1378 lines
71 KiB
Plaintext
1378 lines
71 KiB
Plaintext
BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
|
|
COPYRIGHT 1991 ISSN 1055-4548
|
|
|
|
December 1991 Volume 4, Issue 11
|
|
|
|
Table Of Contents
|
|
-----------------
|
|
Article Title Author
|
|
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
|
|
Publisher's Corner.............................Mark Maisel
|
|
Notes From The Wenches.................Judy Ranelli & Deborah Bolen
|
|
Music Revue For Those Without A Soul...........Joseph Ray
|
|
My Origins Into BBS'ing........................Michael Davidson
|
|
Not A BTN Party Review.........................Scott Hollifield
|
|
Running From Remote............................Tim Straughn
|
|
The Adventures of R.G. Strangemind & Herbert...Jeremy Lewis
|
|
Notes From The Trenches........................Dean Costello
|
|
ProFile: Kevin Hitt...........................Scott Hollifield
|
|
Review: Quandary 4.65.........................Eric Hunt
|
|
Reflections....................................Colby Gibson
|
|
Windows & Diamond Speedstar Plus SVGA Card.....Eric Hunt
|
|
Special Interest Groups (SIGs).................Barry Bowden
|
|
Known BBS Numbers..............................Staff
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN
|
|
|
|
We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
|
|
information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for damage
|
|
due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability, if any for BTN, its
|
|
editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions,
|
|
etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
|
|
even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
|
|
of such damages occurring.
|
|
|
|
With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
|
|
policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
|
|
monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
|
|
publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
|
|
time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
|
|
in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
|
|
harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
|
|
content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
|
|
work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
|
|
from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
|
|
reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article.
|
|
Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
|
|
the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
|
|
article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
|
|
please forward a copy of your publication to:
|
|
|
|
Mark Maisel
|
|
Editor, BTN
|
|
221 Chestnut St.
|
|
BHM, AL 35210-3219
|
|
(205)-956-0176
|
|
|
|
We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
|
|
you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
|
|
all of this and not get too serious about it.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
F R E E B I E : G E T I T W H I L E I T S H O T !
|
|
|
|
The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is with no
|
|
charge to any existing upload/download ratios.
|
|
|
|
The Connection LZ Birmingham Alter-Ego
|
|
Channel 8250 Little Kingdom Joker's Castle
|
|
Crunchy Frog Myth Drannor Posys BBS
|
|
The Matrix Abject Poverty The Bus
|
|
The Outer Limits Bloom County The Round Table
|
|
DC Info Exchange Radio Free Troad Owlabama BBS
|
|
Amiga Alliance ][ DataLynx Martyrdom Again?!
|
|
Arkham Asylum Road Kill
|
|
|
|
If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
|
|
me know via EZNet so that I can post your board as a free BTN
|
|
distributor. Thanks. MM
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
N E W S F L A S H
|
|
|
|
I would like to apologize to David Roberts for
|
|
taking so long to do what I said I would do. It is
|
|
coming, I assure you. The project is larger than
|
|
I'd thought and should materialize in January. You
|
|
will see it prior though. MM
|
|
|
|
Robin Newberry, sysop of Safety BBS, is thinking of
|
|
putting up another bbs and is looking for your
|
|
input. He is thinking of orienting it toward folk,
|
|
bluegrass blues, gospel, and ethnic music. Please
|
|
pass on your comments to him via The MATRIX. MM
|
|
|
|
I don't know when I will be hosting another party.
|
|
Kathy's health has not been stable for some time
|
|
now, and we are hoping to get her a bone marrow
|
|
transplant as soon as possible. We have a donor
|
|
now, possibly two. At this time, we have no idea
|
|
as to what our next moves will be, and as such, I
|
|
will not make any plans I can't honor until I know
|
|
more about what the next year holds for us. I
|
|
appreciate your patience, and I assure you, this
|
|
does not mean there won't be any more parties. MM
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Publisher's Corner
|
|
by Mark Maisel
|
|
|
|
Modem Talk
|
|
|
|
This started out as a question I answered on The MATRIX, asked by
|
|
someone who was shopping for a new 9600 baud modem. I will admit that
|
|
there are many new things to learn when considering these modems that
|
|
just don't come up when purchasing 2400 baud or slower modems. I read
|
|
what I'd written to the person and thought it worthy of sharing with
|
|
you. Perhaps it will help you if you are considering the purchase of a
|
|
high speed modem.
|
|
|
|
I've noticed modems that offer V.42, V.32, 9600, etc. What do
|
|
these mean?
|
|
|
|
HST - modulation (connection & transmission) standard that enables
|
|
connect rates up to 14,400 baud and 38400 bps (bits per second;
|
|
divide by 8 to get a realistic rate per character). HST is only
|
|
good for connecting to another modem that supports HST. Currently,
|
|
such modems are the US Robotics Courier HST and Dual Standard.
|
|
|
|
V.32 - modulation standard that enables connect rates up to 9600 baud
|
|
and 38,400 bps in some cases. Some V.32 modems prefer to limit
|
|
you to 19,200 bps, or 9600 bps, but that is a function of any
|
|
error correction and compression that may or may not be
|
|
available. V.32 is not a proprietary scheme, so it is available
|
|
from many vendors, and in many flavors.
|
|
|
|
V.32bis - similar to V.32 except that the connect rate is 14,400 baud
|
|
and all of these come with some error correction and
|
|
compression allowing for a theoretical throughput of up to
|
|
38,400 bps.
|
|
|
|
The above are modulation standards that you should consider when
|
|
purchasing a modem. Below, I will summarize error correction and
|
|
compression schemes available.
|
|
|
|
None - just what it implies. This can be found on most 300, 1200, and
|
|
2400 baud modems. It may also be found on some V.32 modems.
|
|
|
|
MNP - MNP is a proprietary, but widely licensed method of error
|
|
correction and compression. MNP levels 1-4 were recently released
|
|
to the public domain and many manufacturers have adopted it for
|
|
use in their modems. It does not allow for any data compression,
|
|
only error correction. MNP level 5 includes correction. There are
|
|
higher levels of MNP to be found, but mostly these are limited to
|
|
modems from the originator of MNP, Microcom.
|
|
|
|
V.42/V.42bis - this is a non-proprietary scheme for "intelligent"
|
|
correction and compression. The way it is supposed to
|
|
work is similar to MNP but the modem's processor can be
|
|
set to decide if data passing through will benefit or not
|
|
from compression, and then it will act accordingly.
|
|
Compression here, as well as MNP5, is said to be capable
|
|
of up to 4:1.
|
|
|
|
In summary, if you have the bucks, the best bet is a US Robotics
|
|
Dual Standard as it supports everything listed above. It is not an
|
|
inexpensive modem, but it will talk to everybody, nearly. HST
|
|
modulation is wide spread on bbs' because USR has gone out of their way
|
|
for a long time to get modems into the hands of sysops, thinking, and
|
|
correctly, that users would follow suit. They have, and there is a huge
|
|
base of HST modems installed. V.32 and V.32bis seem to be getting wide
|
|
acceptance from manufacturers and business because they are
|
|
non-proprietary, thus allowing anyone to implement it. The danger is
|
|
the potential for poor implementation of the standard, possibly
|
|
rendering such not very useful, as it may not connect to all other
|
|
modems sharing its modulation. This is a rarity as it is not in the
|
|
best interests of the manufacturer to not fully comply with a standard.
|
|
Stay away from deals that sound too good to be true. They usually are,
|
|
unless you are ready to trust or get guarantees from the seller.
|
|
|
|
There are many folks out there making and selling modems that use
|
|
any of the above methods. Among those are US Robotics, Hayes,
|
|
Multitech, Practical Peripherals, Forval, Microcom, Intel...I'm sure
|
|
there are others that I've forgotten to name, but they are out there.
|
|
Good luck!
