FidoNews · Vol 2, No 44 · 16 December 1985
Volume 2, Number 44 16 December 1985
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| Fido and Fidonet _`@/_ \ _ |
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
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Publisher: Fido 1/1
Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
Review Editor: Allen Miller
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 1/1. You are
encouraged to submit articles for publication in Fidonews.
Article submission standards are contained in the file
FIDONEWS.DOC, available from Fido 1/1.
Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them;
everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL
Tom Jennings' Trip to Europe
2. NEWS
Multilink, JRam Boards, & Fido
Using the FIDO sysop command `0' on sanyos.
Introduce Deaf/Blind to Computers
Free Fidogram Christmas Deadline
3. COLUMNS
FidoNet Musings
Why You Should Use A Retail Store
Fido with Multilink
Rainbow Corner
4. WANTED
In Search of Rainbow BBS's
Fido's Wanted- Earn Money!
5. NOTICES
The Interrupt Stack
Fidonews Page 2 16 Dec 1985
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EDITORIAL
============================================================
Tom Jennings
9 Dec 85
125/1
Some interesting things happened to me in the last
few weeks; the Hobbycomputerclub (HCC) of Holland invited me
over there to officially open their club-run FidoNet in
Holland, consisting of some 15 or 16 Fidos. I spent a total
of 12 days out of the country, visiting England as well.
There is so much to tell that I don't know where to
start. I'll first just cover the trip serially, but there is
also important information about Fido, and BBS's in general,
in Europe that will have to be covered seperately. I may
have to leave out important details at first, and get to the
later. Please bear with me.
At first I was a bit suprised that a computer club
could and would afford to fly someone from the U. S. just to
attend a club show and open a FidoNet network. The real
suprise was discovering that the HCC has over 25,000
members, and that their "newsletter" resembles a slightly
thin issue of Byte magazine! Clubs on this scale just don't
exist here in the U. S. as far as I know.
I was greeted at Schipol airport, outside Amsterdam,
by Henk Wevers, whose house I would be staying at. Henk, as
it turns out, is a major force behind the Dutch FidoNet, and
Fido in Europe in general, as well as one of the key people
in the HCC. Henk also runs a Fido in Ede, which appears in
the nodelist.
After recovering from serious jet lag (9 hour clock
difference plus a 9 hour flight) we headed to the show in
Utrecht Friday morning. Utrecht is a major city in Holland,
and a major business center. The show filled a large hall,
similar to most US convention centers (SF's Civic Center for
instance) and had about 30,000 attendees on Friday. The Fido
booths were right at the main entrance; there was a large
entranceway announcing the HCC show, and Fido was right
where you went in. Fido had a very large presence, and there
were a couple of Fidos running demos during the entire two
day show.
BBS's are just starting to generate large interest
amongst hobbiests, because of the modem problem; while we in
North America have only three universal protocols (Bell
103A, Bell 212A, and CCITT V.22bis for 2400 baud), in Europe
there are at least a half dozen incompatible protocols, and
the North American models are all useless. This subject will
be covered in detail later.
There was a tremendous amount of interest in Fido,
if you had told me beforehand I would not have believed you.
Fidonews Page 3 16 Dec 1985
At a talk given by Henk explaining the HCC's plans for Fidos
in Holland, and where I answered questions, the room was
filled to capacity, standing room only. Needless to say, I
was not prepared for such a response, I'm not used to this!
There was coverage on national TV, newspapers and radio
about the show (the HCC is taken very seriously) including
Fido.
The next day, Saturday, was similar, but much
busier. Hectic is not the right word, we literally ran from
one event to the next for much of the day. The show was
packed with visitors.
I guess all computer shows are basically the same,
no matter where they are held. There was row after row of
booths, all displaying various products, many small machines
making noise and playing games, others showing more sedate
things like monitors for IBM clones, and so on. There was
also a very large user group presence; anyone familiar with
the unfortunate recent history of the West Coast Computer
Faire will appreciate this! The fact that most communication
is done in Dutch is the first indication that something is
different, and after looking closely you see that emphasis
is put on different kinds of products and services.
The most common machine by far is the Commodore 64.
While it's a popular machine here, it's nothing compared to
Holland at least. I saw more add on hardware and software
that I decided to think about purchasing one for myself.
CP/M is very popular, mostly a thing called the Amstrad
(spelling?) which from what I've seen is very nice, color
graphics and so on, and seems to be high quality.
On Saturday morning, Pieter van Diepen, the current
publisher of the HCC magazine, gave me a quick tour of old
Utrecht. (The part we were in was a typical high tech city,
with the usual traffic and hotels.) The old city surrounds
canals, ancient churches (I mean ancient, hard for us
Yankees to appreciate 600 year old anything), and a
coffehouse that has been in continuous operation for about
300 years, where we had coffee, and made us late enough to
mess up the plans for opening FidoNet on live radio. Sigh.
