing for lack of anything better to do, I have actually put some critical thought behind these ideas of mine. The Roman historian Josephus recorded that at about 40 A.D., a Zealot (Palestinian Liberation terrorist group) was put to death for starting a riot (I believe it was the business in the Temple); and that is pretty much the only direct historical evidence of the existence of Jesus that I have come across. And without further evidence (more than the p and q documents, for instance) I quite honestly cannot see how anybody with a critical mind can accept this at face value. I made the mistake once of telling someone from this region that I was, please prepare yourself, an atheist (My definition being one who doesn't believe in a higher intelligence that created the universe, eg. God). Lets just say I won't be making that same mistake twice. I am sure that many of the practitioners of this are sincere, but the actions of the televangelists make me doubt the validity of at least the evangelical branch. And I know from personal experience that some religious branches do good (many of the people in my School have gone overseas with a church group to do stuff). But it seems to me that it is unhealthy that so many people devote themselves to religion without giving it the same critical thoughts that they give buying a new Buick. Then again, what do I know, being a goddamn, secular humanistic, socialistic, gay, democratic, gun-control favoring Yankee carpetbagger? VI. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY HOTDOG STANDS? Do you people really eat that many of them? Or is it all a tourist trap of sorts. VII. THE GALLERIA. The flowers in the median strip of 20th St. downtown are a nice touch. The Galleria is kind of nice, also, but there should be an easier means of access, especially as we enter the cold and flu season. IIX. STREET NAMES. Which reminds me, who's clever idea was it that the streets here should change names all of the time? Example, the street I live on starts life as 24th, changes to 26th, Niazuma, Pawnee, Country Club, and then Montclair. That took a lot of sense. IX. BLACKS ARE PEOPLE TOO. After wandering around town for a while, I understand now why most of the Civil Rights protest marches occurred down in this part of the U.S. You people are big-time prejudiced. I was talking with an acquaintance of mine who moved here from the West. She cannot believe the way people react to her at work (customers, not employees); they don't think that she knows what she is doing, they don't treat her like the other employees there, etc. Kids, the Emancipation Proclamation was made in 1862 (plus or minus 2 years). Chill out a little, people. You shouldn't carry a grudge quite this long. X. TAKE A LUDE, WHY DON'T YOU? In relationship to the epistle on football, there are sporting events outside of the South. I don't give a frog's fat ass about college football, well maybe how bad Maryland got beat on a given week, but I do like college basketball. But only Big East and ACC divisions. But my point is I enjoy them, but I don't get carried away about it. Have you ever watched the crowd at the Alabama and Auburn games (which is all that one ever sees down here)? These people are jerks. What's this bovine feces "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR EAGLE!" that prefaces Auburn kickoffs? Jesus Christ, that is ignorant. Watch a Penn State game. Now that is a relatively class act. Joe Paterno is an incredible coach, and they have some ungodly rate of player graduation there. The fans are enthusiastic, and generally not penises, unless the frat boys are there. But as I said before, IT'S JUST NOT THAT IMPORTANT, DAMMIT! XI. TAKE SOME SPEED, WHY DON'T YOU? A person from the Midwest of my acquaintance says it best, "These people talk so slow I lose their train of thought in the middle of what they're trying to say," or words to that effect. Dammit, pick up the pace a little, at least to a slow crawl. Well, at least there cannot be that many ulcers here. But when I need some speed from you people, I can't get it, especially at Financial Aid and the Registrar's Office. XII. DRIVING ABILITY. Uh. I am not going to get into this too much. I just want to comment quickly on the people that when their car dies, they just abandon it in the middle of the road; wherever that may be. I almost died one fine day on the Red Mountain Expressway. And another thing, why do people like to go through red lights, for no apparent reason? And I would like to point out for the record, that the little stick on the side of your steering wheel controls not only the high beam switch, but also the turn signals. XIII.REGIONALISTIC THINKING. I don't know if you guys realize it or not, but there is life outside of the South. Face it people, the South ain't going to rise again. I am sorry to point this little fact out. Also, as a general group, the average Southern person is a very intolerant sort. Case in point: The Last Temptation of Christ. Why was there such a outcry to ban the film from being shown in this state? God help you if you have the audacity to think, believe, act, talk, walk, or look different from anyone else down here. No drinking on Sundays? The idea to put pants on Vulcan? Sweet tea, anyone? Well, that's about it for the time being. I figure I have upset enough people by this stage of the article. Don't blame the nice people at BTN too much for this, since I did this of my own volition, and it was in essence serialized by someone who will remain unnamed on the BTN staff, (but he is someone who was very instrumental in its creation, and it is for the most part composed at his house). Nice enough people, they allow me to parasitize their food a lot, but I don't think that they realized how far I would go when I vented my spleen. I think I may have gone to far when Mark refused to allow me to introduce the articles in this issue of BTN, which is what every other guest editor was allowed to do. I swear, even Mark is pissing me off. Editor's Note: Dean did want to wish you all "Happy Holidays" but considering his content, I did not think it was appropriate. MM ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================================================================= THE 2nd ANNUAL UNOFFICIAL BIRMINGHAM BBS POLL ======================================================================= Results modestly compiled by -* TYROS *- ***** "Why do we yearly go through this inane survey?" ***** - Fred Hambrecht - Here it is! The article everyone's been waiting for! Especially me! Before we begin, a brief aside: ==================== THE NAME OF THE GAME ==================== For those of you wondering about the name, yes, we called it a "survey" last year. The reason it says "poll" is because a while back someone told me that from a technical statistical sense what we're doing isn't really a survey. (For all I know he may have been wrong. Don't ask me.) Hence the name. This hasn't stopped ANYONE from calling it "the survey", though, not even me, so it doesn't really matter. Go ahead, call it a survey. Live a little. Oh, the "unofficial" part... Well, a lot of the criticism we got last year was due to the fact that the survey was presented with some kind of air of authority. In an effort to avoid that I'm trying to smother the whole thing with a sort of informal modesty. Maybe it will work. ***** "I don't care to hear it all over again." ***** - Bill Moxim - =============================== HOPEFULLY MEANINGFUL DISCLAIMER =============================== I dunno how much good this will do but I want to stress one final time to NOT take these results