Aminet 15

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Aminet 15 / Aminet 15 - Nov 1996.iso / Aminet / comm / fido / fnews3.lzh / fido318.nws < prev next >

Wrap

Text File | 1986-05-04 | 43KB | 907 lines

Volume 3, Number 18 5 May 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | - FidoNews - /|oo \ | | (_| /_) | | Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ | | Users Group | | \ \\ | | Newsletter | (*) | \ )) | | ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (C) Copyright 1986 by IFNA (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file FNEWSART.DOC, available from node 1/1. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL It Takes All Kinds 2. ARTICLES Squeeze 720k onto 360k disks on an IBM-PC/AT w/DOS 3.2 A Question of Privacy Fido Utility Catalog 3. COLUMNS User Group Presentations Notes from Abroad 4. WANTED Fido Looking for File Help 5. FOR SALE Entertainment Software for your PC! Public Domain Software Library Sale!! Special Offer to FidoNet Sysops 6. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack CARTOON: Gruesome George, by Bruce White Fidonews Page 2 5 May 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= It Takes All Kinds We get some odd customers in the shareware business. I don't mean the private individuals who make donations. They're a blessing. There's nothing quite like being appreciated. I remember one letter; the guy went on for pages about how he liked our product, apologizing profusely that he couldn't send any more. Some of the companies are a bit off-the-wall, though. Not all, by any means. Most companies are pretty good about it. Well, the ones who pay at all are generally pretty good. I gather a lot of companies simply don't understand shareware yet, but we're getting there. But there's that small percentage that kind of makes you wonder. I got a call just the other day from one of them. It seems his company was one subsidiary of a large conglomerate, and he wanted to use our program in his project. His problem was that each of the subsidiaries is organized as a separate company in a separate location. For example, he worked for one outfit in New York, but there's another outfit in California that has a different name and is organized as a different company, but both are owned by the same conglomerate. Are you with me so far? Now, he had heard of our "unlimited site license", and he wanted to know if we would consider the two companies (along with about another twenty all over the world) to be one "site". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines a site as "The place or plot of land where something was, is, or is to be located." I would tend to feel that it's pushing things a bit to consider the entire inhabited surface of the Earth as ONE plot of land. I'm sure he felt he was trying to do the right thing. After all, he could have just used it, and to Hell with us. We're hardly going to go out and sue twenty companies around the world for a few hundred bucks apiece. No, he saw his legal and moral obligations, and wanted to do what was right. He just didn't want to spend any money on it. I tried to explain to him that spreading any "normal" commercial package that widely would cost far more. His attitude was "Well, yes, but..." What can I say? People like that are ASKING for copy protection. They have no one to blame but themselves if they get stuck with it. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 3 5 May 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Juan E. Jimenez, Micro Consulting Associates DataFlex Fido / Modem Help West 103/511 - 1/110 +---------------------------------------------------------+ | How to get your IBM-PC/AT running DOS 3.2 to write 720k | | of data onto a 360k disk using 1.2 meg disk drives... | +---------------------------------------------------------+ Sanford Zelkovitz, Sysop of Fido 103/506 and president of Alpha Computer Service, has come up with a way to squeeze 720k into those 360k disks which you can now get for around $0.69 in quantity. The solution is in the form of a program he has written called INTRCPT.COM. The program is memory resident and allows you to write 720k of data onto a DS/DD diskette using the 1.2 meg drives. There are some limitations to the program: (1) You must be using an IBM-PC/AT (2) You must be running IBM PC-DOS version 3.2 (3) You must have at least one 1.2 meg drive The program works in conjunction with a program distributed with PC-DOS 3.2 called "DRIVER.SYS". Complete instructions are included in the release ARChive, including full MASM source code. You can obtain the file from my Fido at 714-675-7106, 300/1200/2400, 24 hrs; or from any other Net 103 Fido in the NET 103 area code. I have tested the program with Norton's NU, DSBACKUP and a few other programs, and it works like a champ! The only program that we know it will NOT work with is DISKCOPY.COM. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 4 5 May 1986 Dann Porter, 148/2 A Question of Privacy As responsible SysOps, we have all, from time to time, had to delete a message or two for a variety of reasons. How often have you "killed" a message that made reference to copying or trading commercial software? Or zapped some feeble-minded user's profanity-riddled effort at discussing the current debate topic on your board? All part of the job, right? Now think back to the last message you performed a bitectomy on. Was it a PUBLIC notice or a PRIVATE one? Maybe you didn't even pay attention to that detail. I'm sure no one would dispute our right to erase a PUBLIC message that falls into the category of "unacceptable", but what about PRIVATE ones? Do we have the right to impose our moral or ethical standards on users that we are offering a service to? A service that we promote as being PRIVATE. I can't help but make a comparison to the postal service or voice communications over the same telephone lines that BBS's utilize. I can almost hear the Civil Liberties people screaming all the way up here. If FidoNet is going to be considered a legitimate competitor to the other E-Mail services that are available, we must ensure that a high standard of privacy is maintained. The scope of our responsibility should not include being a censor of private communications between two citizens. In fact, whether we even have the right to READ messages flagged as PRIVATE is in doubt in my mind. I realize that this would be difficult to avoid in our day to day maintenance of Fido, but it is something to think about. There are other implications that should be considered when dealing with an international network, but I'll leave that for future dissertations. I believe this is a relevant issue that deserves some serious thought by all concerned. Any comments or criticisms are most welcome....after all, we are talking about Free Speech here. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 5 May 1986 Richard Polunsky, 106/2 FIDO UTILITY CATALOG PURPOSE: To assist existing and new Fido sysops in finding programs to make their task a little easier. NOTES: I have not tested all utilities on this list; indeed, I have obtained only two-thirds of them. I have attempted to list both the utility name and the filename by which it is commonly distributed. This format does not allow for multiple authors to be listed, so I have shown only the first author in such cases. REVISIONS: The current list will be kept on the I.T.C. BBS, node 106/2, with file attach path D:\FIDO\FIDOCATU.ARC. List updates will be done depending on the quantity of changes; the first update is planned for May 1, and new editions will be announced in FidoNews. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Henk Wevers also did a utility catalog; his appeared in a back issue of Fidonews, and I liked his format so much I adopted it. Dave Reinsel, Kurt Reisler, and Rich Kaleta who provided me with my initial set of utilities and helped me get running. And all those sysops and users who keep on writing utilities for the Fido system. CONDENSED LISTING: Utility Version Date Author Home Fido -------- ------- ---- ------ --------- ADDQUOTE Bob Hartman 132/101 ARC 5.12 86/02 S.E.A. 107/7 B 2.3 See BBSSORT BBSSORT 2.3 85/11 Micro-Help Inc. BETWEEN 122/0 CDMON 1.1 85/12 Mathew Zilmer 102/1101 CHG2DATE Josey Wales 124/3 COPYX_D 1.2A Robert Grahm 130/439 CRUSH 3.0 85/07 Harold Barker 11/493 DATEFILE 85/10 Wes Cowley 137/19 DAYLIGHT 0.0 85/11 Randy Bush 122/6 DAYNBR 1.0 85/10 Ben Baker 100/76 DIST-KIT DIST-MIS DISTRIB 1.00 86/01 J. Brad Hicks 100/523 ECHOMAIL 1.10 