434 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
434 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
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°°°°°°Ü °°Ü °°°ÜÜ°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°Ü °°°ÜÜ°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü
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°°Ûß°°Û °°Û °°Û°°Û°°Û °°Ûßßßß ß°°Ûßß °°Û °°Û°°Û°°Û °°Ûßßßß °°Ûßßßß
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°°°°°Ûß °°Û °°Û ßß°°Û °°°°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û ßß°°Û °°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü
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°°Ûß°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Ûßßß °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Ûßßß ßßß°°Û
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°°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°°°°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Û
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ßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßßßßßß
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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APR RELAYNET INTERNATIONAL MESSAGE EXCHANGE NEWSLETTER 1991
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Table of Contents
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Article# Subject Author
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1 Editors Corner Michael Brunk
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Node ID ->CSPACE
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2 Conference News Dan Deady
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Node ID ->PGHS
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3 Sysops Beware! Myles Marlow
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Node ID ->CAPCON
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4 Blipverts Mike Gunderloy
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Node ID ->ALBANY
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5 Poetry Corner Inez Harrison
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Node ID ->MOONDOG
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6 Hell Conference Update John Dodson
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Node ID ->CANTINA
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7 Admin Announcements
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8 Notices
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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1 - EDITORS CORNER by Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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Welcome back to the April issue of Rime Times! As you might expect
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for the month that plays host to "Fool's Day" we have an extra
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helping of humor for you to enjoy.
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A quick note here about story submissions, send 'em in! We'll take
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just about anything. It does not have to be BBS or computer related,
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simply something that might interest our readership. Humerous
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articles, gardening tips, recipes, personal anecdotes, technical
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information, trivia, you name it! Send it to Michael Brunk at node
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->CSPACE for consideration.
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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2 - CONFERENCE NEWS by Dan Deady, Node ID ->PGHS
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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Please welcome the new host of the Sysops Conference:
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NAME: SYSOPS
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NUMBER: 1
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DESCRIPTION: Discussions centering around the operation of
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bulletin boards including the daily operation from
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a SysOp point of view and the various software
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available for BBS's such as PCBoard, GAP, RBBS,
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Wildcat etc. Personal experiences are always
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invited and welcomed.
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HOST: Michele Hamilton Node ID ->SUNSHINE
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ACTIVITY: high+
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Also, it is with great pleasure that we announce the following
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conference with author support:
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NAME: WGM SOFTWARE
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NUMBER: 184
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DESCRIPTION: This conference is for support of all software produced
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by WGM Computer Consulting. This is a support conference
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by the author. Support includes the WGM-DMS (PCBoard
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Directory Manipulation System) currently and future
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programs to be released by the author.
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HOST: Wayne Maas ->WGMBBS
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ACTIVITY: * NEW * Date: 03/23/1991
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NAME: ASP SUPPORT
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NUMBER: 195
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DESCRIPTION: This conference is for those who use and support ASP
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HOST: (Association Of Shareware Professionals) software, it's
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distribution, and it's authors. Also, the conference
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is to support any problems that may arise from the use
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of ASP certified software, or problems that may be
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encountered from the authors of ASP software.
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HOST: Clint McBee Node ID ->STCOMLNK
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ACTIVITY: * NEW * Date: 03/25/1991
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NAME: CANADIAN
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NUMBER: 256
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DESCRIPTION: Discussions centering around issues regarding those
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pertinent to the Canadian lifestyle. Such issues
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as Canadian Politics, the GST, Provincial issues,
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ecology/environmental issues, and Canadian/American
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relationships, French/English and Native issues, and
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also travel information. American input will also
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be welcomed!
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HOST: Harv Welch ->CBYTES
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ACTIVITY: * NEW * Date: 03/29/91
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MODIFICATION!!! At the request of the Conference Host the following
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description is now part of RIMECONF.TXT:
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NAME: VIDEO EXCHANGE
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NUMBER: 192
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DESCRIPTION: This is a general consumer video conference for discussion
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of all consumer video products and formats, tape and disc.
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Reviews on the quality of new releases and products, and
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the exchange of prerecorded video tapes and discs.
