1796 lines
85 KiB
Plaintext
1796 lines
85 KiB
Plaintext
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄ· ÚÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄ· ÚÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·
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³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ º ³ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ º ³ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º
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Ô͸ Éͼ³ ÉÍÍÍͼ³ ÉÍÍÍͼ³ º\³ º³ ÉÍÍÍͼ³ º ³ º³ ÉÍÍͼ
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³þþþº ³þþº ³þþÓÄ· ³þþºþ³þþº³þþÓÄ· ³þþº ÚÄÄ· ³þþº³þþþÓÄÄÄ·
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³±±±º ³±±º ³±±Éͼ ³±±º\³±±º³±±Éͼ ³±±º ³±±º ³±±ºÔÍ͸±±±±º
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ÚÄÙ ÓÄ·³ ÓÄÄÄÄ·³ ÓÄÄÄÄ·³ º ³ º³ ÓÄÄÄÄ·³ ÓÄÙ ÓÄÙ ºÚÄÄÙ º
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³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛº ³ÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÚÄÄ·ÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº
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ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍͼ ÔÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍ; ÈÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ
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Volume 4, Issue 2 The Journal of IceNET February 1994
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ The Editor's Desk ³
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³ The State of IceNET Jim (1@1) ³
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³ Notes from the Managing Editor Louie (6@1) ³
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³ Thoughts from Odin Odin (1@7664) ³
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³ IceNEWS Questionnaire Deacon Blues (2@7653) ³
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³ IceNEWS Reader's Poll Apollo (1@2939) ³
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³ ³
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³ Sub Board Spotlight ³
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³ The NFL Pool Dan Garrison (22@3461) ³
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³ The Best of WWIV Russell Morris (208@3085) ³
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³ ³
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³ WWIV Specific ³
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³ How to Install Multi-Instances ³
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³ of WWIV under Windows Piero (1@2351) ³
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³ New WWIV Sysops Helpline Jack Ryan (1@4707) ³
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³ ³
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³ Software/Programming ³
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³ Borland C++ 4.0 Review Will (1@6754) ³
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³ Learning C - Part One Daarkhan (1@7676) ³
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³ ³
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³ Lite Bytes ³
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³ Trials of a Cyber Cop Pale Rider (1@23) ³
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³ Silly Strings Ima Moron (1@9661) ³
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³ The Adventures of ModemMan Jot$ (1@7850) Deacon Blues (2@7653) ³
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³ Untitled Poem Burma Shave, Dark Man (1@6853) ³
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ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´
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³ IceNEWS is seeking submissions from those who have story ideas. ³
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³ If you have an idea for an IceNEWS story, contact any IceNEWS ³
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³ editor or subscrib4e to IceNEWS Beat, subtype ICENEWS, host @1. ³
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
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T H E E D I T O R ' S D E S K
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ The State of IceNET ³ Jim (1@1)
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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As we begin 1994, with full steam ahead for the coming year in IceNET, I
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look forward with excitement on all the upcoming events...the release of WWIV
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4.24 and all the fun that will bring, WWIVcon in July (Be there!), and of
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course keeping all in IceNET informed by way of the many message bases
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available.
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I'd like to see IceNET reach 1000 systems this year, and with help from
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all sysops prompting their friends to join up, I think we can make it.
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Network growth is important, as it keeps us moving onward with new systems,
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new subs, new modem friends. Growth will come not only from present systems
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joining IceNET, but as well the new crop of sysops coming on into our network.
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It will be a challenge and a lot of fun to meet this goal.
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We have a new GC in Group 2, and her name is Lorelei. Since last
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November, she has been filling in on a temporary basis for Rocker, who has now
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officially gone into the ranks of former GC upon letting me know he felt Wendy
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was doing such a great job that he wanted her to stay on. Thanks Rocker for
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the great job you did, and I'm looking forward to your new responsibilities as
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they become defined. Good luck Lorelei!
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Now, let's get on with the first edition of IceNEWS for 1994, with Louie
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as managing editor. I hope you enjoy it!
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Jim (1@1) IceNEWS Editor-In-Chief
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ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ Notes from the Managing Editor ³ Louie (6@1)
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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Hi! I'm Louie, this months Managing Editor for IceNEWS. These are some
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comments from the M/E about the making of this issue. Besides, I didn't write
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anything this month and I like to be included. So, you have to read this
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before the other stuff.
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You might wonder how one gets appointed M/E. Well, with me it was all a
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mistake. Deacon Blues (2@7653) asked Jim (1@1) about me becoming an editor of
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IceNEWS. In other words, a member of the staff. Deacon either didn't make
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himself clear or Jim was tired and answering mail at 3 a.m. Either way, Jim
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got the idea that Deacon was recommending me to be M/E of the month this time
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around. Jim acted quickly and appointed me before a clarification could be
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gotten from Deacon. I started work and was well underway with it all before
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anybody figured out there was a misunderstanding in the works. And lets just
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say I'm a big guy. People weren't about to speak out against it all once I
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got started.
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I had fun as this months M/E. It was a tough job though. I had to ask a
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bunch of people for articles. Got a bunch. Lots of nice stuff for this
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months issue. But I am getting ahead of myself now.
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I would like to thank Jim and the rest of the IceNEWS Staff on all the
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help they have been with getting this issue out. Will (1@6754) and Ima Moron
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(1@9661) were very nice to me. Jack Ryan (1@4707) and Deacon Blues were great
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help to me. Deacon did a great job supporting me in this position. He really
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was almost a Co-ME with me.
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I would now like to ask you, our kind hearted reader, to let us know you
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exist. There is a nice little IceNEWS Questionnaire in this months issue by
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Deacon. Please fill it out and let him know what your likes and dislikes and
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stuff are. Apollo (1@2939) is doing something similar with all of IceNET.
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We do need people to write stuff for us as well. If you have an idea for
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an article, let us know about it. The IceNEWS staff will be more than willing
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to work with you. Just drop me an e-mail and I, or another member of our
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staff, will work with you. I would list a bunch of ideas, but we really don't
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have space for that. If you want to write something but don't have an idea,
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ask me for a few ideas. I got a bunch I would like to see written up.
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Likewise, if you read something you don't like in IceNEWS. Fire off a
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letter to the editor. Just drop that to Jim (1@1) and he will forward it to
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the proper person.
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If you would like to get involved with IceNEWS, then pick up the IceNEWS
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Beat Sub (Subtype: IceNEWS, Host: @1).
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Thanks for reading IceNEWS. Without you readers, we don't have any
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reason to do this, really.
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Louie (6@1) IceNEWS Managing Editor
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ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ Thoughts from Odin ³ Odin (1@7664)
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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It's one of those days while wondering whatever happened to The Editor
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and the Funny Pages BBS..........
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-=- Do you remember all the sysops who complained about registering WWIV for
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$50? These are the same guys who now complaining about the $80 registration
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charge. Do you think that they are going to wake up and smell the coffee or
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do you think that they will complain when it is $150?
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-=- Did you ever notice when you (the sysop) have completed the modding of the
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board that Wayne then announces: "The newest version of WWIV will come out
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on.." Ooooh that burns me up. Sure you can use the file to convert it over
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but it will take you days to mod the old version......I think Wayne and Filo
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talk it over and say, "Well Filo, what do you think? I think they should have
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modded the hell out of it by now, let's say we make a new version...it will
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drive them nuts!!"
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-=- Jim (1@1) recently put up a post about a sysop who appears to be pirating
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software from his board. Now, not to mention any names, but when will these
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people learn that this is a crime? I mean, the reason software prices are so
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high is that people are pirating the software. This crime is similar to
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shoplifting.
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Well....that's it. I hope many of you had as happy a holiday as I did
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and are looking forward to a great year.
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Odin (1@7664) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
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ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ IceNEWS Readership Questionnaire ³ Deacon Blues (2@7653)
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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IceNEWS is supposed to represent what YOU - the sysops and users of
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IceNET and the readers of IceNEWS - would like to read in your network
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journal. With this in mind, we ask that all of our readers (as well as our
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non-readers or others who may not have heard of IceNEWS before, by way of
|
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publicly posting this article) please take the time to fill-out and return the
|
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questionnaire below so we can better serve your wants and needs. The return
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mailing address can be found at the end of the questionnaire. If we, the
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editors, don't know what you, the readers, want to see in IceNEWS, we can't
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provide it. Please tell us what you like. Remember, without YOUR input, the
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IceNEWS editors would actually have to think and try to guess just what your
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tastes are. And we can't have THAT now, can we? :)
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IceNEWS Readership Questionnaire
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1.) Which statement best expresses your personal opinion regarding IceNEWS:
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A.) I always read it and like it very much.
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B.) I read it from time-to-time and usually enjoy it.
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C.) I have no feelings regarding it one way or the other.
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D.) I have read it and did not like it.
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E.) I have never heard of IceNEWS before now.
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2.) Which statement is true regarding how often you read IceNEWS:
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A.) I read IceNEWS on a monthly basis.
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B.) I read IceNEWS only occasionally.
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C.) I have never read IceNEWS before now.
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D.) I never bother or don't care to read IceNEWS.
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3.) Which statement is true regarding your IceNEWS reading habits:
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A.) I read all of the stories in each issue.
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B.) I read only articles that look like they might appeal to me.
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C.) I rarely find articles appealing to me so I don't read it.
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4.) "As a Sysop, I pass IceNEWS on to my regular users to read also."
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A.) True B.) False
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5.) Choose your favorite IceNEWS Department(s):
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A.) The Editor's Desk B.) Feature Articles
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C.) Hardware D.) Software/Programming
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E.) WWIV-Specific F.) Light Bytes
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6.) Choose the type(s) of articles that you would like to see in IceNEWS:
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A.) WWIV-Specific B.) Product Reviews
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C.) Sysop-Oriented D.) User-Oriented
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E.) Network-Specific F.) Area-Specific
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G.) Humor H.) General Computing
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I.) Programming-Related J.) "How-To" Informative
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K.) Interviews L.) Hardware-Related
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M.) Software-Related N.) Comprehensive Multi-Part
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O.) Editorials P.) Opinions
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Q.) Other (Please Specify)
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7.) In what ways do you think IceNEWS can be improved upon? (Be Specific)
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Please return to: Deacon Blues, 2@7653. Thanks in advance to all who take the
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time to send in their replies. Remember, YOUR opinion DOES COUNT! Help us
|
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make IceNEWS into the publication you want it to be.
