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Volume 6, Number 6 6 February 1989
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
| _ |
| / \ |
| /|oo \ |
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
| International | | \ \\ |
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
Editor in Chief Dale Lovell
Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Contributing Editors: 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. 1:1/1 is available for network mail between NMH-1
hour to NMH+1 hour. At all other times, netmail is not accepted
although submissions can be uploaded.
Copyright 1989 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. IFNA may also be contacted
at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
are used with permission.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
Crimson Ties Questioned in Virus Case .................... 1
Future Looks Brighter Than Ever for Courier HST Modem .... 2
Pick A Number, Any Number ................................ 3
The Power Posting School ................................. 5
Sysop Liability For Pirated and other Illegal Software ... 7
PAKIT Version 1.02, a utility for oMMM users ............. 9
Welcome to SACC! ......................................... 11
Sysop Sues User Who Allegedly Uploaded Trojan ............ 13
The SYSLAW Conference .................................... 14
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 15
And more!
FidoNews 6-06 Page 1 6 Feb 1989
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
Crimson Ties Questioned in Virus Case
by James Daly, ComputerWorld Staff
(originally from ComputerWorld magazine)
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - A Harvard University assistant professor,
systems programmer and graduate student have been ordered to
testify this week before a federal grand jury investigating the
spread of a computer virus that ground the Internet computer
network to a near-halt earlier this month.
Assistant Professor of Computer Science Mark Friedell, computer
programmer Andrew Sudduth and computer science graduate student
Paul Graham are scheduled to appear in a Syracuse, N.Y., court
Wednesday to explain their connection to Robert T. Morris Jr., a
Cornell University graduate student and Harvard alumnus suspected
of creating the virus that struck 6,000 computers nationwide.
As Federal Bureau of Investigation officers served the subpoenas
Monday, other federal officers searched Harvard's Division of
Applied Sciences for computer accounts that may show what role
that facility played in the virus' spread, a Department of
Justice official said.
The grand jury will reportedly investigate telephone
conversations among Sudduth, Graham and Morris that began shortly
after the virus began to spread.
Sudduth, a senior systems programmer at Harvard's Aiken
Laboratory, where Morris worked for his last two years as an
undergraduate, has stated that Morris phoned him shortly after
the virus began. Sudduth said Morris asked him to sound the
alarm about the virus and disseminate a message explaining how to
inoculate computers against it. According to Sudduth, Morris
said he was unable to do so because the virus had inactivated his
system at Cornell.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 2 6 Feb 1989
Future Looks Brighter Than Ever
for Courier HST Modem
by Casey Cowell
President, U.S. Robotics, Inc.
In little more than a year, U.S. Robotics' Courier HST modem
has established itself as the price/performance value leader
among high-speed modems.
Courier HST is a success today because it delivered on
its very straightforward promise -- to radically improve dial-up
data communications by using the best ideas and most affordable
mix of technology.
And it will be a success tomorrow as it evolves to meet ever-
growing demands for power, speed, reliability, economy and ease
of use.
Courier HST's success must be framed in the context of a
marketplace rife with unsubstantiated product claims, announced-
but-undelivered products, a variety of incompatibility problems
and very unstable pricing.
As the smoke finally begins to clear, Courier HST
emerges as the strongest "proprietary" product in the high-speed
modem market, with tens-of-thousands of highly satisfied users
and a litany of praise from oft-skeptical industry observers and
product reviewers.
Even PC Week, last of the nay-sayers on proprietary high-speed
modems, admits the Courier HST is "here to stay." Courier HST
occupies the leading edge of a revolution in modem design that
has simply outpaced the formal standards process.
The standards-setting community (CCITT) is slow to
confer formal recognition upon new technology. For example,
CCITTa dynamic marketplace.
*Origin:SitUbuSit (Opus 1:115/500)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 3 6 Feb 1989
David Rice
103/503
Want $50,000 real quick? It's easy! Just pick the right
numbers just once, and it's yours. And what will it cost
you? Only one dollar. Yep! This small fortune can be
yours, for the tiny sum of $1.00. No, really!
Here's how it works. You go to Las Vegas, into a hotel like
The Stardust, and find your way to the Keno Lounge. Pick up
a piece of paper with 80 numbers printed on it, mark 15 of
them with a black crayon, and bring this paper to the lady
at the counter, along with one American Greenback for
company. Be sure to mark the RIGHT 15 numbers!
You'll get a receipt in return, along with a ticket that
shows the numbers you have picked. Now wait three or four
minutes.
20 numbers will be drawn, ranging from 1 to 80. Each of
these 20 numbers will be different. When all 20 numbers are
drawn, go to the counter, present your ticket, and collect
your $38,460.65 (the IRS is standing there waiting, and
every payoff over $1,500 is immediately taxed!).
What's the matter? You didn't win a dime? Well, that's not
MY fault! I told you to pick the RIGHT numbers, not the
crap you did. Sounds like you need practice picking the
right numbers.
Humm. I've got just the thing!
It's an on-line game called KENO, and is designed to run
from OPUS, but any BBS which can run external programs may
run KENO. KENO handles it's own modem routines, baud rate
determinations, carrier detect, and user scores.
