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JUL RELAYNET INTERNATIONAL MESSAGE EXCHANGE NEWSLETTER 1990
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+---------------------------------+
| EDITORS FILE |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Ed Lazarowitz, Node id ->CAPCON.
Welcome to the July issue of RIME Times! John has asked me to fill in a
little for him this month, as he's been kinda busy. Between his consulting
business, his BBS, and managing to squeeze in a vacation, he didn't have
much time to devote to Rime Times. But, that's what a co-editor is for!
We have several good items this month. I'm continuing my regular series.
"Meet The Conference Host", with a piece by Doug MacLean. As you'll find
by reading his article, Doug is *very* involved in both BBSing and
RelayNet. Also this month, I have included the solution to the DB2 Puzzle
I presented in the last issue. Also on a technical note, Doug MacLean
continues his excellent "C" Tutor series.
Our Conference Coordinator, Skip Ross, informs us about changes in various
RelayNet conferences and Nathan Anderson presents the results of his latest
Rime Times Poll. I'm sure the results will surprise you! I know they did
me. Another item you'll definitely want to read is the comic soap opera,
DIME TIMES. It's a tongue-in-cheek spoof of some of our more visible
RelayNetters, written by Jim Prohs. I guarantee that you won't be able to
control your laughter.
With all the recent problems and inter-conference discussions revolving
around the issue of 'individual rights as they relate to network usage',
you'll want to spend some time with Jim Spinelli's article this month. As
always, Jim's analysis is insightful and well-written. If you haven't
learned anything after reading his article, go back and read it again!
Well, that's about all I have to say for this month. I'd like to take a
moment to thank those individual Conference Hosts I've been working with on
my ongoing series. And if you're a CH, and I haven't yet contacted you,
don't fret. The current conference list is long, and I've just begun to
work my way through it!
See you on the next relay!
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+---------------------------------+
| MEET THE CONFERENCE HOST |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Doug MacLean, Node ID ->RUNNINGB
For those who don't know me, my name is Doug MacLean, and I'm the
Conference Host of several RelayNet conferences. The six conferences that
I host are very important to me. It is a way for me to return some of the
kindness and support that the people here have shown me. The reason I host
six conferences is that, with the exception of Genetics, they are all
inter-related. We look at various problems from many different views and
the topics are lively and informative. As a matter of reference, the
conferences I currently host are: 'C', ASSEMBLER, GENETICS, OBJECT-
ORIENTED, BRIEF EDITOR SUPPORT, and SYSTEM'S ANALYSIS & DESIGN.
I'd like to take a few minutes and tell you more about myself and the
various conferences I host.
I currently work for First Boston as a senior system's analyst and network
administrator. The job is very interesting as I work under a variety of
different environments including DOS, Windows, OS/2 and Unix. I very often
have to write various utilities; which I enjoy. As part of my job, I have
to evaluate and install a lot of different packages. This also includes
training people in the new products, as well as teaching various aspects of
programming and the network.
I started to teach myself computers during the mid seventies while I was in
a PhD/MD program at Mt. Sinai in New York City. I was basically a medical
researcher that just happened to have a liking for the various computers we
had. Soon, I was placed in charge of all the computer functions for the
department. Budget cuts from the Federal government put an end to my
research grant and I started working directly in the computer field.
I started hanging out on the various New York area boards in 1985. I saw
that there was a great deal of quality software and interesting
conferences. Soon, I started to release my own set of utilities. In
January of 1989, Bill Johnson asked me to Sysop the Vernon BBS with him. Of
course I said yes and we started the board. He became a RelayNet hub
shortly after that and I started to host the 'C' Conference. While working
with Bill on the Vernon, I became involved as the Co-Sysop on the Double
Helix BBS and the Aero Board. Each board I'm actively involved in has a
slightly different focus. While the Vernon has a lot of files and
conferences, the Double Helix is a science-oriented board and the Aero
Board is the main distribution site for the Boyan Communication program, of
which I am a beta tester.
In addition to my role as Conference Host for the 'C' Conference on
RelayNet, I was also playing host to a local assembler-oriented conference
on the Vernon and a local genetics conference on Double Helix. Shortly
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after Vernon joined RelayNet, these too became official RelayNet
Conferences with me continuing on as the host.
As interest in my three conferences grew, it became apparent that a need
still existed for additional conferences relative to the programming
process. I strongly believe that programming is just part of the process
of creating a program, utility or system. I started the Object-Oriented
conference with Rick Kingslan and soon afterwards the System's Analysis &
Design conference. My sixth conference, Brief Editor Support, went on line
near the beginning of this year. I think I will stay put with hosting six
conferences for now.
A while back I started to change the format of the conferences to more of
an on-line magazine. I would write and post articles, programs and
routines to help stimulate the threads. This has worked out extremely
well. Requests for reprints of the articles encouraged me to request a
monthly column from John Dodson. I encourage the topics started in one
conference to overlap with other ones on my conferences. I feel that this
adds a lot of dimension to the threads on my conferences and the people
seem to enjoy it. We often look at a problem from a lot of different
perspectives this way.
The following is a brief overview of the six (6) conferences I host:
'C' -- Concerned with the 'C' programming language, with
message traffic averaging about 50 messages per day.
This was the first of my conferences that I tried
the on-line magazine format with. The topics are
lively and always interesting. People interested
in programming can get a good taste for the
language here.
ASM -- Topics of interest to the assembler programmer. Since
few are programming in assembler at the moment, message
traffic tends to be very light. Many topics that start
on the 'C' conference end up here. We often talk about
interfacing assembler code with higher languages.
