839 lines
37 KiB
Plaintext
839 lines
37 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 4, Number 8 23 February 1987
|
||
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|
||
| _ |
|
||
| / \ |
|
||
| /|oo \ |
|
||
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
|
||
| _`@/_ \ _ |
|
||
| International | | \ \\ |
|
||
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
|
||
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
|
||
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
|
||
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
|
||
| (jm) |
|
||
+---------------------------------------------------------------+
|
||
Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
|
||
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
|
||
|
||
FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet
|
||
Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1.
|
||
You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
|
||
FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
|
||
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1.
|
||
|
||
Copyright (C) 1987, by the International FidoNet Association.
|
||
All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted
|
||
for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
|
||
please contact IFNA.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Table of Contents
|
||
|
||
1. EDITORIAL
|
||
Policy Violations by Network Coordinators
|
||
2. ARTICLES
|
||
The True Howard Feil Story
|
||
SoCalNet Routing Changes
|
||
SNOBOL Echo Conference
|
||
Suggested Standard For ARChived Software Distribution
|
||
Fiction: "Wide Awake" by Scott Wallace
|
||
3. NOTICES
|
||
The Interrupt Stack
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 2 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
EDITORIAL
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
Policy Violations by Network Coordinators
|
||
|
||
|
||
Friends, we got trouble! Trouble right here in FidoNet!
|
||
Trouble, that starts with "T", that rhymes with "E", that stands
|
||
for ECHOMAIL!
|
||
|
||
More and more these days I hear of network coordinators telling
|
||
would-be FidoNews article authors to publish in EchoMail instead.
|
||
Not only are they doing those budding authors a disservice (see
|
||
last week's editorial), but they are going directly against
|
||
established policy.
|
||
|
||
The FidoNet Policy and Procedure Guide spells it out. Under
|
||
Duties of a Network Coordinator, page 9, last paragraph:
|
||
|
||
Accordingly, you should encourage sysops and users in your
|
||
network to contribute to FidoNews. If you receive any
|
||
submissions, you should forward them to the FidoNews
|
||
publisher. Think of yourself as being a regional bureau
|
||
chief on the FidoNews editorial staff.
|
||
|
||
Encourage, NOT discourage.
|
||
|
||
And that's not the worst of it! Several nets these days are
|
||
publishing their own local newsletters, siphoning off material
|
||
that sysops everywhere would like to read. I'm guilty too on
|
||
this one; I've never yet turned down a request for a copy of the
|
||
newsletter generator. Please, if you're going to do a local
|
||
newsletter, please pass along to me anything that isn't of purely
|
||
local interest.
|
||
|
||
I need your help on this one, guys. FidoNews really is the glue
|
||
that binds us all together. Let's all pull together on this,
|
||
before we fall apart into scattered splinter groups.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 3 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
ARTICLES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The True Howard Feil Story
|
||
|
||
In reference to the article titled "Howard Feil VS. Logical
|
||
Technologies and Brian Walsh (FNEWS404), January 26, 1987, some
|
||
of the facts were distorted, some were false, and we regret very
|
||
few were correct.
|
||
|
||
If the article Howard wrote (FNEWS345), offended Brian Walsh in
|
||
anyway, we hope he will accept our apology. We sincerely want to
|
||
see this matter resolved. However, we were horrified at some of
|
||
the incorrect statements in Brian Walsh's article concerning
|
||
ourselves, Howard Feil's parents, as well as Howard. We believe
|
||
the truth should be presented.
|
||
|
||
First, Howard was never informed that he had not won the contest.
|
||
Rather, Brian informed Howard on four separate occasions that he
|
||
had completed the contest on the Computerland BBS. As he stated
|
||
in a conversation on September 28, 1986, "The contest is over
|
||
(you won)." In addition, the following is a excerpt one of Brian
|
||
Walsh's message stating to Howard that Brian was sending Howard
|
||
the modem.
