1754 lines
80 KiB
Plaintext
1754 lines
80 KiB
Plaintext
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Volume 5, Number 42 17 October 1988
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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| / \ |
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| /|oo \ |
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| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
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| International | | \ \\ |
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| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
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| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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Editor in Chief Dale Lovell
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Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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Contributing Editors: Al Arango
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FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
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Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
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submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
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standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
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node 1:1/1.
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Copyright 1988 by the International FidoNet Association. All
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rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
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noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
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please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted
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at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
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Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
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Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
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are used with permission.
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The contents of the articles contained here are not our
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responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
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Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
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received.
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Table of Contents
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1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
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OPUS Gazette Band Wagon! ................................. 1
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An Open Letter To SEA .................................... 3
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MORE STORAGE ON YOUR DISK DRIVE .......................... 5
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Building the New Ark ..................................... 10
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256k Chips Abound! ....................................... 12
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A CONSULTANTS VIEW ....................................... 13
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DOS and Don'ts: A Word Usage Complaint ................... 16
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What Another Battle? ..................................... 18
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QBTOOLS - A PROGRAMMER'S DREAM ........................... 19
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QT/2 A Fantastic Computer At A Great Price ............... 20
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SUPERLIB A Great User Library For Quick Basic 4.0 ........ 23
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Survey Time Rolls Around Again! .......................... 24
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And more!
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FidoNews 5-42 Page 1 17 Oct 1988
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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OPUS Gazette Band Wagon!
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Jake Hargrove
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Fido 301/1
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High Mesa Ranger's
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Well here it is the first week of October, 1988. An I only
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received two replies to the SysOp interviews submitted in the
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Opus Gazette and Fido News. Don't know if it is me or if you
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folks out there are not reading these two fine newsletters. I
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felt kind of bad when I picked up this months Opus Gazette.
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There were no articles in it, except the one from the Editor. So
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here is what I reside to to. Effective with next months Issue I
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plan on having at least one article in each of the Issues of the
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OGZT. Or until you folks out there protest enough to make me
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quit.
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I have been hearing all the reports about 1.1, well I am
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running 1.03b, and do not at this time relish the thought of
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having to change over to 1.1. So to the developers, here is at
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least one SysOp who Thanks you for taking your time and getting
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things right. There are those of us out here who do not have
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major problems with the OPUS BBS system, and as I said many many
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Moons ago. Thanks Wynn!
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I did do a NO NO a couple of weeks ago. I installed
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ConfMail to run in conjunction with the OPUS. Not because I am
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dissatisfied with PUREly OPUS, but because I wanted to see how
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hard it would be to install, and I can tell all of you PUREly
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OPus Sysop. If I can install ConfMail and have it run with No
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problems so far so can the rest of you. An all this talk about
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why the backbones are doing certain things kind of reminds me of
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the months prior to the AlterNet institution. Sure there are
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enough of US Opus BBS to start our OWN Net, but do we really want
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to do that?
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Do we want to cut our own throats? Many of us seem to
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forget some of us do this for the FUN of it, and YES this is an
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expensive hobby, and will get more expensive as it goes on. That
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is why I say all of us should work at making the cost cheaper, vs
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complaining about having rules enforced upon us. At least we do
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not have to have a License to operate these things as some have
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mentioned in the past. An I for one am grateful to the phone
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company for not making policy with which I could surely not live.
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This News Letter, has done it's thing once. I for one do
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not want to see it happen again. I do get busy as many of us do
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with other things in my life. But this hobby of mine takes up a
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good bit of it, and right now is averaging over $100.00 each
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month. Of course the wife no longer complains about the phone
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bill when I throw her cigarette bill and books into the pile.
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Anyway, it is just a Hobby or that is what I keep saying. It
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just has not turned out to be as enjoyable as it use to be. So
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FidoNews 5-42 Page 2 17 Oct 1988
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if I do my little part in keeping the OPUS Gazette alive then I
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guess I will be able to say I accomplished something this month.
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What can you say you have done?
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-42 Page 3 17 Oct 1988
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An Open Letter To SEA
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=====================
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Joe Lindstrom
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Farpoint Station (1:134/9999)
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Calgary, AB, Canada (403)-248-9999
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I've kinda sat back and washed all the stuff hit the fan (in
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EchoMail in regards to the SEA vs PKware controversy. Issue 540
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of FidoNews was, thankfully, a breath of fresh air. Now that I
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know some facts, I'm willing to "take sides", but with a few
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reservations.
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I use both ARC and PKPAK/UNPAK here on my system. After
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reading your article in Issue 540, I'm leaning towards favoring
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ARC though. You stated the facts, and you promised that ARC may
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be used without charge (though a contribution will be nice) by
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non-commercial users now and in the future. I'm sure you'll
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remain true to your word on this. However... the PKPAK and
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PKUNPAK programs are FASTER, compress BETTER, and support some
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features (like archive comments) that ARC does not.
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I will continue to use PKPAK and PKUNPAK for now on my BBS,
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though I do use ARC for EchoMail for compatibility sake. And
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therein lies the rub: here we have ARC, the "industry standard",
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which appears to me and to most others to be an inferior product
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(as it relates to PK only, because ARC is really a very wonderful
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product). After January 1st, we'll be back to ONE choice of
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archiver.
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I have so far resisted the temptation to send you a
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contribution to ARC. Reason: I have only recently joined the
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MS-DOS world. I used to run a C-128 based bulletin board. I
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bought my XT compatible and jumped in right in the heat of
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battle. There were TWO well-known and well-supporter archivers
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and I was having to make a difficult choice. I instead took a
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wait-and-see attitude, and I have now seen.
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I will send my contribution when a couple of things happen.
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First of all, I would like to see ARC perform FASTER. I realize
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that's gonna be a little difficult, especially when it comes time
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to upgrade ALL versions of ARC for different computers (machine
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codes of course differ machine to machine), but it most certainly
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can be done. Secondly, it must support newer, better compression
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methods (such as SQUASH). Third, it should have all the bells
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and whistles that PK had (file and archive comments, etc.), and
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hopefully a few new ones you can dream up.
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This is asking a lot of you. After all, you came up with
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the first ARChiver, and you have already given a lot to us. But
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like you pointed out, people have formed biased opinions AGAINST
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you. To win the support back, and to truly solidify your
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self-proclaimed position as "the industry standard", you must
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continue to be competitive. The above steps are just the
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beginning in an endless dogfight to stay at the top.
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FidoNews 5-42 Page 4 17 Oct 1988
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Thank you for an informative explanation of the events
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leading up to and after the suit. Thank you for an excellent
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utility that has saved millions of users everywhere a lot of
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time, money, and storage space. And thank you for ARC 6.00 which
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I know will come as a direct result of this message <grin>!
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By the way, there is now a third-party ARC-compatible
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archiver/dissolver available for the Commodore 128, which any 128
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owners (or the folks at SEA) may want to check out. It comes in
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a package called "CS-DOS" (written by Chris Smeets) and is
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available for $30 from:
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Ampere Metal
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80 Hale Road, Unit 4
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Brampton, ON, Canada
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L6W 3M1
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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FidoNews 5-42 Page 5 17 Oct 1988
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MORE STORAGE ON YOUR DISK DRIVE
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By Gene Coppola
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Everyone wants to be able to store more files on their disk
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drives whether the drive is a floppy or hard disk drive. There
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are several ways to obtain more storage, some using hardware
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methods and some using software.
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This article will cover several of the software methods available
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to you at little or no cost. The two programs covered are ARC
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produced by SYSTEM ENHANCEMENT ASSOCIATES located in Wayne, New
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Jersey and PKARC produced by PKWARE located in Glendale,
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Wisconsin.
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Both programs have been released as Shareware software. The
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authors expect that you will pay a license fee if you continue
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to use the software after a reasonable trial period.
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The two programs take one or more files and produce one smaller
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file. In some cases, the size of the resulting compressed file
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can be drastically reduced in size. The compression routines
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used in each program vary. The speed and resulting compressed
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file size are determined by the compression method used by each
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author.
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ARC was released before PKARC but the latter is a definite
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improvement in speed over ARC. The author of ARC releases the
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source with ARC in case you desire to examine how the software
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works. PKARC will read and operate on files produced by PKARC or
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ARC. ARC will only operate on files it produces. Both software
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packages have very good documentation and the command menus for
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both programs can be seen by typing the program name at the DOS
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prompt.
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The results reported in this article were produced on a QT/2
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which is an 80386 based 20 Mhz PS/2 compatible computer with 12
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megabytes of RAM. A one megabyte RAM disk was created and all
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operations were then performed in the RAM disk. I ran the tests
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in the RAM disk to produce my results without the disk lag
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associated with floppy or hard disk drives. The times reported
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are the average of ten runs for each test reported. MS-DOS 3.2
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was the operating system in use during the tests. The QT/2
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memory speed is a quick 80ns.
