pozar@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Pozar) (05/09/88)
Volume 5, Number 18 2 May 1988 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 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 ## Important Announcement Concerning the Nodelist ## ..... 1 Echomail -- Some users speak ............................. 2 Help The Samantha Smith Center! .......................... 8 2. COLUMNS .................................................. 10 Top Downloads ............................................ 10 3. NOTICES .................................................. 12 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 12 MetroFire Third Annual Birthday BASH! .................... 12 FidoCon '88 -> Call For Papers ........................... 14 Latest Software Versions ................................. 14 FidoNews 5-18 Page 1 2 May 1988 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Nodelist Status David Dodell International Coordinator FidoNet 1:1/0 or 1:114/15 The program that generates the nodelist, MAKENL has reached its limits in the generation of the nodelist. To procure a little time till the program can be updated the following TEMPORARY changes are being made to the nodelist by the Region Coordinators. (1) All Echomail/Software Distribution Coordination nodes have been removed from the nodelist. If more room is needed, the rest of the help/administrative nodes will be removed from the Zone 1 Administrative area. (2) All private nodes will be removed from the nodelist. These nodes are encouraged to hook into the net as point systems to their network hosts. Private nodes can be added to your own nodelist by setting up a private network listing in XLATLIST. (3) If necessary, the Zone Coordinators might have to temporarily remove the other Zones from their nodelist generation. For example Zone 1 would only receive a nodelist with Zone 1 included. Zone 2 and 3 would have to be added manually. If this happens, I will be making the Zone nodelists available on my system for file request, for those that need direct connections, vs via the zonegates. (4) A TEMPORARY hold in the issuance of any new node numbers. I hope this will only be in effect for one week till I can evaluate how much growth room we have. We hope to have the problem solved within the next few weeks with appropriate software. Please bear with us. We will have the situation corrected in the sortest possible time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-18 Page 2 2 May 1988 RAM-SOFT BBS Echomail Survey Results In an effort to determine how Echomail was used by and deemed a worthy part of our FidoNet BBS by our users and to justify the system downtime to process the mail, we recently ran a survey on our BBS. (All callers had to answer Yes or No to answering the survey before they could utilize the bulletin board). This article is an overview and some editorial comments on the results and some thoughts for those of you who are sysops that carry echomail. If the editor of FidoNews does not consider it to be too much material, a complete copy of the results are elsewhere in this this newsletter. Details on obtaining the results from 135/1 are listed below. As a point of information to help you better understand the results, our board has been carrying echomail since it was first available so neither our system is new to echomail nor our users are new to echomail although some of the areas we carry are new. We carry eight public echomail areas: COMM,CECHO,DBASE, TECH,WINDMILL,ECPROG,PASCAL and WORDPERFECT and one private echomail area. At the time the survey started we had around 600 users, about 45 were new to the board within the last month. We have been operating a FidoNet bulletin board since March of 1986. It should be noted that only about 10% (55) of our users even bothered to answer the survey indicating to me that echomail is not too important to them. It should be mentioned also that we average, according to LogRpt statistics, 250 files a week downloaded and as such we are much more of a file oriented board than a message oriented board. We are however a board with many long distance or PC-Pursuit users and had at least 5 long distance users answer the survey and that should give a broader perspective than had only South Florida users answered. Only two sysops responded. (Neither of the RAM-SOFT sysops answered). The results were somewhat surprising in some areas and others quite predictable. Of the answers, 76% read echomail while 24% percent do not read echomail. 24% of the respondents read an average of 2 message areas, while 22% read 3 areas. Only 3% read all eight conferences we carry. The most surprising results came in the hypothetical question: 'What if we charged access to be able to read echomail?' A surprising number, 55% said that they would be more than happy to pay for the privilige. An even more surprising answer came when we asked the hypothetical question: 'What if we only made echomail available to donating members?' 65% said that they would donate. The number of people who considered echomail to be important on a bulletin board was 95% yet 36% of those could not give a coherent reason why it is important. (Reasons like 'Because FidoNews 5-18 Page 3 2 May 1988 good bbs important' count as non-coherent as did 'because it's important'). The majority of those giving an answer (20%) said that echomail expands communications while the second largest group (18%) said it was a good source of information. Three people said the reason was because local message sections are dull and one person said that echomail was the reason BBS's existed. Approximately 67% would carry echomail if they ran a bulletin board. It was interesting that 38% of the respondents had never entered or replied to echomail. In the rating of conferences on a 1-5 scale, the majority (ranging from 53% to 82%) of the respondents rated the conferences with a 0. When the 1-5 scale answers are added together they did not come very close to the number of people who rated the conference areas with a 0. TECH-Net was rated the best with 20% giving it a 5 and 16% giving it a 4. ECPROG was second highest with 11% giving it a 5 and 18% a 4. The WordPerfect conference would be dropped by 31% if they had to. Eighteen percent would drop dBase if they had to with one user commenting that he would not support an archaic database system if he were a sysop. What exactly are the users saying? Only they know for sure but some ideas can be gained from this survey. It seems as though users have come to expect that bulletin boards must have at least two or three echomail areas to be considered a 'good' bulletin board but cannot give a good solid reason as to why a board should have echomail. Are they saying that the same sysops or authors who told us the 'it's a new protocol, it must be good' for downloads story have made echomail a necessity without any solid reason? The fact that the majority could not give a good reason for why they thought echomail important makes me as a sysop think that they are just going along with the crowd - they see everyone with echomail, therefore it must be important. I would argue that if the sysops put forth as much effort in establishing their local message areas as they did in arguing over the IFNA, collecting files, debating fastest protocols and other 'trivial' matters, there would be little real demand BY THE USERS for national echomail as it currently exists. The results could also indicate that we at RAM-SOFT have a very poor selection of conferences. Granted, Windmill, WordPerfect and dBase are not the most popular of conferences but we have our reasons for carrying them. Specifically, we use Dutchie, a very good mailer program and support multiple Dutchie points and like the support that Windmill offers us and them. Overall though, I feel we carry a good, but small selection of conferences that are relative to the computer programmer and serious computer hobbyists and that our board has. Given that most users only read two or three conferences indicates to me that the users do not really care for a large number of conferences. Perhaps the users would rather call two or three boards to get 5 or 6 conferences instead of calling one system that carries a large amount of conferences. FidoNews 5-18 Page 4 2 May 1988 The fact that so many people would not rate the conferences with anything higher than a 0 indicates that the level of quality on these conferences is in serious, if not fatal shape. One could argue that the users are saying that echomail should be routed through a small group of boards that monitor messages to see that they remain on the related topics but that would be countered with the paranoid who would say 'Don't censor echomail -- it's a violation of my 1st amendment rights.' (It wouldn't be). As long as the idea that good boards must carry echomail conferences and boards must make it available to all, there will always be a fairly large amount of garbage. Perhaps the users are telling us sysops to keep echomail alive but get some conferences that stick to the subject and actually are worth reading and participating in. I hate to see what the comments would be if we carried 15 or 20 sections. How can we as sysops have conferences that stick more to the topic and are relative to the users? The users may have answered that by saying that they are willing to pay (either flat-out or by donating) for the privilege of reading and entering echomail. Those that argue that echomail has no security because anyone can logon to a system and enter messages should be pleased at this idea. Of course those users (and sysops) who are leeches would