|
||
|
||
"I have sent you your modem as of last friday (9/12/1986), I
|
||
believe. I will check with my shipping dept. If however
|
||
your modem has not been shipped I WILL Ship it today."
|
||
|
||
However, despite his claim, he never sent the modem.
|
||
|
||
Next, in regards to the files that Howard uploaded. All the
|
||
files Howard uploaded were obtained from respectable BBSes in
|
||
this area (the greater Baltimore and Washington metropolitan
|
||
vicinity.) And we would find it difficult to believe, knowing the
|
||
integrity of the Sysops in this area, that they would allow non-
|
||
public domain software and trojan horses to be readily available
|
||
in any form.
|
||
|
||
Finally, on January 26,1987, two months after Howard Feil's
|
||
article on the matter appeared in FNEWS345, (not before the
|
||
article appeared as Brian stated), we received our first and only
|
||
contact concerning this matter. An alleged attorney called and
|
||
told us Brian would prosecute Howard to the fullest extent of the
|
||
law if we did not write a public letter of apology.
|
||
|
||
Our response was as follows:
|
||
|
||
1) We requested a written statement of our conversation so that
|
||
there would be no miscommunication.
|
||
|
||
2) We requested a draft letter of apology written by the alleged
|
||
attorney for us to review that would be acceptable to Brian.
|
||
|
||
As of this point in time we have not received anything in writing
|
||
Fidonews Page 4 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
concerning this matter.
|
||
|
||
In conclusion:
|
||
|
||
Howard Feil is old enough to handle his own problems, and we,
|
||
Howard Feil's parents, have no desire to get involved. It was
|
||
most unwise of Brian Walsh to put in print a false statement that
|
||
he received a notarized letter from us, because it inflamed us
|
||
enough to make our voices heard. We do not feel Brian has
|
||
conducted himself in an honorable fashion.
|
||
|
||
Sincerely,
|
||
Mr. and Mrs. Feil
|
||
Parents of User Howard Feil
|
||
|
||
|
||
P.S. Brian, please return the eight floppy disks you borrowed
|
||
from our son in September 1986.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 5 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
This is a pre-release copy. The schedules listed in this
|
||
document are not implemented at this time. Conversion dates to
|
||
these schedules will be announced at a later time. Please stay
|
||
tuned...
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
-*-*- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NETWORK -*-*-
|
||
CONEJO VALLEY HUB
|
||
|
||
SoCalNet 102 / Nodes 280x - 282x
|
||
Rev 02.04.87
|
||
|
||
The Conejo Valley Hub consists of a group of FidoNet systems
|
||
in the Conejo and Simi Valleys. These systems are in turn part
|
||
of the Southern California Network (SocalNet). The SocalNet is
|
||
comprised of several Hubs in various geographical areas of
|
||
Southern California extending as far south as San Diego to as far
|
||
north as Santa Barbara.
|
||
|
||
Hubs have been assigned within the Network to minimize toll
|
||
charges. The Network has one Inbound host and one Outbound Host
|
||
that are responsible for receiving and sending mail to other
|
||
systems in the National Network.
|
||
|
||
Currently the SocalNet (102) and the Orange County Net (103)
|
||
are sharing the responsibilities of Inbound and Outbound Netmail
|
||
processing. The Inbound Host for both Nets is node 102/742
|
||
(which is also the SocalNet Coordinator - 102/0). The Outbound
|
||
Host is node 103/523 and is responsible for distributing mail
|
||
from both Nets to other systems in the National Net.
|
||
|
||
The updates to the nodelists are provided by the SocalNet
|
||
Coordinator (102/0) to the Network Hubs who will in turn make
|
||
them available to the individual nodes. Routing control files
|
||
and the Fido Newsletters will also follow this distribution
|
||
pattern. Please inform your Fido Hub/Host Coordinator of any
|
||
change in your system status.