seriously. This is just a little fun undertaking that's been done for no other reason than entertainment value. If you're offended by anything here you see, don't blame me. ***** "C'mon, admit it - you love the abuse, don't you?" ***** - John Hayes - ===================== METHOD TO THE MADNESS ===================== Here's how we did it. I took last year's questions and posted them publicly, asking for comments on what should be changed. For the next few months, there was a virtual torrent of messages, and we went round and around on the whole subject... You know, the whole debate bit. Big controversy. Anyhow, when all that died down, I made a list of all the viable suggestions and tried to integrate the best ones into this year's questionnaire. The following BBS's hosted the survey this year: PC Boards: CHANNEL 8250 WWIV Boards: BYTE ME! CRUNCHY FROG LANDS OF BRITTANIA JOKER'S CASTLE TOP BBS MAGNOLIA RADIO FREE TROAD THE CONNECTION Due to the whiz-bang programming of Omega Ohm, boards that are run on WWIV software were also allowed to carry the survey. Truly a first...but then having the survey on more than one board is a first as well. The survey ran...mmm..about a month. A couple of boards got to carry it late because of assorted problems... And over the past weeks, we've been compiling our little hearts out. The whole thing was done ethically, if not professionally. Trust me. ***** "Face it, Tyros, you just aren't any good at this!" ***** - Joseph McDonald - ========================== AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO... ========================== The results themselves! Hooray! ***** "Do it again and make us proud!" ***** - Omega Ohm - =========== AGES OF YOU =========== The first thing on the agenda is AGES. What you're about to see is a table that details statistics about the ages of the various BBS's users. An explanation, first, for the statistical neophyte: The MEAN is an average. This is, of course, adding all the ages together and dividing the total by the number of ages. The MEDIAN is the number you get when you put all the numbers in order from smallest to largest and take the one in the very middle of the list. When you have an even number of them listed, you get the average of the middle two. The MODE is the number that's most often repeated in the list. This table is made out in 80 columns. People who don't have 80 columns, sorry, but that's the way it goes. Print it out, or give me a call, and I'll tell you what it says. Board Name Mean Median Hi / Lo Mode(s) -------------------------------------------------------------- Channel 8250 34.6 35 18 / 56 27,30,34,37 Byte Me! 23.3 21 15 / 33 21 Radio Free Troad 24.2 18.5 13 / 50 13 Magnolia 31 31 14 / 48 - Joker's Castle 19.2 17 14 / 30 17 Lands Of Brittania 15 16 13 / 16 16 Crunchy Frog 24.2 22 13 / 52 14 The Connection 30.2 28 15 / 51 20,37 Top BBS 22.5 23 11 / 39 19,28 ALL OF THEM PUT TOGETHER! 25.9 23 11 / 56 16,17,18,19 ========= HOW FAST? ========= People were asked to put their maximum baud rate. Here's how that turned out: MAXIMUM BAUD RATE: ==> 1. 2400 BAUD (65 participants) <== 2. 1200 baud (21 participants) 3. 9600 baud (7 participants) 4. 300 baud (6 participants) There were a few who could do 19,200 baud...And one guy put down 38,400! Whew! The rest of the results are going to be done in "list" fashion, like the baud thing above. The first few categories are afforded a "top 10", so to speak, and the rest, the less important ones, have a top 5. ============= THE GOOD PART ============= FAVORITE BBS: ==> 1. THE MATRIX <== 2. Crunchy Frog 3. Channel 8250 4. The Connection 5. Top BBS 6. ST BBS 7. Willie's Dial-Your-Match 8. Club Phoenix 9. Outer Limits 10. Joker's Castle In case you've been sitting under a rock or hiding from the law, The Matrix is the new name for America Online. It came in 2nd place last year, so this is something of a small triumph. Crunchy Frog, which wasn't even up when last year's survey ran, made a very impressive showing as well. As for the why, the most frequent reason given was "messages". Other interesting reasons were "Not a PC-Board", "Great taste" and "Crazy people." LEAST FAVORITE BBS: ==> 1. THE CONNECTION <== 2. Byte Me! 3. The Sphere 4. Eazy's Playhouse 5. LZ Birmingham 6. Professional's Board 7. Radio Free Troad 8. TeleTech 9. Ziggy I suppose the argument could be made that by listing out so many in categories like this, we are potentially offending more people. Oh well, anyone who was offended, please take note that the last few boards in this list only got a few votes. That's why there's only nine listed; the rest all just got one vote apiece. One user voted CompuServe. Most of the "why"s in this category were pointed personally at the sysops. "Sysop is jerk" was the most popular response; another BBS "presumes too much". One user disdainfully stated that his vote was "obvious". FAVORITE SYSOP: ==> 1. MONTY <== 2. Rocky Rawlins 3. Alice 4. Bill Freeman 5. Kelly Rosato 6. Steve Turner 7. Randy Hilliard 8. Joe Kearley 9. Landy Manderson 10. Lord British Monty and Rocky fought this one out till the bitter bitter end - it was VERY close. Some surprises here - two sysops made the list here but their boards got in "least favorite"! Alas. Sysops were most cited as being "helpful". That's nice to know. Other people said their choices were "non-pretending" (whatever THAT means), "crazy", "non-irritating" and "Coooooollllll...." LEAST FAVORITE SYSOP: ==> 1. OMEGA OHM <== 2. Bill Freeman 3. Joe Hardwick 4. Willie Moore 5. Eazy E 6. Joseph McDonald 7. Tim Straughn This was a pretty slack vote. Anyone who got voted here, it probably wasn't with a whole lot of votes. In fact, this one lists EVERY sysop who got more than one vote. Lots of fun adjectives on this one: "Immature", "obnoxious", "arrogant", "insane", "evangelist-like" and "unfriendly". Some other responses were "troublemaker", "endless sermons", "refuses to mind his own business" and "takes things too personal". Plenty of amusing but unfortunately unprintable epithets, too. HARDEST BBS TO GET THROUGH TO: ==> 1. MAGNOLIA <== 2. Top BBS 3. Sperry 4. Crunchy Frog 5. Willie's Dial-Your Match Magnolia wins this one for the second year in a row! Rah rah! EASIEST BBS TO GET THROUGH TO: ==> 1. THE MATRIX <== 2. The Connection 3. Channel 8250 4. Ziggy 5. Outer Limits Naturally, Rocky's board pulls this one in again. It happens to have five telephone nodes. BBS DOWN THE MOST: ==> 1. RADIO FREE TROAD <== 2. The Sphere 3. Top BBS 4. The Connection 5. Modem Mission Last year's winner, The Connection, shoots down to #4. Sorry, Bill. I guess you'll have to leave it down more often. BBS HARDEST TO GET MEMBERSHIP ON: ==> 1. BYTE ME! <== 2. The Connection 3. The Matrix 4. Club Phoenix 5. The Sphere This question kind of falls into the category of 'I Left It In Because No One Said To Leave It Out.' It's not really a biggie, but it is kind of revealing. Omega's board, called Misty Mountain when the last survey was run, jumped from second place to first, knocking last year's winner down to second. Fight it out, guys. FAVORITE BBS SOFTWARE: ==> 1. PC-BOARD <== 2. WWIV 3. New Image (tie) 3. Teleguard (tie) 5. Genesis Last year's winner pulled it off again - so well, in fact, that this question might be kind of useless in the future. WWIV, unheard of in last year's survey, assumed the second place slot. An amazing number of people misunderstood this question (and the next two). They thought it meant like just any kind of software and happily voted stuff like games and utilities. I won't name any names to save a few folks from embarrassment. LEAST FAVORITE BBS SOFTWARE: ==> 1. WWIV <== 