853 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
853 lines
41 KiB
Plaintext
|
Volume 4, Number 42 16 November 1987
|
|||
|
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
| _ |
|
|||
|
| / \ |
|
|||
|
| /|oo \ |
|
|||
|
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
|
|||
|
| _`@/_ \ _ |
|
|||
|
| International | | \ \\ |
|
|||
|
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
|
|||
|
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
|
|||
|
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
|
|||
|
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
|
|||
|
| (jm) |
|
|||
|
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|
|||
|
Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
|
|||
|
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
|
|||
|
Contributing Editors: Dale Lovell, Al Arango
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
|
|||
|
Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
|
|||
|
submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
|
|||
|
standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
|
|||
|
node 1:1/1.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Copyright 1987 by the International FidoNet Association. All
|
|||
|
rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
|
|||
|
noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
|
|||
|
please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Table of Contents
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
|
|||
|
PCjr Lives On - In EchoMail S.I.G.! ...................... 1
|
|||
|
SEA Letter: MGMlink ...................................... 3
|
|||
|
Voyager 1's Problems ..................................... 5
|
|||
|
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 9
|
|||
|
The Regular Irregular Column ............................. 9
|
|||
|
3. NOTICES .................................................. 14
|
|||
|
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 14
|
|||
|
Latest Software Versions ................................. 14
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 1 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
ARTICLES
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Phil Kaiser and Dan Osborn
|
|||
|
104/904 & Jr-Msg
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The EchoMail areas have become "Special Interest Group"
|
|||
|
mail areas carrying help and information about various
|
|||
|
interests to users around the "world." The IBM-PCjr is
|
|||
|
just one of those Special Interest Groups. Here are some
|
|||
|
"bits" taken from that echomail area: Jr-Msg.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There are about 400,000 PCjrs floating around the United
|
|||
|
States and Canada. Many said "It'll never make it"..
|
|||
|
"You can't do anything with it", "It's too expensive to
|
|||
|
Expand".....etc..... Well, IBM continues to supply parts
|
|||
|
and support for the PCjr. There are software packages that
|
|||
|
make use of PCjr's superior graphics abilities (comparable
|
|||
|
to EGA). Those with EGA can now see 16 colors in Hi-Res...
|
|||
|
the PCjr owners have seen them since day one.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
It was noted that the PCjr has a better monitor than the
|
|||
|
regular PC and there have been discussions of how to
|
|||
|
attach the PCjr monitors to PC and XT's. Possibly even to
|
|||
|
an EGA card. No facts on the EGA card (yet).
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
During 1986-87, several developments occurred that
|
|||
|
keep the Junior in the mainstream of the MS/PC DOS
|
|||
|
world. These same developments have been discussed
|
|||
|
in the echomail area called Jr-Msg.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The supposed maximum rate of data transmission for the
|
|||
|
Junior was 4800 bps .. but, a data transmission rate of
|
|||
|
over 10,000 bps using a NULL modem cable was discovered
|
|||
|
by one of the users and posted in Jr-Msg. Nothing new for
|
|||
|
a PC or XT owner, but supposed to be impossible for a PCjr.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
One company released a 9600 baud Serial Card. Think we knew
|
|||
|
about that last year. Telebit and USR, here we come!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Jr's single disk drive caused many people to
|
|||
|
ignore it when looking for an inexpensive 8088 based machine.
|
|||
|
But, during the last year a way to attach Bernouli Boxes
|
|||
|
to the Jr made it into an attractive starting point for
|
|||
|
someone wanting to develop a system "a little at a time."
|
|||
|
We already knew that we could put anything up to a 70Mb drive
|
|||
|
on Jr. Now, how about the optical disk?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The 4.27 mhz clock speed made the Junior seem like the
|
|||
|
slowest thing around, especially since the memory on the
|
|||
|
motherboard has wait states bringing the Norton speed
|
|||
|
rating to .7 of a normal PC. However in the last year
|
|||
|
several people have discovered ways of increasing the
|
|||
|
CPU speed. There are upgrade kits for less than $100
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 2 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
that will take the PCjr to 8 mhz and there are rumors
|
|||
|
around that there are some jrs "out there" running at
|
|||
|
20mhz! (Some of these were at IBM).
