1143 lines
54 KiB
Plaintext
1143 lines
54 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 3, Number 48 15 December 1986
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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| _ |
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| / \ |
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| /|oo \ |
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| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
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| _`@/_ \ _ |
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| International | | \ \\ |
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| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
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| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
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| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
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| (jm) |
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+---------------------------------------------------------------+
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Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
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Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
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FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet
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Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1.
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You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
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FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
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ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1.
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Copyright (C) 1986, by the International FidoNet Association.
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All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted
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for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
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please contact IFNA.
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Table of Contents
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1. EDITORIAL
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Welcome to the Big League
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2. ARTICLES
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DoubleDOS - Is it worth the trouble?
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Hard Disk Security & The Trojan Horse
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Computerfest '86
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*** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT ****
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HUSITA
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Modem information needed
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IFNA is not International!
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Thinly Disguised Ad
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PC-WRITE NOW CHECKS SPELLING!
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3. COLUMNS
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Doug's Column
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Nautical View Part 5: BBS Security
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4. NOTICES
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The Interrupt Stack
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Fidonews Page 2 15 Dec 1986
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=================================================================
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EDITORIAL
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=================================================================
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Welcome to the Big League
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I've just gotten back from the Electronic Mail Association
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conference for 1986, and I thought I should say something about
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it while it's still fresh in my mind (or as fresh as anything CAN
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be after 2 AM).
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The conference was held in Washington DC, and was well attended
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by all of the "biggies" in electronic mail. CompuServe and The
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Source were there, as well as Western Union, MCI Mail, AT&T,
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Telenet, and enough GEISCO people to sink a small battleship. I
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went in more than half expecting to be told to go run and play
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somewhere.
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Big surprise. My usual introductory line went something like,
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"I'm from the International FidoNet association; we're
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representing the amateurs." My friends, they'd heard of us. They
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knew we existed, and they usually knew something of how we
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worked, and they weren't laughing.
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Let me tell you why. I heard one speaker stand up and describe
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his network. He gave these numbers as if he were describing a
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large network, and people seemed to take it that way. He said
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they have 250 nodes across the country, with about 12,000 users,
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and that they transmitted about 10,000 messages a day.
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And here we sit with more nodes than he has users, at least ten
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times that many users (even by the most pessimistic estimates),
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and moving hundreds of thousands of messages a day. We are NOT a
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small network! I'll go further than that. Based on what I
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heard, we are probably one of the largest public electronic mail
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networks in the world!
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Oh, some of the real "biggies" are bigger than we are. The
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speaker for Western Union mentioned 2,500 nodes worldwide. But
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does that sound all that big to us these days?
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And they know it. By and large, they know it. Several times I
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got pulled into discussions with people who mainly wanted to know
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how we could get the kind of throughput we have. This sort of
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thing was not at all unusual. It seemed that I could hardly turn
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around without bumping into someone that had noticed an IFNA
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representative on the attendance list and who was hoping to meet
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me. They were all very interested and very supportive.
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This is understandable, I suppose, as it is really the amateurs
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that created the electronic mail industry. It's not that many
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years ago that electronic mail meant bulletin boards. Most of
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these companies are copying from us in a big way, and almost all
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of them are counting on us to educate people about the advantages
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of electronic mail.
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Fidonews Page 3 15 Dec 1986
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But moving on, I felt that my reason for being there was to find
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out what I could about the legal issues facing sysops. Of
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primary concern, of course, is the recently passed Electronic
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Communications Privacy Act of 1986 (ECPA). The congressman who
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sponsored ECPA was a guest speaker, and I managed to buttonhole
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him and his aide as they were leaving, and he promised to send me
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some literature about it. But as a byproduct of my conversation
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with him, I quickly wound up in a conversation with two of the
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higher ranking officers of EMA, including one fellow who is a
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vice president and legal adviser of one of the major data
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networks, and who wrote better than two thirds of ECPA, so I can
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give some pretty certain assurances about how it affects us.
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In a nutshell, it doesn't.
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ECPA deals mainly with assuring the privacy of electronic
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communications over secure networks. Bulletin boards per se are
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not private, and hence are not affected. On the one hand, it
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means that the messages on your board are subject to the normal
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legal protections involving search warrants and such, without the
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much stricter controls on such things as wiretapping. But on the
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other hand, it also means that you are not legally responsible
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for the security of mail on your board.
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You see, ECPA makes it very difficult for anyone to legally gain
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access to private mail, but it also makes the mail system
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operator responsible for ensuring that private mail is kept
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private, even from the operator of the mail system. I've never
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seen a BBS program yet where the sysop couldn't read private
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mail, but that's a no-no under ECPA. But we're not a commercial
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system, and we're not a secure system, so it doesn't apply to us.
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One of the more gratifying aspects of this whole conference was
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the sheer power and magnitude of legal talent that was willing
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and eager to jump to our defense. I had to leave, but I was
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assured that a committee meeting the next day is going to
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consider our legal position in detail and draft recommended
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interpretations of ECPA to ensure that we can remain in
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operation. One of the earlier ideas is that they may draft for
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us a recommended disclaimer to help ensure that we are not held
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liable for misuse of our mail system by outsiders.
