Monster Media 1994 #1

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Text File | 1994-03-12 | 24KB | 484 lines

▒███████ ▒███████ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒████████ ▒████████ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒████████ ▒████████ ▒███████ ▒███████ ▒███████ ▒███████ ▒████▒██ ▒████████ ▒███████ ▒████▒██ ▒██████ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██▒█▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██▒█▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██████ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██▒█▒██ ▒██ ▒██████ ▒██▒█▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██▒█▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██▒█▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒███ ▒███████ ▒██▒████ ▒██ ▒███████ ▒██▒████ ▒██████ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒██ ▒███████ ▒████████ ▒███████ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██▒█▒██ ▒███████ ▒████████ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒██████ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒██ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒███████ ▒██ ▒██ ┌──────────────────────────────────────┐ ▓███│ v3.10.0 Release Date 12 Mar 1994 │▓███ └──────────────────────────────────────┘ (C)opyright 1992-1994 Southeastern DataLINK, All Rights Reserved 7088 Stoneybrook Drive, Columbus, Georgia 31909 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▄ ▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ █ █▀█ ▀█▀ █ ▀ █ █ ▄▄█ █ █ █ ▀█▀ █ █ █ █▀█ █ █ █ █▄ █ █▄█ █▄█ █▄█ █▄▄ █▄ █ █▄█ █ █ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── In today's high-tech world, connectivity has become a major issue. Getting from point A to point B sounds incredibly simple at times, but is often an entirely different situation, especially when one wants to run multiple BBS packages, different mail networks, provide subscriber info, etc. Enter BFE. BFE is a BBS front-end system that was designed to provide sysops with a fast, efficient method of "connecting" things at the front end of their site. By now, most of you are probably asking yourselves, "What can BFE do for me? I run a simple, one-line BBS system, and I have no need for a full blown BBS carousel setup!". What?! Sure you do! Through the use of BFE, you can provide pertinent information and file downloads up front, *before* your new users have chance to get lost in your BBS! BFE is also prevelant at large sites, running multi-line BBS setups. With BFE, your callers can perform online registrations, receive subscriber information and downloads up front, without wasting precious BBS time. If your site participates in more than one electronic mail network, running on multiple BBS systems, BFE can present this information to your callers, and allow them to make accurate, informed decisions, to better enable them to reach the services you offer. Through the use of BFE's powerful UNIX "gateway" system, you can not only provide direct access to local UNIX systems, but also perform automated logins and tasks! To sum it up, BFE can do just about anything you can imagine. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── █▀█ █▀█ █ █▀▀ █▀▀ █▀█ █ █ █▀▀ █▀█ █ █ █ █▀▀ █ █ █▀█ █▀▌ █ ██ █▀ █ █ ▐ ▌ ██ █▀▌ ▐ ▌ █ ██ █▐▌█ █▄█▌ █ █ █▌ █▄▄ █▌ █▄█▌ ▐▄█ █▄▄ █ █ ▐▄█ █▌ █▄▄ █▌▐█▌ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BFE was designed to be called from a front-end mailer, such as Frontdoor or Binkleyterm. Instead of spawning directly to the BBS system, it presents a menu to the user, which details his immediate options. These options can range from offering multiple BBS systems, remote jobs, literally anything you can think of! The BFE system can also be configured to be called straight from your BBS software itself, in essence, running as a normal door, using one of several popular BBS dropfile formats. As of BFE 3.00.0, a separately available "WFC" (Wait For Caller) module is available as well. Read onward! BFE features include: * Custom multi-level menus, now with RIP graphics support! * Item and/or menu level password protection with daily scheduling! * Hotkey items or SlashCommand(tm) mode! * Multinode/Multiuser Compatibility * Internal DOS-to-UNIX gateway! Give your users the power of UNIX! * Client/server approach to the UNIX gateway. Interactive access! * Intuitive menu-driven setup and customization facility * Feature packed Script system! * WFC module to handle non-mailer sites * DESQview *and* MS-Windows aware! * Configurable for security concerns * Complete carrier monitoring and timeout checking * Use any of 11 standard dropfiles, or define custom ones * Run as a normal door or as a frontend! Dropfile not required! * Complete BBS carousel - run multiple BBS systems * Complete support for ANSI/ASCII/AVATAR/RIP users * Configurable automatic ANSI and RIP detection schemes! * File transfer system with support for external protocols * Run remote jobs, such as batch files, programs, other doors, etc. * Internal remote shells to the operating system * Built in chat/paging system with hourly/daily time restrictions * Split screen chat mode, along with line chat