pozar@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Pozar) (01/05/89)
Volume 6, Number 1 2 January 1989
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| /|oo \ |
| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
| International | | \ \\ |
| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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| (jm) |
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Editor in Chief Dale Lovell
Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Contributing Editors: Al Arango
FidoNews is published weekly by the International FidoNet
Association as its official newsletter. You are encouraged to
submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission
standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from
node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is available for network mail between NMH-1
hour to NMH+1 hour. At all other times, netmail is not accepted
although submissions can be uploaded.
Copyright 1988 by the International FidoNet Association. All
rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted for
noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
please contact IFNA at (314) 576-4067. IFNA may also be contacted
at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and
are used with permission.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
Happy New Year!!!
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
Backmail - A new comm. program ........................... 1
Followup to "Last Saturday" .............................. 3
VETNet is ALIVE!!!!! ..................................... 5
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 12
RegComm - Communications From RegCon ..................... 12
Rogel's Corner: Laptops ................................. 14
Let's YACK about Culture ................................. 21
3. NOTICES .................................................. 22
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 22
And more!
FidoNews 6-01 Page 1 2 Jan 1989
=================================================================
ARTICLES
=================================================================
BACKMAIL
Product Description: A new kind of micro-computer communications
program which provides modem to modem E-Mail and file transfers
etween any two MS-DOS machines running the program.
A small (35K RAM) TSR automatically schedules, calls and sends
mail to up to 100 destinations at a time in the background. TSR
answers the phone, receives messages or files and sends any
messages or files addressed to the calling program (identified by
phone number). Automatically retries if busy, or broken connec-
tion. A hot key brings up (by memory swapping) a front end
program which allows the user to read, send and monitor mail
flow. *Very* fast and unobtrusive in operation. Point and shoot
menus throughout. Easy to use.
A full screen text editor for messages (max 3.5K), word wrap,full
cursor movement. Messages automatically stamped with: time sent
or received; letter heads, forwarding and reply history. Incoming
and outgoing mail listed by subject line, time received or posted
and destination name. Mailboxes support: delete message, delete
all messages, delete all read/sent messages. Messages can be
appended to separate files. On screen notification of arrival of
mail.
Eight user definable prefixes (for inter-office numbers, local,
long distance...). Handles Long numbers or short extensions.
Allows separate phone entries for destination's voice and data
lines. Destinations can be give priority in scheduling. Destina-
tions can me marked so calling system refuses return mail (for
long distance calling).
Status Display shows pending messages, number of times called for
all pending files or messages. Calls to specific destinations
can be suspended so traffic is delivered only when that destin-
ation calls. Status Display also records aborted transmissions
with diagnosis of cause of failure.
Program maintains a mailing list of up to 1000 phone numbers.
Messages are addressed by menu of phone directory. A message can
be addressed to up to 100 separate destinations per access.
Allows bulk mailing for inter-office or local numbers (up to
1000).
For each destination in mailing directory the program stores
information on when the destination is available for data traffic
and how many times the destination should be retried if busy.
Each user declares own availability time and maximum retries and
this info is exchanged whenever two BackMails communicate. Calls
are automatically scheduled and retried to take account of dest-
ination's window of availability.
FidoNews 6-01 Page 2 2 Jan 1989
File directory listing, wildcards permitted. Up to 100 files can
be addressed at to 1-100 separate destinations each access. Sends
files of any size. File sending protocol insures destination has
sufficient disk space.
Setup menu allows user extensive control of program parameters,
including: toggle user notification, data only versus voice &
data operation, Wait for dial tone, defining hot keys, on screen
clock, screen colors, customized modem command strings and modem
response codes. Happily cohabits with most other TSRs.
The program is share ware. It periodically asks you to register
your copy ($30), whines for 20 seconds if you don't. To register
you hit a key and fill out a form with credit card info. As soon
as the registration screen is completed the program will not
bother you again. The credit card info is sent to an 800 data
number (US & Canada). Registered users receive strong technical
support.
BackMail is available through BBS's and Information services.
Alethic offers SYSOPS and SIGs a royalty arrangement which
provides a $3.00 royalty for each copy registered. Contact
Alethic for details. Alethic Software, 52 Parkhill Road, Halifax,
Nova Scotia, Canada B3P 1R2 Voice: (902) 420-0734 BIX(alethic)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-01 Page 3 2 Jan 1989
FOLLOWUP TO "LAST SATURDAY"
Tom Jennings
Node 1:125/111
This short article is a followup to the one in FNEWS5-48; maybe
it will provide a little background and answer some questions.
The FidoNet itself was based upon the principles I try to live my
life by; respecting others rights, principles and lives; self-
determination, and organization by cooperation, not coercion. All
of these are, after all, the most basic anarchist principles.
There is no contradiction in what I say vs. what I do.
The language in the article was a violent response to a violent
day. And yes, my life is my personal business only, and not
yours: however there are people out there who want to meddle in
MY business for THEIR reasons. I have no right to interfere with
you if you like to hang out in suburban malls, stay home and read
the Bible, join the army, drop out of school and become a hippy,
or anthing else that doesn't interfere with MY life.