86/03 Jeffrey Rush 124/15 Fidonews Page 6 5 May 1986 EDIFIDO 1.12 85/11 Bob Klahn 107/50 EDITNL 1.0 86/03 Ben Baker 100/76 ERRORSET Gary Sanborn 106/101 EVENT 2.0 85/12 Ben Baker 100/76 EXTRACT 2.00 Don Daniels 107/211 FASDOC01 86/03 Jim Black 106/106 FASTV01A 86/03 David Reinsel 106/343 FFM 4.2 86/02 Walkbro & Kelleher 10/620 FFMSRCE 4.2 86/02 Walkbro & Kelleher 10/620 FIDODISP 1.1 Robert Briggs 15/464 FIDOKFIX 86/04 Richard Hallett FIDOLIST 2.00 84/12 Alexander Morris 107/22 FIDOMLNK 85/07 Allen Miller 108/10 FIDOMSG Don Daniels 107/211 FIDOMSG2 107/50 FIDOQUES 2.5 FIDOREAD 1.5 86/04 Richard Polunsky 106/2 FIDOSTRT 86/04 David Kaplan 16/387 FIDOUSER 1.0 84/12 Allen Miller 108/10 FIDOUT01 FIDOUTIL 1.0 85/11 David Strickler 101/45 FIDOUTIL 2.0 Michael Wyrick 109/449 FIDOUTIL 1.1 85/06 Robert Briggs 15/464 FIDOXREF (see FILEXREF) FILEDATE 1.1 85/12 Bob Hartman 132/101 FILELIST 1.4 85/11 John Wulff 109/468 FILER 2.1 85/10 Vincent E. Periello 141/491 FILESBBS 3.4 85/06 David Strickler 101/45 FILESPRN 3.1 Vincent E. Periello 141/491 FILEXREF 1.0 86/04 Bill Becker 16/209 FIXDNLD 16/42 FIXUSER Jim Ryan 1/108 FMA 3.0 86/03 Walkbro & Kelleher 10/620 FSTAT 1.1 Alfred Anderson 14/61 GUARDDOG 2.0 86/03 Bill Becker 16/209 INDX_BBS 1.21 86/01 Rob Barker 138/34 KILLROBT 2.1 86/02 Stephen Butler 138/3 LISTGEN 1.05.86 86/01 John Warren 103/401 LISTUSER 1.0 86/04 David Kaplan 142/387 LOGFIX LOGSPLIT Don Daniels 107/211 MAILCALL 1.00 Don Daniels 107/211 MEF 1.0 Wes Cowley 137/19 MESSAGE 86/03 Walkbro & Kelleher 10/620 MSGEDIT Don Daniels 107/211 MSGMOD 1.1 Mike Elkins 103/201 MSGTOOLS 86/04 Jeffrey Rush 124/15 MYBBSLBL David Reinsel (?) NEWHOST 107/210 NEWTWIX 106/101 OUTSIDE 1.27 86/02 Don Daniels 107/211 PHILTER 107/16 PIXIE 1.10 86/03 Wes Cowley 137/19 POLECAT 2.1 86/01 124/20 PRGUSERS 1.4 86/04 David Horowitz 107/2 PRIMTIME 1.0 86/03 103/203 Fidonews Page 7 5 May 1986 QSCAN 1A 85/04 Kurt Reisler 109/74 READ READMSG 4.1 86/01 Kurt Reisler 109/483 READMSGS J. Brad Hicks 100/523 READQUES 1.1f Robert Lederman 16/42 REMSYSOP 1.3 86/03 Bernie Lawrence 124/3 RENSYS 85/12 Doug Perkinson 106/102 RENUM 1.5 85/08 Bob Hartman 132/101 RESEND 1.1 85/07 Dan Taylor 10/1201 RESETCOM 106/101 ROBOMAIL 10x ROBOMAIL 11x 85/09 ROBOT 3.30 85/09 S.E.A. 107/8 ROBOTMV 107/312 ROVERMSG 2.16 86/01 Bob Hartman 132/101 ROVERTWX Oscar Barlow 104/56 SCHED 2.0 Wes Cowley 137/19 SENDLIST 1.0 Ben Baker 100/76 SERVER 1.2 Randy Bush 122/0 SETUSER 1.0 16/209 SHIPUSER 2.2 85/05 David Horowitz 107/2 SHUFFLE 2.00 85/11 Robert Lederman 16/42 SQLOG 1.0 Jack Liebsch 109/468 STALLBAT 85/12 Doug Perkinson 106/102 SYSEDIT 1.0 Eric Ewanco 130/3 SYSLOG 5.2 86/03 David Strickler 101/45 SYSOP SYSOP 1.62 David Purks 109/603 SYSOP 1.75 David Purks 107/312 SYSOP 2.07 Mark W. Buse SYSREPT 1.43 Alfred Anderson 14/61 SYSTRA SYS_XXX 85/01 Tom Jennings 125/1 TESTLIST 1.2 85/10 Ben Baker 100/76 TIDYFILE 1.00 86/04 Jeffrey Rush 124/15 TIMECHNG 85/10 David Reinsel 106/343 TIMELOG 8d Tom Jennings 125/1 TIMEMAP Thom Henderson 107/7 TWIX 3.5 86/02 Ben Baker 100/76 TWIX 85/09 Tom Jennings 125/1 UP-DOWN Robert Briggs 15/464 UPLOG 1.1 Robert Briggs 15/464 USER USERFILE 1.0 86/02 Allen Miller 108/10 USERLIST 85/12 Allen Miller 108/10 USERLIST 1.0 85/07 Ben Baker 100/76 USERLIST 1.0 Jim Ryan 101/14 USERLOG 106/101 USERS 1.27 85/06 Thom Henderson 107/7 USERSORT 2.01 USERSORT Bill Jungers 11/407 USERSORT 1.22 85/12 Lennart Svensson 501/4602 USORT 1.23 86/03 Steven Linhart 107/313 WAIT 1.0 85/10 Ben Baker 100/76 WAITING 1.5 86/03 Walkbro & Kelleher 10/620 WATCH 1.0 85/12 Wes Cowley 137/19 Fidonews Page 8 5 May 1986 WATCHDOG 1.1 84/08 James Reinders WEEKDAY 1.0 85/11 Ben Baker 100/76 WHATSNEW 1.1 85/11 David Strickler 101/45 WRITEMSG 1.3 Net Systems 115/396 XLATRGEN 1.4 85/12 S.E.A. 107/8 AUTHOR SUMMARY: Anderson, Alfred SYSREPT Baker, Ben DAYNBR, EDITNL, EVENT, SENDLIST, TESTLIST, TWIX, USERLIST, WAIT, WEEKDAY Barker, Harold CRUSH Barker, Rob INDX_BBS Barlow, Oscar ROVERTWX Becker, Bill FILEXREF, GUARDDOG Black, Jim FASDOC01 Briggs, Robert FIDODISP, FIDOUTIL, UP-DOWN, UPLOG Buse, Mark W. SYSOP Butler, Stephen KILLROBT Cowley, Wes DATEFILE, MEF, PIXIE, SCHED, WATCH Daniels, Don EXTRACT, FIDOMSG, LOGSPLIT, MAILCALL, MSGEDIT, OUTSIDE Elkins, Mike MSGMOD Ewanco, Eric SYSEDIT Grahm, Robert COPY_X