1255 lines
42 KiB
Plaintext
1255 lines
42 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 2, Number 41 25 November 1985
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| - Fidonews - /|oo \ |
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| Fido and Fidonet _`@/_ \ _ |
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| Users Group | | \ \\ |
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| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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Publisher: Fido 1/1
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
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Review Editor: Allen Miller
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 1/1. You are
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encouraged to submit articles for publication in Fidonews.
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Article submission standards are contained in the file
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FIDONEWS.DOC, available from Fido 1/1.
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Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
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The contents of the articles contained here are not our
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responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them;
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everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
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received.
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Table of Contents
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1. EDITORIAL
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Freeware, Again
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2. NEWS
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GTE TELENET (PC Pursuit), LDX, SPRINT, MCI, AT&T My Views
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More PC-PURSUIT
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Beyond War Fido Returns--Distributes World-Wide Petition
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PC Pursuit for the Uninitiated
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Reach Out and Play!
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New version of SHUFFLE available
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3. COLUMNS
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FidoNet Route Files Explained, Part 4
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4. WANTED
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Fido's Wanted- Earn Money!
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Need DEC Rainbow accessories
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5. NOTICES
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New version of ARC released
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The Interrupt Stack
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============================================================
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EDITORIAL
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Freeware, Again
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Yes, I'm beating the drum for freeware, yet again.
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Do you have any idea what it takes to bring a product to the
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market? Never mind the "expensive cost of copy protection".
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That just adds to the software development. Reproducing it
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is very cheap.
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Far and away, the major cost of marketing anything is the
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so-called "marketing costs". It costs, roughly speaking,
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about a metric ton of dollars to get anything on your
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dealers' shelves and suitably advertised so that anyone will
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buy it.
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Put yourself in the store owner's shoes for a moment. Shelf
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space is money. Why waste that on a product which won't
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sell? This is why your local store has such a limited
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selection -- he's only going to carry things which have a
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good chance of being sold with the machine. This is why the
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software market peaks and slumps with the hardware market.
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In addition, most distributors don't want to waste their
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time with a product which doesn't have a proven track
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record. Why should they? It costs money to stock an item;
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why spend that money on an item which isn't a proven seller?
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So how does a new author enter the market? If nobody has
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ever heard of you, then you obviously don't have a proven
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track record, and why should anyone gamble their money on
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you?
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One alternative is to start by advertising and go for mail
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or phone order sales first. Then you can prove your product
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before asking people to gamble on it. But that costs money.
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Call up any trade journal and ask; advertising is EXPENSIVE!
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Another approach is freeware. Anybody at all can market
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anything at all as freeware. No initial capital investment
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is required. Just put a freeware license in the code (copy
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it from almost anywhere) and you're off!
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This allows truly cheap software. The bulk of the costs
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(the marketing costs) are totally bypassed. In addition,
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anyone can do it. As a final plus (as if we needed it), the
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end user gets to try out the software in actual pratice to
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make sure that it really is what he needs and wants for his
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own particular application. If everything really worked,
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then everyone would benefit.
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There's just one small fly in the ointment. The best
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estimates we've ever heard place freeware license compliance
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at about ten percent. Our own somewhat pessimistic
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estimates put it down somewhere less than one percent.
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Fidonews Page 2 25 Nov 1985
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We had a user on our bulletin board who, in all seriousness,
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was asking for a definition of freeware, specifically
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wondering if his company (a major New York bank) should pay
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for it. We told him thjat his company could not credibly
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plead poverty, so he must. But why was he asking in the
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first place? This to me indicates a regrettable lack of
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understanding about what is really going on here.
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I see freeware licensing as a tacit admission that copy
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protection can't really be enforced, coupled with an
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ingenious marketing idea that woould really benefit
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everyone. But only if everyone is truly capable of being
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trusted to the extent that freeware authors are trusting
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their users. Let's face it, if you are still using a
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freeware package after two weeks, then it is obviously
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useful to you, and you should pay the fee.
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Are you are freeware pirate?
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Fidonews Page 3 25 Nov 1985
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============================================================
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NEWS
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J Hobbs
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Fido 104/56
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After reading an article by Paula Giese ( Nov 4, 1985 )
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which part of it discussed how GTE is selling Sysop's
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services, I thought I would give another opinion.