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ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ IceNEWS Reader's Poll ³ Apollo (1@2939)
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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1: What does IceNET mean to YOU?
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2: What is your favorite aspect of IceNET?
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3: Which network is your favorite?
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4: Why do you think IceNET is Better/Worse than other networks?
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5: How long have you been in IceNET?
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6: How long have you been running a BBS?
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7: How long have you been BBSing?
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8: How long have you been a computer user?
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Please E-Mail your responses to Apollo 1 @2939 IceNET.
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Apollo (1@2939) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
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ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
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S U B B O A R D S P O T L I G H T
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
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³ The NFL Pool ³ Dan Garrison (22@3461) [Subtype: 43461, Host: @3461]
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ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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As the Fifth Season of THE NFL POOL, a nationally multi-netted message
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base, comes to a very successful end, I am amazed (and pleased) on how it has
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done. Looking back to its beginning, and some of the rough roads it has been
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over, a person might think it could never have gotten to this place.
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I work as a mainframe computer programmer in St. Louis. In 1989, the
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company put a personal computer on my desk. At first I did not want it. But,
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then my supervisor discovered it had an internal modem and showed me how to
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use it. Within a few months I had stumbled into the world of electronic
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bulletin boards and enjoying every minute of them.
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For years I have been an "NFL NUT". When I moved to the Washington, D.C.
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area in 1975, it took only one fall season, and I was hooked as a Redskin fan.
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While in the Washington area, I entered the weekly football Pool run by the
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newspaper. Later, in 1933, at my previous job here in St. Louis, I helped
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run the NFL football Pool. Once in a while I even won a little money.
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After getting into BBSing, I wondered if there might be a way that I
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could run an NFL Football Pool through a message base. Birdhunter, a local
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sysop gave me the opportunity on his board, and in 1989, the first season of
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THE NFL POOL was underway. I began it with a simple process. Players were to
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pick the winners of each week's games. We would use the Monday night game as
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a tie breaker, in the same way I had seen it used in the other Pools I had
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been a part of. Players would submit one set of picks each week. I would set
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a deadline and the date/time stamp of the post would serve as the validation
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that the deadline had been met.
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The first week we had a dozen players or so, including one or two ladies.
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Within a couple of weeks Birdhunter had hooked up with a board in the triangle
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area of North Carolina, and we had competition going, not only between users,
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but between two areas of the country. The posts were more than just picks.
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There was good banter, friendly 'swipes', and just plain fun.
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But around Thanksgiving, the company declared we could not use modems to
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contact bulletin boards, and I lost my access. For about a month the NFL POOL
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had no host. But, Birdhunter and some friends surprised me at Christmas with
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an XT as a gift, and I was able to complete the season.
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The following year the NFL POOL was in its second season, but at
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Thanksgiving time, Birdhunter had to take his board down and we struggled to
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find a board to host us through the season. When the season was over, the
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North Carolina board notified me it also was going down.
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So during the off-season I looked for a local replacement. Chairman
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Paley of the Aviary made arrangements for the Pool to be hosted there. And
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then I looked for some competition. I heard from Pillsbury Dough Boy of
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BoardWalk in New York. He talked 'big' and since the Buffalo Bills and New
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York Giants had just competed in a close Superbowl, this seemed like a great
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opportunity.
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For the next two seasons, we in St. Louis had a great rivalry with
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people in Upper State New York, and regretfully the overall title each season
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went to New Yorkers.
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As the fourth season came to an end, I was learning more, and discovering
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multi-networks. I wanted to expand the NFL POOL. But there were new problems
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emerging in St. Louis. Chairman Paley and the sysop of the Aviary had left
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St. Louis. While the Aviary was still up, it did not appear real stable to
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me, and I definitely wanted to go mulit-net. I also knew that if I expanded
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the NFL POOL, I would have to find some way to keep track of the many picks
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that would come in.
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ACE, a guy here in St. Louis, voluntarily took on the challenge of
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writing a program to help me. We did a little testing of it and worked out
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some bugs. Meanwhile I looked for a new host board, and found TOAD HALL.
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This turned out great as the sysop kept me very informed of everything to do
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with the sub. I put out one 'ad' in the WWIVNet Yellow Pages, and one ad in
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the WWIVLink Yellow Pages. Somewhere along the line I made contact with
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IceNET.
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During the fifth season of THE NFL POOL, we had over 30 boards
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participating, around 50 posts a week, 71 different users make picks one or
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more weeks, and some of the best competition we have ever had. And by in
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large it has gone well. Oh, we had a problem with someone questioning the
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deadline rule. We have always seemed to have a problem with that. This time
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it went a little further than it has in the past. But, it eventually blew
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over.
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Why do I do it?
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I enjoy NFL Football. I enjoy good competition. Most of the people who
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participate, have fun with the competition. Many good-natured 'jabs' are
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taken. People root for their favorite teams, and make fun of the host's team.
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Unlike some message bases, the posts stay away from being mean-spirited.
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I run the NFL POOL, fair and even-handed. It is nice to receive messages
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that show appreciation for the NFL POOL and how I run it. It was especially
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gratifying this past season to have players from both coasts, and several
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states in between part of the NFL POOL.
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|
|
For an old guy, this is really participating in the 'electronic highway'.
|
|
|
|
Dan Garrison (22@3461) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ The Best of WWIV ³ Russell Morris (208@3085) [Subtype: BESTOF, Host: @3085]
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
When I fire up my modem these days, I'm a man on a mission. A zealous
|
|
crusader. A cybernetic knight on a quest for my own version of the Holy
|
|
Grail.
|
|
|
|
It's about quality.
|
|
|
|
Specifically, I'm looking for great posting. As moderator for the
|
|
networked discussion sub "The Best of WWIV," I make it my goal to seek out the
|
|
best in publicly posted messages. When I find them, I copy them to The Best
|
|
of WWIV, and from there the messages are echoed to an appreciative audience of
|
|
BBS users on systems stretching from New York to Alaska.
|
|
|
|
Although the sub has only been in existence a short time, it has been
|
|
very well-received by WWIV sysops. Originally available only through the West
|
|
Coast InfiNet network, The Best of WWIV is now carried on three additional
|
|
networks: IceNET, WWIVlink and WWIVnet.
|
|
|
|
Something Different
|
|
|
|
The concept behind The Best of WWIV takes a little getting used to.
|
|
Normally, WWIV netsubs tend to be very interactive. You see a lot of
|
|
spontaneity, people firing opinions back and forth. The Best of WWIV, though,
|
|
is strictly limited to re-posted messages from other discussion areas. (Any
|
|
discussion of the re-posted messages takes place on a companion sub, The Best
|
|
of WWIV--Discussion.)
|
|
|
|
The idea is that this is a place where you can read great messages
|
|
without having to wade through a lot of garbage. Every post on The Best of
|
|
WWIV is there because someone read it somewhere else, and thought it was worth
|
|
re-posting. (Although I've done much of the re-posting myself so far,
|
|
subscribing sysops and users also re-post deserving messages.)
|
|
|
|
But what is it that makes a "great" post? Obviously, it's highly
|
|
subjective. It's hard to give a laundry list of characteristics, because
|
|
great posts come in all different shapes and sizes. For myself, I favor posts
|
|
that tell true stories about users' lives. A good example is a post I came
|
|
across in a networked discussion on Wayne Bell's BBS, Amber. The post was
|
|
written by a user named Batgirl who was looking for information on disk-based
|
|
copies of science fiction books. She explained that she was a big fan of sci
|
|
fi, but had been having a hard time finding it since going blind as a result
|
|
of a brain tumor. For me, there was something really special about the post,
|
|
a positive outlook she had despite what she'd been through, that really
|
|
affected me.
|
|
|
|
Other messages that have been re-posted on the sub include an account of
|
|
a user's near-drowning in the Atlantic Ocean, a story of a user's car catching
|
|
on fire and the story of a user who was raped as a child by her older brother.
|
|
Not all the messages have such serious content, though. In my own re-posting,
|
|
I like to mix up the serious stuff with more humorous posts, the kind that
|
|
make you laugh out loud in front of your monitor.
|
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|
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Fulfilling a Dream
|
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|
|
For me, The Best of WWIV has been a dream come true. As a former WWIV
|
|
sysop currently without a BBS, I created The Best of WWIV as a sort of
|
|
"mini-BBS," a place where I can offer users something unique without investing
|
|
the time a full-fledged BBS would require.
|
|
|
|
Much of the credit for making that dream a reality must go to Sleepy, the
|
|
sysop of The Slowsleep BBS, which hosts The Best of WWIV. Sleepy is tops in
|
|
my book. She is, hands down, the most caring, compassionate sysop I've ever
|
|
come across. She knew I was dying to do something like this, and made her BBS
|
|
available as a host-site. She's helped out in other ways, too, setting up and
|
|
maintaining the network connections and performing sub-maintenance chores that
|
|
I can't handle remotely.
|
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|
|
Ethical Issues
|
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|
|
As it turns out, creating The Best of WWIV was not as straightforward as
|
|
I originally expected. One of the toughest issues that came up along the way
|
|
involved intellectual property rights.
|
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|
|
I wanted this to be very legal and aboveboard. As a professional editor,
|
|
I know that copyright law can be very strict about re-using other people's
|
|
work. Even though re-posting of messages is common practice on computer
|
|
networks, I wanted to be very careful about it in a sub dedicated solely to
|
|
the practice.
|
|
|
|
As I gathered legal advice from online experts, a complex picture
|
|
emerged. Technically, a post is the property of its original author. The act
|
|
of publicly posting a message MIGHT constitute an "implied permission" for
|
|
someone to spread that message far and wide, but that theory apparently has
|
|
not been tested in court.
|
|
|
|
Most of the time, I knew, a person posting a message would be pleased at
|
|
the thought of it being re-posted on The Best of WWIV. Because the sub is
|
|
networked, though, I worried that there would be times when a person who had
|
|
posted in a local, non-networked discussion would object to having the message
|
|
broadcast network-wide. People might say one thing on a local sub, and
|
|
something completely different on a networked sub. And what about a
|
|
women-only sub, or an adults-only sub? It just didn't seem fair to yank a
|
|
message out of a context like that and broadcast it on The Best of WWIV
|
|
without getting the author's prior permission.