KENO may be played over the modem, or locally. KENO
requires ANSI device driver to be installed.
New users get $105.00 to start. Every time they play the
game, they receive another $5.00. The system operator may
set the KENO configuration file to allow a user to run the
game each day from 1 to 32,727 times (I have mine set to 2
times a day). If the user runs out of money, she or he must
wait until the next day to play again.
The system operator may also tell KENO to exit back to the
BBS when the user fails to enter a keystroke within X
seconds (in other words, the SysOp may control user
time-out) Mine is set to 120 seconds, or two minutes.
Also, the system operator must tell KENO, via it's
configuration file, if the BBS is OPUS or not. If it is
OPUS, KENO will attempt to read the file LASTUSER.BBS for
the user's name. If it is not OPUS, KENO will ask the user
FidoNews 6-06 Page 4 6 Feb 1989
for her or his name. This allows most (if not all) BBSs to
run KENO!
A scorekeeper program reads the user's data file and
produces a file with all the user's names and money on hand.
This file was designed to be included in a bulletin or other
BBS readable text file.
Want a copy? File Request KENO.ARC from The Astro-Net
(1:103/503.0) and you'll receive the program, sample
configuration file, documentation, and the scorekeeper
program. Best of all, it's FREE!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 5 6 Feb 1989
POWER POSTING SCHOOL
Are you REALLY SATISFIED with the impact of your USENET postings?
Do people quail and quiver at the thought of your followups? Is
your name on the lips of net.fans on seven continents?
Or perhaps you are NOT HAPPY with your posting style. Do people
ignore you? Perhaps you are disappointed that no one ever posts
followups to your messages, or that Mark Ethan Smith is more
famous than you. Perhaps you are bored and like to get lots of
mail. If so, take heart! Here is a new service for net.wimps!
*** THE POWER POSTING SCHOOL ***
Our world-flamous instructors will turn you into A BEAST OF A
MAN. Topics will range from pure theory (Monty Python's Argument
Clinic) to practice (assignments reading and posting in
alt.flame, soc.singles and other hot-gas newsgroups).
Seminars will focus on patented power-posting techniques:
*** USE OF REPETITION AND CAPITALS. Suppose some clown makes a
mistake of fact in his posting (e.g., <1309@nmtsun.nmt.edu>, by
John Shipman):
>> The FORTRAN 77 standard does not prohibit modification >>
of the iteration variable inside the loop.
Now, some WUSS might try to be polite, and reply
I believe you have missed a critical paragraph in the
standard (e.g., <162@amelia.nas.nasa.gov> and
<4026@aw.sei.cmu>).
You'll never get anywhere with this approach. People are so ready
to hit the `n' key these days; you have to get their attention
with flashy graphics or they'll ignore you altogether. The proper
style is: (e.g., <1328@nmtsun.nmt.edu>):
WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG
Politeness is for wimps. If people have been ignoring you, it's
not because you're a twit, but because you don't SCREAM LOUD
ENOUGH (the Sam Kinison School).
*** THE SMILEY FACE: YOUR SHIELD AGAINST A CRUEL WORLD. You can
say anything you want, no matter how insulting, and get away with
it! All you have to do is obey the proper net.etiquette. Example:
This is not a flame, you scumbag, slimeball toad! Your
parents were mutant intestinal parasites! Your face would
make a pathologist puke! Vultures and maggots would disdain
your carcass! Your romantic preference is for pets,
livestock, organ meats, AIDS sufferers and rejects from Idi
Amin's harem! :-) (No flames, please)
FidoNews 6-06 Page 6 6 Feb 1989
*** THE GRANDSTAND FINISH. No one will respect you unless your
.signature file runs for two screens. Special lectures will
cover:
-- Drawing unrecognizable pictures using only ASCII characters
-- How to come up with at least 35 different return mail paths
-- Sources for obscure, meaningless, flashy quotations
*** CALL TODAY. Are you ORGANISM ENOUGH to be a net.god like Fai
Lau? Interested applicants please reply by posting in alt.flame.
Please don't reply by e-mail, as the instructors spend all their
time reading the net and never get to the e-mail.
--
John Shipman/Zoological Data Processing/Socorro, New Mexico
USENET: ihnp4!lanl!unm-la!unmvax!nmtsun!john ``If you can't take
it, get stronger.'' --Falline Danforth
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 7 6 Feb 1989
SYSOP LIABILITY FOR PIRATED SOFTWARE AND OTHER ILLEGAL MATERIAL
Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq.
When sysops get together, electronically or in person, sooner or
later the question of a sysop's responsibility for pirated
software, stolen credit card codes or other illegal material
comes up. Everyone has heard the story of Tom Tcimpidis, the
California sysop who was criminally charged because a user left a
telephone credit card code on his BBS, and other similar horror
stories.
This area of the law is in considerable turmoil. As yet, there
have been no decided court cases involving sysops, though
numerous civil suits and prosecutions have been resolved by
settlements, dismissals or guilty pleas. The following,
therefore, is not a statement of the law as it exists; it is
rather a statement of the law as I believe it will evolve, based
on common sense and precedents from other areas of law.