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Software incompatibilities have been a bane to PCjr
|
|||
|
users, especially those who wanted to bring their work
|
|||
|
home. There have been notes in Jr-Msg (the PCjr echo area)
|
|||
|
on fixes to run DBase III+, MS QuickBasic 3 and Auto-CAD
|
|||
|
on the PCjr.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I think what we are getting at is The PCjr is alive and well
|
|||
|
in the world of PC's, XT's and AT's (as well as all the clones).
|
|||
|
If you have a PCjr and really WANT to know more about it, what
|
|||
|
you CAN do with it or just what OTHERS have done with it....
|
|||
|
we would like you or your PCjr users to "join" us on Jr-Msg.
|
|||
|
Ask your Regional Echomail Co-Ordinator to "pick-up" Jr-Msg from
|
|||
|
the National Backbone. - OR - Contact Matt Mayer at 115/212
|
|||
|
or Phil Kaiser at 104/904.....and join us "Direct".
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 3 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Kilgore Trout, 1:107/6
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
What's Happening at SEA?
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
How often have you gone searching for a link to some conference
|
|||
|
you've heard of? Even worse, have you ever painstakingly located
|
|||
|
a conference link, just to find that someone you swap echomail
|
|||
|
with daily had it all along? Don't you wish there was some easy
|
|||
|
way to automate all that? Well, there is!
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
MGMlink was written to locate new conference links over existing
|
|||
|
channels. It works on the assumption that you'd rather add some
|
|||
|
more traffic to an existing phone call than to make another call.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
MGMlink is essentially a query system for a remote data base.
|
|||
|
The data base it queries is that massive, thinly-spread data base
|
|||
|
on conference topology that is stored collectively in in
|
|||
|
everyone's AREAS.BBS files. Here's how it works:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Let's say there's some conference called STAMPS dedicated to
|
|||
|
stamp collectors. You, being an avid philatelist, would like
|
|||
|
to get it. So you type the command:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
mgmlink stamps
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
MGMlink will create a netmail message to everyone you now do
|
|||
|
echomail with, asking for a path to the STAMPS conference.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Suppose one of those people is Gee Wong, who carries the
|
|||
|
STAMPS conference. Every day he invokes MGMlink in an
|
|||
|
external event. His MGMlink will automatically create a
|
|||
|
netmail message to you telling you that he has STAMPS and can
|
|||
|
pass it to you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Let's make that example a little tougher. Suppose Gee
|
|||
|
doesn't have STAMPS; now what happens? Well, if Gee has told
|
|||
|
his MGMlink that he's willing to add new conferences if
|
|||
|
people want them, then his MGMlink will create a new query to
|
|||
|
everyone he does echomail with.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Suppose one of those people is Dave O'Shea, an ardent
|
|||
|
philatelist who would not be caught dead without his STAMPS
|
|||
|
conference. His MGMlink will respond to the query by sending
|
|||
|
you a netmail message telling you that he has STAMPS, and he
|
|||
|
can send it to Gee, who can pass it to you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The harder case shows the real power of MGMlink. It can locate
|
|||
|
an indirect link like that through any number of middlemen. What
|
|||
|
MGMlink is actually doing is tracing backwards through your
|
|||
|
echomail links until it finds a source.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
This starts to sound like an awful lot of MGMlink query messages
|
|||
|
floating around, but it's not that bad. Several things limit how
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 4 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
far an MGMlink query can propagate.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
One, of course, is that not everyone is running MGMlink, but this
|
|||
|
could change.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Another is that few people will be willing to act as a "backbone
|
|||
|
node" and add new conferences just to pass them through to
|
|||
|
others. If you tell MGMlink that you don't want to add new
|
|||
|
conferences, then any query that reaches you will be stopped
|
|||
|
cold.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Another is that MGMlink keeps track of "side chains", so that
|
|||
|
nobody should ever get more than one copy of any given MGMlink
|
|||
|
query message.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And finally you can tell MGMlink to send a query only to certain
|
|||
|
nodes. Suppose, for example, that you get tons and tones of
|
|||
|
echomail from three people, and then pass it on to a dozen
|
|||
|
others, with very little going the other way. You can tell
|
|||
|
MGMlink to limit queries to the three "upstream" nodes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Who should run MGMlink? Anyone who wants to be a "backbone"
|
|||
|
node, passing along conferences to help out those around them,
|
|||
|
and anyone who is trying to promote a conference should look into
|
|||
|
MGMlink.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Do you need to use MGM to use MGMlink? Of course not. We
|
|||
|
believe in modular programming. Every program in the MGM system
|
|||
|
is written to do a specific task, and to be useable as a stand-
|
|||
|
alone utility to accomplish that task. MGMlink in particular
|
|||
|
will work with any popular PC conferencing system (including
|
|||
|
EchoMail, Confmail, Opus, and even TBBS), because MGMlink queries
|
|||
|
and answers move as normal network mail.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Products mentioned in this article may be file requested from
|
|||
|
1:107/6 at any time outside of National Mail Hour, or may be
|
|||
|
downloaded from the SEA customer support board at (201) 473-1991.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Product Filename to request
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
MGMlink 1.10 MGMLINK.ARC
|
|||
|
MGMlink documentation MGMDOCS.ARC
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 5 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Fredric Rice, 200/3
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Voyager 1's Problems
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
And you thought your computer was flakey. Here is a story about
|
|||
|
mans greatest probe ever launched into space and its flakes.