|
|
|
|
In practice, I've adopted a flexible approach. For myself, I almost
|
|
always try to secure the author's permission before re-posting. If I can't
|
|
reach the author, I sometimes go ahead and re-post the message anyway, if I'm
|
|
convinced that the author wouldn't have minded. In practice, I've had a good
|
|
success rate in gaining permission to re-post. Only one person has refused
|
|
permission; for the most part, people are thrilled.
|
|
|
|
I encourage others who re-post messages on The Best of WWIV to give
|
|
careful consideration to the permissions issue, but the sub has no explicit
|
|
rules on the subject. Because this is a gray area, both legally and
|
|
ethically, I want users to have the freedom to explore different approaches.
|
|
If someone re-posts a message that deals with personal or sensitive subject
|
|
matter, I may withhold network validation while I confirm that the original
|
|
author has granted permission, but otherwise I leave the permissions thing up
|
|
to the person doing the re-posting.
|
|
|
|
Future Directions
|
|
|
|
When new messages get added to a BBS discussion and old messages get
|
|
purged, those old messages are gone forever; there's no way to get them back.
|
|
Most of the time that's no great loss, but there are some messages, including
|
|
those that get re-posted on The Best of WWIV, that I think deserve something
|
|
better. Because of that belief, I maintain a separate archive of the messages
|
|
that are re-posted on The Best of WWIV.
|
|
|
|
My current plan is to distribute the archived messages from The Best of
|
|
WWIV in a series of files named BOF1.ZIP, BOF2.ZIP, etc., with each file
|
|
containing 100 messages. The first file is ready now, and by the time you
|
|
read this it will be available on Amber (310/798-9993) and the Slowsleep
|
|
(310/790-8560). It's my hope it will end up being distributed widely on other
|
|
bulletin boards.
|
|
|
|
I would like for The Best of WWIV to continue to grow in popularity,
|
|
eventually reaching a point where most of the re-posted messages will be
|
|
supplied by subscribing sysops and users, rather than myself. In the
|
|
meantime, I continue my quest for high-quality posting, searching throughout
|
|
cyberspace for worthy messages. (Despite its name, the sub is not limited to
|
|
messages that appeared originally on WWIV-based systems, but also includes
|
|
material from such places as Usenet and Fidonet. My basic take on this is,
|
|
"Well, once it's on The Best of WWIV, then it IS part of WWIV, right?")
|
|
|
|
Seeking out great messages is a lot of fun. It really brings a sense of
|
|
purpose to my modeming sessions. I'm not just poking around online; I'm a
|
|
hunter tracking down big game, bringing it back to The Best of WWIV so it can
|
|
get the recognition it deserves. If this sort of thing sounds interesting to
|
|
you, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to the sub and join in the fun!
|
|
|
|
The Best of WWIV (subtype BESTOF)
|
|
The Best of WWIV--Discussion (subtype BESTED)
|
|
Both subs are auto-requestable.
|
|
Host: The Slowsleep BBS
|
|
(310) 790-8560
|
|
WWIVnet @3085
|
|
WWIVlink @13064
|
|
IceNET @3085
|
|
InfiNet @3
|
|
|
|
I can be contacted at the following accounts:
|
|
|
|
Russell Morris
|
|
WWIVnet: #208 @3085
|
|
WWIVlink: #208 @13064
|
|
IceNET: #208 @3085
|
|
InfiNet: #208 @3
|
|
Internet: rmorris@wndrsvr.la.ca.us
|
|
|
|
[Selected posts from The Best of WWIV]
|
|
|
|
===========================================================================
|
|
BBS: AMBER
|
|
Date: 08-04-93 (19:22) Number: 97
|
|
From: BATGIRL #54 @6214 Refer#: 97
|
|
To: PUBLIC POST Recvd: NO
|
|
Subj: Ah... the memories! Conf: (6) SF & F
|
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
7 years ago I was an avid sci fi reader, I loved it all. Alas for some reason
|
|
only the Gods might know I managed to acquire a brain tumor that biffed the
|
|
optic nerves (drats!) This has put a crook in the reading of my stories!
|
|
Braille can rather suck in the respect that Scifi doesn't end up in braille
|
|
and recordings for the blind seem to just ignore it. I suppose this may seem
|
|
quite a stupid question, but I get many law texts on disk, has anyone ever
|
|
heard of scifi on disk?? I have a speech system and Chronos reads rather
|
|
well.. I can feel that pulling away from reality into other realms and worlds
|
|
in your words.. How I miss it.
|
|
|
|
Blind woman feel it better!
|
|
Batgirl
|
|
|
|
===========================================================================
|
|
|
|
50/50: Ancestor's Remains
|
|
Name: Grayfox #107 @8440
|
|
Date: Mon Oct 18 21:57:54 1993
|
|
From: WWIVlink - Unknown System
|
|
|
|
Reminds me of a story; a friend of mine had spent many years in Alaska, in
|
|
the field,studying the foxes. One day, a group of the people went to
|
|
Anchorage, and took one of the Grandfathers, who had never been to a city
|
|
with them. When he got there, they asked him what he wanted to see, he
|
|
replied " Take me to a cemetery, I want to desecrate some white people's
|
|
graves" Has to do with empathy, if I feel as kin to ALL peoples; I will
|
|
respect,and even cherish their traditions and customs, if I feel no kin-
|
|
ship, I will not respect them,or their customs. Thing is, if I have no
|
|
kin, I am as a tree without roots, or leaves, or branches; with kin,all
|
|
being is one with me.
|
|
|
|
Grayfox
|
|
|
|
|
|
===========================================================================
|
|
|
|
100/100: I am pessimistic today
|
|
Name: >ANONYMOUS<
|
|
Date: >ANONYMOUS<
|
|
|
|
maybe it is hormones or something, but today am feeling pessimistic. I don't
|
|
spend a lot of time worrying out loud or overtly concerning myself with the
|
|
future. I figure, take care of the present and the future will take care of
|
|
itself. However, I have been worrying about my children, grandchildren, great
|
|
grandchildren. . .
|
|
|
|
I can't see what will happen. The only thing on this earth that I can think
|
|
of that I am actually afraid of is our own government. We have never cheated
|
|
on our taxes, ever, but I have seen people, honest people, get into dire
|
|
straits and not be able to pull themselves out. Suddenly the IRS is down
|
|
their throats like pit bulls and they can ruin honest hard working people who
|
|
are being persecuted for hitting hard times.
|
|
|
|
When I was younger I thought those laws were to collar tax evaders and tax
|
|
cheaters, but since then I have seen them go after decent folk who through no
|
|
fault of their own hit hard times.
|
|
|
|
It scares the hell out of me.
|
|
|
|
===========================================================================
|
|
|
|
Russell Morris (208 @3085) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
|
|
W W I V S P E C I F I C
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ How To Install Multiple Instances On One ³
|
|
³ One Computer Using MicroSoft Windows v3.1 ³ Piero (1@2351)
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Introduction
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
I originally created this text file due to the fact that in the original
|
|
WWIV Documentation for Version 4.23 (released December 3rd, 1993 @ 6pm), it
|
|
had nowhere in it any way to install WWIV with Windows.
|
|
|
|
This text file is only for the purpose of telling you how to run WWIV
|
|
with Windows on only one (1) computer and optionally two (2) modems. If you
|
|
wish to have a Local SysOp Terminal and an On-Line Instance, it is only
|
|
necessary to have and configure one modem.
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
It is assumed you have already read the WWIV v4.23 documentation and have
|
|
installed WWIV v4.23, customized and familiarized yourself with the software so
|
|
I may not need to go into detail about where to place the paths and such as of
|
|
you're already aware of how to do these things; furthermore: SysOp's new to
|
|
WWIV should not attempt this because something may go wrong.
|
|
|
|
I, the author of this text file am not responsible for anything your
|
|
Personal Computer (PC) does that it was not supposed to do based on this
|
|
documentation, however; you may contact me at any of the following routes if
|
|
you do have trouble:
|
|
|
|
E-Mail: 1@2351 IceNET or TerraNET
|
|
E-Mail "Piero" on: Amber [310-798-9993], King Lerxt's Computer Castle
|
|
[818-240-9915], The Golden Chariot, The Outter Rim BBS or The Pod Bay Door
|
|
BBS.
|
|
|
|
Or U.S. Send mail to:
|
|
|
|
Dairenn Lombard
|
|
c/o The InfoLink Cosmos
|
|
P.O. Box 621133
|
|
Los Angeles, Calif 90062-1876
|
|
|
|
Initialization/Configuration SetUp
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
To set up The Second Instance you must first do the following steps:
|
|
|
|
1. Create a Directory called TEMP2 like this:
|
|
|
|
C:\WWIV>MD TEMP2 [Enter]
|
|
|
|
C:\WWIV>
|
|
|
|
2. Now Create the following 2 (or more, depending on how many Instances you
|
|
registered for) .BAT files and place them in your main WWIV directory, for
|
|
this example (such as above) we will use the standard directory: WWIV, you
|
|
may have configured your BBS differently.
|
|
|
|
I1.BAT:
|
|
|
|
@echo off
|
|
cls
|
|
echo Running Instance 1.
|
|
SET WWIV_INSTANCE=1
|
|
SET INSTANCE=1
|
|
bbs.com /1
|
|
|
|
I2.BAT:
|
|
|
|
@echo off
|
|
cls
|
|
echo Running Instance 2.
|
|
SET WWIV_INSTANCE=2
|
|
SET INSTANCE=2
|
|
bbs.com -m /2
|
|
|
|
3. Run INIT, but not in the usual manner. Instead type the following:
|
|
|
|
C:\WWIV>INIT ,2
|
|
|
|
You will see:
|
|
|
|
WWIV v4.23 Initialization/Configuration program.
|
|
Copyright (c) 1988-1993 by Wayne Bell
|
|
|
|
SY:
|
|
|
|
The 2 obviously means which instance you're going to configure. The reason
|
|
why we didn't start out with instance 1 (or node 1) because it has already
|
|
been configured. So, if you want Instance two to be a local terminal and not
|
|
use a modem. To do that, type in your System Password like you always do (you
|
|
will see:
|
|
|
|
|
|
WWIV v4.23 Initialization/Configuration program.