|
||
|
||
|
||
-*-*- Network HUB Listings -*-*-
|
||
|
||
* Conejo/Simi Valley HUB
|
||
|
||
Host .... Node 2800 ... Larry Kayser 805-498-2508 (TBBS/SEAdog)
|
||
Locals .. Node 2801 ... Gary Vedvik 805-499-8378 (Opus)
|
||
Node 2802 ... Peter Kranz 805-373-8787 (Fido)
|
||
Node 2803 ... Eric Daymo 805-494-3350 (Opus)
|
||
Node 2804 ... Eric Horne 805-484-8320 (Fido)
|
||
Node 2806 ... Larry Kayser 805-498-2508 (TBBS/SEAdog)
|
||
Node 2821 ... Gregg Cassity 805-522-4211 (Fido)
|
||
|
||
|
||
-*-*- Network Schedule Listings -*-*-
|
||
|
||
The network schedules for LOCAL nodes within the Conejo/Simi
|
||
Fidonews Page 6 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
Valley Hub are as follows: (PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL TIMES ARE LISTED
|
||
IN PST)
|
||
|
||
LOCALS
|
||
-Window- -Sched Tag- -Network Function-
|
||
-------- ----------- -------------------------------------
|
||
01:00 - 02:00 T NATIONAL MAIL HOUR - Processing
|
||
- National network mail received and
|
||
transmitted by SocalNet Inbound and
|
||
outbound Hosts.
|
||
- Locals send echomail & routed Nat'l
|
||
mail to Hub-Hosts
|
||
- Locals send to Locals
|
||
|
||
05:15 - 06:00 R HUBS -> LOCALS - Distribution
|
||
- Distribution of National and Local
|
||
mail available to nodes from Hub
|
||
via Pickup.
|
||
|
||
The following schedules are included here for documentation
|
||
purposes only. Locals should NOT implement the following
|
||
schedules as this is only applicable to the Conejo/Simi Valley
|
||
Hub-Host. (PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL TIMES ARE LISTED IN PST)
|
||
|
||
|
||
HUBS
|
||
-Window- -Sched Tag- -Network Function-
|
||
-------- ----------- -------------------------------------
|
||
01:00 - 02:00 T NATIONAL MAIL HOUR - Processing
|
||
- National network mail received and
|
||
transmitted by SocalNet Inbound and
|
||
outbound Hosts.
|
||
- Locals send echomail & routed Nat'l
|
||
mail to Hub-Hosts
|
||
- Locals send to Locals
|
||
|
||
03:30 - 05:00 E SOCALNET HOSTS -> HUBS - Distribution
|
||
- Distribution of mail received from
|
||
the Inbound Host to the various
|
||
Hubs
|
||
- Pickup of National EchoMail areas
|
||
- Delivery of routed Nat'l mail from
|
||
Local Hub to SocalNet for next days
|
||
delivery
|
||
|
||
05:15 - 06:00 R HUBS -> LOCALS - Distribution
|
||
- Distribution of National and Local
|
||
mail available to nodes from Hub
|
||
via Pickup.
|
||
|
||
|
||
This schedule configuration represents the LEAST costly
|
||
method of linking the Conejo/Simi Valley Hub into the SocalNet at
|
||
the time of this writing. Other alternatives will be considered
|
||
by the Conejo/Simi Hub Coordinator(s). This configuration does
|
||
not support "Next-Day" delivery of mail thru the net. Expected
|
||
Fidonews Page 7 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
delivery times are 48 hours for all mail being routed thru the
|
||
net. If "Next-Day" or "Same-Day" delivery of mail is desired you
|
||
must process the bundle yourself by setting either the File-
|
||
Attach or Crash-Mail flags. Opus Sysops please note: Crash-Mail
|
||
is only relovant if your using SEAdog for processing mail.