A sysop should not be held liable for the presence of illegal
material on his BBS unless he placed it there, encouraged its
presence, or was negligent in allowing it to be placed there or
to remain there.
When does a sysop "encourage" the presence of illegal material?
When the BBS is named "The Pirate Ship" and the sign-on message
says "Over 80 megs online! Upload something I don't already have
to get access to the Hi-Access Lair".This sysop might be sued or
criminally charged as both a copyright infringer (for making and
distributing illegal copies of software) and as a contributory
infringer (for abetting and promoting the illegal activity).
When is a sysop negligent in allowing illegal material to be
placed or to remain on the BBS? Over the next few years, the
courts will deal with the question of when a sysop has exercised
"due care". Sysops can protect themselves today by imposing
standards of care on themselves that the courts will later
accept. A sysop who never reviews the messages or uploads on the
BBS would certainly be negligent by any standard. I recommend
that sysops attempt to review messages and new uploads on a
daily basis; if this is burdensome, appoint some assistant
sysops. Other measures that will help avoid accusations of
negligence are directing uploads to a separate subdirectory,
using utilities that detect dangerous programs such as Trojans
and viruses, and placing bulletins and messages on the BBS
strictly enjoining users against the upload of illegal materials.
Most criminal cases will involve intentional behavior (the sysop
placed the illegal material on the BBS or encouraged users to
upload it), while civil lawsuits might involve either intentional
or negligent behavior.
If, despite your best efforts, you ever do find yourself
embroiled in a legal proceeding, evidence that you run a clean
board and that you did your best to prevent uploads of illegal
FidoNews 6-06 Page 8 6 Feb 1989
material should go a long way in your favor.
--- Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq. is an attorney
specializing in computer-related legal matters in New York City,
the sysop of the LLM BBS (107/801), and author with
Rees Morrison of The Sysop's Legal Manual. He can also be
reached (voice line) at (212) 766-3785.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 9 6 Feb 1989
Jack Decker
Fidonet 1:154/8 LCRnet 77:1011/8 NetWork 8:70/8
Here's a little utility program that's free to anyone who wants
it... these are (mostly) excerpts from the documentation
for.....
PAKIT Version 1.02 - a semi-intelligent ARCA to PAK Converter
for use with oMMM Version 1.07 or higher.
No warranty expressed or implied - use at your own risk!
The purpose of this program is to allow you to create smaller
outgoing mail archives (*.mo? files) for systems that can
accept them, by using NoGate Consulting's PAK File Compression
Utility (Version 1.0 or higher) with oMMM version 1.07 or
higher (it will probably work with earlier versions as well,
but you should upgrade anyway!). Those who use oMMM may be
aware that oMMM calls ARCA for file compression purposes. This
program intercepts the call to ARCA, translates it to a format
that PAK can understand, and then hands it over to PAK.
Starting with version 1.01 of PAKIT, you may also optionally
specify that PKWARE's PKARC or PKPAK program is to be called
when creating "Crunched" or "Squashed" mail archives. While
this program is specifically designed for use with oMMM, it MAY
also work with other packers that call ARCA using the "/D"
parameter at the end of the invocation line.
If you use this program and PAK without a PAKIT.CTL file, the
resulting mail archive files should be no different than if you
had just used ARCA only (obviously, there's no real advantage
in doing that, but you can do it if you want to). The major
advantage in using this program is that you can use a control
file called PAKIT.CTL, which will allow you to specify which of
PAK's three possible compression levels will be used when
packing mail to any given node. Thus, if you KNOW that a
particular node is using PKWARE's PKXARC (or PKUNPAK) program
to de-archive mail packets, you can create mail packets using
"Squashing", which will make smaller packets and possibly save
you some transmission time. If you regularly communicate with
a node that uses PAK to unpack mail, you can create mail
bundles using "Crushing" and save even more disk space and
transmission time. These options should only be used with
nodes with which you communicate regularly, and know what
program is being used to uncompress mail packets.
The current version of PAKIT renames individual .PKT files
prior to placing them in the mail archive, in order to assure
that older files are always placed before newer ones in the
archive. This is done to overcome a difference in operation
between ARCA and PKARC/PKPAK/PAK10. ARCA always added packets
to the END of an existing archive, but the newer programs do us
the favor(?) of inserting new files into an existing archive in
alphabetical order. oMMM creates packets using a naming
sequence that restarts every day, thus packets created just
after midnight would be stored in the archive BEFORE packets
FidoNews 6-06 Page 10 6 Feb 1989
created on the previous day (when one of the newer archivers is
used). The result is that replies to messages are sometimes
stored prior to the original messages when the destination
system unpacks the mail! PAKIT attempts to overcome this
problem by renaming the packets using a naming sequence that
restarts at the beginning of every year, rather than every day.
Thus, it is only possible to create out-of-order mail packets
at the beginning of January. The packet names used contain
only the hexadecimal digits 0-9 and A-F, and are always eight
characters long (not counting the .PKT extension). As far as I
can determine, this will not cause any problem for any existing
mail unpacker, but please let me know if you discover
otherwise.