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I tested a variety of different file types and combinations of
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files to see how each program handles different files. PKARC and
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ARC were used for compression, PKXARC and ARCE for decompression.
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CUBIT from Softlogic is also available and from past tests the
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results have been poor. I could not include results from CUBIT
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because the version of CUBIT I own will not run on my system and
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Softlogic has refused to provide me with an updated version of
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CUBIT that will run on an 80386 based system unless I purchase
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the updated version. CUBIT is a Terminate And Stay Resident
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program and takes user memory once loaded. The files it produces
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are not compatible with ARC or PKARC software. It is also more
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FidoNews 5-42 Page 6 17 Oct 1988
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expensive than either of the Shareware packages.
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Test 1 - Lotus 2.01 Worksheet
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PKARC PKXARC ARC
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ARCE
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Compression Time 00:05:64 01:02:43
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Decompression Time 00:04:03
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00:34:00
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Original Size 235962 235962
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Compressed Size 43614 55845
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Percentage 82 77
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Test 2 - Lotus 2.01 System Disk
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PKARC PKXARC ARC
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ARCE
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Compression Time 00:17:86 02:07:41
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Decompression Time 00:09:43
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00:14:04
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Original Size 301878 301878
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Compressed Size 259834 265521
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Percentage 14 13
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Test 3 - 60 Microsoft Object Files
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PKARC PKXARC ARC
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ARCE
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Compression Time 00:07:06 00:22:16
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Decompression Time 00:06:08
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00:07:06
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Original Size 44985 44985
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Compressed Size 34030 34073
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Percentage 25 25
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Test 4 - Randomly Generated Text File
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PKARC PKXARC ARC
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ARCE
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Compression Time 00:13:11 01:11:32
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Decompression Time 00:05:01
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00:08:73
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Original Size 164001 164001
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Compressed Size 127858 158243
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Percentage 23 4
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Test 5 - Text File Of All The Same Characters
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FidoNews 5-42 Page 7 17 Oct 1988
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PKARC PKXARC ARC
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ARCE
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Compression Time 00:03:36 00:12:79
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Decompression Time 00:02:79
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00:02:84
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Original Size 164001 164001
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Compressed Size 3010 363
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Percentage 99 100
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As you can see from the above chart, PKARC is consistently faster
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than ARC when compressing a file. PKXARC is also faster than
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ARCE when decompressing a file.
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The average reduction in file size for the five tests is 48% for
|
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PKARC and 43% for ARC. While the difference of 5% does not seem
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like much, it does add up. The capacity of my hard drive is 110
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megabytes. So the five percent advantage of using PKARC allows
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me to store 5.5 megabytes more on my drive than if I used ARC to
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|
compress my files.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The speed advantage of PKARC is the main factor however in my
|
|||
|
|
choice between the two packages. However the author of PKARC
|
|||
|
|
includes one more feature that I really like. You can create
|
|||
|
|
self-extracting files with PKARC. This is great for people who
|
|||
|
|
write software and wish to distribute it in this manner. Both
|
|||
|
|
PKARC and ARC come from the authors in a self-extracting archive
|
|||
|
|
file.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The versions of the software tested are the latest available at
|
|||
|
|
the time this article was written. I used version 5.21 of ARC
|
|||
|
|
and version 3.6 of PKARC which was released a few days ago and
|
|||
|
|
contains major improvements over previous versions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1. PKARC is now up to 25% faster. PKXARC is now up to
|
|||
|
|
10% faster
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2. You can add 3,095 files to an archive in one sweep.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3. Special limited-disk-size handling to enable the update of
|
|||
|
|
archive files which are larger than 50% of your floppy disk
|
|||
|
|
storage area.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4. Added flexibility to the MOVE option by combining it with
|
|||
|
|
other update and freshen options.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5. A List Files feature has been added to further automate
|
|||
|
|
the archiving & file reconstruction process.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
6. Your choice of having PKARC stop when it encounters a "can't
|
|||
|
|
find" file situation, or having it make a notation on the
|
|||
|
|
screen and then proceeding to the next step.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
7. Improved network support.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
8. The addition of the MORE command for the PKARC verbose file
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 8 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
listing which provides pausing after each screen of
|
|||
|
|
information.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
9. The addition of the MORE command for PKXARC which provides
|
|||
|
|
pausing after each screen of information during the
|
|||
|
|
"extract file to the screen" process.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10. New printer options for PKXARC.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
11. A new -n option which saves time by reconstructing only
|
|||
|
|
the most recent version of the file to be extracted when
|
|||
|
|
another same-named file already resides on your disk.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
12. Additional information about the archiving process is
|
|||
|
|
displayed which includes the version number and program.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Here is a small dictionary of file compression terms to help
|
|||
|
|
explain some of the features of these software packages.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FILE COMPRESSION is the process of reducing a file's size.
|
|||
|
|
Sometimes called ARCing or compressing.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FILE means the SINGLE name that identifies information on
|
|||
|
|
your floppy disk or hard drive.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ARCHIVE FILE holds information that has been reduced in
|
|||
|
|
size for better storage. Sometimes called an ARC or ARCed file.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
An ARCHIVE FILE can be made up of either one big file OR
|
|||
|
|
several files bunched together under one file name.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PKARC is upwardly compatible with all its own upgrades as
|
|||
|
|
well as with most other file compression programs. You can UNarc
|
|||
|
|
almost all of the archive files that have been created.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
There may be times when you need to CREATE an archive that is
|
|||
|
|
compatible to one which can be read by SEA's ARChiving program.
|
|||
|
|
This means you will use less features to maintain compatibility.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
C:>PKARC otc a OldFile.ARC *.*
|
|||
|
|
___
|
|||
|
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This option, which IMMEDIATELY follows the program
|
|||
|
|
name, will create an archive file that is compatible
|
|||
|
|
with SEA's ARC.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If you have any further questions or comments about PKware
|
|||
|
|
File Compression programs, contact:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
PKware, Inc.
|
|||
|
|
7032 Ardara Avenue
|
|||
|
|
Glendale, WI 53209
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BBS by Modem - 24 hour support
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 9 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1 - 414 - 352-7176
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Voice
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1 - 414 - 352-3670
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 10 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mark Browning
|
|||
|
|
280/306
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Building the New Ark -- An Immodest Proposal
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"The land is being overtaken by the SEA and the cities are going
|
|||
|
|
to the dogs, or perhaps the KATZ" -- attributed to Nostradomus
|
|||
|
|
and Yogi Berra
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Pardon my purple prose, but I'm tired of all the bickering. It
|
|||
|
|
seems that one of the few things in FidoNet and the computer
|
|||
|
|
hobby in general which is not getting smaller and faster is
|
|||
|
|
debate. In the past few weeks I have read messages, had files
|
|||
|
|
uploaded and seen FidoNews articles wailing about this or that
|
|||
|
|
side of the PKWARE vs SEA suit. I have come to a conclusion on
|
|||
|
|
the matter, which I quote from an old t-shirt: "Kill 'em all;
|
|||
|
|
let God sort them out."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
From the SEA side, I can understand the feeling. We have heard
|
|||
|
|
all about the "family business", the piracy and the refusal by
|
|||
|
|
Phil Katz to respond to simple requests. If Katz DID steal the
|
|||
|
|
code from SEA, and then resell an enhanced version, then he
|
|||
|
|
probably should be drawn and quartered and THEN sued.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I also understand the PKWARE side of the dilemma, with which
|
|||
|
|
most average hobbyists sympathize. If SEA had done what Katz
|
|||
|
|
did, writing a significantly better file compression system,
|
|||
|
|
then the whole problem would never have been started.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I would propose dumping both of these systems and coming up with
|
|||
|
|
the .ARK file. The .ARK file would employ the various
|
|||
|
|
file compression methods which the .ARC file employs (and which,
|
|||
|
|
if I am not mistaken, SEA did NOT originate). It would not be
|
|||
|
|
compatible with the .ARC file, so that the .ARK author would not
|
|||
|
|
be sued for conspiracy to commit efficiency. .ARK will be
|
|||
|
|
considerably faster than PKARC, ARC, et al. In other words, it
|
|||
|
|
and it's author will bury everybody else and remain militantly
|
|||
|
|
FREE for the asking!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Lest anyone think that the term .ARK is simply a knock-off of
|
|||
|
|
.ARC, it must be noted that .ARK refers to the Noah's Ark. What
|
|||
|
|
more appropriate term could we find for something that would
|
|||
|
|
house all of our miscellaneous files and carry them safely over
|
|||
|
|
the sea (with all those catz -- er, cats -- swimming around)?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Am I serious? No. I certainly wouldn't trust a file
|
|||
|
|
compression program that I wrote. I do trust both the SEA and
|
|||
|
|
the PKWARE people! No one is served best when a superior
|
|||
|
|
program is barred from the market. The primary reason for the
|
|||
|
|
dynamic growth of the IBM compatible computer world is the
|
|||
|
|
openness adopted by IBM from the outset. While Apple and others
|
|||
|
|
twiddled about with proprietary secrets and closed
|
|||
|
|
architectures, IBM opened the books completely, and while they
|
|||
|
|
lost some potential profits as a result, they have gained
|
|||
|
|
immensely more through their openness. If stuffy Big Blue can
|
|||
|
|
be this open, why do shareware authors have to fight like cats
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 11 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
and (SEA)dogs?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
(The author apologizes for the pun-ishment above. There I go
|
|||
|
|
again!)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 12 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
256k Chips Abound!