|
|
Copyright (c) 1988-1993 by Wayne Bell
|
|
|
|
1. System info (name, passwords, newuser info, etc)
|
|
2. More system info (net, status, etc)
|
|
3. Paths (messages, gfiles, data, etc)
|
|
4. Com port info (port, IRQ, base address, etc)
|
|
5. Select modem type (now H2400)
|
|
6. External programs (zip, terminal, etc)
|
|
7. External protocols
|
|
8. External editors (full screen)
|
|
9. SecLev data change
|
|
0. Auto-Validation data change
|
|
A. Auto-detect modem type (if possible)
|
|
N. Update network info
|
|
U. Change max # subs/dirs
|
|
L. Update language support
|
|
R. Enter registration information
|
|
Q. Quit
|
|
|
|
Instance 2: Which (1-0,Q) ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
And select option number four (4). This will ask you which com port to
|
|
use. When you change any information in instance 2 INIT, it will not alter
|
|
any information you placed in INIT with out the ,2 or ,1; it will just simply
|
|
change the data for instance 2. So to make Instance 2 a local terminal and to
|
|
not use the modem, just type 0 in the com port field. That will disable modem
|
|
usage for WWIV. If you have another modem connected to a free com port
|
|
(meaning your mouse or something is not connected to the same com port), type
|
|
in the number for that com port (for the other modem) and then select option
|
|
number 5 (Select Modem Type), this is so you can compile the correct modem
|
|
info for the modem you have connected to the other com port selected in Option
|
|
#4.
|
|
|
|
This is all you'll need to do in INIT.EXE as far as the second instance goes.
|
|
|
|
Windows SetUp
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Introduction:
|
|
|
|
In order to run two instances at once, it is required to have a multi-
|
|
tasker; obviously. And that includes having to configure a .PIF or Program
|
|
Information File.
|
|
|
|
Program Information Editing:
|
|
|
|
First; load up Windows and move the mouse over to PIF Editor and
|
|
double-click or press [Enter].
|
|
|
|
In the Program FileName: field type: C:\WWIV\I1.BAT. In the Window Title
|
|
Field, do not place anything there. In the Optional Parameters: field, do not
|
|
place anything there either. Reduce KB Required down to -1 and the same for
|
|
KB Desired. Execution should be Background and Display Usage should be
|
|
Windowed.
|
|
|
|
Move the Mouse over to File and click. Select Save As and type in the
|
|
filename area:
|
|
|
|
C:\WWIV\WWIV1.PIF
|
|
|
|
Go back to the Program FileName field and type C:\WWIV\I2.BAT. Then move
|
|
the mouse back up the File box and click Save As and type in the FileName
|
|
area:
|
|
|
|
C:\WWIV\WWIV2.PIF
|
|
|
|
Note: For convenience, I have supplied two sample .PIF files for your
|
|
personal examination.
|
|
|
|
Exit From PIF Edit.
|
|
|
|
Installing the BBS in Windows:
|
|
|
|
Create the Group with the Title of your BBS name. Here's how to do that:
|
|
|
|
1. From the File menu, choose New. The New Program Object dialog box appears.
|
|
|
|
2. Select the Program Group option and then choose OK. The Program Group
|
|
Properties dialog box appears.
|
|
|
|
3. In the Description box, type in your BBS Name. This description will
|
|
appear in the title bar of the group window and below the group icon.
|
|
Choose OK.
|
|
|
|
4. Type in the Group File Box: C:\WWIV\BBS.GRP
|
|
|
|
Installing each instance in the BBS Group:
|
|
|
|
1. Open the group that you want to add an instance to.
|
|
|
|
2. From the Program Manager File menu, choose New. The New Program Object
|
|
dialog box appears. Select the Program Item Option and then choose OK.
|
|
The Program Item PRoperties Dialog box appears.
|
|
|
|
3. In the Description Box, type in Instance 1.
|
|
|
|
4. In the Command Line box, type in C:\WWIV\WWIV1.PIF
|
|
|
|
5. In the Working Directory box, type in C:\WWIV or whatever directory your
|
|
BBS is in.
|
|
|
|
6. No need for shortcut key.
|
|
|
|
7. Move the mouse over to the Box with the words 'Run Minimized' and click.
|
|
|
|
8. Choose your Icon.
|
|
|
|
9. Press OK.
|
|
|
|
To add another instance follow these steps:
|
|
|
|
2. From the Program Manager File menu, choose New. The New Program Object
|
|
dialog box appears. Select the Program Item Option and then choose OK.
|
|
The Program Item Properties Dialog box appears.
|
|
|
|
3. In the Description Box, type in Instance 2.
|
|
|
|
4. In the Command Line box, type in C:\WWIV\WWIV2.PIF
|
|
|
|
5. In the Working Directory box, type in C:\WWIV or whatever directory your
|
|
BBS is in.
|
|
|
|
6. No need for shortcut key.
|
|
|
|
7. Move the mouse over to the Box with the words 'Run Minimized' and click.
|
|
|
|
8. Choose your Icon.
|
|
|
|
9. Press OK.
|
|
|
|
Running WWIV multi-tasked
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Select Instance 1 within the BBS Group and press [Enter]. Then move the
|
|
mouse to the little Instance 1 Icon that is outside the Program Manager Box,
|
|
click and press return. The move the Mouse Back to the BBS Group and click
|
|
Instance 2 and press return. Move the mouse outside the Program Manger box to
|
|
the Instance 2 Icon and click it and then press Enter. You now have
|
|
successfully ran two instances. To move between the two instances, move the
|
|
mouse inside the window of each instance and click the mouse. If you need
|
|
more help, contact me at the above routes given in the Disclaimer section.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Piero (1@2351) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ New WWIV Sysops Helpline ³ Jack Ryan (1@4707)
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
In this column I'm going to go over the file transfer area. From the
|
|
e-mail that I have received so far, this appears to be a confusing area for
|
|
many new sysops as well as a few that have been around the block a couple of
|
|
times. I didn't even have a transfer section for the first eight months that
|
|
I ran my board. There were a few reasons for that: First, I didn't have any
|
|
space on my hard drive, and second, I didn't know how to set up any other
|
|
protocols for WWIV.
|
|
|
|
Things have changed since then. Now I have about 800 meg dedicated to my
|
|
file section, with the majority of it on CD-ROM. Most of my knowledge on
|
|
setting up protocols for WWIV has been "stolen" from Jim (1@1), and I will
|
|
attempt to pass it on to you in this column.
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
//DIREDIT
|
|
|
|
WWIV has been deigned to allow the sysop to setup his/her transfer area
|
|
into separate, logical directories. The procedure for doing this is outlined
|
|
below.
|
|
|
|
A.) Name: Each directory requires a unique name that designates which files
|
|
are available for downloading (or what type should be uploaded) for that
|
|
particular directory. I have included samples of some of the names that I
|
|
use.
|
|
|
|
WWIV Network Files, On-Line Games, DOS Utilities, etc.
|
|
|
|
B.) Filename: This should be a distinct, different name for each directory
|
|
within the file transfer area. It should be eight characters (or less) in
|
|
length.
|
|
|
|
C.) Path: This is where you tell the BBS how to get to that particular
|
|
transfer area. Be sure not to put a \ on the end, WWIV will do this for you
|
|
automatically, and you will receive an error message if you do put a \ on. My
|
|
path for the 'On-Line Games' looks like this: D:\DLOADS\ONGAME.
|
|
|
|
D.) DSL: The Down-Load Security Level (DSL) restricts access to those file
|
|
areas to callers who meet the DSL requirement. Users that do not have the
|
|
appropriate DSL will not even be aware of that particular file area.
|
|
|
|
E.) Min age: This feature allows you to set a minimum age that has access to
|
|
that particular file section. Useful for limiting access to 'adult' areas.
|
|
|
|
F.) Max files: This specifies the maximum number of files in the directory.
|
|
It may be anything up to 499. Once the maximum number is reached, no more
|
|
uploads will be allowed to the directory.
|
|
|
|
G.) DAR: Similar to the AR (in //BOARDEDIT), this allows you to restrict
|
|
access only to certain callers.
|
|
|
|
H.) Require PD: This is used when a caller wants to upload a file. Setting
|
|
this to 'yes' will cause the BBS to ask the user if the file is public domain.
|
|
If the user says no to the question, the BBS software will abort the upload
|
|
and will assign "Ass. Pts."
|
|
|
|
I.) Dir type: Not currently used by WWIV.
|
|
|
|
J.) Uploads: You can either allow, or disallow uploads to a directory by using
|
|
this option. In addition, if you select 'all uploads to sysop' in INIT, that
|
|
will override this option.
|
|
|
|
K.) Arch. Only: This option enables you to ensure that all uploads for that
|
|
directory will be in the form of your first selection in INIT for archivers.
|
|
I set this to 'no' and have found that to work best (for me).
|
|
|
|
L.) Drive Type: This option can be set to either Hard Drive or CD-ROM. WWIV
|
|
will optimize the system for CDs if you have selected that option, otherwise
|
|
there is no difference.
|
|
|
|
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
CD-ROMS and WWIV
|
|
|
|
CD-ROMS are starting to become very common-place in the personal computer
|
|
arena now. Setting up the CD-ROM to work with WWIV is not a very difficult
|
|
task to accomplish. Since there is no way I can possibly cover all the
|
|
various hard- ware configurations that sysops may have, I'll just tell you how
|
|
I set mine up. I certainly do not have a "power system" so if it can be done
|
|
on mine, you should be able to get it to run on yours. My system is one I
|
|
have put together, and consists of a 286/12mhz (yes, you read that correctly),
|
|
1mb of RAM, a Boca 14.4 modem, 130mb hard drive, 120mb tape drive, and worse
|
|
of all, a monochrome monitor. The pride of my system would therefore have to
|
|
me my CD-ROM, which I've had for about a year.
|
|
|
|
Your first step will be to go into your file transfer area and run
|
|
//DIREDIT. At this point you will create your different transfer areas just
|
|
like you would if the files were on your hard disk. When you get down to the
|
|
"Path:" all you do is select the drive that your CD-ROM is set to. (Mine
|
|
happens to be E:) the rest of the information remains the same. Below is a
|
|
copy of how I set up my //DIREDIT for the 'GAMES' section of my CD.