Version 1.02 of PAKIT has just been released, and is compatible
with the new release of oMMM (1.30). Older versions of PAKIT
will most likely not work properly with the new version of
oMMM. The most recent copy of PAKIT should be file requestable
from Fidonet node 1:154/7 (aka LCRnet node 77:1011/7 or NetWork
node 8:70/7), under the filename PAKIT*.ARC. This is a
mail-only node located in Milwaukee, and is PC Pursuitable. If
you are located in a PC Pursuitable city and for some reason
can't make a file request work, send me a message and I'll try
file attaching it to you. By the way, there's no copyright
notice or request for payment (or anything else) anywhere in
PAKIT. It's a gift to anyone who wants it, pure and simple!
If you find an archiving program that creates archives that are
even smaller than "Crushed" files (particularly if it's truly
public domain, or at least free to non-commercial users),
please send a copy of the program to me and I will at least
consider making a version of this program that will use it.
Also, if the Fidonet (or any "other" net) nodelist is ever
modified to include a "compression level" flag for mail
archives, I will consider rewriting this program to look
directly to the nodelist for compression level information.
Jack Decker (1:154/8, 77:1011/8, 8:70/8 <== Don't file request
PAKIT from these addresses, this is a private node!)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 11 6 Feb 1989
Welcome to:
THE SOCIETY FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COMPUTER COMMUNICATIONS
By: Al Arango, 1:107/523, 7:520/523
As many of you know, there is a great misconception about the
public bulletin board community. Most people have gotten a very
nasty impression of computer telecommunicators, due to the bad
press that we receive. It seems that only the bad points of our
community are reported. Unless a person is directly involved
with BBS'ing, they have no idea of the good points of public
access telecommunications.
Well, several NY-NJ area System Operators (SYSOPS) have joined
together to try and combat this bad press and provide high
ethical standards. Together, we have formed the Society for the
Advancement of Computer Communications.
The purposes of S.A.C.C. are to:
Promote the common interests of the members;
Promote high ethical standards among sysops and users of bulletin
board systems;
Encourage high standards of competence and conduct, promoting
professionalism among its members through educational programs
and discussion of common business, legal and technical problems;
Increase awareness among the general public, and the governmental
and business communities, Of the nature of a sysop's role and the
responsibilities of sysops to their users and to the general
public;
Provide various services and benefits to members.
Our effort is to educate the public about the BBS community and
to try to prevent any more improper ideas from forming in the
minds of the media and the general public. We will attempt to
provide many different members of the media with information
about BBS's, and try to inform them of the good points of
telecommunications. If we can provide this good information and
try to stop any illicit activities on BBS systems, then we will
succeed in improving the entire electronic community.
Another reason for forming S.A.C.C. is this : there are certain
types of people that get no greater joy than 'breaking the rules'
of a BBS system. Until now, a person such as this would raise
havoc on one system, and then simply move on to another system
to continue his mischief. A Sysop had no recourse other than to
ban the user from his system. That is going to change. Should a
user intentionally cause problems on a S.A.C.C. Member Board
(whether they use profane language, upload pirated software, or
break any local BBS rules), that user will be reported to all
members of S.A.C.C. so that action can be taken against said
FidoNews 6-06 Page 12 6 Feb 1989
user on as many systems as possible. We feel that this will
keep many people from causing problems on BBS systems, and this
will once again improve the electronic community.
An added benefit for the users of BBS systems is this: a Sysop's
forum such as S.A.C.C. can serve as a place to discuss
improvements among ALL BBS systems in the area. S.A.C.C. can
serve as a 'central nervous system' for all computer users. A
'global users group', if you will. With an organization such as
S.A.C.C., it will be easier to coordinate inter-BBS activities
such as gatherings or any other idea that a Sysop or a user comes
up with.
Any legitimate bulletin board system is may join S.A.C.C.
Membership is open to any individual or organization that runs a
networked or potentially networked BBS or EMAIL system which
in whole or in part is run for the public good or for the
benefit of the other members. Membership is available regardless
of race, creed, sex, national origin, or physical disability. We
wish to provide our services to all Sysops and wish to pass our
benefits on to ALL of the users of BBS systems.
Society for the Advancement of Computer Communications
MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
FOR MEMBERSHIP-PLEASE FILL OUT THIS FORM
& RETURN TO:
SACC
C/O AL ARANGO
429 CLIFTON AVENUE
CLIFTON, NJ 07011
LEGAL NAME______________________________________________________
ADDRESS_________________________________________________________
CITY____________________________STATE____________ZIP____________
NAME AS APPEARS IN A NODELIST (IF APPLICABLE), AND NAME OF
NODELIST/NETWORK: ______________________________________________
IF NETWORK COMPATIBLE, NET/NODE #s______________________________
BBS PHONE#_______________________ VOICE PHONE#__________________
BBS SOFTWARE______________________________VERSION_______________
MAILER PACKAGE____________________________VERSION_______________
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 13 6 Feb 1989
SYSOP SUES USER WHO ALLEGEDLY UPLOADED TROJAN PROGRAM
by Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq. 107/801
Bill Christison, sysop of a bulletin board system
called the Santa Fe Message, filed suit in August in New Mexico
federal court against a user he believed had uploaded a trojan
horse program to his BBS.
The program, which purported to compile statistics on
BBS usage, erased the operating system from Christison's hard
disk and damaged the file allocation table when he ran it.