The very first negative comment I received said "All that you
have done is to reinforce the views about homosexuals held by
such unthinking individuals as the driver of that car. And you
may have steered some of the rest of us toward the same path by
your inclusion of such explicit terms and references..."
Well spoken: this is exactly what my article is about. The second
sentence above says that in response to what I wrote, violence
against me, and the legal (or not) removal of my rights is an
acceptable response.
Now after reading my article you could call me an ass, tasteless,
rude, disgusting, awful, inconsiderate, perverse, whatever you
want, you're entitled to your opinion. But violence? I cannot
tell you how common this train of thought is, and how often it is
followed up with violence or death. It is simply a
rationalization of the desire to commit violence upon someone,
for reasons of the perpetrators alone. This is what my article is
about. No, it's not very pleasant at all, is it?
The article had almost nothing to do with sexuality; it had to do
with fascist (look it up in a dictionary) behaviour, as it
exists, today, in the USA. I never said that IV (or any other)
drug use is "OK", or unprotected anal sex is "OK", or that you or
I would find these things comfortable subjects. Nor are they
related except for disease transmission. Gay people do them no
more often than straight ones. The fact remains that many people
DO do these things, that's life, even people who read this
newsletter.
Defending peoples rights is not the same as defending what they
do. I will defend myself, my friends, and your right to live as
we each see fit. That, my friends, is what fighting for
individual freedom, and First Amendment rights, really means.
Have you ever read the United States Constitution? Read it, and
FidoNews 6-01 Page 4 2 Jan 1989
see the intent behind the words. Look around you and see the
attempts to circumvent it. Send me $1.00 (Tom Jennings, Box
77731, San Francisco CA 94107) and I will mail you a typeset
copy, nicely annotated, for your reference.
I've said more than I planned on the subject; I'm not here to
argue with anybody, you can believe what you want. I do not like
to argue politics or personal ethics, it offends everyone. This
is the last I will say on this subject.
Remember the quote by that Catholic priest in Nazi Germany: "When
they came for the jews, I didn't object because I wasn't a jew
... when they came for me, there was no one left to object."
Sheesh, I'm not usually so grim and serious. I promise I'll
shut up now. I have received more positive mail than hate mail,
and that's a good sign. But hell, I knew the net was filled with
mostly cool intelligent people, and could absorb something a
a bit (ahem) shocking. Sometimes things don't get spoken,
because... they just don't get said. Inertia. Time to speak out,
boys and girls.
* * *
As an aside, from my point of view, the network, all 4000+ nodes,
seems to run amazingly well. I know there's a lot of fighting
over control structures and such, as in the current trauma over
"other" networks, but the fact remains I can send a message just
about anywhere with incredible reliability. We haven't been
struck dumb by Babel, the nodelist is still wonderful, and the
RCs and NCs do a damn good job. Looks great!!!
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-01 Page 5 2 Jan 1989
VETNet is ALIVE!!!!!
By: Todd C. Looney
Vietnam Veterans' Valhalla
1:143/27 300/1200/2400 Bauds
(408) 293-7894
The sysops of the Vietnam Veterans Valhalla bulletin board
are both Vietnam combat veterans; I served during the war as a
Medical Field Surgeon in the U.S. Navy attached to an Emergency
Field Evac Hospital and later a long-range recon team near Dac
To, and spent more than my fair share of time in a VC/NVA prison
camp across the border in Laos, and Nancy my wife, who is a
veteran of a different sort having fought HER war *years* after I
returned to the United States, battling the problems I
brought back from that little country tucked thousands of
miles away in Southeast Asia. Nancy and I have, for the most
part, conquered all of the problems of that traumatic past
through years of hard work!
Many of the men and women who returned from that war
continue to carry it's memories and nightmares with them today.
Although most Vietnam veterans live a successful, happy life,
there are those whose every day is a bitter struggle to survive,
trying to find some way to either escape the horrible memories,
or to come to terms with themselves so they and their families
can begin to live a normal life!!
We feel it is our responsibility as caring and empathetic
individuals to share ourselves with those Vietnam combat
veterans of both kinds; the ex-military soldier-at-arms, and
their wives, friends, and lovers, with the hope that somehow the
knowledge and understanding we gained from the years
encompassing our own struggle might be of some help to those who
are still fighting their war!!!
THE VIETNAM VETERANS' VALHALLA BULLETIN BOARD
IS DEDICATED TO VIETNAM VETERANS,
THEIR WIVES, FRIENDS, & LOVERS!
And to the memory of the 58,000 men and women who never came home
Our system has been successfully operating for nearly 3
years now, and received well over 37,000 calls! We also founded
and coordinated the International Vietnam Veterans'
EchoConference (IVVEC) which can be seen on more than 200
bulletin boards across the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Please contact our system, or one of the nodes listed below who
carry our conference and join in. You don't need to be a veteran
of any kind to participate. We welcome you with open arms to
learn who we are and what we are all about!
