pozar@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Pozar) (09/06/88)
Volume 5, Number 36 5 September 1988
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| - FidoNews - (_| /_) |
| _`@/_ \ _ |
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| FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) |
| Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// |
| / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / |
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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.
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.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
Fidonet - Alternet Technical Agreement ................... 1
Religious Ignorance. Is It Too Late? ..................... 2
To Disassemble The Machine ............................... 4
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 13
Rogel's Corner: Backing Up is Hard to Do ................. 13
Let's YACK about The Joys of FidoNet ..................... 17
3. NOTICES .................................................. 18
The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 18
NEW (Again) Region 18 REC! ............................... 18
Latest Software Versions ................................. 18
FidoNews 5-36 Page 1 5 Sep 1988
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ARTICLES
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Fidonet - Alternet Technical Agreement
David Dodell FidoNet 1:1/0
Ben Baker Alternet 7:44/76
FidoNet and Alternet have agreed in principal to jointly
establish an official communications gateway. While the zonegate
mechanism may not be the most desirable method, it is never the
less one which existing software can support without
modification. Therefore, zonegates connecting the two networks
will be installed in the respective nodelists effective September
16th.
FidoNet and Alternet have further agreed to jointly define a
specification for a more appropriate interconnection mechanism.
This agreement was arrived at through meetings between officials
of the two networks. It is a technical agreement, not a
political one. Each network believes that its interests can best
be served by facilitating communication and encouraging technical
cooperation.
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FidoNews 5-36 Page 2 5 Sep 1988
I am a Pagan. This is my humble opinion only, and does not
relect in any way anyone elses opinion, including the editor of
Fido News, or any group other than me, myself, and I. They are
NOT the opinions of the author of the Christian Hate Series.
Hi! I would like to mimic, perhaps at the expense of sounding
argumentive, the concern some have expressed regarding the
Christian Hate Series. Some have said that such a project shows
those who would condemn us that we are truly out to get them
after all, and thus their exertions against us are justified.
Still others opinion that such a collection of religious
intolerances is valueless because those who follow such Paths
care little for what we think of them (save that we fear them in
some cases). And still more could say that the Series is nothing
more than name-calling, though since the files are for the most
part written by those who wish individual thought and expression
ill, this stance I cannot see being a valid one.
I spent may hours going through the collection, and my mind reels
with the vast fusion of incredulity, disbelief, grief, and, above
all, a great deal of, well, staggering disappointment. What has
happened to the basic, mortal, human capacity for compassion and
courtesy? I read and am dismayed! Such base, malignant hate,
fear, and contriving force pointed, aimed, like a pistol at the
heart of all that should, must, be held inviolate!
The hate that darkens the mind and makes it slave to Despite.
Worse, the cancerous growth of such execrate grows deep within
those who are powerless to beat against such strong a wind as
religious intolerance, growing there like a child got by rape,
deep within their belly. They have no idea they've been sorely
violated by those who would use them, like the pawns they are,
for their own ends.
I feel powerless, impotent, in the face of such ignorance. I do
fear. . . greatly fear. . . that the battle is already lost.
Such ill Power walks unhindered, untouched, through our towns,
cities, and even our own hearts, and we must keep silent or get
stepped on. Panic threatens to choke me, vowing pain and grief
in the place of resolution.
I think of what we could become. As human beings, we are
capable of so much love, warmth, passion, affection. Then I
think of what we might allow us to become. And I weep.
If nothing more, the Christain Hate Series has pointed out to me
that what we value most can so easily be rended from us. This is
why I feel this Series has value. It seeks not to call Others
Than Us nasty names. It does not demand Others Than Us to treat
us with the respect due any thinking, living, being-- To demand
that which is already ours by Right. It's basic Function, rather,
is to hold up and display, to all who would see, the Great Enemy
that faces not only us, but the very same people who would take
from us the freedom to choose, think, be, and become, what we
would, unfettered by constraints of what others would have us be.
FidoNews 5-36 Page 3 5 Sep 1988
Is it too late? Read the Christian Hate Series, and then tell me.