With the aid of the telephone company, Christison was
able to identify the user (who had called his BBS under a
pseudonym as Michael Dagg, also of New Mexico.)
Christison's law suit is the second case involving
bulletin board systems to have been brought under the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA).
Under the ECPA, it is a federal crime to access stored
electronic communications without authorization and to alter,
obtain or prevent access to such communications. Penalties
include imprisonment of up to one year and fines up to
$250,000.00. The statute also provides for private civil suits
such as Christison's.
As of October 7th, Dagg had not yet hired an attorney or
responded to the complaint, according to Christison's attorney,
Ann Yalman.
The ECPA potentially provides a potent tool for sysops who wish
to defend themselves against malicious users. It is a two-edged
sword, however: the first case brought under the ECPA involving
bulletin board systems was Thompson v. Predaina, in which a user
sued a sysop who allegedly made private files public without
permission.
--- Jonathan D. Wallace, Esq., an attorney in private practice in
New York City, is editor of The Computer Law Letter, a bimonthly
newsletter, and author of SYSLAW: The Sysop's Legal Manual. He
can be reached at (212) 766-3785 or at Fido 107/801.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 14 6 Feb 1989
The SYSLAW Conference
There is a new conference area that's been formed in which
several SACC members participate.
This is the SYSLAW conference, tag SYSLAW. It is a SYSOP ONLY
conference, although users may READ it at the sysop's discretion.
This conference is moderated and coordinated by Phil Buonomo,
reachable at Alliance 7:520/583, FIDOnet 1:107/583, Phoenix net
807/1, or just plain 201-935-1485.
There are no FLAMES or Advertisements allowed in this echo.
Messages must be kept to the topic of the legal responsibilities
and liabilities of sysops and their users. Failure to do so will
result in ONE Netmail warning, and thereafter the offending
system's links WILL be cut.
Participating in this echo are Jonathan Wallace, author of
"SYSLAW: The Sysop's Legal Manual", and Thomas Marshall, Esq. of
tmmnet ltd. Both gentlemen are prominent attorneys, well versed
in today's computer technology.
This conference is distributed using the GROUPMAIL method. You
MUST use GROUP.EXE to process this conference. If you do not
have this software, you may File REQuest a copy of GROUP204.ARC
from my system (named above). Anyone distributing this
conference via echomail will have their links cut IMMEDIATELY.
This conference may NOT be carried by the "backbone". Links MUST
be approved by the conference moderator.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 15 6 Feb 1989
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
Ken McVay, SysOp
The Old Frog's Almanac (153/20)
Nanaimo, British Columbia
In my first column, I discussed the origins of The Almanac, and
provided a representative list of the topical files available.
This week, I'll show you how it's all accomplished. (Anyone
wishing to set such a system up is welcome to bark-request
ALMANAC.PAK and EGREP100.ARC, 24-hours a day, via HST)
Briefly, here's how it all works from my SEAdog batch file:
First, since Murphy rules supreme, I set it up so I could turn
the whole extraction system off, just in case I was going to be
away for more than a day or two, by adding "SET ALMANAC=ON" at
the top of the batch file. The extraction routines are an
integral part of my daily INBOUND routine, and are run after
ConfMail's IMPORT and RENUM functions are completed.
:INBOUND
<process echomail first, look after nodediff's etc.>
if %ALMANAC% == OFF goto CLEANUP
First, I check each message directory for the existence of
100.MSG, just to make sure Sirius won't clobber all the mail. If
100.MSG is there, the appropriate Sirius script is executed for
that message area.
E:
cd\OPUS
if EXIST G:\M22\100.msg Sirius HDCONF
.... ....
Here's a portion of the file HDCONF.SIR:
;------------------------HDCONF.SIR (Sirius V0.50)--------------
;
; This script scans the HDCONF area and extracts specific
; topical messages as defined by "(Define ('T' ..." line.
;
; First, it goes to the LOW message, then TAGS it so we
; can loop back to it for subsequent routines
;
(View (Xpertise (High))
View (Continuous)
Area (Known as ('HDCONF'))
;-------------Begin MINISCRIBE Extractions
View (Until ('SEEN-BY: '))
Low
Tag
FidoNews 6-06 Page 16 6 Feb 1989
Out ('Running MINISCRIBE 3650 Search...')
Group (Define ('T' @Subject CO '3650'))
1 Next
;-Stop at Message #99 !
! (While (@Msg# LE 99))
;-Sirius appends the extension TXT, so no need to designate it
;-here...
Move (Flat file ('F:\WORK\M3650' 'y'))
Next
! (End)
Group (Define ('A' ))
Back
; Now we return to the LOW message, mark it, and begin again:
Low
Tag
View (Until ('SEEN-BY: '))
Out ('Running MINISCRIBE 6128 Search...')