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HOST: Dave Dennett Node ID ->FERRET
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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3 - SYSOPS BEWARE! by Myles Marlow, Node ID ->CAPCON
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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Folks, be careful. Mismanaging your upload/download ratio can kill
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your system. It did mine.
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A few months ago, I was running a BBS with 200 megs of files and a 4
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phone rotary line.
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Initially I had 1:5 upload download ratio. People complained. They
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said I already had every file around. They couldn't find any new
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ones. You've heard it, I'm sure. Some people uploaded junk. So I
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relaxed the rules. I went to a 1:20 ratio. I stopped getting the
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junk files; but I still wasn't getting much new stuff.
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Then I tried an experiment. I removed ALL ratios. I heard where
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another sysop did this and his uploads actually grew.
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What the heck, it couldn't hurt to try, right? Wrong. Folks became
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downloading fools. My 200 megs of files went down to 175 megs as
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people pulled file after file off my board. 160 megs. 150 megs. 125
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meg! They were sucking the files right off my hard disk.
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Folks were pulling and clawing at each other for this week's version
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of DSZ. 90 megs. My system was now less than half the size it was
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when I started. And still the pillage continued as files were sucked
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through all four phone lines.
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My hard disk had to spin faster to keep up with the activity. It
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began growling under the intense strain of downloading. My 9600 bps
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modems ground down to about 1200 bps. And even this didn't slow folks
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down.
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They began cracking open the zipped files and wantonly pulling out the
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executables. Shareware registration docs were just left hanging out
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of the lifeless husks.
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I was at work. Had my printer not been turned on, I'd have never
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known what struck. Just reading the hardcopy was painful. A user
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feeding-frenzy is not for weak stomachs.
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When I did get home, my bulletin board was down to its last 10 megs of
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files -- just some old .ARC and .LBR files that nobody seemed to want.
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When some old geezer got those, the system gave a final shudder and
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lost carrier.
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I don't have the energy to rebuild my system, but maybe I've helped in
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some small way prevent a similar tragedy.
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Keep those ratios high! Don't let your users ever forget, that when
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they take a file, they should PUT THE DARNED THING BACK when they're
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finished!
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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4 - BLIPVERTS by Mike Gunderloy, Node ID ->ALBANY
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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[Editor's Note: These reviews are reprinted from FACTSHEET FIVE #42
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and are courtesy of Mike Gunderloy.]
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C.A.R.S. v.2.2 (registration $40 from Cybernetic Software, PO Box
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3594, Skokie, IL 60076): The acronym is for "Complete Automobile
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Reporting System", and this is a program designed to track to
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expenses of owning your cars, whether it be one auto for personal
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use or a corporate fleet. It's a specialized database with a few
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extra functions, such as calculating mileage, built in, that can
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help you with planning, taxes, and so on. Not a great thrill
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graphically, but fast and functional. (IBM)[ASP]
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Daniels Poetry ($2 from Dan Adams, PO Box 376, Cameron, WI
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54822): This is actually a collection of poems on disk, together
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with a simple batch-file driven interface to view them with. Dan
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writes about everything from young love to "The Vagina" to the
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horrors of war. The idea of packaging this on disk is
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interesting, and doesn't seem to hurt the readability of the
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material any. He also includes a few public-domain graphics demos
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on the diskette. Add $1 for 3 1/2" diskette. (IBM)
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FPLAN 2.0 (registration $30 from First Financial Software, PO Box
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592957, Orlando, FL 32859-2967): This is a program designed to
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help you plan your personal finances, even if your life is pretty
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complex. It's set up for people who are on a standard, more or
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less middle class track through life: working at a decent job,
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owning insurance, saving for the future and so on. It can help
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you budget for everyday expenses, determine how much life
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insurance you should carry, investigate the impact of taxes and
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inflation on your future, and so on. It also has a spot to hold
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your insurance information so that it can be easily found if it's
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needed. (IBM)[ASP]
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GRAB Plus Version 6.0 (registration $54.95 from ZPAY Payroll
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Systems, 2526 69th Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712): This is the
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latest incarnation of this memory-resident envelope printing
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program, designed to get its addresses right off the screen of
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your word processor. Paul Mayer has been busy, and this is a
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major upgrade. It now supports style sheets for multiple
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printers, and includes TSR, command-line and Windows versions,
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including the GRABDB database program to hold your
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frequently-used addresses. It also has code built in to handle
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the standard PostNet barcodes that the Post Office is using, and
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to do graphics logos, as well as address labels. A fine package
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that works smoothly and easily. (IBM)[ASP]
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MAH JONGG v. 3.4 (registration $15 from Nels Anderson, 92 Bishop
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Dr., Framingham, MA 01701): This is a colorful solitaire EGA/VGA
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implementation of the Chinese game. It involves a good deal of
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strategy to get all those little tiles off the screen; meanwhile,
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they sure do dress up the monitor. The rules are simple, but
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their application can keep you busy for a long time.