David Rice, 09/03/88 Sysop, (1:103/503.0)
[P.S. The Christian Hate Series is available on The Astro-Net,
and is the work of Michelle Klein-Hass, who has done a darn good
job collecting these files. You may File Request them here at The
Astro-Net as X-HATE2.ARC X-HATE3.ARC X-HATE4.ARC and XIANHATE.ARC
or get them from the author at (1:102/862.0)]
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FidoNews 5-36 Page 4 5 Sep 1988
To Disassemble The Machine
Fredric L. Rice
(103/503.3)
Quite a few of us consider nuclear war a high possibility
and pause to consider its ramifications; the consensus seems
to indicate a desire to be among the first few hundred
millions to vaporize into a whiff of carbon and not a little
ozone when the big ones start dropping.
These considerations should, however, be set onto the back
burner for now and replaced with yet another, and more
probable threat. The threat of a large quake along the San
Andreas fault line. Such a quake, being on the order of
some 8.25 magnitude, has the same destructive power of a
fifty megaton nuclear bomb. Though 50 megatons is
considered a pony bomb by today's standards, it is still
enough to stop California's commerce, and hence livability,
cold for years.
Yet this threat, and those that arise from its realization,
are not taken seriously except by those insurance companies
and engineering firms who make it their business to
understand and determine the risk to hopefully minimize
damage and fatalities. One of these businesses is the
nuclear power plant manufactures; manufacturers such as
General Electric and Westinghouse.
- - -
Strain along the infamous San Andrea fault line can be
measured with accuracy by automated equipment. As pressures
increase or decrease, the direction of movement and the
amount of built-up pressure is radioed to receiving
equipment and examined by computer and human alike for
indications on the possibility of a destructive release.
Recent readings show areas of the fault to contain some 36
feet of stress, ranging through Palmsprings, Palmdale, and
Lancaster. Other areas of the fault contain much more while
others show much less; on the average of some 15 feet or so.
In 1857 there was a fling along the San Bernadino line of
the San Andreas fault of 13 feet. This caused much
destruction and loss of life. If the fault were to break
loose today, releasing even a minute amount of the strain
along its length, the 8 point or greater quake would occur.
In the event of an 8.25 quake occurring on the San Andreas
fault line, there would be anywhere from three thousand to
fourteen thousand people killed. Hundreds of thousands of
people would become homeless and many more would die if
national assistance is slow to respond with medical aid and
water. In 1971, "Quake Proof" dams were built to replace
the older earth dams that were in use around the Southern
FidoNews 5-36 Page 5 5 Sep 1988
California area. These dams are designed to retain water in
the event of regional disaster such that little to no water
would be lost due to possible damage.
It is the water ducts, however, that are engineers main
concern. California is mostly an unlivable wasteland,
relying on these water ducts for the irrigation of the huge
sediment rich basins we live in. In an 8 point or greater
quake, we can expect that two of the three ducts would be
destroyed, bringing them down for six months or more. These
two ducts go deep under ground at some points in their
journey and it's likely that those under ground passages
would be sealed off, making repairs a difficult; even for
the Army Core of Engineers who's assistance would be needed
elsewhere.
Fire is not thought to be a major hazard when the big one
occurs. This is unless there are Santa Ana winds present in
which case fire will be a real hazard. The threat of fire
was realize in the 1906 quake in San Francisco where fire,
more than the quake, totally destroyed the city. In times
of high quake probability, fire departments make city-wide
rounds, checking on the availability of water dumps and
tanks. The amount of water available for use in fighting
fires are correlated into a series of maps which comprise a
earthquake contigency plan.
It's somewhat comforting to note that many hospitals, even
fairly minor ones, maintain their own source of power
generators, fuel, and water. I know that the city of
Glendoras "Foothill Presbyterian Hospital" maintain power
generators that switch over automatically when ground
movement is first detected. This "seismic trip" assures a
structured cross-over from the external power grid to a safe
internally contained power source, allowing the surgeon to
use her operating equipment without interruption.
The need for self contained power systems in the event of a
quake is readily apparent when you consider where it is that
power comes from. I might also note that a secondary source
of fresh water comes from the same place.
There are a bewildering number of nuclear reactors strung
along the California coast line. The placement of these
piles are dictated by their needs for huge amounts of
cooling water though in a very few years this need is to
change somewhat.
Currently, water is drawn into the nuclear system through
underground pipes that usually contain a series of filters
to remove the unwanted plants, silt, and marine life which
might make it to the reactors intake.
