261 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
261 lines
10 KiB
Plaintext
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FIDO(tm) CALLERS MANUAL
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(C)OPYRIGHT 1985 BY RICHARD LEVEY SYSOP FIDO 357
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DISTRIBUTION LICENSE GRANTED TO ALL FIDO SYSOPS
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The purpose of this manual is to provide all callers with a manual they are
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capable of understanding and using frequently, when they call a Fido bbs.
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Although Fido supports many different transfer protocols the average PClone
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user is better off using the MiniTel program written by Tom Jennings for
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his machine. While many different terminal programs can be used to call a
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Fido, MiniTel the simplest full-function terminal program with which to
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start. It is available in the PC-Comm file section.
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Calling into a Fido
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When you call into a Fido, the first thing you must do is set your terminal
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software for the proper communications protocols, or as with any other BBS,
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you will not get a good connection.
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The recommended protocol is as follows:
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Parity set to NONE. STOP Bits to 1. Word length to 8.
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These settings have been used on many different software packages while
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calling into Fido and they have always worked properly.
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Connecting with a Fido
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Assuming you have set the parameters correctly, and have dialed into your
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favorite Fido, you should now have some indication that the modem has
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connected.
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As soon as a connection is established, you will see the first welcome
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message. Most Fido's use a form of the picture of Fido, compliments of J.
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Madill, a Fido sysop. At the end of the welcome screen, you will be able
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to enter your first and last name for user verification.
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The prompt is usually " your FIRST name: "
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and
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" your LAST name: "
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You may string your entire name on the first line by simply seperating your
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first and last name with a space.
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What happens now depends on several items. If you are already in the user
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list, you will be promted for your password to be entered. If for some
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reason your password has become invalid since you last used it, try
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entering it at least 4 times. If it is still not good, then you will be
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given the chance to leave a message to the sysop. In this you should
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explain you had a valid password, and now it does not seem to work any
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more.
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If this is the first time you have called the system, again several things
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might occur depending on how the sysop has the system set up. I require
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users to answer a short list of questions before they have full access to
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my system. Other Sysops either run a fully open system or a closed system.
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If a system is closed, you will usually be given a list of questions to
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answer, and then advised when to call back to secure system access.
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Main Menu
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When you have finally gotten through the sign on procedure you will be
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faced with the Main Menu. I have included here an actual Main Menu from my
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system, and will document each command as we go along.
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MAIN Commands:
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M)sg-Section F)ile-Section G)oodbye
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S)tatistics B)ulletin C)hange U)ser-List
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E)ditorial V)ersion
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Main: M F G S A B Y C U E V or ? for help:
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and by typing a "?", you would now see the following screen appear:
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M A I N S E C T I O N
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+--------------------------------------+
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| M ... Enter the MESSAGE SECTION |
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| F ... Enter the FILES SECTION |
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| B ... Read the Bulletin |
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| E ... Read the Editorial |
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| G ... Goodbye (Logoff) |
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| S ... Statistics (time left, etc) |
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| C ... Change Help Level, Name, Nulls |
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| U ... List of Users |
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| V ... Fido Version |
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+--------------------------------------+
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When you see a prompt such as M(sg-section, you merely type the "M" to
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enter the message section, not the entire string "M(sg-section".
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I think that most of the commands are now self explanatory with the
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addition of the help screen. Most callers either are confused the first
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time they see the main menu, or just are intimidated by it.
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>>> YOU MUST HOWEVER UNDERSTAND THE FOLLOWING INFO <<<
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NOT EVERY ITEM IN THE HELP SCREEN MAY APPEAR IN THE MENU. THE SYSOP HAS
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THE OPTION OF INCLUDING ANY OR ALL OF THE ITEMS IN EACH USER ACCESS LEVEL.
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SO EVEN IF THE V COMMAND APPEARS IN THE HELP MENU, IF IT IS NOT ON THE MAIN
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MENU COMMAND LINE, THEN YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCESS TO THAT COMMAND.
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Lets enter the message section first and see what we have in the way of
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commands and options. Again I have included the actual message menu and
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help screen from my system for you to inspect.
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Msg Area #1: MESSAGE\
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A)rea-Change L)ist R)ead E)nter K)ill I)ndex
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S)tatistics G)oodbye M)ain-Menu
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Msg: A L R E K I S G M or ? for help: ?
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again, by typing a "?", you get the following help screen for your use.
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M E S S A G E S E C T I O N
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+--------------------------------------+
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| A ... Select a MESSAGE AREA |
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| M ... Return to MAIN SECTION |
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| L ... List of Messages |
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| R ... Read Messages |
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| E ... Enter a New Message |
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| K ... Kill (delete) a Message |
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| I ... Search messages |
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| S ... Statistics: List your Mail |
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| G ... Goodbye (logoff) |
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+--------------------------------------+
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Msg Area #1: MESSAGE\
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A)rea-Change L)ist R)ead E)nter K)ill I)ndex
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S)tatistics G)oodbye M)ain-Menu
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Msg: A L R E K I S G M or ? for help: A
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BY SELECTING THE A FOR AREA CHANGE YOU WOULD SEE THE FOLLOWING MENU OF
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AREAS YOU HAVE ACCESS TO.