|
|||
|
|
By Gene Coppola
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A steady source of quality 256k chips has finally emerged. We are
|
|||
|
|
now in a position to supply 150ns 256k chips at the low price of
|
|||
|
|
$7.50 per chip!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These chips are covered by our standard 12 month warranty against
|
|||
|
|
manufacturing defects. Each and every chip has been tested and
|
|||
|
|
found to be in proper working condition.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
These prices are ONLY for FIDONET Sysops! If your system does not
|
|||
|
|
appear in the current NODELIST then you are not eligible for
|
|||
|
|
these prices.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Please note I said FIDONET Sysops only!. Not Alternet, not
|
|||
|
|
Texasnet, not Southnet or any other net. If you do not belong
|
|||
|
|
to FIDONET then you are not eligible for this special offer!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Contact me, Gene Coppola care of 1:107/200 for more details. As
|
|||
|
|
of the date of this article we have 1500 hundred chips left. I
|
|||
|
|
reserve the sole right to refuse any order, from anyone for any
|
|||
|
|
reason.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 13 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A CONSULTANTS VIEW
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Currently the best performance v.s price ratio is obtained
|
|||
|
|
with the SUNTAC 80286 motherboard. This board operates at 4
|
|||
|
|
speeds the lowest being 6 Mhz and the highest speed being
|
|||
|
|
15 Mhz.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Four megabytes of RAM may be installed on the motherboard using
|
|||
|
|
either 256k 100 n.s. chips or 1 megabit 100 n.s. chips. Memory
|
|||
|
|
above 1024k (1 megabyte) is available as L.I.M. 4.0 memory.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The SUNTAC motherboard has two eight bit expansion slots and six
|
|||
|
|
sixteen bit expansion slots. The board will operate either as a
|
|||
|
|
one wait state system with 120 n.s. memory chips or a zero wait
|
|||
|
|
state system with 100 n.s. memory chips installed. A
|
|||
|
|
clock-calendar is installed on the board.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This board is compatible with PC-DOS, MS-DOS and OS/2. When using
|
|||
|
|
PC-DOS you must use GWBASIC instead of IBM's BASICA due to
|
|||
|
|
copyright restrictions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The price of expansion memory chips is very high and no relief is
|
|||
|
|
in sight in the near future. However the prices of the various
|
|||
|
|
speeds of 256k memory chips are very close. To avoid having to
|
|||
|
|
purchase memory in the future if systems are upgraded it is
|
|||
|
|
suggested you obtain RAM chips with a minimum speed of 120 n.s.
|
|||
|
|
at this time.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Once your system requires more memory the suggested option to
|
|||
|
|
purchase would be an AST Rampage board. This board will serve you
|
|||
|
|
very well in several ways.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1) Allows you to use Rampage memory as system memory.
|
|||
|
|
You can backfill from 64k up with a Rampage board.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2) Allows you to expand your system with up to two
|
|||
|
|
megabytes of E.E.M.S. memory which can be used by
|
|||
|
|
many programs such as Lotus, dBase, Turbo Pascal,
|
|||
|
|
SAS, word processors and network software.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3) Many multi-user programs such as Desqview, Windows
|
|||
|
|
and Concurrent Dos recommend and run much better on
|
|||
|
|
a Rampage board than any other board including
|
|||
|
|
Intel's Aboveboard.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
With the advent of the SUNTAC 80286 based motherboard I do not
|
|||
|
|
recommend the purchase of a Turbo Speed Up board at this time.
|
|||
|
|
The 80286 based motherboard can be purchased at a price equal to
|
|||
|
|
and in some cases (Orchid Technology) at a much lower price than
|
|||
|
|
a Turbo board. Some of the reasons for this decision are
|
|||
|
|
explained below.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1) Turbo Speed Up boards do not in most cases increase
|
|||
|
|
the data transfer rate between disk drives and the
|
|||
|
|
processor. The SUNTAC motherboard uses a 16 bit bus
|
|||
|
|
allowing much faster transfer rates.
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 14 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2) A Turbo card will not increase the transfer rate of
|
|||
|
|
either the serial or parallel ports. Again an 80286
|
|||
|
|
based motherboard can make use of the 16 bit bus
|
|||
|
|
which increases transfer rates.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3) OS/2 runs on only one of all the available Turbo
|
|||
|
|
cards currently available. While OS/2 is not
|
|||
|
|
currently in major use I feel it will be within your
|
|||
|
|
expected equipment life.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4) Turbo boards create many problems due to the heat
|
|||
|
|
generated by the high speed processor and memory on
|
|||
|
|
the Turbo board.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5) Some EGA and many VGA display cards will not work
|
|||
|
|
when Turbo boards have been installed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Many of the computers I see still have the old 65 watt power
|
|||
|
|
supply installed. For a PC with just two floppy drives, one
|
|||
|
|
display card, and a printer card this is reasonable.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
You must understand that once a system starts to expand with
|
|||
|
|
hard drives, emulator boards and such, the power requirements
|
|||
|
|
and cooling requirements increase very dramatically. More
|
|||
|
|
problems are caused by the lack of proper cooling than any
|
|||
|
|
other reason.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For a PC or XT I recommend a minimum of a 150 watt switching
|
|||
|
|
power supply. For those of you with AT's I suggest a minimum
|
|||
|
|
of 200 watts. Be sure than any power supply you purchase is
|
|||
|
|
U.L. listed and approved.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For special situations there are Turbo Fans which increase the
|
|||
|
|
cooling by a factor from 120% to 400% over standard power
|
|||
|
|
supply/fan combinations.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I recommend either a Seagate 30 megabyte or Seagate 40 megabyte
|
|||
|
|
hard drive. The 30 Mb would be for PC or XT systems and the 40 Mb
|
|||
|
|
would be for AT systems. Both are self parking and have proved to
|
|||
|
|
be very reliable in continued use.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Until PC-DOS 4.0 is bug free I recommend that PC-DOS 3.3 be used
|
|||
|
|
on all systems. PC-DOS 3.3 is very stable at this point and
|
|||
|
|
provides many features not available in previous DOS versions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1) Increased environment and shell functions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2) Decreased minimum file size. Previous versions of
|
|||
|
|
DOS have a much larger block size when files are
|
|||
|
|
saved.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3) Built in disk cache (type) functions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4) Increased speed for hard drive data transfer rates.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5) Most network software will no longer work with 2.x
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 15 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
versions of PC-DOS. Many new and improved network
|
|||
|
|
compatible functions have been included in PC-DOS
|
|||
|
|
3.3 thus making it far superior to prior versions.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
OS/2 has it's own place. However since a minimum of three to
|
|||
|
|
four megabytes of memory and an 80286 based system is required
|
|||
|
|
for OS/2 to be of any improvement over PC-DOS 3.3 I recommend
|
|||
|
|
staying with DOS 3.3 for the time being.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When considering whether to invest in a network there are many
|
|||
|
|
factors that must be considered before any purchases are made.
|
|||
|
|
Here are a few of the many questions you must have answers for
|
|||
|
|
before you make any purchases.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
1) How many people will currently be accessing the
|
|||
|
|
network? What are the current minimum and maximum
|
|||
|
|
numbers?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2) How many people will be accessing the network within
|
|||
|
|
the next twelve to eighteen months? What are the
|
|||
|
|
minimum and maximum numbers for this period of time?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
3) Will electronic mail between users be required
|
|||
|
|
initially once the network is set up? If not, will
|
|||
|
|
it be required in the future?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
4) What type of software will you be loading into and
|
|||
|
|
using on the network. Will the software be stored on
|
|||
|
|
a server or will each work station have its own
|
|||
|
|
software?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5) Are the versions of currently owned software network
|
|||
|
|
compatible? If not, how much will it cost to upgrade
|
|||
|
|
to versions that are compatible?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
6) Will you purchase a network site license or
|
|||
|
|
individual network licenses for your software?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
7) Who will install and service the network and all
|
|||
|
|
associated hardware and software?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
8) Is someone available who can take day to day
|
|||
|
|
responsibility for maintaining the network and
|
|||
|
|
performing daily software backups?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
9) Can I afford the costs involved with obtaining the
|
|||
|
|
hardware and software for a network and the
|
|||
|
|
operating costs?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The most important question has been reserved until last. Do you
|
|||
|
|
really need a network, or can you make better use of the
|
|||
|
|
resources currently available?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 16 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Daniel Tobias
|
|||
|
|
1:380/2
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DOS and Don'ts: A Word Usage Complaint
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is something I felt I had to get off my chest after
|
|||
|
|
reading Brian J. Murrey's piece in FidoNews 539.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
He refers in that piece to "a DOS machine" as a synonym, I
|
|||
|
|
would presume, for "machine capable of running MS-DOS," or
|
|||
|
|
"IBM PC compatible."