Nancy and I are looking forward to meeting you all, as are
the Sysops of the nearly 200 VETNet BBs systems below:
=================================================================
VETNet NODELIST
FidoNews 6-01 Page 6 2 Jan 1989
Compiled by the Vietnam Veterans In Canada
=================================================================
As of 25 November 88 these are the net/nodes that are currently
listed as receiving the International Vietnam Veterans Echo. If
your local BBS is not listed, please send a message to Woody
Carmack 153/130 (1-604-462-8753) or leave a message in the
IVVEC.
NET/ MAX
NODE BBS NAME City/State/Country Phone BAUD
================================================================
632/350 Yarra Valley BBS Melbourne Austr AU 61-3-848-331 1200
114/113 Corwin's Keep Tempe AZ 1-602-894-1470 2400
114/13 Corwin's Keep Tempe AZ 1-602-894-1470 2400
153/123 DAETECH Burnaby BC 1-604-420-2641 9600
153/130 Vietnam Veterans In Canada Vancouver_BC 1-604-462-8753
153/501 Valley Hub Clearbrook BC 1-604-850-0021 2400
153/133 Hot Line Data Network Langley BC 1-604-533-0421 2400
220/20 Old Frog's Almanac Nanaimo BC 1-604-758-3072 2400
103/507 Philosopher's Log Anaheim CA 1-714-535-1258 9600
402/100 The Board Room Belmont Shores CA 1-213-498-6425 2400
161/502 Wildcat Benicia CA 1-707-746-5820 2400
161/66 Generic BBS Citrus Heights CA 1-916-722-3659 2400
203/66 Generic BBS Citrus Heights CA 1-916-722-3659 2400
161/1 Nerd's Nook Concord CA 1-415-672-2504 9600
202/401 jabberWOCky Escondido CA 1-619-743-9935 2400
161/34 Now and Zen OPUS Fair Oaks CA 1-916-962-1952 9600
161/56 Nat'l Family Forum Freemont, CA 1-415-651-4147 2400
161/7 Mover Mouse BBS Fremont, CA 1-415-883-1644 2400
161/39 Nightline Mather AFB, CA 1-916-362-1755 2400
161/509 Enterprize Pinole, CA 1-415-758-1650 2400
161/11 The Byte Boutique Sacramento CA 1-916-483-8032 2400
FidoNews 6-01 Page 7 2 Jan 1989
161/5 River City II OPUS Sacramento, CA 1-916-646-9678 9600
161/943 Eagle's Nest Sacramento, CA 1-916-334-2822 9600
10/215 Silver BBS San Diego, CA 1-619-226-4502 2400
125/31 Echo Coord San Francisco CA 1-415-621-5206 9600
143/27 Vietnam Veterans Valhalla San Jose CA 1-408-293-7894 2400
143/86 Cat's Tail BBS S T O P San Mateo CA 1-415-349-8245 2400
125/78 Living Sober BBS San Mateo, CA 1-415-342-2859 2400
125/12 The Grape Vine Santa Rosa, CA 1-707-546-4938 2400
125/7 Survival Forum Santa Rosa, CA 1-707-545-0746 2400
103/501 Mount Silverthorn Tustin, CA 1-714-544-3369 2400
104/28 Pinecliff BBS Boulder, CO 1-303-444-7073 2400
128/13 COSUG-Colorado's User Clrdo Spg CO 1-404-548-0726 2400
128/16 Firenet Leader Colorado Spring CO 1-303-591-9600 2400
104/739 The Phoenix Parker, CO 1-303-841-9570 2400
104/51 P2 B2 South Denver, CO 1-303-329-3337 2400
141/488 Alice's Restaurant Branford CT 1-203-488-1115 2400
141/250 Wilton Woods Wilton, CT 1-203=762-8481 9600
135/27 Bitsy's Place Miami Beach FL 1-305-865-0495 1200
135/35 The Way Out BBS Miami, FL 1-305-665-3283 1200
363/9 Wit's End Orlanda, FL 1-305-894-0807 1200
363/10 Midas Touch Orlando, FL 1-305-648-1133 1200
366/38 Jolly Green Giant Shalimar, FL 1-904-651-3875 9600
18/43 Athens Echo Athens, GA 1-404-546-7857 9600
370/10 OnLine OPUS Athens, GA 1-404-548-0726 2400
370/5 Athens Forum Athens, GA 1-404-546-7857 9600
12/7 HPCUA Honolulu HI 1-808-422-8406 9600
12/1 Aura Net Honolulu, HI 1-808-533-0190 2400
115/761 ICS/TRIX 1 OPUS Chicago, IL 1-312-761-7887 2400
FidoNews 6-01 Page 8 2 Jan 1989
115/529 Elk Grove Repeater Elk Grove Vlg IL 1-312-529-1586 2400
115/20 North Shore BBS Evanston, IL 1-312-491-2611 2400
115/429 Chicago Business Evanston, IL 1-312-491-2611 2400
11/109 Peoria OPUS Net Peoria, IL 1-309-691-5416 2400
11/202 The SouthSide BBS Indianapolis, IN 1-317-882-9330 1200
227/1 Michiana TechLine Mishawaka, IN 1-219-258-0286 9600
227/150 The SX Project Whiting IN 1-219-659-2711 2400
108/90 DATANET Information Syste Erlanger KY 1-606-727-3638 2400
108/50 The ZOO BBS Independence, KY 1-606-283-2040 2400
321/109 Pioneer Valley PCUG-1 Amherst, MA 1-413-256-1037 9600
321/201 Mountain Top Dalton, MA 1-413-684-2886 2400