Systems -- Concerned with the analysis and design of programs towards
the end result of integration into larger 'systems'. We
cover all types of problem solving, not just for
programmers, with the overall message traffics ranking
as light to moderate.
OOPs -- This conference is dedicated to topics of concern to the
object oriented programmer. Languages such as C++ are
discussed at length. Since the release of Turbo C++,
message traffic has been moderate. People interested
in knowing more about this new trend in programming
can learn a lot here.
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Brief -- Support for the Brief Editor is provided in this
conference. Many useful tips on the use of the very
complex Brief macro languages are presented in this
conference, with message traffic in the light to
moderate range. I have provided many useful macros for
use of EZ-Reader on RIME, drawing with Brief, etc. in
this conference.
Genetics -- Concerned with the impact of genetic research in today's
changing world. Anyone concerned with the advances in
research and medicine will find this conference
interesting.
I am proud to serve as the host for all six of my RelayNet conferences.
These conferences contain some of the brightest, helpful and willing people
anywhere. After reading this article, you feel that you would benefit by
joining us, by all means drop in and check us out!
If you want to converse with me personally, simply send me a message on any
one of my conferences, or on COMMON routed to node id ->RUNNINGB Although
my RelayNet mail is received through Howard Belasco's Running Board BBS, as
mentioned earlier in this article, I am the Sysop of The Vernon BBS (201-
827-6441) along with my good friend Bill Johnson, and Co-Sysop for The
Double Helix BBS (212-865-7043) and the Aero Board (201-865-7043).
+---------------------------------+
| A DB2 PUZZLE |
| The Answer |
+---------------------------------+
by Ed Lazarowitz, Node id ->CAPCON
I just know you all have been waiting with baited breath for the
solution to my DB2 Puzzle from last month's issue, so here it is:
--
--- Solution to Rime Times Newsletter DB2 Puzzle
--
SELECT DISTINCT
(A.DEPT*100)+(COUNT(*)*10), -- New Employee Id Number
A.DEPT, A.NAME, A.JOB, -- Data From Q.STAFF Table
A.YEARS, A.SALARY, A.COMM -- Data From Q.STAFF Table
FROM Q.STAFF A, Q.STAFF B
WHERE A.DEPT = B.DEPT
AND A.NAME >= B.NAME
GROUP BY A.DEPT, A.NAME, A.JOB, A.YEARS, A.SALARY, A.COMM
ORDER BY A.DEPT, A.NAME
--
--
-----------------
--- END QUERY ---
-----------------
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The reason this query works is due to the 'iterative' join. First we join
the Q.STAFF table back to itself, connecting the two 'versions' on the
common column, DEPT. Knowing that DB2 will create the DISTINCT result set
prior to performing the scalar function, we specify the conditional A.NAME
>= B.NAME. This creates the counter that's incremented in the scalar
function portion of the SELECT statement, (A.DEPT*100)+(COUNT(*)*10). This
causes DB2 to count all iterations of A.DEPT, within A.DEPT, where the
A.NAME is greater than or equal to B.NAME. Simple math builds the new
department number, COL1.
Note that if this conditional had been coded A.NAME = B.NAME, there would
have been no incrementation. Likewise, if we had coded A.NAME <= B.NAME,
we would have set up a decrement within each A.DEPT, with the
alphabetically ascending names having descending COL1 values. I also
arbitrarily chose to create my new Employee Id Numbers (COL1 values) based
on the employee name. Another permutation could have been to build the new
numbers based on years of service or Job Title. Can you figure out how to
modify the query to make it work that way?
Well, that's it for DB2 this month. If you've enjoyed working on this
little puzzle, drop me a line at node id ->CAPCON and tell me about it. If
enough people respond, I will come up with other DB2 Puzzles for future
Rime Times editions. Yours in a relational mode, Ed Lazarowitz.
+---------------------------------+
| CONFERENCE NEWS |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Skip Ross, Node id ->ACC
New Conferences!
NAME: French Language
NUMBER: 206
DESCRIPTION: This conference is for our French speaking members,
but is open to all.
HOSTS: Armand Michaud Node ID ->CAMBMIC
Daniel Steffen Node ID ->ULTRABBS
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: Spanish Language
NUMBER: 207
DESCRIPTION: This conference is for our Spanish speaking members,
but is open to all.
HOSTS: Ana Wenzel Node ID ->GRAPEVNE
Dan Beko Node ID ->TREASURE
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: Session Manager
NUMBER: 208
DESCRIPTION: This conference is for one of the newest Off-Line
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Readers, compatible with the .QWK packet.
HOST: Pat Hart Node ID ->TWEXCH
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: Scanners/SWL
NUMBER: 209
DESCRIPTION: This conference will feature discussions about the
monitoring of radios and user exchange of
frequencies, shortwave loggings, and the radios we
use in monitoring. Come and join the exciting world
of Scanner and ShortWave radio, and ever growing
hobby.
HOST: Ken Fowler Node ID ->NETEAST
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: Pre-Teens
NUMBER: 210
DESCRIPTION: This conference is for those under the age of 13.
To give our younger computer users the opportunity
to learn BBS skills while communicating with their
peers. Parental guidance expected.
HOSTS: Karen Brown Node ID ->GODFTHR
Debbie Campbell Node ID ->
ACTIVITY: Re-Instated
NAME: HDTV (High Definition TeleVision)
NUMBER: 211
DESCRIPTION: This conference is dedicated to the discusions
about the new technology in television. HDTV is a
wide screen, very high resolution TV that has been
on the air in Japan since late 1988, and will be
coming to America in the near future.
