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FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:00:45 Page 1 Volume 2, Number 11 29 April 1985 +----------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | - FidoNews - /|oo \ | | (_| /_) | | Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ | | Users Group | | \ \\ | | Newsletter | (*) | \ )) | | ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +----------------------------------------------------------+ Publisher: Fido #375 Chief Procrastinator: Thom Henderson Disclaimer or dont-blame-me: The contents of the articles contained here are not my responsibility, nor do I necessarily agree with them; everything here is subject to debate. I publish EVERYTHING received. You can take this to mean anything you want, but hopefully as an invitation to comment, make suggestions, or write articles of your own. ARTICLE SUBMISSION All articles you see in this issue are written by users and sysops, and have one way or another managed to consume disk space on Fido #375. In order to get rid of them, and free up my precious disk space, I include them here, then quickly delete them. Then they are YOUR problem. EDITORIAL CONTENT: Totally up to you; I publish anything at all. Articles are generally Fido or BBS related; this is by no means a decision on my part, nor a requirement. FOR SALE, WANTED, NOTICES: Pretty much self explanatory. Commercial ads are welcomed, if of reasonable length. SUBMITTING AN ARTICLE: Manage to get a copy of your article to Fido #375, preferably by Fidonet mail, or by uploading. The name of the file you send MUST have one of the following extensions: .ART An article .SAL A "For Sale" notice .WAN A "Wanted" item FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:00:47 Page 2 ARTICLE FORMAT: VERY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ! The requirements are a little tighter in this department, due to purely practical constraints. I cannot devote hours to converting every text format in the world to the one I use. 1. NO LEFT MARGINS! Flush left please. We will do the indenting at our end, thank you. 2. RIGHT MARGIN AT COLUMN 60 OR LESS! Less is OK, more is definitely not. This includes fancy boxes, dotted lines, etc. 3. NO FUNNY CHARACTERS! This includes formfeeds and other oddities. 4. NO GRAPHIC CHARACTERS! Believe it or not, not every one in the world has an IBM PC. My computer understands printable characters from 20 hex to 7e hex. (Space to tilde) This is ASCII; "American Standard Code for Information Interchange". We are "Interchanging Information". Everything else is GARBAGE. ASCII is universal; Graphics are not. 5. TOTAL ARTICLE LENGTH: Up to you; note, however, that I will probably avoid publishing dictionaries, bibles translated into NAPLPS, and ASCII encoded LANDSAT pictures of Russian wheat farms. 6. WHERE ON EARTH IS THIS ARTICLE FROM? Well ... good question! A good idea to identify yourself somewhere, unless you wish to remain anonymous. Thats okay too, but I may balk at publishing rude or otherwise racy submissions. 7. You don't need to put in separator lines at the top or bottom. They are added automatically when Fidonews is assembled. Any article that doesn't meet the above criteria will get bounced, and will not be published until someone gets around to fixing it. I might go over it and fix it up in time for the next issue, or I might ask you to try again, or I might just forget about it. In any event, you must meet these standards if you expect your article to be published promptly. FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:00:49 Page 3 Big News Fidonews is a bit on the large side this week. At the last minute Tom Jennings sent me a file by Bruce Webster of BYTE Magazine. I'm not sure if it was meant as an article, but it's topical and pressing, so here it is. In brief, some legislation is pending in California that is of direct concern to sysops of bulletin boards everywhere, since it may well end up serving as model legislation for other states. We all owe our thanks to Bruce on this one, since he's been spending his own time and money working with the congresscritters to revise the bill into something I think we can all live with. He also makes a very valid point; we can't afford to just sit around and ignore what's going on around us. I suggest that we should form our own Political Action Committee to protect our interests. Not being very political myself, I have no idea how one goes about doing such things, but I'm sure we must have people out there who do. Can anybody help on this? Or does anyone know anyone who can help? At the very least, I'd like to see an article in the near future on how we would go about it. We have lot's of other goodies this issue, including a review of sorts from TJ about the Hayes 2400 baud modem, and how it will work with Fido 10H. FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:00:50 