FidoNews · Vol 3, No 26 · 7 July 1986
Volume 3, Number 26 7 July 1986
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| / \ |
| - FidoNews - /|oo \ |
| (_| /_) |
| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
| ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (C) Copyright 1986 by IFNA (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet
Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1.
You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
FNEWSART.DOC, available from node 1/1.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate.
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL
Deteriorata
2. ARTICLES
Freshening ARCs Before Posting for Download
Employment Opportunities Notes 2
Last Embrace - a cautionary tale.
Tips on QNEWUSER.BBS for Semi-Private Systems
Computer worms
3. COLUMNS
Hard Disk Usage and Management Tips, Part 2
Computer Industry SpotLight
Job Market Research Part I
4. WANTED
Auto-shuffle news letter as a scheduled event
Computer Training Cruise Market Survey
Wanted: Citadel sysops!
5. FOR SALE
Entertainment Software for your PC!
Public Domain Software Library Sale!!
SERVTECH from Rylos Technologies
6. NOTICES
The Interrupt Stack
CARTOON: Gruesome George, by Bruce White
Computer Training Market Survey
Fidonews Page 2 7 Jul 1986
Changing of the Guard in Net 135
Sched version 4 is now out
Fidonews Page 3 7 Jul 1986
=================================================================
EDITORIAL
=================================================================
Deteriorata
Go placidly amid the noise and waste and remember what
comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof. Avoid quiet and
passive persons unless you are in need of sleep. Rotate your
tires. Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself and heed
well their advice, even though they be turkeys. Know what to
kiss, and when. Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but
that three do. Wherever possible, put people on hold. Be
comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment and
despite the changing fortunes of time, there is always a big
future in computer maintenance.
Remember the Pueblo. Strive at all times to bend, fold,
spindle, and mutilate. Know yourself. If you need help, call
the FBI. Exercise caution in your daily affairs, especially with
those persons closest to you - that tomato on your left, for
instance. Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls
would scarcely get your feet wet. Fall not in love, therefore;
it will stick to your face. Gracefully surrender the things of
youth, birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan. And let not the sands of
time get in your lunch. Hire people with hooks. For a good
time, call 606-4311, ask for Ken. Take heart amid the deepening
gloom that your dog is finally getting enough cheese. And
reflect that whatever misfortune may be your lot, it could only
be worse in Milwaukee.
You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be
here. And whether you can hear it or not, the universe is
laughing behind your back.
Therefore, make peace with your god, whatever you conceive
him to be: hairy thunderer or cosmic muffin. With all its hopes,
dreams, promises, and urban renewal, the world continues to
deteriorate. Give up.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 4 7 Jul 1986
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Christopher Baker
Metro-Fire Fido, 135/14
ARC F and the Local Sysop
All of us, who are System Operators, know that time is precious
and tasks always seem to expand to fill the available time, no
matter what we started out to do. At no time is this more true
than when conducting Long Distance (LD) BBSing for program up-
dates or new files.
There is a tendency for Sysops to put files that have been ARCed
and uploaded to them by Xmodem into their download sections
without checking the file for correct date. If an ARCed file is
transferred by Xmodem to a system, the transfer leaves the ARC
rounded up to the nearest block and changes the date of the ARC.
This leads to confusion, especially on systems where the file
description does not include the version number of the program in
question. The files within the ARC are, of course, unaffected by
the transfer and their dates are intact but the user cannot run
ARC v on the file to see the REAL date. This is the Sysop's
responsibility.
The problem is not as prevalent on Fido systems as it is on RBBS
and other systems that do not support Telink or Kermit. Since
Telink and Kermit send the true filename, filesize, and filedate,
there is no need to convert the ARCs back to normal after
receiving them. There are still PLENTY of users that don't use
anything but Xmodem, though, and their uploads need attention
from the Sysop BEFORE they are moved to a download area,
particularly, if the R)aw command is available to the user. When
I'm in a hurry on LD (and who isn't?), I use the R)aw command
whenever it's available to check for new filedates and gauge my
downloading accordingly.
To avoid the confusion of filedates on ARCs, the Sysop has only
to check the ARC filedate against the internal filedates. If they
do not match, the Sysop can bring the ARC into agreement very
simply by running the Freshen command of ARC.EXE against the
file. To wit:
ARC f filename <cr>.
This will write the file out to the disk, remove the round up
block if any, and restore the ARC filedate to match the dates of
the files within the ARC. To avoid the possibility of updating
files within the ARC from files in the current directory, I
suggest conducting these conversions in a blank or working
directory. A blank directory will require at least one dummy file
to get the re-write going. Create a dummy file of one line using
EDLIN or the Copy CON <filename> command. Call it something
original (like DUMMY.FIL) to avoid matching an existing filename
Fidonews Page 5 7 Jul 1986
in any ARC. You must have enough disk space to accommodate the
filesize in question and the matching filesize of the mirror
image that ARC F is going to create.