Group (Define ('T' @Subject CO '3650'))
1 Next
! (While (@Msg# LE 99))
Move (Flat file ('F:\WORK\M6128' 'y'))
Next
! (End)
Group (Define ('A' ))
Back
;-The script loops through HDCONF about 30 times before it
;-runs out of subjects to look for, then concludes with
;-extracting ALL the remaining messages between 2 and 25 and
;-placing them in the generic HD flat file
;
View (Until ('SEEN-BY: '))
1 Next
! (While (@Msg# LE 25))
Move (Flat file ('f:\work\HD' 'y'))
Next
! (End)
; Now we exist to DOS so SEAdog can pick up where
; it left off
Quit (BBS))
;--------------------End HDCONF.SIR (Sirius V0.50)--------------
After running through all the required Sirius scripts, we are
left with a pile of *.TXT "flat files" in my working directory -
now it's time for EGREP to clean up the mess and append the day's
updates to the Almanac text files:
F:
cd\WORK
SET E=EGREP -V
:3AVG
<if the file ain't there, don't waste any more time...carry on>
if NOT EXIST 3AVG.TXT goto 3BAS
<pick up the designated text file left by Sirius, and filter all
FidoNews 6-06 Page 17 6 Feb 1989
the tear lines out, and pipe the resulting file back to EGREP for
another pass to remove the Sirius [SEEN-BY:] line>
%E% "^SEE ALSO " 3AVG.TXT
| %E% "^--- " | %E% "^--\[SEEN-BY: \]" >tmp
<now take a swipe at TMP, removing the message number, pipe it
through again to remove those pesky AREA:BLAH notes dupped by God
knows who, and slap the result into TMP1>
%E% "^.#[0-9]*" tmp | %E% "AREA:" >tmp1
<and a bit more tidying up, then write to the Almanac text file>
%E% "^.?$" tmp1 >> \f1\3AVG0189.MSG
<and clean up behind you while you're at it>
del 3AVG.TXT
<There are presently over 100 of these EGREP routines, but since
all files are not updated each day, the system processes through
them very quickly>
:EREPCLN
<when we're done, get rid of the temporary files EGREP left
behind>
del TM*.*
<Now it's time to go to the area where the text files are stored
for user-download and update the archive file area>
SET E=
cd\F1
set P=PAK U
: "HDCONF" Extracts
%P% F:\F5\36500189 36500189.MSG
%P% F:\F5\61280189 61280189.MSG
set P=
<Likewise, there are about 100+ lines like the above, used to
update each archive daily. I use PAK V1.0, even though it's slow,
because it's brutally efficient when dealing with text, and saves
me about 10-12% over other available utilities>
I use the ancient but still pristine FidoUtil to log all of this
activity, so I can keep track of how much system time is
required. At the present time, running on an Everex Step 286/16
and MiniScribe 6128/Perstor 180, it takes about 12 minutes from
beginning to end. The whole process raises absolute hob with the
drives, and I don't recommend it if you are running an XT :-) -
Running VOPT is a must after everything else is completed!
It still takes a long time to skim through message areas to
FidoNews 6-06 Page 18 6 Feb 1989
clobber the floobydust, one-liners, etc., but I have received
help from several users who, via Opus barricaded areas, edit
specific areas and do some of the work for me. In time, I hope to
have enough editors on the job to cover all the areas available
so I won't have to do it.
The files created in this manner can be a rich source of
technical and social data, and can cover virtually any area and
any subject available on your system. The "proof of the puddin' "
in my case is clear - users who used to ignore the Almanac
topical extracts now download them regularly, and I receive a lot
of positive comments and requests for more specific topicals from
areas which aren't extracted yet.
I hope to enlist additional help from sysops receiving
conferences which are unavailable to me, and perhaps establish an
"Almanac Network" which will exchange topicals on a regular
basis. I would recommend using floppies to do this, however, as
the files quickly eat up drive space, and would be far too
expensive to swap via modem, high speed or not. My system
presently has over 12 megs of extracts available, and I would be
happy to send them to anyone who sends me disks containing other
files in exchange, particularly business-oriented utilities and
applications. Anyone wishing my address is invited to contact me
netmail, or call me voice at 604-758-4137.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 19 6 Feb 1989
=================================================================
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=================================================================
From: MARK BORNSTEIN Y
Subj: 2 CENTS
Saw your words in Fido news and wanted to put in my 2 cents
worth. One would get the feeling from reading your words that
you are in the pay of sea and want all to do some good old
fashion 'book burning.' Now I don't much care for politics nor
politicians, for I hold with Mencken that "the only difference
between a good politician and a bad one is that the good one
KNOWS just how much to steal!" Now I know very little about the
controversy , nor PC-World, nor do I care to. However, it seems
to me that you are guilty of the same thing that you accuse Judy
Getts of. You do an injustice both to yourself and to the
prestige of Fidonews by your words. If anything your actions
will probably have the reverse effect you so ardently desire.
i.e. From the few I have spoken to about this, it would appear
that you have evoked no small measure of sympathy for PK. It
would appear that the average user, rightly or wrongly, does not
care about the politics of this issue. They seem to want, as do
I, rightly or wrongly, the fastest and best compress utility of
all. In the final analysis neither your words or mine will
determine the outcome. Perhaps a more appropriate medium for your
message would be the FLAME ECHO. It is wonderful for letting off
steam and would not appear as if you were using your position to
advance goals seen as personal rather than for the good of the
network. I will not mind at all if this is printed in the next
issue of Fidonews as a letter to the editor. In fact please do. I
enjoy seeing my name in print.