argue foul but probably couldn't justify why they shouldn't have to support echomail in some way. If only donating users have the ability to enter or read messages, then the sysop will know who has abused the privilige and take appropriate actions. The users are telling sysops that they are willing to help foot the phone bill. Unfortunately though, as long as some sysops, especially those with WATS lines or business/government backing (or even 9600's) continue to offer echomail to non-donating/non-privilege users and/or sysops spread the idea that non-echomail systems are poorer systems, there will probably never be echomail that the majority of users consider superior or excellent. In summary, the users seem to be saying that they want echomail, even if they don't know why. They are more comfortable with a smaller number of conferences and don't consider many of the conferences to be of much quality. The willingness to pay either a flat charge or by donating to be able to read messages is the hardest to interpret. Perhaps they are tired of waiting for someone to take the active, visible hand that is necessary to keep echomail conferences on the subject. Perhaps they are saying they don't mind spending money on their hobby. Overall, I'm not convinced that the large numbers of echomail subjects that exist, at least at a national level, is worth the tremendous expense and time involved to process it. A 'globaly' available message area (echomail) is a great idea and worth exploring but I believe only under tight (self-designed) regulatory efforts. Why should users even bother to weed through all the junk that is present in these conferences? Most systems, including ours are too busy for and do not allow enough online time for users to be able to read every message FidoNews 5-18 Page 5 2 May 1988 that comes into the system. You almost have to be either a sysop or a point to reap the full benefit of echomail. That might be the reasons sysops don't like to hear that echomail might not be all that great. Perhaps local echomail if there is a strong active network host or perhaps selective or regional echomail that has a limited number of boards per conferences is something to consider. Comments on this survey and results of your own *surveys* (not opinions) are welcome via net-mail at 1:135/1. I might also add that at this time we have no concrete plans to change the echomail conferences we carry or the way in which we allow users to participate. The complete results of the survey, if not present in this newsletter, are available from the RAM-SOFT Archive Library BBS, 1:135/1 by file requesting ESURVEY.TXT (No file requests 08:30 - 10:30 UTC). It may also be obtained by first time callers in file area 12(INFO). If you can do standard IFNA/FidoNet file requests, we would prefer that you obtain the file that way as we do require users to answer several questions before being allowed on to the system and would prefer not have a bunch of new callers unless you plan to be a part of the RAM-SOFT BBS. James Gilbert Archive Librarian, co-sysop ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-18 Page 6 2 May 1988 Results from the survey on Echomail taken during three weeks in April, 1988 on RAM-SOFT Archive Library BBS, Miami, FL. Questions are exact questions. When text answers were required from those questioned, only a paraphrase of those answers is given here and only answers of a similar nature or interesting comments are included. A total of 55 individuals answered the survey, aproximately 10% of the total number of users on the day the survey began. Neither of the sysops of RAM-SOFT participated in the survey. Question#: 1: Do you read ANY Conference mail areas(Y/N)? Yes: 42 (76%) No: 13 (24%) (if yes) How many individual areas do you read: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 (0) ----------------------------------- Actual # 5 13 12 4 3 3 0 2 (13) (%) 9% 24% 22% 7% 5% 5% 0 4% 24% 2: Is echomail important on a bulletin board(Y/N): Yes: 52 (95%) No: 3 (5%) (if yes)Explain why it is important: No real solid reason (20) (36%) Good sourc of info (10) (18%) Expands Communications (11) (20%) Local messages are dull (3) (5%) Good way to send messages to friends (1) (2%) Cheap way to communicate (4) (7%) Creates a subculture (1) That's what BBS are for (1) 3: If you ran a bulletin board and had to pay the phone bill, would your bulletin board carry any conferences(Y/N) Yes: 37 (67%) No: 18 (33%) 4: Have you ever entered a message or replied to a message in an echomail conference(Y/N): Yes: 34 (62%) No: 21 (38%) 5: IF we charged access to echomail areas (one fee for all areas), would you pay for this privilige(Y/N)? Yes: 30 (55%) No: 25 (45%) 6: As opposed to charging for access, IF we made echomail areas only available to donating users, would you donate(Y/N) Yes: 36 (65%) No: 19 (35%) FidoNews 5-18 Page 7 2 May 1988 7-14: On a scale of 0 to 5 with 1 indicating a poor conference and 5 indicating an excellent conference, please rate your opinion of the following echomail areas. 15: If you had to drop 2 conference, tell us which of the conferences you would drop: (Actual number) 0 1 2 3 4 5 Drop: --------------------------------- COMM: 38 1 2 6 3 5 : 6 CECHO: 37 0 5 5 4 4 : 6 DBASE: 42 1 5 2 0 5 : 10 TECH: 29 0 0 6 9 11 : 2 DUTCH: 45 3 4 1 1 1 : 9 ECPROG: 36 1 2 3 10 6 : 4 PASCAL: 38 2 1 5 4 6 : 7 PERFECT: 42 2 1 5 0 5 : 17 (Percentages) 0 1 2 3 4 5 Drop: --------------------------------- COMM: 69% 2% 4% 11% 5% 9% : 11% CECHO: 67% 0% 9% 9% 7% 7% : 11% DBASE: 76% 2% 9% 4% 0% 9% : 18% TECH: 53% 0% 0% 11% 16% 20% : 4% DUTCH: 82% 5% 7% 2% 2% 2% : 16% ECPROG: 65% 2% 4% 5% 18% 11% : 7% PASCAL: 69% 4% 2% 9% 7% 11% : 13% PERFECT: 76% 4% 2% 9% 0% 9% : 31% 16: Enter any additional comments you may have: I haven't used it enough (2) Public BBS should not charge for echomail (1) Wouldn't make much difference if they were gone (1) You only need one conference to hold all languages (1) Would rather get files from bbs's than read msgs (1) If a BBS charged/donations then users would go elsewhere(1) Never thought it was worth the effort for sysops. (1) Sick of Opus boards (1). I prefer Tandy conferences (1) I wouldn't support a clumsy database program like DBase (1) James Gilbert, survey coordinator, co-sysop, RAM-SOFT BBS. (305) 226-3310. 300/1200/2400/? FidoNet 1:135/1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-18 Page 8 2 May 1988 Bill Paul The Think Tank OPUS 1:123/7 Life After Samantha That's the title of an article I just read in the May issue of YANKEE Magazine. The article tells the story of Jane Smith, mother of Samantha. I'm sure you all remember Samantha - she's the 11-year old Maine girl who wrote a letter to Yuri Andropov expressing concern about Russia and the United States getting into a nuclear war. She subsequently visited Russia, in July of 1983. Unfortunately, she and her father were killed in a plane crash in 1985. After her death, she became somewhat of a folk hero in Russia. The Soviet Union named an asteroid, a flower, a mountain, and a cruise ship after Samantha. Her portrait greets visitors at the gate to Samantha Smith Alley. Apparently, things are not going so well in the United States. Jane Smith began The Samantha Smith Center "to foster international understanding in the spirit of Samantha". The Center's projects include an international newsletter for children, bringing American situation comedies to the Soviet Union, and hosting Soviet children in American summer camps. However, for various reasons, the foundation is in need of funds. For one thing, the initial founders, who raised $100,000 to get the Center started, wanted Mrs. Smith to move the Center to New York. When they refused, and remained in Hallowell Maine, they lost some of that support. In addition, Mrs. Smith's television appearances have generated more questions and requests for information than financial support. According to Mrs. Smith, at least half the calls they receive are from people wanting the Center to help THEM start a similar exchange. While Mrs. Smith agrees that this is wonderful, it also means that there are that many more centers competing for the same funding. There are other reasons why the center is in financial distress, too many to list here. A magazine for young people failed; a movie which Columbia pictures planned to co-produce with the Soviets appears to have been abandoned; an exchange which gave ten Soviet teenagers almost a week in a Maine summer camp (the first time the Soviets had sent their kids to an American camp) depleted the center's funds. The list goes on... But I suppose by now you've discovered what this is all leading up to. Send money! Can we allow the Samantha Smith Center to fail and still sleep at night? I can't, not if my few dollars, combined with a few dollars from others, can keep it going. How many FidoNet systems do we have right now, 3,000+? And how many users are on those 3,000 systems? If we each sent one dollar, I suspect it would make a difference. It would also bring us all together in a small way, and help us feel better the next time we see a "computer phreaker" article in our local newspaper (why don't they ever print the good stuff?). Even if the center fails, at least we'll know we tried. Please, send a FidoNews 5-18 Page 9 2 May 1988 dollar or two to this worthy cause! I have no idea if it is tax deductible, nor do I care; my check will be in tomorrow's mail. If you'd like to know whether your contribution is tax deductible (or if you want more information, or if you think this is some sort of prank), I'll provide the center's phone number at the end of this article. Let's send a buck or two