This water is brought to the pile core and is circulated
around the fuel rods, (usually Zirconium Allow cladding),
which are at high temperature, causing the water to expand
FidoNews 5-36 Page 6 5 Sep 1988
into steam. This steam is drawn off of the core to drive
turbofans which turn the electric generators. The steam is
usually brought to condensers and then released, warmed,
back into the ocean. I should also note that if there are
breakages in the fuel rod cladding, a large amount and
variety of fission by-products are released into the water
and hence will be released into the ocean only miles from
our shores, (Zirconium alloy, Zircalloy, has its problems as
does steel and most metals when subjected to harsh
radiations, pressure, and heat over periods of time, and
breakage is often cause for expensive replacements. Because
of the cost, however, the Atomic Energy Commission will
allow leaky fuel rods to remain in operation until the rad
count rises to well beyond the legal limit. Not health
limit; any release of radiation is a health hazard).
The result is a lot of power and, if the condensed steam is
retained, fresh water; water and power both badly needed by
Californians. This need for water will place nuclear piles
very close to the coast line to reduce water transportation
costs. There is under development, and even in operation,
liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors. The "sodium cooled
reactors" represent perhaps a greater threat to life in
California than the threat of nuclear war. Situated far
from water sources because there is no great need for
cooling water and land is cheaper, these reactors are
brought as close to the cities as economically feasible to
bring power transmission costs down. Without a back-up
source of water to cool them in the event of a loss of
coolant accident, (LOCA), some fairly elaborate schemes to
contain the explosions are developed, (the usual containment
vessel is not enough when dealing with liquid sodium as it
reacts violently with both water and air).
Most people agree that nuclear reactors are unsafe, except,
of course, those of the power companies themselves. We in
California have our share of them and it has been seen that
California coats line is the worst place to put them.
A LOCA, such as the case of Three Mile Island, can be
disastrous. In that event, a stuck-open pourve, (sp), was
the initial cause for the environmental hazard alert issued
throughout the plant. It was the technicians lack skills,
then, after the problem was started that cause much of the
concern. Dealing with a stuck open valve was commonplace in
simulations; the understanding of the cause for the reactor
scram under actual conditions was absent.
In this LOCA, during the investigation that took place after
the scram, NRA officers asked one of the technicians what
would have happened if the pile had been allowed to operate
uncovered for a minute or two more than it did.
"It would have disassembled the machine", was his answer,
meaning a nuclear explosion of course.
FidoNews 5-36 Page 7 5 Sep 1988
This type of accident, those where human operators are
controlling the system, can be disastrous. When a quake
breaks open the containment environment of a nuclear pile,
however, the result can be much worse. Pipes which bring
the coolant in, though usually designed for redundancy, can
be severed causing an automatic reactor scram. There have
been some indications that during a seismic event, some
reactors have been designed to shut down at the onset. The
reason this is not too desirable a trait in a nuclear power
plant is, of course, one of expense. It is cost which was
and remains the overriding concern of businesses, not
safety.
When reactor manufactures which to make application for the
building of a nuclear power plant, their engineers must
submit a "maximum hazard summary report" to the Atomic
Energy Commission, (AEC). Some of these, (and they are a
matter for public record in some states), are truthful while
most of them describe no loss of life in the event of an
earthquake; trusting on the redundancy of multiply-backed-up
subsystems and elaborate designed tailored to containment of
the explosion in the event all else fails.
It has always been a good idea to accept everything you read
about nuclear power plants to be biased one way or the
other. Indeed, you might have noticed a slightly negative
bent within this article. Considering this, I'd like to
detail an event which
could occur at the San Onofre power plant which would by no
means be typical. It is, however, plausible. This didn't
happen.
On the morning of May 17'th, 1987, scientist at the United
States Geological Survey team in Pasadena detect minor
quakes ranged along the southern sections of the San Andreas
fault line, affecting San Diego, Carlsbad, and Camp
Pendelton. From some 250 pressure monitors along the fault
come pressure readings which are rising quickly. Argon
levels from wells quickly rise as water levels drop in some
parts of the state and rises in others. From the Los
Angeles area down to San Diego, ion counts pick up and
within minutes have doubled.
The USGS and other authorities are faced with a moral
decision that may affect the population of the Southern
California area: the may report the heightened quake
condition and bring the civil defence and fire departments
of the area to an alert condition two, or they may choose
not to say anything. In their past decisions, problems have
arisen from BOTH sides of the coin. When alerts reach the
public and nothing happens, authorities are flooded with
complaints. When damage occurs and loss of life is realized
when people are not alerted, it brings cries of "what are
you people being paid for?" from the populace.