Page 4 ============================================================ NEWS ============================================================ The following information deals with California Senate Bill 1012, introducted by Sen. John Doolittle (R-Citrus Heights). SB 1012: An act to amend Section 502 of the Penal Code, relating to computers. Under existing law, the malicious access, alteration, deletion, damage, destruction or disruption of a computer system, network, program, or data is a public offense and a felony. Existing law also sets forth a separate category of public offenses involving the unauthorized access to a computer system, computer network, computer program, or data, punishable as specified, depending upon whether there is injury. This bill would add a new category of offenses involving the unauthorized placement of personal or private information on a computer bulletin board, as defined. A violation of this offense would be classified as a public offense punishable in the same manner as unauthorized access is punishable under current law. SB 1012 would add the following paragraphs to Section 502 of the Penal Code: (a)(2) "Computer bulletin board" means a service, accessed through the use of a computer, for the storage or dissemination of information to the public. (e)(1) Any person who knowingly places a telephone number or address not listed in a public telephone directory, personal identification number, computer password, access code, credit card number, debit card number, bank account number, or other personal or private information of another on a computer bulletin board or otherwise makes the information available electronically to the public without the prior written authorization by the owner of the information is guilty of a public offense. (2) Any owner or operator of a computer bulletin board who knowingly permits the maintenance of a telephone number or address not listed in a public telephone directory, personal identification number, computer password, access code, credit card number, debit card number, bank account number, or other personal or private information of a person other than the owner of the information on a computer bulletin board or otherwise makes the information available electronically to the public, once having been notified that it is private information, without the prior written authorization by the owner of the information, is guilty of a public offense. FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:00:53 Page 5 History of SB 1012: 07 Mar 1985 Introduced by Sen. John Doolittle 16 Apr 1985 Amended by Sen. Doolittle's office Passed unanimously by the Senate Judiciary Committee Steps yet to come: 1) Approval by the Senate Finance Committee 2) Approval by the entire Senate (majority vote) 3) Introduction into the Assembly 4) Approval by two Assembly committees [I'm not sure if it must also be approved by the entire Assembly] 5) Resolution of discrepancies (if any) between the Senate and Assembly versions 6) Signature by the Governor 7) Becomes law six months (I believe) after signature *** My involvement in all this *** I learned of this bill Sunday (14 Apr 85) through two different BBS messages, discovering that it was to come before the committee on Tuesday (16 Apr). I immediately sent a letter (via MCI Mail) to Sen. Bill Lockyer (Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee) expressing my concern over what I had heard about SB 1012. On Monday (15 Apr), I spend a good part of the afternoon on the phone, talking with staff people in the offices of all the members of the Judiciary Committee and (again) registering my oppposition based on what I knew. In the process, I talked with Ted Blanchard in Sen. Doolittle's office (Doolittle is also on the committee); Blanchard was very helpful and, when he found out I was planning to fly up to testify against the bill in committee, ask me to stop by and work with him on the wording. I agreed. I then spent the rest of the evening preparing formal letters of oppostion for each member of the committee. I flew up late Tuesday morning and spent an hour or two delivering the letters to each committee member (or, more precisely, to their secretaries). I then met with Blanchard, who was understanding of my concerns and frankly ask me to sit down and help him rewrite the bill. We were later joined by Don Ingraham, assistant D.A. from Alameda County [Oakland], and another person, a consultant from the State Office of Information Technology. We then spent a few hours hammering out different changes in the bill. Ingraham was very sympathetic towards the vast majority of BBS's and did not want wording that would allow harrassment of those sysops. He just wanted something that would let him nail (or, at least, threaten into closing down) the "bastard boards" that publish lists of credit card numbers, corporate