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fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:10:58 Page 1
Volume 2, Number 5 1 March 85
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| _ |
| / \ |
| - FidoNews - /|oo \ |
| (_| /_) |
| Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ |
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
| ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
| (jm) |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
Editor: Tom Jennings
Publisher: Fido #1
Chief Procrastinator: Tom Jennings
.........................................
Disclaimer or dont-blame-me:
The contents of the articles contained here are not
my responsibility, nor do I necessarily agree with them;
everything here is subject to debate. I publish EVERYTHING
received.
You can take this to mean anything you want, but
hopefully as an invitation to comment, make suggestions, or
write articles of your own.
.........................................
HOT NEWS
I'm late again ...
Since I'm on the subject, anyone want to take over
this job? I have way too much to do to keep up the
newsletter, obviously I'm always late.
The requirements are: write this damn editorial
every week, take in all article submissions, and massage
them as necessary, assemble the newsletter and distribute to
a number of Fidos so that the world can get at it.
I'll supply the software I use to assemble it. This
includes a text formatter, and a program that can convert
fixed ASCII text into word wrapped format. You will need
WordStar or preferably PMATE or Vedit.
If you want to volunteer, please let me know,
preferably a week before the 1st or 15th of the month, so
you'll have time to figure it all out. (Its not that hard.)
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:05 Page 2
Pretty boring editorial, but such is life ...
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:05 Page 3
NEWS
ARTICLE SUBMISSION
All articles you see in this issue are written by
users and sysops, and have one way or another managed to
consume disk space on Fido #1. In order to get rid of them,
and free up my precious disk space, I include them here,
then quickly delete them. Then they are YOUR problem.
EDITORIAL CONTENT:
Totally up to you; I publish anything at all.
Article are generally Fido or BBS related; this is by no
means a decision on my part, nor a requirement.
FOR SALE, WANTED, NOTICES:
Pretty much self explanatory. Commercial ads are
welcomed, if of reasonable length. These will be run each
issue, or until I lose them. (Dont laugh, Ive already lost a
few.)
SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE:
Manage to get a copy of your article to Fido #1,
preferably by Fidonet mail, or by uploading. If manual
upload, please put it in the MAILFILE area, so that I can
find them all at once.
ARTICLE FORMAT: VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!
The requirements are a little tighter in this
department, due to purely practical constraints. I cannot
devote hours to converting every text format in the world to
the one I use.
1. NO LEFT MARGINS! Flush left please. These are
extremely difficult to remove.
2. RIGHT MARGIN AT COLUMN 60 OR LESS! Less is OK,
more is definitely not. This includes fancy
boxes, dotted lines, etc.
3. KEEP FUNNY CONTROL CHARACTERS TO A MINIMUM!
This includes formfeeds and other oddities.
These areent as dificult to handle, but on long
files still takes a while.
4. WORDSTAR IS FINE IF THERE ARE NO LEFT MARGINS!
5. PLAIN ASCII (EDLIN, ED, etc) IS FINE IF LINE LENGTH
IS UNDER 60 COLUMNS!
6. NO GRAPHIC CHARACTERS! Believe it or not, not every
one in the world has an IBM PC. My computer
understands printable characters from 20 hex to
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:11 Page 4
7e hex. (Space to tilde) This is ASCII; "American
Standard Code for Information Interchange". We are
"Interchanging Information". Everything else is
GARBAGE. ASCII is universal; Graphics are not.
7. TOTAL ARTICLE LENGTH: Up to you; note, however, that
I will probably avoid publishing dictionaries,
bibles translated into NAPLPS, and ASCII encoded
LANDSAT pictures of Russian wheat farms.
8. WHERE ON EARTH IS THIS ARTICLE FROM? Well ... good
question! A good idea to identify yourself
somewhere, unless you wish to remain anonymous.
Thats OK too, but I may balk at publishing rude
or otherwise racy submissions.
9. AN EXAMPLE:
Article from Tom Jennings
Fido #1 4 Feb 85
Here is what an article could look like for
submission. Very simple: plain old dumb ASCII, WordStar,
PMATE, Vedit, or whatever. WordStar Document mode is fine.
Note no left column; that is done when FidoNews is
published. Note the total width is only 60 columns; it looks
narrow on your screen, but fine when formatted later.
END irrational tirade on text files ... on to bigger
and better things!
==============================================
FROM FIDO 357 SPRING VALLEY, NEW YORK
==============================================
FIDO 357 is proud to announce the availability
to any fido caller of having professional
type setting done simply by calling in.
In conjunction with Bear Works graphics we now
offer over 150 different type styles and will
provide you with low cost, high quality type-
setting.
Our callers have to first download a file of
codes used to tell us the various type styles,
sizes, and type qualities you desire. You then
include these in your Ascii file that you upload
or FIDO mail to us.
With-in 24 hours your camera ready copy is on its
way back to you via US mail, or any other carrier
you desire to use.
Our prices are very competitive and we offer quality
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:17 Page 5
work at very reasonable prices.
======================================================
From FIDO 357 Spring Valley, New York
======================================================
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ +
+ Setting Up a Fido BBS on a Sanyo Computer +
+ (C)opyright 1985 by Richard Levey +
+ SYSOP FIDO 357 (914)352-6801 (6 pm to 9 am EST) +
+ +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Having already set up over 9 FIDO systems on the Sanyo 555
series computers, it seemed natural I should write an
article on the trials and tribulations of doing so. (Also
Tom Jennings requested I write this!).
A little backround if I may. We are Sanyo dealers and as
such have more than just a users knowledge of the machine,
and it's inner workings.
There are two ways to get FIDO up and running on the Sanyo
computer. I present them here for your choice.
1) Call a FIDO that keeps the raw files needed to start up a
FIDO on the SANYO, download them, plus the manual, and then
read the manual and attempt to get the system up and
running. (sounds familiar doesn't it ?)
