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DNA202.005
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1998-03-02
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The Art of "Waffle"
by Hari-Kiri
------------------------------ ------------------------------
So you want to know the tips/tricks to Waffle, eh? No, you want to know
what the heck I'm talking about. Well, from the comp.bbs.waffle FAQ:
Waffle is a USENET-compatible BBS system which supports UUCP
mail, UUCP, and USENET news. In addition, there is a built-in
editor, file upload/download, and the ability to hook in
external programs and gateway to (or from) other packages.
DOS Waffle supports (but does not require) external Fossil
drivers to allow use of high speed modems and allows an MSDOS
PC to be a fully RFC compliant USENET node. It also provides
the UUCP-based transport mechanism that generally comes with
unix systems.
Unix Waffle provides just the BBS functionality and requires the
'traditional' unix communications, mail, and USENET-news software
for those functions.
With that out of the way, you should now know that Waffle is a BBS
software. It is, however, different than anything else you have ever seen.
For those of you that have had the gratifying luck to experience it, you
would marvel at the confusion and chaos it creates to the average,
non-waffle-knowing user.
Waffle has a lot of features just like other BBS's you may frequent. It
has messages, files, doors (possibly games?), etc... So you login just like
on most boards that you may call, you simply enter your name and password.
Here is where most people get lost though. There is simply no main menu.
Try to think of it as being at DOS, or better yet, Unix since it is modeled
after it. Here is a typical prompt:
…ÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕª
∫Sure I got bananas... they're a little empty, but, hey... I got 'em...∫
∫ [Sir Poopies, 15-Feb-95] ∫
∫ ∫
∫[#0: Hear Ye, Hear Ye!] ∫
∫85 left ˛ 10:32p ˛ (?=Help) -> _ ∫
»ÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕº
Now, the MOST important thing about Waffle, is the cookie. That first
little line up there. The one you're still wondering "What the hey???"
These silly, nondescript, original, quips create a warm, pleasurable
atmosphere, and usually keep the person reeling in lafter or wonder, wonder
at what the person was thinking... Anyhow, next is the main prompt, you see
what message board you are currently on, how much time is left, what time it
is, the regular stuff.
You are all set to go about, Waffle-ing now. Just type in whatever you
want, just like in DOS/UNIX. You want files? Type FILES. If you are craving
the need to write a cookie, because you think you have a REALLY good one, you
can type COOKIE and it will prompt you, and then thank you. There is
usually a list of commands attainable with the ? key, or, if you want a very
in-depth explanation of most commands, type HELP followed by COMMANDS.
- MESSAGES -
Waffel divides messages into two types, public posts (news), or private
mail (mail). This is different than some packages out there in that news is
not directed to anyone in particular. It has no TO: field. It is just a
message from someone that is 'posted.' This is important to understand.
Mail, though, has a person that it is TO and someone that it is FROM. It is
private and only the two people involved will see it (although, sysadmin's
may browse, and it is perfectly legal for them to do so). So we will start
out with news.
Waffle works by dividing into 'boards' of topic. Just like anywhere
else that has conferences, areas, or whatnot (newsgroups, as we like to call
them, formally). You type the name of a 'board' to get to it, such as:
0
alt.spank.me
comp.lang.cobol
4
dna.hackers
This is, rather silly though. Why go to a board and then read from it?
Don't you usually go about things with reading NEW messages? I sure hope
so. You keep track of your pointers and boards that you are subscribed to
with the JOIN command. Type JOIN by itself, and it will create a JOIN file
for you, and include the boards that the sysop wants you to read (you can
change them, of course). You can then ADD and DELETE boards to your list.
When you want to go through and read new messages, type SCAN from the main
prompt.
When reading messages, and you want to reply, type FOLLOW. This leaves
in the quoting so that people know what is going on. The internal editor is
a simple, but powerful, line editor, and has full help with the ? command
(hit it a lot, it is helpful and fun!). Some commands are A for ADD and S
for save. When in the editor, /s saves like some of the other simple line
editors.
Now on to mail!
Mail is controlled via the MAIL command. If you have mail, it will be
presented to you when you type the MAIL command. You can browse the
messages, FOLLOW them (reply), DOWNLOAD them, or DELETE them. If you have
no mail, waffle will present "No Mail. Send Mail To:" and you enter the
name of the recipient.
