409 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
409 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
![]() |
F I D O N E W S -- Vol.10 No.22 (31-May-1993)
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| A newsletter of the | |
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| FidoNet BBS community | Published by: |
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| / \ | "FidoNews" BBS |
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| /|oo \ | +1-519-570-4176 1:1/23 |
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| (_| /_) | |
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| _`@/_ \ _ | Editors: |
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| | | \ \\ | Sylvia Maxwell 1:221/194 |
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| | (*) | \ )) | Donald Tees 1:221/192 |
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| |__U__| / \// | Tim Pozar 1:125/555 |
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| _//|| _\ / | |
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| (_/(_|(____/ | |
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| (jm) | Newspapers should have no friends. |
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| | -- JOSEPH PULITZER |
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+----------------------------+-----------------------------------------+
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| Submission address: editors 1:1/23 |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| Internet addresses: |
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| Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Donald -- donald@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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| Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com |
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| Both Don & Sylvia (submission address) |
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| editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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| For information, copyrights, article submissions, |
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| obtaining copies and other boring but important details, |
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| please refer to the end of this file. |
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+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
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========================================================================
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Table of Contents
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========================================================================
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1. Editorial..................................................... 1
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2. Articles...................................................... 2
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The Cynic's Sandbox, v2.666................................. 2
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"The Free BBS".............................................. 4
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FIDONEWS? WHAT'S IT?........................................ 5
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Solving the Modem Init Problem.............................. 5
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3. Fidonews Information.......................................... 7
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========================================================================
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Editorial
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========================================================================
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FidoNews 10-22 Page: 2 31 May 1993
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It's that time of week again, and we have a fairly sparce
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issue. There is one article, however, that brings up a sore
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point.
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We are the *editors* of Fidonews. We are not the writers,
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nor are we the censors. By and large, we print the articles
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that we receive.
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An article this week complains that we do not print enough
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articles from Europe. If no-one in Europe submits an article,
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then we do not print anything from Europe ... it is that simple.
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We are quite willing to revise and re-write articles if the
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writer feels that their english is not good enough. We can also
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take a run at translating them, if time permits. Even a rough
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translation would be a big help as we do not get a lot of
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practice. Between us, we can read english, spanish, german,
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and french. Just give permission in a covering letter.
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The same thing goes for various subjects. About once per
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week, we get a complaint reading "why do you not have articles
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on ...". The answer is always the same ... "because no one
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wrote one. Would you like to write such an article?"
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Invariably, the letter writers never do.
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========================================================================
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Articles
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========================================================================
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The Cynic's Sandbox, v2.666
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R. Cynic
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Hey, kids! Been kicked out of Fight-O-Net? Got a sadistic NC?
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Ego-crazed moderators ruining your favorite echo? Join the
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club. Join the club and CLEAR YOUR NAME with the handy
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On-Line-Distributable Fight-O-Snooze Super Innocence Legal kit!
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The OLD FOSSIL (No relation to Ray Gwinn) consists of three
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must-have items.
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1) Sample Letter templates! Before the OLD FOSSIL, you were
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forced to come up with original insults, obvious examples
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of power abuse, and so many other difficult things.
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With the OLD FOSSIL, all you provide is a name and position!
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Insults are taken from a large database, and can be
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customized should you so desire!
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The output is a perfectly done statement of your innocence.
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Here's a sample!
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Dear Fight-O-Snooze readers:
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My _NC_, _Phil Cayton_ is a psychotic power-hungry dictator
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who has kicked me out of Fight-O-Net for no reason at all.
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FidoNews 10-22 Page: 3 31 May 1993
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I know that you all, as fair and right-thinking people will
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.
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.
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.
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Thank you for reading this note, and I hope that you'll join
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me in stringing my _NC_ up by the earlobes.
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Sincerly,
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The Good Guy
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See? A masterpiece of modern prose. And that's just ONE of
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the sample templates! Let's try another.
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Dear Fight-O-Snooze readers:
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The _moderator_, _Paul Stevens_, of my favorite echo,
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_PETCARE_, has kicked me out for no reason other than me
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occasionally posting about how I like to keep dead cats in
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plastic bags.
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I know that you all, as fair and right-thinking people will
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.
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.
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.
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Thank you for reading this note, and I hope that you'll join
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me in stringing the _moderator_ up by the kneecaps.
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Sincerly,
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The Good Guy
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But that's not all! The OLD FOSSIL also comes with:
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2) The R. Cynic FLAME DICTIONARY! Learn to POST IN ALL CAPS AND
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CALL PEOPLE SHEEP-MOLESTING NAZIS! Great for those ECHOMAIL
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chats! Imagine how much more powerful your posts can be!
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The R. Cynic FLAME DICTIONARY! also includes a section on
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how to claim that someone else was using your account to
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post insults! The invaluable accessory for today's Fight-O-
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Net junkie!