2) Call our FIDO at 914-352-6801 from 6 pm to 9 am (EST) and
download 4 library files. Run Lu.exe against them. Then run
a simple .bat file and Viola' you have it made. I know, you
are saying there is no difference ! The difference is I have
taken the time and the trouble to set up an actual FIDO with
nodelist, routelist, and mini-user list, as well as 3 areas
pre-set and ready to go!!! When you download our files you
can be up and running in less than a half hour, as all the
hard work has been done. We include a seperate manual that
describes in detail all the important commands and what they
do in regards to getting up fast and running. (I wish I
could have downloaded this type of file setup !)
In an attempt to help those who have chosen the first option
let's discuss some of the problems that crop up when
attempting to run from a fresh start.
The first is getting FIDO set up with all the sub-
directories needed on the proper disks. If you don't use
sub-directories, then you may hbe asking for problems. To
make a sub-directory called TEST, from the disk prompt you
will type: MKDIR TEST The disk will spin and if you pull a
DIR you will see an entry similar to TEST <DIR>
This means there is now a SEPERATE area on the disk that can
hold files and is called TEST. To get to it, again from the
disk prompt type CHDIR \TEST the \ is very important. If
you don't type it, you won't change directories. Now type
again DIR and see what a sub-directory looks like. Except
for the first 2 funny entries, it looks the same as any
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:27 Page 6
other directory. The first 2 entries are required by the DOS
and need not concern you at this point.
Basically what you want to do is create multiple directories
on your disks to seperate the files being stored and also
for protection, ESPECIALLY IF YOU HAVE A HARD DISK DRIVE. If
you are using a hard drive I SUGGEST YOU DO NOT KEEP A COPY
OF FORMAT OR FDISK ON THE HARD DRIVE...ANYWHERE !!!!!!!!
To try and simplify what we are trying to set up please
examine the little diagram below.(excuse the art work
please).
DISK DIRECTORY MAP - VALID FOR FLOPPY OR HARD DISK SYSTEMS
EACH DIRECTORY LEVEL IS SEPERATED BY DASHES (-----).
ROOT DIRECTORY CONTAINS COMMAND.COM AND SYSTEM FILES
-----------------------------------------------------------
FIDO DIRECTORY CONTAINS ALL SYSTEM FILES NEEDED BY FIDO
-----------------------------------------------------------
: : :
: : :
MAIL DIRECTORY ANSWERS DIRECTORY GENERAL
will hold all files will hold all files holds all files
dealing with FIDO dealing with SYSOP in general area
mail and msg's. questions/answers
In the above map the last 3 directories are all SUB-
DIRECTORIES of the FIDO directory. This keeps all files
pertaining to FIDO in one area, and makes accessing them
much faster. The ROOT directory is the area that appears
when you first power up your machine and is the default area
that the computer uses. PLEASE READ THIS NEXT PART VERY
CAREFULLY IF YOU ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH SUB-DIRECTORIES !!
1) FIRST---in emergency typing CD\ will return you to the
root directory..so if you get lost that's the way to get
back to the area you are most familiar with.
2) To create the FIDO directory from the prompt type
MKDIR FIDO and then CD\FIDO to enter the FIDO area.
Remember at first a sub-directory is empty so don't worry.
3) Now type MKDIR MAIL MKDIR ANSWERS MKDIR GENERAL
DO NOT TYPE A CD BETWWEN EACH OF THE ABOVE COMMANDS !!
4) NOW TO GET BACK TO THE ROOT DIRECTORY TYPE CD\ AND
RETURN.
THE IDEA HERE IS TO SET UP A LOGICAL FILE PATH AND TREE
STRUCTURE FOR FIDO TO FOLLOW WHEN ACCESSING FILES.
YOU NEVER, NEVER, NEVER WANT TO SET UP FIDO WITH ALL THE
FILES IN ONE DIRECTORY !! THE ABOVE TYPE STRUCTURE IS THE
SAFEST ONE AVAILABLE TO A SYSOP. IF YOU HAVE SETUP YOUR
AUTOEXEC FILE AND YOUR BAT FILE TO RUN FIDO PROPERLY (SEE
BELOW) AND USE THE ABOVE FILE STRUCTURE I FEEL SAFE IN
SAYING THAT YOUR IMPORTANT SYSTEM FILES SUCH AS THE USER
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:35 Page 7
FILE AND THE UTILITY PROGRAMS WILL NEVER BE SEEN, CHANGED OR
VIOLATED BY A CALLER. The best way to set up your batch
files would be on the order of something like below.
My auto exec file reads as follows:
PWRUPCLK-starts up quadbaord clock for time and date
CD\FIDO - changes over to FIDO directory
STARTBBS.BAT - FIDO BATCH FILE TO START FIDO
CD\AUTOEXEC.BAT -VERY IMPORTANT IF SYSTEM DROPS TO DOS
RETURNS TO ROOT FOR AUTO-RESTART.
My STARTBBS.BAT file follows like above:
FIDO_SYO 1/J 128/V ..............
STARTBBS.BAT - if system drops attempts to restart from
STARTBBS.BAT FILE.
I have had plenty of wise guys try and break the system, but
to now avail, it just keeps re-starting when it should. I
also have 3 other commands...but we must keep some
secrets...
The second most common problem is with modem selection and
carrier detection. We have now set FIDO up with the
following modems to run on a SANYO 555.
A)Hayes 300 external modem
B)Hayes 300/1200 external modem
C)Anchor Mark 12 external modem
On modems A & B...you MUST have switch ONE DOWN !!!!!!!!
Contrary to what everyone else says, this is the only way to
make it answer the phone and handle carrier detect properly
when running on a SANYO 555 series computer. We have two
patches available that handle the DTR problem, and they work
with DS DOS and MS DOS 2.11, so we wont even touch the DTR
area in the article. Let it suffice to say it works. You can
call 203-775-4898 to see it running on a Sanyo 555 computer.
