469 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
469 lines
18 KiB
Plaintext
t fidonews.66
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:46:32 Page 1
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Volume 1, Number 4 24 Dec 84
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+----------------------------------------------------------+
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| _ |
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| / \ |
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| - FidoNews - /|oo \ |
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| (_| /_) |
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| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
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| Users Group | | \ \\ |
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| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
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| ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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+----------------------------------------------------------+
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Editor: Tom Jennings
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Publisher: Fido #1
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Chief Procrastinator: Tom Jennings
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HOT NEWS
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Happy holidays and all that stuff ... at least
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FidoNet is so far pretty immune to overdose advertising!
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This is the fourth issue of FidoNews, and it is
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finally taking shape. Send articles on any subject, please
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Bumper stickers will be ready in Jan. They will be
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cheap, and totally meaningless to those unfamiliar with the
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little doggie. I'll take a dozen.
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If you are reading this (? pointless and
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paradoxical, but grammatically correct recursive, followed
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by a note referencing the phrase and the note itself ...
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never mind, it's late) you are are part of FidoNet, so
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please send articles!
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The first intercontinental FidoNet message was sent
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from Jakarta Indonesia (Fido #117, Jim Filgo) to St. Louis
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(Fido #51). It may have been routed through Maui, Hawaii, I
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don't know, I get everything second hand. See the article
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below.
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Fido is now running on the Sanyo 555, and the TI
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Professional version is being tested. The Sanyo version
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isn't released yet, it's awaiting testing on other MSDOS
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versions available for the Sanyo. (The MSDOS implementation
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from Sanyo is so bad, there are aftermarket versions!) In
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any case, it cannot be downloaded from Fido #1 until I get
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it replaced. (Dead disk drive.)
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Note that last weeks FIDOLIST is included this
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issue; my single floppy filled up while receiveing the
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latest mailed from St. Louis, and I didn't get a chance to
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get a new copy. Next issue will have the latest, I promise.
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(Unless I still haven't replaced my broken machine, and the
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:46:40 Page 2
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disk fills up again ...)
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EUROPEAN FIDO
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There are nodes in England, one or two in Japan, and
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some raring to go guys in Sweden that should be up soon.
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There are three main problems in FidoNetting across the
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oceans; modem compatibility, extreme time differences, and
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cost.
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Modem compatibility may be fixed by sticking to Bell
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103A 300 baud (what the Hayes, etc does). The time
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differences can be handled easily with two schedules; at a
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convenient time (for Europe) mail is sent from Europe to the
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US; at a convenient time (for the US, probably around the
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current 1:00 AM) mail is sent to Europe, who runs receive-
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only. The times are chosen for the lowest cost for the
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sender.
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Cost ... well, no way around that, though with the
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extreme connect charges (I'd guess $1.00 to $3.00 per
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minute) FidoNet will be much cheaper than calling direct! If
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the optimum four or five messages were sent at once, the
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cost would be about 60 cents max, not bad for an overnight
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intercontinental letter ...
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:46:43 Page 3
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NEWS
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ARTICLE SUBMISSION
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The format of this thing is totally ad hoc; please
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make recomendations as to formats, sections needed, liked,
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or hated, columns you'd like to see, or see removed,
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anything at all. If you want to submit something regularly,
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we can start a column for you.
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You are ENCOURAGED to send things in for the
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newsletter. ANYTHING is fit for the newsletter, such as a
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description of your board, problems found, questions, jokes,
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fixes, horror stories about wrong FidoNet numbers, things
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for sale, etc etc etc.
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SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE
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An article should have your name, node number (if
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applicable), followed by the text. Text can be any ASCII
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derivative; WordStar, soft paragraphs, 8th bit set, etc are
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all OK.
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Articles can be uploaded at either Fido #1 or #51,
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into the NEWS File Area, or by sending it by FidoNet. There
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is a convention for naming the files, so that the newsletter
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can be published automatically.
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ARTICLE FILENAMES
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file.ART For article type things
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file.SAL Things for sale
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file.NOT Notices
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file.MSC Miscelaneous things
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file.EDT an Editorial
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file.NEW News items
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file.WNT Wanted items
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Make sure the name is unique, especially if you send
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it by FidoNet, so you dont overwrite another article.