2. PC-Board 3. RBBS-PC 4. Minihost 5. Phoenix (tie) 5. Wildcat (tie) Predictably, the two most prominent picks in the Best category switch places in the Worst category. FAVORITE TERMINAL SOFTWARE: ==> 1. PROCOMM PLUS <== 2. Telix 3. ProTerm 4. QModem 5. CommTerm Procomm Plus was FAR AND AWAY the winner here. Another question we might have to do away with next year. FAVORITE USER: ==> 1. DEAN COSTELLO <== (tie) 1. Tyros (tie) 3. Mark Maisel 4. Brett Thorn 5. Melanie I don't want to hear about it. I swear up and down that this is how the people voted. If it's any consolation, the people who got voted only got a few votes apiece. This was a fun one, in ways.... People praised their fellow users as "knowledgeable", "intelligent", "chatty", "weird", "nutty", "helpful" and - my favorite - "He has a good computer." LEAST FAVORITE USER: ==> 1. OMEGA OHM <== 2. The Lover 3. Joe Hardwick (tie) 3. Joel (tie) These guys attracted even less votes. A lot of people just couldn't answer the question. The ones who did, though, were plenty amusing. "Complete jerk" was the most popular reason, and "immature" was a frequent one too. One user "has no redeeming qualities", and two different people voted someone "leech of the universe". Boy, word gets around. Someone voted for Omega Ohm, noting "I hate it when he says 'byte me'." BEST TRANSFER LIBRARIES: ==> 1. THE MATRIX <== 2. The Connection 3. Top BBS 4. Sperry 5. Magnolia Rocky's board flew away with the number-one spot, just like last year. Everyone else was WAY behind. WORST TRANSFER LIBRARIES: ==> 1. RADIO FREE TROAD <== (tie) 1. Channel 8250 (tie) 3. Islands 4. Role-Player's Paradise Here's another question that didn't get many votes...A lot of people just don't pay a lot of attention, I guess. I'm one of them. MOST INTERESTING MESSAGES: ==> 1. CRUNCHY FROG <== 2. Top BBS 3. Channel 8250 4. The Connection 5. Club Phoenix The good ol' Frog exercised a sizable margin over its competition here. One person said "all of them". Hee hee. LEAST INTERESTING MESSAGES: ==> 1. SPERRY <== 2. The Matrix 3. Byte Me! (4-way tie) 3. Crunchy Frog (4-way tie) 3. Magnolia (4-way tie) 3. Outer Limits (4-way tie) The funny part of this one is Crunchy Frog. Nearly everyone who voted it for this category had some little snide comment to make about how loony the users were. Yeah, they know, they know. BEST BBS FEATURE: ==> 1. MESSAGES <== 2. Files 3. On-Line Chat 4. On-Line Games The ONLY multiple-choice question in the entire survey. A few people insisted on putting "conferences". That wasn't one of the options, darnit! SUGGESTED CONFERENCES: ==> 1. X-RATED/SEX <== 2. Discussion 3. IBM (tie) 3. Music (tie) 5. Apple And now for a public service message. I kind of hoped that this question might be a LITTLE helpful to local sysops in deciding what kind of conferences to put in. All it told me is that Birmingham's BBS users are nothing but a bunch of sex-crazed people who occasionally use computers, talk politics and listen to music. FAIREST TRANSFER RATIO: ==> 1. 10:1 <== 2. 5:1 3. unlimited 4. 1:1 5. 3:1 Okay, I goofed this one up personally. In the question, I specified that the answer be Uploads to Downloads. Fortunately, most people ignored that and went with the more typical order. A couple of people voted for a point system, and a few crackpots typed in some outrageous ratio like 4.9 quintillion to 1. why, I oughta... FAVORITE ONLINE GAME: ==> 1. TRADEWARS <== 2. Masters of the Universe (3 way tie) 2. Top Gun Trivia (3 way tie) 2. Planet Busters (3 way tie) 5. Backgammon I wouldn't know anything about this category, so don't ask me. Yawn... WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR 9600 BAUD?: One suggestion that I thought had merit was to find out what was the highest price is that people would pay for 9600 baud if they didn't already have it. The average price we got was: $311.81 although they ranged from $1000 to one cent. Hmph. FAVORITE TV SHOW: ==> 1. STAR TREK <== 2. Star Trek: The Next Generation 3. Night Court 4. The Cosby Show 5. News I think,a lot of people put Star Trek down when they meant Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nonetheless, there you have it. Other shows that also got votes were Doctor Who, Married...With Children and Quantum Leap. FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTIST: ==> 1. PINK FLOYD <== 2. Billy Joel 3. Beatles 4. Willie Nelson Pretty diverse, eh? Personally, I wanted to hunt down anyone who voted for Willie Nelson, but this is a democracy, after all. THE #1 PROBLEM IN AMERICA: ==> 1. DRUGS <== 2. AIDS/sexually transmitted diseases (tie) 2. Apathy (tie) 4. Crime 5. Education (3 way tie) 5. Homelessness (3 way tie) 5. Nuclear weapons (3 way tie) I'm afraid that the evil scourge DRUGS ran away with the number one spot by a huge margin. I was surprised that no one put Satanism. POLITICAL BELIEFS: ==> 1. CONSERVATIVE <== 2. Republican 3. Liberal 4. Democrat 5. Moderate It's a one-word question. Answer it with one word, next time, please. Some other amusing ones were "mine, okay, loose, stinks, silly, what?, confused, skewed, and cogent." DO YOU WANT A SURVEY NEXT YEAR?: ==> 1. YES 90.52 % <== 2. NO 7.85 % There you have it. I guess I have to go through this again next year, then? Thanks a lot. SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEXT SURVEY: ==> 1. MORE QUESTIONS <== 2. Less questions (tie) 2. More space for answers (tie) 2. More sex-related questions (tie) 2. More personal questions (tie) Just for the record, I assumed that everyone who didn't answer this question like the survey the way it is. "More questions"? Yeah, RIGHT! Well, looks like that's it. ===================== CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE ===================== My thanks first and foremost to Mark Maisel and Dean Costello, who sat around me offering moral support while I scribbled survey results down. Mark also contributed a huge part of the technical support, and Dean, after all, did write down some of the stuff for me when I went away for a soft drink. Also, thanks to all the sysops who put up with this craziness on their board. This includes Omega Ohm, Randy Hilliard, Kelly Rosato, Vikki Highfield, Joe Kearley, Lord British, Monty, Bill Freeman and Alice. A tip of the hat to these people's subordinates as well. Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions: Richard Foshee, Ralph Bolen, Bill Moxim, Fred Hambrecht, James Parson, Maggie Harden, Sliver Streak, John Hayes, Geoff Taylor, Jet Thomas, Chris Mohney, Brett Thorn, Ace Cannon, Tim Straughn, and many others. Plus, a big final thanks to all the users who supported this survey and those who support BTN. It's been a lot of fun, and this whole mess has probably distracted me from things that otherwise just would have depressed me. I hesitate saying this on the record, but it looks like there'll be a Third Annual Unofficial Birmingham BBS Poll as well. Just give me some time to rest. ***** "I, for one, have better ways of getting my kicks." ***** - Joe McDonald - ======================================================================== ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ProDoor 3.1 of 10-08-89; Copyright (C) 1987, 1989 Samuel H. Smith by Ricky Morgan Overview As I sit here, trying to get this review started, I keep thinking about my first experience with ProDoor. It was about eight months ago when I began getting on-line with the BBS community and while I understood the basic operations of a computer, I was totally ignorant as to exactly what a BBS was and what it was all about. I sat there at the computer and diligently read all the new user messages, rules and regulations