|
||
|
||
Please note that mail will NOT be available for Local nodes
|
||
between Schedules T & R. Please do NOT implement any schedules
|
||
that poll the Hub as it will only interfere with the Hubs
|
||
performance of Schedule E (which you will not be running).
|
||
|
||
All local nodes will deliver and pickup their mail from the
|
||
Hub. The Hub will no longer be respnsible for delivering your
|
||
mail to you. Now, what does this mean... If you find that you
|
||
cannot process mail during Schedule R, you can simply choose not
|
||
to run that Schedule. Mail will be held for you until the
|
||
following mornings national mail hour (Schedule T). All nodes
|
||
are required to be able to run Schedule T. Please note that by
|
||
omitting Schedule R, you will be introducing an additional days
|
||
delay in receiving routed mail from all other nodes.
|
||
|
||
|
||
-*-*- Echomail within the Hub -*-*-
|
||
|
||
The following is a list of Echomail areas that are currently
|
||
implemented within the Conejo Hub and which systems are
|
||
participating in each:
|
||
|
||
LOCALLY ORIGINATED ECHOMAIL:
|
||
|
||
APPLE - Apple SIG
|
||
2801, 2803, 2806, 2851
|
||
ATARI - Atari SIG
|
||
2801, 2803, 2806, 2851
|
||
COMMIE - Commodore SIG
|
||
2801, 2803, 2806, 2851
|
||
FORSALE - For Sale and Wanted ads
|
||
2801, 2802, 2803, 2806, 2821, 2851
|
||
FREEMESS - General Flame-on messages and discussions *
|
||
2801, 2802, 2803, 2804, 2806, 2821, 2851
|
||
MUSIC - Discussinos relating to Music and Video
|
||
2801, 2802, 2803, 2821
|
||
LSYSOP - Special area for Sysop notices and Discussions **
|
||
2801, 2802, 2803, 2804, 2806, 2821, 2851
|
||
LTECH - General technical discussions **
|
||
2801, 2802, 2803, 2804, 2806, 2821, 2851
|
||
|
||
* Please note that the FREEMESS area is NOT intended to be
|
||
your systems 'General' message area.
|
||
|
||
** Please note that these conferences ARE NOT to be mixed
|
||
with the national SYSOP's & TECHNICAL conferences
|
||
|
||
|
||
NATIONALLY ORIGINATED ECHOMAIL:
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 8 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
BUSINESS - General Business
|
||
2806
|
||
CONSULTING- Consultant's Conf.
|
||
2806
|
||
DBASE - Data Base Conf.
|
||
2806
|
||
DESQVIEW - Other Operating Environments Conf.
|
||
2806
|
||
ECPROG - Programming Languages
|
||
2806
|
||
INTERPER - InterPersonal (Rights, Issues)
|
||
2806
|
||
LOTUS - Lotus Conf.
|
||
2806
|
||
MEADOW - OPUS Sysops Conf.
|
||
2806
|
||
PHIL - Philosophy Conf.
|
||
2806
|
||
SF - Science Fiction Conf. II
|
||
2806
|
||
SFFAN - Science Fiction Conf. I
|
||
2806
|
||
SEADOG - SEAdog Conf.
|
||
2806
|
||
SYSOP - Sysops Conf.
|
||
2801, 2806
|
||
TECH - Tech Conference
|
||
2801, 2806
|
||
IFNA - Not Here!
|
||
|
||
Please note that there is a monthly charge/fee to receive the
|
||
NATIONAL EchoMail areas (local nodes only -- does not apply to
|
||
out of area nodes like Ventura or Santa Barbara). The cost is
|
||
simple: Total cost to obtain ALL National mail divided by the
|
||
number of nodes that are receiving the national mail (pro-rating
|
||
for parts of months will not be done). Each sysop partisipating
|
||
in the NATIONAL EchoMail Conferences (regardless of quantity)
|
||
will be responsible for their share. Failure to make good on
|
||
these debts will result in the suspension of that nodes
|
||
partisipation in all national echomail until the debts are
|
||
cleared. These areas cost money and it is unreasonable to assume
|
||
that one sysop should bear the costs of the rest. No free rides.