mode for TTY users! * *Total* configurability ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── █▀▀ █▀█ █▀█ █▌▐█ ▀█▀ █ █ █▀▀ █▀█ █ █ ▀█▀ █ █ █▀█ █▀█ █▀ █▀▌ █ █ █▐▌█ █ █▀█ ██ █▄█ █ █ █ █▀█ █ █ █▀▌ █▌ █ █ █▄█▌ █ █▌ █▌ █ █▌ █▄▄ █ █▌ █▄█▌ █▌ █ █▌ █▄█▌ █ █ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── The public release of BFE marks a new beginning for sysops worldwide. No longer do you have to settle for inferior front end systems for your sites. Quite a bit of time is spent between releases on making BFE as intuitive as possible, while simultaneously adding major enhancements. BFE is superior in every way to similar products, and in some ways, revolutionary. We are especially excited about BFE's new UNIX gateway features. This marks a milestone in BBS history, as now, a DOS-based BBS system can still utilize the powerful features inherent to DOS-based BBS packages, but offer callers the powerful mailing facilities contained in the UNIX world. Awesome. Mail is but one very tiny aspect of BFE's UNIX gateway, though. Any application which can be run under UNIX can now be offered to callers of DOS BBS systems. Such packages include WordPerfect, Lotus, various compilers, tools. The list goes on forever. We hope that you too will reap the benefits of this rather remarkable achievement in BBS'ing. Since this feature will obviously not be utilized by most users, it has been made available in a special, enhanced release of BFE, called BFEPLUS or BFE+. We have created a small demonstration of the new gateway system, and have placed it online at Southeastern DataLINK for your perusal. Select the "/UNIX" option when you connect with our BFE setup, and log in to our UNIX server as "guest", with no password. There is online help, to fill you in on the details. Enjoy! To date, BFE has enjoyed a tremendous success rate, due in part to the undying loyalty of an exhausted beta team, I might add! Some of you have really put BFE to the test, and I must say that I am glad to see that it passed with flying colors. Here are just a few comments on BFE as reported by users around the globe: - "The UNIX gateway features of BFE have proven to an indispensable tool for providing Internet access to our WildCat! callers. This package is a godsend!" - "As a SoftWare Developer, we felt you should know that since your public introduction of BFE1303a.ZIP (BBS FrontEnd System v1.30.3a), it has become a tremendous asset to our labs. We receive daily calls from around the world by SysOp's and BBS Callers wanting to download our trivia door games. They are absolutely amazed of how they can download our trivia games WITHOUT logging onto our BBS!" - "We are quite sure that this new development of yours will go a long way into the BBS Community and Sysops/Programmers will scratch their heads wondering, how they've gotten this far without this type of FrontEnd program." - "Now we can provide online registration information ... up front!" - "A tremendous frontend support system for our shareware products!" - "...splendid way of letting my users choose between RIP, NAPLPS, and normal BBS operation, all before they log on!" - "Believe it or not, we actually set your program up without reading the docs, it was just that simple and yet, an extremely powerful program." - "Thanks for keeping the price in a more than reasonable range. All too often people put HIGH price tags on programs that are no where as useful as BFE, and I feel that both the author and users lose in the end." - "Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Top notch shareware!" - "I'd like to first say, that bar none, BFE has been the best utility that I have registered. I am running 4 systems under these two nodes, plus massive hubbing responsibilities for North Ameri-Net, FidoNet, BBCNet, and TAGNet. BFE has made quite a few duties a lot easier on my part (And looking nice to boot)." Why stick with packages which are still utilizing outdated techniques? Why should you use a front end system in which you need a degree in rocket science to understand? The answer is simple: You don't! BFE has set a new precedence in terms of speed, quality, and quantity for the buck. In fact, BFE has caused such a stir in the field, that authors of similar products are resorting to labeling our product as a mere "clone" of their own. BFE has the reputation of being a powerful, yet extremely easy to use front end system. It has proven this time and time again, on system after system, make no mistake about it. Other products simply fall short of offering the wide range of features carried in this product. For example, here is a small comparison chart which clearly demonstrates the facts. This chart compares the features of BFE with the features of another popular, yet less functional package: Feature Comparison Chart for BBS Carousel-type programs: Feature Listing BFE "MetroCore" "MultiBBS" --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Customized ANS/ASC/RIP Menus Y Y Y Nested Menus? Y Y N Internal default menus Y N N Menu Driven Setup Facility Y Y*# N External protocol support Y Y N Internal RIP Support Y N N External RIP Support Y Y N Password protection Y N* N DV/Windows Aware