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Notes From the Wenches
|
|
|
|
(yet another view of the now-infamous Halloween Party)
|
|
|
|
by Judy Ranelli and Deborah Bolen
|
|
|
|
Our scene unfolds at a house in the midst of the mysterious kingdom
|
|
known as Southside. We approach the scene of an eerie nocturnal ritual,
|
|
heralded by three pumpkins etched with strange runes that spell out
|
|
B T N. The night is electric with the promise of unspeakable things.
|
|
The members of the elite cult approach this most hallowed of places.
|
|
Meanwhile, a car full of new users parks in the shadows near the house
|
|
as its occupants wonder if the cult will bid them welcome.
|
|
|
|
There are werewolves and women of the night, ghouls and little
|
|
girls, cats and cowboys, Trekkers and t-shirts, monsters and multiple
|
|
personalities... But there is a presence lurking in the corners, hiding
|
|
in the hallways, more ghastly and ghoulish than any of these. It is a
|
|
force so fiendish as to strike fear and loathing into the revelers for
|
|
many days to come. A strange, enigmatic shadow falls on the faces of the
|
|
party-goers. They shift uneasily and sniff the wind, like the prey who
|
|
sense the unseen predator. Yet, the figure goes about his business
|
|
undiscovered, hidden in the shadows. He scribbles in his notebook. He
|
|
whispers into his tape recorder, laughing silently all the while.
|
|
|
|
<Deborah and Judy are seen talking about Star Trek. Enigmatic
|
|
shadow grimaces and finds a voice.....>
|
|
|
|
Disembodied Voice: "No, no, Deborah. Trek talk is verboten!"
|
|
|
|
<Deborah looks around in a state of confusion. Deciding to play along,
|
|
she answers...>
|
|
|
|
Deborah: "Uh...since when? Besides, Judy, Scott and I are writing a
|
|
Trek parody on the boards. We need to see where the story is
|
|
going and..."
|
|
|
|
DV: "No matter! Don't you know where you ARE?"
|
|
|
|
Deborah: "I thought I was at a party???"
|
|
|
|
DV: "Not just ANY party! Didn't you know that this is akin to a
|
|
meeting of the U.N. Security Council?!? You may only discuss
|
|
things of great importance here!"
|
|
|
|
<Deborah frantically mulls over the directions she had to the site of the
|
|
party, wondering what wrong turn she made to end up in such a restricted
|
|
affair. "Damn!" she thought to herself. "Should have taken a right at
|
|
Albuquerque...">
|
|
|
|
Later that evening....
|
|
|
|
High Priestesses Judy, Patsy and Deborah huddle around a huge
|
|
cauldron, which bubbles menacingly and reeks of venomous fumes. They
|
|
cackle wildly and begin chanting the magic words: "Ignore Dean! Ignore
|
|
Dean!"
|
|
|
|
Judy straightens up and pauses.
|
|
|
|
"Which one IS Dean?" she asks her wicked sisters. They both turn
|
|
and look at her incredulously.
|
|
|
|
"Uh... never mind," she whimpers and they continue their spell.
|
|
The three witches revel in the power they hold over the self-esteem of
|
|
other guests.
|
|
|
|
Meanwhile, the denizens of the night find themselves at the mercy
|
|
of some strange force. Mark walks through the house and people slide
|
|
across the floor with absolutely no control over their actions and stick
|
|
to him like glue. He calmly and blithely scrapes them off as if nothing
|
|
is out of the ordinary. Someone else walks across the porch, while like
|
|
the parting of the Red Sea, people are pushed to either side from his
|
|
path by a mysterious repulsing field that is invisible but compelling in
|
|
its force. Several guests begin to exhibit these powers. The party is
|
|
disrupted by the two forces until people are squashed against walls and
|
|
ceilings and stuffed into sofa cushions head first. One poor soul has
|
|
her head repulsed into a bowl of dip and finds herself attacked by
|
|
potato chips. The sound of a clock chiming twelve releases the
|
|
beleaguered guests, and the attractors/disrupters each retire to neutral
|
|
corners.
|
|
|
|
The new users, frightened out of their wits by this supernatural
|
|
display, huddle together and try to muster up the courage to initiate
|
|
conversations with strangers. A chill wind blows across the porch as
|
|
the mysterious guest records his disapproval of the more ingenious
|
|
costumes. He also curses the women present who choose to drink what
|
|
they want and as much as they wish. It's a free country, but not a free
|
|
party, in his estimation. Old friends of both sexes get together at the
|
|
party, guilty of having every gesture and word misconstrued as a sexual
|
|
come-on. As far as the evil entity is concerned, everyone present at
|
|
the party is debauched. As the slavering ogre scrawls his evil notes,
|
|
people find themselves grouped and ranked in formerly nonexistent
|
|
patterns. Those with the fastest microprocessors find the speed written
|
|
on their arms like some ghoulish tattoo. And pity the poor souls who
|
|
have the audacity to own non-IBM computers. They are relegated to
|
|
holding areas where they await their punishment.
|
|
|
|
Guest x to guest y: "Gee, y, we've been friends for years, but now
|
|
that I find that your processor is slower than my 486, I don't think I
|
|
can associate with you anymore. And to top it off, you own an Atari!" X
|
|
makes the sign of the cross to ward off the evil one. Y, now crushed
|
|
and seeing that his life is thoroughly without meaning, goes off and
|
|
loses himself in re-runs of Gilligan's Island.
|
|
|
|
The evil entity, having studied his subjects like rats in a maze,
|
|
now feels he has enough information for his thesis. Having talked to
|
|
guests for as much as 10 seconds each, he judges himself informed enough
|
|
to make broad generalizations about their character and motivation. He
|
|
gloats as he realizes his two classes in social science have equipped
|
|
him to sit and observe, god-like, over people who will not even remember
|
|
encountering him later. He slinks off into the night clutching his
|
|
notes against his chest as steam rises from his nostrils and his fangs
|
|
drip some noxious and loathsome fluid.
|
|
|
|
The thesis is circulated in a public magazine, available to those
|
|
who have just discovered telecommunication. They download and read his
|
|
conclusions, which come off like a B-Grade horror movie, complete with
|
|
obligatory sex scenes and dime store psychoanalysis. They think,
|
|
"Perhaps this isn't what I thought it was all about. I thought
|
|
telecommunications would be a way to meet friendly, interesting people
|
|
and a way to exchange information. It seems like I wouldn't fit into
|
|
these well-entrenched cliques. Besides, I wouldn't want to end up
|
|
shredded in one of these articles by people I don't even know yet. A
|
|
pity; I might have had a lot to offer."
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Music Revue for Those Without Soul
|
|
by Joseph Ray
|
|
|
|
Hi Ho! As you know, there was no music revue for last month. But,
|
|
since I'm the one putting in the time and energy for this, you'll just
|
|
have to live with it. It's not like I received a hell of a lot of
|
|
comments anyway, so what do I care? Not a whole hell of a lot! I'm just
|
|
doing this so I can have something interesting for my resume anyway, so
|
|
screw off if you don't like it!
|
|
|
|
Today, you worthless punks, I'm going to take a brief look at some
|
|
albums that have been recently released.
|
|
|
|
-Skid Row's "Slave to the Grind" - freakin' awesome!
|
|
|
|
I had the luxury of seeing these 'heads open up for GNFR out at the
|
|
slime track back in June. First impression tells you this is just
|
|
another slash band with a pumpin' bass line. Listen to it a little
|
|
closer next time. Don't be so closed minded and you'll see that Dave
|
|
"the Snake" Sabo has just as many riffs up his sleeve as Eddie Van
|
|
Halen. The only difference being that Eddie has forgotten how to put the
|
|
rock into rock-n-roll. Ever since Van Halen stupidly let Diamond Dave
|
|
split from the group, they've gone downhill. Its obvious that Van Hagar
|
|
let their penises wrinkle. With "Monkey Business," its obvious that they
|
|
still know how to let their hormones boil in their blood.
|
|
|
|
"Well, Joey, Skid Row is nothing but a bunch of kids with guitars
|
|
and a record contract" you say.
|
|
|
|
Even if they are, what of it? They still provide insightful
|
|
commentary into sociological dilemmas which this society faces. Just
|
|
because someone is a young rock-n-roll star does not mean that their
|
|
views and ideas are any less worthy than some hypocritical politician
|
|
gnawing on jelly beans or fending off broccoli farmers. Listen to the
|
|
words, and maybe you can understand that they are a legitimate band with
|
|
legitimate claims and not just another "whip me, beat me" quintet of bad
|
|
cross- breedings.
|
|
|
|
-Dread Zeppelin's "5,000,000" - Ultimate Parody
|
|
|
|
Basically, what this group is trying to say is "Led Zeppelin
|
|
suxx!!!" But, the best part about their act is that they do it with such
|
|
humility that no one is going to get pissed off. Dread Zeppelin knows
|
|
that they cannot piss off too many people if they're going to make any
|
|
money. To take the edge off their flaming message, they resort to gags.