321/202 Jones' Nose Great Barringto MA 1-413-243-0034 9600
321/203 VETLink #1 Pittsfield, MA 1-413-443-6313 2400
109/722 Ronnie's Roadies BBS Camp Springs MD 1-301-736-0135 1200
109/648 Falcon's Rock College Park, MD 1-301-345-7459 2400
13/29 Berkshire Board Essex, MD 1-301-574-1984 9600
13/33 Avi-Technic Lutherville, MD 1-301-252-0717 9600
13/30 The Futurists BBS Perry Hall, MD 1-301-529-0716 9600
261/628 Liberty Hall Reisterstown, MD 1-301-833-8933 2400
261/628.1 Systemhouse Link Reisterstown, MD 1-301-833-8933 2400
109/717 The Tin Badge BBS Silver Spring, MD 1-301-589-2016 1200
1/214 Region 14 Echo Coor Minneapolis, MN 1-612-377-3398 2400
1/314 Software Dist Minneapolis, MN 1-612-377-3469 2400
282/1 Midwest Echo Star Minneapolis, MN 1-612-377-3469 9600
151/20 Metro Link Charlotte, NC 1-704-541-8626 2400
151/60 VMC-BBS Lewisville, NC 1-919-945-4850 2400
151/100 NC Central Raleigh, NC 1-919-851-8460 9600
151/1000 REDCON Raleigh, NC 1-919-859-3353 2400
FidoNews 6-01 Page 9 2 Jan 1989
143/99 Friend's BBS Omaha, NE 1-402-896-2669 2400
132/101 BBS Source Archive Nashua, NH 1-603-888-8179 2400
150/803 Jersey Vertex Moorestown, NJ 1-609-869-0139 2400
15/4 NASW New Mexico Las Cruces, NM 1-505-646-2868 2400
381/401 Border Connection Santa Fe NM 1-505-678-1318 2400
107/105 NY Transfer Staten Island, NY 1-718-442-1056 2400
108/105 Global Time Systems Cincinnati, OH 1-606-341-7910 2400
157/1 Auer Register Cleveland, OH 1-216-883-0578 2400
110/20 EDS Data Dayton, OH 1-513-455-2431 2400
157/501 The PC-Key BBS Girard OH 1-216-545-9205 2400
157/504 The Revelstone TBBS Cleveland, OH 1-216-642-1034 9600
385/4 Info-Net Lawton, OK 1-405-357-6181 2400
385/6 Bink's Barn Lawton, OK 1-405-357-2473 2400
147/14 Dark Star TBBS Oklahoma City, OK 1-405-691-0863 9600
148/120 Genetic Research Vat Toronto ON 1-416-480-0551 2400
11/700 FCAU IBM Net Toronto, ON 1-416-427-0682 9600
221/156 Waterloo CBCS PUBLIC Waterloo, ON 1-519-746-5020 9600
221/157 Waterloo CBCS Echomail Waterloo, ON Unpublished 9600
105/16 Net 105 EchoMail Hub Portland, OR 1-503-761-3003 2400
105/61 Shotgun OPUS Portland, OR 1-503-760-4521 2400
157/506 Beacon Hill OPUS Transfer, PA 1-412-962-9514 2400
362/1 The Mines of Moria Chattanooga, TN 1-615-344-9601 2400
362/501 Coconut Telegraph Chattanooga, TN 1-615-698-4858 2400
18/7 Flash Port Memphis TN 1-901-525-2710 2400
18/6 The Burnout Board Memphis, TN 1-901-353-4563 2400
130/5 CUSSNET UTA Arlington, TX 1-817-273-3966 2400
136/200 The Chai Way II Austin, TX 1-214-358-3738 2400
124/210 Hardwired Dallas TX 1-214-437-4075 9600
FidoNews 6-01 Page 10 2 Jan 1989
124/214 *CHRYSALIS* Dallas TX 1-214-895-9054 2400
124/106 CHAI Way II Dallas, TX 1-214-250-3323 9600
124/110 Flying Dutchman Dallas, TX 1-214-642-3436 9600
124/117 NCC-1701 Node 1 Dallas, TX 1-214-240-8821 2400
124/117 NCC-1701 Dallas, TX 1-214-240-8821 2400
124/14 Chrysalis Dallas, TX 1-214-985-9054 2400
124/200 Dallas Outbound Dallas, TX 1-214-437-4075 2400
124/201 Hardweird Dallas, TX 1-204-931-2987 2400
19/5 Micro Application El Paso TX 1-915-594-9738 2400
106/386 Information Center Exchan Houston TX 1-713-872-4429 2400
106/108 Stormy Weather I Houston, TX 1-713-644-4345 9600
106/111 Shutterbug's OPUS Houston, TX 1-713-880-4329 2400
106/113 The Opus Network Houston, TX 1-713-780-4153 2400
106/114 The Fireside Houston, TX 1-713-496-6319 2400
106/357 TMBBS Houston, TX 1-713-497-5433 2400
106/666 Anything Goes OPUS Houston, TX 1-713-997-2624 2400
106/132 Fast BBS OPUS Katy, TX 1-713-392-0093 2400
382/1 Crystal Palace Lake Travis, TX 1-512-339-8037 2400
382/14 Corona Del Mar Rockport, TX 1-512-729-7026 9600
381/201 Pro Link San Angelo, TX 1-915-944-2952 2400
387/401 Comp-U-Gen II San Antonio TX 1-512-496-9373 2400
387/601 NCOA International BBS San Antonio TX 1-512-653-0409 2400
387/800 NCOA International BBS San Antonio TX 1-800-365-6262 2400
109/604 ShanErin Alexandria, VA 1-703-941-8291 2400
109/639 The RENEX BBS Woodbridge, VA 1-703-494-8331 2400
343/111 Lessor Puget TB Edmonds, WA 1-206-742-8067 2400
343/9 Everett OPUS Everett, WA 1-206-355-1295 1200