|
|
|
|
A. Name :Games
|
|
B. Filename :Games
|
|
C. Path :E:\MISC\GAMES
|
|
D. DSL :10
|
|
E. Min Age :0
|
|
F. Max Files :200 (depends on number of files in dir)
|
|
G. DAR :None
|
|
H. Require PD :No
|
|
I. Dir Type :0
|
|
J. Uploads :Not Allowed (no-one else can upload, it's a CD)
|
|
K. Arch. Only :No
|
|
L. Drive Type :CD-ROM
|
|
|
|
Almost all CDs that you purchase come equipped with a 'FILES.BBS' file
|
|
which contains the descriptions of the files within the individual
|
|
subdirectories on the CD-ROM. Within WWIV, go to the directory that you
|
|
created for your files and type "//UPLOADFILE." This will prompt you in the
|
|
following way:
|
|
|
|
1. PCB, RBBS - <filename> <size> <date> <description>
|
|
2. QBBS format - <filename> <description>
|
|
|
|
If you are using a CD with the 'FILES.BBS' on it (as most do) then you
|
|
would select option number one at this time, and the bbs will read in the file
|
|
descriptions for you. One quick note here, turn the 'pause' off in your
|
|
'Defaults' section while doing this, otherwise it will take for ever, and you
|
|
will have to stay at the machine it prompts you. Repeat the above steps for
|
|
each directory that you have to set up, and you're ready to go.
|
|
|
|
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Protocol Setup
|
|
|
|
While WWIV has several built-in protocols, you will find that there are
|
|
others out there that have some desirable advantages, and will therefore want
|
|
to run external protocols. Some of the more popular external protocols are
|
|
Z-modem, Super Z-Modem and HS-Link. The following will assist you in setting
|
|
up your external protocols.
|
|
|
|
Adding additional protocols is very easily done. Go into INIT and select
|
|
the option that says External Protocols. Choose (I)nsert, and add your new
|
|
protocol in.
|
|
|
|
Description : Z-Modem
|
|
Receive command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 rz %3
|
|
Send command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 sz -z %3
|
|
Receive batch command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 restrict rz
|
|
Send batch command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 sz @%3
|
|
Xfer OK code : 0
|
|
|
|
Description : Super Z-Modem
|
|
Receive command line : szmodem port %2 speed %1 rz %3
|
|
Send command line : szmodem port %2 speed %1 sz %3
|
|
Xfer OK code : 0
|
|
|
|
Description : HS/Link
|
|
Xfer OK code : 0
|
|
Require MNP/LAPM : N
|
|
Receive batch command line : HSLINK -P%2 -E%4 -U%3
|
|
Send batch command line : HSLINK -P%2 -E%4 -NU @%3
|
|
Bi-directional transfer command line : HSLINK -P%2 -E%4 -@ @%3
|
|
|
|
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
That concludes this month's help-line. I hope that the file transfer
|
|
area, including CDs and protocols are a little clearer to you now. As always
|
|
I encourage your feedback so I'll know what to write on in the future. You
|
|
may contact me through IceNEWS or through my e-mail address (1@4707).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jack Ryan (1@4707) IceNEWS Contributing WWIV-Specific Editor
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
|
|
S O F T W A R E / P R O G R A M M I N G
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ Borland C++ 4.0 Review ³ Will (1@6754)
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Borland has recently introduced the latest incarnation of it's line of C
|
|
and C++ compiler/development tools - Borland C++ 4.0, an integrated, visual,
|
|
Windows-based development environment for DOS, Windows, and Win32S
|
|
programming. The package includes a Windows IDE, a command line compiler, DOS
|
|
and Windows based debuggers, the Windows based "Resource Workshop" bitmap and
|
|
resource editor, a series of Windows help files, and other tools.
|
|
|
|
Turbo Assembler and the DOS based Integrated Development Environment are
|
|
absent from this release - all development is done either in Windows or from
|
|
DOS (with the command line compiler). A full installation takes up eighty
|
|
megabytes of hard disk space, which can be pared down to 30 with a minimum
|
|
install. Selective install allows you to deselect portions of the program
|
|
such as Win32s support, DOS support (or portions), ObjectWindows (OWL), or
|
|
help files. If you purchase the CD-ROM edition, you can install a set of
|
|
control files on the hard disk (around two megabytes), and run the program
|
|
from the CD-ROM. While it does work, running from a slow CD-ROM is just about
|
|
intolerable. With the newer double, triple, and quad-speed drives, the wait
|
|
should diminish considerably. The CD-ROM edition also contains runtime
|
|
library source code, and several additional utilities, including the Creative
|
|
VoiceAssist development kit, editors, and much more. You also get the full
|
|
documentation in electronic Adobe Acrobat(TM) form, with the reader included.
|
|
|
|
Using BC++ 4.0 to create Windows 3.x/NT applications is a snap. To
|
|
start out, click on the AppExpert device (similar to "Wizards" in Microsoft
|
|
products). A series of dialog boxes pop up and query you about the
|
|
application, which seems geared to be a text editor. I, who have never
|
|
programmed Windows in my life, was able to put together an advanced multi-
|
|
file editor without writing a line of code. And it works so well that I'm
|
|
using it to generate this review (the editor, that is). For more customized
|
|
and advanced programming, you need to write code yourself. Borland's
|
|
ObjectWindows libraries (OWL) make this considerably easier than tradition al
|
|
Windows coding. Programmers and Reference guides are included along with a 12
|
|
step tutorial to teach you the basics of the product, bringing you through the
|
|
development of a paint program with a Multiple Document Interface. I did
|
|
notice some problems with the tutorial, namely steps 5 and beyond giving me
|
|
General Protection Faults on my main machine.
|
|
|
|
DOS programming with BC 4.0 is also easy, and benefits from the
|
|
graphical environment. You need to use the TargetExpert device to change the
|
|
compiler mode to DOS (overlaid or non-overlaid), but otherwise nothing works
|
|
differently. I was able to compile my copy of the WWIV source code by simply
|
|
loading an older project file and clicking once. The end product wasn't as
|
|
optimized as my tweaked Turbo C++ 3.0 BBS.EXE, but it did work, and ran
|
|
faster, despite the additional size. BC4 will even generate a MAKEFILE for
|
|
you.
|
|
|
|
Despite the few problems (GPF's in the tutorial, slow access from the
|
|
CD-ROM, long wait for loading, even on a dx2-66 machine with 16mb RAM),
|
|
Borland C++ 4.0 is an excellent value at $199, the price for the Special
|
|
Upgrade for Turbo, Borland, Microsoft, and Symantec C++ owners. People who
|
|
already own earlier versions of Borland C/C++ can get an additional $50 rebate
|
|
for a limited time. The CD-ROM version adds additional value to the package
|
|
and speeds installation greatly, in addition to freeing you from constant disk
|
|
tending. I've become quite enamored with the product myself. Now, if only
|
|
Wayne Bell would use this to port WWIV to a Windows platform. With the
|
|
EasyWin feature, it shouldn't be too hard...
|
|
|
|
Will (1@6754) IceNEWS Contributing Hardware Editor
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ Learning C (First of a four part series) ³ Daarkhan (1@7676)
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Chapter One: The History of C
|
|
|
|
EARLY BEGINNINGS
|
|
|
|
The language of C was invented by Dennis Ritchie in the 1970s. It was
|
|
influenced by an earlier language named B, developed by Ken Thompson in 1970,
|
|
which was itself the successor to a language called BCPL, written my Martin
|
|
Richards (Holzner 2).
|
|
|
|
Because of the restrictions in B, Ritchie and Thompson created the C
|
|
language. It did not gain popularity, however, until the publishing of their
|
|
famous book - The C Programming Language (Prentice Hall, 1978). This book
|
|
would describe the standard for programming in C for the next few years
|
|
(Schildt, Complete Reference 5).
|
|
|
|
As the PC revolution began with the release of the IBM PC in 1981, the
|
|
growing number of microcomputers increased the number of diverse C implemen-
|
|
tations (Holzner 2). In 1983, a committee was organized to create an ANSI
|
|
standard for C. This standard was finally adopted in 1990 (Schildt, Complete
|
|
Reference 5).
|
|
|
|
|
|
A MIDDLE-LEVEL LANGUAGE
|
|
|
|
C is called a "middle level language." This implies that is has the
|
|
functionality and ease of use as high-level languages, such as Pascal and
|
|
Modula-2, but also the power of low-level languages, such as Assembly
|
|
(Schildt, Complete Reference 6).
|
|
|
|
Highest level Ada
|
|
Modula-2
|
|
Pascal
|
|
COBOL
|
|
FORTRAN
|
|
BASIC
|
|
|
|
Middle level C
|
|
Macro-assembly
|
|
|
|
Lowest level Assembly
|
|
|
|
Being a middle-level language, C allows for the direct manipulation of
|
|
bits, bytes and addresses - the very basic elements of computer processes.
|
|
Another important feature of C is that it has only 32 keywords (11 more added
|
|
by Turbo C). This greatly reduces the amount of code that has to be compiled
|
|
within the file (Schildt, Complete Reference 6). C produces tighter and
|
|
faster object code than most other languages.
|
|
|
|
ANSI C's 32 keywords
|
|
|
|
auto break case char
|
|
const continue default do
|
|
double else enum extern
|
|
float for goto if
|
|
int long register return
|
|
short signed sizeof static
|
|
struct switch typedef union
|
|
unsigned void volatile while
|
|
|
|
Turbo C extended keywords
|
|
|
|
asm _ss interrupt _cs
|
|
cdecl near _ds far
|
|
pascal _es huge
|
|
|
|
|
|
C HAS WIDE APPLICATIONS
|
|
|
|
C is also a very portable language. "Portability" means that you can
|
|
take C code written for one machine (an IBM, for example) and compile that
|
|
code on another machine (such as an Apple) with little or no modification
|
|
(Schildt, Complete Reference 6).
|
|
|
|
C gives more power to the programmer than do most other languages. For
|
|
example, character and integer data types may be freely intermixed, and
|
|
run-time error checking (such as array-boundary or argument-type checking) is
|
|
not performed. These checks are the responsibility of the programmer
|
|
(Schildt, Complete Reference 7). C is a programmer's language. "It is not
|
|
the contrived product of a committee, but rather the outcome of programmers
|
|
looking for a better language" (Schildt, Teach Yourself xv).