|
|
TortElvis, an Elvis impersonator, takes up the lead vocals with to mock
|
|
those fans who have been brainwashed into thinking Robbie Plant had a
|
|
voice. Many say this album is sacrilege, but that's placing Led Zeppelin
|
|
into the meta-physical realm. Led Zeppelin is a band. Bands are composed
|
|
of people. Led Zeppelin is nothing more than a bunch of people. And
|
|
that, you bunch of losers, is Dread Zeppelin's point. Robert Plant is
|
|
not a god and neither is Jimmy Page. They bleed just like any other
|
|
human beings. Hopefully, you'll take Dread Zeppelin's message to heart
|
|
and get your heads out of your asses.
|
|
|
|
-U2- "Achtung Baby!" - A Transitional Stage Into a New Form of Greatness
|
|
|
|
With "Joshua Tree" and "Rattle and Hum," U2 made their vision to
|
|
become the world's best band come true. But, such as true artists do,
|
|
they performed research and tested out new ideas with the experimental
|
|
album "The Unforgettable Fire." "Achtung Baby!" is one of these
|
|
experimental albums. This time, U2 tries out a little bit of funk mixed
|
|
in with a plethora of new guitar sounds that Edge conjured from his
|
|
superb, creative mind.
|
|
|
|
"Joshua Tree" was U2's first real integration of keyboards into
|
|
their sound, but "Achtung" takes this another step further by allowing
|
|
even more of the key's sound come through on the playback. Guitar
|
|
purists can whine and moan all they want, but there hasn't been a band
|
|
to reach true greatness without the use of the keyboards. With
|
|
"Achtung," U2 is letting the world know that they're going to be around
|
|
for a long while, and that they're not going to be another long lost
|
|
band of the eighties.
|
|
|
|
You have a comment? Send something over EZNET...
|
|
You have something you would like to see reviewed? Send something
|
|
over EZNET...
|
|
You want to kill your father and marry your mother? Do it to the
|
|
sound of a wailing guitar!!!
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
My Origins Into BBS'ing or
|
|
An Addict in Retrospect
|
|
by Michael Davidson
|
|
|
|
Many people have recently been writing articles about their start
|
|
into the marvelous world of BBS'ing, so I thought I'd try my hand. A
|
|
little personal info. to set the mood: I'm a thirteen year old in the
|
|
eighth grade who, by some stroke of misfortune, fell into a friendship
|
|
with the one and only Ricky Eanes.
|
|
|
|
I guess my origins with computing would start way back when I was,
|
|
oh, five. One day Mom and Dad brought home a computer! Yup, a real live
|
|
working computer! It was our very own Commodore 64, complete with one
|
|
disk drive, a printer, and two programs. Facemaker, by Spinnaker (a
|
|
truly classic game, for those of you who have never had the experience),
|
|
and some word processor which would actually check the text you wrote!
|
|
(Can you imagine?!?)
|
|
|
|
My next experience would be learning how to (kind of) program in
|
|
BASIC, the only programming language the C64 had. Needless to say, I
|
|
wasn't very good. Give me a break, I was only 7 or 8 at the time. I
|
|
wrote a few programs of my own, and typed in some from the manual. Wow,
|
|
we were having some fun now!
|
|
|
|
Then, a hint of things soon to come came in the form of a card
|
|
describing things we could buy to add to our wonderful machine. One of
|
|
them was a modem. They really existed! If we got one, then maybe I
|
|
could find out all of the government secrets, like in War Games. Or at
|
|
least use the encyclopedia on CompuServe for school projects. The
|
|
valiant C64 never got to have a modem, but it was my first true
|
|
computer, and it will always live in the playroom upstairs, that is,
|
|
until we decide to give it to goodwill, trash it, or whatever.
|
|
|
|
Anyway, about the same time, one of my neighbors got an IBM
|
|
compatible. It was soooo cool. You didn't have to pop in a disk for
|
|
each game you wanted to play! It had a "hard drive", whatever that was.
|
|
They didn't have a modem, but that CGA system was all I needed to get
|
|
hooked.
|
|
|
|
Zoom ahead to age 10 and fifth grade. A new school, a new class,
|
|
and a new friend named Ricky Eanes. One day, I went over to Ricky's
|
|
house. What did I see before my eyes, but an IBM compatible like the
|
|
days of ole' except this time with 16 colors. Shure enough, he had a
|
|
modem, and a word processor that could utilize it. He had the numbers
|
|
to two local BBS's, called Duck Pond and Crunchy Frog. Ah, my first
|
|
experience with BBS's.
|
|
|
|
Enter summer of sixth grade. My parents wanted a new computer for
|
|
"business purposes" and they were debating between a Mac and IBM. It
|
|
took a lot of conniving, and insulting of family members, but we finally
|
|
got the IBM I'd always dreamed of, complete with a 2400bps modem. Ricky
|
|
told me that he'd read a new magazine, called BTN, that listed TONS of
|
|
BBS numbers for the B'ham area. A thirty minute session with my comm
|
|
program Quick Link 2, and I was off. The rest is history.
|
|
|
|
Now I know my way around computers and BBS's pretty well, although
|
|
I'm not very active, due to my school activities. Ricky and I have come
|
|
a long way since then, and we now host two conferences called CAAT on
|
|
Joker's Castle and Nonsense on Hardeman' Christian BBS <plug plug>.
|
|
Well, that's my story, like it or not.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Not A BTN Party Review
|
|
|
|
or, Who Is Michael Walker and Why
|
|
Would Everyone In Birmingham Like To Kill Him?
|
|
by Scott Hollifield
|
|
|
|
As the title says, this isn't a review of the October BTN Halloween
|
|
party, and anyway, who ever heard such a ridiculous thing? It's
|
|
December already, or will be by the time you read this, and besides,
|
|
last month's issue of BTN provided us with two very lucid, if somewhat
|
|
biased, articles covering the events at the already-infamous Halloween
|
|
party.
|
|
|
|
And let's face it, you don't write worth a damn anyway unless you
|
|
show a little bias. That is, after all, what writing is all about (or
|
|
so I've decided), and the key to good writing is in how you channel your
|
|
bias. Dean did his usual bit with his party review; in fact, so usual
|
|
was his review that I had already heard everything in the article before
|
|
I even read it. But that's okay, because BTN is pretty much the only
|
|
connection left to any real Birmingham audience for Dean, and like the
|
|
most persistent of entertainers, Dean craves an audience, whether he
|
|
admits it or not. We all do.
|
|
|
|
No, Dean's article didn't tell me anything new, but there was
|
|
another party review, sandwiched quietly in between Eric Hunt's Windows
|
|
column and Bob Crawford's just-discovered-BTN "please allow me to
|
|
introduce myself" piece. This party article was written by someone whom
|
|
I've never heard of, a fellow named Michael Walker, and it was an
|
|
eye-opener.
|
|
|
|
It was the kind of bias that tries to make itself look like
|
|
straight reporting, which is often the most entertaining kind. While
|
|
reading it, my mind flashed back instinctively to Jet Thomas' quite
|
|
interesting party review from BTN #24. Jet's coverage of that season's
|
|
BTN party was a hair-raising illustration of how frightening and
|
|
powerful the straight, blunt, camera-eye truth can be. I don't know if
|
|
anyone was actually offended by Jet's article, but it wouldn't surprise
|
|
me in the least. Michael's party piece was basically the same fare, but
|
|
told from more of an "outsider's" perspective - someone who had never
|
|
been to one of these things before. Jet himself even got the tables
|
|
turned on him by being referred to in Michael's article as "a very weird
|
|
little person who was trying desperately to be clever".
|
|
|
|
And therein lies the rub: Michael's article was interesting because
|
|
it was a raw grainy look at a BTN party from the point-of-view of
|
|
someone who didn't know any of the unwritten rules or in-jokes. Anyone
|
|
who knows Jet well (or as well as can be) realizes that Jet's weirdness
|
|
isn't a pretentious attempt to be clever, although it might well come
|
|
off that way to an amateur sociologist like Michael. Further on down
|
|
the list, I noticed that Michael spelled "BTN" as "BTM", puzzled over
|
|
Mark Maisel's legendary social status, and actually professed to have
|
|
never heard of "some person named Dean" - the first time I've EVER heard
|
|
Dean referred to in those words. (I laughed out loud at the image of
|
|
Dean uncomfortably finding himself in the position of actually having to
|
|
*introduce* himself to someone.)
