1123 lines
37 KiB
Plaintext
1123 lines
37 KiB
Plaintext
Volume 2, Number 46 30 December 1985
|
|
+----------------------------------------------------------+
|
|
| _ |
|
|
| / \ |
|
|
| - Fidonews - /|oo \ |
|
|
| (_| /_) |
|
|
| Fido and Fidonet _`@/_ \ _ |
|
|
| Users Group | | \ \\ |
|
|
| Newsletter | (*) | \ )) |
|
|
| ______ |__U__| / \// |
|
|
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
|
|
| (________) (_/(_|(____/ |
|
|
| (jm) |
|
|
+----------------------------------------------------------+
|
|
|
|
Publisher: Fido 1/1
|
|
Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson
|
|
Review Editor: Allen Miller
|
|
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
|
|
|
|
Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 1/1. You are
|
|
encouraged to submit articles for publication in Fidonews.
|
|
Article submission standards are contained in the file
|
|
FIDONEWS.DOC, available from Fido 1/1.
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
|
|
|
|
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
|
|
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them;
|
|
everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
|
|
received.
|
|
|
|
|
|
HAPPY NEW YEAR
|
|
|
|
|
|
Table of Contents
|
|
|
|
1. EDITORIAL
|
|
110 Baud and Teletypes
|
|
2. NEWS
|
|
FidoGram Ramblings
|
|
More Fido rewrite ideas
|
|
MEDNet - Medical FIDO Network
|
|
Sanyo Questions, Answers, & Comments
|
|
3. COLUMNS
|
|
Avoiding Snow on the Color Graphics Adapter
|
|
FIDO Sysop's Utilities
|
|
Rainbow Corner
|
|
4. NOTICES
|
|
The Interrupt Stack
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
============================================================
|
|
EDITORIAL
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
|
110 Baud and Teletypes
|
|
|
|
Does anybody remember 110 baud? I just checked, so I know I
|
|
can set my serial port for it, but I don't think I've seen a
|
|
comm program that'll do it. Maybe I'll write my own, just
|
|
to see what it's like.
|
|
|
|
I remember when I first started with computers, we had four
|
|
teletypes connected to a mainframe computer three hundred
|
|
miles away. (You've heard of mainframes -- big things that
|
|
filled a whole room? They still make 'em.) It was two years
|
|
before I saw the machine I was using.
|
|
|
|
Those teletypes (ASR 33's they were) ran at 110 baud, or ten
|
|
characters a second, and made the most incredible noise;
|
|
especially when confined in a small cinder block room. You
|
|
think the fan on a PC is loud? You ain't heard nothin'!
|
|
When we REALLY wanted to make noise, we'd start up the paper
|
|
tape punch (which only one of them had). At the time, and
|
|
for a few years after, paper tape was really the only
|
|
standard method of moving files from machine to machine.
|
|
They made expensive high-speed paper tape readers, and the
|
|
first micros were usually booted from paper tape. We mainly
|
|
used it to make "dots" (the parts that were punched out to
|
|
make the holes), which were great for "snowing" someone's
|
|
room.
|
|
|
|
110 baud was the industry standard at that time. We could
|
|
take down three of the teletypes and hook up a Tektronix
|
|
terminal for graphics at 300 baud, but it was frowned upon
|
|
unless we had a really good reason. I was once told that
|
|
300 baud is like sex; once you've had it, it's hard to give
|
|
up. I feel that way now about 1200 baud.
|
|
|
|
Those teletypes had all of their guts in what would be
|
|
called the powerhead on an outboard motor. The mechanism
|
|
was all in the top. The stand was mainly empty space. When
|
|
I saw my first microcomputer (an Imsai 8080) I was
|
|
immediatly struck by two things: (1) it was hooked up to a
|
|
teletype, at 110 baud, and (2) the entire computer would fit
|
|
into the empty space inside the teletype stand.
|
|
|
|
You couldn't really have put it there, though. You needed
|
|
access to the front panel switches so you could toggle in a
|
|
bootstrap loader, which then loaded the system from the
|
|
paper tape reader on the teletype.
