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<20>ݰ <20>ݰ <20>ݰ<EFBFBD>ݰ <20>ݰ ް <20>ݰ<EFBFBD>ݰ <20>ݰ ް <20>ݰް
ݰ ް ݰ ް ݰ ް ް
The Journal of IceNET September 1994
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>Ŀ
<20> Editor's Desk <20>
<20> The Upper Registers Will (1@6754) <20>
<20> Managing Editor's Notes Ima Moron (1@9661) <20>
<20> Letters To The Editors Louie (6@1) <20>
<20> IceNEWS Op/Ed Forum <20>
<20> Computer Illiteracy Deacon Blues (2@7653) <20>
<20> <20>
<20> Feature Stories <20>
<20> FrontDoor/WWIV Security Warning Papa Bear (1@5079) <20>
<20> BBSing vs. Employment: Which Means <20>
<20> More To YOU? Deacon Blues (2@7653) <20>
<20> <20>
<20> WWIV-Specific <20>
<20> WWIV Utility & Mod Review Papa Bear (1@5079) <20>
<20> Dealing With Co-Sysops Will (1@6754) <20>
<20> <20>
<20> Software/Programming <20>
<20> Artificial Intelligence - Part Four Louie (6@1) <20>
<20> Automod: Fast Mod Installation The Regulator (1@6906) <20>
<20> IBM Press Release on "Warp" Courtesy IBM Corp. <20>
<20> <20>
<20> Lite Bytes <20>
<20> BBS Acronyms & Emoticons in Cyberspace! Papa Bear (1@5079) <20>
<20> WWIVKahn '94 - A Satire Of WWIVcon '94 Louie (6@1) <20>
<20> Silly Strings Ima Moron (1@9661) <20>
<20> <20>
<20> The IceNEWS Journal Official Writer's <20>
<20> Guidelines The IceNEWS Staff <20>
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<20> IceNEWS Staff For September 1994 <20>
<20> <20>
<20> "...Winners of the 1994 WWIVcon Award for Electronic News" <20>
<20> <20>
<20> IceNEWS Publisher - Jim 1@1 <20>
<20> IceNEWS Editor-In-Chief - Will 1@6754 <20>
<20> IceNEWS Managing Editor - Ima Moron 1@9661 <20>
<20> <20>
<20> IceNEWS Contributing Editors <20>
<20> WWIV-Specific - Papa Bear 1@5079 Lite Bytes - Ima Moron 1@9661 <20>
<20> <20>
<20> Editors-At-Large - Louie 6@1 & Chris 1@7668 <20>
<20> IceNEWS Production - Chris 1@7668 <20>
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<20> IceNEWS is always seeking submissions from those who have <20>
<20> ideas for stories. If you have any ideas that you might <20>
<20> like to see published, contact any IceNEWS editor or <20>
<20> subscribe to IceNEWS Beat, subtype IceNEWS, host @1. <20>
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> E D I T O R ' S D E S K <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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<20> The Upper Registers - "Changing of the Guard" <20> by Will 1@6754
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Since our last issue, we've had a reorganization at IceNEWS. Deacon
Blues, 2@7653, our previous Editor in Chief, was forced to resign his post in
order to follow his career. Deacon Blues was probably the main driving force
behind the reorganization of IceNEWS, and, more than anyone else, should be
credited with it's current success.
Over the last eight months, with Deacon at the helm, IceNEWS grew into
what it is today - a very successful publication, and the winner of the 1994
WWIVcon award for Best Electronic News. With Deacon gone, I now have the
difficult task of filling his shoes in the months ahead.
At the same time, we also lost Spelunker 1@7653, a valued staff member
from the beginning. While you never saw him in print, his impact was obvious
on every issue. Spelunker was the person who put heaps of raw text together
each month, and turned it into a cohesive, readable issue.
IceNEWS will carry on as before, but we'll all miss the denizens of The
Cavern.
------
In the future, I'll be moving my regular technology rant into this area.
Three strange things happened this last month, all of which I was
expecting to happen sooner or later, but with the emphasis on later. First
off, IBM posted a large second quarter profit. Second off, my mother called to
report that she had killed a certain persistent woodchuck which I had been
hearing stories about for the past three years. Third, I went to MacWorld, the
largest single assemblage of Macintosh users (and fanatics) on the East Coast,
and probably anywhere else, with the possible exception of the Apple corporate
headquarters.
Since I'm not a Macintosh enthusiast, I was generally provided a cold
shoulder from the other show goers (of course, this was partly due to the IBM
shirt I was wearing). Still, I was able to see how the other side lives, and
also see where the Macintosh platform is heading.
IBM and Macintosh are generally regarded as the only two major platforms,
roughly equal in most ways. Other computing environments, such as the wide
variety of UNIX based systems, and the Amiga platform, are almost always
classified as permanent niche players, and this is just about correct. The
main, bipolar, view of this situation is, at best, lopsided. The actual fact
is that IBM type computers outnumber the Macintosh by a factor of nine to one.
In the most recent available sales figures, both Compaq and IBM sold hundreds
of thousands more PCs apiece than Apple sold Macintoshes. With the rest of the
PC industry factored into the equation, the disparity becomes obvious.
Macintosh ads aside, the installed base and level of available software for
the IBM platform simply dwarfs anything else currently available.
It was obvious to the people at MacWorld, as well. In my conversations
with show regulars, I learned that the general attitude was much darker this
year than in any ones previous. The general impression was also that
attendance had dropped significantly (elbowing my way through the crowds, I
found this hard to believe). The prognosis for the future of the company and
the platform was not as cheery as it was this time last year, when Apple was
triumphantly rolling out the Newton PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), destined
to fizzle when it hit the general marketplace.
Apple itself seems to share the same views. One Apple analyst stated that
Apple had approximately sixty days to find a strategic and manufacturing
partner, or be left to languish in niche markets, such as Desktop Publishing
and Image Editing, where the Macintosh already has a strong, if not
unassailable, foothold. Apple has not managed to crack the business market
beyond the art department, which might turn out to be the company's undoing.
As of this writing, two weeks after the convention itself, Apple has yet to
find a manufacturing partner, or a licensee for it's Macintosh Operating
System. After holding the platform proprietary for so long, Apple, in finally
offering to make the OS available, is being rebuffed. Thanks to the boom in
Microsoft Windows (and, to a lesser extent, OS/2) systems, there simply isn't
any positive benefit to taking the time to license and adapt the Macintosh
Operating System.
While all the goodies were in the Apple Pavilion outside the World Trade
Center, Apple was lacking a knockout product. The two centerpieces of this
area of the show were Apple's new e-World online service, and the first major
upgrade of the Macintosh Operating System in three years - System 7.5. The
Newton, last year's centerpiece, was relegated to a corner where an Apple
representative was giving a hands on demonstration. While both of these
products fill a need, and System 7.5 provides some potentially attractive new
features, this will not be enough to catapult the Macintosh into the office,
where Apple needs it to be.
----------
It's back to school this month for a lot of our readers. BBSing and
telecommunications are playing a rapidly increasing role in the operation and
expansion of the education system in the United States. Schools, and even
subsections of schools, such as a school newspaper or computer club, have been
putting up BBSes at an astonishing rate. Two issues ago, we ran an article by
Chris, one of our Contributing Editors, on running a WWIV BBS in a school
environment. Now, we'd like to know what else people are doing with
Telecommunications in the education environment. If you'd like to contribute
something on the subject, send us an email (the addresses are on the
masthead). We'd like to go into detail on the subject in the October issue.
Well, that wraps up my take for this issue. We've got some great stuff
coming up - and now, I give you the September, 1994 IceNEWS!
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<20> Managing Editor's Comments <20> by Ima Moron 1@9661
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I would like to take the byte space to thank our out going Editor In
Chief Deacon Blues. Thank you Deacon, you were brilliant. I am going to welcome
our new Editor In Chief of the IceNEWS Journal, Will 1@6754 of IceNET. We've
also lost Spelunker - our beloved ascii layout editor. Both Deacon and
Spelunker will be missed by myself.
This is my issue of the journal. I had put out a call for articles of
user interest. The journal staff responded beautifully with many informative
articles for the sysops and users of IceNET. I know that this issue is
technically light, but what can you expect from the Lite Bytes Editor?
If you have any comments about the content of this issue, please send
those in E-mail to 1@9661, Ima Moron. Now on with this issue!
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<20> Letters to the Editor <20> by Louie #6@1, Will 1@6754, and Ima Moron 1@9661
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Doc, 1@5413 writes:
To whomever reads this:
I read in a previous letter to the editor that there is talk of a WWIV
channel on the Internet Relay Chat (IRC). Is this in existence now? If so,
what day and time? I know there are some forums on AOL and GEnie, but I'm not
on any of these. I would *LOVE* to be able to chat with other sysops in real
time, and I think IRC is a good way to do this. If there aren't any opposition
how about an informal meeting on IRC (for those of you who do have the access)
one day or say once a week. (or whenever you log on to IRC for that matter,
heh)
Well, How 'bout it? :)
IceNEWS Editor-In-Chief, Will 1@6754, responds:
There's been a lot of revived interest recently in having a WWIV chat
session on the IRC. Veldar, who organized the initial chat several months ago,
and myself have been discussing timing for a regularly scheduled session.
A proposal has also been made, by The Doctor, for a general-use session,
#WWIV. For now, just try /JOIN #WWIV whenever you're on the IRC, and see
if anyone's there. And hold on, since we're working on putting together a
regular session.
Abbot Layamon, 1@3602, writes regarding Louie's Online Story article
Hello Louie! I enjoyed your article on running an online story. The Abbey
has had an online storyline since I put the system back up in march. The
Cloisters is set on a parallel world in a quasi-medieval setting. The central
location is the Abbey of St. Gwynefort, in the southwest corner (roughly) of
the kingdom of Albion. I agree with almost all of the suggestions you made. A
story sub can, however, be networked if certain strict criteria are met.
Cloisters is networked to three other boards. That's only so that the sysops
of those boards can post from their own systems rather than from mine, and
access is restricted. That would be the first criterion. A story sub can be
netted if it is privately distributed for the subscribing sysops' convenience.