HOSTS: Steve Hannah Node ID ->PUNKIN
Tom Tcimpidis Node ID ->MOGUR
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: WordStar
NUMBER: 212
DESCRIPTION: This conference is dedicated to the discusions
and techniques used in the day to day operation of
all versions of WordStar Word Processing Software.
HOSTS: Suzanne Hoyle Node ID ->GAS
Ralph Drayer Node ID ->BSO
ACTIVITY: NEW
I also would like to announce that we have a new Host in our
Engineer conference (net #107), please make welcome Wayne Vearil
of Node ID ->ENERGY
We also have a new Host and new name for conference # 158. The conference
was named ADLIB, but in light of the ever changing market, the name has
been generalized to SOUND CARDS, and is now Hosted by Randy Blackmond
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Node ID ->BASEMENT
I also want to take a minute and thank the departing Host, Kirby
Kalbaugh, for creating and building this great conference. Kirby,
Thank You!
+---------------------------------+
| RIME TIMES POLL |
| |
+---------------------------------+
By Nathan Anderson, Node id ->OUTER
It's time for the results of the second RIME Times poll. For the past two
months, you have probably seen many of my pleas to answer my poll. I think
all the messages paid off since 123 users answered.
This recent survey asked how long you usually use your computers, at home
and at work, if applicable. I didn't organize this poll very well,
however, and the answers were extremely varied, so the results are probably
not too accurate. So, on with the results.
Out of the 123 users who answered, 122 use PC's at home, and 72 use them at
work. Many of you who answered gave a range of time that you used your
computer. This throws off the poll even more.
The average of the average of ranges says that we work about 4.6 hours a
day on the computer and 6.2 hours a day at work. (I say "work" at the
computer, but it might be better to say "use" the computer.) The ranges
that you gave to me don't make too much of a difference, however. The
average of the longest hours is about 4.8 hours at home and 6.6 hours at
work, and the average of the shortest hours is 4.2 at home and 5.9 at work.
If everyone worked a short day, the total number of hours logged would be
about 949 hours, an average day would be about 1005 hours, and if everyone
worked a long day on the computer, there would be a whopping 1061 hours
logged!
Now, for all of you who think you work too long on the computer, or are
repeatedly pestered by parents or spouses, I've got a bit of information
for you. The longest any of you uses the computer at work is 16 hours a
day, and some of us use the computer at home for up to 14 hours a day!
(Those of us that don't work, of course.)
I hope you enjoyed the results of this poll, and I'll try to continue
providing some hopefully useful information to the users of RIME!
If you have any ideas on what I could ask in my poll, please drop me a line
in the COMMON conference with your suggestions.
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+---------------------------------+
| BEGINNERS CORNER |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Dane Beko, Node id ->TREASURE
An Alternative to File Gathering
When most people think about bulletin boards (BBS), they immediately
envision lots of files that can be downloaded. The focus of this article
is to introduce another facet of BBSing, messages.
There are two basic types of messages, local and echoed. The local
messages are messages that stay on the particular BBS that they were
written on. Echoed messages are just that; echoed from one BBS to another
via modem. There are a number of message networks across the US and the
world. Here are but a few of them:
RelayNet SmartNet HyperLink
MetroLink InterLink FidoNet
Each bulletin board that you call will have what are known as conferences.
Each conference will deal with a particular subject. For instance, on
Treasures-BBS, there is a Hard Drives conference that focuses on hard
drives, problems, questions, technical assistance, etc. Depending on what
the system operator (SYSOP) of the board wants in terms of the conferences,
will depend of the number carried. FABulous BBS carries 126 conferences for
instance. Some of these conferences will be local while others will be
echoed ones.
A BBS that carries echoed (or relayed) conferences each night will extract
the day's new messages into a compressed packet of mail and call another
board and exchange it for a packet of new mail. The new mail is then
imported into the board's message bases for you to read. If you've been
attending the BBS/Modem SIG after every Main meeting, this has been the
topic for the last few meetings. We've been talking about ways to read,
reply and enter messages while on-line. This method is a bit crude as it
uses your valuable on-line time and also ties up the board for other
callers. It also doesn't allow you to really think about what you're
typing since you've only so many minutes on-line. The July BBS/Modem-SIG
meeting will address another way of messaging, using an off-line reader and
a maildoor such as MarkMail or Qmail. But this article will serve as an
introduction/orientation of sorts for that meeting.
As I have mentioned, reading mail while on-line can become quite lengthy.
To this end, there are a number of maildoor programs that the sysops of the
boards can use that will collect all of your mail, scan for new files and
bulletins, and compress them all into a packet that you then download. The
most popular type of maildoor is either MarkMail or Qmail.
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Both of these doors create packets of mail that are compatible with each
other. Every board down here in Orlando uses the MarkMail door so that's
the one that we'll discuss here.
Once you've downloaded that packet of new mail, you then use an off-line
reader such as Ez-Reader or Qmail Reader to uncompress, read/reply/enter
your messages, recompress it into a reply packet which then you upload back
through the maildoor for distribution into the board's message bases.
Using an off-line reader allows you several things. The first of which is
that you now have more time to read your new messages and reply to them. If
the message that you'd like to reply to is one of a technical nature, this
allows you to do some research before replying. You can give more thought
to the messages and in general, make more intelligent conversations. The
latest version of Ez-Reader (v1.28) can be found on a great many boards
here locally.
Using the MarkMail door is fairly straight-forward. On each board, that
uses it, will be a door listing informing you of what door number it is.