If every Sysop would take the time to clean up these Xmodemed
ARCs, there would never be a question of how new a file is when
BBSing. (Version numbers wouldn't hurt either, you guys.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 6 7 Jul 1986
W.R.Hunter/E.S.Hunter
Fido 109/626
On-Line Employment Opportunities
The Employment Opportunities Listings, available from the
NOVA_WEG have been available now for two months and the response
is good after such a short period of time. In case you missed
the FidoNews article introducing this FREE service, in a
nutshell, we have been gathering current employment vacancies
from firms in/or closely associated with the computer industry
around the country and making these positions known via FidoNet
Mail to whomever would like to receive this listing and make it
available to others (user's or sysop's). It is updated weekly
and includes other information such as "How to" conduct your job
search, and we have been "spot-lighting" different companies each
week in the computer field.
Currently theses listings are available on the following
Fido boards:
Net/Node Board Name Location
========== ============= ===========
107/316 Metatek Fido Toms River,NJ
107/601 Stone Wall Boyertown,PA
138/37 Mac's Revenge Tacoma, WA
900/1 Bits-&-Bytes Nashville,TN
18/12 The Rat's Nest Columbia,SC
154/5 GENERIC Crossroads Milwaukee,WI
We understand that there are other boards currently making
the listings available by obtaining them from the boards shown
above. This we encourage as the more that can benefit from this,
the better.
If there are any other REGIONAL HOSTS or NET HOSTS that
would like to make these listing available to their respective
FidoNodes, drop us a line via NetMail and we will be happy to
send the listings to you. If any individual nodes would like to
receive the listings, first check with your HOST or COORDINATOR
to see if they might be receiving them already, and if not,
contact us directly.
To add to the listings already circulating, we are making
available Employment Opportunities in the BANKING AND FINANCE
INDUSTRY beginning the first Monday in July. If anyone would be
interested in this listing it will also be available on request.
Any firms that wish to send a position notice, please do so
via NetMail or by U.S.Mail to:
W.E.G.Systems
P.O. Box 5072
Springfield, Va 22150
Be sure your position notice arrives here by Saturday to be
Fidonews Page 7 7 Jul 1986
included in the next weeks listings.
These listing are made available to AID in the job searching
effort, and provide another avenue for firms to obtain the
quality personnel they seek. GOOD LUCK!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 8 7 Jul 1986
LAST EMBRACE
by Rich Gough
on Fido 129/26
David turned the key in the lock and opened the door. Hanging his
coat in the closet, he noticed the flashing light on his
telephone answering machine. It was 11 PM -- it had taken a a
couple of hours longer than he expected to fix the hard disk
problem at the trucking company. Flipping the switch, he heard
the messages rewind -- buzzing interuppted by 5 beeps. He sighed
-- a computer consultant's work is never done.
"Hey David, this is Mike. My subscription to TV Guide ran out --
can you tell me what's going to be on USA Nightflight tonight?"
BEEP
"David, this is Carol at the Food Warehouse. I've got a problem
and I need you to call me back as soon as you can. It's 8 PM."
BEEP
"David, this is Carol again. It's 10 PM and I have three reports
that I have to get down by tommorrow. Please come over and help
me as soon as you can."
BEEP
"David, it's 10:30 PM and I'm really desperate."
BEEP
"Damn!"
BEEP
David switched the machine back to record, and dialed Carol's
number. A busy signal told him that at least she was still there.
She might even be trying to call him. If he left now, he could be
there by midnight.
David knocked on the corrugated metal door and when there was no
answer, the rolled the sliding door aside and stepped in. Up a
narrow flight of stairs, past the fans of the cold room. Stepping
into the office, he heard a crunch and looked at the floor. There
were white fragments all over the floor -- someone must have
dropped a coffee cup. That reminded him - coffee. It looked like
it would be a long night. The coffee maker was still plugged in
-- he poured himself the last cup. A sip told him it was too hot
and too bitter. He set it next to the computer and sat down. Time
for some detective work to find out what was wrong and fix it.
"Carol!" he called. She must be in the Ladies Room. "Might as
well get to work" he said to himself.
A glance at the screen told him that she was in the middle of the
General Ledger program, closing out the month of January. The
screen was frozen -- no keys had any effect. Nothing to do but
switch the computer off and start again. As he waited for the
hard disk to settle, he looked around. Carol was big on lists.
Tacked to the wall was a list of the 100 most popular food items.
On the desk was a list of her objectives for the day. Accounts
Payable, Accounts Recievable and General Ledger were at the top
of the list, and the only things not crossed out. He knew from
experience that these programs were disk intensive, and could
Fidonews Page 9 7 Jul 1986
take hours to run. He also found the manual to a multi-tasking
program that could let more than one program run at once. He
switched the computer on and flipped throught the manual while he
waited for the RAM test to complete. A look at Carol's notes
showed what she was trying to do -- save time by running all
three reports at the same time. David knew the problem that must
have occurred and a few keystrokes proved his conclusion.