I don't remember seeing a single IBM computer; like
here, most these days are Taiwan clones. The Taiwanese are
changing the world of computing in ways they may not
realize; someone like IBM does the large scale design, the
cloners simplify and improve the design (Faraday, etc) and
the Taiwanese manufacture them in *huge* quantities, for
cheap, and all that I've seen are of pretty good quality.
Even I have one. These are what most European Fidos are
running on, and I would guess the same is true for North
America.
The international sysops meeting was held Saturday
afternoon. Henk Wevers and other Holland sysops where there,
plus Frank and Silvia Thornley from England, Martin ? from
England, Bob ? (sorry for the ?) from Dataflex (a modem
Fidonews Page 4 16 Dec 1985
manufacturer) in London, Arne Asplem and Robert Hercz from
Norway, and of course me. Helge ? from Sweden had an
accident and could not make it.
It was not a big complex affair, mostly just a get
together, but past experience says that more was
accomplished than meets the eye. Merely putting names with
faces does a lot of good. We cleared up some
misunderstandings about putting the European nodes in the
Boston net; for example, what we thought was a convenience
turns out to really make for additional work. Since Fido
doesnt know about "countries" (yet) they were included in
the Boston net so that the mail would get routed properly;
in reality, it makes it extremely difficult to handle mail
in Europe, as most mail is done via PICKUP and POLL due to
the lack of autodial modems.
That night, there was a big banquet for the HCC
staff that put it all together, we ate too much good food
and drank real beer, not this "lite" stuff. Pour that stuff
down the drain!
The next day, Sunday, Frank, Silvia, Arne, Robert,
Bob, Martin and I went in two cars to Belgium to take the
ferry to Dover, and then on to Frank's house in Woking. The
drive itself was interesting; by the time we made it on to
the ferry, I had three flavors of money (dollars, guilders,
pounds), which makes small purchases very interesting until
you get used to it. Robert and Arne also had German marks,
and presumably Norwegian money. Welcome to Europe.
From the ferry we all went directly to Frank's
house, where we all spent the night. The truly hardcore gang
(Martin, Bob, Arne and Robert) stayed up all night setting
up Robert's computer, and playing with Frank's huge
collection of IBM PC software. Us more rational types went
to bed.
For the next few days, we talked about various
things, Fido of course among them, and Frank gave us the
grand tour of London and area. It was an excellent tour; it
would have taken me weeks and weeks of vacationing to hit
all the spots, if I could have ever found them at all.
One I would not have found was the pub at Fullers
brewery. The best bitter beer I ever had, period. Drank a
fair amount there, took some back with us ... us hardcore
types drank it and other things, the more rational ones went
to sleep. Guess who had a hangover. And yes, it was worth
it.
For the next three days, four of us traveled around
London and area, Martin and Bob having gone home. We visited
Dataflex (makers of addon boards for various computers, and
soon a Hayes compatible modem).
On Wednesday, I returned to Holland, and spent three
Fidonews Page 5 16 Dec 1985
days pointlessly wandering around Amsterdam, having a
wonderful time taking pictures and freezing to death.
A hint for travelers: the standard travel books
(Fodors, Baedakers, etc) absolutely refuse to mention the
weather, with one exception that crammed "average yearly
temperatures" over much of Europe into one paragraph.
Europe is miserably cold in the winter. Plan on New
York City weather. Cold, wet, more cold and wet. It was
supposedly colder than usual for that time of year. this
always happens to me; I was in the South West high desert,
and it rained. I went to Phoenix AZ four years ago, and it
rained there, too. Maybe it's me.
On Sunday, I returned to San Francisco, on an eleven
hour flight; jet lag in this direction isn't too bad,
relatively speaking.
I want to thank once again everyone who made my trip
over pleasant, never mind possible. Henk Wevers and his
family for making me welcome at their home and to Henk for
arranging things; Frank Thornley for putting me up at his
home, and or putting up with all the hackers messing up his
house, and for the grand tour of London. It was appreciated!
And of course to the people fo the HCC for their enthusiasm
for Fido and friendliness.
The modem situation in Europe is very very different
than here in N. A. In the U. S., we have the "benefit" of
having our modem protocols dictated to us by the one time
telecom monopoly, AT&T. We have the Bell 103A protocol for
300 baud and less and Bell 212A for 1200 baud. There are and
were others, of course, but most have thankfully died out;
Bell 202A is still used by radio amateurs, however, mainly
for radio use.
This is not a discussion of technical excellence in
protocol design; merely observations on practical reality. I
don't care for the way Bell did their 1200 baud protocol
either. Anyways ...
In Europe, however, things are a little different.
There are at least a half dozen different protocols, most
defined by the CCITT. (Don't ask ...) The main ones, I
think, are 300 baud V.21, 1200 baud V.22, 1200/75 Viditel,
and V.22bis 2400 baud. Modems are very expensive, and there
doesn't seem to by the hobbiest/microcomputer type array of
modems we have here.