...mark Sysop of Island Logistics, Marblehead, Mass 617-631-3304
----------------------------------------
Mark,
You seem to have to have one misconception about FidoNews, that I
write everything that's printed. FidoNews is made up of article
submissions from the people in FidoNet, both sysops and users.
The article in question was sent in by one of the sysops in Net
107, I myself am in Net 157.
As far as the SEA vs. PKWare lawsuit, there have been quite a
few articles on this subject printed in FidoNews. However, if you
have little interest in it or knowledge about it and don't want
to learn enough to make your own EDUCATED decisions on it... Well
then I feel sorry for you. Apathy is not an answer. Apathy is one
of the causes of much of FidoNet's problems these days. Do you
vote for the candidate for whom you've seen the most promotional
material? Do you buy a product because it has the nicest ads on
TV? I hope not, but this is what you're telling me. It is this
same sort of attitude that has sysops joining FidoNet just for
echomail. These individuals have never read a policy document and
FidoNews 6-06 Page 20 6 Feb 1989
are only in it for a free lunch (the free lunch being free
echomail). Their attitude is one of "let me do everything my way
or else I'm going to scream and pout, I don't care what everyone
else is doing or why, I just know I'm going to keep doing things
my way." This isn't the principles that made FidoNet strong, it
is one that seeks to destroy something special. FidoNet was put
together by people who learned and made educated decisions
together. I once received a message from a sysop who was
wondering what all these FNEWS*.ARC files were that he was
receiving every week and did he need a special program to use
them. While this is an extreme, it shows that in some ways
FidoNet has grown to quickly.
As far as what the user's want. I know that right and wrong make
a difference to me. While it may not bother some people, I still
have to look at myself every morning in the mirror. Right and
wrong are important. While many may not be happy with what the
courts have decided, all of us have to live with their decision.
If we don't agree, then their are established methods of changing
those rulings. I've heard a lot on this issue, but I don't claim
to have all the facts. I understand that they are available to
anyone who wants them by contacting the state of Wisconsin's
judicial system. Supposedly there are several nice thick books of
the court proceedings, including all the depositions. I
understand obtaining a copy isn't cheap, but then truth (and
anything worth having) isn't always cheap or free (in fact, those
things worth having are almost never cheap or free).
<FidoNews Editor's hat off>
Personally, I would have preferred that events hadn't happened as
they did. However, with all the information I've seen and heard
on the issue (and while it's far from complete, it quite a bit) I
have to support SEA. I don't care for the way things went (having
to go to court and all), but personally I will stand behind Thom.
If you feel that PKWare and Phil Katz have gotten the short end
of it, please write an article for FidoNews giving the facts on
why. Just please try and keep it factual. Also, try to keep away
from confusing the issue with the relative speed of the products.
That wasn't the issue. The real issue was and still is "Did SEA
have a right to bring PKWare to court." Regardless of which
product who happen to like, if Phil was wrong (and I'm not saying
he was) then you've got to accept it. Please note that I am not
judging either of these two parties. Even if I had all the facts,
I'm not sure if I could judge these fine people. I know that from
what I've heard, I do have to support SEA.
<Editor's hat back on>
I have to disagree with you on either of our words making a
difference. I firmly believe that one man (or woman) CAN make a
difference. Where would we be today without Tom Jennings? Would
something like FidoNet ever have developed? Probably not as
quickly, and possibly never. How about Jeff Rush? FidoNet was
around for several years before he came up with using netmail to
share a message base. Outside of the FidoNet community, where
FidoNews 6-06 Page 21 6 Feb 1989
would the world be today without a John F. Kennedy ("Ask not what
your country can do for you, but what can you do for your
country"), a Douglas MacArthur (no favorite quotes), a Ronald
Reagan ("We the people give government these rights" I first
heard this from him when he stopped at Bowling Green State
University in Ohio during the '84 campaign in response to a
question asked him by my roommate), and the list goes on. History
is filled with examples of how one person did make a difference.
A line out of one of my favorite movies is "Words can be
wonderful" (2 months of having FidoNews delivered to a node of
your choice within the US and Canada to the first person who can
name the movie and the character who said it).
Anyway, this has gone on far longer than I anticipated. FidoNews
prints almost anything it receives that matches specs. One person
doesn't control it or write everything that appears in it. As I
have often said "FidoNews is YOUR newsletter." The recent request
on how you'd like to see FidoNews changed by Rick Siegel,
chairman of the IFNA Publications Committee shows that the
majority still want it to be run as it has for the past five
years and baring very unusual circumstances, that's the way it
going to stay. If FidoNet wants changes, the can inform both Rick
and their IFNA rep. and if the majority decides on a change, it
will be done. Until then, we get it...we print it.
Dale Lovell
FidoNews Editor
----------------------------------------
Late follow-up to Mark's initial letter
It appears on closer reading that you may not have been the
author of the message concerning sea/PK Getts et al. If so I
apologize for contributing the authorship to you. However, as
editor of Fidonews, the responsibility for its being included
still remains yours. One of the things about this article is
that there is no clear indication of just who it was that entered
the message. This becomes more clear after re-reading its
contents. Because of the stylistic setting of page numbers it is
difficult to determine if it is editorial comment or written by
the one (Zachary I think) who wrote the article following. At any
rate, if you did not write it I again apologize profusely and ask
that if you do print my earlier message, that you please
include this apology with it. Thanx.