As the morning progresses and all indications strengthen,
FidoNews 5-36 Page 8 5 Sep 1988
authorities make the decision not to alert the news medias
but to bring fire departments and national guardsmen to
alert con 3. At firehouses throughout the cities affected,
water availability is tabulated as is medical supplies and a
condition of readiness is ascertained. The National Guard
alerts its commanding officers to wait for possible ground
movement and are told of the most likely location of the
zone of fling.
Nothing happens during the working day of May 17'th and
pressure monitors have stabilized at high levels. Towards
the evening, they start to drop slightly and by morning have
dropped a few points.
- - Authors note: These pressure readings, random
measurements, well water depth, and ion counters are real
and information obtained from them are radioed through the
Ham Radio community of the Southern California area. The
signature which often precursor quake activity show steady
increase, a leveling off, two or three days of slow decline,
and then a quake. Graphs of the pressure readings show
signatures which can be used by the Ham Radio community to
indicate an alert condition.
On the morning of the 18'th, at 3:28 local time, a section
of the San Andreas fault line breaks off, flinging the two
opposing plates fifteen feet along each side. The result is
a 7.6 magnitude quake which is centered six miles from
Carlsbad. The epicenter is some six miles from Carlsbad and
much damage is encountered there. Over two thousand people
are homeless and the fatality count starts at 137. Their
problems aren't over with yet, as unknown to them, not far
away, a reactor is having problems of its own.
At Camp Pendelton, marines are awakened to the rocking of
their barracks and not a few are knocked to the floor. As
the ground swells roll through the camp, the water tower
breaks at the base and crashes down on the officers mess,
killing three and injuring another dozen. Along the camps
western side, the sea reacts violently to the quake and
fifteen foot swells travel along the coast line and swim
away out to sea. A helicopter which was landing suddenly
finds the ground rocking and thinks there's something wrong
with the helicopters landing gear. As he lifts off, the
ground quivers again tipping the craft slightly; hovering,
the pilot radios for a visual check of his landing struts
but will have to wait; the flight control tower operator is
sitting on the floor waiting for the small stubby tower to
stop shaking.
Throughout the Southern California area, various degrees of
ground movements are recorded. Along the Foothills of San
Bernadino, the ground waves bounce off the mountains and
head back to give those communities which are at its base a
second treatment to the quake, prolonging the quake. There
is major damage ten miles from the epicenter, minor damage
FidoNews 5-36 Page 9 5 Sep 1988
thirty miles away, and noticeable ground movement up to one
hundred miles away.
And at the San Onofre power plant, the extent of the damage
is still to be noticed. During the quake, sensors along the
property lines pick up the sonic waves that precede the
quake and alert the automated equipment just seconds before
the ground waves. Under the reactors water intake and
purification building, several pipes break, causing the
dumping of water being pumped in from the sea. As the pumps
are automatically brought off line, air makes its way into
the intake system and is churned into the water oxidizing
it. The broken pipe is sealed from the reactor and pumps
are brought up on secondary intake pipes.
During the first ten seconds of the quake, the reactor site
is still completely intact. The broken pipes have been
bypassed and the backups have been taken on line. The
monitoring operator who is even now on his knees beside his
bed pulling a shirt on with one hand and steadying himself
with the other, quickly tries to get dressed to make it to
the control room. Other operators who are on duty and watch
over the automated system are still frozen, waiting for the
quake to stop.
As the first few large swells pass within the first ten
seconds, smaller swells come through the reactor site, rise
in intensity, and then resume their strength. The aerated
water condenses in the reactor circulatory system, causing
an air bubble to be loosed through the pumps. As the water
alternately compresses and rarefies the trapped air, the
pipes internal to the reactor building start to cavitate,
thudding the twenty ton pipe fittings against the concrete
floors and walls. The reactor is in a state of scram due to
the intensity of the quake but has not been fast enough to
stop what comes next.
As the final ground swells sweep through the site, the pipe
fittings deep within the reactor core housing cracks open
and widens before the air is purged through this crack. As
the pipe stop jumping, the hot water spurts into the reactor
housing and turns to steam, releasing much heat into the
building.
The reactor operators hear the environmental hazard warning
horns blaring through out the site as they make it to the
control room and cycle themselves through the security
devices. Even as they enter the room one by one or in
pairs, they are looking at and evaluating the rash of red
actuators ranged along three of the walls, trying to see
where the damage is and what the automated equipment has
done, what should be done, and what the automated equipment
should not have done. They quickly notice the reactors
automated systems have inserted the quick-drop dampening
rods into the core and that the slower-dropping rods are all
on the way down. Unknown to them, however, is the fact that
FidoNews 5-36 Page 10 5 Sep 1988
the intake water is no longer circulating throughout the
reactor and that water existing in the system is being
forced out as the temperature rises through several valves.