The other criterion is the establishment of a companion discussion sub. In my
case, Cloisters Strategic Discussion is a place for participants to hash out
their characters and suggest or comment on storyline developments. Come to
think of it, a strategic discussion sub would be a good idea for a companion
to any storyline sub, especially a highly structured one. It also gives the
host sysop a chance to post "administrivia" like the map(s) and the cast of
characters. I have a map of the hostel area of the abbey, the abbey itself,
and a map of the kingdom in which the abbey is found. the hostel map lets the
"guests" know where their rooms are in relation to each other. The abbey map
shows, not surprisingly, the layout of the abbey and some of the grounds. That
way, if, say Baroness Morgana wishes to go to the herb garden, she knows that
she has to go through the hostel's main dining hall, through the refectory and
kitchens, and thence out the door to the herb garden. the kingdom map is good
for giving an idea of the terrain and of the relative distances between
different points. For example, it is roughly the same distance between the
Abbey and Castle Shiredale as it is between Castle Shiredale and Horstede (the
capitol), and the distance between the Abbey and the capitol is roughly the
same as the distance from the Abbey to the major port city of Carcassone in
the southeast. The cast of characters comes in very handy. after all, there's
more than just me and the eight regular posters. Abbots need support staffs to
run abbeys, so, there's a prior, a cellarer, a cook, an infirmarer, a
hospitaller (the fellow who is in charge of an abbey's hostel), a prior, a
provisioner, a herbalist, and so on. the other players have created other
characters as needed. all told, there are about 80 names on the cast, not all
of which are in play at the same time (obviously). I could go on, but I think
I have been longwinded enough. After all, this letter is almost half the
length of your article.
Pax, Abbot Layamon.
Abbey of St. Gwynefort (306)-934-3460
Gutenberg Project, Internet Wiretap, OTA etexts
Editor At Large Louie #6 @1 responds to Pax 1@3602
I would like to thank Abbot Layamon for setting me straight about Network
On-line Story subs really being possible. I guess I did not really give the
idea all that much thought. He does indeed seem to have a good method there at
the Abbey of St. Gwynefort for doing it.
River Dragon, 1@9504, writes:
Louis,
I am River Dragon, I sysop in Toronto, Canada who wishes to thank Wayne
Bell for implementing the Abnormal Irq Ports/Base addresses for WWIV and the
minority of people like myself who have problems with this nonstandard IRQ
port. While I do not know exactly why It's non-standard, I am grateful that it
was implemented (Now if only some ONLINE-GAME MAKERS would implement it :). In
my time, I have tried 6 different types of BBS Programs, all the while I kept
my WWIV as a backup, knowing it was reliable. EzyCom, Maximus, Telegard,
Wildcat, Opus... You name it, I've tried it! but I found the only program that
was truly user friendly and configurable was WWIV. I have operated my WWIV BBS
for a little over 3 years now and know how time consuming at frustrating
running a BBS can be. After dealing with Problem Users [Yeesh, I think I get
them ALL calling my board!] I need something I can truly Rely on, which I
found in WWIV. Over the three years I have been registered I have enjoyed
following and implementing many of the WWIV Modifications that come in over
the Modnet and have become an experienced TC++ programmer. Along with Irq
Problems with other BBS programs, I have tried to install over 50 doors on my
board, and would like to share my expertise with those of you who share in the
problem I have. If you are looking for a high-paced door that works well with
the nonstandard IRQ, you should try Global Wars, my users love it and it is
SIMPLE to configure, and the new Trade Wars 2002 v2. No disrespect to the
Martins in any way, but I say its High Time [yeesh, I sound like my father
now!] that they implemented IRQs.. Oh well, As long as its in now. And in
conclusion, I wish to repeat my thanks to Wayne Bell for making such an
excellent and configurable program. Have a Nice Day ya'll!
River Dragon
1@20564 WWIVnet 1@9504 ICEnet
Lite Bytes Editor, Ima Moron, 1@9661, responds:
Dear River Dragon,
You're right! The Martins have implemented non-standard IRQ settings for
their Tradewars 2002 v2.0 and up. Within TEdit, item "O" there is an option
for editing the comport addresses. After choosing "O" you will be taken to a
second menu where item "G" will allow you to correct the COM address problem
you mentioned here. In earlier versions, if you were a registered user of
Tradewars, you could have e-mailed the Martins for a "fix" or fossil driver.
As a matter of fact RD, most chains now allow fossil drivers to be installed
as a TSR to drive your comports when the chain(s) are called. Perhaps the
IceNEWS Journal will run a fossil driver article in a future issue...? If so,
I'm certain the article will be a big help to you and others.
Ima....
Kipper, 1@5917, writes regarding Packet Radio:
A few months ago you did an article in IceNEWS about Packet Radio, and I
was wondering if you had any more information on that subject. It would be
much appreciated. Thanks.
IceNEWS Managing Editor for September, Ima Moron, 1@9661, responds:
Dear Kipper,
You betch-em', below is a listing of public access BBSs that specialize
in answering FAQ questions. These BBSs have information files for downloading
that will answer your questions about hardware, software, licenses, area
groups to assist you, etc.. You may also send feedback to the sysop so that
you can interpret the below listed net-mail addresses;
FOR INFO CONTACT:
ARRL
225 Main Street
Newington, Conn. 06111
Voice (203) 666-1541
BBS (203) 666-0578 14400/N-8-1
=================================
This is a list of all groups that regularly discuss amateur packet radio.
For newsgroups, join the group through use of your news reader. For mailing
lists, add a '-request' to the end of the list name to request subscriptions.
For listserv groups, send mail to 'listserv' at the node which contains the
list. The first line of the mail should be 'SUBSCRIBE groupname yourname'.
Send the command 'help' for more information.
rec.radio.amateur.packet (Newsgroup): General discussions involving
Packet Radio.
rec.radio.amateur.misc (Newsgroup): General amateur radio discussion.
Usually does not contain any particular information about Amateur Packet
Radio.
rec.radio.amateur.policy (Newsgroup): Discussion of regulation policies
regarding every aspect of amateur radio. Occasionally deals with policies of
packet coordination and legal issues of packet radio.
rec.radio.swap (Newsgroup): General For-Sale for any radio equipment.
Occasionally will have packet equipment for sale. Recommended location for any
amateur packet radio for-sale items.
info-hams@ucsd.edu (Listserv group): A digest redistribution of the
rec.radio.amateur.misc Usenet discussion.
packet-radio@ucsd.edu (Listserv group): A digest redistribution of the
rec.radio.amateur.packet Usenet discussion.
ham-policy@ucsd.edu (Listserv group): A digest redistribution of the
rec.radio.amateur.policy Usenet discussion
hs-modem@wb3ffv.ampr.org (Mailing list): Discussion of high speed modems
and radios available and future plans. Also includes discussion of networking
using high speed modems.
tcp-group@ucsd.edu (Mailing list): Group discussion of technical
developments of TCP/IP over packet radio and use of the NOS TCP/IP programs.
gateways@uhm.ampr.org (Mailing list): Discussion of current gateways and
future plans for gateways. May deal with sensitive internetworking issues.
listserv@knuth.mtsu.edu has several interesting mailing lists available:
Ima....
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<20> The IceNEWS Op/Ed Forum - "Computer Literacy" <20> by Deacon Blues 2@7653
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"Now repeat after me... Random Access Memory... ROM... BIOS..."
-- commercial for Compaq computers --
How computer literate are we? Well, if you had enough knowledge to set up
a BBS, join a network and maintain a connect, and look in your data files for
this publication, you're more computer literate than the average person. Trust
me on this. Over the course of this past winter, I found out first hand for
myself just how computer literate (or illiterate, as this case may be) some of
today's high school grads really are.
I'm a student at a local business institute and part of my curriculum
included a requisite class on introductory computer concepts. What the school
considered "introductory" was learning how to use DOS and an integrated
software package that included spreadsheet, database, word processing, and
graphing programs. Now I'm no computer whiz myself, but even I was not
intimidated by the course outline for the class.
At the start of the semester, there were a total of 28 students in the
class representing curricula such as Secretarial, Medical Secretarial,
Business Management, Computer Systems Management, Travel & Tourism Management
(my field), and Electronic Technology. The machines in our lab were old 8088s
that were not networked and had no hard drives; they all booted off of the
5.25 low density floppy a: drive. This is where the fun began.
Out of the 28 class students, 5 (including myself _and_ the teacher) had
previous computer experience and 2 (excluding myself and the teacher) owned a
computer at home. When these 2 were asked how much they knew about the
operations of their machines both replied that they knew little. They had
bought "package deals" which had come complete with pre-loaded software. All
they knew was that they turned the power switch on and the thing worked.
Neither knew how to actually install a program or what a directory
listing looked like (in fact, they didn't even know what a directory was). In
short, these people did not know a game port from an airport.
The teacher was ready to slap himself in the head as neither him nor I
had ever seen a room full of so many people who knew so little about
computers. Being a cosysop and having experience with computer illiterate
newbies from my BBS dealings, I immediately identified with the plight the
teacher was facing and offered any help I could give him. No matter what this
guy said to the other students and how he simplified things he might as well
have been speaking Greek to 90% of the class.
At the end of the very first class nearly everyone's heads were visibly
spinning (I swear, some students actually appeared to stagger out of the class
disoriented and glassy-eyed) and about all the teacher did was to go over
simple components (like disk drives, CPUs, peripherals, etc.) and try to
explain what an operating system (DOS) was and touch on some simple commands
(like DIR). The next time the class met, 4 people had dropped the course and
the teacher decided to put off teaching DOS for the moment and try to teach
the integrated software instead as at least some of the people had some
experience or base knowledge of one of the integrated programs.
The next time the class met, the teacher gave everyone a DOS disk and had
everyone load it up. He then had everyone type the directory listing command
to show them what one looked like. Then he had us load in the integrated
software. He told everyone that in order to use the programs they would need
to load DOS first, then load the integrated software.
For about 9 of the next 12 weeks, about half of the students continued to
take the teacher literally, thinking that they must not only load DOS but do a
DIR as well before they could insert and load the integrated software. About a
quarter of the remainder failed to grasp the concept of loading DOS before
attempting to load their other software and cries of "Mr. Sparks, what's wrong
with my machine?" were a regular event. By mid-term, the size of the class had
dwindled to 14 students.
As the weeks rolled by and I alternated between burning through my class
exercises and running around helping the teacher deal with the remaining
dunderheads who couldn't understand why you can't insert letters in a numeric
data field, I came to the dawning realization that the more the world turns
toward computer technology, the deeper of a hole this country's work force is
going to be in. These students were all high school graduates and all from
fields of study that rely heavily on the daily use of computers in some way,
shape, or form and they were wallowing miserably in about the most basic and
simple computer class you could get. It was time for my head to spin now.