Hallett, Richard FIDOKFIX Hartman, Bob ADDQUOTE, FILEDATE, RENUM, ROVERMSG Henderson, Thom TIMEMAP, USERS Hicks, J. Brad DISTRIB, READMSGS Horowitz, David PRGUSERS, SHIPUSER Jennings, Tom SYS_XXX, TIMELOG, TWIX Jungers, Bill USERSORT Kaplan, David LISTUSER, FIDOSTRT Klahn, Bob EDIFIDO Lawrence, Bernie REMSYSOP Lederman, Robert MESSWAIT, READQUES, SHUFFLE Liebsch, Jack SQLOG Linhart, Steven USORT Micro-Help Inc. BBSSORT Miller, Allen FIDOMLNK, FIDOUSER, USERFILE, USERLIST Morris, Alexander FIDOLIST Net Systems WRITEMSG Pacific System Group DAYLIGHT, SERVER Perkinson, Doug RENSYS, STALLBAT Periello, Vincent E. FILER, FILESPRN Polunsky, Richard FIDOREAD Purks, David SYSOP Reinders, James WATCHDOG Reinsel, David FASTV01A, TIMECHNG, MYBBSLBL Reisler, Kurt QSCAN, READMSG Rush, Jeff ECHOMAIL, MSGTOOLS, TIDYFILE Ryan, Jim FIXUSER, USERLIST Sanborn, Gary ERRORSET Strickler, David FIDOUTIL, FILESBBS, SYSLOG, Fidonews Page 9 5 May 1986 WHATSNEW Svensson, Lennart USERSORT Systems Enhancement Assoc. ARC, ROBOT, XLATRGEN Taylor, Ben RESEND Wales, Josey CHG2DATE Walkbro & Kelleher FFM, FMA, MESSAGE, WAITING Warren, John LISTGEN Wulff, John FILELIST Wyrick, Michael FIDOUTIL Zilmer, Mathew CDMON ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 5 May 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= User Group Presentations By Jim Butterfield Most observers classify computer users into three generation groups: beginners, intermediates and experts. It's a little like the school grading system. When you have successfully mastered grade 1, you may move on to grade 2 and so on. There's some justification for this scheme. Obviously, a user must learn fundamentals before proceeding to more complex areas. If you don't know how to turn the machine on, you can't run it. The first stages seem quite clear. A number of questions arise about such a scheme. Should the various groups be segregated, so that a beginner may not participate in "expert" subjects and vice-versa? Should clubs and user groups promote themselves from beginner clubs to advanced clubs as members gain experience? And are the lines of demarcation really that clear? I can recall being at a TPUG meeting where presentations were under way. Some presentations are exciting and interesting; whereas others are ... well, not quite so exciting and interesting. At the time, a younger member was outlining how to scratch files. Until just before that time, the poor fellow had to buy a new disk every time he filled one up; he didn't know how to remove the files he didn't need any more. To him, the discovery of the fact that files could be scratched was a marvellous and novel thing. And perhaps that was true for a few of the attendees. I was standing near a clever young man who had written a good number of programs. "I won't come to any more meeting," he said. "I know all this stuff and these presentations do nothing for me." I didn't know what to reply. Certainly, if he hoped that every meeting would be on an advanced technical plane, he would be doomed to disappointment. I wondered: is this the only reason that members attend meetings? To obtain technical advancement? Surely there must be other reasons. What about social aspects? How about swapping notes on the performance of programs and peripherals? And surely there is pleasure in showing others how to do something new, even if the information flows only one way. It seems to me that there will be some members who will never be satisfied with a program. They want to be entertained and educated in the same way they would expect if they went to a movie, theatre or trade school. The fact is that clubs are not Fidonews Page 11 5 May 1986 made up of professional entertainers; they use volunteer help and must do the best they can. The same is true of software distributed by clubs: most is not professional work but is simply contributed programs written by members. There is a need to police presentations (and software), of course. I'm all in favor of the beginner's "show-and-tell" presentation. There may be information of interest to others, it may entertain and it will be good for the member to gain presentation skills. But there's a limit. A member who has used the sound features of a computer to make the sound of duck quacking has a