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First of all, I'm not a Sysop so my views may differ from
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those of you who are Sysops. However I am a user of a lot
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of BBS's, most of them being various Fidos, both local and
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not so local. I own a DEC Rainbow and unfortunately there
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are no local DEC Fidos. I have to utilize a long distance
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carrier to get to a DEC Fido to obtain customized utilities
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that are created specifically for the DEC machines.
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(Perhaps you noticed the generic use of 'long distance
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carrier')
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If a Sysop runs a PUBLIC, SEMI-PUBLIC, or PRIVATE Fido (or
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other BBS) that I have access to, and I must use someone's
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service to access that bulletin board, why cannot the
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choice be the cheapest one. Why should it matter to the
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Sysop if I use MCI, SPRINT, LDX, AT&T or GTE. These are
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all large corporations that make big bucks, so why punish me
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(a single person, the PUBLIC who you are using Fido to
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service) to have to spend more money out of my pocket to
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gain access to a remote BBS. Currently I have not decided
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whether or not I am going to use another service other than
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AT&T because I have heard about problems with noise and bad
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lines.
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Granted the local users may call more often and have more to
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offer in the sence of uploads (since they are not paying $$$
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by the minute) but is not the purpose of BBS's to allow the
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FREE (or relatively free) exchange of ideas, comments and
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solution of problems? (A few games and other utilities are
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nice too!) The few long distance callers a BBS may have
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probably don't last that long (because of the $$$) or occur
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that often. But as in my case are necessary, utilities like
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SEDT (a very good full screen editor), AME86 (allows CPM
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.CMD programs to run under DOS), KERMIT, PACMAN and other
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games for my Rainbow are not available locally.
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I guess what it boils down to is this, if you are a Sysop
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and decide to run a PUBLIC Fido, and you voluntarily list
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your phone number for others to use, WE the PUBLIC (whether
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we live 5 or 5000 miles away) should have the right to use
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any long distance carrier WE desire to reach out and compute
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with someone.
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Fidonews Page 4 25 Nov 1985
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I have trouble understanding Paula Giese's reaction to
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Pc-Pursuit. I think it represents a great opportunity for
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most sysops. Here's why: It allows long distance users to
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join in the message sections (probably for the first time)
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All the sysops I know hate "board rapers". You know,the
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guy who logs on time after time and goes straight to the
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downloads without reading your new editorial or even
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scanning the message section. Face it, Most long distance
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callers can't afford the luxury of scanning and entering
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messages...it's just too costly..so by and large most long
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distance callers are in search of downloads.
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Enter PC-PURSUIT. For a measly $25 you can call any board
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in the 12 cities currently offering the service for up to an
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hour at a time. Now at last it's practical for long distance
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users to become active in the message sections and really
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start contributing.
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On Fido 123/4 we try to emphasize the message areas. Sure
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we have downloads, 12 file areas in fact but what makes the
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board thrive is the discussion and debates held in several
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of our message sections.
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Currently we are not in a city where PC-PURSUIT is
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available but I look forward to the day when we get it. I
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expect to pick up quite a few valuable users.
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Charles Grisamore
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Subsysop IBM Section
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Grape-Vine
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123/4
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Fidonews Page 5 25 Nov 1985
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Andy Kanter, Sysop Beyond War/IPPNW BBS
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Fido 101/301
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Beyond War Fido Returns
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For those of you familiar with the Beyond War BBS (OLD FIDO
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301), you will be happy to know that it is back on-line in
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Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is now called the Beyond
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War/IPPNW BBS (FIDO 101/301), and now includes information
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relating to the 1985 Nobel Peace Prize winning International
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Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War. Operating 22
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hours a day (except 0400-0600 EST for mail), it accepts
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300/1200, 8/N/1. Offering more information and programs
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than ever before. This is the computer to call if you are
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interested in peace and the prevention of nuclear war. Give
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us a call:
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( 6 1 7 ) 8 7 6 - 0 4 2 2
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NEWSFLASH!!! NEWSFLASH!!! NEWSFLASH!!! NEWSFLASH!!!
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Important!!! On December 14, 1985, the 1985 Beyond War
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Award will be presented to the six signers of the Five
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Continent Peace Initiative via a 7-way, 5-continent,
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satellite broadcast. This is the first time such a space-
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bridge has connected five continents in the history of the
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planet. At the ceremony, a petition in support of the
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Initiative will be presented with (hopefully) 1 million
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signatures from people around the world.