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I'm left with a very strong impression: The commercial mail
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systems know that we exist, and are glad that we exist, and
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intend to help us to keep existing. It's a good feeling.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 4 15 Dec 1986
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=================================================================
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ARTICLES
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=================================================================
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DoubleDOS & Fido
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David Melnik 107/233 or 1/105 DoubleDOS Help Node
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As many of you may know there are quite a few nodes out there
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that can not have Fido using their systems 24 hours a day. There
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are some solutions to this problem, one of which is to run Fido
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only when you are not using the system. This method is the least
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desirable as users often get a no answer and don't call back.
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Also if you forget to put Fido back up you'll miss the mail
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period.
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The ideal way to solve the problem is to have two systems or
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even better to be able to multi-task on one PC. There are some
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excellent packages that can do this like Multi-link (See Allen
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Miller about this), but for those of us that did not want to pay
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the $500 for it, we tried DoubleDOS. The idea of DD is great
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except that the implementation leaves a lot to be desired. There
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are many problems with DD, some can be easily overcome while
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others may not be. What I'd like to do is first tell you of some
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problems that other users of DD have had and then ask you for
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help in solving these problems.
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1. Fido does not work with DD version V. A sysop called
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SoftLogic and they admitted that Fido did not work with DD
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version V. Has anyone else been able to get DD to work with V?
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2. The old problem of DD crashing when the SYSOP has used CTTY
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and then later switches sections and the system freezes. A fix
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for this was proposed by Gee Wong, he said that the way to
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handle this problem was to make sure that there was an odd
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number of CTTYs in effect. This solution seemed to work for
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some but not for all, so does anyone else have any other
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solutions?
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3. Another problem that is very similar to the above one is
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running a communications program first, then starting DD and
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Fido. After doing this the system freezes completely and
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requires the BRS (Big Red Switch) to get going again.
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4. Bill Bolton brought to my attention the fact that there are
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some problems with DD and FrontDoor. He did not articulate
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what these problem are, so Bill if you are reading this please
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respond with some details.
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I will collect and try to test the solutions you send to me
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(1/105 or 107/233) and put them into Fidonews as soon as I get
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them. Please when you send your additional problems and/or
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solutions please be very specific as to the nature of the problem
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and the system configuration.
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Fidonews Page 5 15 Dec 1986
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If you have additional problems not mentioned here please send
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them in and we'll try to solve them together.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 6 15 Dec 1986
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Dennis Director, 115/100
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True Hard Disk Security
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and
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The GUTLESS Trojan Horse
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By now, most of you are aware of the Trojan ARC513.COM. It's
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story is the latest chapter in the history of vandalism against
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computers.
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The problems caused by this program have been discussed in BIX
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and FidoNews, and were recently printed in "Best of BIX" in the
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special edition Vol. 11, Num. 11 of Byte Magazine. According to
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participants in the MS-DOS conference of BIX, a program called
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"check4bomb" was unable to detect the dangers of ARC513.COM. In
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addition, several participants discussed attempts to patch DOS
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software to SIMULATE a write-protected disk by catching
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interrupts. Unfortunately, ARC513.COM has not been easy to
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second guess and the complicated interrupt catching often fails.
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I am pleased to announce that there is now a product to help
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bulletin board sysops STOP TROJANS DEAD! The device is call DISK
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DEFENDER. The DISK DEFENDER is a hardware add-on device that
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lets you write-protect any Winchester fixed disk on IBM PCs,
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PC/XTs or compatibles. Although there is a compatibility problem
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with the IBM PC/AT, DISK DEFENDER does work with most AT
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compatibles. It consists of a circuit board which fits into a
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short or long IBM expansion slot and a control box which connects
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via a ribbon cable (so it can be placed on top of you monitor or
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nearby).
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The box contains a three position switch that lets you choose
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between full protection, under which the entire hard disk is
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write-protected; zone protection, which allows for a single
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partition to be protected; or none, for full read and write
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capability. Status LEDs indicate when the disk is being
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accessed, when data writes are being attempted, and when write-
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protection is active.
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Software included with the DISK DEFENDER enhances DOS to permit
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two concurrent hard disk partitions, one of which can be
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protected using the zone method. Other operating systems, which
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support logical units, use DISK DEFENDER without additional
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software. An installation program displays a map on the screen
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to show where configurations switches are and how to set them.
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The Trojan nature of a program like ARC513.COM could be revealed
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easily. First, select FULL write-protection for your VALUABLE
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hard disk. Then run ARC513.COM with a floppy as the destination
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for files. When the program tries to write on your hard disk,
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you will see the WRITE LED flash, indicating that a hard disk
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write was "attempted". In addition, if and only if the WRITE was
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attempted through the DOS driver, you will get the message "Disk
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error writing drive C:". Notice, the HARDWARE PROTECTION of the
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DISK DEFENDER guarantees that no matter where the WRITE came
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from, the LED would flash and NO DATA WOULD BE WRITTEN.
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Fidonews Page 7 15 Dec 1986
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Of course, DISK DEFENDER is extremely well suited to protecting
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bulletin board computers during routine operation. A sysop can
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divide his or her computer into a read-write upload area and a
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write-protected area for all other files. HARDWARE protection
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means that NO dial-up user, NO "whiz kid" and NO software can
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penetrate your disk!
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Sysops of bulletin boards generously dedicate their time and
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their computers to others. It is ironic and even tragic that
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these Trojans strike out against those of you who provide this
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great service. At Director Technologies, we are very proud to
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provide such a powerful, defensive weapon in the war against the
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Trojans.
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The retail price of the DISK DEFENDER is $196.00 and special
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discounts are available for Fido sysops. For more information
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contact, Director Technologies, Technology Innovation Center, 906
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University Place, Evanston, IL 60201 or call (312) 491-2334.