|
|||
|
This is an actual account of Voyager 1 and the problems it
|
|||
|
encountered December 13'th, 1979. Written by Fredric L. Rice,
|
|||
|
August 1985. Original reference material may be found at
|
|||
|
Griffith Observatory, located at 2800 East Observatorty Road, Los
|
|||
|
Angeles, California. 90027. Request back issue of Griffith
|
|||
|
Observer, May 1980. Page 11 for Stephen S. Fentress, "Lost In
|
|||
|
Space". Direct requests to Dr. Edwin C. Krupp and staff. You may
|
|||
|
aquire subscriptions to the Griffith Observer through the same
|
|||
|
address. It provides a great quantity of understandable
|
|||
|
information concerning astronomy.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There is a concept making the rounds describing the attitude of
|
|||
|
electronic equipment when it decides to do something out of the
|
|||
|
ordinary, by itself, without being asked to. The concept is
|
|||
|
titled "Digi-nerds". It may include just about anything you care
|
|||
|
to name. It strikes once, leaving much damage.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The cause of digi-nerds is not known. Perhaps cosmic rays, which
|
|||
|
bombard us constantly, strike our equipment, mutating a zero into
|
|||
|
a one, or a one into a zero. The result may never be noticed, or
|
|||
|
it may spell disaster for your bank account.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When Voyager 1 completed its mid-course correction, December
|
|||
|
13'th, 1979, it met up with a digi-nerd at 48,000 miles an hour,
|
|||
|
and 619 million miles from home.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The course correction required a 37 minute burn to effect a
|
|||
|
change in speed of eleven miles an hour. During that time, the
|
|||
|
radio dish had to be turned away from its Earth-Line so that the
|
|||
|
engine would be aligned according to its flight plan. The Voyager
|
|||
|
vehicles were designed to carry out complicated maneuvers like
|
|||
|
this without requiring any instructions from Earth.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
All went according to plan; Saturn had been treated to a rare and
|
|||
|
beautiful sight of a new star tracking through its distant skys.
|
|||
|
After the main burn, an inhabitant of Saturn, (if he had had a
|
|||
|
good telescope), might have seen some additional flashes as
|
|||
|
Voyager attempted to realign itself to its Earth-Line using its
|
|||
|
attitude control thrusters.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Voyager 1 regains its Earth orientation by locating the Sun and
|
|||
|
the star Canopus. When the Sun tracker is locked onto the Sun,
|
|||
|
and the star tracker is locked onto Canopus, the radio disk is
|
|||
|
aligned exactly at Earth. When contact was not restored at 3:13
|
|||
|
p.m. P.S.T. on December 13, it was known that something had gone
|
|||
|
wrong.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
To find the Sun, the vehicle rotates itself a few degrees at a
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 6 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
time until the Sun tracker lockes onto the Sun. There is only
|
|||
|
one stellar object that can be as bright at the Sun, (even at 711
|
|||
|
million miles the Sun is an impressive sight). When the Sun is
|
|||
|
positivly identified, the vehicle rotates itself along another
|
|||
|
axis until the star tracker locates Canopus.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Deep Space Network Antenna located in Madrid heard a faint
|
|||
|
signal from Voyager. This gave the scientist the idea that the
|
|||
|
probe was basicly healthy but somehow simply misaligned. Even if
|
|||
|
this be the case, if the device was too badly misaligned, it
|
|||
|
might not be able to read a command from Earth telling it how to
|
|||
|
find Earth again.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Voyager 1 was on the verge of being lost forever. Adrift in the
|
|||
|
heavens with no possibility of being recovered. Unable to report
|
|||
|
its posistion and the cause of its ailments.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Dr. Jones and his Spacecraft Team knew that Alpha Centauri and
|
|||
|
Rigel could deceive the star tracker. Based on the possibility
|
|||
|
that one of these stars was locked onto, the team beamed
|
|||
|
instructions through the Deep Space Network at Madrid to the lost