|
|
|
|
But do you want to know the most incredible part? This was
|
|
only about ten years ago.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 2 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
============================================================
|
|
NEWS
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
|
????????????????????????????????
|
|
? ARE YOU SERIOUS ABOUT THIS ?
|
|
????????????????????????????????
|
|
|
|
|
|
By Rives Mc Ginley
|
|
Fido 105 Net 101
|
|
|
|
|
|
I guess you are not!
|
|
|
|
Heck of a way to start a discourse, to make a statement
|
|
that is so decisive. But history is a real teacher, and
|
|
this Sysop is a quick study, after a number of months.
|
|
|
|
We have been trying over the last few months to provide
|
|
you the Sysop of Fidos across the country, with a free
|
|
communications service. You've read about it, FIDOGRAMS.
|
|
|
|
At our expense, we have been responding to requests
|
|
from around the country, and even Europe, to send along the
|
|
files that explain the system. We have had a fabulous
|
|
response. Actual numbers of Fidograms are being counted
|
|
right now. At Christmas time as you'd expect, the system is
|
|
humming with cheery messages.
|
|
|
|
We love doing this. We are Amateur Radio operators who
|
|
have been looking for years to be able to interface Computer
|
|
users and Amateur Radio. At the moment, we are angered by
|
|
some Fido's who have requested this material. We believe
|
|
some of you are not serious about this whole FIDO thing.
|
|
|
|
We have experienced a great number of Fidos perhaps ten
|
|
out of 35 requests, who are not prepared to receive our
|
|
messages and files when we send them during the national
|
|
mail time. Either there is no connection, or we connect and
|
|
the system is not on line, or we connect and the FidoNet
|
|
programming is not running.
|
|
|
|
It may seem unimportant, but your wrong. Here's an
|
|
example: an attempt to send a message and file from Cape
|
|
Cod to Texas was made eight days in a row. Fido, as he is
|
|
supposed, tried each night, thirty times, to dial and
|
|
connect. Fido reported each morning, with a gasp, "No
|
|
Connection". Had there been a connection, the message and
|
|
file would have been transfered as expected , or Fido would
|
|
have given up after two connections (both of the later would
|
|
have cost 22 cents each, and no message delivered).
|
|
|
|
Eight times thirty equals 240. That's a lot of calls.
|
|
Surely sometime during that period, eight days, Texas should
|
|
have answered. Eight days worth of trying, no answer, and
|
|
the call was requested by the Fido in Texas, we did not
|
|
decide to send it there for the heck of it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 3 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here is the ultimate irony of the whole episode.....Ma
|
|
Bell believes with all her motherly heart, that we connected
|
|
each of those times. 240 times 22 cents. Even without Lotus
|
|
123 you can see that's a lot of public service.... Poor Ma
|
|
Bell, she is totally convinced that we made those calls,
|
|
connecting each time. The lady said, "See, that's what
|
|
happens when you use a computer to automatically make calls.
|
|
It can go haywire". We were kind, and did not remind her
|
|
that she was using a computer to talk to us. We didn't even
|
|
remind her that haywire was the reason that 2400 baud
|
|
doesn't work on each call. If good wire were provided,
|
|
....Oh well.
|
|
|
|
So how about it. Read your documentation. If you ask
|
|
someone to send you a file, remember, Fido by-passes all
|
|
Host and Region-host routing. The message and file are
|
|
directed right to you. If you choose to not be on during
|
|
National Mail time, and instead pick up your messages during
|
|
your regional time, then ..........
|
|
|
|
---------> DON'T ASK ANYONE TO SEND YOU A FILE. <----------
|
|
|
|
We will continue to respond, as requested, with the
|
|
file and appropiate message to help you get into the
|
|
FidoGram habit. If we don't connect after a reasonable
|
|
number of calls, made throughout the National Mail time, and
|
|
within a couple of days of receiving your message, we will
|
|
not try again. You can call us. Go to File area Number
|
|
four, Fidfile, and download a file called FidoGram.ARC. It
|
|
has what you need, and your most welcome.