We are not sure of who wrote the patches, but we know from
experience they work very well when run before FIDO_SYO.EXE
Another problem with the SANYO is the clock. Every time the
disk drives are accessed the clock looses a small amount of
time. As we know, time is a needed function to run FIDO-net.
There are two answers to this problem:
1)Set your schedule for a longer period of time.
2)Purchase an internal clock board similar to those used on
IBM PC's and compatibles. Either way, you will soon get an
idea of how to keep FIDO running on time.
The last problem we will tackle in this article is disk
space and the conservation of it.
With 2 readily available programs (download free) you can
solve a multitude of problems, regarding disk space. Any
files you might want to make available for downloading
should be either squeezed, or libraried, or BOTH. You can
take 10 seperate files, and put them into one file thus
saving you 9 directory entries (hard disk owners attention)
By squeezing them after being put into a library file you
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:43 Page 8
can save anywhere from 10% to 50% of the original file space
they occupied.
LU.EXE is the program to use when making and un-making (?)
library files. A library file can be recognized by the
extension on the file name. You end a library file with the
extension .LBR thus signifying a library file. LU.EXE will
give you instructions on using it. Just type LU by itself
and you will get a list of the coomands and the command
format you will want to use to make a library file.
NSQ203.COM is the program you would use to then squeeze the
files. This program uses a standard formula and can be un-
squeezed by several programs. I keep NUSQ104.COM and
UNSQ.COM on my hard disk to accomplish this. Use NUSQ104
first, as it handles 99.5% of squeezed files.
I hope this article has helped you to start to understand
more about FIDO and starting a FIDO BBS system of your own.
I would be most interested in feedback regarding this
article, and all comments are welcome. Please address them
to SYSOP FIDO 357.
If enough people wish me to continue, I would be happy to
continue this article, as there is much more to be said
about FIDO and SANYO computers.
If you need help, or just want to chat..please feel free to
call me voice at the number in the article from 9 am to 4 pm
and I will be happy to help you out.
========================================================
From Sysop Fido 357 Spring Valley, New York
To all Fido Sysops interested in making extra money
========================================================
We are embarking on a NEW venture using the FIDO BBS system
and the US mail service to provide customers with a service
that while currently available is MUCH more expensive than
it need be! If you are interested in making extra money
then read on and see if this idea makes sense to you.
We have many customers who have a need for 2 day mail
service to the West coast, but do not want to pay the
ridiculous charges other companies feel is needed. We are
looking for Fido Sysops to participate in a new venture
that should make us all some money.
The idea is simple. Any letters I receive by 6 pm (EST)
will be sent to FIDO systems in the appropriate zip code.
This should mean that you will receive INCOMING FIDO mail
some time around 3 pm your time from my system. Once the
transfer has been completed, all YOU have to do is load the
file into Word Star (or similar) strip off the message
header, and print out the letter on good paper. Then you
drop the letter in an envelope WE SUPPLY with POSTAGE,and
drop it in a local mailbox BEFORE 5 p.m.
What do you make out of this ?We will initially pay each
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:52 Page 9
SYSOP who participates a fee of $2.50 cents to do the above
FOR EACH AND EVERY LETTER HE MAILS BEFORE 5 PM. We are
supplying the postage and the envelopes for you to use. All
you have to supply is the time needed and printer paper.
YOU DO NOT AT ANY TIME HAVE TO PLACE ANY LONG DISTANCE
PHONE CALLS TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS PLAN. ALL YOU WILL HAVE
TO DO IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IS FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS
BELOW.
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:11:53 Page 10
If you are interestedin this idea please do the following:
1)Send us a Fido mail letter with the following:
a) Your name and Fido number.
b) A list of zip codes in your area that will receive 1st
and second day delivery if mailed by 5 pm (your time).
c) A little note telling us your baud rate, and anything
special you might want to add.
When (if) we get enough participation, we will notify you
and arrange to send the envelopes and postage. Payment for
letters mailed will be made once a week by bank check to
you.
Please let us know if you are interested in this idea.
========================================================
SYSOP FIDO 357
========================================================
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
* *
* : The : *
* ::: Adventures ::: *
* : : : of : : : *
* : WANGMASTER : *
* : : *
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
* Cast of Characters *
*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*
The Wang Master......Verile but suave seducer of multitudes of
women; able to juggle seven girlfriends at a single
time; account holder with W.Simmons for new box springs
each month; knows 17 distinct recipes for quiche.
Buster Hyman.........Mystic Tasmanian Guru of all matters sexual;
specialist in horn dog psychology; once performed solo
in an orgy with 139 Tasmanian nymphs, two llamas, and
a tube of crazy glue; sexual mentor to the Wangmaster.
Mason Dixon..........Semi-astute observer of political and social
trends; coined the phrase: "Blood is thicker than water,
but thinner than the coffee at truck stops."; friend
and confidant of the Wangmaster.
Luke Warm............College freshman at Jessee Helmes University;
majoring in Reactionary Studies; recently arrested for
deflating every tire in Walter Mondale's motorcade;
a recent aquaintance of Wang's, although he doesn't
remember why.
Sue Pository......Only female ever to remain a main squeeze of
the Wangmaster for more than three weeks; recent
college graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Seduction;
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:00 Page 11
eventually plans to marry rich, but in the meantime is
seeking eight inches.
Terry Cloth.......Aquaintance of Sue; the only sophomore at the
Sara Lee School for Girls who hasn't yet; desperate to
get defrocked by the Wangmaster, who she met at a
jacuzzi party, but He doesn't know she exists.
The Roid..........Nickname of young aquaintance of the Wangmaster;
so called because when growing up was a frequent pain
in the butt; been so called for so long that no one
remembers his real name - including him; secretly admires
the Wangmaster and longs to learn the secret of his
virulency.