As a point of reference, on FABulous, it's 5 and on Treasures, it's 2 in
conference 11. After you've opened the MarkMail for the first time, the
door will recognize the fact that you're a new user to it and will display
prompts telling you what you need to do. After the welcome screen is
displayed, the following prompt will appear:
(154 min. left) MarkMail Command?
If you just hit the enter key here, it will display a list of the commands
that you can use in MarkMail:
[C]onfigure Door
[D]ownload Messages
[U]pload Replies
[O]perator Page
[Q]uit to BBS
[G]oodbye, Logoff
Since you're a new user of the MarkMail door, you'd want to select
C)onfigure Door. This will bring up the following screen:
(54 min. left) MarkMail Command? C
Configuration Menu
1. Select Transfer Protocol. Currently: Zmodem (DSZ Forsberg)
2. Toggle Receiving Bulletins. Currently: On
3. Toggle Receiving Your Own Messages. Currently: On
4. Toggle New Files Scan. Currently: On
5. Toggle QMail Deluxe Reader Menu. Currently: Off
6. Set Maximum Size of MESSAGES.DAT. Currently: Unlimited
7. Set Conferences, Message Pointers.
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8. Set All Pointers to the High Message.
Menu selection 1 is to set your default upload and download protocol.
Enter your Selection or [Enter] to Return: 1
1. Zmodem (DSZ Forsberg)
2. 1K-Xmodem-G (Full Flow)
3. Ymodem Batch
4. 1K-Xmodem (Old Ymodem)
5. Xmodem-CRC
Menu selections 2-4 are toggles in that you select them once to turn them
on and then again if you want to turn them off.
Menu selection 5 is for those callers who have registered the Qmail reader
and received Qmail Deluxe. Ez-Reader currently has a message per
conference limit of 200 messages. Qmail Deluxe has no limit, hence the
special toggle for it.
Menu selection 6 is so that you can limit the size of your mail packet.
This is useful if you're using two floppy drives (or one) to read your
mail. You can specify any size here and once your messages reach that
limit, MarkMail will stop collecting new mail.
Menu selection 7 is important as this is the one that allows you to select
in which conferences you want MarkMail to collect mail. When you choose
this menu choice, a screen similar to the following appears:
Enter your Selection or [Enter] to Return: 7
* = All Mail # = Your Mail Sort: Numerical
0 *Main Board 16 #COMMON 30 *RELAY 44 HANDICAP 58 *SCUBA
3 *TRADING 17 ENTERTAN 31 FIREARMS 45 *NEWUSER 59 *BOATING
4 SPORTS 18 *USR 32 GADGETS 46 *PCBHINTS 60 ASHTN-DB
5 *SYSOP 19 VACATION 33 FIRE\EMS 47 REMEMBER 61 ASHTN-AP
6 CASINO 20 *MILITARY 34 POLICE 48 *SOFTWARE 62 LAPTOP
7 TRIVIA 21 *VETERANS 35 *FLA-NET 49 SATELLITE 63 GRAPHICS
8 AVIATION 22 *BBSADS 36 WEATHER 50 CELLULAR 64 MINI
9 *ADULT 23 *ANSI 37 *FLSYSOP 51 MENS 65 *NETADMIN
10 CUISINE 24 *QMODEM 38 *DESKTOP 52 JAPAN 66 *WORKAREA
11 *MARKMAIL 25 *DESQVIEW 39 *SYSOP-WORK 53 GAMBLING
12 *NATSYSOP 26 SMALLBUS 40 *JOBBANK 54 HAM
13 *4$SALE 27 GLOBAL 41 BROADCST 55 MUSICIAN
14 CURRENT 28 SENIOR 42 *SCI-FI 56 *MODEM
15 POLITICS 29 *EZ-READ 43 GEMOLOGY 57 *LANTASTIC
Enter Your Choice or [L]ist, [S]ort?
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At this time, the door is ready for you to start telling it what
conferences you want to collect main in and what the last message number in
each will be. If you are already reading mail in the conferences, then
those will reflect the message number that you read. If you haven't read
any messages in a particular conference, then the MarkMail door defaults to
0 as being the last message read. As you can see from the above sample
screen from Treasures-BBS, there is a variety of conferences to choose
from.
Next month, we'll take a closer look at messaging and how to use Ez-Reader
and the MarkMail door. I think that you'll find that off-line messaging
will become more enjoyable than just logging on and downloading files.
+---------------------------------+
| 'C' TUTOR |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Doug Maclean, Node id->RUNNINGB
This month's program is another that demonstrates the use of the linked
list. The purpose of the program is to read one or more ASCII text files,
sort and merge the lines and write them to another file. The destination
file may be the console (con), printer (prn) or any legal filename. The
sorting is done as each line is read in. This is a very powerful feature
of the linked list system. Since the sorting time is distributed over many
entries, the processing time is minimized for the user.
This program will also be the basis of next month's column which will show
how a 'C' program can be changed into a C++ program.