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Fido inquiries can be sent to Dennis Director 115/100.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 8 15 Dec 1986
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Doug Mohney, 109/74, "The Bear's Den"
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Computerfest '86
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Computefest '86 is designed to be a gathering of local area
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user groups and vendors in the Washington D.C. area, an event
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where everyone can benefit from attending, from the person who
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knows very little about micros to the hard-core "Give me assembly
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or give me death" hacking types.
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It will be on Saturday, October 25, 1986, from 9:30 AM to
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5:00 PM at the Adele H. Stamp Union at the University of
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Maryland, College Park.
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There will be representative from the user groups in the
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area, including Capital PC User Group, Washington Apple Pi, WARUG
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(I hope!), NOVAtari, AURA, Hyattsville C-64 UG, Baltimore Amiga
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User Group, FOCUS, and Rockville C-64 User group. They'll have
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members available to answer questions and public domain software
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available for purchase.
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Seminars: We currently are in the process of arranging
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seminars on the following topics: Small Business Computing,
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desktop publishing in three different flavors, Computers and the
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Disabled, MIDI, Enhancing MS-DOS, and BBSing and Society, with
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WARUG's own Kurt Reisler participating.
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Apple Computer has stated it will send out a speaker for our
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event. We also are working on getting someone from Atari; I'm
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hoping Sig Hartmann is able to do all that he's made reference.
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Unfortunately, Bruce Webster of "BYTE" magazine pulled out on us.
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He's apparently going to Hackers 2.0 instead.
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In addition, we'll have a number of local area vendors
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displaying their equipment and peripherials in the Grand Ballroom
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of the Student Union, for the whole range of personal computers
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currently available today, PLUS a "Swapfest" where users can get
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rid of their surplus hardware and legally acquired software.
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Why should you come? Basically, this event is designed for
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you to have fun and learn more about computers. It is a single
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day event, so I'd feel kinda guilty if you came all the way from
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New York or Florida just to say "hi". However, if you live within
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an hour or two of College Park, Maryland (this means Baltimore,
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large parts of Maryland, Northern Virginia), it should be worth
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your time.
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Admission is $6.00/general and $4.00/discount. Print a copy
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of this from your printer & you qualify for a discount. Xerox it,
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give it to your friend Fred & he can get in for a discount. Very
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easy to get a discount.
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For more information, contact me (Doug Mohney) at (301) 350-
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1437 (U.S. phone) or send Fidomail to me at 109/74.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 9 15 Dec 1986
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**** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT ****
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To All Sysops;
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With the sudden, unfortunate demise of The Star Chamber, node
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151/10, as of 10/15/85, I am accepting mail and files destined
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for his node.
|
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Please make whatever changes are needed to your
|
||
nodelist/routing files to effect this change. I have changed my
|
||
alternate node number to 151/10.
|
||
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||
I will also be accepting BUG reports, questions, and comments
|
||
concerning the Fido Utility and Smartman programs, and will
|
||
attempt to provide support for these programs.
|
||
|
||
Send Bug reports for Fido utility to FU BUGS, comments to FU
|
||
CMT, and questions to FU QUEST.
|
||
|
||
Bug reports about Smartman should be sent to SM BUGS, comments
|
||
to SM CMT, and questions to SM QUEST.
|
||
|
||
Please pass this information on to other nets and nodes.
|
||
|
||
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||
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||
Thanks,
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||
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||
David Bodman
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Fido 151/3
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||
|
||
|
||
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||
**** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT ****
|
||
|
||
**** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT **** IMPORTANT ****
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Fidonews Page 10 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
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HUSITA
|
||
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||
Birmingham, England September 7-11,1987
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||
_________________________________________________________________
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||
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First International Conference on Human Service Information
|
||
Technology Applicats.
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||
_________________________________________________________________
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||
|
||
CALL FOR PRESENTATIONS
|
||
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The Computer Applications in Social Work and Allied Professions
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||
Editorial Group The Computer Users in Social Services Network,
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||
and the Computers in Human Services Editorial Computer Users in
|
||
Social Services Network, and the Computers in Human Services
|
||
Editorial Board are proud to announce the First International
|
||
Conference on Human Service Information Technology Applications
|
||
or HUSITA, to be held in England in September 1987.
|
||
|
||
CONFERENCE THEME
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||
|
||
"A technology to support humanity." Presentations with this theme
|
||
will be favored.
|
||
|
||
BACKGROUND
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||
|
||
Human Services throughout the world are utilizing new forms of
|
||
information technology in their work. The Conference will pro-
|
||
mote presentations which describe, define, share, or evaluate the
|
||
ways that these technologies can be or are being used. We are
|
||
interested in sharing and examining the roles that the human
|
||
service worker takes in regard to these technologies, approaches
|
||
to training workers to fulfill these roles, and ethical
|
||
frameworks which providea context for these roles. Computing has
|
||
altered thework situation and, in some cases, microcomputers have
|
||
made computing power available to the worker and to the people
|
||
that they serve. The Conference is a place to discuss changes in
|
||
the work situation and to provide others with ideas about how
|
||
systems are developed. Workers are particularly interested in
|
||
the way that these technologies will impact the person who is
|
||
receiving services: how will they access and use these
|
||
technologies; what will be their impact; how will they meet their
|
||
needs; how will they network with others or service providers.