========================================================
: :
: FROM SYSOP ON FIDO 357 TO ALL SANYO FIDO SYSOPS :
: :
========================================================
The purpose of this article is to discuss the merits of
setting up all the FIDOS running on Sanyo in a SEPARATE
time slot for FIDO MAIL.
As most of you know (and those who don't know) FIDO will
by-pass the ROUTELIST.BBS whenever a file is attached !
While this is good for most instances, it does cause a loss
of time during the NATIONAL MAIL SLOT when a lot of FIDOS
are sending files, as they DO NOT go to a host, but DIRECT
to the FIDO you are sending them to !
It would seem that it might be more efficient to set up a
separate time slot for Sanyo Fidos to transfer files. This
would free up the individual nodes to be free during
national mail time, yet allow file transfers also. If you
are receiving A DECENT SIZED FILE DURING NATIONAL MAIL YOU
MIGHT MISS SOME INCOMING MAIL (unless you have an inbound).
As more and more Sanyos come on line with FIDO and more and
more specialized software becomes available for the sanyo
it might end up making sense to follow through with a
separate national time slot for sanyo file transfers.
All comments, etc; should be addressed to:
Sysop
Fido 357
===========================================================
:end of sanyonet.art from fido 357 2-22-1985 :
===========================================================
- SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NETWORK - (Effective 2 FEB 85)
The Southern California Network (SOCALNET), is
comprised of five separate Regional Hubs, covering the major
geographical areas.
* LOS ANGELES * ORANGE * SAN BERNARDINO * SAN DIEGO *
VENTURA
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:08 Page 12
The Southern California Network protocol and
network routing schedule will be implemented by Fido 313,
Mike Hamilton. Prior to the operation of the network, Mike
will distribute to ALL Regional Hubs the correct routing for
the individual nodes. The individual nodes will then insert
the pertinent data into the NODELIST.DAT with their Local
Area Prefixes, and process with NODELIST.EXE and ROUTGEN.EXE
to create their own ROUTE.xxx. We are doing this to insure
uniformity between nodes.
FidoNews distribution, both Inbound from Fido 1
and Outbound to the Regional Hubs, will be handled by Fido
331, Brian Casey.
Weekly updates for the FIDOLIST and NODELIST will
be provided by Fido 36, and distributed to the Regional Hubs
every Saturday during the Network shedule. It will be the
responsibility of the individual Local nodes to download the
latest FidoNews, FIDOLIST, NODELIST from their Regional
Hubs.
- REGIONAL HUB LISTINGS -
* VENTURA HUB
Host ..... Fido 52 ..... Gary Vedvik Locals ...
none at this time
* SAN BERNARDINO HUB
Host ..... Fido 31 ..... John Warren Locals ...
none at this time
* LOS ANGELES HUB
Host ..... Fido 36 ..... Don Brauns.........
INBOUND NATIONAL HOST for SOCAL network Locals ... Fido 32
California,
Arizona, and Nevada.
* ORANGE HUB
Host ..... Fido 313 .... Mike Hamilton......
NETWORK COORDINATOR for SOCAL network Locals ... Fido 11
Harry Lee Fido 337 .... Michael David Fido 370 .... Mike
Hamilton..... OUTBOUND NATIONAL HOST for SOCAL network SAN
DIEGO HUB
Host ..... Fido 87 ..... Bruce Webster Locals ...
Fido 350 .... Rick Eliopoulos
- NETWORK SCHEDULE -
-time- -sched- -function-
-------------- --------- 00:00 to 00:29 E
LOCALS TO THEIR HUBS National mail and local mail to locals
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:15 Page 13
in other Hubs, to their Hub.
00:30 to 00:59 D HUBS TO OUTBOUND HOST National
mail from locals, thru the Hub to the Outbound Host. Hub to
Hub local mail.
01:00 to 01:59 A NATIONAL NETWORK MAIL Locals
to Locals within their Hub.
02:00 to 02:29 B INCOMING HOST TO HUBS
Distribution of National mail to the Regional Hubs.
02:30 to 02:59 C HUBS TO THEIR LOCALS
Distribution of National mail and Local mail via Hubs to
Locals.
[ The views stated here are not necessarily those of the
editorial staff ... tj ]
The following is the text of a letter sent to the
Austin American-Statesman (Austin, TX) in response
to an editorial concerning military retirement. The
editorial stated that "military life is not very
demanding (execpt in wartime)" ; that "facts are
facts" and advocated unspecificed cuts in the
military retirement system. Since the Statesman
choose not to run it, I offer it to my fellow fido
users for your comments:
* * * * * *
Your editorial on military "pension" reform
does a disservice to your readers by implying that
military retirement pay can be cut without cost to
the taxpayer. Any cut in military retirement is
likely to be offset by increased costs in retention,
or in social unrest caused by return to the draft.
All surveys show that the present retirement pay
system is the single most important incentive to
induce military personel to remain on active duty,
and new entrants to the military cite the current
retirement system in the top five reasons for
joining in the first place.
The law of supply and demand says that if the
market lowers the price of a commodity, the supply
of that commodity will fall. Reductions in
retire1ent pay will reduce the number of people
willing to join or to stay past their first
enlistment. Currently only 13 per cent of new
entrants into the military remain to retire. A cut
in retirement will force increased compensation in
other ways or the nation will be forced to return to
the draft.
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:22 Page 14
Your assertion that the the present system has
"grown like Jack's beanstalk" is completely
incorrect. In recent years Congress has imposed
employment limitations on retirees which reduce the
value of their retirement. A change in the formula
for computing retirement for post-Viet Nam era
members reduces the value of retirement to future
retirees significantly.