|
|||
|
spacecraft in the hopes that a strong enough signal could be
|
|||
|
read. Dr. Jones directed the spacecraft to align itself with the
|
|||
|
assumption that it was locked onto Alpha Centauri.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Voyager 1 did receive the instructions, and it did attempt to
|
|||
|
realign itself according to its new instructions. Alpha Centauri
|
|||
|
was the wrong star. Radio contact was not improved after the
|
|||
|
spacecraft completed its instructions.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Next, Voyager was instructed to realign itself base on the
|
|||
|
assumption it was locked onto Rigel. This did not improve radio
|
|||
|
reception, causing much disappointment to the Spacecraft Team.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Though they did not know what star Voyager was locked on, they
|
|||
|
did know that from its point of view the Sun and Earth appeared
|
|||
|
eight degrees apart. If the spacecraft could be made to wobble
|
|||
|
out an eight degree cone, the signal from the spacecraft could be
|
|||
|
made to sweep accross the Earth every now and then, and they
|
|||
|
would be able to learn more information about where the
|
|||
|
spacecraft was pointing.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The maneuver worked. On December 16'th, almost complete contact
|
|||
|
was regained through the Canberra, Australia, tracking station.
|
|||
|
Total loss of signal time exceeded 71 hours. In order to learn
|
|||
|
why the spacecraft has gone astray, Dr. Jones and his team
|
|||
|
ordered it to replay all information it had on what had happened
|
|||
|
for the last three days. Records showed an error in
|
|||
|
communications between two on board computers, and there was
|
|||
|
nothing showing to restrict another attempt to regain normal
|
|||
|
contact. The spacecraft was instructed to go through its Earth-
|
|||
|
Find maneuver December 19'th, and on December 20'th, Voyager was
|
|||
|
again in full contact with the Earth.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Reconstruction of the detailed data Voyager offered showed that
|
|||
|
the spacecrafts master computer had ordered a secondary computer
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 7 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
to shut down the engines at the end of the course correction.
|
|||
|
Commands such as this are requested twice, and it was the second
|
|||
|
instruction that got garbled between the two computers. The
|
|||
|
first instruction had indeed shut down the engines yet the second
|
|||
|
corrupted instruction was not understood by the secondary
|
|||
|
computer. This computer reported the strange instruction to the
|
|||
|
master computer who declaired an abort.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
When a spacecraft abort is executed, all operations are thrown
|
|||
|
away and the Earth-Find maneuver is executed. Voyager did this,
|
|||
|
and in fact did find the Sun. It was while the spacecraft was on
|
|||
|
its search for Canopus that another emergency was detected.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The attitude control system reported a leak in the primary
|
|||
|
thrusters. Actually, the master computer had requested from 1026
|
|||
|
to 1094 "shots" from the attitude control thrusters, while the
|
|||
|
attitude control computer interprets more than 1000 as evidence
|
|||
|
of a leak. It reported a problem and the star search was aborted.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
So there it stood, with only a minimal contact with Earth; its
|
|||
|
star tracker not pointing at any known object. The spacecraft
|
|||
|
was compleatly healthy but for no known reason a garbled
|
|||
|
transmission from the master computer to the slave had triggered
|
|||
|
an emergency.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
There had been more than five hundred thousand instructions to
|
|||
|
cross its data bus, and it had already executed six previous
|
|||
|
Earth Find maneuvers.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Sometimes our failures turn out to be our biggest triumphs. To
|
|||
|
defeat a problem which might end our achievements is a better
|
|||
|
boost to our moral than the defeating of a known hazard,
|
|||
|
(Remember Apolo 13 and the problems circumvented by those
|
|||
|
aboard).