|
||
How can such technologies provide power to the powerless,
|
||
minorities, women, the third world? We invite presenters to share
|
||
points of view about the development of information technology
|
||
applications in the human services. The Conference will provide
|
||
a forum in which we can gather to examine and share applications,
|
||
knowledge, and experiences, reassess our concerns, and provide
|
||
direction to our futures.
|
||
|
||
PARTICIPANTS:
|
||
|
||
Human services are carried out by different professions in dif-
|
||
ferent countries, but will commonly include social workers,
|
||
psychologist, psychiatrists, social planners, the rehabilitation
|
||
Fidonews Page 11 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
professions, community educators, public and mental health work-
|
||
ers, social service workers, the allied health professionals,
|
||
community developers, public and social service administrators,
|
||
neighborhood and personal social service workers, and academics
|
||
working and training others in any of these areas.
|
||
|
||
THE CONFERENCE IS ORGANIZED INTO THREE AREAS:
|
||
|
||
* sharing and discussing experiences
|
||
|
||
* listen and learn
|
||
|
||
* vendor, product, and demonstration Fair
|
||
|
||
Share and Discuss
|
||
|
||
Presentation in this area can be organized as small groups,
|
||
seminars, or any other presentation format suitable to informal
|
||
discussion and sharing of the author's material.
|
||
|
||
Listen and Learn
|
||
|
||
Presentation in this area can be organized as workshops,
|
||
lectures, or any other presentation format suitable to formal
|
||
delivery of the author's material.
|
||
|
||
The Fair
|
||
|
||
Vendors and software developers from a number of participating
|
||
countries will demonstrate their products. The largest collection
|
||
of free software and demonstration programs in the world (over
|
||
1000 disks worth) will be available for coping at a low cost.
|
||
|
||
Presentation proposals are welcome (but not limited) to the fol-
|
||
lowing areas:
|
||
|
||
* Use * Problems * Experiences * Directions * Choosing Systems
|
||
* Finding Software * Worker Use * Empowerment * Community Change
|
||
* Administration * Computer Literacy * Privacy * Networking
|
||
* Gender Differences * Self-Help Groups * Testing * Client
|
||
Assessment * Research * Client Evaluation * Accountability
|
||
* Computer Program Development * Prototyping * Expert Systems
|
||
* Creating an Information Center * Knowledge Engineering
|
||
* Developing Information Resources * Data Base Design
|
||
|
||
CONFERENCE PRESENTATION PROPOSALS
|
||
|
||
A 500 word abstract is required by January 31st, 1987. Please
|
||
send three copies typed double space to either:
|
||
|
||
Walter LaMendola, Ph.D., Co-Chairman
|
||
Professor and Director
|
||
Information Technolgoy Center
|
||
GSSW - University of Denver
|
||
Denver, CO 80208-0274
|
||
U.S.A.
|
||
Fidonews Page 12 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
Tel. 303 871 2886
|
||
|
||
or
|
||
|
||
Stuart Toole, Co-Chairman
|
||
City of Birmingham Polytechnic
|
||
Department of Sociology & Applied Social Studies
|
||
Perry Barr
|
||
Birmingham B42 2SU
|
||
England
|
||
021-356-6911 (Ext. 303 or 301)
|
||
|
||
TO RECEIVE FURTHER INFORMATION ABOUT HUSITA '87:
|
||
|
||
Send your name and mailing address to either of the above
|
||
addresses.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 13 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
Bill Allbritten, 11/301
|
||
|
||
Updates to FIDO modem compatibility information needed
|
||
|
||
I have been maintaining FIDOMDM.ARC on 11/301 for some time. It
|
||
contains user supplied info on modem usage with FIDO. As new
|
||
modems come on the market, this information needs to be updated.
|
||
If you are using any of the following modems, please send a short
|
||
message to me containing info on:
|
||
|
||
(1) Modem brand
|
||
(2) baud capabilities
|
||
(3) Bell and CCITT standards supported
|
||
(4) Cost
|
||
(5) switch settings
|
||
(6) any special modem control file entries
|
||
(7) your name, address and phone (optional)
|
||
(8) problems you might have experienced
|
||
(9) compatibility with other FidoNet systems (SEAdog, OPUS,
|
||
etc)
|
||
(10) any other comments you might have
|
||
|
||
Specific information is needed on Leading Edge 1200 and 2400
|
||
units, IBM 1200 and 2400 units, Ven-Tel modems, any generics that
|
||
have worked, Everex modems, Quibie 2400, and any of the new 9600
|
||
baud units that might have been tried with, say, OPUS, which I
|
||
believe supports that baud rate. If you indicate usage with
|
||
SEAdog, please include your modem initialization values. Many
|
||
users will no doubt appreciate your taking a moment to do this.
|
||
Best Wishes for a Merry Christmas to All, Bill Allbritten, sysop,
|
||
11/301
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 14 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
Edward M. Rauh, 141/215
|
||
|
||
IFNA is not International!
|
||
|
||
In my efforts to present the drawbacks of making the IFNA a truly
|
||
International organization, I wrote a minority position paper
|
||
suggesting that the IFNA limit itself to North American
|
||
membership. This document, included in FidoNews, demonstrated
|
||
why I felt that we should limit our International membership. It
|
||
did not, in any way, represent the view of the vast majority of
|
||
the By-laws and Rules Committee; in fact, I was the only one who
|
||
took this position. I would like to clarify the position
|
||
further. Please be aware that this was drafted by me without the
|
||
consultation of the Board of Directors or the By-laws and Rules
|
||
Committee; this document is my personal response to the issues at
|
||
hand.