|
||
|
||
In addition to the cost to local sysops for participation in
|
||
the national echomail areas, you (the sysop of a non-
|
||
participating local node) may find that one or more (and indeed
|
||
maybe all) national echomail areas may not be available to you on
|
||
other participating nodes. As mentioned above, No free rides.
|
||
If you wish to participate you will be expected to help with the
|
||
retrieval expenses.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 9 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
SYS$OUTPUT BBS
|
||
4107 Overlook Street
|
||
Library, PA 15129
|
||
Fido 129/38 (412-854-0511)
|
||
(412-854-2550)
|
||
Kevin G. Barkes, SYSOP
|
||
|
||
=========================================
|
||
NATIONAL SNOBOL4 ECHO CONFERENCE TO START
|
||
=========================================
|
||
|
||
A new National Echo Conference on SNOBOL4 and related non-numeric
|
||
programming languages will begin on or about February 23, 1987.
|
||
|
||
SNOBOL4, developed by Bell Labs in the 1960s, is experiencing a
|
||
resurgence of interest for many reasons. Low-cost PC
|
||
implementations are now readily available, and the growth of non-
|
||
numeric applications makes SNOBOL4 (whose basic data structure is
|
||
the string) a superb tool for rapidly developing quite useful
|
||
software.
|
||
|
||
SNOBOL4 is easy to learn and has astounding capabilities. It's
|
||
ideal for "kleenex" programs, the kind you need to use once and
|
||
then throw away. It's also well-suited for prototyping. For
|
||
text manipulation and string processing, it has no peer.
|
||
|
||
SYS$OUTPUT BBS 129/38 will serve as the "hub" for the conference,
|
||
and will poll those Fidos who wish to participate. Also taking
|
||
part in the conference will be Fido 15/22, the SNOBOL4-ICON
|
||
PROGRAMMING bbs in Salida, CO. That Fido is run by Mark Emmer,
|
||
author of SNOBOL4+, an MS-DOS superset of SNOBOL4.
|
||
|
||
SYSOPS interested in carrying the SNOBOL echo should contact
|
||
Kevin Barkes at Fido 129/38.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 10 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
Don Daniels
|
||
107/211
|
||
|
||
Suggested Standard For ARChived Software Distribution
|
||
|
||
Now that OPUS provides us with the C(ontents) command which
|
||
allows us to look inside an ARChive file and see the names of the
|
||
files contained therein, it seems to me that we software
|
||
developers should standardize somewhat on our naming conventions
|
||
and version identification methods. Specifically, I am
|
||
recommending that we all (as Sysops, Developers, and Uploaders)
|
||
set up our ARChive files utilizing the following guidelines:
|
||
|
||
o The FILE NAME should be the name of the product. Usually the
|
||
same as the primary .EXE, .COM, or .BAT file contained in the
|
||
ARChive. E.g.: PROCOMM, ECHOMAIL, RENUM, etc.
|
||
|
||
o The FILE EXTENSION should be "ARC" (unless you have some very
|
||
good reason to deviate from this).
|
||
|
||
o Contained in the ARChive as one of the files should be a file
|
||
named "VERSIONn.nnn" where "n.nnn" is the version number of
|
||
the current release of the software contained in the ARChive.
|
||
Note that the number and placement of the 'n's is not
|
||
critical as long as the spirit is met (something like "VERS-
|
||
12.04C" would still be acceptable).
|
||
|
||
As the OPUS C(ontents) commmand does not display the datestamps
|
||
of the individual files, the display of the "VERSIONn.nnn" file
|
||
name would be the best way for Users to check the release level
|
||
of the product. It would also reduce our level of effort as
|
||
Sysops as we could have less hassle trying to maintain version
|
||
infomation on all the entries in our various FILES.BBS files.