and do something good for the world! SysOps, if you have a minute, please post this article on your bulletin board, or at least refer your callers to this issue of FidoNews. We all know that (alas) it is mostly SysOps who read FidoNews, let's spread the word even further! I have no idea if I have violated any copyright laws in this article. Brief passages from YANKEE Magazine have been quoted verbatim, as have quotes by Mrs. Smith. Perhaps foolishly, I did not want to take the time to wait for permission from YANKEE before writing this article. In any event, if an apology to YANKEE Magazine and/or Mrs. Jane Smith will keep me out of jail, please consider it done! Now, let's get out our checkbooks or wallets and send a dollar or two. I'm not a writer (did you guess?), so maybe I haven't stated a very strong case, but let's keep a young girl's dream alive, shall we? For a much better article by Mel Allen, pick up a copy of YANKEE Magazine, May 1988. Maybe THAT one will help loosen those purse strings! The Samantha Smith Center 9 Union Street Hallowell, Maine (USA) 04347 (207) 626-3415 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-18 Page 10 2 May 1988 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Top Downloads A weekly report of the most popular downloads from contributing systems. This column will list the more popular downloaded files for the previous week. I would like this to be a cooperative effort among several boards that are heavy in file downloads and not just a listing of this Software Distribution Board's activity. (See details at the end of this report). This column will list the top 15 most downloads as reported by contributing systems. It will also list selected files of general intereste as well as the the most popular download methods for files. (Intro out of the way, here goes.) Top downloads from for 4/3/88 - 4/10/88 Contributing systems: 135/1 File transactions Average per day ---------------------------------------- Downloads: 309 44.14 File Download Report -- Top 15 Rank Area\File Name # DL's ------------------------------------------------------------- 1. COMM\pcplustd.arc 9 ProComm+ Test Drive (V1.0) 2. GAME\moria.arc 5 Adventure game a la Hack 3. UNPT\123star.unp 5 Unprotect 4. GAME\sorry.arc 4 EGA version of Sorry 5. MISC\gc.arc 3 World Time map display 6. UTIL\dog101a.arc 3 Disk Optimizer 7. GAME\scrabble.arc 3 Scrabble Game 8. UNPT\ati.unp 3 unprotect 9. UNPT\lotus1a.unp 3 unprotect 10. INFO\egademo.arc 2 Demo of EGA graphics 11. LANG\conv.bas 2 12. MISC\bathelp.arc 2 Help for DOS batch files 13. MISC\daylog.arc 2 Keeps a personal log 14. MISC\prompt.arc 2 Various DOS prompts 15. MISC\shofkeys.arc 2 Displays Function keys File Download Report -- Selected area files Area\Name #DL's ----------------------------------------------------------- BBSP\chg2node.arc 1 Change file name to node # LANG\arc50sc.arc 1 C Source to Arc 5.0 EDIT\e88-42.arc 2 Text editor FidoNews 5-18 Page 11 2 May 1988 SHEL\amenu40.arc 2 AutoMenu, DOS menu/shell APPL\aseasy30.arc 1 Spreadsheet similar to 123 EDUC\matrix.arc 1 To teach Matrix math ARCS\arc521.com 1 The ARChiver from SEA. Transfer methods total ----------------------------- SEAlink download/upload 89 Telink download/upload 39 Xmodem download/upload 147 Ymodem download/upload 35 Zmodem download/upload 12 External download/upload 0 (External is defined as any add-in protocol available to Opus ie. Kermit as well as Modem7 on our system). (end of report) I would encourage any other systems that run LogRpt on a weekly basis *OR* can send me data in a similar format (minus the area names) and would like their stats included in this list, please drop a net-mail note along with your system's download data to 1:135/1. If using LogRpt, don't use paths in the output all I want is filenames and total downloads. If any thing is of particular interest or you have changed a filename, mention that. I MUST have the report by Monday's net-mail time in order to get the stats edited. This should give you Saturday and Sunday to get the previous 7/8 days together. If the report is longer than 10 days, I don't think it will be possible to include it. (We can accept net-mail anytime of the day and are PC-Pursuitable). James Gilbert 135/1 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-18 Page 12 2 May 1988 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 16 May 1988 Digital Equipment Corporations Users Society Spring Symposium. Will be held May 16-May 20 in Cincinnati, OH. 29 May 1988 MetroFire Third Annual Birthday Bash and Floppy Disk Throwing Contest. ALL FidoNet Sysops and their families are invited. Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for more details. Details available by SEAdog file request as FPICMAP.ARC or BASH. 18 Jun 1988 Area Code 407 takes effect in East/Central Florida. All Sysops should adjust their Nodelist entries immediately. 25 Jun 1988 EuroCon II starts in Tiel, Holland. Sponsored by the Dutch Hobby Computer Club. Will run for 2 days. Contact Hans Lichthelm at 2:2/999 for information. 16 Jul 1988 A new areacode, 508, will form in eastern Massachusetts and will be effective on this date. The new area code will be formed from the current areacode 617. Greater Boston will remain areacode 617 while the rest of eastern Massachusetts will form the new areacode 508. 25 Aug 1988 Start of the Fifth International FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Drawbridge Inn in Cincinnati, OH. Contact Tim Sullivan at 108/62 for more information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with all this time. We're hoping to see you there! 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ATTENTION ALL FidoNet Sysops: This is the Official MetroFire Third Birthday BlowOut Bulletin!! This event will take place deep in the heart of Florida's FidoNews 5-18 Page 13 2 May 1988 wonderland, The Everglades. NO ONE will be admitted WITHOUT an 8-10 pound bag of ICE! (This should not pose a hardship for anyone since a bag of ice is only 69 cents at Publix. Hardship cases should apply to the Sysop for relief via Netmail [grin].) *********** This is the story, so far... WHEN: Sunday, 29 May 88 TIME: 1400 - 2000 WHERE: LimeLite Farms on the Edge of the Everglades WHY: To Celebrate the Survival and Growth of MetroFire, 135/14, and needing an excuse to have a party. WHAT: A B.Y.O.E. (Bring Your Own Everything) Picnic with Games and Shop Talk and Lie Swapping. Musical Instruments and Non- destructive Outdoor Games are Solicited. NEED: Folding Tables, Chairs and Ventilation Equipment and a Portable PC w/2 drives. HAVE: Charcoal and the First Five Pounds of Genuine (accept no substitutes) Sabrett Hot Dogs will be provided. COST: Your Time, Effort and Gas to Krome Ave. ENTRANCE FEE: One 8 to 10 pound bag or block of ICE! PER Person (bring more if you like). REWARDS: Sharpen your Survival Skills and Become One with Your Natural Surroundings. Plenty of Precious Calories and Many Anecdotes to Pass on to Posterity. BRING: Deep Woods OFF! (if the Rain picks up, so will the Mosquitoes.) Don't wear Perfume if the Mosquito report is Hostile (THEY love it!). Something to Sit on. DON'T BRING: Firearms, Fireworks, Animals or Drugs. SMOKERS: Smoking outside, only. WHO: ALL MetroFire Users, Families and Guests and ALL FidoNet Sysops and Families, and Local non-FidoNet Sysops and Families. FidoNews 5-18 Page 14 2 May 1988 Everyone is invited to bring a gustatory specialty for sharing. Make it something simple, Coquilles St. Jacques, Baked Alaska, Salmon Mousse, etc. We will keep track of the comestibles volunteered on 135/14. I will begin the tote with BBS Bakered Beans. For more details, file request FPICMAP.ARC or BASH from 135/14. Out-of-town Sysops, RSVP to 135/14 or call Christopher Baker at (305) 596-8576, Tue-Sat, 1430-2230. We will attempt to line up some accomodations with our users to save you the cost of a hotel. Transportation to the site will be arranged upon request. See you there! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Sullivan 108/62 FidoCon'88 Chairman ---->---->----> CALL FOR PAPERS <----<----<---- We are still searching for speakers and topics for this year's conference. If you would like to speak, or have an idea for a topic, please contact Mark Walker at 108/50. FidoCon can only be a success with your involvement. We're doing a great job preparing for the conference here in Cincinnati, but we still need your input! (btw: How many of you use FidoNet technology in your workplace? We're interested in finding out. If you currently use: Seadog, Fido, Opus, Binkley, Dutchie, dBridge, or anything else I've forgotten in you job/profession, drop Mark a note at 108/50. Thanks!) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.81* EditNL 3.3 ARC 5.21 Fido 12g* MakeNL 2.03 ARCmail 1.1 Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.31 SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86* EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1 BinkleyTerm 1.40* QuickBBS 2.00* FidoNews 5-18 Page 15 2 May 1988 * 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 5-18 Page 16 2 May 1988 OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Ken Kaplan 100/22 Chairman of the Board Don Daniels 107/210 President Mark Grennan 147/1 Vice President Dave Dodell 114/15 Vice President - Technical Coordinator Tom Marshall 107/524 Secretary Leonard Mednick 12/1 Treasurer IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIVISION AT-LARGE 10 Steve Jordan 102/2871 Don Daniels 107/210 11 Bill Allbritten 11/301 Hal DuPrie 101/106 12 Leonard Mednick 12/1 Mark Grennan 147/1 13 Rick Siegel 107/27 Brad Hicks 100/523 14 Ken Kaplan 100/22 Ted Polczyinski 154/5 15 Jim Cannell 128/13 Kurt Reisler 109/74 16 Vince Perriello 141/491 Robert Rudolph 261/628 17 Rob Barker 138/34 Greg Small 148/122 18 Chris Baker 135/14 Bob Swift 140/24 19 Vernon Six 19/0 Larry Wall 15/18 2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 Gee Wong 107/312 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-18 Page 17 2 May 1988 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / 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 ____________________________________________________________ State ________________________________ Zip _____________________ Country _________________________________________________________ Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________ BBS Name ________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________ Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________ Board Restrictions ______________________________________________ Your Special Interests __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in US Funds to: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-4112 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 first elected Board of Directors was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your input to this Conference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-18 Page 18 2 May 1988 INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION ORDER FORM Publications The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido 1:1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each publication, but we can make no written guarantees. Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986 IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____ IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____ IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____ SUBTOTAL _____ IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____ SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____ Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member International orders include $10.00 for surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____ SUBTOTAL _____ HI. Residents add 4.0 % Sales tax _____ TOTAL _____ SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, HI. 96813-4112 USA Name________________________________ Zone:Net/Node____:____/____ Company_____________________________ Address_____________________________ City____________________ State____________ Zip_____ Voice Phone_________________________ Signature___________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- -- ======================================================================= | ...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 | =======================================================================
pozar@hoptoad.uucp (Tim Pozar) (05/11/88)
Because the posting of fidonews is automated, the last posting slipped by me. Apparently number 18 was posted, instead of number 19. Sorry for the inconvenience folks! -- Tim --- Volume 5, Number 19 9 May 1988 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ 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 Four Unusual Echos ....................................... 1 Our turn? How Hackers hacked away at Opus in Hong Kong ... 3 Your IFNA Working for You ................................ 5 Etiquette and Protocols -- SEAlink vs Zmodem ............. 8 New Features for SCOREKEEPER ............................. 11 Fido 12 Utilities ........................................ 12 2. COLUMNS .................................................. 20 FidoCon '88: Visit The Cincinnati Observatory ............ 20 3. NOTICES .................................................. 21 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 21 Latest Software Versions ................................. 21 4. COMMITTEE REPORTS ........................................ 23 And more! FidoNews 5-19 Page 1 9 May 1988 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= George A. Stanislav Opus 1:129/39 The Four Astral Board Echos The logo of Astral Board, 1:129/39, is "The Unusual Board For Unusual People." Indeed, the whole purpose of Astral Board is discussing unusual things. Its two main local message areas are "Unusual Experiences" and "Martial Arts." Four echos have been born on Astral Board so far, all, hopefully, falling in the "unusual" category. The first and best known echo originating at Astral Board is 80XXX. Its purpose is to get a public forum to anyone writing programs for the 8088 Intel chip and its derivatives, e.g. 80286, 80386, 8087, etc. Another programming echo may not seem that unusual. After all, there is a general programmers' echo, a C echo, a Pascal echo and others. The "unusual" part of 80XXX is in its orientation towards low level programming of a specific chip, or rather a family of chips. Most of the discussion is about PC assembly language programming, although the echo is not limited to assembly language. As long as it has something to do with the low level programming of the Intel 80XXX chips, any message is welcome here. Another unusual thing about 80XXX echo is its file transfer protocol. If participants of the echo want to transfer chunks of code that will not fit into one message, or even if they want to transfer small binary files, they arc the file, convert it into an ASCII text file by John Navas's ECHOARC and post that text as a message. The recipient uses the same program to convert the message into an arc file. That is why all sysops carrying the 80XXX echo are required to carry a copy of ECHOARC on their systems for download by their users. Unidentified Flying Objects are the topic of discussion of UFO, another unusual echo from the unusual board. The history of this echo is somewhat peculiar. Before I started it, I had no special interest in the UFO phenomenon. Some of my callers were attracted to my BBS by its name, Astral Board, in the hope they would find a UFO related discussion there. After several users expressed a desire for such an area, I agreed to start it, not as a local discussion, but an echo. To my great surprise, the day I started the echo, messages started coming from all over the country, mostly thanks to Aaron Schmiedel, sysop of Chai Way in Dallas, who spread the new echo FidoNews 5-19 Page 2 9 May 1988 all over the USA and even sent it to Europe. People who have personally viewed UFO's have participated in our discussion. For me the echo was an eye opener. While before I started the echo I would have probably treated anyone claiming to have seen a UFO with great suspicion, nowadays I have no doubt about the UFO phenomenon and even about its potential danger for our planet. Those alliens seem to be anything but friendly folks. STARGAZE is another echo started on request of others. The echo is dedicated to Astrology. The echo has started very slowly, and up to this point not much discussion has happened there. Mostly I asked people to help me find the algorithms for astrological calculations as I would like to write an online astrology program. If anyone can help in this regard, please post in STARGAZE. The fourth unusual echo is BBOS. This echo seems the most unusual of all, at least to me. I started it when several sysops requested an echo dealing with Opus Embedded Commands and AVATAR (Advanced Video Attribute Terminal) for which I wrote a compiler, OECC. While the request for the echo was strong, there rarely ever appear any messages in it. BBOS stands for Bulletin Board Operating System. The echo is open not just to the discussion of the currently available Opus Embedded Commands, but to suggestions for new ones. In fact, the echo can be an excellent meeting place of developers and users of different BBOS's to possibly create standard ways of embedding commands and screen control codes into text files that could be portable among the various bulletin board operating systems. Apparently this idea came too early before its time. The echo is very little used. Ironically, I came to the point when I wanted to discontinue the echo. I posted a message to that matter in other echos and received many answers asking me not to do that. Despite that, the traffic has been slow. I hope that after reading this article more people will become aware of this echo and its purpose. All four echos are available at the Stars. One of the Stars polls me every night for the echos and delivers the messages from other places. I would like to emphasize especially the presence of the last two echos, STARGAZE and BBOS, as it seems not many sysops are aware of their existence. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 3 9 May 1988 SEAnet/2 - Hong Kong IFNA node 3:700/13.0 A POTENTIAL SECURITY PROBLEM IN OPUS ------------------------------------ Our turn? To every BBS, it seems, there comes a Hacker - and we've just had our first major attempt at gaining unauthorized access to our system. As we use Opus 1.03b which is, to say the least, a rather widely used system we have decided to share our experience with you in the hopes that you may avoid similar occurrences on your own systems. The hacker in question used a very simple, but powerful, method which could - had things gone according to his plan - have allowed him to gain full control of the machine running Opus. This would have included access to all the BBS utilities on the machine. Such a success would, of course, meant that the hacker would have been able to completely cover his tracks, even leaving the Sysop unaware that his system had been compromised. Due to some luck (good for us, bad for the hacker) he failed in his attempts to control our system, and merely managed to crash it leaving the system down for several hours. A debate -------- There is always something of a debate over whether the methodology behind such things as Virus programs, Trojans and so on should be publicly revealed in full detail. The argument against full disclosure is seated in the idea that we should not risk telling other people how such things can be accomplished in the hope that no more people will find out than already know. Opposing this is the belief that only by letting people know about a danger, and by fully informing them of that danger, can ways be developed to combat the danger. The two arguments might be summarized as the "Keep quiet and hope it goes away" against the "Forewarned is forearmed". It is in the light of the latter belief that this article will explain what the hacker did, and how he did it. I do of course advise all those who think their systems might be susceptible to this line of attack to protect themselves at once in the manner I will describe shortly. FidoNews 5-19 Page 4 9 May 1988 The Method ---------- Basically what the hacker did was to take advantage of the fact that we do not make much use of the *.GBS files in our Opus system. For those unfamiliar with .GBS files I should pause to explain that these are the graphic equivalents to the .BBS files containing system logos, file lists, menus and the like. People with ANSI graphics set ON will see what is in the .GBS files, while those with it off will see what is in the .BBS file. This allows users with ANSI capability to take full advantage of that system, while still producing perfectly legible displays for those without ANSI support. The hacker uploaded a file called FILES.GBS to a file area, as no such file existed previously the system allowed him to do this. This file was a text file containing OANSI embedded commands to shell to DOS and perform various functions. These included DEL *.LOG in a successful attempt to remove the system logs and so cover his trail. The hacker then tried to run the remote sysop utility using this system, luckily for us he was unaware of which com: port we are using. By performing CTTY with the wrong port he managed to crash the system. Protection ---------- Protecting against further attempts to do this is quite simple, we have now set the upload paths for all file areas to a directory that is only available from a file area in which the F)iles and T)ypes command are disabled. Sysops will have to check this area and hurl (real problem as Opus won't hurl across multiple drives) files into the areas they are intended for. Not entirely satisfactory, but it's a solution. Raymond C Lowe ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 5 9 May 1988 Your IFNA Working for You Where DO those DUES go? Steve Bonine, 115/777 There has been discussion in the sysop echomail conferences about whether there is a need for an organization like IFNA, what such an organization should do, and what IFNA is doing now. I want to share with you a couple of things that IFNA is doing, right now, for the good of FidoNet. You can agree or disagree about whether they SHOULD be done, HOW they should be done, WHO should do them; but at least you will be able to argue from a base of facts. Last September, Ken Kaplan was looking for someone to help him out with replies to inquiries received at the IFNA post office box. I volunteered for the job because that aspect of IFNA is an important one -- it's all well and good to say that potential sysops can obtain information about FidoNet from a local BBS, but what do you do if you're in India, or if you don't know where the local BBS is? The IFNA mailing address provides an important means of distributing information about what we are doing. The work that Ken wanted to delegate seemed simple enough -- send some sort of reply to folks who request information by writing to IFNA. The pamphlet that Ken had been sending was a bit out of date. (It doesn't take long for things to get out of date when it comes to FidoNet information!) So I sat down with the old pamphlet, my trusty PCWrite and HP Laserjet, and came up with a new mailer. Nothing fancy, but it worked. The response to PO-box inquiries consists of this little pamphlet, a list of help nodes, a list of all the FidoNet coordinators, and an IFNA order/application form. It goes for a single unit of postage (two units international), and provides general information aimed at a diverse audience. The audience grew when PC Magazine ran a short article on FidoNet. The article referred to a number on the reader-service card, making it very easy for people to generate an inquiry. PC Magazine does a nice job of handling these "BINGO cards". They send the target company (IFNA in this case) a post-card-sized form for each inquiry, with a peel-off mailing label. There have been more than 500 requests from this one article. It has been especially interesting to watch PC Magazine make its way around the world in the last few weeks as requests started to appear from South America, Europe, Africa, Asia. . . PC's are truly international. Back in the dark ages (a year or so ago), requests for information on FidoNet came primarily from potential sysops -- people who were interested in starting their own BBS. This has changed, with many more requests coming from potential USERS. These are people who have heard about FidoNet and echomail, and want to know what benefits the network has to offer to them as users. This shows how FidoNet has matured to more than a network FidoNews 5-19 Page 6 9 May 1988 to facilitate communication between sysops. Based upon this change in the mix of the audience, the material in the pamphlet has been revised to include more user-oriented information. If you are interested in seeing the picture that IFNA is painting of itself, send me netmail (115/777) and I will gladly mail you a copy of the PO-box-inquiry mailing. To appeal to the potential sysop, a longer document provides a more detailed introduction to FidoNet. This file, NEWSYSOP.TXT, has been made available for download on a number of systems throughout the network. It provides an introduction to what options are available in BBS software, mailers, and echomail. The audience for this publication is technical enough to be able to cope with downloading from a local BBS, so this publication is not generally made available in printed form. So there you have it -- the attempts of one segment of IFNA to do something to help FidoNet. Now let me preach a bit. The work I have done for FidoNet has been quite rewarding. I do it because I enjoy it. Try it; you might enjoy it also. You don't have to be "anointed" to be a part of the team; I hold no position in IFNA whatsoever. I have found that many people criticize IFNA for "not doing anything" but there are mighty few who will actually pick up the ball and run with it. You want balls? OK. . . here are a few things that need to be done. Nick Baroque (104/413) has made the excellent suggestion that new systems receive a message from their IFNA director when they are added to the nodelist, providing them with a greeting and letting them know who their director is; in general, painting a positive picture of IFNA. (Remember how exciting it was to get netmail right after your node number first appeared in the nodelist?) We even have a volunteer who will send out the netmail. What we need in order to implement this fine suggestion is a way to identify new nodes. This is a bit more complex than a simple file matching program, since it has to weed out things like nodes that just changed their address. Any whiz programmers out there want to tackle this one? More balls. Mitch Kessler (107/269) has made another excellent suggestion that a local contact, perhaps a followup to the standard IFNA mailing, would be a valuable way to improve the public relations of FidoNet. In fact, Mitch feels that FidoNet PR should be coming from the local nets. Implementing this idea would require a network of systems organized geographically to provide this. Are there enough folks out there to make this work? There are other projects which could be done. Exposure in the national press, like the article in PC Magazine, counters the media's tendency to paint computer bulletin board systems as places where hackers and phreakers do their dirty work. Is anyone in a position to get us more of this type of publicity? (It would be even nicer if we knew it was coming this time, so we could gear up to answer the inquiries.) NEWSYSOP.TXT can always use a section on new products; to corrupt a popular phrase, "Send FidoNews 5-19 Page 7 9 May 1988 prose!". Maybe there are areas in addition to new-sysop orientation that you feel should be addressed by a similar booklet. The purpose of this article is to point out that IFNA really IS accomplishing something. There ARE reasons to have a national organization representing FidoNet, and two of them are providing a central location from which information can be requested and organizing a convention. Both of these tasks are being done; you've read about the great progress towards a super FidoCon in other articles. I hope to meet many of you at FidoCon this August! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 8 9 May 1988 Kilgore Trout, 107/9 System Enhancement Associates, Inc. Etiquette and Protocols We've done a number of benchmark runs on various file transfer protocols over the last few years, a few of which have been reported in FidoNews. Our last published benchmark series compared SEAlink and Zmodem at 2400 baud. Recently some people have questioned if it was valid to extrapolate the results of our 2400 baud trials to data transfers at 9600 baud. In particular, how would the Overdrive variant of SEAlink compare against Zmodem? We were confident that our earlier results were still valid at the higher baud rate, but we decided to confirm this opinion with hard data. For this benchmark series we used an IBM-AT (sending) and an IBM-XT (receiving) connected by a null modem cable at an interface speed of 9600 baud. The implementations tested were the 12/28/87 version of the DSZ.COM Zmodem protocol driver, and version 1.25 of the OVERDRIV.EXE SEAlink/Overdrive protocol driver. All timing was done using Ben Baker's BENCH.COM benchmark timing program. The benchmark run consisted of a series of files with varying sizes that were multiples of 128 bytes (a "block" in SEAlink parlance, or a "sector" in Zmodem parlance). The following raw data was collected: Transfer time in seconds at 9600 baud Sectors SEAlink Zmodem 100 18.01 18.73 200 31.97 32.79 300 46.14 47.02 400 59.81 62.17 500 73.76 75.63 600 87.67 88.43 700 101.61 102.61 800 115.23 115.73 900 129.13 129.24 1000 142.97 144.07 2000 281.60 286.16 3000 420.29 421.67 BENCH.COM reports times to a hundredth of a second, but the MS-DOS system clock is only accurate to an eighteenth of a second. Hence, the above numbers should be regarded as accurate to one tenth of a second. The hundredth place is retained and used to preserve the accuracy of the tenth place. FidoNews 5-19 Page 9 9 May 1988 As can be readily seen, the two protocols are very close in overall performance. When linear regression analysis is applied to the above data, the following results are obtained: SEAlink Zmodem Slope 0.1386 0.1392 Intercept 4.3707 5.2133 This form of analysis is useful because it resolves the data into two significant factors, the fixed protocol overhead (the intercept), and the running per-sector transfer time (the slope). The above results could also be represented as the following formulas: Transfer time for N sectors at 9600 baud, in seconds SEAlink 0.1386 N + 4.3707 Zmodem 0.1392 N + 5.2133 The question now arises of how consistent the data set is, and how much margin of error the testing procedure results in. To answer this question we must first normalize the above data. This consists merely of subtracting the fixed protocol overhead (the intercept) from each datum, and then dividing by the number of sectors which were transferred. The resulting numbers should cluster around the calculated value for the per-sector transfer time (the slope). The following values are obtained: Transfer time per sector (normalized) in seconds Sectors SEAlink Zmodem 100 0.136393 0.135167 200 0.137997 0.137884 300 0.139231 0.139356 400 0.138598 0.142392 500 0.138779 0.140833 600 0.138832 0.138695 700 0.138913 0.139138 800 0.138574 0.138146 900 0.138621 0.137807 1000 0.138599 0.138857 2000 0.138615 0.140473 3000 0.138640 0.138819 Mean 0.138483 0.138964 Standard deviation 0.000717 0.001794 Standard error 0.52% 1.29% As can be seen, the data set is both consistent and highly FidoNews 5-19 Page 10 9 May 1988 linear, and does in fact cluster around the calculated slope, thus confirming both the data set and the validity of using linear regression in this case. The greater variance of the Zmodem data set may be attributed to the greater complexity and variability of the protocol itself. With all of this in mind, we calculate that our end results are accurate to one decimal place for the intercept, and two decimal places for the slope, thus rendering the above formulae as follows: Transfer time for N sectors at 9600 baud, in seconds SEAlink 0.14 N + 4.4 Zmodem 0.14 N + 5.2 In a trial such as this the fixed protocol overhead includes the time required to load the protocol driver, and hence may not be representative of the actual best possible fixed protocol overhead. Regardless, unless there is some wild divergence in fixed overhead (which there is not), then it may generally be regarded as negligible, and may hence be ignored. This leaves the running per-sector transfer time (the slope) as the only significant factor in comparing protocol speeds. Our tests show no measurable difference in running per-sector transfer time between Zmodem and SEAlink/Overdrive to within one second per hundred blocks, so we thus conclude that raw thoughput speed cannot be a deciding factor when choosing between the two protocols. This still leaves a number of other factors on which one may base a choice. For example, most Zmodem implementations include an ability to resume an interrupted transfer, while the Dutchie restartable SEAlink variant is not yet widely supported. Also, Zmodem is capable of character quoting for packet-switched networks (such as Tymnet) which do not yet support a transparent binary mode. On the other hand, SEAlink is less complex than Zmodem and requires less code space (approximately 5k versus 12k), and includes the inherent ability to do XMODEM and its popular variants such as Modem7 or Telink. All of these and more are factors which the software developer must consider when selecting a long-term strategy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 11 9 May 1988 Daniel Tobias 1:380/2 New Features for SCOREKEEPER Version 3.00 of SCOREKEEPER, a program to let you keep a running scoreboard of online game results on your system, has now been released. The major new feature added is an ability to purge the score file of users who are no longer in your user file. Most sysops regularly remove inactive users from the user records, but under earlier SCOREKEEPER versions, these "deadwood" users remained cluttering up the score file. Now, a feature has been added to let SCOREKEEPR purge records in the score file that don't correspond to any current user. The latest version of SCOREKEEPER is downloadable and file- requestable on node 1:380/2 at (318) 222-3503, in the file SCOREKPR.ARC. Some online games that work with SCOREKEEPER are in the files SECRETWD.ARC, NUMBERS.ARC, WINNER.ARC, BLAKJACK.ARC, and PLANET.ARC. An online political survey (which doesn't have anything to do with SCOREKEEPER but is another interesting thing to have in your Outside section) is in the file POLIPREF.ARC. SCOREKEEPER works with Fido, Opus, and any compatible BBS which uses the standard Fido user file format and has an ability to exit to an "Outside" section to run other programs. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 12 9 May 1988 Fido 12 Utilities The following is the documentation for eleven (11) utilities I have written for use with Fido Version 12. I had previously published them and distributed through the Fido backbone when Jerry Hindle was the Net Host of 123. He passed these through to Finland even. Each bore a statement requesting a $10.00 contribution, or requiring it in the case of a commercial user. After six (6) months of waiting, not one thin dime has ever been received in return for these efforts from anyone. I have therefore withdrawn these from general distribution and now will send them from here by mail (or file attach if a speedier method is needed). Send indicated price ** AND ** a self-addressed, stamped, return disk-mailer with a formatted disk enclosed. Phone orders accepted with VISA, MASTERCARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS and DISCOVER. Pricing for Fido Sysops is: 1 Utility $ 10.00 2 Utilities $ 19.00 Formulae is 1 for $10 and each 3 Utilities $ 28.00 additional utility for $1 less. 4 Utilities $ 37.00 5 Utilities $ 46.00 Net effect is buy 10 and get 11. 6 Utilities $ 55.00 7 Utilities $ 64.00 8 Utilities $ 73.00 9 Utilities $ 82.00 10 Utilties $ 91.00 11 Utilities $ 100.00 Phone orders add $3 for disk, mailer and postage. I hope that by publishing this information in FidoNews that these utilities may get wider use by legitimate users. Such utilities and other ditties as I write will NEVER be released as shareware, freeware or in the Public Domain again. Documentation for the STEWart uTILitieS Copyright 1987,88 by Bill Stewart All rights under Copyright are strictly reserved. The following is prepared to assist System Operators of Fido version 12. Most of the really good utilities of version 11 are completely incompatible in version 12. As I prepare more utilities I'll put them out for use. Wednesday, May 5, 1988 There are currently nine (11) utilities named: FidoNews 5-19 Page 13 9 May 1988 DFC.EXE - Dir Files Comparator FTR.EXE - File Transfer Reporter LUG.EXE - Last User Generator MSU.EXE - Master Sysop Utility NFU.EXE - New Files Uploaded ULS.EXE - User Log Sorter UDP.EXE - Userlog Dump to Printer UDS.EXE - Userlog Dump to Screen UPR.EXE - Userlog Purge Reporter WUW.EXE - Who Uploaded What WVF.EXE - Wrong Version Fixer Each has special uses designed to fill specific needs. The rest of this documentation defines those needs. DFC.EXE The DFC program is used to detect files that exist in a directory but are not shown in FILES.BBS, and vice- versa. An advantage of this program over previous versions by other authors is that this one can handle a directory/FILES.BBS of up to 500 files. It was written in a machine with 640k in it and has NOT been tested with less memory at this writing. Output is to the printer. As with all STEWTILS, it is totally non-destructive. Neither the DIRectory nor FILES.BBS is changed in any way. FTR.EXE I wrote the File Transfer Reporter to encourage users to upload by giving them credit for doing so. It requires that the file named FIDO.LOG be available in the same directory that FTR.EXE is in. Output is to a file named FTR.OUT. FTR is totally NON-DESTRUCTIVE. That is, it only reads FIDO.LOG and does not make any changes to it whatsoever. FTR creates a file named FTR.OUT that lists who uploaded what files (and where, by path), and also shows HOW MANY files