Oh, by the way, we never did learn about DOS. It had taken everyone the
entire 12 weeks of the class (which met twice a week for sessions lasting one
hour and fifty minutes) to get through their assignments on the four basic
integrated software programs and the teacher ran out of time. Two people were
even still working on old assignments the class before the final exam while
the teacher was giving a final review. For the last class, 9 people (myself
included) showed up to take the final exam. Nine out of an original 28
students.
In case you're wondering, everyone who took the final passed (it was joke
simple, a rehash of 4 previous assignments). Those who dropped the class
avoided nothing as it's a requisite, so they only delayed the inevitable and
passed up on having a class with an incredibly easy-going and undemanding
teacher. I hope they all get into a class taught by a real stiffy.
My whole point to this rambling is that it is very clear (at least, to
me) that computer training must become a requisite course at the high school
level, if not earlier. Otherwise, I feel that the fiasco that I witnessed at
the collegiate level will become a more common and unfortunate occurrence.As I
alluded to before, I'm no computer genius and I got through the class alive
and passed the final. To think that there are people who are fresh out of high
school (I've been out for nearly 15 years now) and couldn't cope with a
simpleton class is scary. Real scary.
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> F E A T U R E S T O R I E S <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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<20> Front Door/WWIV Security Warning Article <20> by Papa Bear 1@5079
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Recently I set up my BBS to work with Front Door. I did this as an
exercise, to simply see if I could tame that program without too many
problems. The experience will most likely serve as a cornerstone to a later
article from me on how to make WWIV FIDOnet capable. So I'm not going to write
any instructions about how to setup Front Door right now. Instead, I have a
*very* important article for those of you who are setting up Front Door, or
already have Front Door running successfully.
I found a weak point with using Front Door with WWIV. It only comes about
under specific circumstances, but it can cause MASSIVE confusion on your BBS,
and can also be a possible security breach. What happens is this: If your
shrink your BBS to run an online game (this problem does not occur if you do
NOT shrink the BBS), two files are created that allow the BBS to retain
certain information that lets it continue to operate normally when the game is
exited. These files are RETURN.WWV (RETURN.001, RETURN.002, etc. for multi
node) and STAT.WWV (STAT.001, STAT.002, etc.). Your computer will also have to
boot into Front Door or load Front Door before WWIV for this to happen. If a
user is in an online game, and the machine *for whatever reason* gets rebooted
(or, if you're using a multitasker, the window they're in gets shut down),
like you might do for a lock-up, it causes this to happen: Front Door gets
loaded (the RESTORE.WWV and STAT.WWV files are still there, because when you
rebooted, they didn't get erased). When you receive your next HUMAN caller,
the BBS loads. When the BBS loads, it loads into the account of the person who
was online when the machine was reset, BYPASSING the logon procedures. This
means ANY account, even a *SYSOP* or *COSYSOP* account, if that was the
account that just happened to be active at the time when the machine was
reset! The solution is simple. In your startup batch file for Front Door (mine
is called FDOOR.BAT) simply place these three lines at the top:
if exist c:\WWIV\*.wwv del c:\WWIV\*.wwv
if exist c:\WWIV\return.0* del c:\WWIV\return.0*
if exist c:\WWIV\stat.0* del c:\WWIV\stat.0*
Make sure the drive and path point to your main BBS directory.
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<20> BBSing vs. Employment: <20>
<20> Which Means More To YOU? <20> by Deacon Blues 2@7653
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More often than not, a sysop is a person who runs their BBS as a hobby on
their own free time and at their own expense. Most sysops find running a BBS
to be a rather fun and challenging thing to do as much as they find it to be a
hobby. One generally considers his or her "free time" to be their own to do
what they wish with. If that means running a BBS, so be it. There are many
worse activities one can be engaging in while working on idle time. While most
consider their free time to be a right of life, Tandy Corporation seems to
think differently.
Rochelle Skwarla was one of the thousands of people who fall into the
category of "Modemer." She was a co-sysop of a BBS that operated out of her
home in San Louis Obispo, California. She was also an employee of the local
Radio Shack, a division of Tandy Corporation. On May 14, she was advised in
the form of a written notification by her employer that she should consider
shutting down her modem or leave the company.
According to Ms. Skwarla, she was told that the operation of a free
(donation optional) BBS was a "conflict of interest" and that she should
choose between her BBSing or her job. She asked her supervisor, Radio Shack
District Manager Joseph Provenzano, just what options she had if she decided
not to discontinue her supposedly conflicting activity. She claims that she
was told by Provenzano that she could be transferred to another store, one
approximately 35 miles away from her home. She asked if she was transferred if
she would receive a guaranteed number of hours due to the 70 mile round trip.
Skwarla was reportedly told "no."
Skwarla believed that the order was a ridiculous one, and one in which
she would be a loser no matter what she decided to do. If she bowed to the
requests of her superiors, she gave away the right to do whatever she wanted
in her free time that Tandy Corporation might feel is also in conflict with
the interest of the company. If she did not stop BBSing and was transferred,
it would have been very easy for her, working for minimum wage, to not make
enough money to cover the transportation costs to the store she would be
transferred to if her hours were not guaranteed.
Skwarla decided to hold her ground and not let her employer tell her
what she could or could not do on her own personal time away from work.
According to Skwarla, in a formal press release made later, she voiced her
disagreement with Provenzano's decision and kept up her BBSing activity. The
week following her decision, her hours were reduced to 15. The following week,
her hours had been cut to eight and one-half. Then, according to Skwarla, on
May 27, she was informed that her services would no longer be required.
To date and to my knowledge, there has been no official response about
this from anyone at Tandy Corporation or by Provenzano. What make all of this
seem strange is that John Roach, CEO and Chairman of Tandy, wrote in a
Tandy-published corporate publication title "Tandy Trends" regarding "the
Right to Choose, the Right to Own, and the Right to Access the Information
Superhighway." In his statement in the publication, he urged readers to
contact congressional offices to voice a negative opinion on a number of bills
being introduced into Congress that he felt were potentially restrictive to
communication. Yet it is exactly that that has been done by Tandy with the
Skwarla case.
While the reporting of this incident has been decidedly one-sided (due to
the lack of response by Tandy officials), it does not appear to be the first
time that a Radio Shack employee may have been asked to discontinue
extracurricular activities while working for Tandy. Let us examine the case of
Tom Moore.
Mr. Moore is a resident of Homosassa Springs, Florida, who, "many years
ago," decided that he wanted to apply for a job at the local Radio Shack.
After being successfully interviewed and hired for employment, Moore was
presented with the obligatory pile of various federal, state, and corporate
information forms to complete and sign. Along with the usual legal mumbo-jumbo
was a form that Moore thought was rather unusual.
The form stated that should Moore produce "any original product" while
employed by Radio Shack that he would be bound to turn over "any and all
rights to said original product to Radio Shack, a division of Tandy
Corporation." Moore asked just what "any original product" may be. After all,
that is a pretty broad sounding statement. Moore was told that this could
range from the software that he was writing for his Atari ST-based BBS (I
guess that WAS years ago...) to any song that he wrote for his "garage band"
that might one day make it big someday, both of which he had casually
mentioned at his interview regarding his hobbies and interests.
Moore says that he signed the form regardless because he needed the job
at the time. He also says, to be fair, that Radio Shack never did take
anything that he produced. He believed that this was partly because of the
fact that nothing he did in his free time while made any measurable amount of
money for him, if any at all. However, Moore also admits to not making it a
policy to discuss his leisure time activities whenever at work. Moore also
notes that his parting was amicable and that he has held several sales jobs
since.
In fairness, Tandy is not the only major corporation that has a policy of
this type. Policies such as claiming rights to any original product produced
by employees are seen mainly as a safeguard by the employer against
development of a substantially profitable product conceived of while in the
employ of the company or corporation. While I can see the employer's point if
this concept was conceived of and developed while "on the clock" with the
employer and therefore at the expense of the company, or with the use of any
equipment owned by the company, I believe that an employer should not have the
right to tell someone what he or she can or cannot do or have any right over
any successful product that is conceived or developed by an employee while he
or she is not "on the clock."
There are many lines of work where the employer can intrude upon an
employee while one their leisure time. Police officers, fire fighters, and
doctors are three high-profile ones. There are other employers that can tell
an employee what he or she cannot do on their own free time. An example of
this would be secret or government work which an employee is instructed
not to discuss with certain people, if at all. In situations such as those, I
believe that the intrusion is acceptable. However, I fail to see how an
employer can seriously expect to be able to say that they want an employee to
turn over rights to any original product that is not conceived, developed, and
marketed using company time, equipment, or resources.
The fact that companies and corporations are allowed to maintain such
policies shows the need for further attention to be given to this matter by
the proper authorities as well as by prospective employees of companies that
have such policies. Employers should not be allowed to hold the rights to any
original product that an employee may make while not on "company time" and
without using company resources and equipment to conceive, develop, or market
the product. This is called "free enterprise" and it is one of the ideals that
this country was founded on.
Further, employers should not be able to dictate to an employee what he
or she can or cannot do with their leisure time while not at work that does
not harm or detract from the employer. An employer should not be able to tell
an employee that he or she cannot use a modem, or be a sysop, or a musician,
or a programmer while at home, in their own spare time. That is called
"freedom," and is another ideal that this country was founded on.
In her press release, Rochelle Skwarla stated that she was uncertain if
she was going to take legal action regarding her dismissal from her Radio
Shack job. Unfortunately, the release was dated in early June and I have seen
nothing since and do not know what, if anything, ever came out of the matter.
If she did decide to litigate, I wish her the best of luck with her case.
Let these examples serve notice to all of those who currently hold or are
currently seeking jobs with major corporations. Read what you sign. Ask
questions. If a policy is not clear, ask for a clarification. And, if it comes
down to it, make a decision about what is more important to you; your free
time and anything that you do with it, or your job.
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<20> WWIV Utilities and Modification Review <20> by Papa Bear 1@5079
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NAME OF MOD/UTILITY BEING REVIEWED: StripIt
AUTHOR'S NAME/HANDLE : Starship Trooper / Matt Hucke
VERSION NUMBER : 2.11
VERSION DATE (.EXE date stamp) : 05/26/94
OVERALL SCORE : 9
INSTALLATION : 9
DOCUMENTATION : 9
PRESENTATION : 10
EASE OF USE : 8
STATED PURPOSE OF MOD/UTILITY: ------------------------------ Network2
preprocessor to remove ANSI, taglines, etc., from incoming net packets, and
delete messages from specified users, of specified types. v2.11 is much faster
and features a full-screen, colorful appearance. Extremely configurable.