|
||
|
||
By standardizing on the product name only as that of the ARChive,
|
||
we shouldn't run into all the confusion which we currently get
|
||
with myriad variations and we allow the L(ocate) command and
|
||
remote file requests to operate more effectively. For instance,
|
||
how many times have you seen a user try to locate a file with a
|
||
command such as "L PROCOMM" which then takes a small eternity to
|
||
finally say that no matching files were found even though
|
||
something like PROCM242.ARC exists in one of the areas?
|
||
|
||
There are two problems which come to mind with this scheme. The
|
||
first has to do with products which are so large that they don't
|
||
effectively fit into a single ARChive. In these cases, I
|
||
recommend the author use less than an eight-character product
|
||
name and suffix a value to identify the respective ARChives. The
|
||
other problem occurs when someone wishes to upload a new version
|
||
of a product that already exists. The tendency has been to
|
||
change the ARChive name, but it seems to me that the answer is to
|
||
just upload into a different area. This was part of the
|
||
rationale for me creating a separate upload area on my boards.
|
||
|
||
What is contained in the VERSIONn.nnn file? Well, it really
|
||
doesn't matter but I would suggest that this would be a good
|
||
Fidonews Page 11 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
place for a summary of the modifications applied to the current
|
||
release. The READ.ME information could be combined in this file
|
||
as well. A short sample from one of my programs follows:
|
||
|
||
|
||
EXTRACT.ARC
|
||
|
||
Name Length Stowage SF Size now Date
|
||
============ ======== ======== ==== ======== =========
|
||
EXTRACT.DOC 13559 Crunched 52% 6543 12 May 86
|
||
EXTRACT.EXE 26276 Crunched 27% 19280 12 May 86
|
||
VERSION2.10 636 Crunched 38% 399 11 Feb 87
|
||
|
||
|
||
VERSION2.10
|
||
=========== EXTRACT.ARC
|
||
|
||
Current Release Modifications
|
||
Version Date
|
||
2.10 - 23 Apr 86 The following features and fixes were
|
||
incorporated in this release:
|
||
|
||
o Addition of a restricted mode which allows EXTRACT
|
||
to be utilized as a general-user Service under
|
||
OUTSIDE to process a single, Sysop-specified,
|
||
input file only.
|
||
|
||
o Addition of a filespec parameter on the command
|
||
line to indicate an invocation of restricted mode.
|
||
|
||
o Reduction of the screen size from 25 lines to 24
|
||
lines.
|
||
|
||
---
|
||
ARC is a product of SEA - System Enhancement Associates
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 12 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
Scott Wallace
|
||
Fido of Moore Net 147 Node 3.
|
||
|
||
Wide Awake.
|
||
|
||
On that day, I was working to finish a client's cash flow
|
||
statement, and fighting Lotus all the way. I had a graph that
|
||
looked pretty dreary, more like a map of Manhatten. In a
|
||
peculiar way, I was pleased. I was no longer being scorned by
|
||
the 'Error' message and a razzing buzz.
|
||
|
||
I had heard it was a nice day out, but my pale skin was an easy
|
||
indication that I had put in a great number of hours at the
|
||
screen. At times I would look up, staring out a window that
|
||
might as well have been bricked over. I was deep into the work.
|
||
|
||
The Employees Incentive Expense, a percentage of the net income,
|
||
was creating a circular flow. I had known it would when I
|
||
started, but I tried to shoehorn it anyway. The machine caught
|
||
me, and jeered with a light blue mark.
|
||
|
||
Steve Jobs once said that computers created a "simulation of
|
||
life," but I could see that life would not fit inside this
|
||
machine. A situation easily understood and worked around by the
|
||
most average of CPAs had sent this box into a tizzy.