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If you would be interested in signing the below petition,
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send me a fidonet message to SYSOP of FIDO 101/301 (the
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Beyond War/IPPNW BBS) and I will include your name on the
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petition. IF YOU ARE SO MOTIVATED... please take the below
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petition, copy it, and have as many people sign it as
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possible. Then mail them back to: Andy Kanter, 1580
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Massachusetts Ave. Apt. 8A, Cambridge, MA 02138! Before
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December 7, 1985.
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If you would like more information about the presentation
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(it can be viewed at 140+ locations around the globe,
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including the U.N.), or more info about Beyond War, you can
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also send a message to FIDO 101/301 or call Andy at (617)
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876-0931, or the Beyond War Office at (415) 328-7756. This
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is of the utmost importance and EVERY SIGNATURE COUNTS!!!
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Please sign!!!
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***********************************************************
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A CALL TO END THE THREAT OF WAR
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Six World Leaders have spoken, issuing
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The Delhi Declaration of the Five Continent Peace Initiative
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on January 28, 1985, saying in part:
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"Forty years ago, when atomic bombs were blasted over Hiro-
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shima and Nagasaki, the human race became aware that it
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could destroy itself...
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Fidonews Page 6 25 Nov 1985
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"We find ourselves in this situation because the nuclear
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weapons states have applied traditional doctrines of a war
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in a world where new weapons have made them obsolete. What
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is the point of nuclear 'superiority' or 'balance' when each
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side has enough weapons to devastate the earth dozens of
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times over? If the old doctrines are applied in the future,
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the holocaust will be inescapable sooner or later. But
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nuclear war can be prevented if our voices are joined in a
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universal demand in defense of our right to live.
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"It is imperative to find a remedy to the existing situation
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where hundreds of billions of dollars, amounting to approx-
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imately one and a half million per minute, are spent annual-
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ly on weapons. This stands in dramatic contrast to the
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poverty, and in some cases misery, in which two-thirds of
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the world population lives.
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"We urge the people, parliaments and governments the world
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over to lend forceful support to this appeal... Only then
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will governments summon the necessary political will to
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overcome the many obstacles which lie in the path of peace.
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"For centuries, men and women have fought for their rights
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and freedoms. We now face the greatest struggle of all--for
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the right to live, for ourselves and for future generations.
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Signed by:
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H.E. Mr. Raul Alfonsin H.E. Mr. Olof Palme
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Pres. of Argentina P.M. of Sweden
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H.E. Mr. Miguel de la H.E. Mr. Rajiv Gandhi
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Madrid Pres. of Mexico P.M. of India
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H.E. Mr. Julius Nyerere H.E. Mr. Andreas Papandreou
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Pres. of Rep. of Tanzania P.M. of Greece
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STATEMENT OF PERSONAL RESPONSE
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I support the above principles as expressed in the Delhi
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Declaration and join the voices calling upon the parliaments
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the world over to end the threat of war.
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___________________________________________
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Name State Country
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___________________________________________
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Name State Country
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___________________________________________
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Name State Country
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Return by 12/1/85 to: A. Kanter, 1580 Mass. Ave. #8A,
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Cambridge, MA 02140
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************************************************************
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5 to: A. Kanter, 1580 Mass. Ave. #8A,
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Cambridge, MA 02140
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***************************************
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Fidonews Page 7 25 Nov 1985
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Chuck Lawson
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Sysop Fido 124/12
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The Inside Track Edition
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PC Pursuit for the Uninitiated
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With all of the articles in FidoNews lately, there appears
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to be some misunderstanding of what PC Pursuit is and does.
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As an active user of PC Pursuit, I'd like to take this
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opportunity to explain a little bit about what PC Pursuit is
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and what it means to sysops and users alike. The issue of
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GTE's compensation to Tom Jennings has been adequately
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discussed in (many) other articles, so I won't discuss it
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here.
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PC Pursuit allows "Free" access to 300 and 1200 baud data
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numbers from and to many numbers in 12 citys in the US.
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If you don't live within the local calling area of one of
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these citys, PC Pursuit cannot benefit you (nor can it
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exploit you).
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If you do live within a local call of one of these cities,
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PC Pursuit presents an excellent opportunity for you to take
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advantage of low-cost calling to the other areas supported
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by the service, and if you are a sysop (of any kind of
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board), will provide you with many new users from all over
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the country.
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If you are a Fido sysop in an enterprising network in one of
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these areas, you might find an even greater benefit: free
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mail to and from other networks in PC Pursuit supported
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areas.