|
|
|
|
More importantly however, a lot of you should start
|
|
getting serious about Fido. You are not living up to the
|
|
deal. Fido's are to be on line, available, and willing to
|
|
accept mail and files during NATIONAL MAIL TIME. If the
|
|
people who make up the Nodelist each week want a list of the
|
|
offending Fidos, send us a message, we will tell you.
|
|
|
|
A shorter nodelist saves disk space.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 4 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
John Plocher
|
|
Fido 121/90
|
|
More Fido rewrite ideas
|
|
|
|
|
|
As long as everyone is talking of rewriting Fido, I might
|
|
as well toss in my 2 bits worth...
|
|
|
|
Problems with current BBS's
|
|
|
|
The learning curve of a new BBS is long and slow. (That's
|
|
what makes FIdo so nice; you know one, and you know them
|
|
all. When using a remote system through a modem (slow)
|
|
things like help menus, long prompts, etc are a pain. Even
|
|
more so if you don't know the system. The sequence I seem
|
|
to go through learning a new system is
|
|
|
|
HELP DIR HELP UPLOAD HELP DOWNLOAD ...
|
|
|
|
It would be nice to have the help screens available
|
|
localy (capturing/printing works, but is not always possible
|
|
if you don't have a printer)
|
|
|
|
Another problem is that in order to get things done
|
|
quickly people set the prompting level to expert to bypass
|
|
the long (slow) novice prompt. Why should I have to choose
|
|
between understanding and boredom?
|
|
|
|
Still another problem is that file transfers are all done
|
|
HALF DUPLEX! WHY? Cuz XMODEM does it that way, and no one
|
|
has bothered to update things to FULL DUPLEX.
|
|
|
|
Suggestions/solutions:
|
|
|
|
The December BYTE issue on conferencing said a lot. In
|
|
fact, it said much of what I had been thinking, but thought
|
|
no one would be interested. (anyone out there have a black
|
|
book program?) One of the ideas I've been working on is
|
|
that of taking advantage of the fact that many (?most?)
|
|
users of a BBS are using computers with telecom programs.
|
|
Why not set up a "Fido" designed with the Kermit server idea
|
|
where it responds to requests like:
|
|
|
|
READ MESSAGE n
|
|
REPLY TO MESSAGE n
|
|
ENTER A MESSAGE
|
|
LIST DIRECTORIES
|
|
LIST FILENAMES IN directory
|
|
UPLOAD FILE name WITH protocol
|
|
DOWNLOAD FILE name WITH protocol
|
|
|
|
and have the telecom program provide all the user interface!
|
|
Help menus in windows at local processor speeds, screen
|
|
scrolling to see the last n pages, the ability to be
|
|
retrieving the next message while the user is reading the
|
|
current one, integrated LOCAL full screen editors to compose
|
|
messages...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 5 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The great part of this would be that the "Fido" server can
|
|
change without affecting the interface, and the user can
|
|
hack up his interface program as much as s/he wants to. The
|
|
worst that can happen if the user hacks up the user
|
|
interface too much is that that user gets screwed.
|
|
|
|
If the interface is done at a PACKET LEVEL, (rather than
|
|
at a character level) the systems could provide virtual
|
|
circuits to allow such things as simultaneous uploads and
|
|
downloads, downloads while reading messages, etc.
|
|
|
|
If the FULL DUPLEX protocol was implemented for FidoMail,
|
|
the sending node could say to the receiver something like "I
|
|
have 3 minutes of stuff to send you, you may send me up to
|
|
that time limit of stuff to me for free" (sort of like the
|
|
LISTGEN POLL command).
|
|
|
|
With the advent of Wendin's Operating System Toolbox, and
|
|
their multi-tasking PCUNIX/PCVMS systems for the PC world,
|
|
these protocols can be *easily* implemented. Right now I
|
|
have the basic code (in C) which allows a single virtual
|
|
circuit between machines (NO BBS, just some rickety stand
|
|
alone code), and as soon as I figure out the system calls to
|
|
the Wendin OS's, it will become a multiple virtual circuit
|
|
system. (a virtual circuit allows you to treat the com line
|
|
as an ERROR FREE link to another program; more than one
|
|
virtual circuit may be mapped onto a single physical
|
|
comunications link). I'd like to hear from Bob Hartman
|
|
about what he has been doing with the Rover networking
|
|
implementation...