|
||
|
||
1) Why the By-laws document is unfair to International members.
|
||
|
||
The document, as drawn up during the committee meeting in New
|
||
Hampshire, assumes geographic representation in the Board of
|
||
Directors. By grouping the International nodes into U.S.
|
||
geographic areas, we denied those sysops outside of North
|
||
America (aside from Europe, which was the basis of my legal
|
||
objection) that representation. This was done for two
|
||
reasons: first, to avoid gerrymandering (one suggestion, shot
|
||
down early Saturday morning, would have attempted to create
|
||
proportional representation, with all the border line disputes
|
||
that entails), and second, to avoid an inevitable bloating of
|
||
the Board of Directors. I feel that the second is the more
|
||
important of the two; the Board that we recommended, with 22
|
||
members, was too large to work with as it was. A larger
|
||
board, as would have been mandated by allowing each nation
|
||
listed in the nodelist to have it's own representative, would
|
||
have even less of a chance to take effective and timely
|
||
action.
|
||
|
||
2) What my position paper really was.
|
||
|
||
My commentary, added after the fact to present my case AGAINST
|
||
trying to make IFNA a truly International organization, was
|
||
drawn up to present my feelings on a significant issue. I
|
||
cannot say that it was done to attempt to address the
|
||
inequities cited above; it was, in fact, drawn up to attempt
|
||
to limit the potential criminal liabilities that I perceived
|
||
from the (possibly) illegal activities of some non-North
|
||
American nodes. It did, indirectly, allow the International
|
||
members to be associate members, and to create their own
|
||
organizations, which, if operated within the laws of their
|
||
respective nations, could petition for divisional status
|
||
within the IFNA.
|
||
|
||
3) What can be done about the inequities.
|
||
|
||
After receiving a letter from Alan Salmon of 155/229, I gave a
|
||
great deal of thought to how to redress this problem. Mr.
|
||
Fidonews Page 15 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
Salmon suggested the following:
|
||
|
||
a. That we rename the organization the North American FidoNet
|
||
association. In view of the above arguments, I cannot
|
||
contest this within the context of the current IFNA
|
||
situation.
|
||
|
||
b. That we take into account the International nodes,
|
||
representing more than 10% of our current Net, and allow
|
||
them a say in the operation of the Net. This again is
|
||
reasonable.
|
||
|
||
It is apparent that the International nodes, which have their
|
||
own needs relating solely to their geographic areas, should
|
||
have a say in how the Net works, and should be represented in
|
||
the International Board of Directors. It may then be
|
||
necessary to create a separate organization to administer each
|
||
nation's nodes, and to treat International communications as a
|
||
subject beyond the scope of the present organization. If this
|
||
is the case, the present Board of Directors might recommend
|
||
the following:
|
||
|
||
a. That the administration of the nodelist be done outside of
|
||
the scope of the IFNA as presently conceived;
|
||
|
||
b. That the vote, to be taken on or about 1 January 1987,
|
||
include a referendum on whether the organization as such
|
||
should call itself the International FidoNet Association,
|
||
or should indicate the geographic bounds of the majority of
|
||
it's members to date;
|
||
|
||
c. That each major geographic region outside of the North
|
||
American continent form it's own national or geographic
|
||
FidoNet Association (hereafter read national FidoNet
|
||
Association);
|
||
|
||
d. That a separate committee on International Affairs,
|
||
including members from each of the major geographic areas
|
||
outside of North America, be formed to consider how best to
|
||
organize communications between national FidoNet
|
||
Associations;
|
||
|
||
e. That the creation and distribution of the International
|
||
Nodelist be jointly funded by the national FidoNet
|
||
Associations through the auspices of the International
|
||
Affairs Committee.
|
||
|
||
These suggestions would probably fragment the Net to some degree,
|
||
at least until each member nation formed and funded it's own
|
||
organization. In the interrim, I suggest that the present group
|
||
maintaining Net communications continue to do so, for a period to
|
||
be specified by a vote of the Board of Directors of whatever we
|
||
decide to call ourselves.
|
||
|
||
In summary, no matter what the organization is called, or how
|
||
representation is accomplished, we ARE, for the moment an
|
||
Fidonews Page 16 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
International organization. There are inequities in the present
|
||
organizational scheme for those nodes outside of the North
|
||
American continent that may not give them adequate repesentation.
|
||
We should try to address the needs of these International nodes
|
||
in as fair a fashion as possible, while allowing some continuity
|
||
of Net operations, and attempt to give them adequate
|
||
representation in the International organization that the IFNA
|
||
hopes to be.
|
||
|
||
Respectfully submitted,
|
||
|
||
Edward M. Rauh
|
||
Sysop 141/215
|
||
IFNA By-laws and Rules Committee
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 17 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
Dear Fido Sysop,
|
||
|
||
We would appreciate your comments and opinions on this
|
||
matter.
|
||
|
||
Would you purchase a HIGH-QUALITY on-line adventure game
|
||
which is ONLY available to IBM-based sysops such as yourself? If
|
||
so, would you make this game(s) available to your users as either
|
||
a free service or a subscription feature? Remember, this game(s)
|
||
would be available ONLY for on-line use through utilities using
|
||
the "Outside" option of FIDO.
|
||
|
||
Any comments or opinions are greatly appreciated.