computer access codes, and the like, which he currently can't touch under existing law. [Point of interest: while he was obviously trying to be "professional" by not criticizing other agencies, it became clear under repeated FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:00:56 Page 6 questioning that he thought the Tcimpidis arrests should never have taken place, and that the L.A. City Attorney's office had made a *big* mistake (my words, not his).] The major changes in wording came in paragraph (e)(2), dealing with sysops. The original bill had the phrase "knowingly permits the placement" (instead of "maintenance") and did *not* have the clause, "once having been notified that it is private information". As it was, Ingraham felt that the original wording would have put the burden of proof on the D.A., not on the sysop, but we all agreed that these changes benefitted both the sysops and the D.A.'s, since (1) the sysop could not be held liable unless someone pointed out the existence of the message and the sysop took no steps to remove it, and (2) the D.A. can get a cleaner case when the sysop *is* guilty by being able to show that (a) the sysop was notified, and (b) the message was still up sometime later. Other, more minor changes were or had been made, such as the addition of the phrase "not listed in a public telephone directory". The bill (with the modifications) came before the Judiciary Committee around 5:30 p.m. No opposition came forward (I had agreed not to oppose the bill as modified), and it was passed unanimously. As mentioned above, it still has to go through a number of committees in both houses, and has to pass by majority vote in (at least) the Senate before becoming law. I still have some reservations about the bill, which mostly center around two issues: first, the interpretation of the phrase "personal or private information", which is a little too open ended for my tastes, and second, the interpretation of the word "maintenance", in other words, just how quickly the sysop must delete an offending message once he/she has been notified that it is "private information" to avoid being guilty of "maintaining" it. However, Sen. Doolittle's office appears to be very eager to get feedback from the BBS community, and we may be able to get more acceptable language into it. There is still a long road ahead before SB 1012 becomes law. I suspect that I may get some flack from some of you out there in BBS-land for working with Doolittle's office to modify the bill rather than taking a die-hard stand against it. My response: go fly a kite. *I* was there; you weren't. I spent nearly $200 out of my own pocket to fly up to Sacramento and back, so that I could have some say in the bill. And that doesn't count the cost for an hour or two of prime time phone conversations between San Diego and Sacramento. You know how many other people showed up, out of all the concerned, outraged sysops and users? None. Zero. Zip. Peggy Watt, formerly of InfoWorld and now with CommunicationsWeek, was there, not to change or protest the bill, but to cover the hearing, but she was the only other computer-type person to appear. I can't take credit for all the changes made--the "public telephone directory" addition FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:00:58 Page 7 came as a result of a phone call on Monday by Mark Welch-- but I can sure take credit for the rest. Furthermore, had I refused to work with Doolittle's office (and he and his staff were by no means the ogres pictured in some of the BBS messages I saw) but had just tried to oppose the bill in committee, I probably wouldn't have gotten anywhere. You see, when the bill finally did come up, not one single member of the Judiciary Committee said anything to oppose it. This suggests that very few of you took the time to find out who the committee members were (as I did) and to call or visit their offices (as I did). In short, if you didn't make some real effort to change the bill or block its approval by the committee, then you have no right to harp on me and my efforts. And if you're still not satisfied with the bill, well, there's still a lot of time left to change it. Just pick up the phone and start dialing. Ted Blanchard, in Sen. Doolittle's office, can be reached at (916) 445-5788. Or, if you prefer the mail, you can write him c/o the Sen. Doolittle, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA 95814. And if you still don't do anything, then you had better be prepared to live with what you get. My apologies if I sound a tad defensive, but I was irritated by the tremendous lack of action on the part of the BBS community, and I was frankly scared at what would have gone through had *I* not spent the time and money. I'll be damned if I'm going to take any guff for doing *something* when no one else was willing to do much of anything. By the way, while