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
While this usage of the term "DOS" is currently fashionable,
|
|||
|
|
I must nevertheless register my opposition.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"DOS" is a generic acronym for Disk Operating System, and as
|
|||
|
|
such refers to a number of such systems. Apple had DOS 3.2
|
|||
|
|
and DOS 3.3 for their Apple II line, before releasing ProDOS
|
|||
|
|
as their new standard. Disk units for the Commodore 64 come
|
|||
|
|
with routines in their ROM that are referred to in the
|
|||
|
|
manuals as "DOS." The Atari 800's operating system was
|
|||
|
|
loaded from the system master disk by typing the command
|
|||
|
|
"DOS." The Amiga has AmigaDOS. Many such DOSes were
|
|||
|
|
already in existence when Microsoft released PC-DOS and its
|
|||
|
|
nearly-identical twin, MS-DOS.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Hence, it's incorrect and ambiguous to use the term "DOS" to
|
|||
|
|
refer to MS-DOS exclusively, except in clearly machine-
|
|||
|
|
specific contexts. Here are a few examples of what I mean.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
INCORRECT USAGES: (based on actual examples I've
|
|||
|
|
encountered in computer magazines, catalogs, and overheard
|
|||
|
|
conversations among computer people)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Different operating systems can have confusing differences.
|
|||
|
|
For instance, UNIX uses forward slashes to designate
|
|||
|
|
subdirectories, while DOS uses backward slashes."
|
|||
|
|
(Wrong: MS-DOS and PC-DOS use backward slashes; some other
|
|||
|
|
DOSes, like Apple ProDOS, follow UNIX usage!)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"Pages 1-5 of this catalog cover Mac software, and pages 6-
|
|||
|
|
14 cover DOS software."
|
|||
|
|
(Atari DOS or AmigaDOS? Actually, the only "DOS software"
|
|||
|
|
is the system master disk; all other software is
|
|||
|
|
applications software!)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"DOS machines are less friendly than Macintoshes."
|
|||
|
|
(Does this include ProDOS 16 machines? Actually, there's no
|
|||
|
|
such thing as a "DOS machine," since the machine is a piece
|
|||
|
|
of hardware, while the DOS is a piece of software. What you
|
|||
|
|
have is a machine capable of running a particular variety of
|
|||
|
|
DOS.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
CORRECT USAGES:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 17 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"I prefer UNIX to MS-DOS."
|
|||
|
|
(Refers to a particular operating system by its correct
|
|||
|
|
name.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"This software requires an IBM PC or compatible."
|
|||
|
|
(Alternate tack: refers to the hardware by its correct
|
|||
|
|
name. MS-DOS-compatible and IBM-compatible machines are
|
|||
|
|
pretty much interchangeable these days, though there are a
|
|||
|
|
few exceptions such as the DEC Rainbow that run MS-DOS but
|
|||
|
|
aren't compatible with the IBM PC. To be precise, it's
|
|||
|
|
best to say "MS-DOS" when referring to all MS-DOS based
|
|||
|
|
machines, and "IBM-compatible" when referring to just those
|
|||
|
|
which can run IBM PC software.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
(In a magazine clearly identified as IBM-PC-specific): "Here
|
|||
|
|
are some hints and tips to help you make productive use of
|
|||
|
|
DOS commands."
|
|||
|
|
(Here the IBM PC's kind of DOS is presumed unless otherwise
|
|||
|
|
indicated.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
(In a magazine clearly identified as Apple II-specific):
|
|||
|
|
"You may need to convert a file from DOS 3.3 to ProDOS."
|
|||
|
|
(Here, any references to DOS are presumed to be to Apple's
|
|||
|
|
DOS, just as such references in IBM-specific publications
|
|||
|
|
are presumed to be to IBM's. Thus, the "DOS 3.3" is the
|
|||
|
|
earlier Apple operating system, not the MS-DOS 3.3 release.
|
|||
|
|
If the article actually wanted to discuss conversion of
|
|||
|
|
files from MS-DOS 3.3 to ProDOS, it would have said "You may
|
|||
|
|
need to convert a file from MS-DOS 3.3 to ProDOS.")
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I know I'm going against the current on this one, and future
|
|||
|
|
dictionaries will probably end up defining DOS as "the
|
|||
|
|
operating system devised by Microsoft for the IBM PC," but
|
|||
|
|
as a long-time computerist, I had to object to what I felt
|
|||
|
|
was an incorrect usage. I think this usage stems from the
|
|||
|
|
arrogance of current computer users who feel that IBM PC's
|
|||
|
|
are the only real computers. But, do you want to tell an
|
|||
|
|
Apple II enthusiast who's been booting up his DOS 3.3 system
|
|||
|
|
master for the last seven years that he's really not running
|
|||
|
|
"DOS software"?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 18 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
What Another Battle?
|
|||
|
|
By Gene Coppola
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The following letter came in in last nights netmail!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Mr. Thom L. Henderson
|
|||
|
|
System Enhancement Associates, Inc.
|
|||
|
|
21 New Street
|
|||
|
|
Wayne, New Jersey 07470
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Dear Mr. Henderson,
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I object to the nature of the actions you and your company have
|
|||
|
|
been taking against other software vendors, particularly
|
|||
|
|
shareware companies working in the area of ARC-compatible
|
|||
|
|
utilities.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I feel that these actions are without basis and done with malice
|
|||
|
|
in an attempt to drive your competitors out of business. I don't
|
|||
|
|
believe that these actions will benefit the PC user community or
|
|||
|
|
your company in any way in the long term, nor that they will
|
|||
|
|
advance the state of the art in software.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Indeed, I feel that their effects on the bulletin board community
|
|||
|
|
are divisive. I feel that your actions are wrong. I ask that you
|
|||
|
|
discontinue all such actions and undo the harm that you have
|
|||
|
|
already done to the industry. Further, you should go back to
|
|||
|
|
spending your efforts and money in a way more advantageous to
|
|||
|
|
both yourself and the computer industry as a whole--and that is
|
|||
|
|
in developing new products and improving your existing products
|
|||
|
|
fairly and openly.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I was requested to sign it and then upload it to other systems.
|
|||
|
|
What a bunch of crap this is! Thom Henderson has done more for
|
|||
|
|
computer users than many people realize! Without ARC we would
|
|||
|
|
all suffer. Without XLATLIST and other network utilities we
|
|||
|
|
would be back to updating the nodelist BY HAND!! (Yes I Have
|
|||
|
|
Been Around That Long!) You can believe me, it was a job just
|
|||
|
|
making 20 changes a week. Can you IMAGINE what it would be like
|
|||
|
|
making 100+ changes a week?