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-------------------------------------------------------
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IBM Software Digest Allen Miller Fido 85
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-------------------------------------------------------
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Fido 85, Allen's BOARD, in Cincinnati is an IBM based
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Fido, interested in public domain software of all
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types. I have amassed a fair collection of software
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over the last 2 years, but I am always interested in
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knowing what new and useful programs are being
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developed.
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I will provide the support effort in two areas for
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those of you that are interested in participating in
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an experiment. The two areas are:
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:46:48 Page 4
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1. Compile a list of Fido's that are IBM.
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This will be useful to Fido's that are IBM
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since there is currently no way of knowing
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which Fido's share your interests.
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2. Act as clearing house for a 'national'
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collection and catalogue of IBM personal
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computer software. All the IBM Sysops can
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contribute and I will compile and organize
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their program contributions and
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comments/descriptions.
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If you think you are interested, send me a FidoNet mail
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message saying you want to participate and stating any
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particular categories of software you are interested in
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(C, graphics, assembler, etc.). I will assemble a list
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of the people that respond and distribute the list to
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all of you. You can use this list to streamline your
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searching for software in the future.
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If you want to participate in phase #2, send me a few
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of your favorite programs with good comments if they
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are not thoroughly documented. I will compile a
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library and listing and make it available to you.
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If you have any additional suggestions, please let me
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know.
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-------------------------------------------------------
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IBM Software Digest Allen Miller Fido 85
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-------------------------------------------------------
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Dallas, Texas (FNM) - A Dallas-area Fido sysop has taken Tom
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Tcmpidis' dilemma to heart. After reading a FidoNews
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article describing the continuing plight of Mr. Tcmpidis,
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the realization that "open" bulletin board systems can be an
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invitation to would-be software pirates and other
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traffickers in illegal information led him to implement a
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security system to ensure that callers to this particular
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board were not "perfect strangers."
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The means of "getting to know your callers" already exists
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within the current release of the Fido software, with the
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ability of Fido to screen callers who do not yet have a
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valid password, and to request information from new callers
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prior to the granting of full access to the features of the
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board. This is described in "Fido's Operating Manual,"
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release 10, as the Private Message System.
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Most Fido sysops are aware that the capability for
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generating a "private" system exist, by simply adding the
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"/M" flag to the command line that starts the Fido software.
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However
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[Ed note: HOWEVER ... the rest of the text was missing from
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the original file!]
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Helpful? tip for Sysops from Ben Baker, Fido 51, St. Louis
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:46:55 Page 5
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Users tend to think of FidoNet nodes in terms of location
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rather than node numbers. It is convenient to maintain and
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distribute NODELIST in node number sequence, but this is
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awkward at best for our users.
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On Fido 51, once the node list has been edited for Fido
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consumption, I run the following batch file against it:
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SORT <NODELIST.BBS >NODELIST.TMP /+55
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SORT <NODELIST.TMP >NODELIST.BBS /+69
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DEL NODELIST.TMP
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The first (minor) sort orders the node list by city. The
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second (major) sort orders by state and city within state.
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This is far more useful to a user who wants to send a message
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to someone in Podunk Idaho, but can't think of the node
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number.
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One added step may be beneficial. The sort should group
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the local nodes together. You may want to use your editor to
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move them to the front of the file.
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-30-
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Remote Contol of Fido Allen Miller Fido 85
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I run a Fido system at my office and also have a PC at
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home. It has been very frustrating when I wanted to
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dial up my own Fido system from home and could not get
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through.
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There is a now device on the market that will enable
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you to take control of your system, from a remote
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location, even if a user has it tied up. This device is
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referred to as the BSR SYSTEM X-10, marketed by Radio
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Shack, Sears, and I suppose others. The system
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consists of a control module that plugs into the house
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circuit and small modules that go between wall plugs
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and appliances. Through the house current, the control
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module is able to switch the appliance modules off or
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on.
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One of the different control modules that are available
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has the added function of being able to 'answer' the
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phone and respond to a hand held remote transmitter
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tone generator. So, if you have an extra phone line at
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the Fido location and one of these devices set up, you
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can call the control module when the Fido line is busy
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and 1) turn the modem off and back on or 2) reboot the
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system. Once you have done this, it should be easy to
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get through to your system.