Fidonews Page 6 16 Dec 1985
While compared to the North American continent
Europe is physically compact, (it takes 5 hours to fly from
San Francisco to New York, and somewhat less than that from
there to Amsterdam) there are many languages in use, most
incomprehensible to each other. Lucky for us, English is the
technical language of choice, so Europeans are not as
intimidated by English as we are (generally) by Dutch,
French, German, etc.
I am familiar somewhat with AT&T's policies as to
making connections to the phone line; I do not know what the
situation is in countries in Europe, whether it's easy or
hard, or if it varies from country or not. The PTT seems to
be everywhere; is it the same across Europe or different all
over?
Last, but definitely not least ...
The person who basically started Fido in Europe was
Ron Smallwood, in London. He was Fido #33, and first started
in early 1984. Talk about pioneering ... not too much was
heard from him over here, due mainly to the incompatibilities,
the time differences and the expense of overseas phone
calls. Ron is not running Fidos anymore, but he kept things
going long enough for others to pick it up. I did not get to
meet Ron, I ran out of time and had to leave, but I'm sure
we will meet in the future.
I'm sure I missed or glossed over many important
points, if there are any questions or corrections please
feel free, etc. And thanks once again for everyone involved
for the very pleasant and informative trip to Europe!
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Fidonews Page 7 16 Dec 1985
============================================================
NEWS
============================================================
LET'S GET IN TOUCH!
Fido is such a great tool. There are now literally hundreds
of Fido Bulletin Boards across the nation and the inter-
national list is growing too. These boards provide a rich
exchange of public domain software, technical questions and
answers and can also be an interesting social environment.
In addition to these technically-oriented boards, a number
of non-techie boards are springing up. They are focused
around some "special interest." For example, there are a
number of boards with a medical bent, boards dedicated to
music and concert reviews, etc. Sometimes these boards are
not very visible and are hard to find just by browsing the
board names in the Fido Node List. That is the reason we
are writing this little public announcement.
There are a number of boards in the net who have a "special
interest" in the Gay & Lesbian Community. We'd like to let
all of our gay brothers and sisters out there know who we
are. The boards listed below are places that you can get in
touch with the Gay & Lesbian Community. You can use these
boards as a social tool and also to read and exchange
information about current events and issues of importance to
us all. So give us a call and let's exchange some ASCII!
Bernal Bears Board San Francisco, CA 125/448
415-648-3014 1200 24 hrs
Community News Board Costa Mesa, CA 102/504
714-631-5859 1200 7pm - 12pm
Compu Cruise San Jose, CA 143/4
408-275-9326 1200 24 hrs
Fidoplex Memphis, TN 123/2
901-377-8180 2400 8pm - 10am
Laguna Xroads Laguna Beach, CA 102/522
714-494-5272 1200 24 hrs
West Hollywood GBBS West Hollywood, CA 102/112
213-874-9484 2400 24 hrs
We've also discovered many gay-empathetic boards, many of
which have "special interest" sections among the technical!
Are there any other gay Fido BBSes out there? If so, please
make yourself known. There is some talk about establishing
Fidonews Page 8 16 Dec 1985
a Gay Fido Network. In fact the boards in Northern Califor-
nia have already been doing this for some time. This is a
sensitive time for our community. We can use each other's
support. We empower each other by communicating!
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Fidonews Page 9 16 Dec 1985
Butch Walker
10/620
Multilink, Jram, & Bulletin Boards
This is more of a request for help than it is an
article. It seems that I am not the only Sysop having
trouble with the above combination. I have talked to other
Sysop's around the country and find that they also have
problems with Multilink, JRam boards, and Bulletin Board
software. For whatever reason, our systems will lock or
crash periodically for no apparent reason.
I know that several boards are running Multilink
successfully without the JRam board. Allen's board (Fido
108/10) is an example. However it seems that when you add
the JRam board, whether the JRam AT, or JRam 8, the
problems start. Neither Tall Trees, nor Software Link are
much help at solving the problem. I have talked to them
repeatedly, and Rudy Gordon (Sysop of The Machine) has
talked to them for the last 4 months.
The problem is the same whether you run Fido as I do,
or RBBS as Rudy does. What we need is for anyone that has
experienced the same problem to get in touch with me.
Please put out the word to non Fido boards as well. We need
to put some pressure on the two companies involved to get
the problem solved. Frankly it makes me mad that I spent
about $1,000 buying Multilink and the "approved memory
board" only to have problems that the software company
doesn't seem to want to correct.
Just for your information, I am running a IBM AT with
256k, a JRam AT populated at 2mb with 120ns chips, Hercules
color card, Princeton HX-12, Seagate 30mb, one USR 2400
internal, and a Courier 2400 external.
Please send replies to me, Butch Walker - Sysop TBLUG
Fido 10/620.