First he started Accounts Payable, then created a new task and
started Accounts Recievable, then created a third task and
started General Ledger. Hitting a few keys produced no response,
proving his theory that the system was locked in a classic
example of a Deadly Embrace. Programs A and B both need access to
files 1 and 2. A file can only be updated by one program at a
time. Program A grabs file 1 while Program B grabs file 2. Then
Program A tries to grab file 2 (which B has locked on to) while
Program B tries to grab file 1 (which A has). Result - each
program waits for the other to give up its file and no work gets
done. With three programs going at the same time, the problem
would be even worse--crowded together in memory and fighting for
the same files, it would be a sort of menage a trois. The only
solutions are to avoid running programs that use the same files
at the same time. If you must, make sure all programs open files
in the same order.
David restarted the system, and started just the Accounts Payable
program. It would take a couple of hours, but at least it would
get done. Noticing the coffee had cooled, he swallowed the whole
cup at one gulp. David stood up and walked around the desks. As
he passed the cubicle near the door, he saw a high-heeled shoe on
the floor. Stepping into the cubicle he saw Carol's body sprawled
on the floor. A touch to the neck told him she was dead--no
pulse, and her flesh was cooling. The handle of a shattered
coffee mug was still held in the fingers. Pieces had scattered
across the floor under the partition. On the table next to the
body was a note, addressed to him. David was starting to feel
numb. She had despaired over the computer and other problems and
put poison in her own coffee pot. He reached for the phone but
ended up shivering on the floor. As he felt the coldness wash
over him, he put his arms around Carol's body and hugged her.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 10 7 Jul 1986
Christopher Baker
Metro-Fire Fido, 135/14
Everything You Wanted to Know About QNEWUSER.BBS
but etc., etc., etc...
The following is an excerpt of a message I received from Gee
Wong, IBM HELP, 1/100, when I asked him to give me the lowdown on
the use of QNEWUSER in a semi-private system (/p option in Fido).
QNEWUSER.BBS is a questionaire file that Fido uses to query new
users on a Fido being operated in the semi-private mode.
QNEWUSER can be used to display text and/or ask questions and
follows the language format detailed in the Fido manual for
creating a questionaire (QUESTION.BBS). As the new user answers
the questions posed by QNEWUSER.BBS, Fido creates a corresponding
text file called ANEWUSER.BBS. ANEWUSER can then be used for
verification or record-keeping purposes by the Sysop. Like a
QUESTION.BBS questionaire, QNEWUSER cannot be aborted by the new
user with Control-C or Control-K, so a Control-B at the beginning
of the file is not necessary to prevent the user from skipping
what you WANT him/her to read and answer.
The following is the gist of the answer I received:
From: Gee Wong on 107/312, Dance Studio, East Brunswick, NJ
As for your question on QNEWUSER. If you use QNEWUSER, Fido will
perform the following during logon for a new user:
1) prompt user for name
2) display contents of NEWUSER1.BBS if this file exists
3) ask user to pick a password
4) display the contents of QNEWUSER.BBS and prompt
user for answers to any questions in this file
5) prevent NEWUSER2.BBS from being displayed if this
file exists
6) prompt user for password
7) display contents of BULLETIN.BBS if this file exists
8) put user into Main Section of Fido.
Forwarded by 135/7, Miami's First Fido, Al Delatorre, 6/3
Here follows a brief example of the format you can use:
* Beginning of Example *
*
You cannot abort the following display. Control C & K are
disabled.
Follow the instructions completely. Now is a good time to turn on
your printer or capture file.
If you have not called this system in the last 60 days, your name
Fidonews Page 11 7 Jul 1986
and password have been PURGED from the system. You will have to
go through the verification process again!
New User Verification Questionaire
You MUST answer EVERY question in order to be verified for
access. If a question doesn't apply to you, enter N/A. Do not
skip answers. You will NOT be verified unless all the answers
are given.
Be VERY careful. Do not hit return until you have made your entry
on each line. If you hit return before finishing a response, Fido
will advance to the next line/question. You will have space to
make corrections at the end of the questionaire. Each line can
hold up to 65 characters of information.
What is your Full name (No handles)?
/>
Where are you calling from (City, ST)?
/>
What is your HOME telephone number (Area code first)?
/>
Is this a listed or unlisted number?
/>
What is your BUSINESS telephone number (Area code first)?
/>
What is your occupation? (If you are a student, specify the school.)
/>
What Password did you select?
/>
What is the name of your Department (optional)?
/>
What kind of computer are you using?