Seven minutes after the quake, the first signs that
something really wrong is taking place is realized. As the
dampening rods hit bottom and reactor temperatures in some
areas of the core continue to rise, it's realized that some
of the fuel rods have been exposed and have melted into an
unstable configuration. There are hasty conclusions made
which attempt to find why the reactor was uncovered and it's
cause is quickly observed by camera. Though the picture is
wet and steamed, a picture into the reactor housing shows
deep water on the floor; more water than the emergency
drains can expel safely.
At 5:00 on the morning of May the 18'th, all nonessential
personnel are ordered off the site and the governor is
alerted to a possible disaster at the San Onofre site. A
quick description of the problem is enough to make the
governor declare a quiet state of emergency and a call to
the USGS to ascertain the possibility of aftershocks.
Though pressure readings dropped to all-time lows
immediately after the quake, they are rising again at
exponential rates. The possibility of aftershocks are very
high.
At the site, several hydrogen explosions are recorded under
the pressure dome over the reactor core. Air inside the
core is heated and compressed past the flash point and the
thousand ton dome bounces eighteen inches into the air,
landing flat in its suspension pool. The record shows this
may have happened four or five times, no one who remained at
the site could agree on the readings, before the final
explosion.
Attempts are made to cool the reactor by using high volume
sprays set into the containment dome. When brought on line,
however, all fail to work because of the severing of their
feed lines when the containment moved. Emergency coolant
has been pumped into the reactor core but not all parts of
the core are accessible due to its melted configuration;
some areas are quite cold while others are molten.
At 5:27, a reactor operator sees something that makes him
leave the control room unauthorized. The operator has
viewed molten uranium dripping from a crack in the core onto
the concrete floor. As the operator hops into his American
Made car an operator monitors the reactor's progress, at
exactly 5:30 am, the reactor disassembles itself, seeding
all those within three miles with am immediate and lethal
dose of harsh gamma radiation. As the containment dome
comes back down the twenty five feet it has risen, it does
so at an angle, making it crash and fragment upon the top of
the reactor housing. Much of the tonnage holds the heavy
particles of the lethal radiation in but still a lot escapes
FidoNews 5-36 Page 11 5 Sep 1988
in the form of liquid products, gas products, and solid
products borne on the winds and shrewn into the air.
Up to twenty-five miles away, people in such places as San
Diego, Camp Pendelton, and Carlsbad are treated to heavy
doses of quick and dirty gamma particles. The slower betas
hammer through the cities causing burning and bruising of
flesh. This flesh will never heal; the cells have been
traumatized into forming cancer cells by the destruction of
their DNA molecules. Many cancer deaths will be recorded
this year and those that follow for the remaining years of
life for the survivors.
For up to 1500 miles from the site, dangerously high
readings of radiation is encountered in the soil which the
cattle graze on and which the people of Los Angeles walk on,
play baseball on, and generally live on. It can't be
scrubbed from the air, scraped from the ground, or taken
from the bones of the animals we eat, or from the leaves of
the plants we eat.
The explosion has blown the reactor fuels into many
non-critical fragments, much of which sits at the base of
the core melted and then reformed along a shallow pyramid of
zirconium. This pyramid insures that if a melt down occurs,
the reforming of the molten uranium will not freeze into a
critical mass and cause a small nuclear detonation. Its
likely to remain in this condition for many years to come.
It may even remain so for hundreds of years after engineers
decide to simply cover the thing with concrete and forget
about it.
- - -
Even a "minor" quake like the one described above can
rupture a reactor. In this hypothetical example, it wasn't
the actual quake which triggered the destruction of the
containment but its effects. In the quake Californians are
expecting, an 8.25 or more, the quake will be over one
hundred times stronger than a 7 point quake.
It's also important to note why radiation causes the
problems it does.
When an atomic particle passes through your body, it will
encounter many cells by colliding violently with them. The
molecules within the cell have, as you know, electrons in
orbit around a nucleus. If the atomic particle hits an
electron, it may strip it away from its orbit, causing the
molecule to become ionized. If the atomic particle hits the
nucleus, it can break that atom into its parts; neutrons,
protons, and electrons. Some times the cell may recover.