------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 10 16 Dec 1985
EJ McKernan
Node 14/386 ... The "Bit Bucket"
Emporia, KS (316)343-8028
300/1200/2400 Baud ... 24 Hours/day
As most of my fellow fidosysops know, fido has the ability
to allow someone with a SYSOP priv. level to drop to
dos, execute some code (sysop utilities, edit FILES.BBS,
ect...) It works great, IF (and this is a big if) one
is running fido on any machine, except for the sanyo.
I've often wondered why it was that the sysop 0 command
croaked on the sanyo and receintly jumped in with debugger
cocked to see if I could discover what was going on.
For quite some time I blamed the trouble on Sanyos AUX1.SYS
driver. Sanyo goofed their first try on the serial port
device driver and released AUX1 as a replacement driver. It
seemed to run great if you executed "CTTY AUX" immediatly
after bootup, but the system locked up if you tried it after
running fido_syo.exe. Well in looking at the code for fido
I discovered that the transmitter is disabled in the sanyo's
serial port when fido exits. One bug down.
Further looking at FIDO, I discovered that the interupts
are also disabled (masked out) from the UART. It
seems that sanyo coded the device driver using a ring
buffer on the receiver (interupt driven) and polled the
xmitter if dos needed to transmit anything. Well a quick
routine to enable the transmitter and turn the interupts
back on fixed everything.
If your running fido on a sanyo and would like copies of the
above mentioned software it's available on my board,
the Bit Bucket, at 316-343-8028 in the Network file area.
The file is named SANINTFX.ARC. It contains AUX1.SYS from
sanyo, my RUNFIDO.BAT file, and SANINTFX.COM the interupt
patch routine. It also contains a modified version of
watchdog called WATCHDGS.COM (watch dog sanyo.)
One other item of note. You can't must remote sanyo from
a terminal with 8 bits, 1 stop, no parity. Otherwise
you'll get everything echoed back from DOS but nothing
will be accepted as valid keystrokes.
Finally...I can remote sysop my FIDO!
------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 11 16 Dec 1985
" THE BULLETIN BOARD "
NET 106 NODE 100
HOUSTON TEXAS
SYSOP CARL PIPKIN
SYSOP CAROLYN PIPKIN
We are starting a new data base in the Houston area and we
are asking the help of all Fido Nodes to help me build up my
Data Base. We have a lot of programs to offer our users but
we are going to run short in a little while because of the
great response to our system. We are offering programs in a
variety of areas. But since the board is up 24 hrs there's
not enough time to download programs from other boards to
offer first class service to our users. So thats why I am
asking the help of all of my fidonet operators to Net Mail
me some Free Ware programs to help build up our Data Base "
THE BULLETIN BOARD" we are on the Fidonet Network as Node
100 Net 106 Baud Rate 300 Phone No. 1-713-590-4609 any Free
Ware Programs would be greatly appreciated in these areas:
(1) Word Processing Programs
(2) Utilities Programs
(3) Games Programs
(4) Spreadsheets Programs
(5) Database Programs
(6) Business Programs
(7) Communications Programs
(8) Artificial Intelligence Programs
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP
SYSOP CARL PIPKIN
------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 12 16 Dec 1985
Introduce Special Users to Fido
If you are like many Fido network users, you probably
demonstrate the system to friends and acquaintances who
express even the mildest interest. How would you like to
show the network to a group of people who could put Fido's
potential to maximum use, but may not even know of it's
existence? There are approximately 20,000 to 45,000 people in
this country who are both deaf and blind. Some of the Deaf
Blind are totally deaf and totally blind and special skills in
sign language is needed to communicate with them. Others
who are "hearing impaired" and blind, can be vocally
instructed in the use of computers and can use computers
with braille attachments. Still others are deaf and
"visually impaired" and can see a CRT well enough to use
the computer. It is for this third group that this article
is written.
Ever stop and think how often you use the phone to talk with
friends? Give a thought about someone who can't use the
phone normally and must use a Telecommunication Device for
the Deaf (TDD), a sort of baby computer with one line of
letters that bump across the display, teletype fashion.
Deaf people with normal vision have little trouble with
TDD's but a visually impaired person may have trouble
reading the moving letters due to the speed they move and
the person's restricted field of view. And they can't take
their eyes off the display for an instant without losing
track of what's being said unless they have a TDD model that
also prints paper messages or has a "save" recorder feature
- neither a satisfactory solution for the visually impaired.
In addition they are limited to people who also have a TDD
to talk to; or they must use the services of a volunteer
relay service to get messages to friends without TDD's.
How many people do you know have TDD's? How many have
computers? Lots more! So why don't these D/B people use
computers for communication? (just think of the use they
could make of the FidoGram feature.) The problem is
communications itself; someone must "communicate" and
explain the system to them on a "one to one" basis. And
that someone is reading this article right now. OK, you'll
give it a try. Where do we find a D/B person to show Fido
to? They may know even less about you than you know about
them and some of them are actually in hiding from rejection.