/>
State your modem brand, type and speed below (two lines):
/Modem>
/Speed>
What communications program do you normally use for BBSing?
/>
Why? (You have two lines.)
/>
/>
What is the BEST time to contact you at Home?
/>
What is the BEST time to contact you at Work?
/>
Use the next four lines to, briefly, describe your level of
Computer skill including languages or operating systems you are
most familiar with. If you do not need all four lines, hit return
to go on.
/Level>
/OpSys>
/Langs>
/Other>
Fidonews Page 12 7 Jul 1986
How old are you (optional)?
+6 (1) <18 (2) 18-25 (3) 26-35 (4) 36-50 (5) 51-99 (6) Not saying>
?Why not?>
How did you find out about this BBS? Be specific, you have two
lines. If a friend recommended it, NAME the friend. If you saw
it on a BBS, NAME the BBS. This is NOT optional. (You have two
lines.)
/>
/>
Are you a FidoNet Sysop?
+2 (1) No (2) Yes >
?Net/Node >
Are you a non-FidoNet Sysop?
+2 (1) No (2) Yes >
?Please give system name, location & number >
If you have any questions, comments, or changes, use the next
three lines to enter them. If you do not need the space, hit
return to go on.
/>
/>
/>
If you have completed this questionaire on a Saturday or Sunday,
it will take a few days to be verified. The Sysop is off on those
days.
* End of Example *
The asterisk in the first line appends the user name to the
ANEWUSER file information. Within the confines of the prompt and
question structure, you can configure the display to your own
taste. All of the text lines without a '/' or '+' or '?' are
output, as is, to the user when Fido puts him into the
questionaire. Lines preceeded by a '/' stop the questionaire and
wait for input or <cr> from the user (note: line noise can play
havoc with this process and may cause some prompts to be skipped
without user intervention.). Lines preceeded by a '+' set up a
multiple choice condition. The number following the plus
indicates how many choices will be offered. The last choice
listed, when selected by the user, prompts Fido to display the
contents of the line preceeded by the '?' and waits for user
input. Thus, the LAST choice listed is the one you are trying to
get amplification of; the other choices are listed in the
ANEWUSER file but ignored for purposes of user input. Make SURE
you list the point you want more information on as the LAST
choice in that line.
The QNEWUSER.BBS can be as long or as short as you like.
Experiment.
I hope this helps those of you doing it the hard way (like I
was). Many thanks to Gee Wong for the advice and assistance.
Fidonews Page 13 7 Jul 1986
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 14 7 Jul 1986
John Bekas, 115/212
Computer worms
--------------
After seeing two boards in my net getting destroyed by those
nasty programs called WORMS, or by the nasty people who make it a
habit of crashing boards, I am getting scared. All the Sysops
are asking themselves, "How can I stop my board from being next?"
Well, hopefully someone will figure it out.
Some reasonable ways of not getting your board crashed are:
1) By having a close friend, who doesn't have a hard drive try
it, and test it out for a while. After a while, have them
give you a report on how things went.
2) Not bugging the users to upload, because they usually get so
mad at the Sysop, that they don't want to call anymore. They
think it is fun to ruin the board, and make them feel sorry
for asking for uploads.
3) Finding out about a file before you run it, because you never
know what it may be. The real dangers about this is that
those people that make these programs make it look and sound
like the real program, and then make it turn against you. This
can be a slight bit of a problem.
4) Make your system private, and only allow close friends, and
people who you know are O.K. to have.
5) NEVER download from a upload area that hasn't been tested!
6) Download all your files to a blank floppy, and use a program
that will protect your hard drive from being written to.
Some not so reasonable ways of not getting crashed are:
1) Don't bother downloading from other boards.
2) Don't ask the users to upload files. Get all the files from a
close friend who had them a while (Public Domain and Freeware,
please don't pirate!).
3) Take down your board, and throw away anything that has to do
with communications. This would of course be the ultimate
thing to do, which I doubt any Sysops would want to do.
I know that you have all heard this before, and are saying, "It
will never happen to me..." But talk to the Sysops whose boards
got destroyed, and you will find out the real truth behind that
phrase. I am sure you thought about it quite a few times, but
have never done anything about it.
Please make sure you are careful of which files you have, and how
you use them. And remember this short safety tip.
Fidonews Page 15 7 Jul 1986
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 16 7 Jul 1986
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
Taking Advantage of Your PC's Hard Disk:
Part II, DOS BATch Files
Barry Gordon
New York Personal Computer, Inc.
DOS and BATch Files
Familiarity with DOS is assumed. However, it is helpful to the
new user to include a paragraph or two on BATch files. The IBM
PC and DOS work with three different kinds of program or command
files: .EXE, .COM, and .BAT files. (BASIC and BASICA work with
their own .BAS files, but those are not relevant to the present
discussion.) The .EXE and .COM files give instructions to the PC
itself. They are produced by assemblers, compilers, and linkers.