I was up there, I got a list of *all* bills currently floating around the capitol dealing with computers. A number of them also have implications for us. Maybe we'd better wake up and make sure that our interests are represented there on a regular basis. If I can figure out how to afford it, I may start trying to make monthly visits to Sacramento to work directly with the people making the laws. Some of you might consider doing the same. Nothing like a close call to get one excited, eh? Bruce Webster/BYTE Magazine Arpanet: bang!crash!bwebster@nosc uucp: {ihnp4 | sdcsvax!bang}!crash!bwebster CompuServe: 75166,1717 MCI Mail: 138-5892 Fido #87: (619) 286-7838 (sysop) ------------------------------------------------------------ FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:01 Page 8 Software and Disk Swapping by Robert Briggs SYSOP FIDO node #464 I don't know about the rest of the nodes out there, but I spend a tremendous amount of money dialing up various other BBS systems in my endless pursuit for the perfect (read that "another") piece of software. It seems to me that there is a way to reduce my $406.00 monthly phone bill by a considerable amount and still obtain a great deal of new software each month. I am looking for some other nodes that are interested in doing both as well. My idea is not new, it was at one time practiced by a number of user groups (and may be still, for all I know). It is simple and really quite inexpensive, amounting to maybe a few dollars worth of postage per month. I will circulate a box of diskettes per every ten nodes that care to join in. I will fill one of the 10 diskettes up with software that I think is interesting, and mail the box to the next node on the route list. The next node will do the same, after taking anything from my diskette that the SYSOP finds interesting. He will then fill a diskette with software and mail the box to the next node on the list. When the box gets back to me, there will be 9 new diskettes of software to examine. I will copy anything that I find interesting, put different software on the diskette assigned to me, and once again mail it to the next node on the list, who will in turn find 9 new diskettes of software, copy anything interesting, refill his assigned diskette with software, etc. The first time around, the first few nodes really don't see much in the way of software - just blank diskettes. AFTER the first time around, however, any given node should see 9 new diskettes of software each month. (Maybe more - if several boxes of diskettes are being circulated, cross-routing the boxes could produce 18 or 27 new diskettes each month -- at 360k per diskette, that would amount to 6.5 or 9.7 MEGABYTES of new software each month!) The problem with this scheme is that it depends on SYSOP's being reliable enough to mail the diskettes to the next node on the list, and in timely enough fashion to keep the diskettes (and software) flowing smoothly from one node to another. This means that ONLY nodes that are interested and committed enough should get involved. IF you are interested in this form of software exchange, please contact me via FIDONET and leave your node number, name, address, and the type of software that you are interested in. If enough nodes contact me, I will start a box of diskettes around immediately. ------------------------------------------------------------ FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:04 Page 9 FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:04 Page 10 FIDO RE-WRITE by Robert Briggs SYSOP FIDO node #464 An open letter in response to various inquiries from various nodes... Being of the engineering persuasion rather than the marketing or sales persuasion, I don't think that a "marketing survey" is of much use to the FIDO area. I think that it would cost a bundle and that there would be very few replies. I at least would not attempt to handle such a survey for lack of $$$$. Having been many things in the 14 years that I have been in the computer field, including V.P. of engineering of several companies, project librarian for a "super programmer" team, and most of the time just serving as a systems analysist, I have to disagree on having several nodes serve as repository for the source. It is a difficult job to keep large amounts of source code under control in one location, much less several. I agree with your fears about "keeping all of your eggs in one basket", i.e. perhaps having the node responsible for handling the source code get tired of the whole business and just drop out. My node may not be ideally located, but I am volunteering for the job. I guess that IF there were three nodes that could and would work together, and agreed to share files, ideas, and could keep everything under control, then the ideal situation might be to have a node on the East coast, West coast, and somewhere in between. Experience