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Unfortunately, there were a handful of annoying hardware problems
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that kept me from really enjoying this one: the mouse sensitivity
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was set too low, with no way to change it; the opening screen
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produced a nasty flicker on my VGA (which fortunately went away
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when that screen did); worst of all, winning the game locked my
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whole system up. Still, that's the virtue of shareware, and if it
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works better on your computer this is one well worth looking at.
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(IBM)[ASP]
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RECAP (shareware for 1 disk and 85cents postage or registration
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$15 from RK West Consulting, PO Box 8059, Mission Hills, CA
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91346): This program does one thing, and it does it well. That
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thing is to change the capitalization in DBase files. It can take
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any DBase file and change the data fields to all caps, all
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smalls, or just first letter capitals. It's quick, it does the
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job, and it sure can clean up after sloppy data entry. (IBM)[ASP]
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RECURSIVE REALM 2.5 (registration $20 from Austin Software
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Design, PO Box 30133, Grand Junction, CO 81503): This is the new
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release of this shareware fractal program which we previously
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reviewed. It still features flashy color, Julia set, Newton's
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method and magnetism simulations as well as the original
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Mandelbrot. New in this version are mappings for the final sets
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onto spherical surfaces and 3-d plates, as well as various other
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methods for transforming your images, including one that makes
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jigsaw puzzles of them. Registered users also get a free copy of
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MILLER, which displays dancing parametric equation plots on your
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screen. (IBM)[ASP]
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RTM (registered version $30 from WetZoft Applications, 788 Martin
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Ct. W, Severn, MD 21144-2213): RTM stands for Resident Task
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Manager, and this is a cross between a calendar program and a
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project planner. RTM can hold up to 150 tasks and sort them by
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date, priority, and project -- the latter field can be changed by
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the user to something else as well. It's got a pop-up calendar,
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an intuitive interface with full on-line help, and will swap to
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disk or EMS if made memory-resident. There are also two companion
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programs, CALRPT and CALTRV, which will make formatted calendar
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printouts from either RTM or Sidekick Plus. (IBM)[AS]
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SEARCHLIGHT 2.0 is out. This is an upgrade to the BBS software we
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reviewed in the last issue. It now features unlimited message and
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file areas, increased speed, decreased size, better FidoNet
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support and multiline file descriptions. THe full single user
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version is now $89 from PO Box 640, Stony Brook, NY 11790.
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SUPERFLY v 1.1 (registration $15 from Nels Anderson, 92 Bishop
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Dr., Framingham, MA 01701): Another beautiful EGA/VGA game from
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Nels Anderson. This one features the player as a fly swatter up
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against a horde of flies (and occasional other bugs), but it's
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more than an action game. You also have to think about what
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you're doing, because the fly carcasses get in the way of winning
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as you go along. Beautiful graphics, fast action, three levels of
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play, and support for mouse, joystick and keyboard make this a
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definite winner. (IBM)[ASP]
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TOTAL INVESTOR (registered version $45 for 1-2-3 or $50 for
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Symphony): I can't actually review this one, since I lack the
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specialized knowledge and software to try it out, but I can at
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least let you know about it. Total Investor is designed for
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people interested in seriously managing their portfolio of
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securities. There are two different versions, one for use with
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Lotus 1-2-3 and the other for Symphony. Either one will chart
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your stocks and help you make decisions based on technical
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indicators such as momentum or relative strength. Total Investor
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will keep track of historical prices, and can also be ordered
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with an add-in to retrieve prices automatically from Compuerve or
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Dow Jones News Retrieval. (IBM)[ASP]
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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5 - POETRY CORNER by Inez Harrison, Node ID ->MOONDOG
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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We've written about Howard and Bonnie
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Quite frankly most times it was funny
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They take it in stride
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They run but can't hide
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Information smack dab on the money!