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The space shuttle will no doubt encounter digi-nerds on one of
|
|||
|
its many scheduled flights. We can only hope it wont be over 600
|
|||
|
million miles away when it does.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Additional information:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1) Voyager 1 was 56 light minutes away when the emergency
|
|||
|
started.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
2) Using the Earth-Find maneuver, the entire sky can be
|
|||
|
searched in about four hours, eighteen minutes.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
3) Voyager 2 will encounter Uranus in 1986, and Neptune in
|
|||
|
1989.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Stephen S. Fentress suggests additional reading:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 8 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1) Edelson, R. E. et al. , "Voyager Telecommunications: The
|
|||
|
Broadcast From Jupiter", Science, 204, 913, (June 1979).
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
For information on the Holmann transfer, read:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
1) Melbourne, W. G., "Navigation Between the Planets", Scientific
|
|||
|
American, 234, 58, (June 1976). [Authors note: If you want to
|
|||
|
read "Navigation", don't forget your calculator and paper.
|
|||
|
This article offers simple formula that is fun to try].
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
---
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Authors notes:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Griffith Observer is a publication that everyone who is
|
|||
|
interested in astronomy should subscribe to. At the time of
|
|||
|
this articles release into the Public Domain, 12 issues of the
|
|||
|
Griffith Observer were going for $5.00. This money, after
|
|||
|
paying for the publication costs, goes towards the "Friends of
|
|||
|
the Observatory" fund. Edwin C. Krupp, who manages the
|
|||
|
building, (who also hosted the series "Project Universe" that
|
|||
|
you have probibly seen on public television), uses the money
|
|||
|
to maintain the observatory. If you want additional
|
|||
|
information, contact Mr. Krupp by U. S. Snail, or send Fido-
|
|||
|
Mail to Fredric Rice (200/3), and I can deliver informational
|
|||
|
requests for you.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 9 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
COLUMNS
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-- The Regular Irregular Column --
|
|||
|
Dale Lovell
|
|||
|
157/504
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Well, this column has finally become a little irregular.
|
|||
|
Unfortunately this hasn't been by design. Between trying out Fido
|
|||
|
version 12 and some programming projects for local companies, I
|
|||
|
just haven't had the time to write this long overdue column.
|
|||
|
Hopefully things will become somewhat more regular over the next
|
|||
|
few weeks.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Several weeks ago someone wanted an unbiased opinion on Fido
|
|||
|
12, and in Thom Henderson's reply was a thinly veiled hint to me.
|
|||
|
Thom was aware that I had picked it up from TJ at FidoCon and
|
|||
|
here is the long overdue review.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-- Fido version 12 (Fido Software, $150.00) --
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
First off, Fido is no longer shareware. Up until FidoCon,
|
|||
|
there were still some questions on how it was going to work
|
|||
|
(software free but not the manuals for example). Everything is
|
|||
|
now purchased from Fido Software. Registered owners of Fido will
|
|||
|
be given a discount on version 12, but it will cost anyone else
|
|||
|
$150.00. That includes the software and documentation, you will
|
|||
|
not be able to download the software from any bulletin boards. I
|
|||
|
am happy to report that the money is well worth it! Fido 12 is a
|
|||
|
definite step forward for Fido, and at the same time retains the
|
|||
|
flavor of Fido. Some of the most noticeable improvements are the
|
|||
|
implementation of locks and keys, and ASCII files replacing
|
|||
|
several BBS files and command line switches. In order to support
|
|||
|
non-IBM users, Fido 12 does not directly support any of the
|
|||
|
graphics like Opus. The graphics are still much the same as it
|
|||
|
was in 11w, so some of you will be disappointed. I myself support
|
|||
|
TJ in this, if for no other reason than graphics slow down a
|
|||
|
system. I'm also more impressed with the content of a board
|
|||
|
rather than how cute it can be made to look.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
One of the first things I noticed is the ease in setting up
|
|||
|
the message areas (file areas are just as easy). You no longer
|
|||
|
have to keep bringing Fido up in the test mode or use SYSEDIT to
|
|||
|
add, delete or change a message area. Everything is controlled in
|
|||
|
an ASCII file called AREAS.INI. Since Fido 12 doesn't use the
|
|||
|
SYSTEM??.BBS files it allows up to 200 message and file areas.