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To use PC Pursuit to place calls, you need to subscribe to
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the service. The cost (as of this writing) is $25 per month,
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and a one time $25 installation fee. This entitles you to
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place calls through the service during evenings and
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weekends. The only limit is 60 minutes per call, but you can
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place as many 60 minute calls as you like, even if they are
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all to the same number.
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Once set up, to use the service you simply call the local PC
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Pursuit phone number, and give it your phone number, the
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name of the city that you wish to call, and the number you
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wish to call. PC Pursuit will then disconnect.
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You must set your modem/comm package to autoanswer, and from
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one to five minutes after you place the call, PC Pursuit
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will call YOU, and attempt to place your call. After
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thrashing around with the internals of Telenet for a few
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minutes, PC Pursuit will call the requested number. If the
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number doesn't answer, it will disconnect after two tries.
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If the number is busy, Pursuit will retry for approximately
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10 minutes. Otherwise, if it can make a connection, it
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announces that you are connected, and you are on your own.
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As a sysop, to get callers via PC Pursuit, you need do
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Fidonews Page 8 25 Nov 1985
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nothing. In fact, they will come to you whether you
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encourage them or not. A PC Pursuit caller is
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indistiguishable from any other caller. If you do not care
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for long distance users, or wish to keep the board open for
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your regulars during evening hours, you can simply follow
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Tom Jennings' example, and not allow new callers during PC
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Pursuit hours.
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In order to get free fidomail via PC Pursuit, you need to
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either be willing to do the work involved in setting up the
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facilities, or have someone else in your net do the work and
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provide it to the rest. In our net, net 124, we have been
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lucky enough to have someone who has been willing to do the
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work and share it with the rest of us. The same thing has
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happened in San Francisco Bay Net, Net 125, and I'm sure has
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happened or will happen in other places. The details of how
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this is done will vary from net to net, but in our net it is
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completely transparent to those not directly participating
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in the project. We simply set the price to $00.00, and send
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the mail. Once it is routed to the host, it is re-routed
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through the "Pursuit Net" and is gone.
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Using PC Pursuit is not without it's irritations. Telenet
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causes delays in the line, and sometimes the echo back from
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the board at the other end will fall behind your typing, but
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the effect is not as pronounced as I have seen on some
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boards which are multitasked.
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Having to use the "place a call - get a call back" system is
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frustrating as well, but this is a blessing to users who pay
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metered charges for local calls - you only have to pay for a
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one minute local call. Inventive use of script files and
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command files in CrossTalk and ProComm 2.0 make short work
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of the details involved in placing calls through PC Pursuit.
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Other irritations are relatively minor. PC Pursuit places
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the call back at the same speed and parity that you used
|
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calling in. This wouldn't be a problem, except that PC
|
|
Pursuit wants 7 bit even parity for your call in, and we
|
|
know how well protocals like XMODEM like that. To get around
|
|
this, one can simply call at 8/N/1 and PC Pursuit will
|
|
synchonize after your first few lines of input. After using
|
|
it a few times, you know what the prompts are anyway, and
|
|
it's relatively easy to live with garbaged prompts.
|
|
|
|
Shortcomings to the service at this point include a lack of
|
|
2400 baud service, and limited access to area codes other
|
|
than the primary area code in many cities. GTE has indicated
|
|
that it will address both of these problems around the first
|
|
of the year.
|
|
|
|
That, in a nutshell, is what PC Pursuit is all about. It has
|
|
it's problems, but it is as much bang for your telephone
|
|
buck that is available at the moment. I easily spent three
|
|
to four times the monthly fee placing calls through Sprint
|
|
or MCI before I started using PC Pursuit.
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer: I have no association with GTE except as a
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 9 25 Nov 1985
|
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|
|
|
satisfied customer of PC Pusuit, and a sometimes disgruntled
|
|
customer of it's local phone service.
|
|
|
|
Chuck Lawson, Sysop Fido 124/12
|
|
|
|
The Inside Track Edition (214) 422-4772
|
|
Dallas's News Fido
|
|
300/1200/2400, 24 hrs, 7 days a week
|
|
Full access to first time callers, with questionaire.
|
|
Real Names Only, Please.
|
|
Accessible Via PC Pursuit / Dallas.
|
|
Long distance callers welcome!
|
|
(yes, this is a plug!)