Most of the times, however, the cell dies.
It is when a cell recovers where the problem starts. A cell
that has been traumatized in such a manor may have had its
FidoNews 5-36 Page 12 5 Sep 1988
DNA code altered by the collision. In this case, its
reproduction facilities may or may not work. If not, then
the cell becomes cancerous and is slowly or quickly removed
from the organ depending on where it occurs in the body. If
the reproduction facilities are intact, then the cell goes
onto rebuilding many copies of its altered self, using
materials which surround the altered cell.
A dose of radiation may not cause immediate damage. When an
atomic particle enters an object, it may become imbedded
within it. Certainly plant life collects such radiation in
this way. When a large area of radiated plant life is
eatten by an animal, the accumulated radiation is compressed
into neat little packets which are further compressed by
other animals and also dispersed by still others.
In the event of a particle becoming lodged in a human bone,
it may well stay their for thirty years before it decides to
decay and release a ray. This ray proceeds out of the human
body crashing its way through and ionizing a trail of flesh.
What can be done about nuclear power by the general public?
Nothing. We are stuck with it because of the demand for
more and more power and water than does not tie us tighter
with unfriendly nations. If the public was willing to pay
greatly for their power and fresh water, nuclear power
plants could be made safe and clean. As it is, however, we
are not yet ready to pay the price financially. We are,
however, willing to pay the price in other, less civilized
ways.
- As usual, comments, suggestions and corrections should be
posted to FidoNews. If you wish, send them directly to me
at 1:103/503.0, The Astro-Net at (714)-662-2294, Fredric
Rice.
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FidoNews 5-36 Page 13 5 Sep 1988
=================================================================
COLUMNS
=================================================================
---------------------------------------------
| ROGEL'S CORNER: BACKING UP IS HARD TO DO |
---------------------------------------------
Copyright @ 1988, by Todd S. Rogel. [Permission is granted
to copy this article for noncommercial purposes only. Any
other reproduction or use is strictly prohibited without the
express written permission of the author, Todd S. Rogel]
I know, I know, backup my hard disk. There are all sorts of
great reasons to do it and every issue of every computer
magazine contains at least one article, column or
advertisement plucking on the ol' guilt string. But have you
tried backing up with DOS? It's a royal pain in the big toe.
Sure, there are backup tape systems, Bernoulli boxes, and
other high tech alternatives. But these gems are expensive
so I don't have of these convenient devices.
So I procrastinate, quickly flip past the "have you backed up
today?" stuff in the magazines, and swear to myself that I
will indeed backup . . . someday.
But my guilt complex has become almost unbearable. So it was
with great interest -- and relief -- that I had a chance to
try out Fast Back Plus by Fifth Generation Systems, Inc..
This program has received good marks from most of the major
computer magazines and is available for under $100.
The documentation is very readable, well organized and
instructive. The menuing system combined with the
context-sensitive help makes the use of this program so easy,
however, that you really don't have to resort to the manual.
Three user levels are selectable: beginner, experienced, and
advanced. The higher the user level, the greater the number
of options available; conversely, the help screens are more
detailed as you lower the user level.
In addition to a "Full Backup", you can choose "Full Copy"
(make a copy of your backup without changing the archive
bit), "Differential" (backup of files changed since the last
full backup), and "Incremental" (backup of files changed
since the last incremental backup). You may also select or
deselect subdirectories and files for backup purposes.
You do not need to have formatted disks on hand. Fast Back
Plus will do the formatting for you, although this will take
FidoNews 5-36 Page 14 5 Sep 1988
some additional time. This is a nice feature, particularly
for those of us who have had to abort a lengthy DOS backup
because we have discovered towards the end of the backup that
we do not have any more formatted floppies. It also will
reject floppy disks with bad sectors -- a real confidence
booster.
More than one drive can be designated and different drive
formats are accommodated. If you have two disk drives, this
will considerably speed up your backup since Fast Back Plus
does not have to wait for you to change floppies -- it will
backup on one drive, while you change the floppy disk on the
other.
Fast Back Plus contains some truly helpful features. For
example, it offers data compression. You can either choose
to "save time" or "save disks". The "save time" option
compresses data during idle processor time. On the other
hand, the "save disks" option takes whatever time is
necessary to compress the data which, according to Fifth
Generation Systems, Inc., can result in up to a 77% file
compression.