- FILES -
You'd think a bunch of grown men could figure out a files section on
there own, but NOOOOOOOOO... Waffle's file section is very easy to use if
you understand it. You are actually on the sysop's hard drive in his
directory tree! The whole thing is hotkeyed, so you type D to do a DIR. It
will ask for a filespec, with *.* as default. Just hit ENTER and it will
list all the files in the directory. L logs you to another directory, and .
(period) drops back one directory. If you want Waffle to send you a file,
type S for send, if you want it to receive a file (you want to upload), type
R. See? Easy enough :)
-------------------------------------------
Now that we have a general understanding of how it works and how to use it,
lets get us some tricks! Some inside things about Waffle that most people
wouldn't know of.
First off, with Waffle, you have your OWN directory on the disk! With
your name on it! It holds your JOIN file, and several other files that you
can create, just like UNIX! Here are some fun things to do with your
directory:
Create a file called WAFFLE (type EDIT WAFFLE). This file is essentially
like an AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Put some commands in, and it will run them when
you logon.
Create a file called PLAN and when somone FINGER's you, they will get
this file shown to them. Try FINGER'ing yourself...
You can make a file entitled ALIASES and then enter a simple nickname for
a person or list of people then have it mail all of them. It follows the
format:
tag_name user1 user2 user3...
Example:
hackers bob joe tuffguy zowee
moomoo wubba wabba wobba
So that when you mail HACKERS, it goes to Bob, Joe, Tuffguy, and Zowee.
And when you mail MOOMOO, it goes to Wubba, Wabba, and Wobba.
Next we have the BAUD command. It will let you define what you want
recorded as your Baud Rate. You could say BAUD 110. And Waffle would tell
everyone that you were on at 110 baud. Other goodies are ISDN, SLIP, VFAST,
or MOO.
Also, you can save messages online. If you are reading a message and
want a copy on the BBS, type WRITE and it will copy it to your directory.
This works for both news and mail.
The INFO command will point you to some interesting topics...
Did you modify your account and want to login again, but don't want to
have to drop carrier and call back? Type LOGIN and you can re-login!
If you type STATUS you can change a lot of your user settings. If
external editors are installed, they will be listed and you can choose one
of them. Or you can set your terminal emulation or change your password.
If it's late at night, type TERM WOLVERINE. You'll thank me.
--
That's it for this article on Waffle. I assume that about 4 people read
it, and of them maybe 2´ of them read ALL of it. But if anyone is truly
interested in seeing this piece of beauty 1 board in the O.C. area currently
runs it, and the sysop is me, Hari-Kiri. It is Cookie World and I'm sure
there will be an ad at the end somewhere. If you want to contact me:
BBS: Cookie World
Inet: an123286@anon.penet.fi
…ÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕª
∫ ⁄ƒƒƒƒ ⁄ƒƒƒø ⁄ƒƒƒø ¬ ⁄ ƒƒ¬ƒƒ ⁄ƒƒƒƒ ∫
∫ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ ≥ √ƒøŸ ≥ √ƒƒ ∫
∫ ¿ƒƒƒƒ ¿ƒƒƒŸ ¿ƒƒƒŸ ¡ ¿ ƒƒ¡ƒƒ ¿ƒƒƒƒ ∫
∫ ¬ ¬ ⁄ƒƒƒø ⁄ƒƒƒø ¬ ¬ƒƒƒø ∫
∫ ¿ø¬⁄Ÿ ≥ ≥ √ƒ¬ƒŸ ≥ ≥ ≥ ∫
∫ ¿¡Ÿ ¿ƒƒƒŸ ¡ ¿ƒ ¿ƒƒƒƒ ¡ƒƒƒŸ ∫
»ÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕÕº
+1 714 993 7669
A Waffle system run by Hari-Kiri
Containing:
⁄ - Intelligent, Quality Users - ø
≥ - Forbidden Subjects 3 Cd-Rom On-Line - ≥
≥ - Assorted door games - ≥
≥ - Dna-Net (66:714/3) - ≥
≥ - Cookies!!!! - ≥
¿ - Term Wolverine for the kids! - And More! Ÿ