|
|||
|
EchoMail junkies should love this feature as more and more
|
|||
|
conferences become available. Fido 12 will be the only software
|
|||
|
that will allow this many message areas. Also introduced into
|
|||
|
Fido 12 is the concept of locks and keys. In addition to needing
|
|||
|
a high enough privilege level, you also need to have the proper
|
|||
|
key. You can assign each user his keys through the sysop utility
|
|||
|
and they do not have to relate to specific privilege levels
|
|||
|
(which would have been redundant). Their are 32 keys available
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 10 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
and this should help out immensely with maintaining a board. Keys
|
|||
|
can be used on both file and message areas as well as the menu
|
|||
|
commands. File areas are also set up in the AREAS.INI file with
|
|||
|
just as much control.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
All of the commands are contained in an ASCII file. Because
|
|||
|
of this, you can change the command names (just make sure you
|
|||
|
keep everything in order). The manual warns against changing them
|
|||
|
for the obvious reason that it makes it hard on the users. With
|
|||
|
all the Fido boards out there it would be inconsiderate to change
|
|||
|
any of the commands without good reason. Once again I have to
|
|||
|
agree with Fido Software, a standardized command set is an asset
|
|||
|
to the bulletin board community. I've even made my TBBS commands
|
|||
|
almost identical to Fido's (of course there were a few things I
|
|||
|
changed to make things easier on me). If you do change the
|
|||
|
command names, make sure you change the help files as well (there
|
|||
|
are about half a dozen help files included). Right now the only
|
|||
|
good reason I could think of for changing the commands is support
|
|||
|
of foreign languages (I'm nearly positive that G)oodbye doesn't
|
|||
|
mean a thing to many FidoNet users scattered throughout Europe!).
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
I'm very supportive of the locks and keys concept. I first
|
|||
|
"discovered" this idea in the authorization flags in TBBS and I
|
|||
|
feel they can be a great asset to a BBS program. Since locks and
|
|||
|
keys don't affect things like download and time limits, it can
|
|||
|
allow a sysop to create different levels of access without
|
|||
|
granting them all out. A good example of this would be other
|
|||
|
sysops calling your system. You might not want to give them any
|
|||
|
more time than a normal caller, but you might want to allow them
|
|||
|
access to additional message or file areas. Using a lock on these
|
|||
|
new areas, you can give them the same privilege level as your
|
|||
|
normal users but only give the other sysops the key needed for
|
|||
|
these areas. This makes it easy for one system to become a local
|
|||
|
center for sysops in some of the large sysop only conferences
|
|||
|
without inviting additional trouble from them "hogging" the
|
|||
|
bulletin board.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Bulletins can often be a great asset in a bulletin board
|
|||
|
program. They can be used for an easy way to give users a list of
|
|||
|
other local bulletin boards (without having to give them download
|
|||
|
privileges), a community bulletin, a list board policies, giving
|
|||
|
public notice of those who have contributed to a board,or even
|
|||
|
help defray the boards operating expenses through advertising
|
|||
|
(I've seen bulletins used for all of these purposes). Fido 12
|
|||
|
makes a big improvement over Fido 11 by allowing up to 99
|
|||
|
bulletins (as opposed to 1 in Fido 11w). Instead of just
|
|||
|
displaying the EDTORIAL.BBS file, Fido 12 will lists the first
|
|||
|
non-blank line of each BULLETIN.n file and gives the user a
|
|||
|
chance to choose which bulletin he would like to read. I've
|
|||
|
always viewed Fido's one bulletin limit as a serious limitation
|
|||
|
and am very happy to see this go by the wayside.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Overall, I'm very pleased with how Fido 12 has turned out. I
|
|||
|
was somewhat afraid that it would barely resemble the Fido many
|
|||
|
of us have come to know. Fido Software has managed to enhance and
|
|||
|
improve Fido, while keeping it familiar. Replacing the system
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 11 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
files and command line switches with the ASCII files will be one
|
|||
|