|
||
|
||
Please respond to:
|
||
|
||
No Shoes
|
||
P.O. Box 145
|
||
Wakefield, MA 01880
|
||
|
||
or in Fido-Mail to:
|
||
|
||
Dana Montgomery at Net 101/Node 27
|
||
|
||
Thank you in advance for your time.
|
||
sincerely,
|
||
Dana Montgomery
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 18 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
John Herro, 107/211
|
||
|
||
User's Review of PC-WRITE With Spelling
|
||
|
||
(The author has no connection with Quicksoft, the producers of
|
||
PC-WRITE, except for being a registered user of that Shareware.)
|
||
|
||
The long-awaited version 2.7 of the PC-WRITE word processor is
|
||
out. Since PC-WRITE is Shareware, you can download it and try it
|
||
for free. If you have an older version of PC-WRITE, it will def-
|
||
initely be worth the time to download the latest version. Since
|
||
I recently reviewed version 2.6 in FidoNews 330, I will discuss
|
||
only new features here.
|
||
|
||
The biggest new feature is the spelling checker. This is very
|
||
handy not only for poor spellers, but for bad typists like me.
|
||
|
||
I've used three different spelling checkers from bulletin boards
|
||
before, but none of them compares with the one built into version
|
||
2.7 of PC-WRITE. For one thing, the PC-WRITE spelling checker
|
||
handles words divided by a hyphen at the end of a line, and the
|
||
other spellers I've tried do not. I was tired of being told that
|
||
"tion" is not a word. Also, the dictionary resides in memory, so
|
||
the checking is very fast. Finally, the dictionary is large:
|
||
50,000 words. I'm impressed that the program manages to squeeze
|
||
50K English words into fewer than 110K bytes of memory.
|
||
|
||
Alternate-F2 brings up the spelling menu. You can check spelling
|
||
in three ways. The program can check words as you type them,
|
||
beeping at you like some of the newer typewriters. You can check
|
||
an entire document, or check only the word at the cursor.
|
||
|
||
When you check an entire document, the program highlights the
|
||
first unknown word. You can ignore it, add it to a personal dic-
|
||
tionary, edit it, or ask the program to guess the correct word.
|
||
In the last case, I've found that some of the guesses seem to
|
||
bear little relation to the word typed, while other guesses are
|
||
very useful. After you select one of these four options, the
|
||
program highlights the next unknown word, etc.
|
||
|
||
The same four options are available when you check the single
|
||
word at the cursor, or when you ask PC-WRITE to beep whenever you
|
||
type an unknown word.
|
||
|
||
You can have as many personal dictionaries as you like, but only
|
||
one can be in memory at a time, along with the main 50,000-word
|
||
dictionary. The personal dictionaries are not compressed like
|
||
the main one. A separate program is provided to merge a personal
|
||
dictionary with the main one, producing a new main dictionary.
|
||
Dictionaries are lower case; the speller ignores capitalization.
|
||
|
||
Working with a large dictionary in memory is a pleasure. I was
|
||
surprised that the program accepted "Boise," "elaboration,"
|
||
"esc," "Hoover," "identifier," "Qatar," and "Terre Haute." The
|
||
catch is that you can't use the speller if your computer has less
|
||
than 320K of memory.
|
||
Fidonews Page 19 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
There are a few new features besides the spelling checker. You
|
||
can now define a single keystroke to insert the current date
|
||
and/or time in any format you like. (Date first, spell the day,
|
||
abbreviate the month, two-digit year, 24-hour time, etc.) The
|
||
help file is now loaded only when you need it, giving a fast
|
||
startup. Word wrapping can be disabled without disturbing the
|
||
right margin. More printers are supported, including those with
|
||
XON/XOFF protocol. Finally, PC-WRITE can now "import" text
|
||
placed on the screen by another program.
|
||
|
||
PC-WRITE now includes a pamphlet, ready for you to print out, ex-
|
||
plaining the differences between versions 2.6 and 2.7. This is
|
||
in addition to the familiar tutorial manual and quick reference
|
||
guide.
|
||
|
||
If I may say so, some of you FidoNews authors out there urgently
|
||
NEED a spelling checker! Version 2.7 of PC-WRITE can be found on
|
||
Daniels-Fido 107/211, (516) 367-9626, 300/1200/2400 baud. I
|
||
uploaded the program in two files, PCWRITE1.ARC and PCWRITE2.ARC.
|
||
PLEASE download it and improve the appearance of FidoNews!!
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 20 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
COLUMNS
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Doug Mohney, 109/74, "The Bear's Den"
|
||
|
||
Doug's Column
|
||
|
||
OOPS: My last column (#3) was delayed cuz I had exams &
|
||
projects up the wall. Sorry if ya missed it, and if you didn't ya
|
||
got a break....
|
||
|
||
FANS: I've gotten some fan (FIDO) mail and two phone calls;
|
||
one of which I returned and lost the phone number for the other.
|
||
Still no money or products or software to review <sigh>.
|
||
|
||
80386 IS HERE: BIG WHOOPIE: Microsoft is still working on an
|
||
OS to take advantage of the '286; best guess when we'll see '386
|
||
programs which even challenge the current crop of souped-up
|
||
Super-AT clones will be in 1987, earliest. Besides, do you
|
||
really need a '386 to do word processing, database work, or most
|
||
normal spreadsheet calculations? C'mon.