good two-minute presentation to make which will inform and entertain. A half-hour speech on the same subject would be tiresome to all ... the presenter would be a dead duck. Magazines, newsletters and clubs often make a simple mistake. They think that everyone has been around from the beginning and remembers everything that has happened. Some of us start late --magazines have new readers, clubs have new members - - and don't know things that may have gone before. Some of us forget. The idea that we never need to repeat a simple concept but can go on to the next one in sequence can be deadly. One of the great killer phrases in articles and speeches is: "As you know ..." That's part of the fallacy of "advanced groups." There's always something simple and apparently obvious that many of the group members don't know. There's the programmer who writes nice graphics animations but who has never discovered that holding down SHIFT and then pressing RETURN takes you to the next line without "actioning" the previous line on the screen. There's the student who joins an advance machine language course who knows how to write a binary multiplication routine but cannot clear the computer's screen. I don't mind users grouping together to study advanced topics -- I'm all in favor of it -- but I hope that no group gets the idea that "dumb people can't join in." There are beginners who would like to listen in just to see if they can catch any of it, or learn a few good buzzwords with which to impress their friends. Some may want to go to ask advice; for example, what would be a good study route to catch up with the more advanced users? I have this vision of an expert-level group in which most of the members might be scared to ask a question. After all, it might be a DUMB question and then they'd be kicked out of the group? Personally, I find that others tell me a great deal that I don't know. I gasp with astonishment when Mike Todd plugs some custom hardware into a 4040 disk and displays the contents of a disk track -- every bit mapped out for inspection. I'm amazed when I get a phone call from Tulsa asking: "How come typing a line number of 350800 causes the computer to crash?" And I'm impressed when random POKEing by an English schoolboy turns up Fidonews Page 12 5 May 1986 the fact that (on the VIC 20 and Commodore 64) POKE 22,35 causes programs to list without line numbers. I support the idea of special interest groups -- some of which have "level" implications. But any club should still provide a forum for intermingling of users at all levels. Beginners can ask questions. Experts can show off the knowledge. People with missions can go after the specific information they need. When you can do it, it'b best to appeal to a cross- section of levels. Even if you're taling about an elementary concept, you can often dress it up within an interest program. Sometimes you can demonstrate the concept in an amusing way. Remember -- computers are fun! If you have a chance to make a presentation, try to keep the idea of fun in there somewhere. Copyright (c) 1984 Jim Butterfield. Permission to reprint is hereby granted, provided this notice is included in the reprinted material. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 13 5 May 1986 Notes from Abroad I contacted another major UK modem manufacturer since the last newsletter that firm is called Steebek Systems. If you should see their adverts for their new "Quattro" modem don't rush out and buy one. I have had one on test for a couple of weeks now and it's not much good. It's billed as (Quote) V22bis, V22, V23, & V21 with auto speed detection and Hayes compatibility. It has the extended Hayes command set, the one that Tom Jennings gave such a slagging off in the Hayes 2400. The truth is that it won't answer at any speed other than 300 (V21) and once connected it has the annoying (intolerable) habit of dropping the line for no readily apparent reason. I think it doesn't have enough filtering on the CD line which causes it to bomb out if there is any line noise. It doesn't have speed conversion either (for 1200/75 on IBM) so thats another problem. I think we have two distinct classes of modem in the market as potential "Fido Compatible" modems. The first class I call the "hybrid" smartmodem. The