138/4 PTC Net Mount Vernon, WA 1-206-757-5248 2400
FidoNews 6-01 Page 11 2 Jan 1989
1/217 Region 17 Echo Coord Puyallup, WA 1-206-848-5317 2400
138/101 Story Board Puyallup, WA 1-206-848-5317 9600
138/3 Puget Sound Gateway Puyallup, WA 1-206-848-9232 2400
138/49 The Cohort Puyallup, WA 1-206-848-2646 9600
138/35 US HDS Human Service Seattle, WA 1-206-442-8127 2400
138/52 Burrell's Ballpark Tacoma, WA 1-206-752-4672 2400
139/640 Fox Valley Tech Appleton, WI 1-414-735-2513 2400
154/200 PC-Express Greenfield, WI 1-414-327-5300 2400
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FidoNews 6-01 Page 12 2 Jan 1989
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
RegComm - Communications From RegCon.
A very happy holiday season to you and yours from your Regional
Coordinators. May you all enjoy the best of everything and we
look forward to another year helping make FidoNet what YOU want
it to be.
It looks like we're moving ahead rapidly on the implementation of
new nodelist flags. The tentative schedule is to have a revision
out on the 23rd of December with comments and completion on or
before January 13, 1989. As soon as the new nodelist flags are
accepted we will begin implementation and hopefully the new flags
will all be in place by February 15th. Like all schedules, this
one is not cast in concrete but is the target. We will certainly
do our best to help assure that all changes are made as quickly
as possible. If there are incorrect flags listed for any node,
all flags will be stripped and that node will be listed as a
"plain vanilla" node handling mail during Zone Mail Hour only.
That will help us spot any that were missed and assure we get
them corrected quickly. We'll do our best to keep all Net
Coordinators advised as to the schedule so the changes can be
made as smoothly as possible.
The RegCon team is also implementing a method to protect the
delivery of the nodediff. This method will be a very basic one,
designed to avoid the possibility of anyone sending out a bad
nodediff to the net, either by accident or by intent. There is
also a program available in most areas named CRCNODE.EXE that
will run a quick test of the nodediff to see if the CRC is still
valid. While some feel these steps unnecessary, we have decided
that it's worth a little more work from us to help assure you get
an accurate and uncorrupted nodediff. No-one enjoys chasing all
over looking for a nodediff unnecessarily.
There has recently been a considerable amount of conversation
taking place in several conferences concerning the practice of
making private messages public without permission of the person
sending the private message. As there are several different
opinions on additions to FidoNet policy concerning messages sent
by NetMail that are `private', we would like your input on the
matter. Is private NetMail to be handled as the word intends,
"not for public or common use", or should we be more liberal and
allow open dissemination of all NetMail? Please share your
feelings on this by NetMail to your Regional Coordinator. Your
input will help us formulate the next version of FidoNet policy.
("RegComm" will be a weekly column in FidoNews and your comments
are welcome. Please address your concerns and comments via
NetMail to your Net or Regional Coordinator, you should receive
an answer within a few days. It's your net and we are in need of
your input in order for us to fairly represent you.)
FidoNews 6-01 Page 13 2 Jan 1989
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FidoNews 6-01 Page 14 2 Jan 1989
ROGEL'S CORNER: LAPTOPS --
A LOT OF COMPUTER POWER ON THE HOOF
=============================================================
-------------------------------------------
| Laptops: Decisions, decision, decisions |
-------------------------------------------
Last year at about this time the "field" of laptop contenders
was fairly small and the prices were fairly high. In fact
the choice of laptop was fairly easy, provided you were
willing to make some big sacrifices in computing power in
order to "have one for the road".