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3) The R. Cynic kit of BBS-crashin' ZIP files and VIRUSES! Does
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that nasty sheep-molestin' nazi NC automatically unzip and
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virus-scan ALL uploads? Just upload one of our special ZIP
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files which expands from under 100K to over 300 megs!
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They've filled your life with annoyance, so you fill their
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disk with ascii 0x07!
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For even more fun, just file-attach one of over TWENTY trojan
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horses and logic bombs! Featuring such classics as
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"RUNMENOW.COM" and the "Floppy-Dice-O-Matic" disk mangler,
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it's a package that's sure to be fun for the whole family!
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Remember - you're the GOOD GUY! You can take REVENGE! You can
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DENY EVERYTHING!
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FidoNews 10-22 Page: 4 31 May 1993
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Look for the OLD FOSSIL on a BBS near you!
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Next week:
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Dark Glasses, Dumb Ideas: The Cyberpunk Craze.
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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"The Free BBS"
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Brian McGroarty
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1:2210/7956
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I am starting a committee which will be developing and maintaining
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platform independent BBS software whose source-code and executables
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will belong to all members of the FidoNet community.
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Currently experienced sysops, programmers on all platforms and multi-
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lingual document writers who are willing to contribute services to
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such a project are asked to contact me with information on how they are
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willing to help or questions about the project.
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Volunteer programmers and consultants will be divided into groups
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covering C-based mailer and BBS orchestration, mailer communication
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protocol, file transfer protocols, database management (message bases,
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user records, node-list management, et cetera.), platform-specific
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communications and display routines, single-platform testing and
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everything else that makes a system work.
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The global portions of the system will be written in C or C++, while
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the platform-specific portions may be written in whatever language the
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programmers deem best.
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Platform-specific routines are planned for MS-DOS, MS-Windows/Windows
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NT, OS/2, the Amiga, the MacIntosh and Unix, although additional
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platforms would be entertained.
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By making the bulk of the system platform independant while creating
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powerful, high-performance system-specific support routines for as
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many platforms as possible we will be providing a powerful, new package
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which will make and keep FidoNet and the latest and greatest BBS
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features affordable and available to *everyone!*
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I hope that many of you will join me in this exciting venture, and I
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ask that you please pass this information along to other potential
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contributors.
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Hope to hear from you soon!
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FidoNews 10-22 Page: 5 31 May 1993
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FIDONEWS? WHAT'S IT?
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For years I've been reading FIDONEWS and asking myself: what's
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this about? I've read articles about every remote corner of USA;
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about all the problems American SysOps deal with; about lots and
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lots of ridiculous things for us, European SysOps. Did you
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think, any time, that there are Fidonet nodes all around the
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world that are not interested in The American SysOps'problems?
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That don't think like you? That do not live in your cultural,
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social, economical, political universe?
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For years we haven't, for a single issue, read one line about
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European nodes' problems. Do you know where Europe is? Do you
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know the world is not only the USA?
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FIDONET is all around the world, not only in America. We can't
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understand what you are writing, because you write about you, not
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FIDONET. I know I can't write plain english, or even understand
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American SysOps' problems because I'm not American. But can you
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write Portuguese?... or French, or German, or...
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For years I've laughed every week with each new issue of
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Fidonews: I couldn't understand what you want with it. Now I know:
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you are not able to see through your borders! It seems that you
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think America is the center of world! But it is not! I am here
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and am indifferent towards Americans, the American way of life,
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American problems, humor, likes and dislikes. Your problems are
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nothing to me! I don't care about what you think.
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We have our own problems, not yours. Why are we forced to read
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all this junk? I will never read it again! At least untill you
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publish articles on Fidonet, not on America. Please put this
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into your heads: Fidonet is all around the world, not only in
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America.
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by Joao Ledo
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IELINE BBS
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2:361/10
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Portugal
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----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Solving the Modem Init Problem
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by Donald Tees 221/192
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One of the most common problems that everyone seems to
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experience at one time or another, is getting a new modem and
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getting it set up correctly. Modem initialization strings not
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only have to be changed for the mailer and BBS, but for other
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various communications programs.
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With a new generation of high speed modems on its' way, the
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problem is about to start up again. Locally, a few of us have
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standardized on a methodology that I think deserves wider use.
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FidoNews 10-22 Page: 6 31 May 1993
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If a large number of people begin to set things up this way, the
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problem can be trivialized.
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The process consists of two parts. First of all, every
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program that uses the modem is set up to initialize by setting
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to the battery backed up settings. Secondly, a standard file to
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set the correct parameters into memory is created, and *played
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into the modem as an ASCII upload*. The second portion of this
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is the crucial one. Those text files can be created using a
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standard text editor, and sent arround the country like any
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other bit of software. Let me use my dual standard as an example.