There also is an "Advanced Error Correction System". By
writing extra correction information to disk, Fast Back Plus
can recover missing data should the disk later become
damaged. The manual claims that up to 13% damage to disk
surface can be tolerated, depending upon the media.
A "Write Verify" option also is available. This feature will
cause Fast Back Plus to compare every byte of backed up data
with every byte of data copied from the hard disk. The
manual observes that "this option provides absolute
certainty as to the integrity" of the backup. The cost,
however, is that you will double your backup time.
inally, Fast Back Plus has a powerful macro capability.
This can be accessed from within the program, itself, to save
steps in using repetitive features. You can also invoke this
capability from DOS, which will allow you to create a simple
batch program to run a daily backup with ease.
For my first run on Fast Back Plus, I decided to backup my
entire hard drive with the exception of one particular
directory and its subdirectories (it was very large,
contained nonessential information and programs, and I
already had a backup). The "exclusion" process is fairly
simple. All I had to do was ask for directory tree to be
displayed and then I deselected the directory by the
point-and-shoot method.
On the other hand, it took quite some time for Fast Back Plus
to read my disk before it could present the directory tree.
Ordinarily I would not complain but I had previously invoked
a directory tree whie I was playing around with some of the
program's features and it seems to me that Fast Back Plus
FidoNews 5-36 Page 15 5 Sep 1988
should not have to take the time to read the disk more than
once during a session. Fast Back Plus's need to read the
hard disk each time you want a directory tree could be
tiresome if you wanted to first selectively include certain
subdirectories/files and then exclude some
subdirectories/files from that group.
fter I made my backup deselection, I requested an "estimate"
of the amount of time and floppy disks that would be required
for my backup session. I was amazed at the speed with which
Fast Back Plus presented me with this estimate.
However, the estimate was woefully inaccurate. I was told
that 55 floppies would be required and that the backup would
take 10:51 minutes. In fact, I only used 28 floppies but it
took over 51 minutes for the backup. According to the
Manual, the estimate "will usually be pretty close [to the
actual backup requirements], although the Time: may be longer
if you used unformatted floppy disks, or changed diskettes
slowly." However, my floppy disks were already formatted and
I immediately changed diskettes -- long before Fast Back Plus
finished writing to my other floppy disk drive.
The estimate also does not reflect the options chosen. I
received exactly the same estimate when I selected the data
compression option ("Disk Save") as when I did not select a
data compression option. Certainly the estimate should take
into account the use of options that will affect the number
of floppies or the amount of time required for a backup.
I was impressed by the data compression "Disk Save" option.
Over 50 disks were required when I tried a backup without
selecting data compression. As I mentioned earlier, with the
"Disk Save" option, I only needed 28 floppies.
Notwithstanding my criticisms, Fast Back Plus is easy to use,
reliable, and economic. So remember: brush your teeth after
every meal, never take candy from a stranger, always say
thank you and . . . never ever forget to backup your hard
drive -- with Fast Back Plus!
Rogel's Wrap-Up
+======================================================+
| Product: Fast Back Plus Version 1.01 |
| Price: |
| Lists for $189 (mail-order prices range around |
| $90-$99). |
| Product description: |
| Hard disk backup program; not copy protected |
| System Requirements: |
| DOS system |
| Comments: |
| Extremely easy to use, reliable backup utility. |
| Minor complaints: estimator (terrific idea) is |
| inaccurate; cumbersome select/exclude |
| subdirectories/files option |
FidoNews 5-36 Page 16 5 Sep 1988
| For more information, contact: |
| Fifth Generation Systems, Inc., 11200 |
| Industriplex Boulevard, Baton Rouge, Louisiana |
| 70809; sales office: 1322 Bell Avenue, Suite |
| 1A, Tustin, California 92680 (800) 225-2775, |
| (714) 553-0111; technical support: (504) |
| 291-7283 |
+======================================================+
Sincerely,
Todd Rogel
Raleigh, North Carolina
August 4, 1988
Office 919 828-1396
Home 919 851-2103
MMS 919 779-6674 [151/102]
NCC 919 851-8460 [151/100]
Next Month
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| October, 1988 of Rogel's Corner: Pedal-to-the-metal |
| review of Two Powerful Automatic Document Assembly |
| Programs: GPS (by Campbell U. Law School's Prof. |
| Richard T. Rodgers) and OverDrive (by TurboSoft) |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-36 Page 17 5 Sep 1988
YACK
Yet Another Complicated Komment
by Steven K. Hoskin
( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 )
Episode 8: The Joys of FidoNet
Oh, I love FidoNet!