|
|
|
|
Right now these are nebulous ideas waiting for some free
|
|
time to get implemented. It would be a shame to miss this
|
|
opportunity to upgrade FidoNet into an even lower cost
|
|
messaging system!
|
|
|
|
I will follow this up with a more coherent note after I
|
|
get a working system (small, no frills...) up and can
|
|
benchmark its performance -vs- Fido and other systems. Send
|
|
NetMail messages to me at
|
|
|
|
121/90 (John Plocher)
|
|
|
|
if you want to participate in this brainstorming...
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 6 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
David Dodell, D.M.D.
|
|
FIDO 114/15
|
|
|
|
|
|
Several FIDO systems around the United States have linked
|
|
together to form MEDNet. MEDNet is a alternate FIDONet for
|
|
FIDO's that have an interest in the medical sciences. One
|
|
of the prime purposes of MEDNet is to allow easy
|
|
distribution of medically related files to all interested
|
|
FIDOs by using a HOST system and POLLING. This allows each
|
|
system to share interesting files with all other MEDNet
|
|
members without having to go through the expense of multiple
|
|
long distance telephone calls.
|
|
|
|
We invite other FIDO systems to join MEDNet - all that is
|
|
required is an interest in the medical sciences and the
|
|
williness to POLL a HOST board once a week to pick up new
|
|
files. If interested, please send Netmail to FIDO 114/15.
|
|
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 7 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Sanyo Questions, Answers, & Comments
|
|
|
|
EJ McKernan, Sysop
|
|
The Bit Bucket BBS
|
|
Node ------ 14/386
|
|
(316)343-8028 24hr
|
|
300/1200/2400 Baud
|
|
|
|
In this column we will attempt to answer users questions
|
|
concerning sanyo computer hardware and software. If you have
|
|
any questions you'd like answered, please send them via
|
|
FIDONET mail to the BIT BUCKET (node 14/386,) Or if you
|
|
don't have an account for fidomail call the board and leave
|
|
your question in a message area.
|
|
|
|
Let's get right down to business by answering one of the
|
|
questions most often asked by sanyo owners wanting to use
|
|
the machine for telecomunications.
|
|
|
|
Q. When using some communications programs on the sanyo
|
|
(minitel and fido included) why does my modem disconnect
|
|
when I try to access my disk? How do I fix it?
|
|
|
|
A. The problem is that when sanyo wrote the drivers for the
|
|
disk controller they decided to disable all other hardware
|
|
interupts when they were expecting an interupt from the disk
|
|
controller. What they did was command the 1851 UART, used
|
|
for serial I/O, to drop the data terminal ready (DTR) line
|
|
going to the modem.The problem with this is that when the
|
|
DTR goes low the modem disconnects the phone line unless we
|
|
have set up the modem to ignore DTR. That's not exactly what
|
|
we want to happen when we're accessing the disk drive. There
|
|
eat my shorts yis another way to disable interupts from the
|
|
UART, use the interupt controller mask register. Sanyo does
|
|
this as well as drop the DTR line. They didn't need to do
|
|
both. You may state, "Why all this technical jargon. Just
|
|
Tell me how to fix the problem! OK OK, I just wanted to give
|
|
you techy types something to read.
|
|
|
|
FIX: There are available patch programs that will remove the
|
|
code from the BIOS that switches OFF/ON the DTR line. Tom
|
|
Jennings original patch for MSDOS 2.11 (sanyos' original) is
|
|
named SYOPATCH.COM. There are others for all the different
|
|
version of MSDOS available for the sanyo. Problem is that
|
|
they have different names. Look around different sanyo BBS's
|
|
and download them all (they are very small, about 386 or so
|
|
bytes) and find one that works with your dos version. My dos
|
|
is DSDOS 2.11+ from michtron. The patch I use is
|
|
SYDSPTCH.COM. It and a few others are available on the BIT
|
|
BUCKET BBS. If you can't find something that will fix your
|
|
dos leave me a message spelling out exactly what dos version
|
|
your using (all the version numbers you see when you boot up
|
|
your machine,) and I'll see what I can come up with.