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 10 25 Nov 1985
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|
From: David Drexler/Mark Grennan, sysops REMARK 19/202
|
|
Subject: R.O.A.P.: Reach Out And Play
|
|
Date: 20 NOV 85
|
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|
|
Are there any Go players in the crowd? Have you ever tried
|
|
to play a game by mail? It's pretty hard to keep your moti-
|
|
vation up, since there may be many hundreds of moves in a
|
|
typical game, and even if the turnaround is only 24 hours,
|
|
that works out to be a VERY long time...
|
|
|
|
I had an idea awhile back for playing long-distance Go
|
|
without overly enriching Mother Bell in the process. It
|
|
involved a couple of pc's & modems at each end (of course),
|
|
and two cooperative amateur radio operators in the middle.
|
|
|
|
The pc's would run a specialized communications program that
|
|
could also plot the board graphically on screen and printer,
|
|
verify the moves, store them, take them off the board, etc.
|
|
Multiple games could be conducted at the same time by pre-
|
|
fixing each move transmitted with an identifying header. It
|
|
seemed possible to hold remote tournaments that way.
|
|
|
|
It never got off the ground. Turned out to be more trouble
|
|
to coordinate all the events and people than I thought it
|
|
would be, the program never got finished, and everybody in
|
|
my Go club lost interest. The whole project was pushed into
|
|
background and forgotten -- until last night, when it
|
|
occured to me that there was a much better alternative to Ma
|
|
Bell than ham radio: Compuserve.
|
|
|
|
Using "chat" mode, we could do everything that we were going
|
|
to do with the hams, do it anytime we wanted to, and still
|
|
for minimal cost. At 300 baud, during the "cheap" time,
|
|
it'll cost only $6 per hour, and two hours would be plenty
|
|
enough time to play a couple games. With three players at
|
|
each end splitting the charge, it comes out to just a couple
|
|
bucks apiece.
|
|
|
|
But why stop at Go? Why not Pente, Chess, Othello, or any
|
|
other board game? All that's needed at each end is a program
|
|
that can display the board and verify the moves. A real
|
|
smart program could handle several of those games.
|
|
|
|
Comments, anyone?
|
|
|
|
For the chess players out there who want to play by the more
|
|
conventional move-at-a-time by mail, feel free to drop us a
|
|
line here. We promise to give you a strong game.
|
|
|
|
REMARK Information System
|
|
(405) 728-2463 - Fido 19/202
|
|
The board for serious computerists
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
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|
|
Fidonews Page 11 25 Nov 1985
|
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|
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|
|
From Robert Lederman
|
|
Met-Chem Fido 16/42
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEW VERSION OF SHUFFLE
|
|
===-=======-==-=======
|
|
|
|
Thanks to everyone for the overwhelming response I
|
|
received to SHUFFLE. I have just released a significant
|
|
upgrade.
|
|
|
|
SHUFFLE is a Fido sysop utility for maintaining download
|
|
file areas. Files and corresponding FILES.BBS entries can
|
|
be redirected among directories.
|
|
|
|
Version 2.0 supports full-screen operation and a host of new
|
|
features. FILES.BBS entries can be redirected to specific
|
|
points in the destination FILES.BBS. File dates can be
|
|
changed and can be automatically added to FILES.BBS.
|
|
Remote full screen sessions are supported under PibTerm,
|
|
ProComm, Mintel, and FANSI-console. A generic MS-DOS
|
|
version is now under test.
|
|
|
|
You can get the current version of SHUFFLE by calling
|
|
Met-Chem BBS, Fido 16/42, at 203/281-7287.
|
|
|
|
Thanks,
|
|
Robert
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 12 25 Nov 1985
|
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|
|
============================================================
|
|
COLUMNS
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
|
FidoNet Route Files Explained
|
|
Part 4 -- LISTGEN and ROUTE.CTL
|
|
|
|
by Ben Baker, Fido 100/76
|
|
|
|
|
|
LISTGEN Version 2 will automatically generate route
|
|
files for you if you desire. The advantage is that LISTGEN
|
|
is driven by a control file, ROUTE.CTL, in which you specify
|
|
the statements necessary with symbolic parameters that you
|
|
define in terms of nets, area codes, etc.. A properly
|
|
designed ROUTE.CTL need only change when your routing needs
|
|
change. LISTGEN will continue to create correct route files
|
|
week after week as the nodelist changes.
|
|
|
|
Before I begin, I'd like to do a quick review of the
|
|
route file commands and their effect.