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As an author myself, I recognize the value of both a Copyright
|
|||
|
|
and a Trademark. The laws regarding these items were put in
|
|||
|
|
place to protect the time and effort people put into their work!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I feel that Thom is well within his rights to protect his time
|
|||
|
|
and effort!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 19 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Five weeks ago, Project X Announced the release of QBTOOLS
|
|||
|
|
version 2.0. Now, with growing popularity, and demand, we
|
|||
|
|
have released version 2.1.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Furthermore, Project X Software Development is proud to announce
|
|||
|
|
the purchase of the GIZLIB routines from InfoSoft and M.K.
|
|||
|
|
Yaklin's position as Technical Advisor to Project X. This
|
|||
|
|
partnership is already bound to bring more routines into the
|
|||
|
|
fold, and some exciting new projects are already in the works.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
QBTOOLS/2.1 is an add on library for QuickBASIC version 4.0.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 20 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
QT/2 A Fantastic Computer At A Great Price
|
|||
|
|
By Gene Coppola
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It has been six months since I first reported on the QT/2
|
|||
|
|
computer system. Many improvements have taken place since then
|
|||
|
|
and I felt an updated review was in order.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
All QT/2 owners have received a motherboard upgrade as well as
|
|||
|
|
an additional ROM upgrade. These upgrades were supplied at no
|
|||
|
|
cost! Each owner received a letter asking us to have our
|
|||
|
|
motherboard securely packaged and ready for pickup on a specific
|
|||
|
|
date. U.P.S. delivered the new board and picked up the old one.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The first improvement has been the ROM updates. These were
|
|||
|
|
received several weeks ago and have been installed and tested.
|
|||
|
|
The updates provide for a speed increase of 300 per cent with a
|
|||
|
|
VGA monitor. The QT/2 motherboard comes with a built in display
|
|||
|
|
adaptor for Mono, CGA, EGA and VGA displays. The update provides
|
|||
|
|
for a maximum resolution of 800 x 600 when a VGA monitor is in
|
|||
|
|
use.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The second improvement has been in memory management. QT/2
|
|||
|
|
motherboards come with 12 megabytes of 60ns RAM. The setup
|
|||
|
|
routine now allows you to assign any portion of this RAM to
|
|||
|
|
extended or expanded memory. This is a blessing for those of us
|
|||
|
|
running Oracle, Desqview, OS/2 and Windows 386.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The third improvement is in OS/2 compatibility. OS/2 is fully
|
|||
|
|
supported and works very well on the QT/2. The full 12 megabytes
|
|||
|
|
can now be accessed. Windows 386 now files on the QT/2.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The fourth improvement is the internal disk controller. Over 120
|
|||
|
|
different hard drives are now supported. The new controller now
|
|||
|
|
supports six drives, both floppy and hard drives in any
|
|||
|
|
combination. Cables are supplied for two hard drives and four
|
|||
|
|
floppy drives. The controller also supports over 15 different
|
|||
|
|
external or internal tape drive units.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The fifth and finest improvement is in the motherboard itself.
|
|||
|
|
The updated motherboards are rated at 25 Mhz and come with both
|
|||
|
|
80387 and Wietek co-processor sockets. 12 megabytes of 60ns RAM
|
|||
|
|
are installed on the motherboard. Both the disk controller and
|
|||
|
|
display adaptor use 32 bit architecture to provide the fastest
|
|||
|
|
speeds possible. The motherboard tests out at a speed of 8.1
|
|||
|
|
MIPS.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
One 32 bit slot is provided on the motherboard for the optional
|
|||
|
|
memory expansion board. The expansion board comes with 20
|
|||
|
|
megabytes of 60ns RAM bringing the system total up to 32
|
|||
|
|
megabytes. This additional RAM and the Wietek co-processor brings
|
|||
|
|
mini-computer speed and power to you at micro-computer prices.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For those of you that did not read the first review I will go
|
|||
|
|
over the major features of this fine system.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The QT/2 comes with 12 megabytes of 60ns RAM and a 64k 25ns high
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 21 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
speed cache. The main processor is a 25 Mhz 80386 with sockets
|
|||
|
|
for an 80387 or Wietek co-processor.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A 40 megabyte Seagate ST-251-1 hard disk drive is included as
|
|||
|
|
well as a 1.2 Mb floppy and a 360k floppy. Due to the
|
|||
|
|
proprietary nature of the built in disk controller no
|
|||
|
|
partitioning software is needed. Running under Dos 3.3 or OS/2
|
|||
|
|
the QT/2 handles any hard drive up to 300 megabytes as one drive.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Two serial ports and two parallel ports are built into the
|
|||
|
|
motherboard. A 220 watt switching power supply is now standard
|
|||
|
|
equipment.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The disk controller and display adaptor are built into the
|
|||
|
|
motherboard. Both are covered above so we will not go into those
|
|||
|
|
items here.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A clock/calendar is built into the motherboard. This is backed
|
|||
|
|
up by a regular nine volt battery that is known to be available
|
|||
|
|
almost anywhere you go.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Nine expansion slots are available. One is a 32 bit slot reserved
|
|||
|
|
for a RAM expansion board. Six slots are 16 bit slots and two are
|
|||
|
|
8 bit slots. Almost every possible expansion feature is built
|
|||
|
|
into the motherboard and nine slots seems like a bit of overkill,
|
|||
|
|
but this is the way the board was designed.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The QT/2 comes in a heavy duty metal case complete with a key
|
|||
|
|
lock that secures the case and activates the keyboard. A separate
|
|||
|
|
lock is supplied to secure the power switch preventing
|
|||
|
|
unauthorized use of the system.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The keyboard is an enhanced AT style keyboard with tactile touch
|
|||
|
|
keys and led indicators for Num Lock, Caps Lock, and Scroll Lock.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The QT/2 is one of the few computers with a complete MCA style
|
|||
|
|
bus. This is completely functional and has been tested with many
|
|||
|
|
of the expansion products now available for PS/2 systems.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This is truly an exceptional value at $1995.00. An 80386 based
|
|||
|
|
system with an MCA style bus ready to plug in and run. The hard
|
|||
|
|
drive comes formatted under DOS 3.3 but can be easily be
|
|||
|
|
reformatted if desired.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
At this time the motherboard is not available as a separate item,
|
|||
|
|
but future plans include selling the motherboard as separate
|
|||
|
|
unit.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The United States distributor for the QT/2 is A WORLD OF
|
|||
|
|
COMPUTERS at 151-28 22nd Avenue in Whitestone, New York. The zip
|
|||
|
|
code is 11357. No phone inquiries please.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Currently there is a shipping backlog of about 14 to 21 days from
|
|||
|
|
the day an order with full payment is received.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
All QT/2 systems come with a 13 month warranty covering parts,
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 22 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
labor, shipping and insurance in the event a system must be
|
|||
|
|
returned for repair.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 23 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SUPERLIB, the finest user library for Quick Basic 4.0 owners
|
|||
|
|
has been updated and enlarged and now includes support for OS/2.
|
|||
|
|
New features have been added and old ones improved upon.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The first and most obvious feature is the size of SUPERLIB! The
|
|||
|
|
library now has over 120 routines including complete mouse and
|
|||
|
|
DOS level file control. This is about 60% more than in previous
|
|||
|
|
versions and puts it on par with the expensive commercial
|
|||
|
|
libraries. Many of the SUPERLIB routines run under OS/2!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Many FUNCTIONS have been written in Assembler! This allows you to
|
|||
|
|
evaluate a subroutine as an expression or assign the result in
|
|||
|
|
fewer lines of code! This lends itself to a number of advantages,
|
|||
|
|
ie; the code is smaller, easier to read, and makes more sense. All
|
|||
|
|
it requires is a simple DECLARE statement at the start of your
|
|||
|
|
code.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SUPERLIB now supports complete file access via DOS Functions. In
|
|||
|
|
so doing, you can completely avoid those annoying runtime errors
|
|||
|
|
by letting DOS return an error code, rather than an error!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SUPERLIB now has a considerable number of routines added for
|
|||
|
|
mouse support, including cursor control, mouse work area
|
|||
|
|
restrictions, and sensitivity. These have been thoroughly tested
|
|||
|
|
on the new Microsoft mouse, the Logitech mouse and the Mouse
|
|||
|
|
Systems mouse. All work fine except the Mouse Systems mouse needs
|
|||
|
|
an explicit call to set the cursor mask, so we have added one.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The routines used in SUPERLIB are written mostly in assembler
|
|||
|
|
and assembled under MASM 5.0. The few BASIC based routines that
|
|||
|
|
there are, were written under QuickBASIC 4.0.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We distribute SUPERLIB in two different ways. The ShareWare
|
|||
|
|
version provides you with everything you need to call and execute
|
|||
|
|
the SUPERLIB routines from within the editor/environment. This
|
|||
|
|
provides an ample opportunity for testing and evaluation. The
|
|||
|
|
ShareWare disk is available for $10 which includes postage.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The complete version of SUPERLIB is for those of you who want to
|
|||
|
|
incorporate SUPERLIB routines in their own .EXE applications. In
|
|||
|
|
this case, the library of routines and a license to use them in
|
|||
|
|
such applications is available for $20 which includes postage.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This breaks down to a cost of less than 14 cents per routine. No
|
|||
|
|
other user library comes close to our low cost. SUPERLIB comes
|
|||
|
|
with over 50 popular public domain programs including a screen
|
|||
|
|
generator that generates Microsoft object files compatible with
|
|||
|
|
Quick Basic, C, Pascal, Fortran, MASM, Lattice C, Aztec C,
|
|||
|
|
Clipper and a host of other languages that support .OBJ files.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SUPERLIB is available from BASIC PROGRAMMERS LIMITED, 2nd Floor,
|
|||
|
|
110 Hillsboro Avenue, Elmont, New York 11003 and is covered by a
|
|||
|
|
money back warranty.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 24 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Survey Time Rolls Around Again!
|
|||
|
|
By Gene Coppola
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Well it is again time to run a survey and see who reads FIDONEWS.