|
|
|
|
With the added power at the disposal of the programmer, however, comes
|
|
added responsibilities. It is quite easy to crash your computer with only the
|
|
simplest of errors in your code. "You have the power to do things in C that
|
|
other languages would never allow you to do" (Holzner 3). This however, as
|
|
you will find, is a greater benefit than it is a curse.
|
|
|
|
"Initially, C was used primarily for creating systems software. Systems
|
|
software consists of those programs that help run the computer. This includes
|
|
such programs as operating systems, compilers, and editors" (Schildt, Teach
|
|
Yourself xvi). Because of the increasing popularity of C, today the language
|
|
is used by all sorts of programmers for almost any purpose. It is a powerful,
|
|
yet multifaceted language. Until C, the only way to get complete control over
|
|
the inner workings of your machine, and hence to create systems software, was
|
|
to program with Assembly.
|
|
|
|
Assembly, however is a very difficult language to write long or user
|
|
friendly programs with. "In fact, it may take you dozens of pages of frus-
|
|
tration to get where you want to go" (Holzner 3). The C instructions are
|
|
designed very closely to their assembly language equivalents, however many
|
|
more advanced functions have been added to give C much more power. C is the
|
|
"perfect combination control and power" (Holzner 3).
|
|
|
|
NEXT ISSUE
|
|
|
|
That concludes an overview of the history and development of the C
|
|
programming language. Next month we will continue this four part series by
|
|
examining the fundamentals of C. We will discuss the components of a C
|
|
program, create and compile our first program, look at variables and the five
|
|
basic data types.
|
|
|
|
WORKS CITED
|
|
|
|
Holzner, Steven. C Programming: The Accessible Guide to
|
|
Professional Programming. New York: Brady, 1991.
|
|
|
|
Schildt, Herbert. Teach Yourself C. Berkeley: Osborne
|
|
McGraw-Hill, 1990.
|
|
|
|
---. Turbo C/C++: The Complete Reference. Berkeley: Osborne
|
|
McGraw-Hill, 1990.
|
|
|
|
Daarkhan (1@7676) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
L I T E B Y T E S
|
|
ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ Trials of a CyberCop ³ Pale Rider (1@23)
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Real BBS names are left out for legal reasons.
|
|
|
|
What is a CyberCop? The cop of the lines, the BBS police, the SPA
|
|
(Software Publishers Association) and those affiliated with them. There was a
|
|
time, years ago, where piracy ran rampant, uncontrollable, infesting the very
|
|
fiber of what is known as the "CyberSpace." That's where I come in. My name
|
|
is Pale Rider... I'm a CyberCop.
|
|
|
|
The wind howled, rain beat off the window like small pebbles bouncing in
|
|
a tin pan. The "clickety-click" of my fingers tapping into the Focus 5000
|
|
could be heard throughout the house like an eager secretary on Friday
|
|
afternoon. The phone rang. I answered in a small voice, trying too hard to
|
|
sound like a 15 year old. It was Him, the call I was expecting.
|
|
|
|
"Uhhhh, is Pale Rider there," the person on the other side asked.
|
|
|
|
"Uhhh, yeah that's me. Who's this," I asked with a childlike voice.
|
|
|
|
"Uhhh, I validated you, and gave you 'Elite' access."
|
|
|
|
"Uhhh, cool! I got megs of files I can upload," I exclaimed, with a
|
|
dog-like pant.
|
|
|
|
"Uhhh, you're not a cop or anything are you?"
|
|
|
|
"Uhhh, no, I'm not old enough," I half-yelled, knowing full well that I
|
|
could be a cop tomorrow if I wanted to.
|
|
|
|
"Uhhh, ok, well, see ya later!" .
|
|
|
|
"Latah!" I said as I slammed the phone down into its cradle.
|
|
|
|
My blue light reflected off my monitor like a small pearl in a sea of
|
|
black. I fired-up my trusty term program and keyed in the number that I
|
|
wanted to dial. "EtErNaL dArKnEsS." The name said it all. "Beep! Beep!
|
|
Beep!" signaled the computer, telling me that I was now online.
|
|
|
|
"Enter Name: Pale Rider"
|
|
"Enter Password: XXXXXX"
|
|
"Enter System Password: XXXXXXXXX"
|
|
"Enter Second System Password: XXXXXXXXXXXXX"
|
|
"Enter Password that means you can't get on if you don't know it:
|
|
XXXXX"
|
|
|
|
The poor boy. Little does he know that you can't protect yourself when
|
|
you have a crime in your hands and a cop on your back. I sit back, waiting
|
|
five minutes while the multitude of c00l ANSI screens wizz by. A sip of black
|
|
coffee, a Pall Mall, and a blood clot later I get to the main prompt. "F"
|
|
sends me to the files section, I quickly look around my room, for some reason
|
|
I'm paranoid that I'm being watched. I'll take advantage of it. I hit "C" so
|
|
that i can chat with the unsuspecting sysop.
|
|
|
|
"Yeah?" I see slowly typed across the screen. I position one hand behind
|
|
my back so that I can type slightly slower than the sysop. I don't want
|
|
"Typing Envy" to get in the way of my bust.
|
|
|
|
"I got a new game called 'Syndicate,' it's put out by 'Electronic Arts'
|
|
but I don't have a crack for it. Do you want it?" I already know the answer,
|
|
but you can't catch a fish without the hook.
|
|
|
|
"Sure, go ahead and upload it, I'll hex it later and fix the CP!" he
|
|
types shortly before breaking out of chat.
|
|
|
|
I nail keys before it's to late, GOT IT! Now on disk, I have the SysOp's
|
|
agreement to accept a copyrighted game. I shell out and go into my Syndicate
|
|
directory, I zip up Syndicate and look at the file size then write it down. I
|
|
then go into my DOS directory and "ARC" everything in there. The file size is
|
|
close enough, I rename DOS.ARC to SYNDICA.ZIP. The chances of him having a
|
|
dinosaur like ARC around is about the same chance as Clinton being faithful to
|
|
his wife.
|
|
|
|
I exit the shell and tap "U," then enter the description. After a Roast
|
|
Beef on Whole Wheat and a Pall Mall, the computer yells, "Beep! Beep!" to
|
|
tell me that the file was uploaded. I'm playing everything right, the SysOp
|
|
doesn't have a clue, and now it's time to get the rest of my evidence and then
|
|
jack out.
|
|
|
|
I hit the "F" key to get a list of all files on-line. About 300 megs
|
|
worth of copyrighted material is found. If everything works out, he's going
|
|
to have a hefty fine to pay. With that done, I download about a meg worth of
|
|
what is obviously copyrighted software. Then, I'm history. I logoff and drop
|
|
to DOS to assemble my report:
|
|
|
|
User name I logged on with: Pale Rider
|
|
Passwords used respectively: ... ... ...
|
|
Files downloaded: XXXXXXX, verified copyrighted and working.
|
|
XXXXX, verified copyrighted and working.
|
|
|
|
I put everything together into one text file and type "print BUSTED.TXT."
|
|
Almost done, I call up the SPA:
|
|
|
|
"Software Publishers," the soft female voice says.
|
|
|
|
"This is SPECTRUM. I've got some goodies." I say in a cool voice, trying
|
|
to get the sweet sounding voice to respond.
|
|
|
|
"Great! Just fax them in!" She replies, not a hint of interest in my
|
|
persona anywhere in there. Oh well.
|
|
|
|
I slam the phone down and load up the fax program. Here we go! 25 pages
|
|
of information and evidence is sent over to the SPA. Soon, Eternal Darkness
|
|
will be shut down forever. The damage I did to the piracy front is only a
|
|
pebble nicked out of a boulder, but I know that I did something. I sit back
|
|
in my old office chair and kick my feet up on the table, puffing on my smoke
|
|
and grinning. Appreciating myself because I know, that for at least one time
|
|
in my life, I did something right.
|
|
|
|
* * * *
|
|
|
|
What I am doing cannot be considered entrapment. It's easy really, I'm a
|
|
non company, non legal affiliated person. By being a normal person, I can get
|
|
evidence against someone any way I want to. When I am asked if I am a cop or
|
|
if I am affiliated with any software company, I simply say no. It's the
|
|
truth. I am not getting paid for this. I am on no one's payroll.
|
|
|
|
What pirates don't know is that there are a lot of people like me all
|
|
over the place. In every village, in every metropolis, there are people that
|
|
are tired of seeing good software companies go down the tubes because they
|
|
can't afford to pay their programmers. I'm sure you think they are making a
|
|
lot of money, but here is a little tidbit of information for you: The amount
|
|
of profits lost due to pirating in 1992 was equal to or more than the annual
|
|
profits from 85 of the top 100 software companies based in the United States.
|
|
|
|
Some people have asked me about my morals. They think it is morally
|
|
wrong to do what I'm doing. However, if someone was to break into your house
|
|
and steal your computer, you would be a little upset, no? "It's not the same
|
|
thing," you cry, but it is. Theft, stealing a car, a bike, a computer, or
|
|
software is still theft. And being theft, it is punishable by law. The
|
|
penalties for piracy have steadily risen in the past 4 years. In 1989, the
|
|
fines were $10,000 per count of copyright infringement. In 1993 the fines
|
|
were up to $100,000 per infringement, and up to 5 years in the federal pen.
|
|
|
|
I am Founder and President of the BAPA, BBS Anti-Piracy Association.
|
|
Endorsed by the SPA, Borland Software Inc., Cougar Mountain Software, Autodesk
|
|
Inc., Travelling Software, WordPerfect, and many more software companies in
|
|
and outside of the United States. We're looking for a few good SysOps and
|
|
users. If you would like to help us in our fight against Piracy and Hacking,
|
|
please contact me via IceNET, Pale Rider, 1@23, for more information.
|
|
Everything you do, or anything you send to us is kept strictly confidential
|
|
and will only be known to certain members of the council.
|
|
|
|
Pale Rider (1@23) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ Silly Strings ³
|
|
³ From IceNET Sysops Everywhere ³ Ima Moron (1@9661)
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Daddy what does FORMAT C: do?
|
|
Tagline from - Grey Wanderer #1 @3358 Shadow Canyon BBS
|
|
|
|
(A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail, (G)rab_Hammer
|
|
Tagline from - Will #1 @6754 Data Express BBS
|
|
|
|
This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds...1...2..3..4...
|
|
Tagline from - E.S. Weiss #1 @7850 - JTSCom BBS
|
|
|
|
...A penny saved is a Congressional oversight.