The .BAT or BATch files are instructions to DOS which you create
for your own convenience. I will discuss a couple of commands
that you may find convenient in working on your PC: the DOS
PROMPT command and the PATH command.
The DOS PROMPT Command
Just as DOS keeps track of a default disk drive, it will also
keep track of each drive's current directory (the directory you
are working in). Most often, this directory is the one you tell
DOS to assume and use when no other is specified. The DOS prompt
always has indicated the default disk drive followed by the
greater-than symbol: A> which works well for diskette drives.
With a hard disk, you will want to know the directory you are
working in (the current directory) as well. You can customize
the prompt to show the current directory using the DOS PROMPT
command. The command PROMPT $P$G tells DOS to display the name
of the current directory whenever the prompt appears on your
screen. Other, more elaborate, prompt variations are possible,
but $P$G is a useful beginning.
The DOS PATH Command
The actual program fetching is accomplished by means of the DOS
PATH command. This command tells DOS where to look for your
programs (the executable files) when they are not in the current
directory. The overall scheme begins to take shape: you work in
the (current) directory containing your data files, and DOS looks
for the programs you need (in priority sequence) in other sub-
directories. Thus, your PATH command might look something like
this:
PATH C:\anyname1;C:\anyname2;C:\any3
The PATH command should contain the full specification of each
sub-directory, including the drive designation. This keeps the
search path valid even if you should decide to make, say, drive
Fidonews Page 17 7 Jul 1986
A: the default drive temporarily. Since the root directory is
not named, it is not included in the PATH command.
Of course, having to enter all of this PROMPT and PATH
information each time you turn on your PC can become a nuisance.
The proper way to handle this is to create special BATch files in
the root directory that store and execute your commands.
Creating BATch Files
The most direct way to create .BAT files is to use the DOS
ability to COPY a file directly from the PC keyboard into a disk
file:
COPY CON filename.BAT
where CON is the DOS name for the keyboard, and "filename"
represents the name you wish to give your new BATch file. You
enter your file contents, line by line, ending with a line
containing ^Z (Control-Z), which can be entered by pressing the
Function Key 6 (F6). As an alternative (though I don't recommend
it) you could learn to use EDLIN, a minimal file editor, whose
chief virtue is its automatic inclusion with the DOS package.
For serious work of this kind, a good file editor is a great
help. The IBM Personal Editor is one of the very best.
The AUTOEXEC and SETPATH BATch Files
The AUTOEXEC.BAT file is executed only at startup (unless you
specifically enter it), and contains those commands you wish to
enter for your convenience in operating your PC.
A simple version of an AUTOEXEC.BAT file might look like this:
DATE
TIME
PROMPT $P$G
PATH C:\anyname1;C:\anyname2;C:\any3
The first thing you may want to do is to move the PATH command
from the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and put it in its own BATch file
called SETPATH.BAT. The AUTOEXEC.BAT would have these four
lines:
DATE
TIME
PROMPT $P$G
SETPATH
Your SETPATH.BAT file would look like this:
PATH C:\anyname1;C:\anyname2;C:\any3
Putting the PATH command in the SETPATH.BAT file lets you modify
your program search path any time you wish, and then restore it
by getting into the root directory and entering the SETPATH
Fidonews Page 18 7 Jul 1986
command.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 19 7 Jul 1986
William/Eunhee Hunter
Fido 109/626
Computer Industry SpotLight on:
ELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS CORP. -- Founded in 1962, EDS has grown
from a single employee to a multi-national corporation employing
more than 13,000 people. The company is the leading supplier of
computer services in the following industries: finance (banks,
thrifts, and credit unions), commercial insurance, and health
care. Data processing services are conducted mainly at five
large information processing centers. EDS currently owns 25
mainframe computers, leases 66 more, and operates 12 supplied by
customers. A high percentage of the hiring at EDS is for the
company's entry-level development programs. They are looking for
applicants with an interest in technical careers, and are
curently recruiting individuals with business and technical
backgrounds. The largest number of job openings is in systems
engineering. EDS ofers a Systems Engineering Development Program
-- an 18-month development program involving business exposure
through on-the-job problem solving with other EDS professionals
and customers.
Contact: Dick Morrison, VP Human Resources, Electronic Data
Systems Corp., 100 Forest Lane, Dallas, TX 75230.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 20 7 Jul 1986
William/Eunhee Hunter
Fido 109/626
JOB MARKET RESEARCH - A PRIMER
For most Americans in the professional and paraprofessional
fields, few experiences ever seem quite as difficult and
frustrating as job hunting. The essential problem, of course, is
locating suitable opportunities. For even today's "Information
Age," finding timely and accurate career information has remained
an extremely difficult problem. Employment agencies, for
example, usually have only very incomplete regional information.