Some areas have D/B support groups, often associated with
the American Association for the Deaf Blind (814 Thayer
Ave., Silver Spring MD 20910). Some church and temples have
a "Office for the Deaf". A call to the HELEN KELLER
NATIONAL CENTER, Sands Point, Long Island NY (voice or TDD
516/944-8900) or the HKNC Field Service Supervisor, Dallas
TX (214/630-4936) will get you the name and phone number of
the HKNC district representative who may be able to advise
you about groups to contact with a offer to help. These
groups in turn will see if any of their members are
interested in learning about computer communication.
After you have meet a D/B person, then what? Two rules: (a)
Fidonews Page 13 16 Dec 1985
Never take the advise of "experts" in D/B rehabilitation as
the last word. Just like computer "experts" they're right
most of the time and wrong just often enough to be human.
(Yes, that includes this article.) (b) ASK. Just that:
Ask! Ask the person you are trying to help how you can
help, communicate with or show something to, how you can
best do it. Each D/B person "see's" a little different and
only he/she - not a expert - can tell you how. For the
first contact, arm yourself with a black ink ballpoint or
felt tip pen and white paper - NOT a pencil and yellow legal
pad. Some visually impaired people need large letters.
Others, due to restricted field of view, read normal size
letters better. All need contrast between words and paper.
Write out a short note telling the D/B person your name and
explain your interest in computer communications. Describe
the room the computer is located in before you take them
into it - and be prepared to follow the Blind Persons Rule
of Doors: "All the way Open or All the way Closed!" Clear
the decks of anything bumpintoable. Ask the person if
he/she can lipread; some can if conditions are right. If you
have a mustache or are in a dimly lit room conditions are
not right. And few D/B's can read smoke signals if you talk
with a pipe in your mouth.
Keep in mind that the D/B person can't look at you and the
screen or keyboard at the same time so you can't "back seat
drive" him/her thru Fidoland. Since you will have to give
them a chance to become familiar with the CRT display, it
would probably be best to put a text file on screen first to
see how well they can read it. I'd suggest letting them
read the Fido USERSMAN.UAL on screen first; this will save
you the trouble of explaining how the system works and find
out how well they can see the screen. Depending on their
individual eyesight condition, some will do well with the
standard size screen. Others will need larger size
characters or a larger screen. Still others will be most
comfortable reading small, sharp characters on a small
screen like the Kaypro 2-84 / 4-84 or Radio Shack TRS-80 /4P
(the portable model). LCD displays usually do not have
enough contrast for a visually handicapped person to read.
This will probably be the most important part of the project
and will require some patience to help the person read the
screen comfortably. If you have a file containing a logon
of a fido node that you captured on disk, put it on the
screen so the person can become familiar with the menus
while they "hold still". Remember that the person may not
be able to see the entire screen at the same time and will
"scan" it by sections. (They may also need time to scan the
room and the parts of the computer so don't start this
project when your pressed for time.)
Most D/B's will have some typing ability from using a TDD
but will need a little time to adapt to the new keyboard.
Some use Hi Marks (a red cement for the blind) to make small
"bumps" on the right edge of the "F" and the left edge of
the "J" keys. You might place a thin strip of masking tape
on the edge of these keys to make locating them easier. The
Fidonews Page 14 16 Dec 1985
concept of commands may be new to them and you may have to
explain, for example that typing "M" at a menu will either
get you into the Msg. section or back into Main Menu
depending on where it's typed from. Another concept you may
have to explain is the password security procedure.
When you're sure the D/B person can use the screen and
understands what's going to happen then it's time to go
online. Dial up your favorite Fido node and let the person
watch you "read the mail". Use 300 baud the first time
(even if you have a capture buffer on) as 1200 may be too
fast for some people to follow. And if your running on
"Expert" mode, you might drop back into "Novice" with "M)ore
On" for this project. Then give your D/B person a chance to
try it him/her self and browse through a message or text file
area. If you have a Sysop in your area who's always read to
chat at the touch of a Y)ell key, give the D/B person a
chance to "talk" to him/her as this "one to one" feature may
be important; they will be comparing it to the TDD. (Best
to make advance arrangements with the Sysop.) Be sure to
explain that many Sysop's are not usually available.
In addition to message posting and retrieval, explain the
Fido ham telegram setup and it's restrictions (especially
msg length). If they have out of state friends, and no one
to make calls for them, this feature will be important.
And finally, be prepared with some realistic information if
he/she asks about buying his/her own computer, including
pricing information. Keep in mind that the least expensive
system may not be suitable for a handicapped person. Few
blind people can comfortably read a Radio Shack 100. A
person who can't hear a dial tone will want a Auto-Dial
modem. The ability of the computer to run a program with a
text file download capture buffer is almost a must for
someone who can't read a screen quickly; they can always
grab all the messages and exit the board to read them, then
return to post answers to messages.