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <alloc.h>
#include <string.h>
#define MAXLINE 128
/* function prototypes */
void addnode(char* s);
void main(int argc, char **argv);
/* setup structure for linked list */
struct list
{
char *str;
struct list *next;
} *croot = NULL, *clast = NULL;
void
main(argc,argv)
char **argv;
{
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char dest[64];
FILE *fn;
char buf[MAXLINE];
char *ch;
if(argc < 3)
{
fprintf(stderr,"usage [<file>...] dest\n");
exit(4);
}
strcpy(dest,argv[argc-1]); /* save destination file name
*/
while(argv++,--argc> 1) /* loop thru all file names
*/
{
printf("file: %s\n",*argv);
if((fn = fopen(*argv,"rt")) == NULL) /* open a file to process */
{
fprintf(stderr,"Error opening %s\n",*argv);
exit(1);
}
/* get a line of text and convert to NULL terminated string */
while(fgets(buf,MAXLINE,fn) != NULL)
{
for(ch=&buf[strlen(buf)];--ch >= buf;)
if(*ch < 0x20)
*ch = '\0';
addnode(buf); /* add current line to linked list */
}
fclose(fn); /* be polite and close the file */
}
printf("dest: %s\n",dest);
if((fn = fopen(dest,"w+")) == NULL) /* open destination file */
{
fprintf(stderr,"Error opening destination file %s\n",dest);
exit(2);
}
/* loop thru sorted list and write to destination file */
for(clast=croot;clast;clast = clast->next)
fprintf(fn,"%s\n",clast->str);
fclose(fn);
printf("All files sorted and merged into %s\n",dest);
exit(0);
}
void
addnode(s)
char *s;
{
struct list *cp,*curr;
/* Allocate memory for list structure and string */
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if((cp=(struct list*)malloc(sizeof(struct list))) == NULL ||
(cp->str=malloc(strlen(s)+1)) == NULL)
{
fprintf(stderr,"Out of memory\n");
exit(3);
}
/* Initialize new stucture */
strcpy(cp->str,s);
/* first time - anchor with first entry */
if(croot == NULL)
{
croot = clast = cp;
cp->next = NULL;
return;
}
/* insert before the first */
if(strcmp(cp->str,croot->str) <= 0)
{
cp->next = croot;
croot = cp;
return;
}
/* insert after the last */
if(strcmp(cp->str,clast->str) > 0)
{
clast->next = cp;
clast = cp;
cp->next = NULL;
return;
}
/* insert in the middle of the list */
for(curr=croot;curr;curr=curr->next)
if(strcmp(cp->str,curr->next->str) <= 0)
{
cp->next = curr->next;
curr->next = cp;
return;
}
}
Notice how the routine to add a node is implemented. It sorts the lines as
they come in. The first while loop in the main routine loops through the
command line arguments. The last argument is taken off as the destination
file. The command line syntax is:
merge file1 file2 dest
I look forward to presenting the C++ version next month.
Coming Events:
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'C' Why move to C++
OOPs Operator overloading
System's Data normalization
ASM TASM vs MASM
Brief Startup macros
I'll be looking for ya there!
+---------------------------------+
| DIME TIMES |
| |
+---------------------------------+
By Jim Prohs, Node id ->NITERIDE
+-------------------------------+
|THE DIME TIMES ... A SOAP OPERA|
+----------+-------------------------------+-----------+
| The Cast: |
| Skip Boss; Conference Coordinator / DimeNet |
| Bonnie Dimeisme; Executive Director / DimeNet |
| James Spa'moan'i; Legal Advisor / DimeNet |
| Howard Bellow; S.C. Member (rumored to be |
| related to Bonnie Dimeisme) |
|------------------------------------------------------|
|THE TIME: near future THE PLACE: a conference call|
+------------------------------------------------------+
SKIP: Bonnie, what ever am I to do? I have had a request from the
Swahili Nation? They want a Swahili Language conference.
BONNIE: Stall for time, Skip... Explain to them we need at least
five BBS's that promise to carry it.
JAMES; Yes, Skip, but we must be careful how we word it. We don't
want to offend a whole nation. The international legal
implications would be very serious. I had better take it under
advisement.
SKIP: O My! O My!, the Native American Movement has requested a
conference on gardening. They want to call it the "Care and
Cultivation of Peyote Conference."
JAMES: That's a big one, Bonnie. It has implications reaching
clear up to the Supreme Court. We must be careful how we word
it. Better let me take it under advisement.
SKIP: B-B-B-Bonnie, You know I have to meet with the C-C-C-
Conference Ch-Ch-Chair's Union next week. W-W-What am I to d-d-
do about their demands?
BONNIE: Now calm down, Skip. You'll have another episode. I'll
call the pharmacy immediately after this call and get you
something to calm your nerves. Then I will call my office and
get you an emergency appointment for tomorrow. We can take care
of your nerves and plan our strategy at that time.
HOWARD: Just let me go to that union meeting, those ungrateful
********, I'd let them know where we stand.
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JAMES: That's a huge one Bonnie. We'd have to be very careful
about how he'd word it. I wouldn't advise it.
BONNIE: We have another problem. We have gotten so large we are
squeezing out our grass roots boards. Every call is long
distance to them. And now with over 250 messages a day in
common, 300 a day in for sale, and other conferences getting
equally as big, those bbs's can not afford to carry us. And it
is sad too, because they contributed so much. And you know, the
European Boards broke away and formed their own network for
that very reason. The calls to the US just got too expensive.
SKIP: It's just too bad we can not encourage more route only
mail. It could cut the long distance costs for most nodes by
60%. We could continue to grow and yet still be affordable.
HOWARD: You have as much chance of getting our users to R/O as
Jim Prohs has of getting me to switch from PC Board to
Spitfire....and believe me he can be pretty persuasive.
JAMES: Bonnie, I think I've come up with a way. It may not save
the full 60% but it will save a bunch. Let's ask the authors of
our readers to put in a feature. It goes like this; When the
user hits the keys to respond to a message he is automatically
asked if he wants to send it route only with a Y/n response, Y
being the default. The reader then could check the original
message for the id of the BBS the message originated from and
include it in the top line of the text. If there are BBS's
that can not handle route only you could simply end their Dime
ID's with a letter such as x and the readers would then know
the message couldn't be r/o. What do you think Bonnie?