of the biggest advantages of Fido 12 (there's a new command that
|
|||
|
will let you override the file path if you want to do some remote
|
|||
|
upkeep). The locks and keys are another nice addition to Fido. TJ
|
|||
|
has made a product that is easily worth the asking price. If
|
|||
|
you've been looking for an improved Fido and Opus just didn't
|
|||
|
seem like the right thing, rest easy and get version 12 from Fido
|
|||
|
Software. I don't think you'll regret the decision.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-- more on TBBS 2.0(S/M) --
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
In playing around with TBBS, I discovered a command that
|
|||
|
many of you may find appealing. eSoft calls it a combined message
|
|||
|
board read, I call it gang reading. In all their are three
|
|||
|
commands; a select, a scan, and a read. Every time a user calls
|
|||
|
up, TBBS "selects" all the message areas for combined reading and
|
|||
|
scanning. Using the select command, they can turn off (and back
|
|||
|
on) any of the "ganged areas". If they choose to scan the
|
|||
|
combined areas, they can mark messages they want to read later
|
|||
|
(by telling the combined read to only show messages that have
|
|||
|
been marked). Some of the different ways to read messages include
|
|||
|
forward, reverse, new messages, and marked messages. Echomail
|
|||
|
junkies should love this feature as they can see everything with
|
|||
|
only a few key strokes (assuming they don't pause, but have a
|
|||
|
capture buffer filling somewhere). I've been using it myself for
|
|||
|
the past week and it does make it convenient.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The only drawback I can see is that it could allow someone
|
|||
|
access to a message base they normally wouldn't see. The combined
|
|||
|
message base commands work off of the minimum privilege levels
|
|||
|
and necessary authorization flags you created in the
|
|||
|
configuration editor. I can see how someone might accidentally
|
|||
|
block off a menu with the authorization flags and not worry about
|
|||
|
the message bases that could branch off. If the flags weren't
|
|||
|
duplicated in the message area definition, it could create a
|
|||
|
loophole for the users. Of course this could also be a kind of
|
|||
|
semi-hidden or undocumented part of a board, but I'd consider it
|
|||
|
bad form.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The other new feature I discovered is in the pseudo
|
|||
|
directory files. Pseudo-directories are lists of files that can
|
|||
|
be downloaded. One of the first advantages I discovered is that
|
|||
|
you can define where a file is, and how it should be listed. This
|
|||
|
has allowed me to put ARC at the top of every file area with the
|
|||
|
message "You will need this program to use any of the files
|
|||
|
listed below" without having to have duplicate copies of ARC. You
|
|||
|
can easily have the same file listed several times (and under
|
|||
|
different "names" to your users) in different areas. It could
|
|||
|
also be used to create a master download command on any menu. If
|
|||
|
you copied all of your pseudo-directories into one large pseudo-
|
|||
|
directory, someone could download any program without having to
|
|||
|
remember which file area they should be in. This way you'd get
|
|||
|
the benefits of having organized file areas, but still allowing
|
|||
|
someone to download any file without having to worry if they're
|
|||
|
in the correct file area. For awhile this seemed to mean some
|
|||
|
extra work, until I discovered a real gem in how TBBS manages
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 12 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
pseudo-directories. It seems that they are self-cleaning. If you
|
|||
|
delete a file on the hard drive, when TBBS next lists the pseudo-
|
|||
|
directory it will remove any filenames and descriptions if the
|
|||
|
file does not exist. No more checking to see what lines have to
|
|||
|
be deleted, it's all done for you. I'm still discovering things
|
|||
|
about TBBS, and so far it has only enhanced my appreciation of
|
|||
|
it. I'm even more convinced that it's the only way to go for
|
|||
|
multi-line operation.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-- Winding down... --
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Sierra On-Line recently released an new arcade style game
|
|||
|
they imported from Japan. When I made one of my regular visits to
|
|||
|
a local computer store, I was able to see a demo of the game.