In the July 21, 1987 issue of PC Magazine (Vol. 6, No. 13),
Paul Somerson raved about the Z-183 which "sprints along at 8
MHz". The October 27, 1987 issue of PC Magazine (Vol. 6, No.
18) recommended "for big spenders, the dazzling Zenith Z-181
or Z-183 Portable PC . . . with its 10-megabyte hard disk,
8-MHz clock speed, and remarkable 6-by 8-inch backlit
display, the Z-183 remains a heart-stopper."
Less than 6 months later, however, the Z-183 fell from grace;
this time Mr. Somerson criticized the Z-183 as, among other
shortcomings, being "a real arm-stretcher" and with a 8-MHz
speed, it "plods along with an anachronistic CMOS 8088"
(March 29, 1988 issue, Vol. 7, No. 6). What happened to it
being a "heart-stopper"? Was Mr. Somerson guilty of having a
fickle heart, did the Z-183 change for the worse, or was
there something else?
Choose door number 3: something else. That something else
was improved competition offering laptops with more speed and
more power.
Laptop computers have finally come of age. Finally convinced
that a promising market for laptops does exist, manufacturers
have been falling over themselves to get new and improved
laptops into the stream of commerce. A week does not go by
now without an announcement in the computer trade papers
about a new laptop.
No longer is this market limited to just a few companies such
as NEC, Toshiba, and Zenith. The Olivetti's, Samsung's,
Mitsubishi's, and many others are entering the fray and each
trying to outdo the others with feature-rich portables.
These features include 286, 386SX, and 386 chip technology;
substantially improved screen displays; the addition of
standard, non-proprietary expansion slots; increased RAM and
support for EMS; and larger storage capacity. If rumors are
to be believed, we may even see color screen displays in the
near future.
The consumer is the beneficiary of this increased
competition. Although choosing a laptop in today's market
will not be as easy as it was a year ago, it will be much
FidoNews 6-01 Page 15 2 Jan 1989
more exciting.
I have prepared a chart, set out below, comparing various
features of some popular and/or new laptops. This chart
contains only a sampling of the many laptops presently
available. [The original chart has been substantially
modified to satisfy FidoNews' margin requirements]
In view of the prospects of an increasing number of faster
and more powerful laptops entering the market in the next
several months, anyone interested in purchasing a laptop
should use this chart as a starting point only and then keep
abreast of current laptop developments through PC Magazine
and other computer publications. Two magazines devoted to
portable computers are listed at the end of this column.
Finally, I have included a brief discussion about the variety
of screen display technology that is or may soon be available
for laptops.
* * * * *
--------------------------------
| COMPARISON OF SELECT LAPTOPS |
--------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
MODEL Datavue Datavue Mitsubhishi
Spark Snap MP286L
1+1
============================================================
CPU 80C88 V20 286
SPEED 9.54 9.54 12
RAM 384 640 640
DRIVE 1x3.5 2x3.5 2x3.5
/720k /720k
SCRN super 10.5" 11"
blue NTN
super
BATT nicad nicad 3d party
WT 9 10 15.9
EXPANSION n/a 1/2 size 4 {proprietary}
LIST $995 $2,295 $3,195
OPTIONS 3.5 dr., 20MB, 20MB ($3,995),
BL, EL, BL super ext. 3.5" fd,
expansion or BL EL num.keypad,
chassis 1 fd/20MB add'l 2MB
combo RAM
------------------------------------------------------------
MODEL NEC NEC NEC
MultiSpeed MultiSpeed MultiSpeed
EL HD
FidoNews 6-01 Page 16 2 Jan 1989
============================================================
CPU V30 V30 V30
SPEED 9.54 9.54 9.54
RAM 640 640 640
DRIVE 2x3.5 2x3.5 3.5
/720k /720k /720k
20MB
SCRN super 10.5" BL
BATT nicad nicad nicad
WT 11.2 12 14
EXPANSION n/a n/a n/a
LIST $2,195 $2,495 $3,695
OPTIONS BL, EL BL
------------------------------------------------------------
MODEL Toshiba Toshiba Toshiba
1000 1100+ 1200
============================================================
CPU 88 86 86
SPEED 4.77 7.16 9.54
RAM 512 640 1MB
DRIVE 3.5 2x3.5 3.5
/720k /720k
20MB
SCRN super super super
BATT nicad nicad nicad
WT 6.4 10 10.8
EXPANSION n/a n/a n/a
LIST $1,199 $2,099 $3,499
OPTIONS 640k expansion expansion
LIM/EMS, chassis chassis
/720k num.keypad
battery charger
num.keypad
------------------------------------------------------------
MODEL Toshiba Toshiba Toshiba
3100/20 3200 5100
============================================================
CPU 286 286 386
SPEED 8 12 16
RAM 640 1MB 2mb
DRIVE 3.5 3.5 3.5
/720k /720k /1.44MB
20MB 40MB 40MB
SCRN gas gas gas
BATT n/a n/a n/a
WT 15 18.7 15
EXPANSION n/a n/a n/a
LIST $4,699 $5,499 $7,499
OPTIONS num.keypad expansion
FidoNews 6-01 Page 17 2 Jan 1989
chassis, num.