...mark
----------------------------------------
It is never hard to tell what section you're reading in FidoNews.
The editorials start with a header marking them as editorials.
The articles, by a divider bar saying articles. I agree that I am
responsible for it being printed. To date, I have never had to
censor anything for FidoNews. Everything that's come in matching
specs has been printed with no delay. While TJ's article of a few
months back came close to being censored because of the language,
I let it go out because I felt the information on California
FidoNews 6-06 Page 22 6 Feb 1989
propositions was very important and that if nothing else everyone
in FidoNet owes him a big thank you for starting everything in
the first place. Only the combination of those two items let that
article be printed.
As far as authorship, I've always included my name at the bottom
of anything I've had printed in FidoNews. Usually with several
addresses as well (FidoNet, Usenet, US Mail). The problem with
authorship on submissions is that by the time I get it here, it
too late to determine who wrote it. All I've got is a log entry
indicating calls received.
What happens if an article doesn't match the specs given in
several editorials last year and the ARTSPEC.DOC file mentioned
at the top of every edition? It tends to sit around until I have
a slow week. Then I fix several of them so that MakeNews will
accept them. Easiest solution to this is to make sure your
article matches specs, not hope that I'll fix any problems. Yes,
I will eventually fix the errors but it may sit around here for a
long time.
Here's a brief summary of those specs for those who might be
interested. Left justify your text, MakeNews puts in the leading
spaces you see on every line. Don't go beyond 65 characters per
line. Keep everything within the ASCII characters space and tilde
(decimal 32 through decimal 127). The file extension determines
where it goes. Use ART for an article, COL for a column or
series, or LET for a letter to the editor (there are more but I'm
summarizing here). If the first line starts with an asterix
("*"), then that line is printed in the table of contents and
does not appear in the text of the article. Proof read your own
article as a lot of people are going to be reading it. If you
send it in with misspellings and poor grammar, I assume that's
how you want it. FidoNews is mostly an automated process, ideally
if I died tomorrow everything would still get out until a new
editor was found. FidoNet is a very diverse group, FidoNews
allows for something to interest everyone.
Dale Lovell
FidoNews Editor
FidoNet 1:1/1, 1:157/504, 1:157/540
UseNet ..!ncoast!lovell
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 23 6 Feb 1989
=================================================================
WANTED
=================================================================
ATTENTION AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS:
Looking for schematics, manuals for the following 6 meter
transceivers:
Lafayette HE 45-a
Hallicrafters SR46A
Any help appreciated, and happy to reimburse for photocopying
and/or shipping expense.
Also would like to locate used, working simplex autopatch
equipment.
If you can help, please send Fidonet mail to me at 379/6.
__ _ _
/ ) // //
/--< o // //
73, de /___/_<_</_</_ , N4SNF (@WA4MDW)
{decvax,ncar,ihnp4}!noao!asuvax!stjhmc!379!6!Bill_Schreiber
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 24 6 Feb 1989
=================================================================
LATEST VERSIONS
=================================================================
Latest Software Versions
Bulletin Board Software
Name Version Name Version Name Version
Fido 12K* Opus 1.03b TBBS 2.1
QuickBBS 2.03 TPBoard 5.0 TComm/TCommNet 3.2
Lynx 1.10 Phoenix 1.3 RBBS 1.71C
Network Node List Other
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.90C* EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.32
SEAdog 4.50* MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 2.0*
BinkleyTerm 2.00 Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
D'Bridge 1.10 XlatList 2.90* TPB Editor 1.21
FrontDoor 2.0 XlaxNode 2.31 TCOMMail 2.0
PRENM 1.40 XlaxDiff 2.31 TMail 8901*
ParseList 1.30 UFGATE 1.02*
GROUP 2.04*
EMM 1.40
MSGED 1.96
* 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 6-06 Page 25 6 Feb 1989
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
19 May 1989
Start of EuroCon III at Eindhoven, The Netherlands
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
24 Aug 1989
FidoCon '89 starts at the Holiday Inn in San Jose,
California. Trade show, seminars, etc. Contact 1/89
for info.
5 Oct 1989
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 26 6 Feb 1989
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIVISION AT-LARGE
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
18 Christopher Baker 1:135/14 Bob Swift 1:140/24
19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-06 Page 27 6 Feb 1989
__
The World's First / \
BBS Network /|oo \
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
_`@/_ \ _
| | \ \\
| (*) | \ ))
______ |__U__| / \//
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
increase worldwide communications.
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
Address _________________________________________________________
City ____________________________________________________________
State ________________________________ Zip _____________________
Country _________________________________________________________
Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________
Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________
BBS Name ________________________________________________________
BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________
Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________
Board Restrictions ______________________________________________
Your Special Interests __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in
US Funds to:
International FidoNet Association
PO Box 41143
St Louis, Missouri 63141
USA
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
insure the future of FidoNet.
Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors
was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
input to this Conference.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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