of the system, as well as the infamous FCC warning that most boards hide in their bulletins somewhere. By the time I had digested all this I was so scared of doing something wrong that I rarely tried anything new; fearful of bringing down the wraith of the dreaded SySop, or even worse, awakened in the middle of the night by a knock on the door, being cuffed and drug off into the dark night by agents of the FCC, never to be seen again, for violating some arcane rule. Well, curiosity, as well as help from several of those SySops, who turned out not to be so dreaded after all, soon had me trying just about every choice on the main menu; except for the Operator page, which is still delicate territory. The most enticing of those commands was of course OPEN. Open what? A door. A door into what? There are game doors which obviously allow you to play games, but there was also the enigmatic "ProDoor". It espoused extended file transfer and a full screen text editor. To be quite honest, until I was asked to write this review I knew little more than that about it. Oh, sure I could use it to download and upload files faster as well as compose messages off-line then upload them through the full screen text editor; leaving that cute little tag line at the bottom that reminds everyone that your message was left "Via ProDoor 3.1" but aside from that, I just didn't see many other uses for ProDoor. It appears that my curiosity waned a bit too soon. At first glance, ProDoor is nothing more than an enhancement of the Main menu commands that are available under the regular BBS software. It is. It is also a whole lot more. Let's find out just what ProDoor is. According to the documentation that Samuel H. Smith, the creator of ProDoor, includes with the program it is a "Multi-Protocol Batch file Transfer DOOR with Extended Archive Manipulation and Message Base Access." Gosh, that clears things up for me is there anything else you want to know? Seriously, there have been a lot of questions about just what ProDoor is, what it does and what is it good for. I hope in the following months that I can put into layman terms, (translation of layman terms: someone who doesn't have a P.H.D. in Computer Programming) just how useful ProDoor can be to the average user. With that in mind, let's look at Rick's simplified definition of ProDoor. ProDoor is, put simply, a utility that runs outside of PCBoard software and provides enhancements to the commands offered under PCBoard. So what you are doing when you enter ProDoor, is basically leaving PCBoard and entering ProDoor. Once inside ProDoor you will find that most of the commands that are available under PCBoard are offered under ProDoor, but where, under PCBoard the commands are generally listed in alphabetical order, with apparent disregard as to which commands are related to what. ProDoor divides the commands into groups that are directly related, i.e, File Transfer, Conferences, Messages, Zip or Archive functions, Elsewhere or PCBoard commands and Utilities commands. Virtually anything that can be done under the PCBoard Main Menu can be accomplished with ProDoor faster and, with a little practice, easier. Because of the sheer number of commands and functions available under both PCBoard and ProDoor; and to keep from boring everyone silly with a long list of command comparisons, I am going to break this up into several monthly articles. Each month I will attempt to review a specific section dealing with each sub-menu separately; this will also give me a little extra time to learn about all these great features that I'm supposed to be telling you about. So with that in mind, next month I will attempt to review the commands so near and dear to most everyone out there...File Transfer! ProDoor 3.1 Copyright (C) 1987,1989 Samuel H. Smith. PCBoard is a registered trademark of Clark Development Company. --- * Via ProDoor 3.1R ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Insights by Ron Albright By the time you read this, an incredible achievement in the world of computer books should be on the shelves of your local Waldenbooks and Dalton's. It is a tribute to our world of computer communications that such a book was written at all. Because of its nature, it is a tribute to us all that it went from a "pipe dream" to being a monumental reality. Let me tell you a little about it. About 10 months ago, Nick Anis (a computer consultant in California) and John Dvorak (the controversial columnist for PC Magazine and elsewhere) came up with an idea for a book. They posted a notice on BBS's around the country about their proposed work, soliciting contributions for its pages. The book was visualized as the "be all, end all" of books on computer communications. Knowing that so single author, or even two authors, could handle such a Herculean task, Anis and Dvorak recruited 30 or so experts in various aspects of bits, bytes, and BBS'ing. What came to pass was so typical of our modem community. Anis and Dvorak's BBS (714-396-0014) was inundated - 10,000 or so calls - with offers to help, ideas, and suggestions. The resulting book is a unique collection of essays by some of the real experts in computers and modems. The list of acknowledgements, alone, runs 12 pages and lists 350 people that contributed in large and small ways. It took a special team of 25 people at the publishing house just to put together and an initial run of 35,000 copies - unheard of for a first-run computer book. Obviously, someone there is convinced it will be the all-time smash in the genre of computer books. I have to agree. "Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications" is something to behold. Counting out at 1200 pages, costing $49.95, and weighing in at almost 4 pounds (let me see here, that's $12 per pound - not bad!), "The Guide" will quickly become the authoritative encyclopedia of modem communications. It is divided into three sections. There is a "Layman's Side" to get the uninitiated up to speed quickly. It starts at square one and paces the prospective modem jockey through the technology - what is a modem, why is it needed, how does it work and what it does. The next section, "The Technical Side," carries you forward into the intricate world of bits, bytes, parity, RS232's, terminal emulators, and cables. As you would expect from a book this large, no stone is left unturned - sending a fax by modem, international connections, telecomputing, ISDN, modem modulation techniques, and laptops are all covered. There is even a section on Macintosh communications that was partially written by the author of the popular "Red Rhyder" emulator for the Mac, Scott Watkins. There are chapters dealing with each of the large commercial systems (CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi, Prodigy, BRS/After Dark) as well as the entire spectrum of public BBS systems. Over 300 screen images and illustrations are provided in the text. The final chapter deals with the "User's Guides" for the array of software included with the book. That's right - software. The book is bound with two 360K IBM-compatible disks. On these two disks, Anis and Dvorak have managed to ZIP nearly 1.4 megabytes of software. Included is the "Telix SE" that will get your computer online quickly and easily. Once connected, you will use other programs (like Vern Buerg's famous "List" utility to view text files, QEdit by Sammy Mitchell for word processing, and PKZIP/PKUNZIP from Phil Katz for file compacting/unpacking) for immediate productivity. A set of diagnostic programs is included should you run into trouble with your COM ports or modem. You even get a "point and