keypad, add'l
2MB RAM
------------------------------------------------------------
MODEL Zenith Zenith Zenith
181 183 SupersPort
88
============================================================
CPU 88 88 88
SPEED 8 8 8
RAM 640 640 640
EMS
DRIVE 2x3.5 3.5 2x3.5
/720k /720k /720k
10-20MB
SCRN BL BL BL
BATT nicad nicad nicad
WT 11.9 15 <12
EXPANSION n/a n/a ?
LIST $2,399 $3,599 $2.399
OPTIONS 20MB, 20MB, 20MB ($3,599)
recharger recharger
------------------------------------------------------------
MODEL Zenith Zenith
SupersPort TurboSport
286 386
============================================================
CPU 286 386
SPEED 12 12
RAM 1MB 2MB
EMS EMS
DRIVE 3.5 3.5
/1.4MB /720k
20MB or 1.4MB
40MB
SCRN BL "Page
white"
BATT nicad nicad
WT <12 25
EXPANSION ? ?
LIST $4,999 $7,999
OPTIONS 40MB ($5,599) 2,400
modem($8,499)
------------------------------------------------------------
NOTE REGARDING ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS USED
===========================================
BL = Backlit supertwist screen display (see below)
EL = electroluminescent backlit supertwist screen
FidoNews 6-01 Page 18 2 Jan 1989
display (see below)
Expansion = IBM standard / nonproprietary expansion slots
Fd = floppy disk drive
Gas = gas plasma
Nicad = nickel cadmium battery [as opposed to lead
acid]
Page white = Zenith's new display technology; see
discussion of fluorescent backlighting below
Super = supertwist screen (see below)
SCRN = screen
* * * * *
-----------------------------
|Laptop screen technologies |
-----------------------------
1. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD)
a. General
Like the technology used on watches and
calculators, the LCD has the advantage of being
lightweight and consuming little battery power.
Its disadvantages include poor
contrast/readability.
b. Supertwist
i. non-backlit
The screen is twisted so that it will reflect
light in all directions and not just straight
ahead.
ii. backlit
By adding light to the supertwist screen,
readability is improved by at the expense of
greater battery power consumption.
(1) Electroluminescent (EL)
The screen, containing phosphor, glows
when powered.
(2) Fluorescent
Small tubes provide the backlighting.
Slightly more battery power is used than
with the electroluminescent screens.
Examples include Datavue's amber gaslight
and, apparently, Zenith's newest laptop
entry, the TurbosPort 386, featuring
black characters on a white screen. This
display, which Zenith calls its "page
white" display, is the product of an
extra layer of polarizing material which
filters out blue light from the screen.
2. Neutralized Twisted Nematic (NTN)
FidoNews 6-01 Page 19 2 Jan 1989
Light is used to increase the screen's contrast ratio,
resulting in a black on white image. Mitsubishi's new
MP286L with an 11-inch cold cathode tube (CCT) screen
and black characters on a white background (with
reversible screen colors), which Mitsubishi claims can
be read in all light conditions, is an excellent example
of this new technology.
3. Gas Plasma
A flat panel non-LCD screen. Each screen pixel is on or
off, providing a high contrast ration but requiring
greater power. Toshiba's high-end laptops use this type
of technology.
4. Active Matrix
A transistor is assigned to each screen pixel, resulting
in a contrast equivalent to a backlit LCD but without
the backlighting. Apparently the screen becomes
unusable if any one transistor ceases to operate.
According to *DataGram*, this technology is being
considered by several laptop manufacturers but is not
presently available.
* * * * *
For a complimentary subscription to Datavue's interesting
periodical entitled: * DataGram: The Exciting World of Laptop
Computing * write to:
DataGram
4351 Shackleford Road
Norcross, Georgia 30093
Portable computer magazines:
Portable Computer Review
IDG Communications/Peterborough
80 Elm Street
Peterborough, New Hampshire 03458
(Spring '88 Portable Computer Review: $3.95)
PICO Magazine
Post Office Box 428
Peterborough, New Hampshire
(1 yr. subscription: $29.97)
Sincerely,
Todd S. Rogel
Raleigh, North Carolina
July 2, 1988
Home (919) 851-2103
MMS (919) 779-6674 [151/102]
NCC (919) 851-8460 [151/100]
FidoNews 6-01 Page 20 2 Jan 1989
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-01 Page 21 2 Jan 1989
YACK
Yet Another Complicated Komment
by Steven K. Hoskin
( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 )
Episode 20: Culture
Reading the IFNA EchoMail conference is good fuel for FidoNews
columns and articles. There's a lot of people out there, all
with ideas, a lot of discussions, generally pertinent to FidoNet
and, therefore, FidoNews. There's the occasional humor, too,
which I personally find a pleasant relief from all the serious
talk (and yell) that goes on out there.