|
|
|
|
Well that's all I've got for this week. Send me your
|
|
questions and I'll see what I can do in the way of answers.
|
|
|
|
Until next time...happy fidoing!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 8 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 9 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
============================================================
|
|
COLUMNS
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
|
Avoiding Snow on the Color Graphics Adapter
|
|
|
|
|
|
The snow on a color graphics adapter occurs when you change
|
|
the values in screen memory during a raster scan, i.e. while
|
|
the electron gun is updating the screen from screen memory.
|
|
I'm not sure of the exact mechanism, but this definitely
|
|
causes interference with the screen update, and the end
|
|
result is that ugly snow.
|
|
|
|
One way to avoid this is to wait for "vertical retrace",
|
|
that time period during which the electron gun shifts its
|
|
beam from the lower right-hand corner of the screen to the
|
|
upper left. During vertical retrace, bit 3 of port 3DA
|
|
(hex) is set on, and the test in TURBO can thus be made:
|
|
|
|
Repeat until ((port[$3DA] and $08) = $08);
|
|
{*** perform screen update ***}
|
|
{*** note: port $3DA is a read-only register ***}
|
|
|
|
This is how the IBM ROM-BIOS writes a character to the
|
|
screen, does scrolling, etc. But the problem is that
|
|
vertical retrace lasts a mere 1.25 miliseconds or so, not
|
|
enough time to perform complicated and/or large updates.
|
|
|
|
The other way, the way Sidekick does it, is to turn off the
|
|
display, do the update, and turn the display back on. This
|
|
is why, when you bring up a Sidekick window, you see a
|
|
momentary "flash" on the screen. The display enable/disable
|
|
function is controlled by port 3D8 (hex), a write-only
|
|
register.
|
|
|
|
One thing you should know about this is that this whole
|
|
concept applies only to the IBM color graphics adapter.
|
|
Monochrome displays do not get snow, and the Enhanced
|
|
graphics adapter will crap out on you if you turn off the
|
|
display in this way. This is why earlier versions of
|
|
Sidekick bombed on the Enhanced graphics adapter. Current
|
|
versions of Sidekick work just fine on the EGA.
|
|
|
|
Use the following, or a similar routine to test what kind of
|
|
display you are running on, and then to update the screen:
|
|
|
|
type
|
|
Registertype = Record
|
|
case boolean of
|
|
true : (AX,BX,CX,DX,BP,SI,DI,DS,ES,flags : integer);
|
|
false : (AL,AH,BL,BH,CL,CH,DL,DH : byte)
|
|
end;
|
|
video_mode_ptr = ^video_mode_type;
|
|
video_mode_type = (cga,ega,mono);
|
|
|
|
function get_video_mode : video_mode_ptr;
|
|
var
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 10 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
regs : registertype;
|
|
equipment : integer;
|
|
ega_info1,
|
|
ega_info2 : byte;
|
|
temp_return : video_mode_ptr;
|
|
begin
|
|
intr($11,regs);
|
|
equipment := regs.AX;
|
|
regs.AH := $12;
|
|
regs.BL := $10;
|
|
intr($10,regs);
|
|
ega_info1 := regs.CL;
|
|
ega_info2 := regs.BH;
|
|
new(temp_return);
|
|
if ((equipment and 52) in [0,16,32]) and (ega_info2=0)
|
|
then
|
|
temp_return^ := ega
|
|
else
|
|
if ((equipment and 48) in [16,32])
|
|
or (((equipment and 52) = 4) and (ega_info1 in [4,5,10,11]))
|
|
then
|
|
temp_return^ := cga
|
|
else
|
|
temp_return^ := mono;
|
|
get_video_mode := temp_return
|
|
end;
|
|
|
|
begin {* screen update *}
|
|
video_mode := get_video_mode;
|
|
if video_mode^<>mono
|
|
then
|
|
if video_mode^=cga
|
|
then
|
|
begin
|
|
port[$3D8] := $21;
|
|
{*** perform screen updates ***}
|
|
port[$3D8] := $29
|
|
end
|
|
else
|
|
saved_screen := cscr
|
|
else
|
|
saved_screen := mscr
|
|
end; {* screen update*}
|
|
|
|
There seems to be a bit of controversy as to whether the
|
|
"snow" or the "flash" is more ascetically displeasing, but I
|
|
prefer the "flash".