|
|
Tagline from - Will #1 @6754 Data Express BBS
|
|
|
|
Those of you that think you know everything, are annoying those
|
|
of us that do!
|
|
Tagline from - Gypsy Bandit 1@9728 WWIVNet
|
|
|
|
I've never seen a tagline I wouldn't swipe....
|
|
Tagline from - Ima Moron 1@9661 Das' Tube BBS!
|
|
|
|
This tagline space is for lease....
|
|
Tagline from - 1@9600 Raddnet Hanger 18
|
|
|
|
We would all love to see your humorous taglines, miniesm
|
|
editings, or hard code changes. If you have anything humorous
|
|
to contribute please E-mail those to 1@9661 Ima Moron, editor
|
|
of Silly Strings.
|
|
|
|
Ima Moron (1@9661) IceNEWS Light Bytes Editor
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ The Adventures of ModemMan! ³ Jots (1@7850) & Deacon Blues (2@7653)
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
Editor's note : "The Adventures Of ModemMan" is a multi-part adventure
|
|
that will be continued in a serialized format.
|
|
|
|
"In the not-so-distant future, a Top-Secret government experiment goes
|
|
awry. A computer-geek with the intelligence of a doorknob is accidentally
|
|
transformed mentally and physically by a combination of science, medicine,
|
|
technology, and dumb luck. The result: the world's first LIVING COMPUTER...
|
|
ModemMan! Disguised as Joe Modem, a mild-mannered sysop of a small electronic
|
|
bulletin board service in a large metropolitan city, ModemMan fights a
|
|
neverending battle with the sinister forces of evil to protect the world,
|
|
bringing truth, justice, and a higher transfer rate to all..."
|
|
|
|
The Adventures of
|
|
M o d e m M a n !
|
|
|
|
"Insufficient Memory"
|
|
|
|
Chapter One: "Press ESC To Exit"
|
|
|
|
Joe Modem was sitting at his computer one day, dreaming about WWIV v5.24
|
|
and waiting for a call. The phone rang. Joe snapped out of his daydream and
|
|
watched the terminal. "Darn," he exclaimed, "just another 'hanger-upper.'"
|
|
Yes, it was one of those calls that all sysops despise, someone calling random
|
|
numbers and hanging up. Of course, the system froze. Undaunted, Joe gathered
|
|
all of his might and pushed the reset button. Simultaneously, the BBS phone
|
|
rang. Nervously, Joe did a 'bare boot' and quickly loaded the BBS software.
|
|
Whew, he thought as the caller connected, I didn't think I would make it on
|
|
time. Joe sat back and relaxed as the caller logged on.
|
|
|
|
Welcome to The Brooklyn Blues BBS!
|
|
|
|
Name,number,or new: NN: NEW
|
|
|
|
Welcome again to the Brooklyn Blues BBS! Bla blah bla blah bla blah...
|
|
|
|
ANSI? :N
|
|
|
|
bla bla bla bla...
|
|
|
|
It turned out this guy's name was Egg's Head and he claimed to be the
|
|
owner of a local software superstore. The newbie then requested to chat with
|
|
Joe. Being a nice guy and a friendly sysop - and thinking that if this guy
|
|
really did own a software store that it would be in his best interests to
|
|
suck-up to the guy - Joe pressed F10 to chat:
|
|
|
|
"Hi! Wassup," typed Joe from his keyboard.
|
|
|
|
"Hello," replied the caller. "Yer Joe Modem, right?"
|
|
|
|
"Yep... That's me... What can I do for ya?"
|
|
|
|
"Well... You saw my validation feedback, right? Right. I'm the owner of
|
|
Egg's Head Software."
|
|
|
|
Joe was non-plussed. He'd seen software stores come and go before.
|
|
"Yeah? So?"
|
|
|
|
"Well," continued the caller, "I'd like to invite you tonight to...
|
|
uhh... take a free shopping spree in my store."
|
|
|
|
Joe was taken aback. He'd never been the recipient of such an invitation
|
|
before. Most software store owners rarely gave away free advice, let alone
|
|
free product. "Yeah? You mean it?"
|
|
|
|
"Yup..." replied the caller. "It's down on Pier 12 and 1/2. Just make
|
|
sure to say the password 'Turbo' to one of the salesmen and he'll dispo... I
|
|
mean show you around."
|
|
|
|
Joe was quite enthused by the prospect. He'd been waiting for a chance
|
|
to get his Windowless DDT upgrade and this seemed like the perfect
|
|
opportunity. "Thanx! I'll be there ASAYLO!!"
|
|
|
|
"ASAYLO?"
|
|
|
|
Joe smiled. "As soon as you log off..."
|
|
|
|
"Oh..." responded the caller, seemingly less-than-impressed by Joe's
|
|
ability to come up with a witty computer acronym. "Well, l8r c-ya." Egg's
|
|
Head logged off and Joe went back to his usual routine, which consisted of
|
|
sitting at his computer, waiting for calls...
|
|
|
|
8:15 that night, Pier 12 and 1/2...
|
|
|
|
Joe got into his car and drove to the address given. Pier 12 and 1/2
|
|
was, as one might expect, in the dockyard area of The Big Apple, the city that
|
|
Joe affectionately called home. As the passing breeze wafted through the open
|
|
windows in Joe's car, he could tell that it was low-tide. The sound of
|
|
seagulls and the occasional clanging of a buoy warning bell drifted through
|
|
the silence and a slight mist covered the area, lowering visibility and adding
|
|
to the overall level of eerieness.
|
|
|
|
Joe peered out of his window at the store as he pulled into the parking
|
|
area, failing to notice the restricted parking sign there. The "store"
|
|
appeared to be a converted small warehouse, not unlike the majority of other
|
|
buildings that populated the wharf. The major difference that set this
|
|
building apart from the others was the sign above the door designating it as
|
|
"Egg Head's Software Supermarket." The sign was no more than an ordinary
|
|
computer-made printout on standard computer paper, complete with tractor feet
|
|
holes intact, tacked onto a piece of plywood that appeared to have been rather
|
|
hastily placed above the door. Joe could see a light coming from the door.
|
|
|
|
As he ventured into the store, he noticed that the place was a mess - not
|
|
unlike his apartment. There were a couple of old racks hanging about with
|
|
various computer-related items stacked haphazardly on them. A glass case was
|
|
located near the rear of the store. Behind it stood a tall man, perhaps in
|
|
his late 20's and wearing a button-down plaid flannel shirt. The man
|
|
alternated between watching Joe as he moved through the store and apparently
|
|
inputting data into a computer located behind the counter. Joe also noticed
|
|
that there were no customers inside. Strange, thought Joe, any computer
|
|
store, even a ramshackle rinky-dink store like this, should be busy. Hmm...
|
|
|
|
Joe shook it off, remembering his real reason for coming to the store.
|
|
Even though the place looked pretty sparse, Joe had been chosen - by the owner
|
|
himself, no less - to be the recipient of free software. An offer that he, or
|
|
any other computer user, the thought, could not pass-up. He proudly walked
|
|
over to the salesman behind the glass display case. The tag on the person
|
|
claimed that he was named 'Blue Ray.'
|
|
|
|
"How can I help you, sir," asked Blue Ray.
|
|
|
|
Joe leaned up against the counter, looking shiftily from left to right,
|
|
squinting his eyes as he did so. Joe motioned the salesman to come closer.
|
|
The man leaned slightly over the counter and Joe whispered into the man's
|
|
ears:
|
|
|
|
"Turbo..."
|
|
|
|
The salesman replied, "Sorry bud, we're all out of v.terbo modems. We
|
|
only have v.fast left."
|
|
|
|
"No, not terbo," said Joe, rolling his eyes skyward. "TURBO!!"
|
|
|
|
"Oh," replied Blue Ray, smiling slyly and giving Joe a knowing nod. "Why
|
|
didn't you say so in the first place?" Blue Ray gestured to a door behind him.
|
|
"Come with me..."
|
|
|
|
Joe followed Blue Ray into the back room. A lone swing-lamp cast a pool
|
|
of light in the center of the room. Two men were standing there with an empty
|
|
chair. One was a short, stout man who was completely bald. The other was a
|
|
gargantuan of a man, standing at least 6' 6" and easily weighing 350 pounds.
|
|
Both men wore dark blue three-piece suits and were adorned with much gold
|
|
jewelry. Blue Ray locked the door behind him. Joe walked over to the short
|
|
bald one.
|
|
|
|
"Are you Egg's Head?"
|
|
|
|
"Yes, that's me," replied the man. "I assume you are Joe Modem, correct?"
|
|
|
|
"Uhh... Yeah, that's me. What am I doing back here anyway?"
|
|
|
|
"Well," explained Egg's, "there's been a slight change of plans." The
|
|
short man walked over to the side of the taller companion, gesturing to him.
|
|
"Let me introduce you to my boss, V.T. Killer. Y'see, he's always wanted to
|
|
meet you." V.T. nodded as the other man continued. "And now he finally has
|
|
the chance." Egg's grabbed the back of the chair and pointed the seat towards
|
|
Joe. "Have a seat Joe."
|
|
|
|
"Uhh... Okay..." Joe wasn't very comfortable by the idea, but he saw
|
|
that he'd probably have little choice in the matter.
|
|
|
|
The two started grilling Joe, asking him all sorts of questions while
|
|
Blue Ray took notes on Joe's answers.
|
|
|
|
"Where were you on the night of the 24th," demanded Egg's.
|
|
|
|
"Sitting at my computer."
|
|
|
|
"Where were you last night at 8:00 P.M.," commanded V.T.
|
|
|
|
"Sitting at my computer."
|
|
|
|
"Where do you buy your suits," asked Egg's as he looked at Joe's nappy
|
|
attire.
|
|
|
|
"Over the modem."
|
|
|
|
"Where were you during the famous ACCESS network scam," asked V.T. as he
|
|
roughly twisted the chair to directly face him.
|
|
|
|
The ACCESS network scam? Good lord, thought Joe, how do these characters
|
|
know about that? The ACCESS incident was classified Top-Secret by the
|
|
government and it certainly wasn't "famous" in any sense of the word. If they
|
|
know about ACCESS...
|
|
|
|
"Sitting at my computer," Joe lied.