shoot" menu program to facilitate your access to these new packages. There is also "The Modem Tutor," a menu-driven disk tutorial of telecommunications. This software, by itself, would be worth the $49.95 price tag. It offers text files explaining modems and how to chose one. A section on how to deal with an illness most of our readers are afflicted by called "modem addiction," and BBS's and their users from a sysop's perspective. There are hundreds of screens captured from some of the most popular BBS's in the country to give you a feel for their offerings. Finally, there are actual sessions for seeing what it is really like when you connect with these hosts. Once you have stepped through the tutorial, there will be few surprises when you connect to the PC Board, Wildcat, Opus, or other BBS's for real. The appendices finalize the coverage. There are lists of manufacturers, every Telenet, Tymnet, and CompuServe node in the world, and more. There are also coupons for over $1500 worth of merchandise with some serious discounts and freebies. The dedication for the book, I think, says it all. It is dedicated to "All Mankind." It sort of tells the story of the book right there. The book is a collection from a group of unselfish, knowledgeable modem junkies that reflect the basic nature of the people you will meet online. I don't think one can find a singularly more friendly, giving, and helpful group anywhere than the world of modem users. If the United Nations and their delegates were a fraction as unassuming and willing to help others as are the people I have run into on BBS's and other electronic systems across the country, I think wars and rumors of war would become a forgotten fabrication. I heartily recommend "The Guide" to anyone - novice of expert. Once you have gone through its pages and (even partially) assimilated the book's wealth of information, you will become yet another disciple of the technology. Check it over and I am sure you will agree. "Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications" Osborne McGraw-Hill 800-227-0900 <<<======= is this the ISBN number? ****************** $49.95 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Multitasking in Brief Windows vs. DesqView by Kelly Rosato In my last article I discussed OS/2 and its pros and cons. Now we will look at the multitasking alternatives that are here today and use existing software. To clarify what I mean when I say multitasking, I will first take a quick overview of what it means and how it is accomplished. Multitasking means to be able to have your computer doing more than one task at a time, such as working on this article while in another task (often referred to as a "window") I am downloading a file. Accomplishing this is fairly easy as there are several ways of doing it for computer users. For the IBM, there are several different programs that support multitasking, such as DoubleDos, TaskSwitch, DesqView 286 and 386, Windows 386, Concurrent DOS, and OS/2. I have reviewed OS/2 already, and was unable to obtain a copy of Concurrent DOS to evaluate. So I will give you overview of the systems available. To clear a point up, there are several different methods of multitasking, some are programs that are used to keep several programs in a memory segment, not shutting them down, but not letting them continue to run in the background either, this is called 'carouseling' and is not 'true' multitasking. Then there are operating systems that support multitasking such as Amiga Dos, Unix, and OS/2. While it is true that these are multitasking remember that they are either expensive or are hardware specific. Finally, there are programs that give a 'normal' single tasking system the capability of running several programs at once. This review will cover the two most common ones, Windows 386 and DesqView 386. (Note although these are configured for the 386, they remain fairly the same for the 8088, 8086, and 80286 versions.) First I will look at Windows 386, from MicroSoft, developers of MS-DOS. Some of the features of this program are very notable, first being that it is developed for graphics applications like desktop publishing, painting and to a limited extent games, providing a good atmosphere for programs that rely heavily on graphics. Windows provides a somewhat consistent user interface via pull down menus available by pressing hot keys or using a mouse. (I would not recommend running this without a mouse.) One thing that I particularly liked was the fact programs running in the background can be represented by little icons that can be accessed with a simple click of the mouse, a drawback to this being if you want to watch two windows at once you have to manually resize it with the mouse. This is not a major drawback, but annoying all the same. The best feature for Windows is that by switching directories and clicking on the program you want, Windows will try to run it, not always succeeding and having special trouble with batch files. With a little tinkering, most things can be made to run. The drawbacks are many. You MUST have 2 megabytes of Expanded RAM available for Windows 386, otherwise you'll be stuck with only what little programs you can fit. Windows will take about 400 K for it's own use with it's memory manager taking another 60 K. It also uses a system of 16K memory segments for forcing programs to mirror themselves into, instead of utilizing the full capabilities of the 386 to make virtual 8086 machines with each having its own 640 K environment. Windows will not run in in the 32 bit protected mode unless the program being run forces it to operate in the 32 bit protected mode. Because of the graphics interface it uses it is slow as Christmas. Finally, for $240.00, it was one of the most expensive Multitasking programs I have worked with. The other one I tested and continue to use is DesqView 386 by QuarterDeck Software. DesqView uses what is called a "text-based" interface meaning that it's best performance is with text or ANSI based programs. Although graphics programs used to lock DesqView up, and send it into all sorts of fits, the new BIOS management for graphics are much improved. DesqView does not provide as much mouse interfacing as does Windows 386 and can often cause problems with programs that don't support a mouse interface. However, with a single hot key or cursor selection this does not cause much of a problem. One thing that stands out about DesqView is speed, and with but two keys I can switch between tasks as fast as I can push buttons. Desqview needs little special hardware and half as much memory as Windows. Desqview also comes with 75 program selections already configured to run under it. In order to run any of these 75 preconfigured selections, all you need to do is add the most frequently used ones to your permanent menu. If you wish to use software not among the 75 already set up for Desqview, then you must configure a new menu selection so that your program will run under Desqview although you can get around this by running a program and then exiting from it to DOS and running another program in that memory segment. Also a good point with having to insert each program manually, you can specify the window size when it opens, doing away with resizing (you can change it quickly though) and also specify the color palette as well, a nice change from plain black and white text all the time. The drawbacks in DesqView are minor and more irritating than bad. The first problem I had is little mouse support as mice seem to cause conflicts between DesqView and programs that don't even support a mouse, even with them in separate segments. Second, the