|
|||
|
Needless to say, I left the store with a brand new game. It's
|
|||
|
called Thexder (Sierra On-Line, $34.95) and can be very
|
|||
|
addicting. It works with any color graphics card, but doesn't
|
|||
|
really shine unless you have an EGA adapter. Under EGA the colors
|
|||
|
are phenomenal, yet it runs well on any speed machine. The object
|
|||
|
is to get through 16 different levels. Each level has no
|
|||
|
resemblance to any of the other levels (at least up through the
|
|||
|
first four levels) and you have to use unique strategies to
|
|||
|
successfully complete each level. You refuel by completing a
|
|||
|
level without using your shields and by destroying certain
|
|||
|
denizens of the place. Knowing when to run and when to shoot is
|
|||
|
almost half the battle (the other half is knowing what to
|
|||
|
ignore). If you have a joystick Thexder will let you use it, but
|
|||
|
I'd advise sticking to the keyboard. My only complaint is that it
|
|||
|
doesn't support Hercules monochrome (thankfully I've got the EGA
|
|||
|
Wonder to take care of things for me). Arcade game fanatics
|
|||
|
should get many days of enjoyment out of it. Next time around
|
|||
|
I've got another of Sierra's new programs that's a little more
|
|||
|
text/adventure based.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
As always I would like to hear your reactions and comments
|
|||
|
on my column. If there's something you think I've missed in a
|
|||
|
review or something you believe I should look into just drop me a
|
|||
|
line. I try to answer all of the mail that I receive, although
|
|||
|
sometime it may take awhile. Below you'll find my home, Usenet,
|
|||
|
and FidoNet addresses. If you're sending me a message through
|
|||
|
FidoNet, please mention to your sysop that mail to me must be
|
|||
|
routed through 157/1 since I'm a private node.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Dale Lovell
|
|||
|
3266 Vezber Drive
|
|||
|
Seven Hills, OH 44131
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNet 1:157/504.1
|
|||
|
uucp:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
decvax\
|
|||
|
>!cwruecmp!hal\
|
|||
|
cbosgd/ \
|
|||
|
>!ncoast!lovell
|
|||
|
ames\ /
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 13 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
talcott \ /
|
|||
|
>!necntc/
|
|||
|
harvard /
|
|||
|
sri-nic/
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 14 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
NOTICES
|
|||
|
=================================================================
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The Interrupt Stack
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
7 Dec 1987
|
|||
|
Start of the Digital Equipment Users Society meeting in
|
|||
|
Anaheim, CA. Contact Mark Buda at 1:132/777 for details.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
24 Aug 1989
|
|||
|
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
|||
|
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Latest Software Versions
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
BBS Systems Node List Other
|
|||
|
& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Dutchie 2.71* EditNL 3.3 ARC 5.21
|
|||
|
Fido 12d* MakeNL 1.10 ARCmail 1.1*
|
|||
|
Opus 1.03a Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.2*
|
|||
|
SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.84 EchoMail 1.31
|
|||
|
TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1*
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
* 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 4-42 Page 15 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
__
|
|||
|
The World's First / \
|
|||
|
BBS Network /|oo \
|
|||
|
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
|
|||
|
_`@/_ \ _
|
|||
|
| | \ \\
|
|||
|
| (*) | \ ))
|
|||
|
______ |__U__| / \//
|
|||
|
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
|
|||
|
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm)
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
|
|||
|
pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the
|
|||
|
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
|
|||
|
increase worldwide communications. **
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Name _________________________________ Date ________
|
|||
|
Address ______________________________
|
|||
|
City & State _________________________
|
|||
|
Country_______________________________
|
|||
|
Phone (Voice) ________________________
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Net/Node Number ______________________
|
|||
|
Board Name____________________________
|
|||
|
Phone (Data) _________________________
|
|||
|
Baud Rate Supported___________________
|
|||
|
Board Restrictions____________________
|
|||
|
Special Interests_____________________
|
|||
|
______________________________________
|
|||
|
______________________________________
|
|||
|
Is there some area where you would be
|
|||
|
willing to help out in FidoNet?_______
|
|||
|
______________________________________
|
|||
|
______________________________________
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
International FidoNet Association
|
|||
|
P. O. 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 first elected Board of
|
|||
|
Directors was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail
|
|||
|
Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the
|
|||
|
Board. We welcome your input on this Conference.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
FidoNews 4-42 Page 16 16 Nov 1987
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
|
|||
|
ORDER FORM
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Publications
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido
|
|||
|
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.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____
|
|||
|
IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____
|
|||
|
IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Special offers for IFNA members ONLY:
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____
|
|||
|
ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $65.00 _____
|
|||
|
ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member.
|
|||
|
As of November 1, 1987 price will increase to
|
|||
|
$100. Orders including checks for $65 will be
|
|||
|
returned after October 31, 1987.
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
SUBTOTAL _____
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Missouri Residents add 5.725 % Sales tax _____
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
International orders include $5.00 for
|
|||
|
surface shipping or $15.00 for air shipping _____
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
TOTAL _____
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO:
|
|||
|
IFNA
|
|||
|
P.O. Box 41143
|
|||
|
St. Louis, Missouri 63141 USA
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Name________________________________
|
|||
|
Net/Node____/____
|
|||
|
Company_____________________________
|
|||
|
Address_____________________________
|
|||
|
City____________________ State____________ Zip_____
|
|||
|
Voice Phone_________________________
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
Signature___________________________
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
|||
|
|
|||
|
|