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 11 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Allen Miller
|
|
Fido 108/10
|
|
513/579-2587
|
|
|
|
I have finally attempted to organize all of those great Fido
|
|
sysop-type utilities that I have collected over time, and put
|
|
them in some fashion that may benefit others of you. I have
|
|
used the ARChive utility to 'rename' some of them to avoid
|
|
conflicts. I also have, for each file, another file named
|
|
filename.ZZZ. This file lists members of Archive, author, and
|
|
brief description of the program.
|
|
|
|
Below is the current list of the files I have available.
|
|
If you know of others, or later versions, I would appreciate
|
|
your sending them to me for addition. Thanks.
|
|
|
|
---Fido Sysop Utilities
|
|
-*- version author location
|
|
CRUSH.ARC 33272 3.0.....Harold.Barker......11/493
|
|
DATEFILE.ARC 23936 ........Wes.Cowley.........18/19
|
|
DAYNBR.ARC 15572 1.0.....Ben.Baker..........
|
|
EDIFIDO.ARC 37987 1.12....Bob.Klahn..........107/50
|
|
EVENT.ARC 22110 2.0.....Ben.Baker..........
|
|
FIDOMLNK.ARC 5790 ........Allen.Miller.......108/10
|
|
FIDOMSG.EXE 2560 ........Don.Daniels........13/210
|
|
FIDODISP.EXE 6096 1.1.....Robert.Briggs......15/464
|
|
FIDOREAD.ARC 29287 1.25....Richard.Polunsky....106/2
|
|
FIDOREMO.BAT 520 1.0.....Allen.Miller.......108/10
|
|
FIDOUSER.EXE 25776 1.0.....Allen.Miller.......108/10
|
|
FIDOUTIL.ARC 9716 1.1.....Bob.Briggs.........15/464
|
|
FILER.ARC 21544 2.1.....Vincent.Perriello..110/491
|
|
FILESBBS.ARC 23168 3.4........................101/45
|
|
FILEXREF.COM 12672 ...........................16/209
|
|
FILIST14.ARC 57617 1.4.....John.Wulff.........109/602
|
|
FIXUSER.EXE 5632 ...........................
|
|
FSTAT.COM 18560 1.1.....Alfred.Anderson....16/41
|
|
LISTGEN.ARC 47872 2.0.....John.Warren........102/401
|
|
MEF.COM 20352 1.0.....Wes.Cowley.........18/19
|
|
MSGMOD.ARC 17624 1.03....Mike.Elkins........102/201
|
|
PHILTER.COM 12800 ...........................107/16
|
|
PRGUSERS.ARC 10240 1.1.....David.Horowitz.....107/2
|
|
QSCAN.EXE 12224 ...........................
|
|
READQUES.COM 17855 1.1f....Robert.Lederman....16/42
|
|
RENUM.ARC 10764 1.5.....Bob.Hartman........132/101
|
|
ROBOT.ARC 22802 3.3.....System.Enhancements
|
|
ROVERMSG.ARC 49378 ???.....Bob.Hartman........132/101
|
|
SCHED.COM 21396 1.0.....Wes.Cowley.........18/19
|
|
SENDLIST.COM 13922 1.......Ben.Baker..........
|
|
SETUSER.COM 9984 1..........................16/209
|
|
SHIPUSER.COM 13872 2.2.....David.Horowitz.....107/2
|
|
SHUFFLE.ARC 41418 2.0.....Robert.Lederman....16/42
|
|
SQLOG.COM 11008 1.0.....Jack.Liebsch.......110/468
|
|
SYSEDIT.COM 22588 1.0.....Eric.Ewanco........19/920
|
|
SYSLOG.COM 28324 4.4.....David.Strickler....101/45
|
|
SYSOP.ARC 26181 1.62....Dave.Purks.........110/456
|
|
SYSREPT.ARC 40248 1.43....Alfred.Anderson....14/61
|
|
SYSRTA.EXE 6400 ...........................
|
|
TESTLIST.COM 16678 1.0.....Ben.Baker..........