Classified ads in newspapers are another source -- one usually
relied on very heavily by job seekers -- but this information is
also usually regional, as well as incomplete (especially since
most of the better jobs are never advertised in newspapers).
Having tried both private and public employment agencies and
newspaper advertisements -- and presumably, having also exhausted
their access to information through personal and business
contacts -- many white-collar job seekers turn to professional
recruiters (i.e., "headhunters"). Here too, the result is often
frustration -- wasted time, effort, and usually, a good deal of
money. For most job seekers, such firms provide much advice and
encouragement and few actual job interviews.
College students about to graduate -- both from two and four
year institutions -- are generally in a much better position
since they have their placement/counseling offices to assist
them, though of course alumni usually have access to the same
services if they choose to use them. But unfortunately, most
students and alumni make inadequate use of the resources
available to them. There is a tendency to view these offices
solely as meeting places for interviews with corporate
recruiters. This is a serious mistake, for two reasons. First,
most students will fail to find jobs through campus interviews;
and second -- perhaps even more important -- most major companies
do not regard campus interviews as a preferred means of contact
with applicants. A recent employer survey by The Charoman Group,
Inc., an educational consulting firm, found that only 18 percent
of major employers believe college placement interviews to be the
most effective means of contact with applicants. Rather, most
companies preferred that the initial contact be initiated by the
applicant by means of the most simple and direct method possible:
a standard resume and cover letter sent to the appropriate
official.
Of course it remains true that campus interviews -- as well
as any of the other job hunting methods mentioned above -- may
prove successful in individual cases. The point is that, for
most people, these methods offer limited prospects of success.
Thus most job seekers are well-advised to try another route: A
PLANNED, SYSTEMATIC JOB MARKET RESEARCH EFFORT. By this means
the job seeker in effect takes the initiative in locating
suitable job openings in his or her field. Surprisingly, not a
Fidonews Page 21 7 Jul 1986
great deal of time is required -- perhaps twenty hours for most
people. And the resources needed for the research effort are
available in most college placement or counseling offices, and in
virtually all of the larger public libraries.
Next article will deal with the FIRST STEP - CHOOSING AN
INDUSTRY.
Distributed via FidoNet BBS by NOVA_WEG Fido 109/626, W.E.G.
Systems, P.O. Box 5072, Springfield, VA 22150. Permission is
given to reprint and distribute this article provided no changes
to its content take place.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 22 7 Jul 1986
=================================================================
WANTED
=================================================================
William Bertholf
Fido 107/102
WANTED: a program that will do the following:
1) read Fido system records to find the FidoNet File path name.
2) search that directory for FNEWS???.ARC
3) if not found then set errorlevel to zero (0) and exit to DOS.
4) for each FNEWS???.ARC found do the following:
4.1) Move it (not copy) to designated file area
4.2) append to the end of the end of FILES.BBS the following
FNEWS???.ARC FidoNewsLetter <date from top right of page 1>
4.3) delete FIDONEWS.TXT
4.4) ARC xn FNEWS???.ARC
4.5) rename the result of 4.4 to FIDONEWS.TXT
Note: Step 4 is done in ascending order of file name.
Syntax: FIDONEWS <pathname>
A more generalized program could auto-shuffle other things also.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 23 7 Jul 1986
WANTED - WANTED - WANTED
YOUR OPINION
Since you are reading this in FIDO NEWS you are in some way
involved with microcomputers (?). We want, NO WE NEED, your
opinion.
Please take a minute to fill out the following questionnaire.
1. Would you take a VACATION that costs between $2500 and $3500
per person includes ROUND TRIP air fare to HAWAII, SEVEN LUXURI-
OUS DAYS CRUISING the HAWAIIAN ISLANDS, SIX SUMPTUOUS MEALS A
DAY, and all shipboard activities? _____ YES _____ no
2. Would you take the VACATION, if it included HANDS ON MICROCOM-
PUTER INSTRUCTION covering equipment BASICS, operating systems,
microcomputer SYSTEM requirements/ORGANIZATION, application
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS/ORGANIZATION, training on WORD PROCESSING,
SPREADSHEET design/management, DATABASE building /management,
other applications (Graphics, Communications)?
_____ YES _____ no
3. Would you take the VACATION, if the TRAINING was scheduled so
it did not interfere with CRUISE ACTIVITIES? _____ YES _____ no
4. Would you take the VACATION, if it was a PROFESSIONALLY and
personally ENHANCING experience? _____ YES _____no
5. Would you take the VACATION, if you could bring your spouse
(or who ever) and UP TO 33% on the second traveler? _____ YES
_____no
6. Would you take the VACATION, if your part is TAX DEDUCTIBLE?
______YES ______no
7. INTERESTED? OF COURSE YOU ARE!
Send a self-addressed, STAMPED envelope to:
Computer Cruise Hawaii
C/O Computer Station
1500 Kapiolani Blvd
Honolulu, Hi 96815
OR send a FIDO message to SYSOP, FIDO 12/0 at (808) 942-2508 - be
sure to include your mailing address.