Showing a deaf, partly blind person the Fido network may
take time and patience and you will have to reexamine some
of the things you take for granted. But for a D/B persons
with few communication options, you will be opening the
world for them.
Stu Turk (User, Fido 129/13 or 129/384)
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Fidonews Page 15 16 Dec 1985
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
: :
:FREE CHRISTMAS FIDOGRAM DEADLINE:
: :
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
The deadline for free Christmas Fidograms to arrive at
101/105 is December 20th. this should give our packet
switching systems and other network sufficient time to
route your messages.
What are Fidograms, you say? Egads! - We've accepted
Fidograms all the way from Sweden, Alberta and Holland,
bound for every which way, and you don't even know about
them yet? Sheesh...
OK - a brief recap. Fidograms are your way of sending free
personal telegrams to almost anyone in the USA who has
access to a voice telephone. Just like Western Union. You
provide us with your complete name, address and fone number,
as well as the same complete data for the addressee of the
Fidogram. Naturally, you want to provide us with the text
of the Fidogram (20 words, more or less max), and a
signature. That's it - we take it from there.
Your Fidograms are routed from Fido 101/105 via Amateur
Packet Radio at 1200 bauds into our networks, and are
relayed by radio across town, or across the country until
they reach the city of ultimate destination, at which point
they are telephoned to the addressee.
There are no limits to the number of Free Fidograms that you
can send, but there ARE limits as to the contents. Nothing
related to business or the making of profit to any persons
may be contained in a Fidogram.
You can send Fidograms to certain countries overseas, but
only those whose governments have the necessary agreements
with our government. Those that do include Canada, Mexico
and many central and south American countries, but virtually
none in Europe. If your local Fido does not yet have the
file describing Fidograms, contact me at 101/105 and I'll
try to get it to you.
One more reminder - college and University Fidos should
consider "advertising" free Fidograms during the week
preceding Valentine's day. Terminals placed in college
cafeterias usually net us several thousand Fidograms each
year - bundles of fun! Enjoy.
Luck Hurder 101/105 Cape Cod Fido
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Fidonews Page 16 16 Dec 1985
============================================================
COLUMNS
============================================================
FidoNet Musings
by Ben Baker - 100/76
Thom has asked me if I would do a regular (or at least
semiregular) column for the newsletter. It is with some
misgivings that I undertake this venture. I enjoy writing
on occasion when the mood strikes me, but the thought of a
weekly deadline is very unsettling. My wife is the
journalist in the family. Several years ago she worked for
a chain of local newspapers and did a weekly column which
appeared in several of them. I can still remember the days
she would sit dowm at the typewriter with a blank page and
nothing to say. At those times even the cats tip-toed
around the house!
Thom has given me no guidance as to format or content.
I interpret this as having a good deal of latitude, and I
shall make the most of it as I meander from subject to
subject.
It is incredible to me that Fido was conceived only two
years ago this month, the brain-child of Tom Jennings and
John Madill. I first became involved when I put up version
4 in March of 84 and was "officially listed" as Fido # 10 in
April.
Those were the days of at least three new software
releases a week. I can recall at least one occasion when
two new versions were released the same day, only hours
apart. I had considered doing an "early history" piece for
this first column, but things happened so fast and furious
that, on reflection, it's all a blur!
Unfortunately, none of us kept a journal (how could we
know we were making history) and Fido's early history can,
at best, only be approximated. I'm not sure how the idea of
"the network" got started. I recall a telephone
conversation or two with TJ in which he talked about the
concept in abstract terms. "I have no intention of doing
it, but wouldn't it be neat if. . ." Within a week, we had
version 6 and FidoNet was born! I think that may have been
June.
I think the phrase "Wouldn't it be neat if. . ." is
as responsible as anything for many of Fido's features. Of
course, each new feature usually broke two or three old
features and could be counted on to supply at least four new
releases.
Not all the features this phrase spawned were
necessarily good. I remember when TJ added "broadcast" to
FidoNet. The first version of this feature had an
interesting bug. Whenever Fido received a broadcast
message, it would rebroadcast it. Sort of an automated
Fidonews Page 17 16 Dec 1985
electronic chain letter. A single message could have, in a
week's time, choked the network! We never did get the
feature to work properly, and when we passed through about
forty nodes on the net, we decided we didn't want it to work
right and it was removed.
Our early node lists were, at best, only about seventy
percent accurate. I recall two weeks of trying unsuccess-
fully to send a message to a new node in Texas. Finally I
dialed the number one day and a mechanical operator informed
me "The number you have dialed has been changed. The new
number is. . ." A call to the new number connected me with
a real person. When I told her that my information was that
an electronic bulletin board was supposed to answer the
first number, she explained that the board was her son's.
He had accidently reversed his voice and board numbers in
his request for a node number. After several nights of
being awakened out of a sound sleep by incessant phone
jangling between three and four am., they had changed their
number.