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Cost of the control module is about $50 and the
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appliance module is $10-$15.
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Remote Contol of Fido Allen Miller Fido 85
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:47:02 Page 6
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FOOD FOR THOUGHT
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Ben Baker - Fido 10
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I recently called AT&T to inquire about the cost of inward WATS
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service, and was astounded by the result. A 2-line nationwide
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inward WATS line in Missouri or Illinois would incur these charges:
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One-time installation $367
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Monthly access charge (both lines) $75
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Connect charges (11PM-8AM)
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6 second increments $5.40/hr
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Let's say we had a "national Fido" supported by a network of 50 of
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the more than 100 current Fidos. What would it cost per board?
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One-time installation $7.33
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Monthly access charge (both lines) $1.50
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Connect charges (11PM-8AM)
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6 second increments $5.40/hr
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I have talked with TJ about this. (It was his suggestion I write
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this.) He would be willing to make the necessary changes to Fido
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to support this concept. A using Fido would call the 800 number with
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FidoNet and deposit out-going and pick up in-coming mail. Two calls
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per night would guarentee overnight service in both directions,
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however the Sysop of a low-traffic board might elect to call only
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once a week.
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Charges could be arranged so that the sending node paid for both
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legs of the transfer. Lets say a board averages 20 out-going
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messages per week at an average of 18 seconds transmission time
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per message. His average monthly charge would be:
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Access 1.50
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Connect 1.08
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Total 2.58
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Cost/Message 0.13
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The more messages you send, the less the per message cost. The more
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participating Fidos, the less the fixed cost per Fido and the less
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per message costs. For instance, with 100 nodes participating and 50
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messages per month the costs would be:
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Access 0.75
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Connect 2.70
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Total 3.45
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Cost/Message 0.07
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The first per message cost above is competetive with any available
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alternate method of sending FidoNet mail. You can't beat the second
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per message cost with a stick!
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There are nine hours a night plus all day Saturday and much of
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:47:08 Page 7
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Sunday available at this rate. If this board operated two 1-hour
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mail schedules each night that would leave a lot of hours that it
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could be operated as a national Sysops only Fido Board, with connect
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charges lower than CompuServe's!
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I am not prepared to say at this time that we will do this, but
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it is certainly inviting to think about. I do solicit your responses
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on the subject. Please send all comments via FidoNet mail to
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Ben Baker, Fido 10. Include suggestions, constructive criticism,
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willingness or unwillingness to participate, etc..
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Oh, by the way -- Happy Holidays!
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Messages as Attached Files
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by Ben Baker - Fido 10
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It is sometimes convenient to mail a message from one Fido to another
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as an attached file. For instance, lets say that one of my users
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leaves a messae to Sysop with a good suggestion for a change to Fido.
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I'm in no position to make changes to Fido, but Tom Jennings is.
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However, Tom hasn't logged onto my board since last May and I have
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no reason to believe he will do so any time soon. I have three
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options. I can send a message to Tom, carefully relating the
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suggestion (42 lines or so), I can ignore it altogether or I can send
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Tom the original message as an attached file.
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The latter is the best choice for me, but when he gets it, how does
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Tom read the message? It's not clear text, and only Fido or another
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program that understands message structures can read it easily.
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Since Fido is already written it's the obvious candidate, but the
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message must be in a message area for Fido to read it and it is in
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the mail files area.
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I solved this dilemma on Fido 10 by creating a new area with Sysop only
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priveledges. In it both the message and the files paths point to the
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FidoMail files area. If someone sends me a file, I can preview it in
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this area before making it available in another area for my users.
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If the file happens to be of the form nn.MSG, it is a message and I can
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read it in the message section in this special area.
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It's simple and direct, but very useful when you recieve messages as
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files.
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NOTICES
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FOR SALE
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WANTED
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WANTED TO BUY: One used Gavilan computer.
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Send details (accessories, condition and price) to:
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Andy Meyer, FidoNet, Fido #317 - or contact Sysop of
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fidonews.man -- 24 Dec 84 22:47:14 Page 8
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SMC-70 Citadel: (201) 930-6483 [24 hours, 300 baud]
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