Military retirement should be more generous
than "the better private-sector plans" because
military life is much more demanding (even in
peacetime) than private sector employment. Despite
your assertion to the contrary, military life
imposes many hardships and demands not found in any
other segment of our society. Your own newspaper
recently carried a series on the hardships faced by
junior enlisted persons stationed in high cost areas
such as Austin. Your readers should realize that,
like all military members, these junior enlisted had
no alternative but to accept assignment here.
Failure to report is a serious crime, as discussed
in "Dear Abby's" columm in the same issue of the
Statesman as your editorial on retirement.
Military members incure many high costs not
borne by civilians. They must endure transfers at
an average of about once every three years. (I am a
military member being transfered twice in 1985).
Well documented studies have shown the member bears
an out-of-pocket cost of around $1500 for each
permanent change of station transfer. Military
spouses must, in most cases, sacrifice career
advancement due to these frequent moves. Many
military members work in skills not in demand in the
private sector, such as combat rifleman. Thus they
often receive an economic setback when returning to
civilian life. Frequent family seperations result
in high finanical and emotional costs to military
members. In the Air Force, two year-long "remote
tours" are the norm in a 20 year period.
Military members must accept strict limitations
on their conduct, both on and off duty, not required
in civilain life. For example, military members can
be convicted of a felony crime if a no-notice
urinalysis shows traces of illegal drugs. No
civilian employer could impose such a requirement.
Military members cannot quit their jobs with less
than six months notice, and most have "service
commitments" of up to seven years duration. Thus
while a civilian can quit rather than accept
transfer to an undesirable or expensive location,
most military members do not have that luxury.
The 5.7 percent of the defense budget spent on
retirement helps buy a high quality all volunteer
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:30 Page 15
force. "Facts are facts", and any discussion of
military compensation should include a full
examination of the costs to the taxpayer involved in
any misguided attempts at "reform".
Sincerely,
James N. Howard Jr, Captain, USAF
FIDO #50 (username JIM HOWARD)
-----------------------------
By Thom Henderson
Sysop, Fido 375
System Enhancement Associates
FREEWARE
A Morally Bankrupt Concept
Eh? Wazzat mean? Well, let's think about it for a minute.
First let's define our terms. Freeware, as I am using it in
this context, means software which the author is providing
to the public in anticipation of support through voluntary
user contributions. The concept has a great deal to
recommend it. On the one hand, the independant author can
easily market his wares without having to tool up a whole
sales and service organization. The user, on the other
hand, gets to thoroughly test out a product before
purchasing it in order to make sure that it performs as
claimed and that it will fill his needs. The intended end
result is that the micro user has available a large quantity
of low cost, quality software. Low cost because the author
has no marketing expenses, and high quality because the
simplicity of the system encourages all programmers
(including the best) to make their best work available.
But how is this elegant scheme working out in practice? Not
too well, I suspect. The archetype of freeware (in more
ways than one) is the famous PC-TALK program. I personally
do not know anyone with a PC that does not have a copy of
PC-TALK. In fact, many of our clients have us ship them
updates over phone lines, where they are using PC-TALK to
handle their end. But so far as I have been able to
determine, NOT ONE of these people has ever paid the thirty
five bucks!
In fact, it gets worse than this. Attracted by the ease and
simplicity of the freeware concept, we released a few
utilities as freeware, with a modest five doller fee. Not
long ago I got a call from a man who wanted to know if I
could make a small enhancement to one of the programs to
address a minor difference in his hardware. When I asked if
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:37 Page 16
he had sent us the license fee, he hung up. Truth to tell,
I knew that he hadn't, because NOBODY ever sent us the five
bucks!
Are you using any freeware? Almost certainly. Did you pay
for it? Almost certainly not. It's too easy to put off.
It's too easy to curse at the program and swear that you're
only using it as a stopgap until you find something better.
But consider this: If it's been a few weeks, and you're
still using it, then pretty obviously it is worth something
to you.
-----------------------------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Jon Tara on FIDO #92
Subject: Big hard disks on the AT
Here's some information for those of you contemplating
putting a big hard disk on the AT controller:
The AT BIOS has a table of characteristics for 14
different hard drive types. (There is a 15'th entry, but
it's set to all zeros. Type "0" means "no hard disk
installed.)
At power up, the BIOS reads byte 12 of the CMOS RAM
(settable with the diagnostic disk) to determine which kind
of drive to use. Bits 4-7 determine the type for the first
hard disk (C:), bits 0-3 determine the type for the second
hard disk (D:).
Here are the pre-defined drive types:
Type Cyl Heads Pre-Comp Land Mbyte
1 306 4 128 305 10.65
2 615 4 300 615 21.41
3 615 6 300 615 32.13
4 940 8 512 940 65.45
5 940 6 512 940 49.09
6 615 4 none 615 21.41
7 462 8 256 511 32.16
8 733 5 none 733 31.90
9 900 15 none 901 117.50
10 820 3 none 820 21.41
11 855 5 none 855 37.20
12 855 7 none 855 52.09
13 306 8 128 319 21.30
14 733 7 none 319 44.66
If you want to use a drive that isn't in the table,
there's still a way out: the interrupt 41 and 44 vectors are
set on power-up to point to the ROM table. These can be
modified to point to your own table in RAM. (41 is for C:,
44 is for D:). These vectors are used by the BIOS to access
the table. You would, of course, have to boot up off of a
floppy disk to do this.
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:44 Page 17
By the way, drive type 9 corresponds to the Maxtor 1140
minus a few cylinders (the Maxtor has 918). S-100 Inc. is
selling the 1140 for $3995.
Note that you still have a limitation of 32MB built
into DOS (at least in DOS 3.0). Some people are getting
around this through a scheme that allows more than one DOS
partition, and maps the additional partitions to D: etc. I
do not know of a specific software product to do this,
though. Maxtor is investigating driver software.