|
||
|
||
DEEP THOUGHT: My friend Mr. Bill is overjoyed to have an
|
||
Apple LaserWriter Plus to play with. He says it is the most
|
||
powerful computer Apple currently sells. Think about it. Bill is
|
||
disappointed they didn't put a diskdrive.
|
||
|
||
80386 IS HERE: YAHHHHH!!!!!!: If you crunch numbers and want
|
||
to run *practical* multiuser/multitasking systems, the '386 will
|
||
allow you to do it, abet in a glorified AT fashion. The '386er
|
||
is a boon to CAD/CAM, statistical users, and fanatic spreadsheet
|
||
freaks.
|
||
|
||
Even though you won't be able to run ADOS on it (Advanced
|
||
DOS), you can get either UNIX(TM), XENIX (a UNIX(TM) run-alike),
|
||
and VM/386. UNIX is a de facto mini/micro/mainframe operating
|
||
system standard; General Motors is going to adapt UNIX as a
|
||
company standard. The last time GM adapted standards was with the
|
||
MAP manfacturing protocols; lotta MAP products out there now.
|
||
Although I think VM is the most grotesque OS written for a
|
||
mainframe, it is a standard and there are a lot of mainframe
|
||
based programs running under VM which would be quite handy to
|
||
port down to a VM/386 PC.
|
||
|
||
WHILE WE TALK OF UNIX: I will stick my neck out on a block
|
||
and say UNIX is the future of operating systems. Sort of. UNIX
|
||
has been ported to more chips and machines than any other OS on
|
||
the face of the earth. If you don't believe me, why did Digital
|
||
come out with UNIX, and why do you find UNIX running on IBM
|
||
mainframes?
|
||
|
||
However, you won't have the mystical UNIX command set;
|
||
instead, a user-friendly, graphics-based icon shell will sit over
|
||
UNIX; if you want C or Bourne Shell, it'll be a window option.
|
||
Hopefully, UNIX will be reworked so it will be less of a disk
|
||
Fidonews Page 21 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
hog.
|
||
|
||
The standards of UNIX will come from AT&T, but innovations
|
||
will come from Berkie and other Universities.
|
||
|
||
BITNET BURNOUT: BITNET is a network of over 1,000 mini &
|
||
mainframe computers stretching from Japan to Canada to Europe to
|
||
Israel -- with most of the machines on the network in the U.S.
|
||
|
||
I've been recently spending many a late evening on BITNET's
|
||
version of CB, called RELAY. RELAY has a bunch of jobs which take
|
||
messages from individual sites and forward them to the proper
|
||
locations. I've been able to "talk" to females in Ottawa, Italy,
|
||
Texas, Washington State and Portland. Awesome.
|
||
|
||
However, this form of chatting is ADDICTIVE. You can lose
|
||
track of time all too quickly, intending to leave at 10:00 PM,
|
||
and suddenly find it is 2:30 AM. OUCH! I've read of people on
|
||
CompuServe and the Source who get turned on by CB -- only to be
|
||
introduced to $300+ bills the next month. After my BIT
|
||
experiences, I'm not surprised.
|
||
|
||
NOT ALL APPLE, INC PPL: are weasels. Had an excellent chat
|
||
with Kathy Kinsburg <sp?> of Apple's Higher Education division.
|
||
It turns out she was down in Texas with Ed Romson (an Apple
|
||
person who spoke at Computerfest) for a while, then went West to
|
||
the Main Drag.
|
||
|
||
Kathy was in town to chat with U. of Maryland ppl about
|
||
"Maryland in the Apple University Consortium", and MY GOD! she
|
||
actually seemed to listen. Was very nice. One of the things I
|
||
said was "Gosh, I bought this Apple //e and once I get to
|
||
college, I find all they support here is Macintosh." She told me
|
||
they were working on the problem.
|
||
|
||
A TALE OF TWO USER GROUPS: Capital PC User Group came out
|
||
whole hog to support the computer show our user group (PCA) put
|
||
on in October, with a number of speakers and volunteers to answer
|
||
questions at a CPCUG table. CPCUG, based in Bethesda, has done
|
||
some *great* things with the D.C. community, including sponsoring
|
||
programming contests, helping out other non-profit organizations
|
||
like National Center for Missing Children, and is currently
|
||
offering a BBS grant program. I love CPCUG. It is very rare I
|
||
love anything.
|
||
|
||
On the other hand, we have Washington Apple Pi. WAP members
|
||
have been running around over the past year preaching the idea of
|
||
"user group cooperation" and an ultimate formation of a
|
||
"Washington Computer Society" a la Boston. WAP voted to come to
|
||
our computer show, but didn't. Nary a one. We're 20 minutes away
|
||
from their Bethesda office. However, they do manage to make it to
|
||
close places like Boston, Chicago, and San Fransisco, showing
|
||
what leaders they are.
|
||
|
||
But wait, there's more: After our show, we went to them with
|
||
a request to update our Mac public domain software library. PCA
|
||
Fidonews Page 22 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
is composed of a bunch of u-grads (ie: poor college students) at
|
||
Maryland. The request got bounced around and they finally came
|
||
back and said "Well, you are already established, so we don't
|
||
have to help you. Besides, you could end up competiting for our
|
||
public domain software sales in the future." Oh. They really are
|
||
promoting cooperation there, yes sir. I guess they have to
|
||
protect their cash-cows as much as anyone does.
|
||
|
||
OK, YOUR TURN: If you want to reach me, send me FidoMail to
|
||
Doug Mohney at 109/74. Or call me at (301) 350-1437. Good gossip
|
||
or demo copies of anything welcome. Money not refused (although
|
||
if I get real successful, I may have to give a cut to my SYSOP at
|
||
109/74).