|
|
|
|
Michael even made the penultimate (and easiest) mistake an outsider
|
|
could make in reviewing a BTN party: he concluded that computer-level
|
|
actually determined social status, or to put it in his words, people are
|
|
ranked by the speed of their microprocessor. Most of the computer users
|
|
I know HATE talking about their machines, as do I, since all I do on it
|
|
is telecommunicate and write (often merging the two, as I do here). As
|
|
statistically unlikely as it sounds, the best conclusion that *I* can
|
|
draw from this is that Michael did indeed talk to most or all of the
|
|
wrong people, particularly if anyone actually asked him to trade
|
|
software. Anyone who goes to a BTN party and talks primarily about
|
|
computers isn't really experiencing the party itself, and is probably
|
|
being laughed at by the ones who are.
|
|
|
|
Personally, I don't remember talking to Michael at the party, and
|
|
since I was sober the whole time, I either didn't catch his name or
|
|
somehow missed him - strange, considering he was there (as was I) until
|
|
at least 3 a.m. (from his account of Chris Mohney tipsily crooning "I
|
|
like New York in June" in the front yard). I even got mentioned, albeit
|
|
inaccurately and with my name misspelled, which indicates that Michael
|
|
must've gotten my name from Dean after I left the vicinity to get a soft
|
|
drink. But we can forgive that; I don't know about his background as a
|
|
writer, but being a neophyte BTNer, Michael was certain to get a few of
|
|
his facts wrong, and since we all know what happened anyway, Michael's
|
|
article reveals as much about himself as it does what happened at the
|
|
party.
|
|
|
|
I actually didn't intend for this to develop into a full-blown
|
|
review of Michael Walker's article, but while I'm at it, I might as well
|
|
mention what he did manage to get right, which was a surprising amount.
|
|
Dean impressed him as "standoffish and surly", which is just about
|
|
perfect, considering that Dean may as well be the poster child for Surly
|
|
People Local 251. Lurch Henson was denigrated anonymously as "some guy
|
|
with a scraggly beard...dressed in black" who "just stood around and
|
|
pretended to be cool". Being an outsider, Michael of course was
|
|
obligated to see pretention in everyone, which doesn't really surprise
|
|
me much. Michael reveals his own human desires and vulnera- bilities:
|
|
he points fingers at the "nerds" who leered at the very unsteady Tiffany
|
|
Griffin, while simultaneously letting us know that he too had noticed
|
|
the "very fetching thighs" of Dave Stanton's date (Dave was the one
|
|
dressed as a televangelist). A mistake Michael makes here is
|
|
attributing the oglers' activity to nerdiness instead of drunkenness
|
|
(there was much more of the latter than the former), and in the future,
|
|
it might be a good idea for him to be watchful of any pokes at the
|
|
social interaction of those around him. Even veteran BTN writers like
|
|
Dean and I occasionally fall into the trap of trying to separate
|
|
ourselves from the BTN scene in our role as "objective reporters"; Dean
|
|
fails miserably at it, and personally, I've long since given up the
|
|
illusion that I'm on some kind of plateau looking down at the masses.
|
|
In other words, we're all in the same boat, even if some of us are
|
|
hanging on to the masts. He's one of us now; to trample another
|
|
metaphor, Michael should keep on eye on that developing pot-black
|
|
coloration lest he start to slowly resemble the kettle he targets.
|
|
|
|
I mentioned "in the future". Does Michael Walker, in fact, have a
|
|
future as a BTN writer? Well, ultimately, that's up to him of course,
|
|
and, indirectly, to the persons who may want to lynch him after having
|
|
read his article. Michael himself touches on this very tangent in his
|
|
closing paragraph, as he ponders the understanding that's coming; "maybe
|
|
soon," he says, "but not yet." He realizes that he will learn more
|
|
about what goes on as he spends more time on the boards and at the
|
|
parties, provided he talks to the right people. I have to admit that he
|
|
has potential, even though virtually anyone can make a party review
|
|
interesting (parties are easy; the trick is finding other things to
|
|
write about between parties). The thing that I'm wondering, though, is
|
|
if Michael's polish may be a bit worn by the time his next article, if
|
|
one comes, rolls around. By the next time he writes, he will have
|
|
learned a bit more about the BTN scene; he will have become more
|
|
integrated into the crowd, and the innocence that highlighted Michael's
|
|
party article will be peeled away layer by layer. Only time will tell
|
|
if there is a comparable level of insight lurking beneath.
|
|
|
|
Michael, if you're reading this (and I have a feeling that word
|
|
will eventually get around to you), then let me say this: some say that
|
|
I may be easily impressionable, but you did actually impress me - not in
|
|
the colloquial sense of "come off flatteringly", but literally made an
|
|
impression, and in fact did that increasingly rare thing: you caused me
|
|
to sit down and write a new BTN article. You've also increased the
|
|
controversy level of BTN another notch, and as a fellow
|
|
controversialist, I can't complain too much.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Running From Remote
|
|
by Tim Straughn, SysOp, Bus System
|
|
|
|
I have been operating a BBS for nearly 6 years now, and haven't
|
|
really regretted a minute of it. It has given me some incredible
|
|
challenges, and taught me a lot about dealing with other people and
|
|
their 'isms. It's had it's ups and downs, and it's downs and ups,
|
|
including massive hardware failures, being struck by lightning
|
|
(resulting in the previous), major security screw-ups (disrupting the
|
|
entire BBS community on Christmas day of 1988), and just plain ornery
|
|
people sometimes, but over all, it has been a very enjoyable experience.
|
|
|
|
From the day I first put in a private line for the system, it has
|
|
been a daily task of keeping the board put together. I perhaps ran it
|
|
in absentia a bit too much, and now, it isn't nearly as popular as it
|
|
was the first few years I had the system. From the get go, I started
|
|
hot-rodding batch files to take care of the mundane chores that other
|
|
sysops have all the patience of Job for, because I hate repetitive
|
|
tasks. I kept at it until the system could completely support itself
|
|
with no intervention at all, including all the message base packing,
|
|
user data base management, virtually everything except uploaded file
|
|
directory management. I am a stickler for detail, and due to the
|
|
limitations of PCBFiler, I haven't yet figured out a way to automate
|
|
this process, and place the files in the right directories, but believe
|
|
me, it isn't because I haven't tried.
|
|
|
|
My goal, beginning in August, 1989, was to get the system to the
|
|
point it required absolutely no human intervention, and that I could
|
|
leave it and not come back to a disaster on the hard disks with
|
|
humongous files resulting from old messages and other stuff. I finally
|
|
got all details of the system worked out, including a timed
|
|
registration. I worked hard at the batch files, getting the system to
|
|
delete any new users that hadn't registered completely, and hadn't been
|
|
back on for 10 day, as well as bumping off registered users that hadn't
|
|
been on for 180 days. I was very pleased with myself, and worked more
|
|
diligently and had the system packing the message bases every 7 days,
|
|
killing off old traffic so that the new user on the system wouldn't have
|
|
reams of mail to read which would be of little value. I was tickled
|
|
pink because I wasn't spending tremendous amounts of time maintaining
|
|
the system. I had some batch files that were called "batch files from
|
|
Hell" by another local sysop who helped me set up and start the BBS. I
|
|
was, at the time, at DOS's mercy, and knew little about batch
|
|
programming. Now, I have nuclear powered batch files which all but
|
|
eliminate any intervention from me, the fully self-supporting BBS. It
|
|
offers very little trouble, and the only time I ever do anything to the
|
|
batch files now, it's just something for finesse, nothing really
|
|
functional.
|
|
|
|
Why did I ever set this goal for my BBS? At the time I got the
|
|
notion, I knew that I was going to become involved in a long-term
|
|
project at the Saturn automobile plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee. This
|
|
meant that I would be gone for weeks on end, and I didn't want the
|
|
system to die or take it down because of my absence. I wanted the users
|
|
to keep it alive for me, and felt that if I wasn't interfering with the
|
|
operation, that it would run more smoothly and become more popular.
|
|
Since I wasn't having to take it down for long periods of time to answer
|
|
mail and manage the file directories, I thought traffic would pick up
|
|
and the system would become even more busy. At one time, traffic on my
|
|
system was in the top ranks. Now, I think it probably would fall into
|
|
last place, though it is getting better. I actually thought I was doing
|
|
my users a favor by ducking out and leaving the system to them. I
|
|
actually thought that a "sysopless" system would prosper beyond the
|
|
wildest dreams of any sysop because I wasn't getting worked up over some
|
|
message that a user left, or a file that shouldn't have been uploaded
|
|
for whatever reason. I truly thought that the users didn't want a sysop
|
|
watching the BBS like `Big Brother'. I have learned over the past few
|
|
months, however, that this is not true.