Y Y Y Internal script system Y N N Internal user system Y Y*# N Split screen chat mode Y N N Internal UNIX gateway mode Y N N Client/Server UNIX gateway Y N N Answers phone stand-alone Y N N Timed user entry system Y N N Auto menu option scheduling Y N N Run External Processes directly Y N N Errorlevel Exits Y Y Y Support for ANSI music Y N N Toggling of graphics mode Y N N Internal Message System Y N*# N Free developer's kit available Y N N Voice Support Y Y Y Price $20 $7/$20/$30& $10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legend: # = Only with the standard or advanced editions of MetroCore, which don't physically exist yet... :-) * = Not fully implemented We hate crippleware! Down with crippleware authors! Shame on them! BFE has never been, is not, and will never be crippleware. Hrmpf! Previous releases of the standard release of BFE could be registered via our standard fee of only $15 dollars. This has been raised to $20, due to the availability of our online credit card registration service, and the amount of resources necessary to develop and support the product. We feel that $20 is STILL a tremendously low price for such a powerful product. Once again, see for yourself! Scott Burkett Southeastern DataLINK ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── █▀▄ █▀▀ █▌▐█ █▀█ █ █ █▀▀ █▀█ █▀▀ █ █▀█ ▐█▌▐▌ █ █ ██ █▐▌█ █ █ ▐ ▌ ██ █▀▌ ▀▀█ █ █ █ ▐▌▌▐▌ █▄█▌ █▄▄ █ █▌ █▄█▌ ▐▄█ █▄▄ █ █ █▄█▌ █▌ █▄█▌ ▐▌███ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── There are two specific versions of BFE which are available. The first, is the standard shareware release. The second, BFEPLUS (BFE+) contains the full functionality of the shareware release, while adding the full UNIX gateway (including client/server). This shareware demonstration version of BFE is as fully functional as its registered standard counterpart, with a few minor differences. - The unregistered evaluation message at the top of the screen: Upon registration, this will be replaced by your name or your organization's name, showing your support for the BFE project. - Registered users have the option of changing both the text and the color of the default registration message which appears at the top of each menu. - Registered users can make use of custom ASCII/ANSI/AVATAR/RIP screens in lieu of the built-in default BFE menus. - Registered users have the additional ability to customize the internal strings used in the program (See the section on the BFE Language File). ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── █▀█ █▀▀ █▀▀ █ █▀▀ ▀█▀ █▀█ █▀█ ▀█▀ █ █▀█ ▐█▌▐▌ █▀▌ ██ █ ▄▄ █ ▀▀█ █ █▀▌ █▄█ █ █ █ █ ▐▌▌▐▌ █ █ █▄▄ █▄▄▌ █▌ █▄█▌ █▌ █ █ █ █▌ █▌ █▌ █▄█▌ ▐▌███ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── BENEFITS OF REGISTRATION - Extended Tech Support via the SPHINX echo (our support echo). The SPHINX echo is also available as an Internet mailing list. - Access to beta copies of BFE, as they become available. - You will also be entitled to free upgrades to newer versions of BFE, as they become available. In addition to the great many features and the quality that this version of BFE has to offer, we are constantly working on additions and enhancements for future versions. ORDERING INSTRUCTIONS FOR BFE Below are detailed instructions for registering BFE. These instructions are not intended to seem confusing or complicated; they are simply meant to answer almost any question that you might have about registering. If you have any questions or uncertainties about your registration, please feel free to contact us. For information on how to contact us, please see the section on "Upgrades and Information". To order BFE via cash, check, or money order, simply follow these three steps: 1.) Fill out the registration form (contained in ORDER.DOC). Information on filling out the form is located in the next section. 2.) Enclose the appropriate payment payable in the form of cash, check or money order. Make all checks or money orders payable to: SCOTT BURKETT 3.) Send the above two items to: Southeastern DataLINK 7088 Stoneybrook Drive Columbus, GA 31909 FILLING OUT THE REGISTRATION FORM Alternatively, if you do not have a printer, simply send a hand-drawn version of the order form. If you do not wish to mail a registration form in, you may opt to upload it to our support BBS at (706) 561-8184 (14.4/v.32). We will not present you with a registration key, however, until proper payment has been rendered. If you have any special instructions for us, or anything that you would like to say when you register, feel free to write this down on the back of the registration form, or on a separate piece of paper. When filling out the BFE registration form, be sure to indicate how you would prefer to receive your BFE registration key. You will have the choice of receiving your registration key by one of three means: A call to our BBS, FidoNet CrashMail, or via Internet E-Mail. If you have a FidoNet Email address, FidoNet CrashMail is still by far the quickest way to receive your order. Once you have decided which means you would prefer to receive your order by, please read the detailed instructions on your order method below. Please keep in mind that snail