|
|||
|
|
Last years results were interesting and this year I hope to get
|
|||
|
|
more responses then last year!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The idea behind the survey is to try and determine the readership
|
|||
|
|
of FIDONEWS, where these people live and their age.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It was suggested that instead of asking people to send a postcard
|
|||
|
|
that we use netmail instead. After much thought I agree with this
|
|||
|
|
method. It is easier for most people and much quicker than
|
|||
|
|
waiting for postcards to get here.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If you would like to participate please send a netmail message to
|
|||
|
|
GENE COPPOLA on 1:107/200. Please include your age, and what
|
|||
|
|
city, state or province and the country you live in.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The results will be published in a future issue of FIDONEWS.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 25 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SYSOP SUES USER WHO ALLEGEDLY UPLOADED TROJAN PROGRAM
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
by Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq. 107/801
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Bill Christison, sysop of a bulletin board system called the
|
|||
|
|
Santa Fe Message, filed suit in August in New Mexico federal
|
|||
|
|
court against a user he believed had uploaded a trojan horse
|
|||
|
|
program to his BBS.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The program, which purported to compile statistics on BBS usage,
|
|||
|
|
erased the operating system from Christison's hard disk and
|
|||
|
|
damaged the file allocation table when he ran it.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
With the aid of the telephone company, Christison was able to
|
|||
|
|
identify the user (who had called his BBS under a pseudonym as
|
|||
|
|
Michael Dagg, also of New Mexico.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Christison's law suit is the second case involving bulletin board
|
|||
|
|
systems to have been brought under the Electronic Communications
|
|||
|
|
Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Under the ECPA, it is a federal crime to access stored electronic
|
|||
|
|
communications without authorization and to alter, obtain or
|
|||
|
|
prevent access to such communications. Penalties include
|
|||
|
|
imprisonment of up to one year and fines up to $250,000.00.
|
|||
|
|
The statute also provides for private civil suits such as
|
|||
|
|
Christison's.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As of October 7th, Dagg had not yet hired an attorney or
|
|||
|
|
responded to the complaint, according to Christison's attorney,
|
|||
|
|
Ann Yalman.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The ECPA potentially provides a potent tool for sysops who wish
|
|||
|
|
to defend themselves against malicious users. It is a two-edged
|
|||
|
|
sword, however: the first case brought under the ECPA involving
|
|||
|
|
bulletin board systems was Thompson v. Predaina, in which a user
|
|||
|
|
sued a sysop who allegedly made private files public without
|
|||
|
|
permission.
|
|||
|
|
---------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq., an attorney in private practice
|
|||
|
|
in New York City, is editor of The Computer Law Letter, a
|
|||
|
|
bimonthly newsletter, and author of SYSLAW: The Sysop's
|
|||
|
|
Legal Manual. He can be reached at (212) 766-3785 or at
|
|||
|
|
Fido 107/801.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 26 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Computer Viruses I'd Like To See
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
By David Rice
|
|||
|
|
(1:103/503.0)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
As long as folks are going to go through all the time,
|
|||
|
|
energy, and hassle to write computer viruses, I'd like some
|
|||
|
|
custom made, please. I mean, since most computers won't
|
|||
|
|
practice safe software sharing, I may as well turn that to
|
|||
|
|
some advantage. I know there are electronic condoms
|
|||
|
|
floating around, such as FluShot+ and C-4, but most computer
|
|||
|
|
users don't know about them (there was no Computer Sex
|
|||
|
|
Education in Health Class in High School).
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
It has occurred to me that one virus could infect the
|
|||
|
|
OPUS.EXE file to produce a CRASH file in the Outbound File
|
|||
|
|
Area, which would contain the host's BBS.CTL and USER.BBS
|
|||
|
|
files, to be sent late at night while the infected host's
|
|||
|
|
SysOp innocently slept. Some fine folks have done this
|
|||
|
|
already via "BBS utilities," and not viruses; The "virus
|
|||
|
|
approach" is the next step.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
A nice feature for the infected OPUS.EXE file would be
|
|||
|
|
instant SysOp access to each and every caller who used a
|
|||
|
|
particular password. This password would be known only to
|
|||
|
|
the author of the virus and myself, who payed for the
|
|||
|
|
genetic engineering project in the first place. This is
|
|||
|
|
much safer than looking for a particular user's name to
|
|||
|
|
assign SysOp level, of course, and this will insure that
|
|||
|
|
when the genuine, true, legitimate SysOp discovers the bogus
|
|||
|
|
one (me), I can always call back under a different name to
|
|||
|
|
reek my havoc, to pillage, to plunder, etc.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Have you ever considered the incalculable damage a
|
|||
|
|
virus that seeks out LANs could do? Our LAN here at work is
|
|||
|
|
hooked up to Chicago via a 9600 baud modem. Files sent over
|
|||
|
|
this phone line go not only to the corporate data base
|
|||
|
|
there, but from there to six other divisions in the
|
|||
|
|
corporation. Gee. Think of the possibilities! A month
|
|||
|
|
from now over 2,000 employees could come to work in the
|
|||
|
|
morning, type in LOTUS at their DOS prompt, and get a warm,
|
|||
|
|
friendly greeting from me instead! I'll take one of these
|
|||
|
|
viruses too, please. Thank you.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Speaking of spread sheets, there's another virus I'd
|
|||
|
|
like, if you don't mind. Let's suppose I worked for the
|
|||
|
|
Mish Mash Development Corporation, who is in the Spreadsheet
|
|||
|
|
development industry. Naturally, I'd want only OUR
|
|||
|
|
spreadsheet to be used. This virus would infect every file
|
|||
|
|
on some poor unsuspecting slob's computer, of course, but
|
|||
|
|
it's main function would be to seek out and destroy all
|
|||
|
|
"Lotus 1-2-3" <tm> and "Quatro" <tm> and "Symphony" <tm>
|
|||
|
|
files, thus clearing up space for our "Mish Mash Inna Flash"
|
|||
|
|
spreadsheet, which isn't nearly as nice but at least it
|
|||
|
|
isn't copy protected. I suspect the market for this virus
|
|||
|
|
to be a massive one: I envision the hard disk becoming a
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 27 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
battle ground, with "R:Base System V" <tm> fighting a
|
|||
|
|
desperate struggle against "D:BaseIII+" <tm> for complete
|
|||
|
|
and total hard disk domination. Rival software could easily
|
|||
|
|
keep you on your toes, and add much to the wear and tear of
|
|||
|
|
your disk drives. I'll take one of these geared against
|
|||
|
|
"ASTROL95", please (my rival in the astrology software
|
|||
|
|
market). Thank you much.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Perhaps another virus would cause a subliminal message
|
|||
|
|
to flash on the screen every few minutes that says "DAVID
|
|||
|
|
DESERVES A PAY RAISE!" I could deliberately go to the
|
|||
|
|
Manager Offices and infect their computers. "Hey," I would
|
|||
|
|
begin, blushing and innocent as a virgin, "I've got a neat
|
|||
|
|
program here that makes your computer run 875.62% (on
|
|||
|
|
average) faster! Let me install it for you. . . ." This
|
|||
|
|
virus would have an install program to change the message.