|
|
|
|
In the past 12 months, I have seen entire weeks go by without a
|
|
single message being entered on the system. Every message that was in
|
|
the message bases was coming from remote systems. Even with the
|
|
networking to other boards, the system was dying a very slow and painful
|
|
death, and I couldn't figure out why. I was dismayed, and even
|
|
considered having the phone line removed because there wasn't much point
|
|
in keeping the extra phone line if it wasn't being used. I even left a
|
|
message to that effect. Lo and behold, I got a message! I left
|
|
another, and got two responses. Hmmm, what was happening here. Since I
|
|
finally got a message, and even started a conversation with one of the
|
|
users, and that user extended the conversation to another, the message
|
|
activity has been picking up. Then it dawned on me, perhaps the users
|
|
don't really want a board that supports itself. Perhaps the users want
|
|
a board with a personality?
|
|
|
|
I found this to be a bit intriguing, so I put the old Sysop's
|
|
personality back into the flow of things on the system (though
|
|
maintaining all of the automated maintenance functions that I worked so
|
|
hard to develop). I just started getting more involved with the system,
|
|
and actually interacting with users. I started leaving messages to
|
|
those that were bending or breaking the policies I set up for my system,
|
|
and some of them have even turned into regular users. I have
|
|
re-established a few cross-town connections with other users via EzNet,
|
|
and some of them have started calling my system direct. This was so
|
|
enlightening. Folks don't want just a machine to answer their phone
|
|
call and provide them with a library of files and the same messages they
|
|
can find elsewhere. They want that individual personality of the person
|
|
running the BBS. They want to `talk' with the person paying the phone
|
|
bill for their enjoyment.
|
|
|
|
I found, in the long run, that one cannot be a REMOTE sysop in the
|
|
sense of not being involved with the system. A BBS operator cannot
|
|
disassociate himself/herself from the system, even if there are
|
|
networked message bases. The system will die, unconditionally. My
|
|
involvement with the Saturn facility lasted for 20 months,and at first,
|
|
I couldn't see the degradation in activity because the system was always
|
|
busy. As the time wore on, though, I realized that the system had a
|
|
terminal disease, and was going down the tubes, no matter how hard I
|
|
tried to make sure it was always available. The more I tried to keep it
|
|
available, the more available it became. I took drastic measures such
|
|
as operating without file libraries at all. I lost several regular
|
|
users because of this move, because there were several that depended on
|
|
the file libraries on my system to be accurate, and clean, and
|
|
completely tested and categorized properly. I saw the error of my ways,
|
|
but not until it was nearly too late.
|
|
|
|
Perhaps I got bored with the system, or most probably, I was too
|
|
tired to try to take care of it on weekends while involved with the
|
|
Saturn project. Perhaps I was tired of spending hours of mail reading
|
|
on Saturdays and not having any time for myself. I don't know exactly
|
|
why I stopped taking part in the operation of my own BBS, but I know
|
|
that I didn't make a very wise choice. Since I have returned to routine
|
|
service work at my job and am home much more frequently, I have worked
|
|
toward a happy medium, working for something that I enjoy, without
|
|
cutting off any privileges, or adding anything that would further
|
|
belabor me with the system and cause it to lose favor with me again. I
|
|
reorganized the system considerably, and adopted some new policies of
|
|
operation, and modified other standing policies. So far, putting a
|
|
little personality back in the system is paying off. What I hope to
|
|
avoid, though, is allowing the system to again become overbearing, to
|
|
the point of taking anything personally from some people that I don't
|
|
even know, and having real problems separating the board life from the
|
|
real thing. The users didn't do anything to the board. I killed it by
|
|
removing that which the users expect to see, the Sysop.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
The Adventures of R.G. Strangemind and Herbert
|
|
by Jeremy Lewis
|
|
Copyright 1991 by Jeremy Lewis
|
|
no reprints without the permission of the author
|
|
|
|
Part IX
|
|
|
|
In a dark room, in a dark place somewhere, really
|
|
really dark, a voice spoke.
|
|
|
|
"We should be approaching them at any moment sir."
|
|
Another, deeper voice was heard in the darkness.
|
|
|
|
"Ahhh...That is as it should be."
|
|
|
|
The other voice spoke.
|
|
|
|
"Sir, why are we chasing the large gray spaceship?"
|
|
|
|
The Deeper Voice was heard again, this time quite
|
|
impatient.
|
|
|
|
"How many times must I tell you. Toastus' essense is
|
|
on that ship, and when we reach it, we shall take care of
|
|
him."
|
|
|
|
The other voice spoke once more.
|
|
|
|
"Sir, who is Toastus?"
|
|
|
|
In the depths of space, a large glistening fist-shaped
|
|
vessel shot towards an ususpecting large gray spaceship
|
|
quite unaware that behind it dwelt two beings with the
|
|
power to destroy the universe itself.
|
|
|
|
Back on the large gray spaceship, herbert was waking
|
|
up when he felt himself being pushed out of his body. It
|
|
then turned to him.
|
|
|
|
"I AM TOASTUS!!!"
|
|
|
|
Herbert, as usual, was at a loss for words.
|
|
|
|
R.G. was very worried. he couldn't find Herbert and
|
|
the SHip's Computer, no matter how many times he called
|
|
for him, would not respond. He had a very terrible
|
|
feeling...a premonition of things to come, for a fleeting
|
|
instant, he had seen the universe swirl around him and,
|
|
although it sounds rather silly, toasters surrounded him.
|
|
Voices had spoken out to him.
|
|
|
|
"Save us!!! Save Us!!!" then a sudden "NOOOOOO!!!"
|
|
and then all exploded. When he could think again, he
|
|
found himself running helplessly down the coridoors of the
|
|
ship, screaming wildly that he had not meant to hurt them.
|
|
Now, now he was frightened...frightened and alone.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Notes From the Trenches
|
|
by Dean Costello
|
|
|
|
"My Computer Can Beat Up Your Computer"
|
|
|
|
People who know me come up to me and say, "So, Dean, I hear that
|
|
you are active in computer bulletin boards. What kind of IBM do you
|
|
use?"
|
|
|
|
Ahh, another person who feels that IBM is the default computer. I
|
|
suppose, though, that in the region where I lived, Birmingham, AL, this
|
|
kind of assumption is probably fairly accurate. As far as I know, there
|
|
are a couple of ST people, but they aren't that active except on the
|
|
Atari board, a handful of Amiga-types, a Mac person or two; everyone
|
|
else drove IBMs. So, I suppose, the bias is for the most part an
|
|
accurate one.
|
|
|
|
Party dialogue: "Atari? Are they still in business?" Yes, they
|
|
are. They even have put out a new computer or two since the 400. "Get
|
|
out of here! You really have an Atari computer? Does anyone make
|
|
cartridges for that type anymore?" The ST doesn't run on game
|
|
cartridges, though there are nice games for it, as well as application
|
|
software and programming languages. "You mean like that Basic cartridge
|
|
for the 800?" <sigh> Yeah, something like that. Pardon me while I go
|
|
get something to drink.
|
|
|
|
For a while I used to attack the PC-Slaves, those users that feel
|
|
that the MS-DOS-based machines are the end-all, be-all of computer
|
|
technology. "Slots? What do you need them for? You mean to tell me
|
|
that you need some kind of outboard dohickey just for a floppy drive?"
|
|
But even if this leads to short-term catharsis, the expression "banging
|
|
ones head against the wall" coming to mind. And they always say, "Well,
|
|
I have a '386, which is better than yours", or words to that effect. I
|
|
guess it is a more powerful computer, but when it is only used for games
|
|
and looking at X-rated GIFs, what's the point of spending the bux?
|
|
Status?
|
|
|
|
So, I have gotten to the point that I have become comfortable about
|
|
my choice of computer. I even accept the PC-types that like to brag
|
|
about their system. One person in Birmingham has spent lots of money in
|
|
order to say,"I have the fastest BBS in the city". Well, it's down now,
|
|
but that's probably another story. I discovered that by making
|
|
appropriate "Oooh" and "Ahh" noises, he is happy that I 'admire' his
|
|
technical prowess. Kind of like when someone you know has a gold credit
|
|
card, and when you make the appropriate noises, they will be inclined to
|
|
show it off by buying you meals, but I digress.
|
|
|
|
I would like to say to people like this, "Oh yeah, well look at
|
|
this! I have 17 gigabytes of HD space! 2480x1920 resolution, with
|
|
6.02E23 colours!", etc., etc. But I cannot at this point. I merely
|
|
have a 1040ST, circa 1987, an old Supra 20MB hard drive (250K/sec, a
|
|
strong 88ms access time), a Syquest 44Meg removable HD, a stock color
|
|
monitor, and a 2400bd Supra modem.
|
|
|
|
I like my ST, I don't regret buying it, and it does everything that
|
|
I need a computer to do. It is difficult to be an Atari prophet in such
|
|
an IBM-heavy world. But I am still in there...slugging away... making
|
|
my converts where I can...