graphics are still a problem for DesqView as graphics intensive games often lock up other windows. This is due to DesqView being unable to control direct screen writes, and leaving programs open to conflict. In all though with the speed, ease of use, and price of $138.00, Desqview makes a fine environment for multitasking. In summary, the program that is best for you depends on your application. If you intend to do desktop publishing or some other graphics intensive work, then Windows 386 is a good, reliable program. Its user friendly point and shoot interface makes it easy to use. On the other hand if you intend to do work that requires more processing devoted to the application, such as spreadsheets, data entry or word processing, the text based DesqView 386 is a good choice. DesqView by Quarterdeck Software $138.00 Windows 386 by Microsoft $240.00 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PRO FILE by Chris Mohney The Pro File is a short, half-serious biographical sketch given to various computer telecommunications personalities around Birmingham. Victims are selected randomly from a group of names put into the notorious Hat. Anyone who thinks himself brave or witty enough may petition for admittance to the Hat by leaving E-Mail to me (Chris Mohney, most boards around town) to that effect. Anyone who wishes to suggest more questions or sneakily nominate someone without their knowledge may take the same route .... --------- Pro File on DEAN COSTELLO --------- Age: 24 Birthplace: Cambridge, Maryland Occupation: Economic Parasite on my Parents, until I get out of Graduate School My hobbies include: Buying CDs, trying to get rid of a Fiero, keeping my fish alive, busting on Southern people, beating on my computer, and biting the heads off of whippets. Years telecomputing: Well, it all started about 8 years ago, when I first connected with CompuServe on my TI 99. I started in Birmingham I think in about November (check with Bill Freeman, and to give you an idea, I was registered on Point of No Return). I started getting into local boards in a big way in April or May, and it has become a kind of obsession with me ever since. Which may explain why I am doing this accursed survey at 3am, and I have an 8 a.m. class. My oddest habit is: Hmm. Where to start. Probably the curious compulsion to be God, and then make people play along with me. My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: See Oddest Habit. Well, that and I haven't won a Nobel Prize yet. I noticed I got passed over again this year. Alas ... The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is: This will sound stupid, but probably getting into graduate school. Judging by my less-than-stellar undergraduate record, that says something about how desperate southern schools were for real academic talent. My favorite performers are: A couple in Highland Park a couple of nights ago. No, probably Tony Banks, Frank Zappa, Keith Emerson, and my Brother, Scott, a bass player in a band in Baltimore. The last good movie I saw was: I never see movies, since as my friends here say, I live in a cave, therefore I don't do anything, let alone see a movie. The last good book I read was: This may sound more stupid than my single accomplishment, but my Toxicology Book. Ask Mark's wife Kathy some- time ... If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played by: If there were to be a movie made about my life, it would surely be a sign of the apocalypse, and therefore it is a moot point, since it would never get out of pre-production. My pet peeves are: All the drivers in the South. I have driven all up and down the east coast, and I have never seen such a population like Birmingham that is so consistently piss-poor in their driving habits. When nobody's looking, I like to: Show on my face what I really think of people I am talking to, or mock them (which more times than not is the same thing anyway). ----------------------------------------------------------------------- The Windows Column: Command Post ver 6.2K by Eric Hunt Whenever the subject of Windows comes up, the conversation always turns to the barren MS-DOS Executive screen that appears when Windows is loaded. Critics argue that the Executive screen defeats the purpose of having an intuitive graphical interface, and that new computer users have no idea what to do or how to do anything. I have a friend who has an Apple IIGS and has used Macintoshes (considered THE intuitive graphical interface by some) extensively and wondered aloud the first time he ran Windows: "What is THIS garbage?" Command Post was written to solve this. A shareware program, Command Post eliminates the searching and then double-clicking of favorite programs by placing them in main menu selections. Command Post also solves the problem of file maintenance by allowing two concurrent CmdPost windows to be open simultaneously with the ability to move or transfer files between them. Command Post's main strength lies in its ability to add a second menu line below the original Windows menu bar. In this menu line, you can define any menu selection and add programs or actions within it. You also have the ability to use dialogue boxes with prompts. For instance, you can have the main menu selection of Letters with Mom and Dad under it. When you select Mom, Command Post asks you for a filename and then passes that filename to whatever word processor you have installed in the user-defined menu selection. This ease of use comes at a price, however. You must have considerable patience in order to read through the sample Command Post Menu file and learn the syntax for creating your own menu file. Most users will find that modifying the existing one will be much simpler than creating a new one from scratch. This allows for a menu system allowing the user to totally bypass and ignore the MS-DOS Executive screen and focus on the menu selections that he has defined. In addition to adding the second menu line, Command Post expands the existing menus by adding the Windows and CmdPost selections. Windows allows structured stacking of the programs and their windows and CmdPost contains all of the information selections (such as entering your license number, information about Command Post, and system information) in addition to hotselect items that take you straight to the Control Panel, Dos C:> prompt, the Clipboard and to load another Command Post for file handling. There are also a few other little goodies that come with Command Post -- the visual directory tree (which works on Windows without Command Post, also) that allows you to double-click on a desired directory and the Executive display will be changed to reflect that. Also, a movable status bar that can display the time and date or the title "Command Post Ver 6.2K" is constantly on the screen and will always rise to the top layer of windows to be visible. I find this to be a neat trick. While playing Taipei!, the status bar disappears while the program is loading and Windows is swapping to disk, but it reappears in the exact same spot as soon as the program runs, often obscuring important features below it. It can, however, be moved to any location that suits you. I did find that it presented problems for the display algorithms in Balance of Power: 1990 and slowed that program down considerably. The last little goodie is the ability (upon registration) to change the Command Post title bar from "Command Post" to whatever you choose -- "Ed's Waxworks", "Hewitt High Lab computer", etc, etc. Command Post ver 6.2K is a useful piece of Windows software, and it is shareware to boot! At $20 to register, it also has a very appealing price. The small disadvantage of having to learn how to write your own menu bar is far outweighed by the advantages in file handling and ease-of-use offered by the custom menu bars. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Backup Heaven By Dr. Ebcdic The DOC's back, only this time he isn't talking about Cybernetics. I can hear you now saying, "Hey it's that DOC fellow, you know the one that always starts his articles with a question?". Even if you didn't say that I will still ask you a question. Do you dread backing up your hard drive? I know I do, as all that disk swapping gets boring. It's VIDEOTRAX to the rescue. Let's step backward through time into 1982. In 1982 most people could back up their entire hard disk on 25 or 30 floppies or even fewer disks using programs like Fifth Generation's FastBack Plus that provide backup Automation and file Compression simultaneously. What was feasible with a 10 or 20MB Hard Disk may not be all that great an idea these days when some Computers come with 70 or 120MB Hard Disks as standard and offer 300 + MB Hard Disk options. It takes about 195 360K floppy disks to make an uncompressed backup of a 70MB Hard Disk. It would take 2 hours of Formating and several more hours of BORING Disk swapping to perform the backup. One option would be to purchase a tape drive that cost more than $1000.00 and only stores 60MB or so per tape at a cost of around $25.00 each tape. Why 1982 you may be wondering? Well, in 1982 Alpha Micro Corporation started marketing the VIDEOTRAX Hardware and Software in a PC version. Imagine walking into your local drug store and purchasing a VCR tape costing about $5.00 or $6.00, and putting it in your own VCR, pushing a few buttons, and backing up nearly 200MB on that VHS or Beta tape. Sure it will take a few (up to six) hours to fill that tape, but, so what, you don't have to stick around, and think of all that money you will save! You can store vast amounts of data on your standard VCR tape for a fraction of the cost of a floppy disk backup, and even make duplicates of your files using two VCR's. What about other possibilities you may be asking? Well, actually VIDEOTRAX is a "VIDEO" modem, converting any computer data into standard video broadcast signals. The BBC was the first to recognize the potential of VIDEOTRAX when they broadcast the text of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, in May of 1985, at a rate of about 40,000 Characters per second. A maximum transmission rate of 80Kbps is possible with VIDEOTRAX (by way of comparison, a fast audio modem is 2.4Kbps or 9.6Kbps) which makes it very attractive to companies wishing to send data via expensive satellite transponders. NASA's Science Fiction Science Fact program (showing on many PBS stations) included a test of VIDEOTRAX data transmission, and programs from NASA's Lewis Research Center having VIDEOTRAX encoded data are broadcast through the Southern Educational Communication Association (SECA) every Sunday at 12 noon Eastern time using the Westar 4 Satellite transmitter 11 direct (Channel 21) with audio on 6.8MHz. Home Satellite dish owners can pick up the transmission, and it is carried by a number of cable companies. Although you can use your own VCR (or any other type of Video Recorder, even a reel-to-reel machine) with the VIDEOTRAX board, Alpha Micro also sells specially modified VHS VCRs (the current one is a Zenith) that can be connected to the board for totally automatic pre-set backup, verify, and restore operations. The VCR will serve its original function of recording the Super Bowl for Dad as well. It can take about an hour to store and verify about 20MB of data completely. It will take about 24 minutes to backup 20MB of data without verification. You can greatly speed backups choosing to copy only certain directories, or just files modified since the last backup. Both options are simple menu driven choices. Image mode backups are even faster, but you must store the entire logical disk partition and can't restore individual files when using the image mode as you can with the file mode backup. For file mode restore you set the directories or files (using wild cards * and ?) then just start the tape playing and walk away for lunch and the files will be automatically restored, no matter where they are located on the tape. Installation is as simple as copying the driver from the supplied disk to the IBM configuration disk, plugging in the board, and running the auto-configuration program. Hooking up to a VCR is also simple, with just two (video in/out) RCA jacks that you connect to your VCR using standard dubbing cables. Just think if you had one of those streamer tape backup units and it broke down, it could take a few days or weeks to get the unit repaired. With VIDEOTRAX if your VCR breaks down you could borrow one from you friend or in the worst instance buy or rent another at your local VCR store. Nice features include the preset backup where you can set a specified backup (and optional verify) to take place at a later time. When the pre-set time comes and the computer next returns to a DOS prompt, VIDEOTRAX takes over and completes the backup procedure without any interference by the operator who may be a data entry clerk and know little or nothing about computers. Enough talk you say! How about some prices? Alpha Micro, 3501 Sunflower, Santa Ana, CA 92799. 800-253-3434 or 714-957-8500 VCR with controller board and software $1299 Controller and software for use with other VCR $499. The specially modified VCR alone is $800. CIAO. ========== THE DOC ========== A.K.A. Ferlin H. Scarborough. References: Computer Shopper Vol. 9 No. 1 Isuue 108. Videotrax article Jan 1989 by. John McCormick. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Message Board by Barry Bowden DECEMBER 1989 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 December 2 FAOUG December 3 BIPUG December 7 Pearl Harbor Day, 1941 December 10 BCCC BAC December 11 BACE December 12 CCS (C64/C128) December 15 BEPCUG December 18 CCS (Amiga) December 19 CADUB December 21 Winter Begins December 24 BCCC December 25 Christmas December 26 CCS (C64/C128) December 31 New Years Eve BEPCUG CCS Birmingham East PC Users Group Commodore Club South Jefferson Sate Jr. College Springville Road Library Ruby Carson Hall, Rm 114 2nd & 4th Tuesday (C64/C128) 3rd Friday, 7-9 PM 3rd Monday (Amiga) Paula Ballard 251-6058 (after 5PM) 7:30-10 PM Maurice Lovelady 684-6843 BCCC BIPUG Birmingham Commodore Computer Club Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group POB 59564 UAB Nutrition Science Blg Birmingham, Al 35259 RM 535/541 UAB School of Education, Rm 153 1st Sunday (delayed one week 2nd and 4th Sundays, 2 PM if meeting is a holiday) Rusty Hargett 854-5172 Marty Schulman 967-5883 BACE FAOUG Birmingham Atari Computer First Alabama Osborne Users Enthusiast Group Vestavia Library, downstairs Homewood Library 2nd Monday, 7 PM 1st Saturday, 1PM Benny Brown 822-5059 Ed Purquez 669-5200 CADUB BAC CAD Users of Birmingham Birmingham Apple Corps 3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM Homewood Library Bobby Benson 791-0426 10 Office Park Mountain Brook 2nd Saturday, 10:30 AM Informal get together every Saturday, Kopper Kettle, Brookwood Village at 9 AM J. Jenkins 823-1968 If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed, please let me know by sending E-Mail to me thru EzNet. Please leave the group name and a contact person/phone number. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Book Review with Karsten Propper Usually, I pick out a book using the following steps given to me from various friends who are also reading fanatics. I look at the cover, read the back summary, and then take a look at the story's structure. I usually look for mindless sidetracks that the author has taken. That step has allowed me to bypass the series Douglas Adams wrote starting with the book "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy" Many people say that you can't judge a book by its cover. I've found that cliche to be both true and false. I looked at the cover of "Nul's Quest", by Brad Strickland. It has a very good cover. Incredible art work. I read half the book and totally lost interest. "The Third Book of Lost Swords" by Fred Saberhagan has a fairly dull cover, but was a very good book. Well, anyway, without further ado, my book ... The book I'll be reviewing is "The Incorporated Knight" by L. Sprague and Catherine Crook de Camp. The cover is quite interesting, with a picture of an ogre facing a knight. The back summary was very simple, but also very catching, and here's what it said: "It's never easy being a knight, especially for practical Eudoric Dambertson, whose mind and temperament are better suited to trade than to the highly impractical demands of chivalry. Take the simple matter of courting a wife. To please his potential father-in-law, the enchanter Baldonious, the young man must bring back two square yards of dragon hide. Only then can he earn his knightly spurs and the hand of the beauteous Lusina. But battles with dragons always seem to go better in the ballads ....." The book was very well written. No jokes or wisecracks by the characters, it was just a good book. It did have a few amusing parts that were very well handled by the author. For example, a task that was assigned to the knight, Eudoric, was to get a unicorn. It is known that a unicorn will only sit next to a virgin, and finding one proved no easy task. The one that they had found turned out to be the dirtiest woman in the city. A curse had been placed on her father that provided for his death, should he bathe. As a result of this, he forbade his family from bathing. Therefore, his daughter was a virgin, and a filthy one at that. Eudoric and his companion, Emmerhard, set the trap for the unicorn. But first, the virgin had to take a bath. After bathing her, they set her down next to a tree and placed a net above her and to the left. The unicorn was to sit down and then Eudoric was to let the net go and trap the unicorn. All went to plan except at the last moment, before the unicorn sat down, it looked at the "virgin" and ran off. It later turned out that she was very beautiful when clean, and the young Emmerhard had made her a virgin no longer. The book is broken up into adventures. A chapter is dedicated to an adventure that Eudoric had taken. And now, my recommendation. It is science fiction/fantasy. I would recommend the book to most avid fans. If you like a book that has fairly little humor, and a semi-fair plot, this book is certainly for you. The authors, L. Sprague and Catherine Crook de Camp, both write novels about Eudoric Dambertson and also a character named Esquire: slayer of dragons, killer of majestic spiders, pursuer of unicorns. And that is it for this segment of my review. The next review will be "Prison Ship" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES SUPPORTED MODEM TYPE *American BBS 674-1851 300, 1200, 2400 *Bus System BBS 595-1627 300, 1200, 2400 *Byte Me 979-2983 1200, 2400 Cat House 854-5907 300, 1200, 2400 *Channel 8250 744-8546 300, 1200, 2400, 9600 HST, V.32 Club Phoenix 942-0252 300, 1200, 2400 *Crunchy Frog 956-1755 300, 1200, 2400 D3 Systems BBS 663-2759 300, 1200, 2400, 9600 HST, V.32 +Duck Pond BBS 822-0956 300, 1200, 2400, 9600 HST, V.32 Elite Fleet 853-1257 300, 1200, 2400 Gizmo's Atari BBS 854-0698 300, 1200, 2400 +I.S.A. BBS 995-6590 300, 1200, 2400 *Joker's Castle 744-6120 300, 1200, 2400 *Little Kingdom 823-9175 300, 1200, 2400 LZ Birmingham 870-7770 300, 1200, 2400 *Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300, 1200, 2400, 9600 HST Penny Arcade 226-1841 300, 1200, 2400 Posys BBS 854-5131 300, 1200, 2400 ProSoft Systems BBS 853-8718 300, 1200, 2400 Role Player's Paradise 631-7654 300, 1200, 2400 Shadetree BBS 787-6723 300, 1200, 2400 Sperry BBS 853-6144 300, 1200, 2400, 9600 Hayes *ST BBS 836-9311 300, 1200, 2400 The Connection Node 1 854-9074 1200, 2400 The Connection Node 2 854-2308 1200, 2400 The Islands BBS 870-7776 300, 1200, 2400 The Matrix Nodes 1-4 323-2016 300, 1200, 2400 The Matrix Node 5 251-2344 300, 1200, 2400, 9600 HST The Outer Limits 969-3262 1200, 2400, 9600 HST *The Professional's Board 856-0679 300, 1200, 2400 Twilight Zone 856-3783 300, 1200 Willie's DYM Node 1 979-1629 300, 1200, 2400 Willie's DYM Node 2 979-7739 300, 1200, 2400 Willie's RBBS 979-7743 300, 1200, 2400 Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696 300, 1200 Boards with a "*" before their name are members of our local network, EzNet, and public messages left in the EzNet Conferences of any of these boards will be echoed to all members. Boards with a "+" before their name are members of FidoNet, an international network that provides a variety of public forums as well as private mail services all over the world. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- EzNet Multiple Echo List EzNet now supports multiple conference echoing but there are a few things you should be aware of regarding private mail. A. You have one 'address' for private mail. If you are registered for private mail on Channel 8250 and someone sends you a private message in the Writers conference from Crunchy Frog it will wind up in the Writers conference on Channel 8250 as it should. However, if you were registered for private mail on Magnolia and someone sends you a private message in a conference that Magnolia does not support (echo) then the message will wind up in the twilight zone. B. If you go by a handle on one BBS and your real name on another even if the private message goes where it is supposed to, you will not be able to read it because it is addressed to someone else as far as PC Board is concerned. PC Board has no way of knowing that Red Foxx and John Doe are the same person. No tickee, no washee. Advice on sending private mail: If you don't know if the person you are sending private mail to is registered for private mail then keep a copy of the message in case you have to find an alternate route. EzNet Central will delete your private, undelivered message and inform you that the user you attempted to reach is not registered for private mail on any EzNet Node. This is a list of the current echoes that I am aware of. More are in the making and will be posted in future issues. If you are a sysop and are running an echo not listed for your board, please make us aware of it so we may correct it next issue. Eznet Program IBM Adult Scitech BTNWA American BBS ........ * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. Bus System BBS ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * ..... * .. Byte Me ............. * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... .. Channel 8250 ........ * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * ..... .. Crunchy Frog ........ * ..... ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * .. Joker's Castle ...... * ..... ..... ..... * ..... ..... .. Little Kingdom ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... .. Magnolia BBS ........ * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. Professional's Board * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. ST BBS .............. * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..