REVIEWER'S PRO COMMENTS: ----------------------- Have you ever wanted to
get rid of those annoying ANSI's, except on certain subboards. How about those
dweebs that place CTRL-G bell codes in the taglines? Speaking of taglines,
what about those "tags from hell"?
Are you getting really obnoxious posts from a certain user out there in
modem-land? Tired of seeing WWIV instead of the proper WWIV?
Me too. That's why I first got this program, because it promised to
"correct" these things for me, and a whole lot more. And it did. Once
installed, it does it's work seamlessly during network packet tossing. You
need not do anything else, unless you want to change it later.
The program excels at removing ANSI, bells, WWIV, taglines, from incoming
posts. It will also remove routing information from messages which can be a
God-send if you extract a lot of E-Mail and MODs like me. By doing all of
this, it saves disk space. Here's a short look at my logs for one day:
IceNET: Deleted 0 msgs ( 0b) ans=62 tag=30073 path=65900
WW4net: Deleted 0 msgs ( 0b) ans=1618 tag=23062 path=66614
WWIVlink: Deleted 0 msgs ( 0b) ans=0 tag=848 path=17242
So just on these net connects, I've saved 205,479 bytes of disk space. I
estimate in a single DAY, it approaches 1Mb. (8 nets -- multiple callouts)
30Mb a month of disk space saved from using this program. Nothing to sneeze
at!
This program will also let you filter out entire messages from any single
user on any net, a single node, or an entire network (even if gating in via a
different network).
REVIEWER'S CON COMMENTS: ------------------------ The bad news? Well, it
configurability is also its downfall, in a way. Its so configurable as to be
confusing at times. It seems that unless you're a programmer, you'll not truly
understand some of the ways that it can be set up. The documentation can be a
bit cryptic at times. Especially for someone who doesn't RTFM as they should.
Even for a person like me, who reads docs for pleasure, I had to keep going
over certain portions to truly understand what was going on.
FINAL THOUGHTS: --------------- If you host subboards, then you may want
to seriously consider this. If your skeptical of the set up problems, then
wait a while, StarShip Trooper assures me that upcoming versions will be
easier to deal with.
REVIEW WRITTEN BY : Papa Bear / Tracy L. Baker NET ADDRESS(ES) :
1@11579.ww4net, 1@5079.ice/tardis, 1@2.sexnet 1@11.nocalnet, 1@15061.WWIVlink,
1@5051.void net(); 1@10.qlink REVIEWER'S SYSTEM : 386SX-33, DRDOS 6.0,
DESQview 2.6, QEMM 7.0, WWIV 4.23 HEAP FREE @ //STAT : 271k
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<20> Dealing With Co-Sysops <20> by Will 1@6754
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There comes a time, in the evolution of a BBS system, when the level of
work and maintenance that a sysop is required to do becomes a massive drain
on the Sysop's time. As any experienced system operator will admit - there are
times when you need someone else to take some of the drudgery out of running a
BBS. That someone else, of course, is your Co-Sysop.
Almost every Bulletin Board system I've ever called has had a Co-Sysop,
usually from the day it opened, or at least shortly thereafter. However, not
every Co-Sysop really pulls their weight around the system. While a good
Co-Sysop is a valuable tool to running a BBS without suffering from Sysop
Burnout, what do you do if your Co is just taking up space, and enjoying the
status?
When people have a problem with a Co-Sysop, it usually starts at the
beginning of the relationship. While it's of course possible for a previously
enthusiastic Co to simply loose interest in doing the job, at that point they
generally don't have too many objections to retiring from the position and
allowing someone else to take their place. In my own experience, trouble's
most likely to occur when you ask a personal friend to fill the office. While
there are many exceptions to this approach is not generally a good idea. When
you're friends with your Co, you don't want to risk straining the friendship
by demoting him or her down to normal user status, or appointing another
Co-Sysop to "help out." I've seen friendships fall when this does happen.
Usually, the urge to invite your friend of xx years, who you introduced to
BBSing, is quite strong, and many new Sysops fall victim to it, not really
analyzing how well their friend will actually be able to do the job, and what
to do about it if he or she can't.
Of course, knowing your prospective Co-Sysop personally does have some
advantages. For instance, you know that they won't try anything sneaky, or
downright malignant, if you see them, and have the opportunity to throttle
them, every day of the week. You can get together locally, and you can usually
feel much more secure about giving them higher access. And of course, not all
friends make bad Co-Sysops. Recently, I gave two friends of mine Co-Sysop
access while I was going to be out of the country for a few weeks. I closed
the BBS to new users (you don't, generally speaking, have to do this if you
have a good Co who can validate the new accounts for you, but there had been
some stuff going on in the area, and I thought it wise), and the three people
with CoSysop access did an excellent job of keeping the BBS running at it's
normal level without any major snags of slowdowns at all.
The best results I've had from a Co-Sysop, however, is from one I've
never met, and have talked to voice perhaps three times. I'd also made the
mistake, when I first opened a BBS, of asking a good friend (whom I'd
introduced to BBSing, etc) to be my CoSysop. In this case, it was probable
that NOT doing so would strain our friendship. When that came to it's obvious
conclusion, I went several months without an active Co-Sysop. However, I kept
my eye on various people on the system, and found one who knew WWIV, was
responsible, and could write well. He'd been a user on the BBS for around a
year, and had been one of the first people to logon, in the first couple
months of the BBS' existence. I hired him.
The advantage of having upgraded a user to the Co-Sysop seat is that
there's no danger of recoil. While I've gotten to know him quite well in the
past year or so, and certainly like him, if for some reason I do need to
downgrade him from Co-Sysop status, I can do it without qualms. As it stands
right now, I don't think I'm going to need to - he's done an excellent job,
headed off several potential crises while I've been away on trips, and in
general taken a large amount of work off my hands.
As for the duties of a Co-Sysop, there's an amazing amount that can be
done. For instance, File Directories tend, with time, to become unsorted
jumbles. I have one of my Co-Sysops sort them whenever they see a new upload,
and at the same time have them call duplicates, improve descriptions, etc.
Message areas can also use some assistance at times. I have my Co-Sysops
delete any offensive messages that they come across.
Another case: I'd started a sub (Tradewars Expert Discussion), that I
personally wasn't very interested in, but a user was. After that user left, I
was stuck with a popular networked message base that I didn't want to network
validate (but the sub needed it, and had gained about sixty subscribers at
that point). In this case, I looked at who played Tradewars, and promoted one
of the major players to Sub-Op status. This one spiraled out of control - he
went from Tradewars junkie to the Sysop of a very nice (and quite popular with
game players) board in it's own right.
Of course, a Co-Sysop is most useful when you can't be their to mind the
BBS itself. When the Sysop goes on a trip, for instance, the BBS will grind
itself to a halt if there isn't anyone to grease the wheels. You can easily
forward validation email to a Co-Sysop's account, and have him or her handle
network validations, questions, user disputes, as well. I found a great
utility called "Connection Editor", by Wraith Technologies, that allows my
Co-Sysop edit CALLOUT.NET without shelling to DOS (the only downside is that
it requires revealing your Sysop password. Since all my sensitive functions
have secondary passwords attached, and he doesn't have the 255 SL anyway, this
is not a major headache).
Obviously, a Co-Sysop is a great person to have around, as long as you've
picked the right one. While there are exceptions to every rule, in life as
well as in BBSing, picking a good CoSysop can probably be regarded as one of
the most difficult choices that a Sysop has to make. However, the risk is
almost definitely worth it, as a good Co-Sysop is something to hold onto.
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<20> Artificial Intelligence - Part Four <20> by Louie 6@1
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I would like to start this months article off with the information that
this will be the final installment of this series. I have tried to cover all
the major topics of Artificial Intelligence, though I am sure that I missed
something someplace. I have spent a lot of time reading and preparing for each
installment and I have enjoyed writing them.
Since this is the final piece in this series, I have a lot to cover. Much
of what I cover this month is related to the Natural Language Processing that
I covered one month ago. Speech Recognition and Speech Understanding draw much
of what they are from NLP. I will also be covering Computer Vision and
Symbolic Processing. I touched on Symbolic Processing in passing in both parts
one and two of this series.
SPEECH RECOGNITION
A lot of BBSers are regular viewers of "Star Trek: The Next Generation."
On that television program the ships computer talks to the crew, and the crew
talks to the computer. Keyboards and mice are not the primary input devices
for the computer. Well, that is pretty much the great goal of Speech
Recognition.
The goal of Natural Language Processing was to have the computer
understand the languages humans use, such as english. Well, the goal of Speech
Recognition is a sub-set of the NLP goal. SR wants to have computers
understand the spoken word of the people that use the computers.
Ongoing research is thus being conducted into the area of speech
recognition so that a computer can recognize the words that human beings speak
as well as, eventually, understand the words as well. Through enabling a
computer to understand what we say, we can communicate with it more naturally,
simplify using it, give it instructions faster, free our hands for other
tasks, and access it remotely.
Ease of Access - More people can speak than can type. So, if people could
just talk to the computer rather than type to it, that
will mean more people will be able to use computers. This
would be a major factor in relieving some of the effects
of "Technophobia."
Speed - People can speak faster than they can type. So, having a computer
with speech recognition would increase productivity in the
workplace.
Manual Freedom - There are many situations where people would find it more
useful to not have to type to the computer. Such as, for example,
for me right at this moment. I have a few references and a few note
pads on my lap as I sit here writing this article. It would be much
easier for me to just dictate my article to the computer while sitting
and reading some references comfortably rather than very cramped like
I am now.
Remote Access - This already exists in some simple ways. It is possible
to call the computer voice (when the right equipment and software is
used) and get e-mail via voice-mail systems now.
Speech recognition application areas range from entertainment to office
automation.
APPROACHES TO SPEECH RECOGNITION
Before speech can be analyzed by a computer it must be converted from
spoken sound into speech patterns. Due to differences in speakers and in
context recognizing speech is more than comparing words to a dictionary to
obtain their meanings. People often speak poorly, with accents that are
difficult even for other people to understand, context problems, etc.
Therefore, the major efforts have been in Speaker-Dependent Recognition.
SDR has the user who will be using the equipment train the computer, sort of
speak. The user sits down with the computer program and has his or her
personal way of speaking words and phrases recorded by the computer itself.
Speaker-Independent Recognition has been attempted, but it is really not
very good. It only seems to work for limited domains of use.
CONTEXT
Three approaches to handling words in different contexts are recognizing
isolated words, connected words and continuous speech.