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 12 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
TIMELOG.EXE 9216 8d......Tom.Jennings.......125/1
|
|
TIMEMAP.EXE 33368 ........Thom.Henderson.....107/7
|
|
TWIX.EXE 16384 12/1/84.Tom.Jennings.......125/1
|
|
UPLOG.ARC 6983 1.1.....Robert.Briggs......15/464
|
|
USERLIST.COM 13054 1.0.....Ben.Baker..........
|
|
USERLSTA.ARC 19820 ........Allen.Miller.......108/10
|
|
USERLSTR.EXE 11706 ........Ryan...............
|
|
USERS.ARC 30248 ........Thom.Henderson.....107/7
|
|
USERSRTC.COM 606 1.0........................101/4602
|
|
USERSRTE.EXE 13588 2.01.......................
|
|
UTIL_IBM.COM 12288 2.0.....Michael.Wyrick.....109/449
|
|
WATCHDOG.ARC 1198 1.1.....James.Reinders.....
|
|
WEEKDAY.COM 12014 1.0.....Ben.Baker..........
|
|
WRITEMSG.COM 16893 1.3........................115/396
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 13 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Rainbow Corner
|
|
by Theodore Needleman
|
|
|
|
This week's column starts off with a few thank you's. While
|
|
many of you have the impression that churning out columns
|
|
and articles is a solitary task, in reality, this is simply
|
|
not the case. Sure, I put the words together, but many
|
|
other people are also involved. Without these people
|
|
participating, the writing process would be much more
|
|
difficult, if not impossible., I appreciate the assistance
|
|
and encouragement, and would like to give credit where
|
|
credit is due. The FIRST BIG THANK YOU goes out to you, our
|
|
readers. Because of the publishing time lag, this is being
|
|
written several weeks after the first Corner appeared. In
|
|
those few weeks, your response has been very encouraging.
|
|
So thank you, dear reader, for your kind words, comments,
|
|
and questions. Let me again take this opportunity to
|
|
encourage you to write. Paper mail goes to P.O. Box 668,
|
|
New City, NY 10956; Source Mail to TCA920; and MCI Mail to
|
|
"THEODORE NEEDLEMAN".
|
|
|
|
The next bunch of thanks go out to some people at DEC who
|
|
have been extraordinarily helpful. Gary Mikkola, Pam
|
|
Hamilton, Eileen Stokes, and Jim Alosi have all been very
|
|
helpful in sharing their time and resources.
|
|
|
|
And, of course, much thanks to my friends and associates on
|
|
the Hardcopy editorial staff.
|
|
|
|
Enough of this maudlin stuff, the next bit of business is
|
|
reader mail.
|
|
|
|
This week's mail has several questions on word processing.
|
|
Phil Pistone asks how I rate SAMNA III, and Hans Brey
|
|
inquires about a word processor able to do mathematical
|
|
symbols as well as compose simple diagrams and charts.
|
|
|
|
Having never used SAMNA, I can't comment on it. I've heard
|
|
nice things said about it, but I remain stubbornly loyal to
|
|
WordStar. Actually, I remain loyal to WordStar for several
|
|
very good reasons. It was the first micro-based word
|
|
processor I learned, it runs on most of the varied systems
|
|
we've got here in the "SWAMP", and it still meets our needs.
|
|
Like most people, I tend to stay with the first product I
|
|
learn to use, as long as it continues to provide a good
|
|
measure of use. Sorry Phil, but if I get any feedback on
|
|
SAMNA III from other "Corner" readers, I'll be sure to pass
|
|
it on.
|
|
|
|
The specs on SAMNA III sure look impressive, and one of them
|
|
will be of interest to Hans. Both SAMNA III, and DEC's new
|
|
WPS+ for the Rainbow, list the ability to use math symbols.