Several theories have been offered as to why the 32MB
limit. In DOS 2.0 it was supposed to be the 12-bit FAT
entries, but that doesn't wash, since you could increase the
cluster size (albiet to an unreasonable value.) It's been
suggested that it's "in the driver software." I'm not sure
what's meant by "the driver software" - it's certainly not
the BIOS, which gets head #, cylinder #, and sector #
(1-17). 32MB is 65535 sectors, so it could simply be some
shorted-sighted code inside of DOS that puts an absolute
sector number in a 16-bit word. The only place I can
imagine that happening is in the process of getting from
cluster # to head, cyl, sector. Must be some incredibly dumb
code that left-shifts the cluster number in 16 bits to get a
sector #, then divides for head, cyl, sec. That's my theory
anyway. Then again, it could just be FDISK and FORMAT
protecting us from ourselves...
Anyway, it appears to be internal to DOS, and therefore
fixable. (By Microsoft or IBM anyway...) I am trying to get
a 3.1 to see if that fixes it. (GM is getting caseloads of
3.1, but the vendor that supplies them doesn't know it...)
If they DON'T do something about this in 3.1, it's going to
mean lots of trouble once they start selling network
hardware. Ditto for the rumored 40MB AT. In all fairness,
there is a practical limit - my PC takes a LONG time to come
up with the "free space" message at the end of DIR. Also, a
FAT table for a 100MB disk would be about 100K bytes...
(P.S. The DOS 3.1's shipped to GM were recalled.
Nobody had the presence of mind to copy the disks.)
--------------------------------------------------------------------
==============================================
FIDO BBS and the Sanyo 550 Series Computer
Second in a series of articles for FidoNews
(C)opyright 1985 by Richard Levey FIDO 357
==============================================
The first part of this article deals with an internal
problem that the Sanyo computer series has. You may or may
not have noticed that your clock (TIME$) does not even
attempt to stay current. To quote a Sanyo technical
rep,"If the world ran on Sanyo clocks, Christmas would
come in July".
This problem occurs because EVERY TIME a disk drive is
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:12:53 Page 18
accessed the clock is SHUT OFF and cannot update itself
during each access, so the more callers you have the
slower the clock will run!
There are 3 alternatives to this problem. While number 1
is a little far fetched, I will mention it anyway.
1) If enough FIDOs start running on Sanyo, maybe T.J. will
be able to patch the BIOS to handle the clock properly.
2) The simple solution is to purchase an internal clock
card similar to what the PC's and compatibles have. This
board is battery powered, and the battery is recharged
when the computer is running. For the most part all these
boards use quartz clocks, so maintaining 3 or 4 seconds a
month should be no problem. A program is provided that you
enter into your AUTOEXEC.BAT file that will on startup
poll the clock card and install the proper entries into
the TIME & DATE prompts you normally would see, thus
allowing you to forget about entering these items in the
future. If you need/want more information on these boards
give my FIDO a call and check out the text download area.
3) Another solution has been presented to me. I do not
agree with it, but again, I will present it. A sysop has
managed to add a trimmer capacitor (pot) to the clock
power line, thus allowing him to change the speed of the
clock. As outlined above though, you never really know how
many calls you might get from one day to the next, so how
do you know where to set the trimmer at?
Also, that addition VOIDS your warranty for sure.
4)Of course you could stay up all night and make sure the
time stays current, but you would get tired of this !!
The second part of this article deals with the
different sized disk drives available for the Sanyo
and their integration into a FIDO BBS system.
You can run a FIDO on any combination of the following
drive configurations if you follow the directions.
Size in Kb Type Drive Physical Location
-------------------------------------------------------
160 K S.S.D.D A + B ****
-------------------------------------------------------
320 K D.S.D.D A
160 K S.S.D.D B
-------------------------------------------------------
320 K S.S.D.D. A + B
-------------------------------------------------------
800 K Quad Density A
-------------------------------------------------------
800 K Quad Density A
320 K D.S.D.D. B
-------------------------------------------------------
800 K Quad Density A
160 K S.S.D.D B
-------------------------------------------------------
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:13:01 Page 19
800 K Quad Density A + B
-------------------------------------------------------
320 K D.S.D.D A
160/320 K either B
10 Meg/20 Meg Hard disk drive C
-------------------------------------------------------
*** Not recommended for FIDO bbs. There would be little
room left for files once you had the entire system on the
disks.
As you can see, either running DS DOS PLUS from Michtron
or running the Greywolf operating system you can run any
combination of mixed size drives including the 800 k
drives and or a hard disk drive. You MUST be running at
the bare minimum MS-DOS 2.11 to mix s.s.d.d and d.s.d.d.
drives !
While we are talking about disk drives let me clarify the
procedure to create, access, and delete SUB DIRECTORIES.
YES, you can use sub directories on the sanyo. The proper
procedure is outlined below along with comments.
All input you type is in CAPITAL LETTERS.
a>MKDIR TEST this creates a sub directory named test.
type DIR now and see the funny entry that has been
created with an entry of TEST <DIR>
to access this directory type the following:
a>CHDIR \TEST The drive will spin and then the a prompt
will appear again. Now type DIR and you will see a
blank directory with 2 empty entries. DO NOT PANIC..all
is well.
The first 2 entries in any sub directory are used by the
operating system and do not concern you at this point.
Now type CHDIR \ to return to the regular (root)
directory. Now type DIR again and viola' all is back to
normal. To remove a sub directory you must FIRST erase all
user files in the sub directory and then go back to the
root directory (CHDIR \) and then type RMDIR TEST.
(For more information on this topic see my first article).
"Can FIDO run in 256k ?" is a frequent question. The
answer is positively YES, it can. Call 203-775-4898
(modem) for a demo of FIDO on a 256k sanyo 555-2. It would
appear that as of version "E" you will have no problem
running in 256k.