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There's a fellow that hails from Cantina
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An editor with a wonderful demeanor
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He's helpful and kind
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Don't test him you'll find
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Nice people can sometimes cream ya!
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We now move on to the Ross
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I've heard he's a hell-of-a boss
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Keeps his files up to date
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But please don't mistake
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Skip Ross can sometimes be crossed!
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Others keep a low profile
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This Host can tell you child
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Don't blame them a bit
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Admin. get's some $hit
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Situations can sometimes be wild!
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My home is on the MoonDog
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Wonderful Sysop I do tend to hog
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The name is Inez Harrison
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To the Harrison's no comparison
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Don Barba is great so I on log
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Popularity certainly spells RIME
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Each user can certainly find
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A conference to go
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They'll like it you know
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Posting time after time after time!
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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6 - HELL CONFERENCE UPDATE by John Dodson, Node ID ->CANTINA
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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It seems Hell conference participants are getting just what they
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deserve this month:
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>All off-line readers are configured for 81 characters per line, so ever
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>y
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>message and quote now looks like this.
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All conference members are now using triple-boxed quotes and 5 line
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signatures complete with beeps.
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Every day members receive a get rich quick pyramid-scheme chain
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letter.... and must send a dollar to each one.
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Every other day members receive a message from Al Szoldatits informing
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them that he is STILL tracking down lost messages.
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Every week all regional conferences are now renumbered. Consequently,
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1 out of 3 messages is discussion about the current and/or future
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number for the Florida Regional conference.
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Chuck Gilmore places a Network Sysop message in the conference;
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asking, "Who is stepping on my timeslot at NETNODE?" ALL 700 sysops
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in the network respond by saying "Uh? ..I don't relay with NETNODE!"
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Every day members receive a 4 page message from JM Dolan explaining
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the difference between Bps & Baud and "Real" & "Fake" modems.
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Someone in the conference tells Dave Shubert that version 4.2 of
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PCRelay was released two months ago and no one has upgraded.
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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7 - ADMIN ANNOUNCEMENTS
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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It is with great pleasure that we announce that Dan Deady of node PGHS
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has accepted the job of Conference Coordinator!!!!
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Dan brings a great deal of experience and hard work to this position as
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he has been Skip's assistant and is quite familiar with the various ins
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and outs of the needs of this network. (wonder why he took it then
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right? <grin>)
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Welcome Dan to his new position!
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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8 - NOTICES
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=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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The RIME Times staff is now maintaining the newsletter AUTOSEND list.
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If you are a RelayNet node and would like the newsletter sent to your
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board automatically each month send a message to Michael Brunk, Node
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ID ->CSPACE or John Dodson, Node ID ->CANTINA. Please check to see
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if your hub will AUTOSEND it to avoid duplication.
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Current listing of Bulletin Board software participating in RelayNet:
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SpitFire GAP
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QuickBBS GT Power
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Remote Access MajorBBS
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PCBoard/ProDoor dBBS
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RBBS EIS
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Wildcat!
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To make life easier for the editors, the following submission guidelines
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are suggested:
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1) To be included in the current month newsletter all articles must be
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submitted by the 5th of the month.
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2) A routed private message in either the COMMON is acceptable. Please
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address and route to: Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE or John Dodson
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Node ID ->CANTINA.
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3) Your name as used on RIME.
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4) Your node id if you are a RIME sysop or your "home" board id if you
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are a RIME user.
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5) Any special instructions.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The RIME Times is published monthly by the membership of RelayNet
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International Message Exchange as its official newsletter. Users and
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Sysops are encouraged to contribute. Submissions and questions may be
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directed to the editor Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE.
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(c)Copyright 1991, The RelayNet International Message Exchange. Permission
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is hereby granted for unlimited distribution and duplication, provided
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such distribution and duplication are strictly for non-commercial purposes
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only. All other rights reserved. RelayNet and RIME are registered
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trademarks.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------
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