Isolated Word Recognition (IWR) - This is a system that uses
pattern-matching techniques to recognize words when they are spoken with short
pauses between each of them. This "isolates" each of the words and thus
eliminates many of the problems in speech recognition that results when you
try to interpret sounds that all seem-to run together. Systems using this
approach have been in use for about 25 years now.
Connected Word Recognition (CWR) - This is a system designed to recognize
words spoken in normal context without any pauses between words. Pauses
between words are often blurred, so this type of system ignores the existence
of pauses and analyzes the whole of what is spoken to the computer. CWR
requires very sophisticated techniques, so it is not used much in practice.
Continuous Speech Recognition (CSR) - This system is designed to
understand speech in typical conversations or normal length. It must cope with
all the problems that CWR contends with, plus having to keep "real time" and
process speech quick enough to keep up with the rapid pace of normal
conversations.
CSR will probably be the system used in the future for speech
recognition, but for now most systems are IWR with a few CWR systems used as
well.
ANALYZING SPEECH
To help analyze speech signal patterns, words can be broken into
sylla-bles, phonemes, or allophones.
Syllables - Due to the number of syllables in the language, syllable
identification is more difficult in English than in, say, Japanese. A syllable
includes a vowel and the surrounding consonants that are all pronounced
together. An individual syllable often can be isolated by analyzing the stress
patterns in a speech signal.
Phonemes - Words can be broken down in to all their individual sounds
called phonemes. A phoneme is the sound of a individual consonant or vowel.
These can signal letters, but they can also be letter combinations that are
pronounced differently than the letters that make them up, for example, th.
Allophones - In normal fluent speech, the pronunciation of each phoneme is
influenced strongly by context. In other words, letters that are pronounced
differently depending on the words they are in.
SPEECH UNDERSTANDING
For computers to understand speech, it must select the most likely
meaning of what had been said from several possible interpretations. Several
techniques are used to make the selection. The method most commonly used is to
develop several possible interpretations and then use various techniques to
select the most plausible one. Some of the techniques used for speech
understanding are similar to those used for natural language understanding;
analyses of syntax, semantics, and pragmatics may reveal that some possible
interpretations are more likely than others. Stress patterns may provide
additional clues that are unavailable in written language.
Island Driving - This is a technique that selects words that were most
likely to have been interpreted correctly and then connect the "word islands"
by selecting interpretations for the remaining words in context with the
islands.
COMPUTER VISION
How do people understand what they see? Vision is something that is only
dimly understand, even in people. We see the light waves in much the same way
that we hear sound waves. It is processing the light waves that is difficult,
though. Developing computers with vision is considered to be one of the most
challenging areas of Artificial Intelligence research.
ANALYZING VISUAL CLUES
Visual images have been stored on computers since the 1950's, even before
it entered the AI field. Images can be stored as a matrix of dots called
pixels. FILENAME.GIF files are common in the BBS world. But Gifs are not AI.
Having the computer know what is in the GIF is AI.
AI techniques must be used to analyze and interpret what is in the
digitized image. Computer vision systems looked for "clues" that may help
determine what the various features of the image are. Clues looked for are
colors, depth, texture and motion.
Color - Patterns of color can help to identify the features of objects.
An analysis of color can provide clues in the areas of hue, saturation, and
intensity. In some systems, an image is divided into three separate color
images - red, green and blue - each of which are analyzed separately and then
compared to one another for additional clues.
Depth - We perceive depth through a process called binocular vision,
which is possible because we have two eyes. Each eye receives an image that
is a little different from the other and our brains then analyze the two
images to give us information about relative distances we are from various
objects. Computer Systems using a similar approach have been made.
Texture - The surface of every object has its texture. Changes in texture
may be indicated by variations in color and, if the texture is sufficiently
coarse, depth; changes may help to identify surfaces of objects.
Motion - Additional clues to the nature of objects captured by visual
images can be provided by the motion of either the camera or the objects. A
mobile camera capturing a series of images provides information about the same
objects from various points of view; such information can then be analyzed
using methods similar to those used to interpret binocular information. If one
or more objects in an image are in motion, a series of images captures by a
stationary camera can be used to help separate the foreground from the
background and to offer clues about certain features of each.
INTERPRETING VISUAL IMAGES
Once a digitized image has been analyzed, the hard part of identifying
the components of the image begins. The two methods that show the most promise
are edge detection and model-based vision.
Edge Detection - In Edge Detection, a computer needs to determine where
an object's edges are order to identify it, however, various factors make it
hard to recognize the edges. These factors include the following:
Some edges are not entirely distinct, and actually may be blurred.
Some objects contain more than one color and boundaries of the change
in color may be very distinct to almost make it appear as more than one
object.
Shadows can cause changes in shading.
An object may include different planes at various angles to the
camera. Each plane may reflect a different shading depending on the
direction and strength of the light source.
All edges of an object might not be visible.
Although these considerations make it difficult for a computer to find
edges, they actually can make it easier for a computer to find lines. And this
allows for some systems to not worry about the edge problem because lines can
be made to stand out more for some work in industrial settings.
Model-Based Vision - In model-based vision systems, the computer may use
templates or descriptions of features to identify an object. It has proven to
be effective in limited domains where the vision system is expected to
recognize a limited number of different objects.
Vision is something computers have been constructed to do with better and
better results each few years. They are not perfect yet, but they are coming
along nicely.
Well, that is all I am qualified to talk about with regards to Artificial
Intelligence. One topic that I did not talk about was Neural Networks. I don't
know enough about that new and growing sub-field of AI to speak on it in any
sort of an intelligent manner.
There were a lot of other topics that are included in the field of
Artificial Intelligence as well. I was trying to present an overview of the
field for a layman. This was not, nor should anybody try to use it as, an
attempt to cover anything in-depth.
If you wish to learn more about the field I suggest the books in my
bibliography. I would say that the two best there for a layman are
Understanding Artificial Intelligence and AI:The Tumultuous History of
Artificial Intelligence. The other sources listed are mainly of a technical
nature.
After a suitable length of time I may come back with some more technical
articles about AI. Mainly programming AI-like things in C or C++. But that is
a big maybe at this point. So, don't count on it.
Understanding Artificial Intelligence; 1988 by Henry C. Mishkoff;
Howard W Sams.
Artificial Intelligence... Using C; 1987 by Herbert Schildt;
Osborne McGraw-Hill.
The Computer Glossary: The Complete Desk Reference; 1991 by Alan
Freedman; AmaCom.
Using Turbo Prolog; 1988 by Kelly M. Rich & Phillip R. Robinson;
Borland-Osborne McGraw-Hill.
I, Robot; 1950 by Isaac Asimov; Del Rey.
Asimov On Science; 1989 by Isaac Asimov; Pinnacle.
essays entitled "Thinking About Thinking" and
"More Thinking About Thinking".
AI: The Tumultuous History of the Search for Artificial Intelligence;
1993 by Daniel Crevier; BasicBooks.
LISP: An Interactive Approach; 1986 by Stuart C. Shapiro;
Computer Science Press.
XLISP: An Experimental Object-Oriented Langauge; 1986 by David M. Betz;
Documentation with program.
PC-LISP User Manual; 1987 by Peter Ashwood-Smith; Documentation with
program.
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<20> Automod : Fast Mod Installation <20> by The Regulator 1@6906
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[Editor's Note by Papa Bear]
Automod has the potential of becoming one of the most important tools for
modifying WWIV since the introduction of WWIV itself.
However, at this time, Automod does have some shortcomings in this
Editor's eyes. While it should work virtually flawlessly with virgin
(unmodded) or near-virgin source code, it does have some problems handling
heavily modified BBSes. It has also been reported that trying to modify the
BBS manually from Automod's MFF file can be difficult.
Here at IceNEWS, we wanted to let you know about this new development in
WWIV modding early on in its development. While the technology here is still
in its infancy, we deem it important enough to give it a close look in this
month's IceNEWS.
If we support the author in his efforts to develop this program, we can
all rest assured that it will only improve in the future. It may even be
possible for Automod to evolve into an utility that will successfully handle
*any* source code, no matter what level of modification a particular BBS has
reached.
----------------------------------
* Introduction to Automod
WWIV is a popular BBS software package among people who are dedicated to
their BBSes. Sysops spend large amounts of time editing their WWIV source code
with their favorite text editor, inserting pieces of code into their BBSes and
testing the results. These results are sometimes good. However, all too often
source modifications can render a BBS useless by virtue of mistakes in
modding.
* Function of Automod
The goal of a new shareware program that I have developed, called
Automod, is to make modifying a WWIV BBS as simple as typing a command line.
The program does the following. For input, Automod takes the name of a Mod
File Format (MFF) file. For output, Automod backs up affected BBS source code
files to the filename *.OLD, and modifies your existing source code, based on
the instructions in an MFF file. This process replaces the old cut-and-paste
text editor method that has been in use since WWIV first came out.
* Top 5 Automod Features
1. Effective on already-modified source code.
2. Fast and easy to use (especially for the sysop).
3. Automatically backs up your source to *.OLD.
4. AUTOMOD sub for support and MFF files.
5. Support programs MFFEdit/MFFView/MFFMake.
* Automod Support
A sub has been set up for MFF files to be distributed, questions to be
asked about Automod, and information to be given out. This sub is subtype
AUTOMOD on WWIVnet, ExpressNet, and IceNET.
For the latest copy of Automod, phone (609) 730-1656 V.32bis. If you
would like me to upload Automod to your [ASV/GSA] BBS, email WWIVnet 1@10219.
* Shareware Costs
Registration is $20 for Automod, $20 for MFFEdit/Windows. The MFF file
utilities are Freeware.
* MFF File Utilities
Three support utilities have also been developed, named MFFMake, MFFView,
and MFFEdit. MFFMake is a simple, command-line utility to create MFF files,
MFFView is a command line utility to view MFF files, and MFFEdit is a
fully-fledged Windows graphical MFF file editor for serious mod authors who
want to release their mods in MFF.
* Development Cycle of an MFF mod
The full development cycle of an MFF mod is as follows:
1. The mod author develops an idea, and writes code, marking it with comments
if he/she so chooses.
2. The mod author uses MFFEdit or MFFMake to create an MFF file which
contains only the lines of source that need changing, and the
instructions for Automod on how to change them.
3. The MFF file (usually smaller than an equally-functional text file) is
UUencoded and distributed on the Automod sub (see below).
4. The MFF file is UUdecoded from the Automod sub by a sysop, and
processed by Automod. The mod author's changes are incorporated into
the sysop's source code exactly as the author of the mod intended, plus
the sysop can make additional changes, if desired.