As a Sysop, you know that disk space ia always at a
premium no matter what size drives you run. The best
solution for lack of space are the following utilities:
1) LU86.EXE -----------: All 3 files can
2) NUSQ110.COM --------:-----can be found on most any
3) SQ2.EXE ------------: IBM BBS system.
The first program allows you to group together many
programs into one directory entry. This is know as a
"Library File" and is signified by an extension on a file
name of .LBR This program is wonderful when you want to
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:13:09 Page 20
keep many program of the same type or several modules of
one complete program all together in one file. This not
only saves you actual directory entries, but also the
bytes required for each entry.
Programs 2 and 3 are the real space savers however !
Program 3 is a "SQUEEZER" program which will compress any
type of file, (.BAS .COM .EXE etc;) into a smaller space
on the disk. You may save as much as 50% of the original
file size by using this type of program. A "squeezed" file
CANNOT be run as is. You MUST use an "UN-SQUEEZER" such as
program number 2 to first make it readable by the
computer. A squeezed file is signified by the letter "Q"
in the middle spot of the extension. For example TEST.BAS
becomes TEST.BQS when squeezed.
For maximum efficiency both the squeeze program and the
library program can be used together. Here is a typical
example of the routine used to do this. We want to Library
and Squeeze the following files.
a) Test.txt b) Patch.com c) Run.bas so we do the
following:
1) LU86 U EXAMPLE.LBR Test.txt Patch.com Run.bas
we will be asked how many file entries in this library.
As a matter of form I always enter 1 more than I am
actually planning on putting in. This allows for the
internal file to be created. TYPING LU by itself gives a
short documentation to be displayed on the screen.
2) The file produced is now on the disk as EXAMPLE.LBR
3) Now type SQ2 EXAMPLE.LBR the disk will spin and you
will get a progress report. The finished file will be
called in this instance EXAMPLE.LQR.
4) You can now erase the 3 files you put in if you want
and also the .LBR that you created.
I know it sounds like a lot of work, but even those of us
who run big hard drives squeeze and library files to save
every bit of space possible.
If you are running 2 floppy drives then you might want to
consider the following option that is available to you.
Assuming you have 2 320k drives and are currently running
MS-DOS 2.11 you might want to purchase DS DOS PLUS. This
is an operating system that replaces the DOS that Sanyo
gave you. While we have sold both DS DOS PLUS and the
Greywolf operating system, our customers seem to be
happier with DS DOS PLUS. The principle reason is the
increase in disk storage space this program allows you to
obtain, WITH NO HARDWARE MODIFICATION OR PURCHASE. DS DOS
will allow you to format your 320k drives to 400k per
drive simply by using their format program and operating
system. This way you get an extra 80k PER DISK DRIVE to
allow that little extra in file storage you might want.
DS DOS is 100% compatible with all software produced for
the Sanyo and also has some nice features built in. You
may contact Michtron direct in Pontiac Michigan, or check
with your local dealer, who might have it in stock !
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:13:17 Page 21
Another frequent question I hear is "How do I get my
Anchor modem to work with FIDO?" Well we have the answer
to that one finally ! We have 2 patches available, one for
DS-DOS and another for MS-DOS that clear up the problem
the Anchor has built into it. You can download these
patches from my FIDO at 914-352-6801 from 6 pm to 9 am if
you desire. Just put them on the Fido disk in drive A and
put the file name of the patch file in the autoexec.bat
file you use to start fido.(put it BEFORE the line which
calls fido please.)
If you do not already have a file called config.sys on
your fido disk, now is the time to make one. It is simple
and will benefit your callers immensely. We will now use a
relatively simply procedure to accomplish this. From the A
prompt "A>" type COPY CON CONFIG.SYS and hit return
then type BUFFERS=30 return
FILES=10 return
then on the next line type control Z. This closes the file
and writes it to disk. (by the way COPY CON means..copy
the console input into the file name specified).
The next time you re-boot the system (reset) this file is
automatically read by the DOS and the changes made. This
will allow faster running speeds as the disk does not
have to be accessed for each and every request, as all
30 of the buffers you have created will now be filled
with information.
Well, that is it for now. I hope this article helps you to
run a more efficient system. Please feel free to call our
BBS if you have any questions..or problems.
========================================================
END OF SANYO2.ART FROM FIDO 357 SYSOP RICHARD LEVEY
========================================================
*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*
From: Tom Kenny (User of FIDO #317)
Date: February 28, 1985
Subject: Misc...
1. Introduction... I'm new to the world of FIDO and
connect to the net via node #317. I read all of the
existing newsletters and have some questions and comments.
2. Cheaper FidoNet??? I thought the aricles submitted by
Ben Baker (at #10) were very good. There seemed to be some
debate over the cost of an 800 incoming line and to my
understanding the cost would vary according to location.
Central (Midwest) being the cheapest and cost going up the
closer you get to a coast simply because the worst case
long haul gets longer. I wonder if population differences
help in judging the cost. In conclusion the idea sounded
great BUT there was no way around the twit freeloading
problem! I assume outgoing WATS lines are alot more costly
then incoming lines and in my opinion the other proposals
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:13:26 Page 22
didn't seem as good.... Is it a dead issue?
3. Networks... I'm interested in hearing more about other
networks and inter-network happenings. I at one time heard
there was a FIDO-usenet gateway. Is this true? I'm looking
forward to citadel systems linking into FIDO, anbody else?
4. What's in a name? FUG replacement... How about FIDO
International and Domestic Operators (rather plain I guess)
Is FIDO an acronym for anything to begin with.... How was
the name originally choosen?
5. Newsletter naming convention... The one I favor (for
what it is worth) is FIDOVNN.NWS. The reason I'm not using
two digits for the version number at this time is that it
appears there where two issues of volume 2 number 3. I
named them FIDO203A.NWS (1/21/85) and FIDO203B.NWS (2/4/85)
otherwise I would have used two digits for the volume
indication.