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 23 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
Joe Lindstrom
|
||
TC-Link Fido (134/7)
|
||
Calgary, AB
|
||
|
||
+-------------------+
|
||
! The Nautical View !
|
||
+-------------------+
|
||
|
||
Part 5: BBS Security (The View From Calgary)
|
||
|
||
Hi ho, 'tis Joe from Calgary (that's in Canada, eh?) again.
|
||
I'm here this week to address a problem that has recently cropped
|
||
up here in Calgary (again) that has no doubt cropped up
|
||
EVERYWHERE: BBS security.
|
||
|
||
This issue has two major points of view, with a wide range of
|
||
variance in each: the SysOp's view, and the user's view. I'll
|
||
try to address each, since I'm one of each (did that make any
|
||
sense at all?)
|
||
|
||
The board from which this junk (not the FidoNews of course)
|
||
spouts is called "TC-Link Fido", based here in Calgary.
|
||
Recently, a user logged on under the name "Cherry Pepsi", and
|
||
proceeded to verbally lambaste the sysop and users. Needless to
|
||
say, the sysop was NOT impressed. Nevertheless, he left the
|
||
message (an edited version) online, and tacked onto the end an
|
||
appeal to the users of the board to help him make a decision:
|
||
should he continue running an open system? Or should he set it
|
||
up so that all users must be verified before full access is
|
||
granted? Or should he do the drastic thing, and limit the board
|
||
to current members only?
|
||
|
||
We've had quite the debate on this. Many ideas were broached.
|
||
From the user's perspective, the idea was that an open system is
|
||
a desirable thing. However, the solutions offered to the "Cherry
|
||
Pepsi" problem were far from viable. From a few sysop's point of
|
||
view, the idea was that the system should be run on a
|
||
verified-user-only basis. Both sides have merit. After all, a
|
||
sysop puts a board online so that everyone can have access to it
|
||
and use it to its potential. This is limited by making people
|
||
wait while their memberships are checked out. Further, some
|
||
users resent having to divulge information such as address, phone
|
||
number, and real name. However, a sysop wants some form of
|
||
control on what happens on his BBS. He does NOT want his BBS to
|
||
get a bad reputation, which has happened ALL too often here in
|
||
Calgary. So where does that leave us?
|
||
|
||
Fortunately, Fido just may have a solution. First off, it is
|
||
up to the sysop how much information he/she requires from the
|
||
user. If an open system is desired, the sysop can limit this to
|
||
things like terminal parameters, etc. However, from this point,
|
||
the user can be allowed anywhere in Fido EXCEPT the message bases
|
||
if the sysop so desires it. THIS is how people like "Cherry
|
||
Pepsi" get their kicks: calling up boards that are "open",
|
||
wreaking a little havoc, and never showing up again. Requiring
|
||
that second call will rid a sysop of most of these problem
|
||
Fidonews Page 24 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
callers. I've seen this work, and work well, on 2 Calgary area
|
||
boards.
|
||
|
||
My question to you, the readers of FidoNews, is this: What do
|
||
YOU think? I am very interested in publishing some of your
|
||
responses in an upcoming issue of the FidoNews in this column.
|
||
If you want your views known, write to me. I can be reached on
|
||
TC-Link Fido (Calgary, Net 134 Node 7).
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 25 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NOTICES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The Interrupt Stack
|
||
|
||
|
||
17 May 1987
|
||
Metro-Fire Fido's Second Birthday BlowOut! All Fido Sysops
|
||
and Families Invited! Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for
|
||
more information.
|
||
|
||
24 Aug 1989
|
||
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
|
||
|
||
|
||
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
||
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1/1.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 26 15 Dec 1986
|
||
|
||
|
||
__
|
||
The World's First / \
|
||
BBS Network /|oo \
|
||
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
|
||
_`@/_ \ _
|
||
| | \ \\
|
||
| (*) | \ ))
|
||
______ |__U__| / \//
|
||
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
|
||
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm)
|
||
|
||
Charter Membership for the International FidoNet Association
|
||
|
||
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
|
||
pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the
|
||
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
|
||
increase worldwide communications.**
|
||
|
||
|
||
Name _________________________________ Date ________
|
||
Address ______________________________
|
||
City & State _________________________
|
||
Country_______________________________
|
||
Phone (Voice) ________________________
|
||
|
||
Net/Node Number ______________________
|
||
Board Name____________________________
|
||
Phone (Data) _________________________
|
||
Baud Rate Supported___________________
|
||
Board Restrictions____________________
|
||
Special Interests_____________________
|
||
______________________________________
|
||
______________________________________
|
||
Is there some area where you would be
|
||
willing to help out in FidoNet?_______
|
||
______________________________________
|
||
______________________________________
|
||
|
||
|
||
Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to:
|
||
|
||
International FidoNet Association
|
||
P. O. Box 41143
|
||
St Louis, Missouri 63141, USA
|
||
|
||
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
|
||
insure the future of FidoNet.
|
||
|
||
** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
|
||
in formation and BYLAWS are presently being prepared by an
|
||
International Rules Committee. Membership requirements and fees
|
||
are subject to approval of this Committee. An IFNA Echomail
|
||
Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the BYLAWS
|
||
Committee. We welcome your input on this Conference.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|