Anecdotes abound, but my wife tells me a column
shouldn't be too long. (I think she wants to limit the
amount of proof reading sne has to do.) I would like to hear
from you with suggestions for future topics, questions about
FidoNet, whatever. Send FidoNet mail to 100/76. I will try
to respond directly to all messages, and some with broad
general interest I will share with you here.
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Fidonews Page 18 16 Dec 1985
Why You Should Use A Retail Store
By Robert Bova
President, MicroAge-Downtown Computer Store
Lexington, Kentucky
Nowadays you can buy a computer from almost anybody.
Toy stores, discount stores and by mail-order.
But from most of these "computer stores" all you get
is a computer or some software which may or may not run in
your computer.
You get very little, if any, help in figuring out
how to connect the cables or learning how to use the
machine.
After all, how do you get training by mail-order?
But if you purchase a computer from a good retail
computer store (and the key is finding a good computer
retailer), you get more than just hardware and software --
you get a human being, one who will spend the time necessary
to teach you how to use your computer.
This is called SUPPORT.
Support takes many forms. Not the least is the skill
your sales representative has in guiding you in your
purchase of equipment and software.
True, no computer store can carry everything and
every brand, but today's retail computer store sales
representative generally has a wide selection of computer
brands and software from which to choose.
If the salesperson (who should really be more than a
salesperson, but a guide in the often confusing world of
computer hype) is doing his job, he or she can size up your
requirements for computer power.
Often a good computer salesperson will determine a
client's needs would best be served by a less-expensive
computer configuration. In many ways, today's professional
computer salesperson is a consultant to the purchaser's
business, rather than just someone trying to sell as much as
possible to the customer.
That isn't always the case, but new professionalism
has come to computer retailers. It had to happen since we
all want your repeat business.
A good computer dealer will follow up the sale with
effective and comprehensive training. He'll pre-test your
computer at his shop, install it and then re-check it at
your location. Plus he'll train you and your employees in
its every function.
Fidonews Page 19 16 Dec 1985
From hardware to software, you should know your
computer and its uses after the dealer has completed his
initial installation.
The job isn't done here. A good dealer will stay
with you until you are confident that you can make your new
computer an invaluable asset. Then he'll provide follow-up
support, maintenance and the consultation required to insure
your success.
A good dealer will make available to you reliable,
tried and tested hardware and software, all sized and priced
to fit your present requirements, but with the ability to
grow as your needs expand.
And, more importantly, the dealer makes sure you'll
never be alone in your computer needs.
A local computer retailer provides conveience as
well. The store is nearby and you can usually test software
and hardware in the store to get a feel for how it works. No
ad, no matter how flashy, in a magazine can give you the
feel of "hands-on" experience.
And you know that if you have a problem after the
sale, your local computer dealer is just going to be a local
phone call away for aid and comfort. If it isn't a sale,
those folks with the 800 numbers in California that sell at
a discount, don't want to hear from you at their expense.
My advice? Find a consultant you feel comfortable
working with at a local computer store. Explain your
computer needs with him or her, then give the salesperson a
chance to evaluate your situation and make recommendations.
Then expect your consultant to follow through with
support, that magic word, which should lead to satisfaction.
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Fidonews Page 20 16 Dec 1985
Allen Miller 108/10
Fido with Multilink
I would like to find out how many of you are running
Fido along with Multilink multitasking software. If you
are, or know of another Fido system that is, please send me
a message letting me know the name of the system running
Multilink (to Fido 108/10 @ 513/579-2587).
One consequence, that I have found, of running Fido with
Multilink is that the elapsed time computation that Fido
does is off by a factor of 2 (2 if you run 2 Multilink
partitions). This means that if you set your session time
limit at 60 minutes, a user is really allowed to be on for
120 minutes. You can compensate for this by changing your
time limit parameter to 30 if you really want to have people
able to stay on for 60 minutes. The catch is in the file
trans-fer transaction. If a user wants to download a file
that would take 35 (real) minutes, Fido says that there is
not enough time remaining even though your intention was to
permit 60 minutes of wall time.
A friend of mine is writing a program to work in
conjunction with Fido & Multilink to correct for this
elapsed time distortion. Part of the reason for this
solicitation is to evaluate the usefulness of this program
to a wider audience. Once again, please let me know of any
Fido systems that are running with Multilink.
Regards,
Allen
12/08/85
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Fidonews Page 21 16 Dec 1985
Rainbow Corner
by Theodore Needleman
Welcome to Rainbow Corner. I'd like to introduce myself.
I'm the guy from Business Software Beat. So much for
introductions. What is "Rainbow Corner"? My hope is that
it is someplace where friends will gather to talk about the
DEC Rainbow. What hardware is available from DEC and other
vendors to enhance it? How about software - how can we
accomplish what we want to?