BONNIE: You know, that idea may have some merit, James. Let's
post the idea in Administration and see what some of the others
think of it.
HEY, EVERYBODY, THIS IS BONNIE DIMEISME. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF
THIS IDEA?
**NEXT WEEK, WILL SKIP GO NUTS?, WILL HOWARD SPEAK AT THE UNION
MEETING? STAY TUNED TO DIME TIMES**
+---------------------------------+
| INTENTIONAL INTERFERENCE |
| WITH YOUR PERSONAL RIGHTS |
+---------------------------------+
by James J. Spinelli, Node ID ->VMC
Except for so-called acts of God, any interference with your personal or
property rights, whether intentional or through negligence, is a tort. Here
we shall begin to discuss intentional interference, particularly as it may
apply to the medium of the electronic bulletin board system (BBS).
Currently and in the past there have been discussions in RIME's Legal
Conference pertaining to such things as libel, slander, privacy,
defamation, the First Amendment and other related topics. This article will
attempt to address some of the concerns expressed in these discussions. Of
course, we'll only be scratching the surface. However, we trust that you
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will have some factual information from which to better understand the
issues involved and the remedies available. (NOTE: This information is NO
WAY intended as a substitute for competent legal advice which you may
obtain from a competent attorney in your state.)
Here we'll examine three types of interference torts:
(1) Interference with Your Peace of Mind
(2) Interference with Your Privacy
(3) Interference with Your Reputation (defamation: slander & libel)
Interference with Your Peace of Mind
------------------------------------
The growth in the sciences of medicine and psychology has brought about an
expansion of the idea of freedom from fear or apprehension. You may have an
action against someone who intentionally inflicts mental suffering on you.
For example, if someone falsely tells you that your spouse has been struck
by a car and rushed to the hospital, you may sue him or her for the
emotional anguish you suffer as a result of the lies. Similarly, you may
use this kind of suit to protect yourself against the high-pressure methods
of collection agencies that harass you with abuse and accusations and
threats of lawsuits.
If the person who receives a series of lewd and obscene telephone calls (or
messages) could identify the caller, he/she would probably have an action
against the caller for the mental distress suffered. So would the person
who receives telephone calls (or messages) regarding threats of physical or
mental harm -- and who suffers severe mental shock as a result. You have a
right to freedom from the consequences of this kind of malicious act, and
the courts protect that right by awarding damages -- nominal, or small, if
the harm is slight; punitive, or large, if the damage is great or the act
particularly outrageous.
Interference with Your Privacy
------------------------------
Another right increasingly protected by the courts is the right to PRIVACY,
i.e., your right to be let alone. The right to privacy has been recognized
in a large number of lawsuits and now exists in almost all states, either
as a result of court decisions or by legislation. Interference with your
right to privacy can take many forms. Perhaps the simplest examples of
interference are the most obvious: searching your house without a warrant
(such a search would also be a trespass, giving you additional grounds for
suing the searcher); eavesdropping on your telephone conversations by
wiretapping your phone without the court's consent.
BUT there are less direct ways of interfering with your right to privacy
that also give you the right to sue. One of these is giving objectionable
publicity to private information about you. For example, if the Sysop of a
particular BBS you access publishes information about you, such as a credit
card number, an unlisted telephone number, or some other information that
only he and you are privy to without your
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permission or against your wishes, you may have a right to sue him/her for
invasion of your right to privacy, particularly if the sysop has provided
assurances that information you provide will be kept confidential and/or if
your relationship is contractual and/or commercial (i.e., a subscription
BBS). The Sysop has no right to make public the private facts he/she knows
about you.
Interference with Your Reputation
---------------------------------
As important as any freedom to which you are entitled is freedom from
unwarranted, untruthful attacks on your character. This kind of attack, if
made in the presence of other people, constitutes DEFAMATION, for which you
are entitled to nominal or punitive damages, as the case may be. If you are
defamed orally, you have been SLANDERED. If the defamation is in writing
and shown to or seen by someone else, you have been libeled. Slander is the
less serious of the two torts because it is fleeting. The spoken words of
defamation exist only as they are uttered and then disappear forever. Libel
is permanent as long as the letter, magazine article, book or message in
which the words appear continues to exist, and the damages awarded are
therefore usually larger. Generally speaking, defamatory statements made
over radio and television are now considered libelous rather than
slanderous. Defamatory statements made about you in writing as appear in
BBS messages are libelous.
You can recover damages for slander or libel without having to prove actual
financial loss if you are accused of something as serious as having
committed a crime or having a "loathsome" disease (such as venereal disease
or AIDS) or if you're accused of being a butcher if you are a surgeon or a
shyster if you are a lawyer. The reason is that, since the good reputation
of a professional person is essential to his/her ability to make a living,
the law assumes that such accusations will diminish that ability and will
therefore damage him/her. Lawyers call this kind of attack slander or libel
PER SE.
[The statute of limitations for starting a civil action for libel
in some states are as follows -- the number is IN YEARS:
Arkansas = 3, Florida = 4, Massachusetts = 3, New Hampshire = 6,
New Mexico = 3, Rhode Island = 6, Vermont = 3. The remaining states
have a statute of limitations ranging from 1 to 2 years. BUT NOTE:
If a New York resident, where the statute of limitations is 1 year,
is libeled in New Hampshire, he/she may have up to 6 years to pursue
legal action. With bulletin board systems that are attached to
networks that cover a rather large geographical area, libel may not
necessarily be confined to the state in which the person libeled
resides. Therefore, networked-BBS users are well-advised to
exercise a great deal of caution before engaging in what may be
construed as a libelous statement regarding another networked-BBS
user.]