Quattro falls into this class. I call it "hybrid" because it seems to me that modems of this type (Case, Racal etc.) are a "pseudo-smartmodem". I don't think that any so called "smartmodem" should have any switches on the front panel. The Quattro has six!!! Modems of this type appear to be a half-hearted attempt to break into the smartmodem market, they are normally very similar to existing models and are hoping to capture non-suspecting customers that "flexibility" means the added confusion of switches to cater for the customer who hasn't yet adjusted to the "true smartmodem" concept. I suggest that any so-called smartmodem that has such attributes should be shunned like the plague. I hope someone can prove me wrong but I doubt it. The other class is the true smartmodem, ie: Dataflex, Miracle Technology WS3000. The manufacturers of these modems are relatively new to the modem scene and don't have to cater to existing customers requirements. This type of modem is the one to go for. They are also the ones set to take over in the relatively new PC marketplace in Europe. Already this modem has established itself as the only modem to go for in the USA; as is the practice in Europe; we are in the same position as the USA was about three years ago. The "hybrid" modem will probably continue to be bought by the ignorant and uninformed but the street wise modem buyer will go for the latter type every time. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 14 5 May 1986 ================================================================= WANTED ================================================================= Doug Boone, 119/447 Chico is one of those small cities that is 100+ miles away from the more cosmopolitan computer user areas. One of the drawbacks of this is that we don't have anywhere near the access to new Public Domain programs as a lot of you probably do. We're looking for Fidos that have rich Atari, Apple, and Tandy CoCo resources we can tap into somehow. If you feel that the Fido you are using serves these areas well, will you please do us a great favor and send a list of files available on your board and how we can get in touch with you to arrange access to your favorite Fido or disk trades or Fido Net transfers somehow. We have a pretty active MS-DOS and CP/M file areas now, although we'd always be happy to expand, or to send you something. Thanks for your help! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 15 5 May 1986 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE FOR YOUR PC! SUPERDOTS! KALAH! Professional quality games include PASCAL source! From the author of KALAH Version 1.6, SuperDots, a variation of the popular pencil/paper DOTS game, has MAGIC and HIDDEN DOT options. KALAH 1.7 is an African strategy game requiring skill to manipulate pegs around a playing board. Both games use the ANSI Escape sequences provided with the ANSI.SYS device driver for the IBM-PC, or built into the firmware on the DEC Rainbow. Only $19.95 each or $39.95 for both exciting games! Please specify version and disk format. These games have been written in standard TURBO-PASCAL and run on the IBM-PC, DEC Rainbow 100 (MSDOS and CPM), CPM/80, CPM/86, and PDP-11. Other disk formats are available, but minor customization may be required. BSS Software P.O. Box 3827 Cherry Hill, NJ 08034 For every order placed, a donation will be made to the Fido coordinators! Also, if you have a previous version of KALAH and send me a donation, a portion of that donation will also be sent to the coordinators. When you place an order, BE CERTAIN TO MENTION WHERE YOU SAW THE AD since it also appears in PC Magazine and Digital Review. Questions and comments can be sent to: Brian Sietz at Fido 107/17 (609) 429-6630 300/1200/2400 baud ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 5 May 1986 Now available from Micro Consulting Associates!! Public Domain collection - 300+ "ARC" archives - 10 megs of software and other goodies, and that's "archived" size! When unpacked, you get approximately 17 megabytes worth of all kinds of software, from text editors to games to unprotection schemes to communications programs, compilers, interpreters, etc... This collection is the result of more than 10 months of intensive downloads