* Automod Pitfalls
The mechanism that Automod modifies your BBS is by searching for
keywords in the line immediately preceding lines to be deleted, added, or
changed in the previously unmodded source. If Automod cannot find the line
(most likely because of conflicting mods) it will abort with an error message,
and you will have to copy your *.OLD file over the source code that changed.
In this case, MFFView can be used to manually mod your BBS.
Supporting MFF files is the same amount of work for the mod author
because he/she only has to worry about the mod itself, not the instructions
for a human. However, the mod author has to analyze the changes that Automod
will make to the sysop's source, and "debug" the MFF file.
* Automod Internals
Automod and all of its companion programs were developed used Borland C++
4 and its advanced features. If anything goes awry in the execution of
Automod, MFFEdit, MFFMake, or MFFView, the application throws a C++ exception,
and an error handler takes over execution, notifying the user, and in most
instances, exiting Automod. This can happen when you run a "bad" MFF file, or
if a file is not found on disk.
Automod works by searching for keywords in source code that occur before
a line is changed. This allows Automod to work on very modified code,
independent of line numbers in the source.
MFFEdit is a fully functional Windows MFF file editor that was written in
C++ with the ObjectWindows (OWL) classes from Borland. OWL makes program
development in Windows fast and gives professional results.
* Comparison of Automod Process vs. Conventional Process In a Typical Mod
1. Concept
(both): The mod author comes up with an idea for modifying WWIV.
2. Coding
(old): The mod author writes his code, inserting it into the source. At
the same time, he/she writes a text file, containing a duplicate copy of the
code and instructions for the sysop.
(mff): The mod author writes his/her code, inserting it into the source,
while documenting his/her changes in MFFEdit, a Windows-based GUI MFF file
editor.
3. Testing
(old): The mod author tests the code in place, making changes, and
updating his/her MOD text file at the same time.
(mff): The mod author unzips a fresh copy of the source into another
directory, and "runs" his/her MFF file on it. Then he/she compiles it. Errors
are caught cleanly by the compiler, and changes can be made to the MFF file
using MFFEdit. Once the MFF file is "debugged", the chances of your target
audience having problems with your mod are almost nil.
4. Release
(old): The text file is posted on the ModNet, and distributed.
(mff): The MFF file is UUencoded and posted on the Automod sub.
5. Use
(old): WWIV sysops extract your modfile out, and with an editor capable
of handling more than one document, go through a painful and error-prone
process of cut-and-paste with your mod, often making time-consuming mistakes.
(mff): WWIV sysops extract your MFF file, UUdecode it, and run Automod on
it. All it takes is one command line.
* MFFEdit in Detail
The utility that is most useful for creating and editing MFF files is
Windows-based MFFEdit. MFFEdit is an easy-to-use application that displays
your MFF file in a graphical, "tree" format in the window. At the top of the
window is the menu bar, and button bar for quick access to commands. MFFEdit
has a friendly user-interface, with a hint bar at the bottom of the window
that describes commands when they are selected.
When MFFEdit is first started, it displays a yellow folder in the top
left corner of the window, with the words "Untitled" in the folder. This
folder represents your MFF file. Double-click the folder, or press the modify
button on the button bar, and a dialog box pops up, letting you edit
attributes of the MFF file such as the mod author, difficulty (wo/Automod), an
abstract, and WWIV version number. Once you have input the data, you might
want to save your MFF file using the File menu, just like a standard Windows
program.
Once you have saved your file, press the "Add" button, or the insert key
on your keyboard, and a file icon attaches itself to the folder icon. This
file icon represents a WWIV source code module to be modified. Double click
the file icon, and a different dialog box pops up, asking you the name of the
file to be modified, without path. Input the filename, and close the dialog
box.
To add commands to the file, press the "Add" button when you have the
file selected. A yellow arrow attaches itself to the file icon, which
represents a command. Press the "Add" button again, and a red box attaches
itself to the command, representing a param[eter] to that command. Now, edit
the command by double clicking on it; and you have the choice of which
function to use for that command. The functions are add, del, repl, and iend.
The MFFEdit documentation describes these functions and their effects on your
source code in detail. For now, choose the add command and type in a search
key in the search field of the dialog box. This search field should contain
the text in the source code line before that which should be modified. Each
param off of the add command is pasted into the source code after that line.
You can add more than one line of source code by adding more than one param to
each command. There are a few restrictions - MFF files will exit with an error
if there are commands in a file after an i[nsert]end command, and del[ete]
commands' params are ignored.
To registered users, a printed MFF documentation is provided that
describes MFF files in detail. In the Automod distribution package, a readme
file is provided that summarizes the MFF format.
The beginner may find it very helpful to open up others MFF files with
MFFEdit and look at them, in order to learn more about the format.
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<20> IBM Press Release on "Warp" <20> by Will 1@6754
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AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 9, 1994 ... IBM today announced that its second beta
release for the next version of OS/2*, code-named "Warp," will be available
next week. The second beta release offers more productivity enhancing features
and a BonusPak with applications in a fast, fun, and easy-to-use environment.
The first beta cycle tested performance enhancements and IBM's new PlayAtWill
capability.
Designed for business, mobile and home PC users, Warp Beta 2 combines the
maturity of the OS/2 32-bit operating environment with new features for
mobility and quick productivity, such as simplified installation, reduced
memory requirements, a floating tool bar, animated icons and a more responsive
user interface.
The Warp Beta 2 comes with an applications "BonusPak." The BonusPak
includes a suite of productivity applications, including IBM's
Person-to-Person real-time conferencing software, and integrated access to
online services. IBM is making Warp Beta 2 widely available to users who want
to subscribe by ordering from IBM's 800 number or by downloading the software
from CompuServe.
"Warp is loaded with value and is a high performer on notebook PCs, which
will broaden OS/2's market appeal to mobile corporate users, small businesses
and home offices," said Wally Casey, director of marketing, IBM Personal
Software Products division. "With Warp, Windows users will be more productive
and current OS/2 users will love the speed and usability improvements."
Customer-Driven Usability
Warp Beta 2 features numerous usability enhancements, including:
* Easy Installation -- At set-up, users select "easy install" and OS/2
automatically handles the complete installation, identifying the hardware and
configuring it to meet specifications. Experienced users can select an
advanced install that provides customization ability.
* New Look & Feel -- In Beta 2, the user interface, or OS/2 Workplace
Shell, features new colorful animated 3-D icons. For example, an animated
folder icon confirms visually the status of a folder. When a user opens a
folder, the icon opens to show it's active. Updated color and scheme palettes
allow users to customize their desktops.
* OS/2 LaunchPad -- Incorporating the principles of a floating tool bar,
"LaunchPad" provides users with single-click access to the applications,
folders, printers or other objects they use most.
* Improved Usability -- A new, graphical tutorial designed for new or
advanced users makes it easier than ever to learn OS/2's capabilities. A new
comet cursor was created for mobile users. It leaves a "comet" trail, making
it easy to track cursor movement, particularly on LCD screens. More pointer
sets allow for cursor enlargement, choice of styles and color selection. Other
significant improvements have been made in screen response time, command and
window processing and application load time already featured in Beta 1.
* PlayAtWill -- A new PCMCIA software utility, called PlayAtWill*,
provides plug-and-play capabilities today. The utility automatically
identifies the type of PCMCIA cards installed, including communications,
modem, memory, hard disk and I/O cards, and provides a convenient graphical
status on the desktop.
BonusPak Applications
The Person-to-Person capabilities in the BonusPak include whiteboard data
sharing, with multi-user annotation so that up to eight people can share
images, text, graphics and application window contents in real time, using
different protocols.
The new OS/2 version will support Windows ** 3.1, Windows 3.11 and
Windows for Workgroups** 3.x base function on Intel 386 and later machines.
Users interested in participating in the Warp Beta 2 program can either call
800-251-2177 (8 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST) for a CD-ROM or diskette version for
$14.95 plus tax. IBM is offering the diskette version for the same price to
encourage beta users to verify the new compression scheme. Users can also
download the beta code from CompuServe's IBM OS/2 FORUM Library (GO OS/2BETA)
and the IBM OS2BBS (OS2PERF2).
* Indicates trademark or registered trademark of International Business
Machines Corporation ** Indicates trademark or registered trademark of
Microsoft Corporation
----------------------
Look for a full article on Beta 2 (Warp) in the next edition of IceNEWS.
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<20> BBS Acronyms & Emoticons in Cyberspace! <20> By Papa Bear 1@5079
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As we travel down that rosy bit-stream, we often come across many strange
"words". These are not ordinary words however, since these very rarely have
any form that is easily pronounced by humans.
These "words" are actually acronyms. Foreshortening of real a real word
or combination of words intending to make the typing faster, the load lighter,
and the message length shorter.
Also seen in BBS land are combinations of letter and non-letter
characters that are used to more accurately express our emotions in a medium
where facial expressions and body gestures are useless.
So, without further ado here is a listing that I've compiled that will
explain quite a few of these things -- and hopefully entertain you in the
process!
ACRONYMS
B4N Bye for Now BAD Broken As Designed
BRB Be Right Back BBR Burnt Beyond Repair
BRS Big Red Switch BTA But Then Again
BTW By The Way BWQ Buzz Word Quotient
CIS Compuserve CU See you
CUL8R See you Later D/L Download
DTRT Do The Right Thing DWIMC Do What I Mean, Correctly
ETLA Extended Three Letter Acronym FISH First In, Still Here
FOAF Friend Of A Friend FUBAR Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition
FURTB Full Up Ready To Burst FWIW For What It's Worth
FYI For Your Information GDW Grin, Duck and Weave
GFR Grim File Reaper GIGO Garbage in, Garbage Out
GIGO Garbage In, Gospel Out GLGH Good Luck and Good Hunting
GR&D Grinning, Running, and Ducking IAE In Any Event
IMAO In My Arrogant Opinion IMHO In My Humble Opinion
IMO In My Opinion IOW In Other Words
IWBNI It Would Be Nice If IYFEG Insert Your Favourite Ethnic Group
MLA Multiple Letter Acronym MOTAS Member Of The Appropriate Sex
MOTOS Member Of The Opposite Sex OTOH On The Other Hand
PITA Pain In The A-- PLOKTA Press Lots Of Keys To Abort
POSSLQ Person of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters
PMFBI Pardon Me For Butting In ROFL Rolling On Floor Laughing
RPG Role Playing Games RSN Real Soon Now
RTFM Read The F---ing Manual/Message SFLA Stupid Four Letter Acronym
SMOP Small Matter Of Programming SNAFU Situation Normal, All Fouled Up SO Significant Other
SWMBO She Who Must Be Obeyed TAFN Thats All For Now
TANSTAAFL There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
TDM Too Damn Many TGIF Thank God Its Friday
TIA Thanks In Advance TLA Three Letter Acronym
TTL4N Thats The Lot for Now TTFN Ta Ta For Now
UL or U/L Upload, send to the BBS WIMP Windows, Icons, Mouse, Pointing
WOFTAM Waste Of F---ing Time And Money WYSBYGI What You See Before You Get It
WYSIWYG What You See Is What You Get YABA Yet Another Bloody Acronym
SYSOP System Operator
EMOTICONS
<G> Big grin <EG> Evil grin <sigh> self-explanitory
:) a smile ;) a wink :0 surprise
:( frown :-) Big smiley face (@@) You're kidding!