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
ProFile
|
|
by Scott Hollifield
|
|
|
|
Okay, I know I said I was going to change the ProFile questions
|
|
some, and a quick cursory glance of this month's offering will reveal
|
|
that the questions are still the same old pasty white-bread
|
|
politically-correct ones. The reason for this is two-fold: first, in
|
|
the true spirit of a BTN writer, I waited until the last minute to even
|
|
try to do anything about this month's feature. Second, I'm simply
|
|
having trouble thinking of any good questions that don't sound stupid,
|
|
seriously deranged, or both. So, in light of this, I am quite willing
|
|
to go the lazy route and take suggestions. If you have an idea for a
|
|
ProFile question, or indeed, any way to spice up this feature at all,
|
|
leave me mail on the Crunchy Frog. Be sure to spell my name right or I
|
|
may not get it. And thank you in advance.
|
|
|
|
You've probably seen this month's victim if you hang around Alter
|
|
Ego. His name is Kevin Hitt, and he's a hep cat for no better reason
|
|
than the fact that he bares his soul right here in BTN. The answers are
|
|
four months old, though, so I apologize if he's improved upon himself in
|
|
the time since.
|
|
|
|
---------
|
|
|
|
ProFile on KEVIN HITT
|
|
|
|
---------
|
|
|
|
Age: 32
|
|
|
|
Birthplace: Poplar Bluff, Missouri
|
|
|
|
Occupation: Physician
|
|
|
|
My hobbies include: Raquetball, golf, reading
|
|
|
|
Years telecomputing: 1
|
|
|
|
My oddest habit is: BBS'ing when I should be studying
|
|
|
|
My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: to have my kids grow up with
|
|
their heads on straight
|
|
|
|
The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is: my family
|
|
|
|
My favorite performers are: James Taylor, Dan Fogelberg
|
|
|
|
The last good movie I saw was: Jungle Book (my kids took me)
|
|
|
|
The last good book I read was: Treasure by Clive Cussler
|
|
|
|
If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played
|
|
by: Mel Brooks
|
|
|
|
My pet peeves are: Chronically late people
|
|
|
|
When nobody's looking, I like to: sing at the top of my lungs
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Quandary File List Manager v. 4.65
|
|
D'Vise Software
|
|
A Review
|
|
by Eric Hunt
|
|
|
|
Quandary is primarily a program for those of you out there who do
|
|
lots and lots of uploading. It also has a couple of features that a BBS
|
|
Sysop would be interested in as well.
|
|
|
|
Quandary's main purpose is to compare lists of files, and noting
|
|
the discrepancies. That means it can be useful in many different
|
|
situations. The intended use for the program is this: You can't remember
|
|
what files you've uploaded to what bulletin boards. So, you download the
|
|
most current ALLFILES list for the BBS in question, and also create a
|
|
listing of the files you wish to upload. Run both files through
|
|
Quandary, and the program will tell you which of your files are not
|
|
found in the BBS allfiles list. It's that simple. Quandary will also
|
|
take your list of files and consult an ALLFILES list in order to attach
|
|
descriptions to your list. Finally, Quandary will search lists of files
|
|
to find duplicates. This is handy for sysops. They can run their
|
|
allfiles through the program, with a detailed report listing duplicate
|
|
file names produced. From there, the sysop can trek into his filebase,
|
|
report in hand, and decide which files get the axe (and which users,
|
|
too! [g])
|
|
|
|
Now, my reflections and opinions on the program itself:
|
|
|
|
As the program comes out of the archive, you must first run an
|
|
'install' program that allows you to use the program in a fully
|
|
functional shareware environment. Those of you who blindly start running
|
|
things without reading the READMEs and such take note of this. If you
|
|
don't run the install program, Quandary runs in DEMO mode, which is
|
|
quite useless.
|
|
|
|
The documentation for the program is very well written. It is easy
|
|
to read and follow. All options and functions in the program are clearly
|
|
explained. Best of all, the docs are SHORT! Slightly over 300 lines,
|
|
which is not bad. However, the order form is reminiscent of those
|
|
'bubble' sheets and data entry sheets you used as a child in school. One
|
|
other minor oversight in the documentation was the omission of where one
|
|
can contact the authors ELECTRONICALLY. There is a snail mail address,
|
|
but this is really unnacceptable, especially for a product that is
|
|
geared exclusively towards the online community. For those of you who
|
|
are not in the Birmingham area, this omission might be crucial. However,
|
|
I was able to contact the developers because the program is local. And I
|
|
can say they were *very* responsive to comments and suggestions I had
|
|
about the program.
|
|
|
|
Operation of the program is easy as well. Everything is presented
|
|
to the user from a series of menus. Navigating the menus is easy, and
|
|
they are laid out in a visually appealing pattern, none of that drop
|
|
down menu stuff. There is context sensitive help available at all times,
|
|
an F1 key away. The help screens are concise, and informative. A list of
|
|
'hotkeys' is available by pressing F2. All of the major features of the
|
|
program, comparing files, adding descriptions, importing and preparing
|
|
file lists, etc, are explained onscreen with F1 help available at any
|
|
time. The help is invaluable the first few times you use the program.
|
|
|
|
Quandary requires that you run your personal files listing through
|
|
a utility that removes extranneous information from the listing and
|
|
prepares a Quandary-friendly listing. You can even take a file listing
|
|
from the popular CATDISK disk cataloguing program and use it as your
|
|
personal files list. I did feel that this extra step of converting your
|
|
list to an internal format manually was cumbersome, and possibly could
|
|
be confusing to the neophyte computer users. However, it is not hard to
|
|
do at all, and takes very little time. It is a crucial step, however, as
|
|
Quandary will not accept files for processing that have not been
|
|
converted. Also, Quandary requires that you split long file listings
|
|
into chunks. This is done very easily, however, by a semi-automated
|
|
process. Tell Quandary what file to split, and it will be split into 32k
|
|
chunks sequentially. This splitting is necessary for speed, as most of
|
|
the functions of the program are done directly from memory and not from
|
|
disk. This last fact also makes Quandary FAST. The speed is impressive.
|
|
Add a hefty disk cache to the system, and it gets even faster. Very
|
|
nice. Next, one of the best features of Quandary is the ability to take
|
|
your list of files and slap descriptions onto it via a BBS ALLFILES
|
|
listing. This is very handy for creating disk catalogues without having
|
|
to type in those long descriptions for every file. Finally, there is a
|
|
nice internal text viewer for the program, and hooks to use an external
|
|
one. This viewer is a nice touch, and it will view files up to 32k in
|
|
size.
|
|
|
|
Quandary is $15, an excellent value considering the features of the
|
|
program. It is extremely easy to use, has excellent online context
|
|
sensitive help, and has clear, concise documentation. The learning curve
|
|
is very short, and once mastered, the program can be a wonderful
|
|
timesaver. If you are in need of help in managing your uploads, this
|
|
program just might be your answer.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Reflections
|
|
by Colby Gibson
|
|
|
|
I think it is time to reflect a bit more on the past and see what
|
|
has happened as of late. I missed writing anything for BTN last month
|
|
because of the workload our teachers seem to "love" to throw upon us at
|
|
inopportune moments, especially when they are certain that no other
|
|
teacher could possibly have any work for us to do. Such is life.
|
|
|
|
I find it necessary to recount what stands out in my mind for the
|
|
past year and see what I come up with. I wrote another reflection file a
|
|
year ago and so much has happened since that here I am again.
|
|
|
|
I find it funny that a company such as AMD could pull off something
|
|
like they did and bust Intel a good one in the head. I have been looking
|
|
at the stock market reports and AMD seems to be going up and Intel is
|
|
just going down and down. I believe Computer Shopper had a good
|
|
rendition of the story for those that collect the huge monsters of
|
|
magazines.
|
|
|
|
It is in the past year that I have had the opportunity to attend
|
|
the BTN get-togethers with more impunity than before. Being one of the
|
|
youngest users in the city and not quite old enough to drive a car
|
|
without a guardian present, life can be pretty brutal. But, I was able
|
|
to effect a ride to several of the extravaganzas with the Sullivans, who
|
|
I find generally nice people.
|
|
|
|
I must put a part in here about them. They are some of the nicest
|
|
people I have met in a long time, even in their own way. Patricia is
|
|
always willing to lend a hand (I don't know about the deal with her and
|
|
Dean, so don't even...) to those that need it and she did so with me.