Something is becoming clear to me, however. IFNA, SYSOP, and
many other important EchoMail Conferences go all over FidoNet; as
it should be. So does FidoNews. But FidoNews, and a great many
of the international conferences, are usually very American; de-
signed, written, subscribed to and supported by Americans. This
isn't in itself a bad thing. I'm American and certainly I am
proud of my country, hence why I serve in its armed forces; and
of course I agree that we've done some rather odd, sometimes
stupid, things in our short 202 years here.
But we are not the world. And FidoNet doesn't stay in the United
States anymore. It hasn't for a long time. And there's a senti-
ment out there that Americans are simply not welcome in some in-
ternational conferences that are otherwise open to members of any
race, color, creed or national origin.
Why? We're seen as arrogant, and perhaps rightly so. We are
quite accumstomed to being free to do just about anything we darn
well please over here, and often neglect to realize that other
cultures do not always afford the same freedoms. There are
places in the world where something you say can be cause for
death - by law. That is one of the more morbid conditions, but
is an indication of how carefully we must tread if we are going
to cross international and cultural boundaries. Usually our
trespasses are not across "blood lines" of death, but rather of
"social lines". There are subjects that simply are not accept-
able discussion material in some places. It's considered to be
in bad taste.
Americans have, in the past 50 years or so, been increasingly un-
interested in cultural development; education in other cultures.
Because of this we are insulting people worldwide, usually unin-
tentionally and often unknowingly. But THEY are noticing it.
Freedom of speech is great, but open-mindedness is, too.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-01 Page 22 2 Jan 1989
=================================================================
NOTICES
=================================================================
The Interrupt Stack
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
5 Oct 1989
20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
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Fido 12i Opus 1.03b TBBS 2.1*
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Lynx 1.10 Phoenix 1.3 RBBS 1.71C
Network Node List Other
Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.90b EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.32
SEAdog 4.10 MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1
BinkleyTerm 2.00 Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00
D'Bridge 1.10 XlatList 2.86 TPB Editor 1.21
FrontDoor 2.0 XlaxNode 2.22 TCOMMail 1.4*
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GROUP 2.04*
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* Recently changed
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-01 Page 23 2 Jan 1989
=================================================================
COMMITTEE REPORTS
=================================================================
IFNA Treasurer's Report
December, 1988
Steve Bonine 115/777
IFNA Treasurer's report for December, 1988
RECIEPTS & DEPOSITS
Membership fees 100.00
Orders for publications 20.00
TOTAL RECEIPTS $120.00
DISBURSEMENTS
Postage 8.75
Professional services (Marc Rubin) 144.50
TOTAL DISBURSEMENTS 153.25
EXCESS RECEIPTS OVER DISBURSEMENTS (33.25)
ADD BEGINNING BALANCE 6041.35
BALANCE IN ACCOUNT 6008.10
Full year-to-date IFNA financial data is available for file-
request from 1/11 using the name of IFNA$.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-01 Page 24 2 Jan 1989
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
Hal DuPrie 1:101/106 Chairman of the Board
Bob Rudolph 1:261/628 President
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
Ray Gwinn 1:109/639 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
David Garrett 1:103/501 Secretary
Steve Bonine 1:115/777 Treasurer
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIVISION AT-LARGE
10 Courtney Harris 1:102/732? Don Daniels 1:107/210
11 Bill Allbritten 1:11/301 Hal DuPrie 1:101/106
12 Bill Bolton 3:711/403 Mark Grennan 1:147/1
13 Rick Siegel 1:107/27 Steve Bonine 1:115/777
14 Ken Kaplan 1:100/22 Ted Polczyinski 1:154/5
15 Larry Kayser 1:104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
16 Ivan Schaffel 1:141/390 Robert Rudolph 1:261/628
17 Rob Barker 1:138/34 Steve Jordan 1:102/2871
18 Christopher Baker 1:135/14 Bob Swift 1:140/24
19 David Drexler 1:19/1 Larry Wall 1:15/18
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 1:107/233
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 6-01 Page 25 2 Jan 1989
__
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/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
pays a specified annual membership fee. IFNA serves the
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
increase worldwide communications.
Member Name _______________________________ Date _______________
Address _________________________________________________________
City ____________________________________________________________
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Your Special Interests __________________________________________
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In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________
_________________________________________________________________
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Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in
US Funds to:
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PO Box 41143
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USA
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
insure the future of FidoNet.
Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted by the
membership in January 1987. The second elected Board of Directors
was filled in August 1988. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been
established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your
input to this Conference.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
--
...sun!hoptoad!\ Tim Pozar
>fidogate!pozar Fido: 1:125/406
...lll-winken!/ PaBell: (415) 788-3904
USNail: KKSF / 77 Maiden Lane / San Francisco CA 94108