|
|
Neither of these packages seems to be able to do the kind of
|
|
graphics Hans is interested in, but the IMAGE word/graphics
|
|
processor from MicroArt Corp. (200 Market Bldg., Portland,
|
|
OR 97201, phone 1-800-MICROART) offers the ability to
|
|
manipulate not only text, but any of the built-in Rainbow
|
|
graphics characters. IMAGE offers an impressive array of
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 14 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
word processing functions. The graphics creation and
|
|
manipulation features work well, and can be used to produce
|
|
some very interesting images. These graphics can be
|
|
integrated within the text, and the package is quite
|
|
reasonably price $295).
|
|
|
|
Other questions from Phil and from Del Merritt concern
|
|
hardware. Phil is interested in the 8087 numeric
|
|
coprocessor and discusses the slot contention between the
|
|
hard disk controller and extended communications board
|
|
option. Del, on the other hand, is interested in expanding
|
|
his 100A at the least cost.
|
|
|
|
Well guys, to give myself a bit of a plug, in either this
|
|
issue, or next week's you'll find an article by yours truly
|
|
addressing just these concerns and containing reviews of
|
|
hard disks, memory expansion boards, and some software.
|
|
While I wasn't able to obtain an 8087 board to review, there
|
|
are two things to keep in mind about the numeric
|
|
coprocessor. The first is that unless your application
|
|
involves a lot of number crunching, you will see very
|
|
little, if any, improvement in speed. Secondly, the
|
|
software you're using must look for, and be able to use, the
|
|
8087. Much of the software out there doesn't bother to
|
|
check if the 8087 board has been installed. If you write
|
|
your own, make sure that the particular language you're
|
|
using can take advantage of the numeric coprocessor before
|
|
you rush out to buy it.
|
|
|
|
I had a bit more success researching the issue of slot
|
|
contention. I wasn't able to find anyone who makes a
|
|
combination hard disk controller/extended communications
|
|
card. I did, however, as part of the above article, find a
|
|
company that offers some interesting combinations.
|
|
|
|
Univation, Inc. (1037 N. Fair Oaks Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA
|
|
94089, phone 408-745-0180) offers a variety of products for
|
|
the Rainbow including RAM memory, fixed and removable hard
|
|
disks, and an Ethernet LAN controller. Not only are their
|
|
prices very reasonable, but their Ethernet board can be
|
|
piggybacked over the hard disk controller.
|
|
|
|
Their hard disk controllers, whether for the fixed or the
|
|
removable hard drives, all contain at least 64K of
|
|
additional RAM, and can be obtained with up to 448K of RAM.
|
|
While this doesn't solve the problem of the HD
|
|
controller/Comm Board slot contention that Phil asked about,
|
|
it does show that Univation is concerned about providing the
|
|
most expansion capability for a machine with a limited
|
|
amount of expansion slots, and I commend them for their
|
|
efforts.
|
|
|
|
I'm running out of space here, but before I close this
|
|
week's "Corner" let me ask that if you haven't yet "cast
|
|
your vote" about "Project Transport" discussed in last
|
|
week's column, please do. My addresses are listed above,
|
|
and if you're a new reader, drop me a line and I'll send you
|
|
a copy of last week's "Corner" so that you'll see what I've
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 15 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
proposed. Your questions and comments are also very welcome
|
|
at these addresses.
|
|
|
|
That's it for now, see you next week.
|
|
|
|
|
|
(c)opyright 1985 by Ted Needleman-all rights reserved
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 16 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
============================================================
|
|
NOTICES
|
|
============================================================
|
|
|
|
The Interrupt Stack
|
|
|
|
|
|
24 Jan 1986
|
|
Voyager 2 passes Uranus.
|
|
|
|
9 Feb 1986
|
|
Halley's Comet reaches perihelion.
|
|
|
|
9 Feb 1986
|
|
Diana Overholt (109/74) has another birthday.
|
|
|
|
11 Apr 1986
|
|
Halley's Comet reaches perigee.
|
|
|
|
19 May 1986
|
|
Steve Lemke's next birthday.
|
|
|
|
24 Aug 1989
|
|
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
If you have something which you would like to see on this
|
|
calendar, please send a message to Fido 1/1.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Fidonews Page 17 30 Dec 1985
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|