Remember that to entitle you to recover damages both libel and slander must
be "published" -- that is, communicated to others. If your neighbor call
you a thief over the backyard fence, with no one else
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present to hear him, he has not slandered you. Nor has he libeled you just
by writing you a letter charging you with bigamy: he must show his letter
to you to someone else.
Of course the attacks on you, written or oral, must be untrue to constitute
libel or slander. Truth is almost always a perfect defense in an action for
either tort. Freedom of speech is one of our most cherished rights. It
wouldn't amount to much if we were not free to say things about others that
we know to be true. The only exception to this -- and it is a rare one --
is when statements were true but the sole motive in making them was to hurt
you. The court might in this case hear a suit for the malicious use of true
information. Spreading lies about others, however, is different especially
when the lies affect their ability to make a living or may hurt them in
their family or public relationships.
You can go pretty far in expressing your opinion these days, but you risk a
lawsuit if you go too far in commenting on your neighbor's personal traits.
An amusing example was provided by the drama critic Heywood Broun, who
wrote such a savagely critical attack on an actor's performance in a play
that the actor sued Broun for libel. The lawsuit was still in the courts
when the same actor appeared in another play. All concerned rushed to
Broun's review to see what he had to say about the actor this time. The
actor's performance, Broun wrote simply, "wasn't up to his usual standard."
Say you are alone in your office, when someone comes in and starts calling
you a crook, a liar and a cheat. Can you sue that person for defamation? No
-- even if you aren't a crook, a liar and a cheat. Why? Because the
defamatory remarks must be heard (or read, in the case of libel) by someone
besides yourself.
Now suppose that your secretary heard the person call you a crook and such
but didn't believe a word of it. Does this prevent you from suing the
person for defamation? No. It doesn't matter whether the person who heard
the false remarks believed them or not. All that matters is that he or she
heard the untrue statements and knew they referred to you. The fact that
nobody believed the false statements does, however, have a bearing on how
much you will recover in damages. If no one believed the remarks, your
damages are minimal. On the other hand, if a major client of yours took his
or her business elsewhere after hearing (or reading) the statements, you'll
collect much more in damages.
Sometimes a statement is defamatory only if you are able to put two and two
together. If, for example, the local society reporter states that Mrs.
Smith is pregnant with her second child, this may at first appear innocuous
enough at face value. However if the statement is untrue, and Mrs. Smith
has been widowed for two years, the statement takes on a new meaning. If
you know Mrs. Smith, you can put the missing facts together to get the
underlying -- and defamatory -- meaning of the statement.
A possible defense, mostly in actions for slander, is that the statement
was PRIVILEGED; that is, the person who made it had a special immunity from
legal action at the time the statement was made. Legislators have absolute
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freedom of expression on the floor of the legislature. So if your
congressman makes a speech in the House of Representatives accusing you of
having supported a subversive group of terrorists or of financing or
engaging in illegal activities in your state, all you can do is write him a
letter or issue a statement to the press daring him to make the same
charges off the floor of the House -- where he won't have his defense of
privilege abed you may sue him. But don't let your anger goad you into
accusing him in public of being a liar and a cheat and a child beater,
unless you can prove what you say, or you may find yourself being sued.
Similarly, judges while conducting their official duties are privileged to
say whatever they want, whether in addressing witnesses, talking with
counsel in court or chairing the jury. Other public officials have more
limited privilege.
In recent years another legal doctrine has grown up in connection with
charges of slander and libel. This is the rule of FAIR COMMENT, under which
courts have held that public figures and elected and appointed officials
must expect and accept a harsher degree of criticism about the conduct of
their jobs than private persons. If a newspaper charged the state treasurer
with incompetent handling of public funds, this criticism would probably
fall under the fair comment rule, because the treasurer's competence is a
legitimate subject of public interest. He could not recover damages in a
libel suit against the paper. But if the same newspaper was to attack a
private citizen as being a criminal, the citizen could probably sue and
recover successfully.
For bulletin board systems, we come to grips with what is referred to as
the concept of a media defendant. As yet, there is no particular case law
or precedent that defines the BBS as a media entity, such as newspapers and
magazines. However, let's say, for the sake of argument, that the typical
BBS is, indeed, a media entity. As such, the sysop will generally be held
to the same or similar type of standard as are newspaper and magazine
publishers. But, such a "protective" standard does not protect users of the
BBS in the same manner -- that is, while a sysop may have somewhat more
leeway in expressions of opinion (versus fact) about people, users are
generally not as free to express the same types of opinions about people.
In conclusion, we can say that the laws of slander and libel are as complex
as they are inviting. However, a reasonable rule of thumb for each BBS
participant, be he sysop or user, is: If you cannot say something nice or
at least neutral about someone's character and/or reputation, then don't
say anything. Use of the BBS medium to spread falsehoods, cast aspersions,
suggest inuendos, etc., subject the maker to the more serious charges of
LIBEL, not slander, because the statements are IN WRITING and certaining
are "PUBLISHED." Further, if the BBS sysop is or provides reasonable
indication that he or she is a participant in the libel, then he or she too
may risk the consequences of such defamation.
A point that many of us may not realize at this juncture is that should you
ever find yourself involved in a lawsuit for libel, whether you win or lose
may be of short-term consequence only. The more long-term impact can very
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well be that you have damaged your reputation by being labelled (or
branded) as one who engages in potentially libelous statements. That in
itself may prove more costly and harmful to you in the long-term than any
immediate financial loss.
In our next article we'll examine the applicability of the First Amendment
in the BBS arena.