6. Usenet... In FIDOHIST.TXT which I got off of FIDO #79
Usenet was said to be a mini network with no routing and no
host. I've used this network and was rather confused by
what was meant to be said. First, Usenet is public domain
software that runs on top of a network at this point in
time it is known as the uucp (Unix to Unix copy) network.
Routing exists within both to my understanding and altough
there is no host or shall we say core to the system (which
is the same as FIDO) there are systems that are hubs (again
simular to FIDO). To my understanding FidoNet and the uucp
network are very simular. I did not understand what was
meant by Usenet being a mini network. Can somebody explain?
7. Suggestions... Has anybody thought about pre-paid reply
mail? Say I send a mail item to somebody about something
and I want to really want to get a reply. Well if the
person I'm sending the reply to doesn't have to foot the
bill maybe I'll get an answer soon or get one where I
wouldn't get one otherwise. One complicated design would
call for some node(s) to play banker.... On the other hand
when node a calls node b and after node a sends all the
it has for node b, node a could request any replies that
are available to node a. The cost would be charged to the
account of the person how sent the mail from node a to
begin with.... I know IF I became the expert on xyz-widgets
and was getting alot of mail from people with questions,
I wouldn't want to pay the bill for educating anybody
interested.... I don't mean to sound nasty, because I'm
always glad to help my fellow user/sysop. It's just a case
where it could get costly on a great network like FidoNet!
This would work easily if there is alot of traffic to that
node but say you are the only user shipping things to that
node, what then? Well how about a required time limit
on the reply? Or that the reciever has to reply! There are
alot of problems I could cite now but let's see what
the opinion is on this one.... Am I the only one that
cares and the only one that would use it? (Remember
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:13:35 Page 23
I'm not a FIDO sysop, just a dump user)
*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*+*-*
NOTICES
As a matter of brief introduction, I am Bill
Macneill, SYSOP of FIDO node #202 in Boston, Massachusetts
(1-617-721-1688).
Recently, one of the members of my Board (DEC-Line
-- a DEC Micro oriented board) uploaded a game file known as
JETSET.BAS...a jet plane simulator, and one of the great
classic public domain games. The problem with JETSET,
however, is that it is SOOOOOOO SLOWWWWWWW!
I would very much like the readers of this
newsletter to advise me as to whether JETSET has been
compiled to operate directly as an 'executable' under the
MSDOS operating environment. If one of you is familiar with
such a file, please advise me where I can obtain a copy...or
even better, why don't you just call and upload to DEC-
Line?? Again, we are at 1-617-721-1688 in Boston....
Bill Macneill, SYSOP
DEC-Line FIDO#202
----------------------------------------------
Item from: Allen Miller, Fido 85, 513-662-9635
I am looking for programs to convert text
files to either all UPPER case or all lower
case. I have seen a directory listing
showing 2 programs called TO_UPPER.COM and
TO_LOWER.COM. These names sound like just
what I am looking for. If you know of this
sort of program, please send me the files or
a message telling me where I can get them.
Thank you.
Item from: Allen Miller, Fido 85, 513-662-9635
----------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
_____
/ \
_____/ (o)! !
/! ! !
\/ x ! !
\____/ \__/
\______/
/------\
---FIDO MAG--- / / \ !\
THE FIDO USERS !U ! ! ! \
---MAGAZINE--- ! ! ! ! \
\__UUU__!\ \
\ /\ \ \
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:13:41 Page 24
The magazine for !___!! !/ \
Fido Users _! !!_______\
and (_____!! ^ ^ ^
Mental Patients ! ! ! ! ! !
! ! ! ! ! !
' ' ' ' ' '
THE UNDERDOG MAGAZINE
Hey Kids,
It's time to start the Un-Official Fido Users Magazine!
This is a magazine that the USERS of fido systems can read
and enjoy (hopefully). All stuff about running Fido and
Fido "Sysop to Sysop" type stuff should be sent to Tom for
the Fidonews. This will be a monthly magazine/newsletter
with all sorts of nice garbage in it...
-----------------------------------------------------------
FOR SALE
========================================================
FROM SYSOP FIDO 357
TO ALL FIDO SYSOPS RUNNING SANYO COMPUTERS !!!!!
========================================================
Salvation is at hand for all of you Sysops who run FIDO on
a Sanyo computer !!!
If the world ran on the clocks in the Sanyo CHRISTMAS would
come in JULY ! The clocks in these machines are turned off
whenever the disk drives are used. FOR those who need
something less surrealistic the CLOCK/CALENDAR card
brings the accuracy and affordability of digital
watches to computer time-keeping.
For half the cost of comparable boards for other computers,
our CLOCK/CALENDAR card:
* will give you accuracy to seconds a month.
* comes with built-in rechargeable battery.
* will keep accurate time for weeks if un-plugged.
* is easily set from the operating system.
Retail price on this product is $ 139.95
We sell it for $106.00 plus shipping
Reply to sysop FIDO 357 TO ORDER.
=======================================================
FROM FIDO 357 - END OF ARTICLE
=======================================================
fidonews -- 06 Mar 85 20:13:47 Page 25
WANTED
WANTED TO BUY: One used Gavilan computer.
Send details (accessories, condition and price) to:
Andy Meyer, FidoNet, Fido #317 - or contact Sysop of
SMC-70 Citadel: (201) 930-6483 [24 hours, 300 baud]
WANTED: INFO ON TANDON 8 INCH DRIVE
I have a Tandon somethingorother-2, a double sided
eight inch drive, half height. I do not have any docs on it,
and need to know how to turn the drive motor off, if
possible. Isn't it set up like a minifloppy?
If you know what jumper, etc affects motor on/off,
please send a msg to:
Tom Jennings
FidoNode #1
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