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----- Message Areas -----
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1 ... Local Message Area
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2 ... VanPort Echomail
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10 ... * FidoNet Mail Area
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Area Number, or Q)uit
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At this point you would enter a message area number or Q to quit the
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selection process. Again you must remember that not every command will be
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available to you.
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Now lets enter an M to return to the main menu.
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Okay onward and upwards. Now lets go to the file area and inspect the menu
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and the help screen.
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File Area #4: IBMPC
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A)rea-Change L)ocate F)iles T)ype G)oodbye
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U)pload D)ownload S)tatistics M)ain-Menu
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File: A L F T G U D S M R or ? for help: ?
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Again, typing a "?" gives you the following help screen to guide you
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through the menu.
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F I L E S S E C T I O N
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+--------------------------------------+
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| A ... Change the FILE AREA |
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| M ... Quit to MAIN SECTION |
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| F ... List of Files |
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| L ... Locate a File or Files |
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| T ... Type (display) a File |
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| D ... Download (to you) |
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| U ... Upload a File or Files |
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| S ... Statistics: Disk Space, etc |
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| G ... Goodbye (logoff) |
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+--------------------------------------+
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As you can see most of the menus are really easy to use once you see the
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help menus associated with them.
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There are 2 commands in this area that warrant special attention from me at
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this time. They are download/upload and Statistics. Again we will show you
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the actual menus involved and then our comments on them.
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When you type either a U for upload or D for download you will see the
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following menu of transfer protocols.
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Transfer Type
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A ... Ascii K ... KERMIT
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X ... Xmodem XC ... Xmodem/CRC
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M ... Modem7 MC ... Modem7/CRC
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T ... Telink TC ... Telink/CRC
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? ... Help Q ... Quit
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A K X XC M MC T TC Q ?:
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You must at this point either select one of the above or Q for quit back to
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the file area menu.
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You must be sure of the protocols your terminal software is capable of
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before you reach this point. In the above lsit Modem7 refers to A TYPE OF
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TRANSFER -NOT A PROGRAM NAME !!!!!!
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The best protocol is Telelink/CRC. Since the Minitel program is required
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for Telelink transfers, and was written especially for that, it makes the
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most efficient use of the Fido file transfer routines.
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The next screen is from the file menu when you select the S option for
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statistics.
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45222961 bytes total disk space, 35632291 bytes free.
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1 Mar 85 11:24:45, on for 1:37 mins.
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Your 9th call
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| Total Today Limit Left
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------------+------------------------
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Downloaded: | 996 50 50 0 Kbytes
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Uploaded: | 0 0 Kbytes
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This call: | 235 35 50 15 Min.
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Per 48 Hrs: | 0 0 0 Min.
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The above chart is from one of my not so favorite callers. As you can see
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he has download almost 1 MILLION bytes of software and uploaded NONE. You
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can see exactly how much time you have left at any given time you call, and
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where you are in regards to any limits on downloads and uploads. So if you
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ever need to know the limits before you attempt a download or an upload,
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this is how you will find out.
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Back at the main menu, lets explore one more command that everyone seems to
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have problems with. It is the C for change command. Below please find an
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example menu when you type C from the main menu.
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----- Change User -----
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You have $5.50 credit, $0.35 charges pending (Fidomail)
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U)ser name : Tom Smith
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C)ity, ST : New York Ny
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P)assword : A0L12SDC (don't bother I changed it)
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H)elp Level: NOVICE
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----- Your Screen -----
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N)ulls : 0
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"M)ore?" : ON
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W)idth : 80 columns
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L)ength : 24 lines
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T)abs : OFF
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CHANGE Commands:
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C)ity P)assword H)elp-Level
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N)ulls W)idth L)ength T)abs M)ore Q)uit
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CHANGE: U C P H N W L T M Q or ? for help: Q
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You have the option to change the above information as you see fit. The
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items in parenthesis above are comments I added to make things clear to
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you.
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What is FidoMail?, is a frequent feedback question I get.
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FidoMail is an integral part of the Fido BBS system. It allows you to send
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and receive messages to/from any of the other Fido systems around the world
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today (see list in the General file section). You can send for example a 7K
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letter and or program from one Fido to another for a charge of about 30
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cents. What do I mean by a charge ? CONTACT your local Fido sysop and he
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will will explain his policy on Fidomail. I charge my callers a flat rate
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of 33 cents for each Fido mail sent. This is based on information provided
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to me from the phone company, and each Fido sysop can set the rates as he
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sees fit for his particular area. The messages are delivered overnight in
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95% of the cases, and unless a Fido is down, delivery is assured within 2
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days. This allows people to send and receive mail with little expense and
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maximum speed.
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If you are interested in running a Fido yourself, you can download the
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version for your computer from this Fido's Archive.
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