mail is not an option! If you send us your registration fee, and instruct us to send it to you via U.S. snail mail, we will simply place your key here on hold until you call our support BBS. RECEIVING ORDER BY FIDONET/INTERNET E-MAIL In order to receive your BFE registration key via network e-mail, simply fill out the order form and mail it along with your payment as described below. Be sure to include the appropriate network address to which you wish to have your order sent. ORDERING WITH VISA, MASTERCARD, OR AMERICAN EXPRESS Through an arrangement with Chris Duke at Duke Graphics, you can charge the registration or purchase fee to your Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Optima, Diner's Club, Carte Blance, or JCB card. See the CREDIT.FRM file enclosed within the distribution archive for more information. ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄▄▄ ▄ ▄ ▄▄▄ ▌█▐ █ █▄▄ █ █▄█ █ █ ▄▄█ █▀█ █▄█ █ █ █ █ █▄▄ ▌ ▐ █ ▄▄█ █▄▄ █▄▄ █▄▌ █▄▌ █▄█ █ █ █▄▄ █▄█ █▄█ ▄▄█ ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────── Special Thanks We would like to take time to offer our appreciation to the Southeastern DataLINK Beta Team and suggestion crew (in no particular order): Robert J. Ferguson Ray Smith Christopher Koziol Christopher J. Brown Steve Pepin Tommy Harvey Chuck Harrington Stephen Thomason Michael Downing Mikael Winterkvist Albert Louw Marshall Brandenburg Martin Pavey Mike Walker Greg Shaffer Sal Lizard John Riley Russell Mikami Dana Meli-Wischman Thanks guys! Thanks are also in order for the following individuals who have been tremendous assets to our organization and efforts: Chip Rabinowitz Dave Seidel Brian Pirie Carola 'Lola' Lutz Dallas Richardson Philip Findley Andres Guevara Jeff Dunlop Lawson 'Mike' Booth Chris Duke/Duke Graphics Mike Labellarte/Arte` Graphics Scott Dudley/Squish API Special thanks go out to Bob Kruger, the friend and beta tester from the outskirts of hell. And a special thanks to the sysops who have registered our products, and shown their ongoing support for Southeastern DataLINK. THE SPHINX ECHO The SPHINX echo is now available! The SPHINX echo is a support echo for users of Southeastern DataLINK products. The echo is not currently on the backbone, but a feed is available from 1:3613/12. Overseas links are being organized at this time, as well. To establish a feed from our system, simply drop a netmail to 1:3613/12 (Be sure to include a session level password!). Poll once a week, twice a week, whatever you prefer. Effort is under way to place SPHINX on the fidonet backbone. Topics of discussion include: 1) Inside info and tips from the developers! 2) Third party add-ons for SEDL products 3) Ideas, suggestions, wishes, wants and needs... :-) 4) Technical support for individual products 5) Sharing of scripts, setups, control files, etc 6) Get information on new releases, fast! 7) See what's in store for SEDL products, and have a say-so in their development! 8) See what other sysops are doing with BFE, NIX/Gate, RegPRO, VID, and others! Here are a few major links to SPHINX. Hopefully, one of these will be close to your location: Chris Koziol George Hannah Sun, Surf, and Serenity Prophecy BBS Elmwood Park, IL (Chicago area) Saint John, NB (708) 453-6630 (506) 652-7292 1:115/113@fidonet 1:255/7@fidonet Robert J. Ferguson Blake Barr Klingon Bird of Prey BBS Fire & Ice Philadelphia, PA Harker Heights, TX (215) 426-5596 (817) 698-6810 1:273/935@fidonet 1:395/43@fidonet Sal Lizard Chris Duke/Duke Graphics The Mailbox BBS Online Resource Charleston, SC San Diego, CA (803) 762-1481 (619) 793-8360 1:372/69@fidonet (619) 793-8361 chris.duke@olr.com 1:202/238@fidonet UPGRADES AND INFORMATION For the latest version of BFE, call any of the systems listed in the Southeastern DataLINK Distribution Network listing (SEDLDN.LST). In addition to our fidonet support, all of our products can be obtained via the Internet through anonymous ftp at: csn.org:~/crlhq. Upgrades are free of charge to registered users. The one-time registration provides you with an unlimited number of upgrades to newer, more powerful versions of BFE. If you currently own a registered copy of the standard release of BFE, you may choose to upgrade to the commercial version for only $15. This is a $10 savings from the base commercial price of $45. TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you experience any problems with the BFE system, or have any questions, please contact us! Fidonet Netmail: 1:3613/12 Fidonet: DOORWARE SHAREWARE OPENDOORS MUFFIN SPHINX Internet: scottb@sedl.com root@sedl.com BBS: Southeastern DataLINK, (706) 561-8184, USR 14.4 v.32 Voice Support: (706) 561-9175 Snail Mail: 7088 Stoneybrook Drive Columbus, GA 31909 WHAT'S NEXT FOR BFE? BFE has always been known for its tremendous growth rate and feature-packed additions with each new release. Although we can't say for sure what will be contained in future releases, you can bet that a vast majority of those new features will have been suggested by users such as yourself. Send those ideas in! PROGRAM DEDICATION This program is dedicated to the families and friends of American MIAs. Our hearts are with you. They are not forgotten.