:-) Humor :-( Unhappy :<) Hairy lips
:<)= For those w/ beards :/) Not funny '-) Wink
P-) Wink :@) A pig :-" Pursing lips
:-O Still more shouting : ) A leper :-# Censored
:-x Kiss, kiss :-( Unhappy :-c Really Unhappy
:-< Forlorn :-C Unbelieving (jaw drop) :-| Disgusted
<:>== A turkey :-):-):-) Loud guffaw, :-J Tongue-in-cheek
:*) Clowning around :-0 "Oh noooooooo!" |-( Late night message
(:-$ Ill (:-& Angry (:-( Very sad
(:<) Blabber mouth @%&$%& Cartoon swearing ||*( Handshake offered
||*) Handshake accepted <&&> Rubber chickens 2B|^2B About Shakespeare
(-_-) Secret smile (:-..Heart-breaking message (0-< A fishy message
(:>-< Hands up! {' Alfred Hitchcock @>--->--- A rose
---...S.O.S. +-:-) User is the Pope or some religious officer
|-I User is asleep %-6 User is braindead (:I User is an egghead
<:-I User is a dunce :-: Mutant Smilie X-( User just died
8 :-) User is a wizard, :( Sad :[ Real Downer
:,( Crying [] Hugs :* Kisses
[:*:*] Hugs & Kisses |^o Snoring
These emoticons are particularly used by the Japanese but there is no
reason why these should not be used worldwide.....
^^ happiness ^^; embarrassment ;; sadness -- when it's the occasion to bow
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<20> "WWIVKhan" : A Satire of WWIVCon <20> by Louie 6@1
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WWIV KHAN!
Doom! Doom! Doom! Doom!
Duh! Duh! Duh! Duh!
You have just now entered an area soundblasters and monitors. Keyboards
and Putziods. Morons and Modems! You have entered the IceNEWS Zone! Be afraid,
be very afraid!
This is a story of a national wide bbs event. This is the story of a
massive sysop meeting from hell. This is the story of the great WWIV Khan!
Three large "things" were standing bravely in the airport staring
straight ahead. They all looked vaguely constipated.
"What time is it now, Parapuke?" JAFO asked.
"Dammit, JAFO - thats the 13th time you've asked that in six minutes" Dr.
Diversity complained. Parapuke looked at his watch and said in a dull monotone
voice "The time at the beep will be 6:41 PM. BEEP!"
These three weirdos were standing alone in the airport. Nobody had come
near them since JAFO killed and ate that Hare Krisnia that tried to give them
a flower at the door. In fact, many had run screaming from the terminal after
that little incident. Almost nobody noticed that Parapuke wasn't wearing
pants. This made Parapuke feel very unloved.
Just then, the ones they had been waiting for came walking down the
runway. It was two bearded individuals in tight fitting silk suits and wearing
pocket protectors. The only real difference between the two was one beard was
slightly more trimmed while the other's was quite long. Well, the one with the
trimmed beard was wearing a beanie cap too. They kind of vaguely resembled
ZZ-Top turned into weird insurance salesman, almost.
Parapuke comments "We have been sent to greet you, Oh Great Ones". The
one with the longer beard said "Hi, I'm Random and this is Filo." The others
beanie cap started to spin angryly and he shouted "No, you're Filo and I'm
Random".
"Oh yeah! I always get us mixed up. Sorry, Filo!" said Filo.
"And you thought I was nutzo, Dr. Diversity" JAFO said.
Just then, back at Central Command at the Hotel, a Red Pickup truck was
just pulling into the parking lot. All of a sudden the passenger side door
flung open and Special Agent Dude broke from the truck screaming "I don't care
if you think O.J. is secretly covering for Elvis or not!"
Then a large vaguely human figure emerged from the drivers side and
june belly bounced into the Hotel lobby.
Linwood Davis looked up from his desk, sick of the prank phone calls from
Deanna and Midnight Tree Bandit asking if he had Prince Albert in a disk
carrying case. Linwood angryly slammed the phone down once again wondering why
he had fallen for the same dumb joke 17 times in four minutes.
He glanced up at the large figure and said "Who the heck are you?"
"I'm Jim Nunn of IceNET, the large multi-dimensional food processing
company and part-time BBS network coordinator!" responded Jim .
"Oh my, NC!" Mr Davis mumbled to one in particular.
"You got that right!" Jim said.
THE ICEKHAN HAS COMMETH!!
That night everybody was just kind of settling in. Well, settling in
for BBSers is kind of different. Folks were running naked thru the hallways
shouting that their modem configuration was better than anyone elses. Fist
fights broke out over weather Pkzip or Macaffe SCAN were better utility
programs. IceNEWS reporters hanging around the hallways to see when people
would leave their rooms so they could rob them blind. You know, weird stuff.
The entire 2.5 day affair had many highlights. Some of the best are
reported here:
Snake passing by a door and seeing blood seeping out from under the door
raised a fuss for a brief time until Wild Munkin pointed out that there was a
WWIVlink Guidelines Meeting going on in there. That explained everything.
Walking Man and Linwood Davis got lost when they went out for a walk.
They have not been seen since. Reports have emerged from the former Soviet
Union about somebody stealing Nuclear weapons in order to "destroy the evil
FidoNet." The IceNEWS Staff is sure that those reports confirm that WM and LD
are still alive. How well they are is still open to argument though.
The great "My Handle is better than your Handle" debates. Things were
finally settled when everybody agreed that Will (1@6754) had a better handle
than Chris (1@2914).
Lorelei and Seafox, and Red Silver and Sky explaining the "Joys for BBS
Love" for a half hour, quickly replaced by the "How to Delete the Ones you
Love" screaming match.
Random, Jim Wire, and Tolkien giving a demonstration of a 256 line WWIV
board running on an 8088 machine that moves along at blindly fast speeds with
no noticeable delays.
"Yup," said Tolkien, "we didn't let Random write any of the code."
The IceNEWS Staff accepting their award for "Best Electronic News Journal
in WWIVland". Each of us editors gave a stirring speech about the joys of
working for and writing for IceNEWS. Ima Moron and Papa Bear's speeches were
the best of the bunch. "Thank you for this fine award" was all they said.
Great writing, guys!
In conparison to Deacon Blues 17 hour speech thanking everybody he had
ever known... What? You believed that BS story Will gave you about Deacon
resigning? That ain't true. He is still in New Orleans giving his acceptance
speech.
Jim and Random doing their Dancing Bears Routine. Jim and Random
wearing bear costumes and running around on roller skates. Great
entertainment. Of course they both broke both their legs. Doctors say they
will not be able to do the same act again next year. Well, I guess we do have
proof of a deities existence right there.
Well, that is all of the highlights of WWIV Khan '94 in New Orleans.
Everything in this story is a lie, the whole lie and nothing but a lie. If you
didn't like our making fun of you or somebody else... well, tough. If you
thought we should have made fun of somebody else... tell us what to put in
next year to really get their goats.
BTW, if we made fun of you in this installment... You can't have your
goat back. The IceNEWS Staff already ate it.
And always remember, :-) hehehehehe It's a joke boys and girls. Put the
guns down! **BAMB**.... Hey, that hurt Filo!
"I'm not Filo, I'm Random!" . . . . .
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>Ŀ
<20> Silly Strings <20> by Ima Moron 1@9661
<20> From IceNET Sysops Everywhere <20> Lite Bytes Editor
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
Tagline raid! My cronies and I in Redding have raided the PCBoard BBSs
for new tag material. I've stated this before, there isn't a tagline I won't
steal. The victim this week is Edison's Star BBS where the sysop is Randy
Noseworthy. Just remember Randy, you gave me the access!
From: Ed Brewer on Edison's Star BBS (PCBoard)
I'm not a programmer, but I play one with a TV remote....
From: Randy Noseworthy on Edison's Star BBS (PCBoard)
Congress.sys corrupted, REBOOT Washington D.C. (Y/N)?
From: Barry Martin on Edison's Star BBS (PCBoard)
Every family tree has it's sap!
From: Frank Caltabiano on Edison's Star BBS (PCBoard)
I live so far out in the country that my zip code is EIEI-O!
From: Daryl Stagner on Edison's Star BBS (PCBoard)
Friction can be a drag sometimes...
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>Ŀ
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>Ĵ T H E I C E N E W S J O U R N A L O F F I C I A L <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
<20> W R I T E R ' S G U I D E L I N E S <20>
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
------------
INTRODUCTION
------------
This text was written to aid those who wish to submit writings for
publication in the IceNEWS Journal, the monthly electronic publication of
IceNET. This text contains an overview of IceNEWS itself, its goals and
objectives as a publication, and describes what is acceptable for submission
to the Journal for publication in any given issue.
This text also explains what to do when you are ready to send in your
writings for consideration, what format should be used in your submission, and
where it should be sent. Information regarding requirements for joining the
IceNEWS staff is also included.
--------
OVERVIEW
--------
IceNEWS was created by Jim, 1@1, in September of 1992. Then IceNET News,
it was designed to be a place where sysops of IceNET could have their writings
published for others to read in an electronic network-wide newsletter. As with
all things, IceNET News evolved over time, becoming IceNEWS and shedding the
"newsletter" image to become a "journal" covering the world of WWIV sysoping,
WWIV BBSing, and WWIV networking.
Above all else, the main goal of IceNEWS has remained unchanged
throughout the metamorphosis. That goal is to provide the readers of IceNEWS
with _the best_ in useful and pertinent news, information, tips, and
entertainment that the world of WWIV has to offer. If the editors and writers
of IceNEWS can leave readers feeling informed, enlightened, or entertained
after they have read an issue, then the editors and writers have done their
jobs. It is my personal belief that each story published in IceNEWS must meet
one of the above objectives in order to be considered for publication.