The "Corner" was created because of requests from you, our
readers, for more coverage and information on the micro side
of the street. (Our Editor: "Hello Ted - Our readers are
asking for more micro coverage, so we're adding a Rainbow
column. Want to write it?" ME: "Well...Ah...Um...Sure!")
The column comes at an auspicious time. Last week (this is
being written in mid February) DEC announced it is switching
the plant used for production of Rainbows over to the
production of "OTHER SYSTEMS". Rumors abound. My local
Digital Systems Center is claiming that production of the
Rainbow is being moved to Hong Kong. Other sources say that
the Rainbow 100 series is dead - when (and if) production
starts up again, it will be of a new model. I've heard
rumors of a completely IBM-PC compatible Rainbow, and of a
lap-top Rainbow. Someone has even suggested to me that DEC
will be coming out with a coprocessor system that will run
both VAX and MS-DOS. Are any of these rumors true? Who
knows? Only DEC, and they're not saying!
In any case, there's no reason to feel abandoned. In the
coming weeks Rainbow Corner will review hardware add-ons
that will make your system more powerful. Numerous requests
for review software have gone out, and some very interesting
packages have already started to arrive.
One last point before we move on to other business. The
"Corner" exists as a place to share information. If there
is something you are particularly interested in, drop me a
line and I'll try to cover it. The same offer goes for your
questions. If I don't have (or can't find) an answer, maybe
another reader will be able to help. The Rainbow is a well
designed and engineered computer. Its biggest defect seems
to be the dearth of information available about it.
Hopefully, the "Rainbow Corner" will help fill the void.
Before I close this week's column, I'd like to briefly
discuss an interesting piece of software that came across my
desk recently. As most of you no doubt know, the "Print
Screen" key works only when you are in "Terminal" Mode.
Wouldn't it be nice to be able to accomplish a screen dump
at other times? An inexpensive ($39.95) utility called
"PRINT-SCREEN" from Micro Resources Inc., (154 Needam
Street, Newton, MA., 02164, phone 617/965-2890) gives you
this capability with CP/M-86/80 (versions 1 & 2) and MS-DOS
(versions 2.01 & 2.05). It has a few limitations, such as
not being able to print graphics screens or the Set-up mode
Fidonews Page 22 16 Dec 1985
screen, but for the price, it is a worthwhile addition to
your utility library.
That's it for now. See you next issue.
(c)opyright 1985 by Ted Needleman-all rights reserved
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Fidonews Page 23 16 Dec 1985
============================================================
WANTED
============================================================
Rob Elliott
Fido #115/100
In Search of Rainbow BBS's
If you know of any BBS's or public access mainframe systems
serving the DEC Rainbow (or other DEC PC's too) that are not
listed below, please send a FidoNet message to Illini Data
Services Fido #115/100 with information on the BBS.
FidoNet Fido Systems
--------------------
11/600 15/1002 17/22 17/28 19/67 100/16 100/17 100/22 100/51
101/14 101/27 101/44 101/45 101/111 101/112 101/202 101/310
101/367 101/4601 102/101 102/104 102/109 102/110 102/111
102/301 102/501 102/508 102/701 107/1 107/2 107/17 107/23
107/31 107/55 108/50 109/74 109/483 109/601 114/3 115/100
115/444 121/90 124/2 124/10 125/1 129/14 129/15 132/107
132/620 132/615 141/320 141/491 143/5.
Other bulletin boards
---------------------
SF PC LUG, CAMPPUS, Scherer's, DEC MARKET, DEC PDL, Latin
Express, The Land, Albuquerque PC LUG, Oz.
Illini Data Services maintains three lists of Rainbow BBS's
(entitled DECBBS.LST, DECBB.LST, and DEC4BBS.LST) that are
available for downloading on many of the listed boards. If
you do not have access to the list, you can download it from
Fido #115/100 or send us a message and we'll send the latest
updates via FidoNet to you.
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Fidonews Page 24 16 Dec 1985
Steve Nyman
Fido 107/22
NEED FIDO'S TO PRINT E-MAIL
My company, Micro Information Services, needs Fido's from
across the U.S. to receive our customer's e-mail, print it
and mail it via U.S. Mail. We anticipate moderate mail
volume, depending upon the region.
NO COST TO YOU: All envelopes, paper, and postage will be
provided in advance.
PROFITS: You will be paid for your services.
IF INTERESTED: Direct inquiries via e-mail to Steve Nyman
on Fido 107/22. Thanks.
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Fidonews Page 25 16 Dec 1985
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NOTICES
============================================================
The Interrupt Stack
24 Jan 1986
Voyager 2 passes Uranus.
9 Feb 1986
Halley's Comet reaches perihelion.
9 Feb 1986
Diana Overholt (109/74) has another birthday.
11 Apr 1986
Halley's Comet reaches perigee.
19 May 1986
Steve Lemke's next birthday.
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to Fido 1/1.
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