|
|
|
|
SCHEDULE <tag> <list> or
|
|
SEND-TO <list> Determines which nodes may have
|
|
packets build to SEND mail to.
|
|
ROUTE-TO <target> <list> Directs that messages to par-
|
|
ticular addressees be SENT in
|
|
packets to another node.
|
|
ACCEPT-FROM <list> Specifies which oritinators'
|
|
messages may be SENT.
|
|
RECV-ONLY States that packets may only be
|
|
SENT by being picked up.
|
|
HOLD <list> States that packets to part-
|
|
icular nodes may only be SENT
|
|
by being picked up.
|
|
PICK-UP <list> States that it is OK to receive
|
|
mail from particular nodes when
|
|
we originate calls to SEND them
|
|
packets.
|
|
POLL <list> Directs that packets (empty if
|
|
necessary) be generated and
|
|
SENT to particular nodes in
|
|
order to pick up mail.
|
|
SEND-ONLY States that calls may be made
|
|
rapid-fire to SEND as many
|
|
packets as possible.
|
|
|
|
Note that each definition above includes the verb SEND
|
|
or SENT. I did that deliberately to emphasize that these
|
|
commands all control some aspect of sending mail.
|
|
|
|
LISTGEN has been adaquately documented and I do not
|
|
intend to re-document it here, but I would like to show you
|
|
how ROUTE.CTL commands map to the ROUTE.<tag> commands
|
|
covered above.
|
|
|
|
SCHEDULE <tag> <target list>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 13 25 Nov 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
When LISTGEN encounters this command in ROUTE.CTL it
|
|
does two things. First it closes any route file it may be
|
|
working on and creates a new ROUTE.<tag> file for the new
|
|
<tag>. Then it generates a SCHEDULE statement from the
|
|
specifications in this one for the new ROUTE.<tag>,
|
|
expanding any symbolic parameters to lists of nodes from the
|
|
nodelist. In other words, it begins a new route file as you
|
|
would expect it to by defining the <target list>.
|
|
|
|
FROM <accept list>
|
|
|
|
This phrase, when encountered, generates an ACCEPT-FROM
|
|
statement.
|
|
|
|
TO <addressee list> [ VIA <target> ]
|
|
|
|
If the VIA clause is present, this statement generates
|
|
a "ROUTE-TO <target> <addressee list>." Successive TO
|
|
phrases without VIA clauses accumulate to make a larger
|
|
<addressee list> until a VIA clause IS found. Then the
|
|
entire list is routed to the <target>. (I'm not entirely
|
|
happy with this "feature," but that's the way it works.) If
|
|
no VIA clause is ever found, the TO phrase generates no
|
|
output at all! It does serve as documentation in your
|
|
ROUTE.CTL file, saying "I expect to be sending mail TO these
|
|
nodes in this schedule."
|
|
|
|
All of the other route file commands discussed above
|
|
map one-for-one in the same format from ROUTE.CTL to
|
|
ROUTE.<tag>.
|
|
|
|
The big advantage in using LISTGEN is to be able to use
|
|
simple symbols which it will translate into long lists of
|
|
nodes. To illustrate, net 100 spans two area codes, 314 in
|
|
Missouri and 618 in Illinois. To minimize the number of
|
|
toll calls placed accross the Mississippi, I serve as "Metro
|
|
East" hub to concentrate the Illinois traffic. I have the
|
|
following statements (among others) in my ROUTE.CTL file:
|
|
|
|
define Metro-East as Net-100 except Area-314 ; Area 618
|
|
define Outbound as 100/10
|
|
define World as all except Metro-East
|
|
* * *
|
|
FROM Metro-East TO World VIA Outbound
|
|
|
|
Nodes may come and go, both in our net and across the
|
|
country, and these statements need not change. LISTGEN
|
|
interprets them week after week and builds the right route
|
|
files every time. And in several months, if our outbound
|
|
host should change making it necessary to change ROUTE.CTL,
|
|
I can look at this and not have to say to myself "What on
|
|
earth was I trying to do here?" It's all pretty obvious.
|
|
|
|
Before I wrap it up, there are two important exceptions
|
|
to the things I have said. First, schedule A is special in
|
|
that the <target list> always is the entire nodelist, no
|
|
matter what ROUTE.A says. For that reason, if you do any
|
|
routing not defined by the node list, I recommend that you
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 14 25 Nov 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DO NOT USE SCHEDULE A. For all other schedules, Fido does
|
|
exactly what ROUTE.<tag> tells it to do and nothing more.