-------------------------
WHO CAN WRITE FOR ICENEWS
-------------------------
IceNEWS has an open submission policy, meaning any person who desires to
submit a piece for publication may do so with the following conditions:
1.) The author is able to contact any current IceNEWS editor to
tender their submission and will remain available to make
revisions to the piece if requested by the editor.
2.) The person submitting the piece is the ORIGINAL author of the
piece being submitted (or has the written permission of the
original author allowing re-publication).
IceNEWS reserves the right to reject any submission that is deemed
unworthy of publication by the IceNEWS Managing Editor for the issue that the
piece was submitted for, by the Editor-In-Chief, or by the Publisher.
------------------------------------------
TYPES OF WRITING ACCEPTABLE FOR SUBMISSION
------------------------------------------
All submissions should deal in one way or another with networking,
BBSing, and/or general computing. The following types of writing are
considered acceptable for submission to the Journal for publication:
Editorials
Opinions
Letters to the Editors
Stories of interest to Sysops
Stories of interest to users
Network specific stories
WWIV specific stories
Hardware related stories
Operating System related
Software related stories
Programming related stories
Informative stories
"How to" stories
Product reviews
Tutorials
Humorous stories
* Note: Multi-part stories intended to run over the course of two or more
issues are acceptable, but ALL parts must be submitted FULLY COMPLETED
before the story can be considered for publication.
If there is some topic matter that you wish to write about that is not
listed here, please e-mail any of the editors listed later in this text with
your idea for a determination.
----------
STORY SIZE
----------
Obviously, the size of a story depends upon the subject matter being
written about. Informative stories or tutorials are always going to be larger
than something like an editorial or a letter to the editors. There is no real
set size limit for any submission to IceNEWS, though an editor may ask you to
expand on certain aspects of your work. No matter what you are writing, the
story should be large enough for you to clearly get your desired point across
to readers without confusion, omission, obsfucation, or too much extraneous
information. Be concise without generalizing or being vague.
-------------------
MAKING A SUBMISSION
-------------------
When you think you are ready to make your submission to IceNEWS, think
again. This is not meant to be a snotty remark, but is meant to remind you to
review your final text before making the official submission. Many times,
simple errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation can be easily caught by
the author and corrected. Maybe you might even come across a sentence or two
that do not really "click" or are incomplete or incoherent.
Take the time to read over your complete work several times before you
send it out. Trust me, the extra time _will_ make a difference and show in the
end.
-----------------
SUBMISSION FORMAT
-----------------
All submissions _must_ contain your name (or handle), your user number,
the network node number of the system you have your account at (if other than
IceNET, PLEASE specify which network), and a title. Be sure to choose a title
that is pertinent to the subject matter of your submission. If deemed
unacceptable, you may be asked to change the title of your submission. Also,
please include any user numbers and network addresses for any people other
than yourself who may be mentioned in your submission.
Although IceNEWS is distributed throughout the entire IceNET network,
which includes foreign language countries or regions, all submissions are to
be written in the English language. As IceNEWS is freely distributed to any
person who wishes to read it, the use of profanity or adult subject matter is
strictly prohibited. There will be no exceptions to either of these rules.
All submissions should (whenever possible) be checked for errors in
spelling, punctuation and grammar by the author prior to submission. There are
literally hundreds of different shareware or freeware spell- and
grammar-checkers available on almost any given BBS for downloading. Some text
editing programs may even include these utilities in their basic software.
All submissions should be written using straight ASCII text format only.
No ANSI, high ASCII, WWIV color codes, or word processing formats (like
WordPerfect) should be used. Also (whenever possible), wordwraps that
hyphenate words at the end of a line should _not_ be used. There is also no
need to right-justify the text or make it column-proportional as this will
later be done by IceNEWS prior to publication.
Your cooperation in abiding by the above is greatly appreciated. The
better your adherence to the submission formats, the better your chances are
for tendering an acceptable submission and getting published. Adherence to
formats will also help expedite the editing process for everyone on the staff
(which is equivalent to pulling a thorn out of a lion's paw). :)
-------------------------
WHERE TO SEND SUBMISSIONS
-------------------------
IceNEWS is divided into a number of departments, each specializing in
certain aspects of topic matter. While any submission may be tendered with any
editor, making your submission to the editor in charge of the department that
your story topic matter falls into will help expedite matters and get a
response back to you quicker.
Submissions may be made to any of the following current IceNEWS staff
members (NOTE: addresses shown are for IceNET only):
Jim 1@1 IceNEWS Publisher
Will 1@6754 IceNEWS Editor-In-Chief (Best Location)
Louie 6@1 IceNEWS Letters To The Editors/OpEd Forum Editor
Chris 1@7668 IceNEWS Editor-At-Large & Production
Papa Bear 1@5079 IceNEWS WWIV Specific Editor
Will 1@6754 IceNEWS Hardware/Software/Programming/Operating Systems Editor
Ima Moron 1@9661 IceNEWS Light Bytes (humor) Editor
Submissions may also be tendered by accessing the IceNEWS Beat (Chat With
The Editors) sub (subtype ICENEWS, host @1) and posting your submission there.
As this sub is network-validated, your posted submission will be extracted and
forwarded to the proper editor.
----------------------------
AFTER MAKING YOUR SUBMISSION
----------------------------
Once your submission is tendered, it will be read by one or all of the
IceNEWS staff. You will then receive as reply regarding your submission as
soon as possible. Initially, this will be merely to state that your submission
has been received by IceNEWS and is currently under consideration. If you _do
not_ receive a reply acknowledging receipt of your submission within 10 days
of your mailing it, please e-mail the editor that you made your submission to
and ask regarding its status.
When your submission has been thoroughly read by the editor of the
department pertaining to the topic of your piece, you will receive further
notification regarding the status of your submission. Your submission may be
accepted or rejected at this point, or you may be asked to revise your
submission using suggestions from the editor to improve or expand your piece
into a printable form.
If you are asked to make a revision to your submission, please do not
take this to be a knock against your work and be offended. As any professional
writer or English teacher can easily tell you, revision is a major part of the
writing process. Most often, when a writer is asked for a revision, it is
usually because something did not make sense or a point was unclear to the
editor. This is why reviewing you work prior to submitting it is important.
In the unfortunate case that your submission is deemed unacceptable and
rejected, again, you should not feel belittled or offended. Again, rejection
(however unfortunate) is also a part of writing. Do not be deterred. Simply
find another subject (or perhaps even a different "take" on your rejected
piece) and try again. There is no limit to the number of submissions you may
make to IceNEWS, so if at first you don't succeed...
-------------------------
JOINING THE ICENEWS STAFF
-------------------------
As it stands, IceNEWS enjoys the luxury of having the largest regular
staff of any WWIV-based network publication. This does not mean, however, that
IceNEWS is not looking to expand. However, there are several things to take
into consideration before finally deciding that you want to be a part of the
IceNEWS staff.
While previous editing experience is not a requisite, a proven track
record of writing is. To be quite frank, IceNEWS is only willing to entertain
applications from those with some kind of prior writing experience. "Prior
writing experience" does not mean posting 100 one-line messages on your
friend's BBS nor does it mean getting a "Letter to the Editor" published in
your local Times, Tribune, Beacon, or Picayune. IceNEWS is looking for those
who may have previously written for us or another network publication or a
hard copy print publication (other than self-published).
There are several qualities that are needed to be an IceNEWS editor.
Reliability is high among them. IceNEWS is looking for people who are willing
to be in this "for the long haul." IceNEWS is not in need of individuals who
are just looking for something to pass the time. With the title of "editor"
comes certain responsibilities, chief among these is the ability and
willingness to both write stories and solicit "freelance" stories pertaining
to their department from others on a _regular_ basis. This means that an
applicant _must_ possess both the time and the inclination needed to do the
job of editor. And make no mistake about it, being an IceNEWS editor _is_ a
"job," one in which you are "on call" 365 days a year.
Dependability is another quality needed to be an editor. IceNEWS needs
people who are going to be there when needed and who can carry-out work
without the need for constant supervision, not people who are going to quit
after one month because the job has lost its appeal or not carry-out any
assignments or duties given to them.
IceNEWS editors need also possess a certain amount of tact and be able to
competently and courteously deal with other people. Editors must be able to
carry on good relationships with as many people as possible and be able to
work well with others. Dealing with freelance writers can be tricky,
especially if you are telling one of a rejection. IceNEWS needs people who
have the tact and class to tell somebody _exactly_ what may be wrong with
their writing without saying to someone "this sucks." The ability to use tact
and courtesy in such a situation can mean the difference between getting a
writer to try writing for IceNEWS again or getting a writer upset at IceNEWS
and forever losing that potential lead and give the writer reason to
"bad-mouth" the publication elsewhere.
Certainly, a better-that-average understanding of the English language,
spelling, and the proper uses of grammar and punctuation are a big plus (those
who constantly use words like "wuz" and "kewl" need not apply). Remember, one
of the duties of an editor is to be able to write as well as critique the
works of others. Editors writing their own stories for their departments is a
major part of the IceNEWS commitment since freelance submissions cannot
always be counted on to fill the required space in any given issue. Any
shortages in space must be made-up for by the editor(s) in order to fill-out
the final issue.
As you can see, there is a good amount of work involved in being an
IceNEWS staffer and it is certainly not going to be a job for just anybody.
However, if you _really_ think that you fit the bill and would like to be
considered for a staff appointment, please e-mail any of the editors listed
earlier in this text. The mail should contain any past writing and/or editing
experiences you have had with IceNEWS or elsewhere.
----------
CONCLUSION
----------
It is the hope of the IceNEWS staff that this guide has been helpful to
you in some way with your decision to (or, perhaps, not to) make a submission
to IceNEWS for publication in a future issue. Though every attempt was made to
cover as much as possible regarding IceNEWS and writing for it, it is possible
that we may have missed something you wanted to know about. In that event,
please feel free to e-mail any of the IceNEWS staff listed previously in this
text with your queries.
Thank you for your interest in IceNEWS, and here's hoping that everyone
who reads IceNEWS gets to see your name and submission in print!
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>Ŀ
<20> IceNEWS is an independent journal published monthly as a service to <20>
<20> IceNET, its Sysops and users. The opinions & reviews expressed herein <20>
<20> are the expressed views of the respective writers. All Rights Reserved.<2E>
<20> Many product names used herein are the property of their respective <20>
<20> manufacturers/authors. <20>
<20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>