|
|
|
|
This went on for some time. After Joe had answered the questions, Ray
|
|
entered the data into his sub-notebook and whispered something to V.T. They
|
|
had a quiet conversation and Ray showed him some data on the sub and then
|
|
pointed to Joe. After thinking for a moment, V.T. returned his attention to
|
|
Joe.
|
|
|
|
"OK, Joe, we've confirmed it. Using the information you've given us, we
|
|
have determined that you are the famous, secretive, brave, daring, amazing
|
|
superhero ModemMan!"
|
|
|
|
Bagged. "I don't know what you're talking about! Lies! Lies! Who is
|
|
this `ModemMan,' anyway?"
|
|
|
|
"See? You're denying it," persisted V.T., more satisfied than ever
|
|
before about his decision. "A sure sign that you're hiding the fact that Joe
|
|
Modem and ModemMan are the same!" V.T. turned to his accomplices. "OK boys,
|
|
dispose of him!"
|
|
|
|
Blue Ray called in two other previously unseen "salesmen" and they
|
|
dragged Joe into an adjoining room. "No, wait! You've got the wrong guy!"
|
|
Joe screamed at V.T. as the others forcibly dragged him away. "I keep on
|
|
telling you, I'm not ModemMan!! !!Help!!... HELP!!! HELP!!!!!!!..." Joe's
|
|
voice faded out as they forced him into the room.
|
|
|
|
The room in which Joe was forced into was rather small, about the size of
|
|
a bathroom. Joe tried the door, but there was no handle on his side - it was
|
|
shackled and padlocked on the outside. The room was too small for Joe to try
|
|
taking a running shoulder-smash to try and force it. There was a very small
|
|
window that, while having its glass broken, was unusable for Joe to escape
|
|
from due to its size - about one foot square - and a rather imposing set of
|
|
steel bars that blocked the opening. The only illumination in the room was
|
|
provided by the exterior security lights from the neighboring building. The
|
|
light shone through the bars onto the floor of the room, giving the apt
|
|
appearance of a prison isolation cell.
|
|
|
|
Well, thought Joe, they've got me. How can I get them to believe I'm not
|
|
ModemMan? As he was pondering the thought, a shadow blocked the light into
|
|
the room and he heard a whisper.
|
|
|
|
"Joe! Are you alright?"
|
|
|
|
"What? Who's there?"
|
|
|
|
"It's me, Pronto," came the voice of Joe's co-sysop and ModemMan's
|
|
helpful sidekick.
|
|
|
|
"Pronto! How did you know I was here?"
|
|
|
|
"They came to get me too. But I didn't fall for it, though. I went by
|
|
your place and checked-out the chat log for the board. That's how I figured
|
|
you were here and thought you might need some help. I guess you couldn't
|
|
convince them that you're not ModemMan, eh?"
|
|
|
|
"Yeah. Well, now what," Joe queried.
|
|
|
|
"I can get you out of there!"
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|
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"Yeah, How?"
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|
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|
"Look at the vent directly above you."
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Joe looked up. "I can't see a thing! You're blocking the light, Pronto."
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|
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|
"Sorry, MM," replied Pronto as he shifted out of the way, allowing Joe to
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|
see again. He quickly spotted the ceiling grate hanging loosely by only one
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|
screw. "It leads to the store. All you have to do is get up there somehow
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|
and climb through!"
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|
|
|
Joe was stymied. There was nothing he could use as a step in the room
|
|
and the ceiling was too high to reach by merely jumping. "Somehow? Do you
|
|
have a way in mind?"
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|
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"Yeah," shot back Pronto, "I brought this handy, unbreakable grappling
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hook."
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|
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|
"Great! Now how do I get it from you?"
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|
"Easy, here..." Pronto slips it through the window bars.
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"Kewl! Thanks." Joe grabbed the hook from Pronto. "Get back to my
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apartment and wait for me to get there."
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|
"You sure you don't need any more help here?"
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|
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|
"No, Pronto. I think I can handle it from here on out. See you later!"
|
|
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|
"OK, ModemMan," replied Pronto. "Oh, here..." Pronto tossed Joe another
|
|
small package. "It's your Tool Kit, boss. Good luck!"
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|
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|
The Tool Kit! Joe smiled. Now, he thought, I might be able to get some-
|
|
where. "Thanks a lot, Pronto. Now get outta here before anyone spots you."
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|
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|
"You got it, MM," said Pronto. He quickly left.
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|
|
|
Joe shot the grappling hook in the direction of the vent. It caught it
|
|
on the first shot. He pulled himself up to the vent and opened it up. Hmmm,
|
|
thought Joe, this is going to be a tight fit... I don't know if I can make
|
|
it...
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|
|
|
He made it.
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|
|
|
Joe stealthily climbed through the vent (at least, as stealthily as one
|
|
could expect travel through a narrow galvanized steel duct, anyway), not
|
|
knowing where in the store it would lead to. Finally, he saw the light. A
|
|
bright, fluorescent light. He climbed out of the vent and dropped -
|
|
head-first - to the floor. Fortunately, the glass display case was there to
|
|
break the fall. Joe quickly righted himself and shook the broken shards of
|
|
glass from his clothing. Joe quickly noticed that he was alone, the store
|
|
apparently deserted. He also saw that the computer he'd noticed behind the
|
|
counter earlier was still turned on.
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|
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|
Joe walked over to the old 486 behind the desk and looked at the monitor.
|
|
Although it was off, he could clearly see symptoms of burn-in. How careless,
|
|
thought Joe. They could at least use a screen saver like "Before Light." Joe
|
|
opened up his Tool Kit, extracting a DIN-style jumper cord from the pouch. It
|
|
was time for ModemMan to go to work. Mentally switching into ModemMan Mode,
|
|
he issued the commands to his brain to fire-up the microcomputer chip that was
|
|
surgically implanted there and which was the heart of ModemMan's special
|
|
powers.
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|
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|
He quickly unplugged the keyboard from the system case and inserted one
|
|
end of his special DIN cable into the receptacle on the machine. He then
|
|
inserted the other end of the cable into the DIN interface surgically
|
|
implanted into his right ear, first removing the flesh-colored safety plug
|
|
that covertly hid the receptacle from view. This would allow ModemMan to
|
|
access the system simply by using his technologically-altered cerebral cortex,
|
|
thinking his commands instead of typing them and flowing freely through the
|
|
system.
|
|
|
|
Using only the powers of his mind, ModemMan's consciousness flowed freely
|
|
through the system, riding through the circuit pathways inside the machine.
|
|
After quickly familiarizing himself with the internal structure of the device,
|
|
ModemMan started tinkering with the computer, deleting a few files and
|
|
changing the CONFIG.SYS file. He then loaded up the terminal program,
|
|
TearTerm. Looking through the phone directory he noticed many familiar BBSs.
|
|
They all seemed to be checked off except for his. By the BBS listing of The
|
|
Brooklyn Blues there was one of those smiley face characters.
|
|
|
|
After doing a fairly efficient job of messing up the computer, ModemMan
|
|
removed the interface and returned the cable to his Tool Kit, mentally exiting
|
|
his ModemMan Mode and replacing his ear plug as he went over to the desk to
|
|
examine the papers lying there. Hmm... thought Joe, this is most disturbing.
|
|
It seems that they want to totally eradicate the whole existence of ModemMan.
|
|
I wonder why? Joe decided to go home, but before he left he added a little
|
|
note to the scheduling program:
|
|
|
|
9:27 PM - ModemMan Destroyed - Body dumped in East River
|
|
|
|
This'll throw them off the track for awhile, thought Joe as he went
|
|
outside, only to find that his car had been 'politely removed' by the police.
|
|
He decided walk home. He was so deep in thought about the papers and just who
|
|
this V.T. Killer guy was that he failed to notice a long black limo following
|
|
him. Gingerly walking up the steps to his house he noticed a note on the
|
|
door:
|
|
|
|
Joe - Meet me at Quakey's Bar at 10:00 PM. -Pronto
|
|
|
|
Joe glanced at his watch. 9:45. I s'pose I'd better get there on time,
|
|
he thought. Unbeknownst to Joe, the limo had pulled up in front of his house
|
|
and seemed to be waiting for something. As he walked past the limo, the door
|
|
opened and a masked man stepped out. The man grabbed Joe and quickly applied
|
|
a chloroform-soaked rag to his mouth. He then threw the unconscious Joe into
|
|
the back seat and climbed in. The limo sped away to an unknown destination...
|
|
|
|
To Be Continued...
|
|
|
|
In the next chapter: Is V.T. Killer still after Joe? Who is this
|
|
mysterious masked man? Why is Joe being abducted? Will he ever see his BBS
|
|
again? Find out next month in the next riveting installment of "The
|
|
Adventures Of ModemMan!"
|
|
|
|
Jots (1@23) IceNEWS Contributing Writer
|
|
Deacon Blues (2@7653) IceNEWS Contributing Light Bytes Editor
|
|
ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ
|
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|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ An Untitled Poem ³ Burma Shave, Contributor Dark Man 1@6853
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
|
|
|
|
I never thought I'd see the day Two weeks later here I sit
|
|
when I would park myself and play I'm hooked -- addicted -- I can't quit.
|
|
game after game, hour after hour My wrist is stiff, my thumb is sore
|
|
collecting jewels and wielding power from building up a record score.
|
|
|
|
The Sysop said the thing was great My nerves are shot, my eyes are crossed,
|
|
most certainly not second rate. my keys are loose, my mouse is lost.
|
|
I took his word and went on line I think my fighting days are done,
|
|
downloading it, this game so fine. in ninety games I've never won.
|
|
|
|
To venture forth I couldn't wait Perhaps I'll download something new -
|
|
so I keyed in a fast baud rate. my Sysop says he's got a few.
|
|
Then I unzipped it straightaway This time I'll stick to golf or chess
|
|
for I could scarcely wait to play. I just can't handle all this stress.
|
|
|
|
In summer, winter, spring and fall
|
|
we modem addicts place the call.
|
|
So please beware, I tell you true
|
|
it just might happen once to you.
|
|
|
|
...Burma Shave
|
|
|
|
ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿
|
|
³ IceNEWS is an independent journal published monthly as a service to ³
|
|
³ IceNET, its Sysops and users. The opinions & reviews expressed herein ³
|
|
³ are the expressed views of the respective writers. All Rights Reserved.³
|
|
ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ
|