As a veteran BBS user, I just love the expanded abilities
offered by FidoNet! Boy! I don't have to hunt around every time
I move to find a good BBS. One where the users are polite, the
SysOps are friendly, the conversations are good, and once in
awhile there's some good software out there to try, maybe keep.
All I have to do is snag a copy of the local NodeList before I
move and get on a FidoNode when I get there!
I've 'subscribed' to quite a few boards in my day, ranging
from that old TRS-80 software all the way up to a Vax-driven
system. And there's been some real DEAD boards out there. SysOp
responses over a month's worth of waiting; users (have we got
more than 10 yet?); message base (what's that? Nobody _talks_ on
a BBS?!) or message bases that resemble the Mojavah.
Not anymore. BBSs are getting accepted, and the BBSaholics
proliferate enough to make it easy to find a board to talk on.
And then along came EchoMail.
EchoMail may cause the majority of the problems in the
Network these days, but it is also greatly responsible for the
popularity of BBSs. Perhaps the users can't EXPLAIN why they
like EchoMail, but if they could explain it then I'd say they're
probably not having fun at it -- they're rationalizing.
I just LIKE echomail; getting to converse with people in
this strange medium I've never met. Oh, sure, now I am half of a
software development company where having FidoNet access is nice.
Sure, it gives us a place to show off our EagleTech software,
especially our PD and shareware utilities. And these are better
reasons than 'I like it', but they are not the important ones.
Just the fact that I look forward to those messages in my
frequented echoes and that occasional NetMail message is the best
reason to have it. It's FUN. No whytos or whereabouts to it.
It's just...plain...fun.
Now I'm a SysOp; has this changed? No. What has?
Well, for starters, now I can CHOOSE which Echos I wish to
have access to. I'm into flying; I can get into the National
FLYING echo. You don't find many boards that support that. And
there's a little tingly feeling about being a SysOp. I can't
explain it. But it's there, bigger 'n life, and I for one am
going to enjoy it. Here's to you, FidoNet. Thanks.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 5-36 Page 18 5 Sep 1988
=================================================================
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.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Baker
Region 18 Coordinator
135/14 (18/0)
30 Aug 88
NOTICE: Region 18 has a NEW Region Echomail Coordinator.
Ken Shackelford at 133/1 has taken over the duties
of REC for Region 18. This change may be noted in
the current Nodelist. The listing for 1/218 will
be correct when it reflects this information.
Please update your system accordingly. The change
in 1/218 should be reflected in Nodelist.246.
133/1 is set up will ALL of the Echo control
files from 123/12. The Alternate Hubs in Region 18
are unaffected as of this writing.
Thank you, Jon Hall at 123/12, for holding down
the fort while the baton was passed. Thank you,
Ken, for volunteering to resume the duties of REC
for this Region.
Thank you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Latest Software Versions
BBS Systems Node List Other
& Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version
Dutchie 2.90b* EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.22*
Fido 12h MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1
FidoNews 5-36 Page 19 5 Sep 1988
Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00*
SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86 EchoMail 1.31
TBBS 2.0M XlaxNode 2.10 MGM 1.1
BinkleyTerm 2.00* XlaxDiff 2.10
QuickBBS 2.01 ParseList 1.20*
* 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 5-36 Page 20 5 Sep 1988
OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
Hal DuPrie 101/106 Chairman of the Board
Bob Rudolph 261/628 President
Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President
Ray Gwinn 109/650 Vice President - Technical Coordinator
David Garrett 103/501 Secretary
Steve Bonine 115/777 Treasurer
IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
DIVISION AT-LARGE
10 Courtney Harris 102/732? Don Daniels 107/210
11 Bill Allbritten 11/301 Hal DuPrie 101/106
12 Bill Bolton 3:54/61 Mark Grennan 147/1
13 Rick Siegel 107/27 Steve Bonine 115/777
14 Ken Kaplan 100/22 Ted Polczyinski 154/5
15 Larry Kayser 104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1
16 Vince Perriello 141/491 Robert Rudolph 261/628
17 Rob Barker 138/34 Steve Jordan 102/2871
18 Christopher Baker 135/14 Bob Swift 140/24
19 David Drexler 19/1 Larry Wall 15/18
2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 107/233
-----------------------------------------------------------------
--
...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