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I have a file that looks like the following:
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AT&F ;set to factory defaults
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ATM3
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ATX7
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AT&A3
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AT&B1
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AT&A3
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AT&H1
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AT&K3
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AT&R2
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AT&Y0
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ATS2=255
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ATS7=120
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ATS10=30
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ATS11=50
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ATS13=4
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ATS28=40
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AT&W ;store that in the battery
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ATI4 ;confirm it on the screen
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When I switch to the dual-standard, I simply run Procomm, and
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upload that to the modem as an ASCII file. Nothing else
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changes. Within the Binkley configuration, my initialization is
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set to ATZ|ATM0|. My communiaction programs are all set as ATZ|.
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As a standard, I use the extension .MDM for modem files. I
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therefore have a HOST.MDM for my dual standard, a 2400.MDM for
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my backup modem, and a GANDALF.MDM for my spare 9600 baud
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gandalf modem. Switching between those is simple and fast.
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While I realize that most people use the "ATZ" trick for
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setting up their modems, having those files available is of real
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benefit. Not only can they be traded about, but they make life
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much easier if the modem setup is ever lost.
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As a closing thought, many of you probably rely on the
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batteries never going dead. You fiddled manually until you had
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the modem working, then left it. Well, the ATI4 command will
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usually display current settings. That display can be
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downloaded into a file, then edited into a file as shown above.
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Having your settings stored in a disk file can be a real
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life-saver if you ever get into a modem problem.
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FidoNews 10-22 Page: 7 31 May 1993
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========================================================================
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Fidonews Information
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========================================================================
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------- FIDONEWS MASTHEAD AND CONTACT INFORMATION ----------------
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Editors: Sylvia Maxwell, Donald Tees, Tim Pozar
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Editors Emeritii: Thom Henderson, Dale Lovell, Vince Perriello,
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Tom Jennings
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IMPORTANT NOTE: The FidoNet address of the FidoNews BBS has been
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changed!!! Please make a note of this.
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"FidoNews" BBS
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FidoNet 1:1/23
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BBS +1-519-570-4176, 300/1200/2400/14200/V.32bis/HST(DS)
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Internet addresses:
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Don & Sylvia (submission address)
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editor@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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Sylvia -- max@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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Donald -- donald@exlibris.tdkcs.waterloo.on.ca
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Tim -- pozar@kumr.lns.com
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(Postal Service mailing address) (have extreme patience)
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FidoNews
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172 Duke St. E.
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Kitchener, Ontario
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Canada
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N2H 1A7
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Published weekly by and for the members of the FidoNet international
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amateur electronic mail system. It is a compilation of individual
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articles contributed by their authors or their authorized agents. The
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contribution of articles to this compilation does not diminish the
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rights of the authors. Opinions expressed in these articles are those
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of the authors and not necessarily those of FidoNews.
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Authors retain copyright on individual works; otherwise FidoNews is
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copyright 1993 Sylvia Maxwell. All rights reserved. Duplication and/or
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distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only. For use in
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other circumstances, please contact the original authors, or FidoNews
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(we're easy).
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OBTAINING COPIES: The-most-recent-issue-ONLY of FidoNews in electronic
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form may be obtained from the FidoNews BBS via manual download or
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Wazoo FileRequest, or from various sites in the FidoNet and Internet.
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PRINTED COPIES may be obtained from Fido Software for $10.00US each
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PostPaid First Class within North America, or $13.00US elsewhere,
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mailed Air Mail. (US funds drawn upon a US bank only.)
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BACK ISSUES: Available from FidoNet nodes 1:102/138, 1:216/21,
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1:125/1212, (and probably others), via filerequest or download
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FidoNews 10-22 Page: 8 31 May 1993
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(consult a recent nodelist for phone numbers).
|
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A very nice index to the Tables of Contents to all FidoNews volumes
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can be filerequested from 1:396/1 or 1:216/21. The name(s) to request
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are FNEWSxTC.ZIP, where 'x' is the volume number; 1=1984, 2=1985...
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through 8=1991.
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INTERNET USERS: FidoNews is available via FTP from ftp.ieee.org, in
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directory ~ftp/pub/fidonet/fidonews. If you have questions regarding
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|||
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FidoNet, please direct them to deitch@gisatl.fidonet.org, not the
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|||
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FidoNews BBS. (Be kind and patient; David Deitch is generously
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volunteering to handle FidoNet/Internet questions.)
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SUBMISSIONS: You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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FidoNews. Article submission requirements are contained in the file
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ARTSPEC.DOC, available from the FidoNews BBS, or Wazoo filerequestable
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from 1:1/23 as file "ARTSPEC.DOC". Please read it.
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"Fido", "FidoNet" and the dog-with-diskette are U.S. registered
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trademarks of Tom Jennings, and are used with permission.
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Asked what he thought of Western civilization,
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M.K. Gandhi said, "I think it would be an excellent idea".
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-- END
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