|
|
Erica is a good friend that just about anyone can have. Nathan and Shane
|
|
are good guys but you have to keep them entertained.
|
|
|
|
I have met a whole lot of new people in the past year, national and
|
|
local. After finding out that the MATRIX carried ILink, I figured I
|
|
might as well go and shoot myself in the foot and talk to people. Wow,
|
|
it's neat to get mail from people in Florida and California. Public
|
|
opinion of me is still one that I could use if it was better, but trying
|
|
to be friendly in one place and abusive in another hasn't proved good to
|
|
anything.
|
|
|
|
I can say one thing to anyone who has not yet gone to the Denny's
|
|
run in the early morning hours of the BTN parties. Don't go. That is,
|
|
unless you love food that is better being fed to leeches than people.
|
|
You can sit there and throw sugar packets next time.
|
|
|
|
I learned quite a bit about software in the past year. One of them
|
|
is when you install DOS5 you don't go installing 8 year old TSRs in High
|
|
Memory. I see that young people still have quite a bit to learn.
|
|
|
|
School is hell, but that can be dealt with if you look at it right.
|
|
Most of the people that go to my school are full of themselves and they
|
|
need a good whack across the head. But, socialism isn't my strong suit
|
|
and I try to stay as neutral in that as possible.
|
|
|
|
Life unfolds itself more and more as I get older and older. I have
|
|
spent the last couple of months in a pseudo-depressed state because of
|
|
social circumstances that I never knew existed. I guess that someone had
|
|
better hit ME in the face and tell me what is going on in the world.
|
|
|
|
Computer prices still fall and fall, but that doesn't help me
|
|
because I can't legally work yet. That is a bitch when you have RAM that
|
|
blows up in your face in the middle of the night and wires seem to just
|
|
touch each other by ACCIDENT. Every day I have to work with Windows, and
|
|
as much as Eric Hunt sits there and praises it I cannot see one useful
|
|
application of that software that would merit it the space and memory
|
|
that the hog consumes when it is operating. Not to mention the time that
|
|
the thing takes to load software and the mouse clicking thing that is
|
|
always getting on my nerves. Arrrghhhh!!!!
|
|
|
|
I don't call many systems during the week because I am rarely home
|
|
long enough to do that. I am fairly active on Crunchy Frog, so if you
|
|
want to come out and yell at me, do it there. I can see where the BBSing
|
|
thing is going. It is not just something you do as a hobby. It's a way
|
|
of life.
|
|
|
|
This is not good. I have spent the last 6 years of my life in front
|
|
of a keyboard typing away at people that I could not see and I could not
|
|
hear. But now, all of these things are coming together.
|
|
|
|
The bulletin board population has grown. No, not the amount of
|
|
people that call them but the boards THEMSELVES. Legitimate systems come
|
|
and go, because usually the Sysop will see what hell it is to run a
|
|
system and he or she will get rid of it. But, hardrock systems have
|
|
stayed in there and according to BTN, the systems have grown from a good
|
|
number of 47 systems to that of 64. That is a substantial increase in a
|
|
year considering the number of systems that come and go in a week.
|
|
|
|
One problem I have found with BBSing since I was forced to live in
|
|
the wonderful city of Trussville is the damn phone system. I swear, it
|
|
is the most redundant system I have ever seen in my life. GTE (Formerly
|
|
Contel) should realize these things, but they are making a killing off
|
|
of the people in the area.
|
|
|
|
Consider this. Douglas Griffin runs Baudville which is basically 1
|
|
mile down the street from me. I rode my bike (Really mature
|
|
transportation) to his store the other day. I can call someone out at
|
|
the Fairgrounds in Ensley but I can't give Doug a call because the
|
|
"line" happens to run about 200 feet in FRONT of his store. That sucks.
|
|
|
|
It's not all that bad, I guess. I have little use for the phone
|
|
outside of calling systems within my range and talking to the occasional
|
|
friend that might deign to call me. But, I digress from the subject
|
|
here.
|
|
|
|
Our very own Chris Mohney left us and so did Dean, and I am quite
|
|
sure we are all crying over it. I know I am. But, I wish Chris well in
|
|
Tuscaloosa and Dean well in whatever point between states he might be
|
|
in. Mark Maisel spent a great deal of time on the road sucking in
|
|
information from Comdex, and we have had great amounts of people from
|
|
Hotlanta coming to the parties. Raymond Hugh even came down from New
|
|
York to see us.
|
|
|
|
I guess what I am trying to say here is that the Birmingham BBS
|
|
community sure does change fast and you had better stay glued to the
|
|
station in order to keep up with it. I was away from home for 2 weeks
|
|
visiting my father and trying to leach money out of him for purposes up
|
|
here and when I got back, It was data shock trying to get back in the
|
|
saddle. Only 3200 messages on the Frog to read, and I just said forget
|
|
it about the national nets I was pulling down.
|
|
|
|
I would like to say several things in closing. Computer freaks are
|
|
not geeks as most people make them out to be.
|
|
|
|
The MATRIX will get bigger and bigger until the table that Rocky
|
|
has holding the machine up collapses.
|
|
|
|
Depressed people don't need to stick their hands in a candle flame.
|
|
|
|
And last, the faster you move the more you will get out of it. Make
|
|
your own judgement from that.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Windows, Video Cards, and You
|
|
more specifically, the
|
|
Diamond SpeedSTAR PLUS VGA card
|
|
with a little extra discussion
|
|
thrown in for good measure.
|
|
by Eric Hunt
|
|
|
|
After a title like that, you're afraid to read the article, right?
|
|
Don't worry. Windows 3.0 has always had its foes and its supporters,
|
|
each one having his/her own reason for liking or disliking the product.
|
|
Unfortunately, many of the solid arguments AGAINST Windows 3.0 centered
|
|
around the abysmal video performance one could expect using many of
|
|
today's SuperVGA cards. Good news is here, though. Video cards are
|
|
entering their second generation, and video performance in Windows is
|
|
proving it.
|
|
|
|
Historically, the VGA video subsystem has not had too much
|
|
'intelligence.' In other words, the host CPU was given the task of
|
|
computing all pixel movements instead of the card doing it. This leads
|
|
to extremely slow screen redraws and image displays, especially when in
|
|
a complex environment like Windows 3.0. The next step is to take these
|
|
housekeeping duties away from the host CPU and place them on the video
|
|
card. This is called a 'coprocessed' video card. The XGA and 8514/A
|
|
video adapters from IBM are the best examples of this. However, the card
|
|
I'm going to discuss in this article is not a coprocessed card, but an
|
|
example of the last category of SVGA adapters, second generation. The
|
|
'dumb' VGA adapters have gone through several years of fine tuning, and
|
|
the latest crop have improved their overall speed quite a bit, and can
|
|
therefore keep up with the CPU better. Also, the video drivers that
|
|
Windows 3.0 uses to talk to the card are of a better quality than some
|
|
of the initial SVGA drivers that appeared. Better quality = better
|
|
speed.
|
|
|
|
Now, with all that boring background information out of the way, my
|
|
impressions of the Diamond SpeedSTAR PLUS SuperVGA card in the Windows
|
|
3.0 environment.
|
|
|
|
The card came prebundled with an entire computer system already, so
|
|
I cannot give you any thoughts on the quality of customer service
|
|
Diamond gives direct-purchase customers. In addition, the manual for the
|
|
card had been made homogenous with the manuals for the system as a
|
|
whole, so I can't even discuss the quality of their manuals! I can,
|
|
however, tell you about the card's performance and what it will do.
|
|
That's the easiest! As the card came in the system, there was a set of
|
|
Windows 3.0 drivers already. In addition, there was 1 meg of DRAM
|
|
installed. A closer inspection revealed that these were not the latest
|
|
drivers available, and a call to the support BBS for the computer system
|
|
produced a copy of the latest ones. Let me tell you, these drivers make
|
|
this card HUM under Windows. The card supports modes from standard
|
|
640x480x16 VGA all the way up to 1024x768x256, with everything else
|
|
inbetween. The most startling performace came from the 256 color modes.
|
|
Simply put, they were as fast as the generic 16 color VGA driver that
|
|
Windows uses. On a 386-33 running 800x600x256, there was no perceptible
|
|
decrease in speed. And a 386sx-16 using the 640x480x256 mode was again
|
|
as fast as the regular 16 color VGA driver. One can only imagine how
|
|
fast they would be on a nice 486-33.