+---------------------------------+
| INTERNATIONAL/CANADA |
| NRC DISCOVERY |
+---------------------------------+
(Posted in Global by Frederick Lonsdale, node id ->CHANNEL)
The heaviest element known to science was recently discovered by
physicists at the NRC Research Centre. The element, tentatively named
"ADMINISTRATIUM", has no protons or electrons and thus has an atomic
number of 0. However, it does have one neutron, 125 assistant neutrons,
75 vice-neutrons and 11 assistant vice- neutrons. This gives it an
atomic mass of 312. These 312 particles are held together in a nucleus
by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles
called morons.
Since it has no electrons, ADMINISTRATIUM is inert. However, it can be
detected chemically as it impedes every reaction it comes in contact with.
According to the discoverers, a minute amount of ADMINISTRATIUM caused a
reaction to take over four days to complete, when it would normally
occur in less than one second. ADMINISTRATIUM has a normal half-life
of approximately three years, at which time it does not actually
decay, but instead undergoes a reorganization in which assistant
neutrons, vice-neutrons and assistant vice-neutrons exchange places. Some
studies have shown that the atomic weight usually increases after
each reorganization.
Research at other laboratories indicates that ADMINISTRATIUM occurs
naturally in the atmosphere. It tends to concentrate at certain points,
such as government agencies, large corporations, universities and NRC,
and can actually be found in the newest, best-maintained buildings.
Scientists point out that ADMINISTRATIUM is known to be toxic at any level
of concentration, and can easily destroy any productive reactions where it
is allowed to accumulate. Attempts are being made to determine how
ADMINISTRATIUM can be controlled to prevent irreversible damage, but
results to date are not promising.
- Anon member of the National Research Council, Ottawa
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+---------------------------------+
| TIPS FROM DAVE! |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by David W. Terry, Node id ->SCORE
(on setting up PCBSM to perform ratio adjustments)
Most people get confused by the ratio adjustments because they think they
can tell it HOW MUCH a caller can download. And that is not the case.
The ratio adjustments take place 'after the fact' as a reward or punishment
for actions already committed.
Re-read the above two paragraphs a couple of times and it will start to
sink in... you're likely thinking about using ratios just the opposite of
how they are designed so the 2nd paragraph should help clear things up.
You'll notice that in the ratio table you see ratios on the LEFT and
security levels on the RIGHT. This is to help you realize that it is their
CURRENT RATIO that determines what SECURITY level they will GET rather than
the other way around (where security level dictates a ratio).
In other words if you set up a table like this:
-200 30
-199 40
0 50
20 60
What you have told PCBSM is that if a user has an upload ratio of 2:1 that
his security level should be CHANGED to 60. If his upload ratio is 1:1
it'll be changed to 50. If his download ratio is between 1:1 and 19.1:1
he'll have a security level of 40. But if his download ratio drops to 20:1
or more then his security level will drop to 30.
So what SECURITY LEVEL he gets depends on how good he's been.
Then in PCBSetup you can control time limits and K-Byte limits based on
security level as well as access to the D)ownload command. You might set
the security level for downloading to something higher than 30 (in the
above example) so that people that have downloaded 20:1 can no longer
download. You might also cut their time short. Then as their ratio
improves you give them more time, more bytes, permission to download, etc.
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+---------------------------------+
| NAME THAT AUTHOR! |
| |
+---------------------------------+
I was quite disappointed with the truly dismal lack of response to last
month's addition of this regular feature. Not a single RelayNet user
guessed the correct authors of last month's quotes:
"If I'd have known I was going to live so long,
I'd have taken better care of myself." --Leon Eldred--
"Advertising is 85 percent confusion and 15 percent
commission." --Fred Allen--
"Advertising is legalized lying." --H. G. Wells--
I guess I'll just have to make my quote selection a little bit simpler.
Below are three more quotes. If you can name the author of any *one* of
the three, I will bestow upon you the high honor of Quote King (or Queen)
of the Month. Incumbent with the title comes the right and privilege to
use it in your tagline(s) for the following month! Please route your
answers R/O in COMMON to me at Node id ->CAPCON.
"An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you do."
"In our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom
of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practice
either."
"Communism is like one big phone company."
+---------------------------------+
| NOTES FROM |
| ADMIN |
+---------------------------------+
RelayNet is now 500 nodes strong!
+---------------------------------+
| AS SEEN ON THE BIT STREAM |
| |
+---------------------------------+
TAGLINE OF THE MONTH:
From: KEITH Standifer
"Can lyposuction be performed on FAT tables?"
Page 23
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PROTRACTED THREAD OF THE MONTH:
Anything to do with Matt Giwer
THE THREAD THAT LOST CONTROL:
Photo-Radar (on COMMON)
Of course, everything is out of control on COMMON!
MALFUNCTION OF THE MONTH:
A mysterious acting CONFIG program (released with PCRelay 4.1). The
problem has been positively traced to either a bad ZIP file, a bad Compaq
computer or bad Karma!
+---------------------------------+
| NOTICES |
| |
+---------------------------------+
The RIME Times is published monthly by the membership of RelayNet
International Message Exchange as its official newsletter. Users and
Sysops are encouraged to contribute. Submissions and questions may be
directed to the editors John Dodson, node ->CANTINA or Ed Lazarowitz, node
->CAPCON.
(c)Copyright 1990, The RelayNet International Message Exchange. Permission
is hereby granted for unlimited distribution and duplication, provided
such distribution and duplication are strictly for non-commercial purposes
only. All other rights reserved. RelayNet and RIME are registered
trademarks.
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