|
|
And second, ROUTE.BBS is a special route file that affects
|
|
all schedules for which there are no ROUTE.<tag> files. For
|
|
that reason, I recommend that you FORGET YOU EVER HEARD OF
|
|
ROUTE.BBS. It'll cause more problems than it'll ever solve!
|
|
|
|
So, routing can get pretty complex (just ask 'em in
|
|
Southern California), but it doesn't need to be complicated
|
|
once you know what the objective of each schedule is from
|
|
your point of view, and what your Fido needs to do to meet
|
|
those objectives.
|
|
|
|
In fact, it's pretty easy if you just remember the two
|
|
points I have been hammering at you since we began:
|
|
|
|
1) Route files control the way you send messages, not
|
|
the way you receive them. Every command we discussed above
|
|
controls some aspect of sending messages. And. . .
|
|
|
|
2) A particular route file only affects the schedule
|
|
with the matching <tag>. What you say in ROUTE.B has no
|
|
bearing whatever on schedule C. Each schedule must be
|
|
separately spelled out.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
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Fidonews Page 15 25 Nov 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
============================================================
|
|
WANTED
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
|
Steve Nyman
|
|
Fido 107/22
|
|
|
|
NEED FIDO'S TO PRINT E-MAIL
|
|
|
|
My company, Micro Information Services, needs Fido's from
|
|
across the U.S. to receive our customer's e-mail, print it
|
|
and mail it via U.S. Mail. We anticipate moderate mail
|
|
volume, depending upon the region.
|
|
|
|
NO COST TO YOU: All envelopes, paper, and postage will be
|
|
provided in advance.
|
|
|
|
PROFITS: You will be paid for your services.
|
|
|
|
IF INTERESTED: Direct inquiries via e-mail to Steve Nyman
|
|
on Fido 107/22. Thanks.
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
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|
|
Fidonews Page 16 25 Nov 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Need DEC Rainbow accessories.
|
|
|
|
I have a DEC Rainbow 100 (old version) and would like to run
|
|
Fido on it. I also have a Microscience 10 MB Hard Disk. Do
|
|
any of you know of a controller that I could use with a
|
|
ST506 hard disk?
|
|
|
|
I also would like to run MS-DOS on the Rainbow. Where is it
|
|
available?
|
|
|
|
Thanks in advance. Please contact me at address below:
|
|
|
|
Submitted by: David Messer - SYSOP Fido 14/415
|
|
UUCP: ihnp4!quest!dave
|
|
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
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|
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Fidonews Page 17 25 Nov 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
============================================================
|
|
NOTICES
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
|
ARC
|
|
Version 4.5
|
|
|
|
We are pleased to announce the release of ARC version 4.5.
|
|
This version adds compression suppression and archive
|
|
"freshening". We've also changed our naming scheme to use
|
|
.ARC and .$$$ instead of .BAK and .ARC, which allows for
|
|
more painless error recovery. In case of an error, your
|
|
original archive will be preserved with its original name.
|
|
|
|
We are gratified at the positive response you've shown to
|
|
our little utility. Thanks to you all for making ARC such a
|
|
success.
|
|
|
|
Thom Henderson and Andy Foray
|
|
System Enhancement Associates
|
|
Fido 107/7
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
The Interrupt Stack
|
|
|
|
|
|
27 Nov 1985
|
|
Halley's Comet passes closest to Earth before perihelion.
|
|
|
|
9 Dec 1985
|
|
DECUS Anaheim. The first session (Roadmap session) of
|
|
the PC Special Interest Group will meet at 11:30 in the
|
|
PC Campground (Bonita Tower, Santa Cruz room). See you
|
|
there...
|
|
|
|
24 Jan 1986
|
|
Voyager 2 passes Uranus.
|
|
|
|
9 Feb 1986
|
|
Halley's Comet reaches perihelion.
|
|
|
|
9 Feb 1986
|
|
Diana Overholt (109/74) has another birthday.
|
|
|
|
11 Apr 1986
|
|
Halley's Comet reaches perigee.
|
|
|
|
19 May 1986
|
|
Steve Lemke's next birthday.
|
|
|
|
24 Aug 1989
|
|
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 18 25 Nov 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
|
calendar, please send a message to Fido 1/1.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
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Fidonews Page 19 25 Nov 1985
|
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