|
|||
|
|
In this way I could sell my services to those who require a
|
|||
|
|
raise in pay, at a flat rate or a percentage over an agreed
|
|||
|
|
upon time period. The possibilities are endless with this
|
|||
|
|
virus: "Vote For ME!" or "SAVE THE DINOSAURS!" or "GOD IS
|
|||
|
|
DEAD!" or "REMOVE YOUR BRA!" or "STOP PICKING YOUR NOSE,
|
|||
|
|
JERK!" My boss might come up with one that says "QUIT!" or
|
|||
|
|
"YOU'RE FIRED!" just to keep my anxiety level high.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
So if you are in the virus engineering business, please
|
|||
|
|
drop me a line. Let's talk.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 28 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Distributed Electronic Voting
|
|||
|
|
as it aplies to Fidonet elections and plebicites
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
By useing the capabilities of public key encryption it
|
|||
|
|
is relativly simple to provide for verifiable electronic
|
|||
|
|
voting with simple netmail attached files. There are a few
|
|||
|
|
practical considerations which complicate matters but do not
|
|||
|
|
by any means prevent implementation.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I will assume a passing familiarity with public key
|
|||
|
|
encryption techniques. For further info interested parties
|
|||
|
|
should refer to past fidonews issues.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The simplest form of voteing would be a "public forum"
|
|||
|
|
or "show of hands" type of voting. The only special
|
|||
|
|
consideration required is verification of the voter's
|
|||
|
|
identity and their right to vote such that only registered
|
|||
|
|
voters vote and they only get one vote each. For our
|
|||
|
|
purposes, the nodelist is usually the list of registered
|
|||
|
|
voters.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
To start with each voter would generate his own public
|
|||
|
|
key. These keys are in the form of small (less than 1/2 k)
|
|||
|
|
files. The keys should be collected through the regular
|
|||
|
|
hub-NC-RC-ZC hierarchy. All public keys should be freely
|
|||
|
|
available at any level to anyone who wants a copy (of the
|
|||
|
|
full set or any subset). This would mean that at the top
|
|||
|
|
levels the full collection would amount to perhaps 2
|
|||
|
|
megabytes for 4000 nodes. Fidonet bounces files of this
|
|||
|
|
magnitude around the net it seems fairly often in the form
|
|||
|
|
of echomail.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
NCs and RCs would be responsible for resolvoing any
|
|||
|
|
discrepancies such as conflicting submisions for a single
|
|||
|
|
node. A directly delivered message to the node's phone
|
|||
|
|
number bypassing all routeing and pick-up situations should
|
|||
|
|
resolve any such problems. If there are further questions,
|
|||
|
|
protocols can be worked out to resolve them.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Any node should be able to verify their key at any time
|
|||
|
|
with a digitally signed message from their NC or in extreme
|
|||
|
|
cases RC or even ZC/IC.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Once the keys are collected, they would be relativley
|
|||
|
|
stable. At least as stable as the nodelist. Nodes not
|
|||
|
|
submitting a key could be implying a wish not to vote. In
|
|||
|
|
particular, keys need not be changed for subsequent
|
|||
|
|
elections.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
When a vote is to take place, it would follow the same
|
|||
|
|
flow of information. At each level the votes would be
|
|||
|
|
verified and sumarized so that an RC does not need to
|
|||
|
|
actually do the full digital signature verification on all
|
|||
|
|
votes but only needs to sum up the votes from the NCs in his
|
|||
|
|
region and verify the independant nodes and add them into
|
|||
|
|
the totals. The RC would also forward all the actual signed
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 29 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
votes to the ZC for random checks or verification. Note
|
|||
|
|
that no one should need to send the whole works in one shot.
|
|||
|
|
Only the votes from one region would be sent.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
ZCs simply add up the totals from the RCs and if
|
|||
|
|
required forwards the totals to the IC (and makes available
|
|||
|
|
the votes themselves to other interested parties such as
|
|||
|
|
scrutineers). The ballots themselves can be quite small
|
|||
|
|
files also, on the order of 100 bytes, depending on the
|
|||
|
|
exact issues being voted upon.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Note that this particular plan depends on the vote being
|
|||
|
|
open as oposed to a secret ballot vote. Note also that the
|
|||
|
|
above proposal is a minumum. For instance, an RC who has a
|
|||
|
|
very fast machine could verify all the ballots from his
|
|||
|
|
region. The reason that full verification is not required
|
|||
|
|
is that the verification process is rather time consuming
|
|||
|
|
(pure CPU time that is). Also the candidates or any
|
|||
|
|
interested parties could perform spot checks or
|
|||
|
|
verifications to search for anomalies.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If it is determined that a secret ballot is required
|
|||
|
|
then it becomes even more complicated. Several layers of
|
|||
|
|
encryption are required and extra record keeping is needed
|
|||
|
|
for verification or re-counts. The simplest form would go
|
|||
|
|
something like this:
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
First a returning officer would be appointed. He would
|
|||
|
|
create a special public key for the vote and publish it in
|
|||
|
|
fidonews or somehow make sure all eligible voters got a copy
|
|||
|
|
of it. He would also appoint deputies for each region or
|
|||
|
|
voting district. The deputies would get copies of the
|
|||
|
|
special private key. In normal cases this might be the RC
|
|||
|
|
unless some conflict of interest is in effect. Special
|
|||
|
|
deputies for the nets may also be needed if a NC is not
|
|||
|
|
suitable but the net level would not have the special
|
|||
|
|
private keys. Probably the regional deputies could be
|
|||
|
|
empowered to apoint net level deputies. (Zone 2 and 3
|
|||
|
|
sysops, please excuse me if I gloss over inter-zone
|
|||
|
|
protocols. I beleive they can be extrapolated relativly
|
|||
|
|
simply from this.)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The voter creates his ballot without personally
|
|||
|
|
identifying marks and encrypts it with the special public
|
|||
|
|
key. The voter then signs the result with his own private
|
|||
|
|
key and sends the result to his NC. The NC gathers all the
|
|||
|
|
ballots which come in before the voting deadline and removes
|
|||
|
|
the first layer using the public keys of his nodes insuring
|
|||
|
|
that only registered voters have voted and that they have
|
|||
|
|
only voted once. He forwards the results to the RC. It may
|
|||
|
|
be desireable to have the NC sign and/or encrypt this stuff.
|
|||
|
|
The NC must keep the signed ballots in case verification is
|
|||
|
|
ever asked for. The NC should NOT show the signed ballots
|
|||
|
|
to his RC though in order to maintain the secrecy of the
|
|||
|
|
ballot. The NC knows who voted but does not know how they
|
|||
|
|
voted.
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 30 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The RC should only receive annonymous messages encrypted
|
|||
|
|
with the special public key. When the RC de-crypts them he would
|
|||
|
|
only count proper un-spoiled ballots (without identifying
|
|||
|
|
marks etc). The RC then forwards a tally on up the ladder
|
|||
|
|
in the same manner as the previous example. The RC should
|
|||
|
|
be careful to not reveal the corespondance between the
|
|||
|
|
encrypted ballots he receives and the decrypted ballots that
|
|||
|
|
he counts.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This implies a minimal level of trust in the
|
|||
|
|
coordinators by the voters. If the RC or NC is deemed
|
|||
|
|
unsuitable for either of these tasks then alternate election
|
|||
|
|
officers should be appointed. If it is estimated that the
|
|||
|
|
computational burden on the RC's machine would be too great
|
|||
|
|
then extra deputies could be added to help out. A CPA or
|
|||
|
|
somesuch could be hired to do verifications but such a
|
|||
|
|
person would need considerable computing power or a lot of
|
|||
|
|
time to do a full verification. It would be quite feasable
|
|||
|
|
to verify only the top levels completely and make do with
|
|||
|
|
spot checks at lowwer levels.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If the coordinator is not trusted by the voters and no
|
|||
|
|
acceptable alternate can be agreed upon, the voters can
|
|||
|
|
either revert to a non-secret ballot or attempt to arrange a
|
|||
|
|
protocol where no one needs to be trusted. If they try for
|
|||
|
|
the latter, and I'm not sure it is possible, it will
|
|||
|
|
doubtless involve more administration and more computation
|
|||
|
|
than the plans presented here. Perhaps they should also
|
|||
|
|
consider reverting to a primitive style paper vote.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
One major advantage for this system is that it should be
|
|||
|
|
possible to carry it out much faster than a paper/post
|
|||
|
|
office type of vote. The ballots could go out in fnews or
|
|||
|
|
an echo conference and the results should be tallyable
|
|||
|
|
within a week.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This article should demonstrate the feasability of a
|
|||
|
|
completely electronic voting system. The security of the
|
|||
|
|
system is demonstrably quite high and should be technically
|
|||
|
|
acceptable to anyone who wishes to investigate the details
|
|||
|
|
further. It is possible to add even more security at the
|
|||
|
|
cost of extra computational and orgazizational effort.
|
|||
|
|
There remains only to work out nameing conventions for the
|
|||
|
|
various files and archives and a general acceptance of the
|
|||
|
|
scheme by the fidonet community. This last may be the most
|
|||
|
|
difficult.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Anyone familiar with the PKSCrypt software system for
|
|||
|
|
public key encryption may notice that I have selfish reasons
|
|||
|
|
for promoting these concepts. I will try to partially
|
|||
|
|
defuse that objection by saying that I am willing to let
|
|||
|
|
Fidonet sysops use PKSCrypt for Fidonet voteing purposes
|
|||
|
|
without demanding that they pay the shareware licence fee;
|
|||
|
|
at least until alternative public key encryption packages
|
|||
|
|
become available from other sources. I have prepared a
|
|||
|
|
document which should allow sufficiently technically
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 31 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
oriented people to create such software. That document and
|
|||
|
|
the PKSCrypt package are available from my system for MANUAL
|
|||
|
|
download on your first call. FILE REQUESTS ARE NOT
|
|||
|
|
SUPPORTED.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Lloyd Miller
|
|||
|
|
Node 1:134/1
|
|||
|
|
1(403)282-1703, 2400 bps
|
|||
|
|
Calgary, Alberta
|
|||
|
|
1988 October 2
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 32 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
COLUMNS
|
|||
|
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
YACK
|
|||
|
|
Yet Another Complicated Komment
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
by Steven K. Hoskin
|
|||
|
|
( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 )
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Episode 13: The Negative Side
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
"IF THIS REALLY WAS A GOOD HOBBY NETWORK YOU'D TALK ABOUT D&D".