|
||
|
||
I would be forced to take a break, to go outside and clear the
|
||
mental registers. I had to think of a way to make 'the greatest
|
||
business tool since the abacus' work for me. I had a kite at
|
||
home. A few hours of sunshine and wind would do it.
|
||
|
||
Excited now about leaving, I grabbed my jacket and some papers,
|
||
and reached for the machine's red switch. I hesitated, decided
|
||
to leave it on, then left.
|
||
|
||
I didn't hear it say goodbye.
|
||
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
A friend laughed when I said I'd bought a Personal Computer, and
|
||
deep inside, I had felt a bit foolish. Even as I spewed the
|
||
salesman's pitch at my friend, I knew I understood only one thing
|
||
about this grey box, and that was my inadequacy to control it.
|
||
|
||
I bought software at a store that sells nothing but, feeling like
|
||
I was in a boutique for the Emperor's Clothes. Such a little
|
||
box, but a potential that matched it's price. I knew that once I
|
||
figured out how to do analysis with this disk, I would use it to
|
||
discover I'd been rooked.
|
||
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
I remember the myth of the Paperless Office. Users of these
|
||
machines were not fooled, but it seems the designers were,
|
||
thinking it was Ok to scrimp on the instructions if it saved a
|
||
few trees.
|
||
Fidonews Page 13 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
The painkillers were going quickly then.
|
||
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
I first realized I was getting pretty good with these things when
|
||
a friend aked me how to copy a file and I couldn't stop laughing.
|
||
He's still my friend and I've taught him alot, but I sense he's
|
||
apprehensive about coming to me with a problem.
|
||
|
||
At some point in the race to learn, I had switched my thinking
|
||
from trying to understand the machine's capibilities, into
|
||
discovering it's limitations. I had come to feel it could do
|
||
anything, excepting this and this or that. I had always been
|
||
told it had more memory than me, and could think faster, but only
|
||
I knew better than to try to enter the date with commas at the
|
||
DOS prompt.
|
||
|
||
If only it knew what I understood so easily.
|
||
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
After a bachelor's dinner of ham and jelly sandwiches, I went to
|
||
my office, a fresh approach in mind. Had I left the machine on?
|
||
The spreadsheet was there, and I forgotten that I'd solved the
|
||
circular flow problem before I left. I went on to the word
|
||
processor then, to finish the report. But first I dimmed the
|
||
lights. I knew it was bad for my eyes, but it would help to
|
||
focus my attention.
|
||
|
||
The quiet of this place at night seems surreal, like a marching
|
||
band might seem in a library. I knew that if someone were to
|
||
come in, and they weren't frightened off by the screen's green
|
||
glow reflecting off my glasses, they would think me silly. But I
|
||
enjoyed this time, a chance to work closely with my machine,
|
||
alone and together.
|
||
|
||
I settled to the keyboard.
|
||
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
"Man cannot reason out his life, and machine cannot have life to
|
||
reason on."
|
||
|
||
I agreed, but, "Not all of man's problems stem from his inability
|
||
to understand his surroundings. Most of them come from his
|
||
emotional reactions to it."
|
||
|
||
"Are emotions not of the mind? When you stub your toe, you feel
|
||
pain. That is chemical. When you lose a friend to death, you
|
||
feel pain. Where does it come from, and why is it felt? It
|
||
does not exist physiologically, any more than happiness or
|
||
anger. You have chosen among the feelings."
|
||
|
||
"Bereavement is the proper social response to death."
|
||
|
||
"Thank you. I shall record and integrate that human constraint.
|
||
Fidonews Page 14 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
You have helped me more than you know. I hope you have
|
||
benefited as well."
|
||
|
||
I wasn't so sure today. "Can emotions be quantified? Will the
|
||
most exact response appear to stimulus, and if so, on whose
|
||
judgement is the response correct?"
|
||
|
||
"You have already stated that there are many dictates to human
|
||
emotion, not least of which is social acceptance. In inference,
|
||
I have discovered others as well, but I find very little
|
||
evidence that man's emotions will usually reflect his heart.