|
|
|
|
And this card/driver set finally fixed a bothersome quirk that
|
|
almost every other 256 color driver set has had. Blue menu bars. Under
|
|
16 colors, the menu bars are nice and black, the way they should be.
|
|
Under other 256 color cards, they've turned an eye-straining shade of
|
|
light blue. Well, with the Diamond card, they are now again black. I
|
|
don't know if this is a function of the card, or just a fix in the 256
|
|
color drivers, but I like it.
|
|
|
|
While I'm primarily a Windows person, I did have some DOS
|
|
applications that were SVGA, so I tried it with them. No real noticeable
|
|
difference, but I did have to figure out what SVGA chipset the card
|
|
uses, as 'Diamond SpeedSTAR' was not a choice on most anything I had.
|
|
TSENG ET-4000 did the trick, however.
|
|
|
|
Finally, when I moved the Diamond card to the 386sx, which was a
|
|
different brand than the PC the card arrived in, there were some dip
|
|
switch setting problems. They were soon fixed, however, and everything
|
|
worked fine from then on.
|
|
|
|
Diamond sells this SVGA card for approximately $350-400, depending
|
|
on how much RAM you purchase it with initially. If you are tired of your
|
|
slow SVGA card now, but don't really have the money to upgrade to a true
|
|
coprocessed SVGA card, this is one to look at.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
SIG's (Special Interest Groups), Computer Related
|
|
-------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
BEPCUG CCS
|
|
Birmingham East PC Users Group Commodore Club South
|
|
Jefferson Sate Jr. College Springville Road Library
|
|
Ruby Carson Hall, Rm 114 2nd & 4th Tuesday (C64/C128)
|
|
3rd Friday, 7-9 PM 3rd Monday (Amiga)
|
|
Paula Ballard 251-6058 (after 5PM) 7:30-10 PM
|
|
|
|
BCCC BIPUG
|
|
Birmingham Commodore Computer Club Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group
|
|
POB 59564 UAB Nutrition Science Blg
|
|
Birmingham, Al 35259 RM 535/541
|
|
UAB School of Education, Rm 153 1st Sunday (delayed one week
|
|
2nd and 4th Sundays, 2 PM if meeting is a holiday)
|
|
Rusty Hargett 854-5172 Marty Schulman 967-5883
|
|
|
|
BACE FAOUG
|
|
Birmingham Atari Computer First Alabama Osborne Users
|
|
Enthusiast Group
|
|
Vestavia Library, downstairs Homewood Library
|
|
2nd Monday, 7 PM 1st Saturday, 1PM
|
|
Benny Brown 822-5059 Ed Purquez 669-5200
|
|
|
|
CADUB
|
|
CAD Users of Birmingham
|
|
Homewood Library
|
|
3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM
|
|
Bobby Benson 791-0426
|
|
|
|
SIG's, Non-Computer Related
|
|
---------------------------
|
|
|
|
BBC Birmingham Astronomy Club
|
|
Blue Box Companions Subject: Astronomy
|
|
Subject: Dr. Who Red Mountain Museum Annex
|
|
Hoover Library 4th Tuesday, 7:30PM
|
|
1st Saturday, 2PM-5PM
|
|
|
|
If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed,
|
|
please let us know by sending E-Mail to Barry Bowden on
|
|
The Matrix BBS.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area
|
|
|
|
NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES MODEM BBS SOFTWARE
|
|
SUPPORTED TYPE
|
|
|
|
* Alter-Ego BBS 744-7733 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
|
|
* Amiga Alliance ][ 631-0262 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
^ Arkham Asylum 853-7422 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
|
|
Baudville Node 1 640-4593 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
|
|
Baudville Node 2 640-4639 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
|
|
&)*}Bloom County 856-0587 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
-* Bus System 595-1627 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
|
|
*% Byte Me! 979-BYTE! 2400-9600 USR HST WWIV 4.12
|
|
CM(ee) BBS Node 1 655-4059 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
|
|
CM(ee) BBS Node 2 655-4065 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
|
|
Camelot BBS 856-0679 300-2400 Telegard 2.5
|
|
-*# Channel 8250 Node 1 744-8546 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
-*# Channel 8250 Node 2 744-5166 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
|
|
{ Connection Node 1 854-9074 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
{ Connection Node 2 854-2308 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
{ Connection Node 3 854-0698 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
{ Connection Node 4 854-5863 9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
* Crunchy Frog Node 1 956-1755 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
* Crunchy Frog Node 2 956-0073 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
DataLynx 322-3425 300-2400 Oracomm5.L.30
|
|
Disktop Publishing BBS 854-1660 300-2400 MNP4 Wildcat! 3.01
|
|
Downgrade Evolution 823-4858 1200-2400 Vortek 1.49
|
|
*+{ Family Smorgas-Board 744-0943 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
Flip Side 798-3961 300-2400 Telegard 2.5i
|
|
Graphics Zone Node 1 870-5306 300-9600 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16)
|
|
Graphics Zone Node 2 870-5329 300-9600 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16)
|
|
Hacker's Corner 674-5449 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
Hardeman's BBS 640-6436 1200-2400 Wildcat! 2.55s
|
|
I.S.A. BBS 995-6590 300-9600 HST Remote Access
|
|
-* Joker's Castle 664-5589 300-2400 MNP4 PC Board 14.5
|
|
*& Little Kingdom Node 1 969-0007 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
*& Little Kingdom Node 2 969-0008 300-2400 MNP4 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
*} Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.2
|
|
+{ MetaBoard 254-3344 300-2400 Opus
|
|
@ Missing Link 853-1257 300-2400 C-Net
|
|
^ Myth Drannor 699-5811 1200-2400 MNP4 WWIV 4.11
|
|
Night Watch 841-2790 300-2400
|
|
Optical Illusion 853-8062 300-1200 C-Net
|
|
Owlabama BBS 833-7176 300-2400 GTPower 15.00
|
|
Owl's Nest 680-0851 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
Paradise City 853-1439 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
Pooh's Korner 980-8710 300-2400
|
|
*- Road Kill 987-0794 300-2400
|
|
Safe Harbor 665-4355 300-9600 USR DS GTPower 15.00
|
|
Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-9600 Hayes PCBoard 14.5
|
|
* ST BBS 836-9311 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
|
|
Teasers 987-0122 300-2400 WWIV 4.20
|
|
+ The Bone Yard 631-6023 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
The Commodore Zone 856-3783 300-2400 Image1.2
|
|
The Den 925-0707 300-9600 USR HST ProLogon/ProDoor
|
|
^ The Dragon's Hoard 833-3790 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
|
|
^ The Edge of Oblivion 520-0230 300-2400 WWIV 4.11
|
|
The Madhouse! 428-3061 300-9600 USR V.32 Telegard 2.5i
|
|
-*$(The Matrix Nodes 1-4 323-2016 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
|
|
-*$(The Matrix Node 5 251-2344 2400-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
-*$(The Matrix Node 6 323-0799 2400-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
|
|
The Monster 967-4839 300-2400 Telegard 2.5i
|
|
+ The Outer Limits 985-1725 1200-9600 USR HST Wildcat! 3.01
|
|
The Quiet Zone 833-2066 300-2400 ExpressNET
|
|
+ The Round Table 938-2145 300-2400 Telegard 2.5i
|
|
The Safety BBS 581-2866 300-2400 RBBS-PC
|
|
The Word 833-2831 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
|
|
Willie's DYM Node 1 979-1629 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
|
|
Willie's DYM Node 2 979-7739 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
|
|
Willie's DYM Node 3 979-7743 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
|
|
Willie's DYM Node 4 979-8156 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
|
|
Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696 300-1200 Unaxess
|
|
|
|
The many symbols you see prior to the names of many of the bbs' in the
|
|
list signify that they are members of one or more networks that exchange
|
|
or echo mail to each other in some organized fashion.
|
|
|
|
* = EzNet, a local IBM compatible network
|
|
|
|
@ = Image network, a national Commodore network
|
|
|
|
+ = FidoNet, an international network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
- = Metrolink, an international network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
^ = WWIV-Net, an international network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
& = Intellec, an international network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
# = Uni'Net, an international network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
% = ThrobNet, an international network, adult oriented
|
|
|
|
$ = ILink, an international network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
( = TheoNet, a national network, multi-religious
|
|
|
|
{ = ADAnet, an international network dedicated to the handicapped
|
|
|
|
) = USNetMail, a national network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
} = RIME, an international network, multi-topic
|
|
|
|
If you have any corrections, additions, deletions, etc., please let us
|
|
know via EzNet.
|