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This was a message to me from a user about my board. I don't
|
|||
|
|
happen to have any message areas that cover D&D. Funny that
|
|||
|
|
should be the case, since my advertised specialty areas are
|
|||
|
|
EagleTech Software and the national AVIATION EchoMail conference.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I politely responded, explaining that "Amateur Hobby Network"
|
|||
|
|
means that *I* have a hobby in playing with computers and
|
|||
|
|
networking them together. It does not necessarily follow that I
|
|||
|
|
support all hobbies. Even though I happen to like D&D and other
|
|||
|
|
adventure, role-playing and war games.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Then I get this guy who calls in with a name whose validity I
|
|||
|
|
question. So I left him a message AND a custom welcome, asking
|
|||
|
|
him to verify the name, with address and phone number. Seven
|
|||
|
|
times he logged in, saw the custom welcome, and hit all the file
|
|||
|
|
areas and logged off. I dropped him to DISGRACE status, left a
|
|||
|
|
more clearly worded custom welcome; still he called in about four
|
|||
|
|
more times, tried to hit the file areas (the only one allowed at
|
|||
|
|
DISGRACE level is the FidoNews Area), and logged off. So I
|
|||
|
|
TWITted him. Why didn't he just leave me a message? I even told
|
|||
|
|
him how to do it on the custom welcome.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
And the classic - "Hacker calling". Oh, that's TWIT level
|
|||
|
|
immediately.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Why is it so hard for people to say who they really are on BBSs?
|
|||
|
|
I don't recall ever having that difficulty when *I* was a mere
|
|||
|
|
user. And if ever there was a strange person, I definitely
|
|||
|
|
qualify. But *I* never had any problems using my real name.
|
|||
|
|
Handles are kind of nice, when they apply, but this doesn't cut
|
|||
|
|
well in EchoMail. Too many people out there.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Oh, well, even FidoNet can't be all blessings and charm, I
|
|||
|
|
suppose. I've been blessed, even in my troubles with users, in
|
|||
|
|
that I haven't had any vicious hackers trying to crash my board
|
|||
|
|
or slam my communication links. I've heard of such, but (knock
|
|||
|
|
on wood) haven't seen any.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
I guess I'll just overlook the negative side and enjoy my hobby.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 33 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
FOR SALE
|
|||
|
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SYSOPS HERE IS THE SALE YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
We are proud to be able to sponsor another sale just for FidoNet
|
|||
|
|
Sysops! You must be listed in the most recent nodelist from 1/0
|
|||
|
|
as a node that is available for the public to call. If you are
|
|||
|
|
listed as a private or unlisted node then you are not eligible
|
|||
|
|
to purchase or participate in our Fall sale!
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Our Fall special is a 6/10 Mhz 80286 system. The system consists
|
|||
|
|
of a 6/10 Mhz motherboard, a Western Digital Combination disk
|
|||
|
|
controller, an AT style case with key lock, reset and speed
|
|||
|
|
switches, power, speed and disk LED indicators, an auto switch AT
|
|||
|
|
style extended keyboard, a 1.2mb floppy, a 360k floppy, a 200
|
|||
|
|
watt AT style switching power supply and a 16 bit multi I/O card.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
This system is unique in the fact that it can use one of three
|
|||
|
|
different types of memory chips. You can use 150ns, 120ns, or
|
|||
|
|
100ns chips and the motherboard allows up to one megabyte of
|
|||
|
|
memory on the motherboard. The price for the system DOES NOT
|
|||
|
|
INCLUDE any memory! Chip prices fluctuate to rapidly for us to
|
|||
|
|
publish a firm memory chip price several weeks ahead of time.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Our special Fall price is a low $898.00 which includes a six
|
|||
|
|
month warranty for parts and labor and all documentation. The
|
|||
|
|
price DOES NOT INCLUDE any memory, DOS or shipping charges. This
|
|||
|
|
system CANNOT be shipped outside of the continental United
|
|||
|
|
States. Pickups can be arranged for Sysops who desire to pick
|
|||
|
|
up the system in person instead of having it shipped.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
For further information send your name and mailing address to A
|
|||
|
|
World Of Computers at 151-28 22nd Avenue in Whitestone, NY. The
|
|||
|
|
zip code is 11357. These systems are now in stock and each system
|
|||
|
|
is tested for 24 hours before it is shipped to insure proper
|
|||
|
|
operation.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 34 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
NOTICES
|
|||
|
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The Interrupt Stack
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
23 Nov 1988
|
|||
|
|
25th Anniversary of "Dr. Who" - and still going strong
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
24 Aug 1989
|
|||
|
|
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
5 Oct 1989
|
|||
|
|
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
|||
|
|
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Latest Software Versions
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
BBS Systems Node List Other
|
|||
|
|
& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Dutchie 2.90b* EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.22*
|
|||
|
|
Fido 12h MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1
|
|||
|
|
Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00*
|
|||
|
|
SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86 EchoMail 1.31
|
|||
|
|
TBBS 2.0M XlaxNode 2.22* MGM 1.1
|
|||
|
|
BinkleyTerm 2.00* XlaxDiff 2.10 TPB Editor 1.21*
|
|||
|
|
QuickBBS 2.03* ParseList 1.20*
|
|||
|
|
TPBoard 4.2*
|
|||
|
|
TComm/TCommNet 3.1*
|
|||
|
|
TCOMMail 1.1*
|
|||
|
|
Lynx 1.10*
|
|||
|
|
D'Bridge 1.10
|
|||
|
|
FrontDoor 2.0
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
* Recently changed
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
|
|||
|
|
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
|
|||
|
|
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 35 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
|
|||
|
|
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
|
|||
|
|
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
|
|||
|
|
Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
|
|||
|
|
David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
|
|||
|
|
Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
DIVISION AT-LARGE
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
|
|||
|
|
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
|
|||
|
|
12 Bill Bolton 3:54/61 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
|
|||
|
|
13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
|
|||
|
|
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
|
|||
|
|
15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
|
|||
|
|
16 Vince Perriello 1:141/491 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
|
|||
|
|
17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
|
|||
|
|
18 Christopher Baker 1:135/14 Bob Swift 1:140/24
|
|||
|
|
19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
|
|||
|
|
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 36 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
__
|
|||
|
|
The World's First / \
|
|||
|
|
BBS Network /|oo \
|
|||
|
|
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
|
|||
|
|
_`@/_ \ _
|
|||
|
|
| | \ \\
|
|||
|
|
| (*) | \ ))
|
|||
|
|
______ |__U__| / \//
|
|||
|
|
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
|
|||
|
|
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
|
|||
|
|
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
|
|||
|
|
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
|
|||
|
|
increase worldwide communications.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
|
|||
|
|
Address _________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
City ____________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
State ________________________________ Zip _____________________
|
|||
|
|
Country _________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
BBS Name ________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
Board Restrictions ______________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Your Special Interests __________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
_________________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
_________________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________
|
|||
|
|
_________________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
_________________________________________________________________
|
|||
|
|
Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in
|
|||
|
|
US Funds to:
|
|||
|
|
International FidoNet Association
|
|||
|
|
PO Box 41143
|
|||
|
|
St Louis, Missouri 63141
|
|||
|
|
USA
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
|
|||
|
|
insure the future of FidoNet.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
|
|||
|
|
and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
|
|||
|
|
membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors
|
|||
|
|
was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
|
|||
|
|
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
|
|||
|
|
input to this Conference.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
FidoNews 5-42 Page 37 17 Oct 1988
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
|
|||
|
|
ORDER FORM
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Publications
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido
|
|||
|
|
1:1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing
|
|||
|
|
them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee
|
|||
|
|
Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each
|
|||
|
|
publication, but we can make no written guarantees.
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____
|
|||
|
|
IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____
|
|||
|
|
IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SUBTOTAL _____
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____
|
|||
|
|
SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987
|
|||
|
|
ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____
|
|||
|
|
Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987
|
|||
|
|
ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
International orders include $10.00 for
|
|||
|
|
surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SUBTOTAL _____
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
MO. Residents add 5.725% Sales Tax _____
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
TOTAL _____
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS:
|
|||
|
|
International FidoNet Association
|
|||
|
|
PO Box 41143
|
|||
|
|
St Louis, Mo. 63141
|
|||
|
|
USA
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Name________________________________
|
|||
|
|
Zone:Net/Node____:____/____
|
|||
|
|
Company_____________________________
|
|||
|
|
Address_____________________________
|
|||
|
|
City____________________ State____________ Zip_____
|
|||
|
|
Voice Phone_________________________
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Signature___________________________
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|