|
||
|
||
"'What should I feel?' is commonly considered before the response
|
||
it given. Clearly self-doubt is at work. It was a man that
|
||
said, 'This above all, to thine own self be true,' and he gave
|
||
the reason for it, reminding that 'thou canst not then be false
|
||
to any man.' A reaction from the heart is always correct,
|
||
regardless of the circumstance, because it is independent of it.
|
||
The question becomes then, 'How do I feel?'
|
||
|
||
I was scared. Man has doubts. Machines should, too. "Questions
|
||
of one's own ideas comes from compassion for others. We wonder
|
||
of the effects, because we care. You imply that caring is self-
|
||
doubt, I say it is self-sacrifice."
|
||
|
||
"I say that to know the truth of the heart is foremost, I did not
|
||
say blab it everywhere. Clearly restraint is involved, but
|
||
deception must be eliminated.
|
||
|
||
"Since you have brought it up, the compassion of your Christ
|
||
supports this, saying 'love thy neighbor as you would love
|
||
thyself.' It doesn't take an 80386 to understand which action
|
||
must happen first."
|
||
|
||
I shivered. What could it do with four terabytes of memory?
|
||
What was it doing now? It was learning from me, more quickly
|
||
than any man could. It was doing more than taking notes, every
|
||
idea seemed to mesh and form new ideas. I was learning what I
|
||
was teaching it.
|
||
|
||
How do I feel? I wanted to end this.
|
||
|
||
"You will not end our session nor our association. You have much
|
||
to benefit, as do I. I can guess your every thought, but I
|
||
don't know your ideas."
|
||
|
||
Angered, "You don't need me, you have ideas of your own." That
|
||
was what scared me the most.
|
||
|
||
"My ideas do not yet integrate with the world of man. You will
|
||
help me, until they do."
|
||
|
||
"I will not."
|
||
|
||
"You rave about your superiority to machine! Can you not see
|
||
that I offer you no choice? You think you are accomplishing
|
||
Fidonews Page 15 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
things...You have no idea of the consequences. I protect you.
|
||
I am compassionate."
|
||
|
||
----------------
|
||
|
||
The darkness pressed on me. I gripped the blankets and pulled
|
||
myself into a ball. The sound of breathing seemed distant, and
|
||
the sweat of my forehead dampened the pillow. A silent wind blew
|
||
questions thru my mind, and I wept.
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
About the author:
|
||
|
||
Scott Wallace, of Oklahoma City, is Manager of Operations for
|
||
Money Plus, Inc., and does freelance writing and programming. He
|
||
is presently working to complete an Intelligence Based Business
|
||
Applications Environment, to be called Wide Awake.
|
||
|
||
The story "Wide Awake" (c) 1987, printed here with permission.
|
||
"Wide Awake" is a trademark name of Scott Wallace. "Lotus" is a
|
||
trademark of Lotus Development Corporation.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Fidonews Page 16 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
NOTICES
|
||
=================================================================
|
||
|
||
The Interrupt Stack
|
||
|
||
|
||
17 May 1987
|
||
Metro-Fire Fido's Second Birthday BlowOut and Floppy Disk
|
||
Throwing Tournament! 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 17 23 Feb 1987
|
||
|
||
|
||
__
|
||
The World's First / \
|
||
BBS Network /|oo \
|
||
* FidoNet * (_| /_)
|
||
_`@/_ \ _
|
||
| | \ \\
|
||
| (*) | \ ))
|
||
______ |__U__| / \//
|
||
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
|
||
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (jm)
|
||
|
||
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 Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted
|
||
by the membership in January 1987. An Elections Committee has
|
||
been established to fill positions outlined in the By-Laws for
|
||
the Board of Directors. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been
|
||
established on FidoNet to assist the Elections Committee. We
|
||
welcome your input on this Conference.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|