DO IT NOW!
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Fidonews Page 24 7 Jul 1986
/**** Citadel system operators! ****/
I'm looking for operators of Citadel or similar room-oriented
BBS systems (such as Citadel-86, StoneHenge, etc.) who would be
interested in having their systems listed in a national list.
Send me FidoMail containing:
System's name
Phone number
Baud rate
Hours of operation
Sysop's name
System hardware (KayPro II, Xerox 820, etc.)
Operating system
Code/version number (2.10, 2.11, etc.)
If you have the source code, let me know where you got it.
(Such as C Users' Group disks 028 and 029; SIG/M #150; etc.)
Also, please indicate whether or not you would be interested in
contributing to a Citadel newletter, the existance of which
depends on the sort of response I get. Thanks.
Andy Meyer
FidoMail 107/35
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 25 7 Jul 1986
=================================================================
FOR SALE
=================================================================
ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE FOR YOUR PC!
SUPERDOTS! KALAH!
Professional quality games include PASCAL source! From the
author of KALAH Version 1.6, SuperDots, a variation of the
popular pencil/paper DOTS game, has MAGIC and HIDDEN DOT
options. KALAH 1.7 is an African strategy game requiring
skill to manipulate pegs around a playing board. Both games
use the ANSI Escape sequences provided with the ANSI.SYS
device driver for the IBM-PC, or built into the firmware on
the DEC Rainbow. Only $19.95 each or $39.95 for both
exciting games! Please specify version and disk format.
These games have been written in standard TURBO-PASCAL and
run on the IBM-PC, DEC Rainbow 100 (MSDOS and CPM), CPM/80,
CPM/86, and PDP-11. Other disk formats are available, but
minor customization may be required.
BSS Software
P.O. Box 3827
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
For every order placed, a donation will be made to the Fido
coordinators! Also, if you have a previous version of KALAH
and send me a donation, a portion of that donation will also
be sent to the coordinators. When you place an order, BE
CERTAIN TO MENTION WHERE YOU SAW THE AD since it also
appears in PC Magazine and Digital Review.
Questions and comments can be sent to:
Brian Sietz at Fido 107/17
(609) 429-6630 300/1200/2400 baud
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 26 7 Jul 1986
Now available from Micro Consulting Associates!!
Public Domain collection - 550+ "ARC" archives - 20+ megs of
software and other goodies, and that's "archived" size! When
unpacked, you get approximately 28 megabytes worth of all kinds
of software, from text editors to games to unprotection schemes
to communications programs, compilers, interpreters, etc... Over
55 DS/DD diskettes!!
This collection is the result of more than 15 months of intensive
downloads from just about 150 or more BBS's and other sources,
all of which have been examined, indexed and archived for your
convenience. Starting a Bulletin Board System? Want to add on
to your software base without spending thousands of dollars? This
is the answer!!!
To order the library, send $100 (personal or company check,
postal money order or company purchase order) to:
Micro Consulting Associates, Fido 103/511
Post Office Box 4296
200-1/2 E. Balboa Boulevard
Balboa, Ca. 92661-4296
Please allow 3 weeks for delivery of your order.
Note: No profit is made from the sale of the Public Domain
software in this collection. The price is applied entirely to
the cost of downloading the software over the phone lines,
running a BBS to receive file submissions, and inspecting,
cataloguing, archiving and maintaining the files. Obtaining this
software yourself through the use of a computer with a modem
using commercial phone access would cost you much more than what
we charge for the service...
Please specify what type of format you would like the disks to be
prepared on. The following choices are available:
- IBM PC-DOS Backup utility
- Zenith MS-DOS 2.11 Backup Utility
- DSBackup
- Fastback
- ACS INTRCPT 720k format
- Plain ol' files (add $50)
Add $30 if you want the library on 1.2 meg AT disks (more
expensive disks). There are no shipping or handling charges.
California residents add 6% tax.
For each sale, $10 will go to the FidoNet Administrators.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 27 7 Jul 1986
SERVTECH
by
Rylos Technologies
10213 Heron Pond Terrace
Burke, Virginia 22015
(c) 1986 Rylos Technologies
o SERVTECH is designed specifically to work with your IBM PC/XT,
COMPAQ Deskpro, or COMPAQ Plus
o SERVTECH will assist you in initial computer setup!
- Guidelines for computer disassembly
- Pictorial Guide to switch settings (You tell us what you have
in your computer, we SHOW you how to set the switches)
o SERVTECH deciphers error messages!
- You tell us the problem, we assist you in fixing it. Wherever
possible, we show you the exact componant causing the
problem!