were downloaded in the same period, and also shows the total number of calls received by the system in that period. Example output: [File [T]ransfer [R]eport, 11-08-87 Uploads: Bill Stewart sent PC-FILES\PD.LST GENERAL\RULES.TXT FidoNews 5-19 Page 14 9 May 1988 John Doe sent SCIFI\TREK.CON There were 11 files downloaded. The system received 38 calls. In that period means the dates FIDO.LOG covers. If you only run FTR once a week then it will list a week's worth of information. If run daily it will show daily information. My system changes FTR.OUT each day and copies it to the system file named WELCOME2.BBS so that each caller sees it. Here is a portion of the batch file showing its use: .... .... FTR COPY FTR.OUT WELCOME2.BBS ERASE FTR.OUT .... .... This portion of a batch file is executed by an external event each night after mail time. LUG.EXE Several external programs require the presence of a version 11 type file named LASTUSER.BBS. Of critical importance in this file are the users name, city, password and privilege level. Output of this file contains ONLY those items, and is not identical to the original. Ron Bemis OUTER requires it, for example, and the output of LUG is sufficient to fill that need. LUG requires two files to be in the same directory with it. One is FIDO.LOG and the other is CALLER.SYS and LUG will not operate without both files present. Here is an example of the use of LUG in my batch file: .... .... LUG CTTY COM1 OUTER /l /60 CTTY CON .... .... MSU.EXE FidoNews 5-19 Page 15 9 May 1988 The Master Sysop Utility gives you TOTAL control of the user log. Every single bit is open to manipulation by the Sysop for every user. Documentation for MSU is included with that file, usually seen separate from the STEWTILS. A few of the routines MSU allows are special in that you won't find them elsewhere that I know of. A user log SORT is included that can sort the log by privilege first, and alphabetical order within privilege. PURGEing bad log entries and so forth is also supported. SEARCH can be done by name, city or password. It is as complete as I know since every possible change to a log entry is allowed. The current version of MSU is 1.01 as of this writing. IMPORTANT NOTE: MSU.EXE IS DESTRUCTIVE! It makes actual changes to the log itself. NFU.EXE It is often mentioned in Sysop messages that users wish they didn't have to scan the entire FILES.BBS list in order to see what has come in recently. This program creates a new file containing ONLY those files. There are three pre-conditions: 1) FILES.BBS absolutely, positively, unequivocally and without doubt MUST contain a line that says " New files uploaded". It may say more than that, but it must begin with that. I call this a statement. 2) The statement must begin with a space. 3) Upper/lower case useage MUST be exactly as shown. The statement separates older files from newer ones. Thus in my FILES.BBS it shows: ... ... SOMEFILE.TXT This is a file in the older list New files uploaded since October 10, 1987 ANOTHER.FIL This is a file that has come in recently YETANOTH.ER And yet another file recently received NFU will create a file named NEWFILES.LST that will contain ANOTHER.FIL and YETANOTH.ER. Now users can find out what is new by T)yping the file NEWFILES.LST. I have my batch file execute NFU every night. NFU doesn't change FILES.BBS so as new files are added NEWFILES.LST will get bigger and bigger. FidoNews 5-19 Page 16 9 May 1988 Note that my statement also contains the information " since October 10, 1987". This is permissable, since it is AFTER the statement and doesn't change it. NEWFILES.LST will show the entire line. ULS.EXE This program sorts the user log first by privilege, and then by last name. This gives your users with higher privilege levels quicker recognition in the logon search. It also moves those with the lowest privilege levels to the rear of the log. The alphabetic sort by last name is obviously helpful when looking for a particular entry. ULS requires the presence of one file named CALLER.SYS in the same directory as ULS.EXE. It is important for you to note that ULS is totally NON-DESTRUCTIVE to the original log. It's output is to a file named CALLER.SRT. The original file CALLER.SYS is completely unchanged. Here is an example of it's use in my batch file: .... .... ULS COPY CALLER.SYS CALLER.BAK COPY CALLER.SRT CALLER.SYS .... .... UDP.EXE and UDS.EXE These files dump the user log. They require the presence of the file named CALLER.SYS in the same directory that they are run. Since both of these files do the same thing one description will serve for both. The only difference is that UDP outputs to the printer and UDS outputs to the screen. Each senses where a page (or screen) break occurs and takes appropriate action to redraw the header. Output to the printer is continuous while output to the screen stops each time the screen fills. Both UDP and UDS dump the log in the order it is written. Neither file does any sorting of output. You can use ULS to sort the file prior to using UDP or UDS. FidoNews 5-19 Page 17 9 May 1988 UPR.EXE The Userlog Purge reporter requires the presence of a file named CALLER.OLD which is generated by SYSOP or by MSGMGR. The object here is to show you who got axed. It shows the name, the privilege level of the user, and the date of their last call. Output is to the printer. Here is an example of its use in my batch file: .... .... MSGMGR UPR ERASE CALLER.OLD .... .... WUW.EXE This is the newest of the STEWTILS. With the advent and spread of virus programs, trojan horses and tapeworms it has become very necessary to know the source of every file coming into the board. WUW performs two tasks. First, it gives output similar to FTR in a file named GIVE.CRT that I suggest you attach a small header to and copy to WELCOME2.BBS so that those who upload get public credit for doing so. GIVE.CRT lists the user name first, then the filename uploaded, and then the date of the upload. Second, it maintains a growing file listing ALL uploaded files by filename, then user who uploaded the file, then date file was received. This is appended to a file named UPLOAD.WHO which can then be T)yped to see just exactly who sent what and when. Should a problem file appear it is then simple to trace it's origin on the system, either by you privately, or as in my case, by any user. I put UPLOAD.WHO in my general files area and listed it in the FILES.BBS file so that users would know it is there and why. As a point of general information, WUW would work on version 11 and earlier Fido's if the file SYSOP.LOG is first renamed to FIDO.LOG. This is also true of FTR.EXE. WVF.EXE One change to Fido version 12's user log has been the addition of a flag to indicate the log's version number. Any change to that flag at the start of each individual user's entry causes errors in Fido's SYSOP and MSGMGR programs. In SYSOP this error shows up as a FidoNews 5-19 Page 18 9 May 1988 message on the top line of the users entry that says WRONG VERSION CALLER.SYS and so on. No matter what you do to that entry, you can't fix it. In MSGMGR the program simply fails to complete it's processing of the log. Unfortunately, unless you are watching MSGMGR process you can't tell the error occurred. It usually shows up as repeated attempts to purge a user without success. WVF fixes any such error. What it does NOT do is fix the log entry itself. Any damages done to the user name, address, password or attributes remains damaged. WFU serves ONLY to make the record accessable by SYSOP so that you can complete the repair. Conversely, it will not change any other information in the entry. If the name was OK before, then it will still be OK. The flag will simply be fixed. This program outputs a new user log named CALLER.FIX so once again use of a STEWTIL is non-destructive. You should first copy or rename CALLER.SYS so that the original remains intact. Once that is done, rename CALLER.FIX to CALLER.SYS so that the SYSOP program or my MSU program can work on the repaired log. Printer output alerts you to the particular record where the error occured, as well as the name in the log BEFORE the error. Since damage to the flag usually damages the name as well I show the intact entry previous to the error to help you locate the problem. If the previous entry was damaged as well then WVF will report that it cannot give you a valid previous entry name. Remember, WVF fixes a problem in version identification that may occur in the log as used with the current version of Fido 12. It does not repair the log itself. You must complete repairs with SYSOP, MSU or other utility. Conclusion No damage can occur to any of the files referenced by STEWTILS, even should a power failure occur in mid- execution since those files are only READ FROM and are never written to, with the sole exception of MSU.EXE. Output is always either to the printer, the screen or another file that you can then manipulate as you wish. Therefore, don't be afraid to experiment with them. Thanks to Tom Jennings for source material in file definition available on his board. Complaints, observations, bug reports and so forth should be addressed to: FidoNews 5-19 Page 19 9 May 1988 Sysop, 1:123/1 via fidomail. The direct number is (901) 761-5018, running 300/1200/2400 baud, 8 bit words, no parity and 1 stop bit. Phone orders call (901) 767-8914, Stewart Computer & Supply. Ask for Bill. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 20 9 May 1988 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= +*+*+ FidoCon '88 Special Function Report +*+*+ Here in Cincinnati Ohio as a special treat for FidoCon '88 attendees, on aug 25 1988 8:00 PM EDT The Cincinnati Observatory will be open to FidoCon attendees for a special private viewing. The Observatory has two large refractors. The 12" Fraunhofer was dedicated in 1843 and was at the time the largest in the united states and the finest in the world. The lens was made in Munich transported to the US mounted and housed Locally using local Labor. The tube is made of polished Walnut and most of the hardware is polished brass. In 1904 a new building and a new 16" Alvan Clark & Sons was installed. The 12" was then sent to the Alvan Clark shops for refurbishing. Sky&Telescope Jan 1986 gives a brief biography of the observatory's founder Ormsby Mitchel. Burnam's handbook mentions the 12" as being one of the first to see a companion to Antares in 1845. Shuttle busses will be provided by FidoCon '88 and will depart at about 7PM from the Drawbridge Inn. This is just one of the events planned for FidoCon '88. If you want to find out about registration for FidoCon '88 read your FidoNews or contact 1/88. Space for this excursion is limited. If you want to get on the list for the Thursday 25 AUG 88 Observatory tour (and viewing if someone brings weather from Denver) Just leave me a note. Pete Astronomy & Solar 1:108/81 (513)398-7883 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 21 9 May 1988 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 16 May 1988 Digital Equipment Corporations Users Society Spring Symposium. Will be held May 16-May 20 in Cincinnati, OH. 29 May 1988 MetroFire Third Annual Birthday Bash and Floppy Disk Throwing Contest. ALL FidoNet Sysops and their families are invited. Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for more details. Details available by SEAdog file request as FPICMAP.ARC or BASH. 5 Jun 1988 David Dodell's 31st Birthday 18 Jun 1988 Area Code 407 takes effect in East/Central Florida. All Sysops should adjust their Nodelist entries immediately. 25 Jun 1988 EuroCon II starts in Tiel, Holland. Sponsored by the Dutch Hobby Computer Club. Will run for 2 days. Contact Hans Lichthelm at 2:2/999 for information. 16 Jul 1988 A new areacode, 508, will form in eastern Massachusetts and will be effective on this date. The new area code will be formed from the current areacode 617. Greater Boston will remain areacode 617 while the rest of eastern Massachusetts will form the new areacode 508. 25 Aug 1988 Start of the Fifth International FidoNet Conference, to be held at the Drawbridge Inn in Cincinnati, OH. Contact Tim Sullivan at 108/62 for more information. This is FidoNet's big annual get-together, and is your chance to meet all the people you've been talking with all this time. We're hoping to see you there! 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other FidoNews 5-19 Page 22 9 May 1988 & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.81* EditNL 4.00* ARC 5.21 Fido 12h* MakeNL 2.10* ARCmail 1.1 Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 3.31 SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86* EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M MGM 1.1 BinkleyTerm 1.40* QuickBBS 2.00* * 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 5-19 Page 23 9 May 1988 ================================================================= COMMITTEE REPORTS ================================================================= I.E.E.E. L.I. BBS 1:107/211 New Discounts for IFNA Members The following two items are available to registered members of IFNA (or the IEEE) at substantial discounts: 1. The Touchbase Systems WorldPort 2400 Portable Modem This modem comes with both an AC adapter and a 9-volt battery which will power it for approximately six hours. Roughly the size of a package of cigarettes, this engineering marvel supports the extended Hayes AT command set and is compatible with Bell 103/212A and CCITT V.21/V.22/V.22bis. It has a built in speaker, four call monitoring LEDs, special acoustic coupler adapter cable, 25-pin female DB-25 connector, and a standard RJ-11C modular connector telephone line interface. It has substituted for a Hayes 2400 on this BBS with no changes or problems. Bundled in this offer is CARBON COPY PLUS version 4.0 which provides both a terminal emulator program and a Remote PC Operation capabilty in the same package. GREAT for lap-tops! List price for this modem is $395 (CARBON COPY lists for $195 alone). Both are available to IFNA members for $216 plus any applicable taxes and shipping charge. 2. The CAT Image Scanner Model SI This scanner package was a hit at the recent Computer Graphics Show in New York City. It attaches to your printer and is driven by the print mechanism to capture 50 to 300 dpi images in either Line Art or Half-tone modes. Scanned images can be cropped, scaled, printed, or combined to make posters, T-shirts, or viewgraphs. Captured images can be converted into PCX, TIFF or PFF print formats for use by various graphic packages or you can do your own desktop publishing with any word processor package. Listing for $195, this item is available to IFNA members for $126, plus shipping/taxes. Printers supported: Panasonic KX-P1080, 1091, 1092 Epson MX 80/100, RX 80/100, JX 80, FX 80/100, FX 85/182 FX 86/286, Fx 86e/286e, EX 800/100, LQ 800/1000 For more information on these items see pages 52 and 317 of the April 26, 1988 edition of PC magazine (the one that reviews 9600 baud modems) or send a msg with your voice phone number and address to 1:107/211. Supplies are limited, so don't delay! ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 24 9 May 1988 OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Ken Kaplan 100/22 Chairman of the Board Don Daniels 107/210 President Mark Grennan 147/1 Vice President Dave Dodell 114/15 Vice President - Technical Coordinator Tom Marshall 107/524 Secretary Leonard Mednick 12/1 Treasurer IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIVISION AT-LARGE 10 Steve Jordan 102/2871 Don Daniels 107/210 11 Bill Allbritten 11/301 Hal DuPrie 101/106 12 Leonard Mednick 12/1 Mark Grennan 147/1 13 Rick Siegel 107/27 Brad Hicks 100/523 14 Ken Kaplan 100/22 Ted Polczyinski 154/5 15 Jim Cannell 128/13 Kurt Reisler 109/74 16 Vince Perriello 141/491 Robert Rudolph 261/628 17 Rob Barker 138/34 Greg Small 148/122 18 Chris Baker 135/14 Bob Swift 140/24 19 Vernon Six 19/0 Larry Wall 15/18 2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 Gee Wong 107/312 ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 25 9 May 1988 __ The World's First / \ BBS Network /|oo \ * FidoNet * (_| /_) _`@/_ \ _ | | \ \\ | (*) | \ )) ______ |__U__| / \// / 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 ____________________________________________________________ State ________________________________ Zip _____________________ Country _________________________________________________________ Home Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Work Phone (Voice) ______________________________________________ Zone:Net/Node Number ____________________________________________ BBS Name ________________________________________________________ BBS Phone Number ________________________________________________ Baud Rates Supported ____________________________________________ Board Restrictions ______________________________________________ Your Special Interests __________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ In what areas would you be willing to help in FidoNet? __________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Send this membership form and a check or money order for $25 in US Funds to: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, Hawaii 96813-4112 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 first elected Board of Directors was filled in August 1987. The IFNA Echomail Conference has been established on FidoNet to assist the Board. We welcome your input to this Conference. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-19 Page 26 9 May 1988 INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION ORDER FORM Publications The IFNA publications can be obtained by downloading from Fido 1:1/10 or other FidoNet compatible systems, or by purchasing them directly from IFNA. We ask that all our IFNA Committee Chairmen provide us with the latest versions of each publication, but we can make no written guarantees. Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986 IFNA Fido BBS listing $15.00 _____ IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs $10.00 _____ IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs $10.00 _____ SUBTOTAL _____ IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers System Enhancement Associates SEAdog $60.00 _____ SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member Fido Software's Fido/FidoNet $100.00 _____ Fido/FidoNet price as of November 1, 1987 ONLY 1 copy Fido/FidoNet per IFNA Member International orders include $10.00 for surface shipping or $20.00 for air shipping _____ SUBTOTAL _____ HI. Residents add 4.0 % Sales tax _____ TOTAL _____ SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER IN US FUNDS: International FidoNet Association c/o Leonard Mednick, MBA, CPA 700 Bishop Street, #1014 Honolulu, HI. 96813-4112 USA Name________________________________ Zone:Net/Node____:____/____ Company_____________________________ Address_____________________________ City____________________ State____________ Zip_____ Voice Phone_________________________ Signature___________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------- -- ======================================================================= | ...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 | =======================================================================