shows me that this would, in all likelyhood, not work out. I do agree that there are any number of features that could be incorporated into a re-work of FIDO, perhaps too many. I think that the first step should be to duplicate what FIDO currently is, while keeping in mind what FIDO might become in the future. This is no small undertaking - I suspect that just re-writing FIDO to its current level may take the equivalent of several man years. RBBS has a central location for changes/updates. While many of its users customize the program, any released changes come from only one source, and I think that this might be the best way to handle things at the present time. I almost dread the thought of hundreds of different versions of FIDO floating around.... A possible solution to this might be to make FIDO more flexible to start with. The most powerful BBS system that I every saw was one called TBBS, which ran on Radio Shack computers. It was menu driven, and by changing just the menu files, not the actual program, you could make it do almost anything. It had 255 different privilege (the FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:06 Page 11 correct spelling!) levels, and everyone with different levels could, at the SYSOPS discretion, see what appeared to be a completely different BBS, complete with different menus, different message areas, and different file areas. ------------------------------------------------------------ FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:07 Page 12 ------ From: Robert E. Spivack Fido #346 (408) 972-8164 [--Although I have written an article or two, and a for sale message, I should introduce myself and let you know that I am the SYSOP of Fido #346 in San Jose, California. Currently, I run Fido as a semi-private system validating users after they dial in once. I do this mainly to keep out the lookers, anyone willing to leave their name and dial back in a day is welcome. I also do this to keep the number of users small intentionally. Since San Jose has other Fido's and RBBS, etc. I don't want my system to become another download garbage trap. Also, a small number of users means I can use my own system without upsetting a lot of people who would say my system is too busy, they can never get on. Since my own interests are rather technical, I am devoting my Fido to the theme of "Much ado about the PC AT". Thus, if you have any special patches, files, or comments (pro or con) about the IBM PC AT, it might be worth a long-distance phone call (or FidoNet message).] Back to the main topic of this article.... I think the changes underway for FidoNet are quite interesting. I hope the final thought process that goes into the node/region/admin stuff takes into account the possibility that in the future local sub-nets of Fido might be linked on some kind of wide-band lan. Computers like numbers, humans like words. Any chance of using names (even if they have to be aliased to underlying numbers) for the regions? Finally, the only real request I have: I do wish the process of compiling nodelists (no matter how they are generated) have some sort of incremental update built-in. I sure would like to be able to download a 65 KB file only once, and then apply 5 or 10 kb updates to it. Maybe once every 3 months issue a complete new file with incrementals every week in between. Given that admins/and hosts exist, it would always be possible for each region to have both a completely updated full file (for new sysops) and the proper set of incrementals to roll forward an older list. Comments? ------------------------------------------------------------ FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:08 Page 13 Tom Jennings Fido #1 27 Apr 85 HAYES SMARTMODEM 2400 REVIEW This is sort of a review of the Hayes Smartmodem 2400. I say sort of because it's more or less documentation on what I went through to make it work with Fido/FidoNet and other things. The Hayes 2400 supports 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 baud, and Bell 103A, 212A, and CCITT modes. I won't even bother to mention all the permutations. It has a much extended command set, and is supposed to be compatible with the "old" 1200 baud Hayes. It almost is. This modem has many problems. Most are plain old "bugs" that will probably get fixed, others are just design problems. I don't think Hayes is going to be prepared for the flak they will get on the changes they made. They might have thought them inconsequential. They did a good job with the extended command set. Old commands haven't been changed, they added new ones or expanded existing ones. So far, so good. Most of the problems are caused by optionitis. There are just too many useless commands. Luckily, most can be ignored. Two that cannot be are &D and &C. These are "one time" initialization commands the control how CD (Carrier Detect) and DTR (Data Terminal