- Through a series of questions and answers we will give
"probable cause" suggestions to try.
o SERVTECH is easy to use!
- Employees at General Motors say "SERVTECH is perfect for the
person who has to support their own XT, a must for every
software library."
To order SERVTECH, send a check or money order for $49.95 to:
RYLOS TECHNOLOGIES
10213 Heron Pond Terrace
Burke, VA. 22015
********* SPECIAL NOTICE FOR FIDO USERS *********
Order a copy of SERVTECH today, mention you saw the ad on a FIDO
system or newsletter, and Rylos will donate $5.00 to the IFNA!
A demonstration version of SERVTECH is available on FIDO # 603,
accessible through the PC PURSUIT system. Call (703) 689-3561 to
download a copy.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Fidonews Page 28 7 Jul 1986
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
20 Jul 1986
St. Louis Area Sysops Meeting, to be held at Baker's Acre.
Net 100 sysops please contact Ben Baker at 100/76 for details
and directions.
14 Aug 1986
Start of the International FidoNet Conference, Colorado
Springs, Colorado. Contact George Wing at node 1/10 for
details. Get your reservations in NOW! We'll see you there!
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 FidoNet node 1/1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Gruesome George by Bruce White, 109/612
+-------------------------------------------------+
|\ |
| \ |
| George!! That dumb dog In that case, |
| has taken over! Make woof! |
| your choice: Fido or me. / |
| _ / ____\__ |
| / \ / |_| \ |
| / oo|\ _____ |\ |
| (_\ |_) | _ | | |
| _ / _\@'_ ______ | |_| | | |
| // / | | __(______)_|_____|___ | |
| (( / | (*) | ||-----------------|| | |
| \\/ \ |__U__| ______|| || | |
| \ /_ ||\\_ \ {} /||(c) '86 bw || | |
|(jm)\____)|_)\_) \__/ ||-----------------||__|__|
+-------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Computer Training Market Survey
As a reader of FidoNews you are either a microcomputer user or a
microcomputer hobbyist. Would you be interested in an opportuni-
ty to vacation in Hawaii, while expanding your ability to use
your microcomputer and possibly writing the cost off of your
taxes?
COMPUTER CRUISE HAWAII
Fidonews Page 29 7 Jul 1986
MICROCOMPUTER CRUISE VACATION
PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE EXPANSION - PROFESSIONAL ENHANCEMENT
$2500 TO $3500
INCLUDES
AIR TRANSPORTATION TO HAWAII
SEVEN LUXURIOUS DAYS CRUISING THE HAWAIIAN ISLANDS
ALL SHIPBOARD ACTIVITIES - SIX SUMPTUOUS MEALS EACH DAY
MICROCOMPUTER INSTRUCTION
HIGH HANDS ON COMPONENT - SCHEDULED AROUND CRUISE ACTIVITIES
EXCELLENT STUDENT INSTRUCTOR/COMPUTER RATIO - INTIMATE GROUP
CURRICULUM COVERS
EQUIPMENT BASICS - OPERATING SYSTEM BASICS - SYSTEM
REQUIREMENTS/ORGANIZATION - APPLICATION SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS/
ORGANIZATION - WORD PROCESSING - SPREADSHEETING DESIGN/MANAGEMENT
DATABASE BUILDING/MANAGEMENT - OTHER APPLICATIONS: GRAPHICS
COMMUNICATIONS
WILL BE A PROFESSIONALLY AND PERSONALLY EXPANDING EXPERIENCE
If the above has peaked your interest or you want to participate;
send a self addressed stamped envelope to:
Computer Cruise Hawaii
c/o Computer Station
1500 Kapiolani Blvd
Honolulu, Hawaii 96815
OR a message to FIDO 12/0 at (808) 942-2508 with your name,
address and FIDO net/node. We will provide further details and
discount information if you wish to include your spouse in the
trip only. Be sure to include your mailing address.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Changing of the Guard in Net 135
Metro-Fire Fido is now the Net Coordinator and Host for Net 135,
S-FLorida Net (previously Greater Miami Area). This change was
effective in Nodelist.164. Many systems are still using Nodelists
prior to 164 and are having difficulty sending traffic to Net
135. If you are not up on Nodelist.164 or later, please go out
and get one.
Metro-Fire Fido is 135/14 (135/0) at 305-596-8611, Miami_FL, if
you want to edit your Nodelist.BBS manually.
Thanks.
Christopher Baker, 135/14 (135/0)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Version 4 of Sched was released 6/27/86 and has been sent
Fidonews Page 30 7 Jul 1986
to several nodes across the country. It is available by
SEADog file request from node 137/19 or may be downloaded
from there (pre-registration required - send me your node
number and a password to use).
The only change from version 3 is the addition of dynamic
event setting. Events may be scheduled for the current
time and day or for offsets from the current time and
day.
Wes Cowley
Fido 137/19
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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