Ready) work. There are many non-obvious subtlies in getting the damn thing to answer the phone at 2400 baud. It won't just do it, you have to initialize it in a very special way. The problem is this non volatile RAM used instead of the DIP switches. You will soon wish you had DIP switches again. The NVRAM saves just about everything, including the last used baud rate. Hayes went crazy saving things in this RAM, and to show how much they like it they keep reading things back from it even after you have changed things. For instance, to get the modem to autoanswer at 2400 baud, you have to send AT commands to it at 2400 baud. Not 1200. Then, save the state of things with &W, so it will remember that you used 2400. Whenever DTR is dropped and raised, it will "remember" these settings, even if you don't want to. Fido 10H does this automatically, but for other programs you will probably have to go in with Minitel or something at 2400 baud and do it yourself. An annoyance, though I see why they did it, is that the numeric result code for "CONNECT 2400" is "10". The old Hayes had single digit result codes, like "1" meant "CONNECT" (300), "5" means "CONNECT 1200", etc. Programs that look for a single digit will think the "10" is "1". FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:11 Page 14 The &D3 command looks useful, but is not. It causes the modem to go onhook and disable when DTR is dropped, and reload all settings from NVRAM. This is fine, except that in this modem, when DTR is held low, CD is set true even if there is no carrier. Not very useful on a Fido or other BBS environment. There is no way to support DTR properly, and NOT have the modem autoanswer. In my application, I run a Fido only for outgoing mail on my home phone; I do not want the modem to autoanswer! As soon as DTR is lowered and raised, it goes into autoanswer, even if I set ATS0=0 and save it with &W. It insists on always setting ATS0=1. Since the 2400 supports 1200 in either CCITT or Bell modes, there has to be some way to tell the modem which to use. Enter the B command. However, it doesn't seem to work, and certainly doesnt work like they say, though the "bug" is actually an improvement. Calling another 2400 Smartmodem always connects, so I cannot tell which mode it's using. ATB0 is supposed to be CCITT mode. The manual says you will get an ERROR if you try to dial, etc at 300 baud in CCITT mode. This is not true, it will connect as Bell 103A. This is an improvement over what is in the manual. Same is true in Bell mode, ABT1. Supposedly, it won't let you dial in Bell mode at 2400; not true, it switches to CCITT and works fine. net result: ATBx is a no-op. 600 baud is a total failure in the model I have. It connects OK, but it drops characters and bits. Presumably this is just a bug that will get fixed. Two of us had a similar, non-repeatable problem at 2400 baud; the modem "locked up" and went into one of its Test Modes, with the MR light blinking. Disconnecting seemed to cure it. It only happened once to each of us. The manual, while about as clear as the old one, is many revisions behind the software actually in the modem. (The product code from my modem, returned by ATI, is 242) It does not even mention the side effects and interactions of DTR, NVRAM, and baud rate. Some things, like ATBx, are just plain wrong. Be prepared to experiment. SUMMARY: Overall, once you figure out how to operate the damn thing, it works quite well, the 2400 baud problem notwithstanding. In autoanswer mode, once properly set up, it will receive calls at 2400 CCITT, 1200 CCITT, 1200 Bell 212A, 600 CCITT (maybe) and 300 Bell 103A. Not too shabby. You just have to be very careful as to how you issue commands, and remember to do it at the right baud rates. For a more or less unattended operation such as Fido and FidoNet, there is no problem, since Fido will do the work FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:13 Page 15 for you. Assuming they fix the small bugs, this should be an excellent modem. The only drawback is the complexity coupled with the strange side effects such as not answering at 2400 as mentioned above. Most users won't want to pay for all the unneccessary goodies such as synchronuous mode, and there may be other modems out that have less features but cost a lot less. Time will tell. It works quite well. OTHER STUFF: There may be a special deal from Hayes for FidoNet sysops. Don't ask yet, it will get announced if true. There are also U.S. Robotics 2400 baud jobs coming too, supposedly for $350.00. It supports 2400 CCITT, 1200 Bell 212A, and 300 Bell 103A. Basically, a Hayes 1200 with 2400 added. This may end up being the hot modem, if it works as advertised. In any case, don't expect all these things to be compatible with each other; I already know of differences between the Hayes and USR 2400 models, though the differences shouldn't be fatal. FIDO SPECIFIC ISSUES: Fido 10H supports 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 baud. You have to hit CR twice for all baud rates. There is a problem at 2400 though. Sometimes the first CR doesnt get noticed; its not a modem problem, it's just a side effect of how UARTs work, and there is such a pressing need to release 10H that it will have to go out as is for now. To connect to a Fido with a 2400 baud modem, try the usual CRs. If no results, try hitting the space bar, then a CR. HOW TO MAKE IT WORK: To make CD and DTR work as in the older Hayes, do the following: Use a terminal program, at 2400 baud. AT&D2 DTR control AT&C1 CD control Other commands as needed; V0, E0, etc AT&W Save changes in NVRAM You have to set &D and &C before you use the modem with Fido. The problem is that the modem defaults to "fake" CD, and Fido will think there is an incoming call, and not initialize the modem. Chicken and egg type problem. Just do: AT&C1&D3&W At any baud rate, then Fido will do the rest if you select the right modem type. FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:15 Page 16 Note that if you connect once at, say, 300 baud, in order for the modem to later connect at 2400 baud you MUST drop DTR to make the modem reset itself from NVRAM. +++ ATH0 won't do it. This is most annoying. This is only an issue for other autoanswer situations, not Fido. FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:16 Page 17 ============================================================ COLUMNS ============================================================ David Heron, Sysop, Space Coast Fido #457, Titusville, Fl Pat Travers, a local Florida rock musician has a song titled "BOOM, BOOM OUT GO THE LIGHTS". In the true spirit of the space coast, we've decided to ask Pat to write us a special version called "BOOM, BOOM IN COMES THE SHUTTLE". This is due to the wonderful double-barrel sonic boom the shuttle creates as it makes its landing approach. Just imagine that you are sound asleep at 7:15 some morning (for those of you who never are, adjust the time for the worst) and all of a sudden BOOM BOOM everything in the house rattles and you shoot a foot straight up off the bed (it's worse when you have a waterbed, the tidal waves can be rather large). The first thought is that some crazy neighbor is out hunting in your back yard. Then you remember the block at the top of yesterday's TODAY newspaper, SHUTTLE LANDING: Tommorrow no earlier than 7:13 AM. Oh well you didn't really want to go downtown and watch it approach the runway anyway. The landing of Discovery, Friday 19-April-1985 was marred by several incidents. The wind patterns that day caused the ship to wander across the runway like a bouncing ball. In an attempt to slow down and keep to the center line, the pilot managed to lock the starboard breaking system, thereby blowing out 2 tires. Upon inspection, all of the tires on the landing gear were found to be damaged by the rough landing. Most of the 30" tires will have to be replaced before Discovery's next launch. Another development was a gaping hole in the port side thermal insulation. Located at the juncture of the wing and the main body near the elevons, the hole led into the honey- comb interior of the wing. NASA scientists are investigating the possibility that the hole was created by the loss of a tile at launch. FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:17 Page 18 ============================================================ WANTED ============================================================ If anyone has a bulletin board devoted to genealogy, or for that matter anybody that is or would be interested in genealogy and using computers to keep track of family histories, please contact Bill Ware at Fido 375. FIDONEWS -- 29 Apr 85 00:01:18 Page 19 ============================================================ NOTICES ============================================================ OUR MISTAKE In the last issue of Fidonews (vol 2, num 10), both Tom Jennings and Racter misspelled Ezra Shapiro's name. It does not now, and never did, have a "c" in it. My apologies to Ezra for letting this slip through. ------------------------------------------------------------ *** Calendar of Events *** 5 May 85 Submissions deadline for next issue of Fidonews. 6 May 85 through 9 May 85; COMDEX (COmputer Dealers' EXposition), Atlanta, GA., Georgia World Congress Center and Atlanta Apparel Mart. If you're there, stop by General Datacomm booth and say hello to Jim Ryan (sysop Fido 9). Bob Depelteau of Seequa Computers (sysop Fido 43) will also be there. 27 May 85 through 31 May 85; Spring 1985 DECUS symposium, New Orleans, LA. Among other events, Kurt Reisler (sysop Fido 74) will give a 1 hour talk on Fido. If you have any event you want listed in this calendar, please send a note to node 375. Cdi 3S ono otototototototototototototo