from just about 100 or more BBS's and other sources, all of which have been examined, indexed and archived for your convenience. Starting a Bulletin Board System? Want to add on to your software base without spending thousands of dollars? This is the answer!!! To order the library, send $100 (personal or company check, postal money order or company purchase order) to: Micro Consulting Associates, Fido 103/511 Post Office Box 4296 200-1/2 E. Balboa Boulevard Balboa, Ca. 92661-4296 Please allow 3 weeks for delivery of your order. Note: No profit is made from the sale of the Public Domain software in this collection. The price is applied entirely to the cost of downloading the software over the phone lines, running a BBS to receive file submissions, and inspecting, cataloguing, archiving and maintaining the files. Obtaining this software yourself through the use of a computer with a modem using commercial phone access would cost you much more than what we charge for the service... Please specify what type of format you would like the disks to be prepared on. The following choices are available: IBM PC-DOS Backup utility Zenith MS-DOS 2.11 Backup Utility DSBackup Fastback Plain ol' files (add $50, though, it's a lot of work and takes more diskettes...) Add $30 if you want the library on 1.2 meg AT disks (more expensive disks). There are no shipping or handling charges. California residents add 6% tax. For each sale, $10 will go to the FidoNet Administrators. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 17 5 May 1986 SEAdog Electronic Mail System Special Offer for FidoNet Sysops System Enhancement Associates, the makers of the popular ARC file archive utility, are proud to announce the release of the SEAdog electronic mail system. SEAdog is a PC-based electronic mail system which is fully FidoNet compatible. In addition to all the functionality of FidoNet mail, SEAdog adds the following: o User directory support, for automatic lookup of node numbers o Return receipts o Audit trails o Message forwarding, with or without a retained copy o Twenty four hour mail reception o High priority mail for immediate delivery o The ability to request files and updates of files from other SEAdog systems. o No route files needed! o A full screen user interface that our beta test sites fell in love with! SEAdog is NOT a bulletin board system, but it can be used as a "front end" for Fido (version 11q or later), allowing you to add the full functionality of SEAdog to your existing system. SEAdog normally sells for $100/node, but for a limited time only we are offering SEAdog to registered FidoNet sysops for only $50! Orders may be placed by sending a check or money order to: System Enhancement Associates 21 New Street, Wayne NJ 07470 Or by calling (201) 473-5153 (VISA and MasterCard accepted). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 18 5 May 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 19 May 1986 Steve Lemke's next birthday. 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Gruesome George by Bruce White, 109/612 +-------------------------------------------------+ | 1010 GOSUB 1230 | | 1020 GOSUB 1750 | | 1030 GOSUB 2130 | | \ | |George, why is it you always \ | |get hungry when you work on \ ____\__ | |BASIC programming? \ |_| \ | | / _____ |\ | |___/ | _ | | | | ______ | |_| | | | | __(______)_|_____|___ | | | || || | | | ______ || || | | | \ / || || | | |(c) 1986 bw \__/ ||_________________||__|__| +-------------------------------------------------+ ----------------------------------------------------------------- BAVUG I Fido BBS Net 125 Node 625 Data (415) 635-4747 Hours of Operation Pacific Time Weekdays 6:00 PM til 6:00 AM Weekends 24 Hours Sysop: Franz Hirner BAVUG I is as Fido BBS dedicated to the Victor 9000 Computer located in Oakland, California. BAVUG has several Victor specific programs available for download as well as material for other MS-DOS systems. Also, we are building a reference section on the Victor 9000 that will be valuable to all Victor users and programmers. Allen Morris is presently working on a shareware Disk Processor Fidonews Page 19 5 May 1986 (defragmenter) for the Victor. The first BETA VERSION is running (well almost). The IBM version is available now. Next we would like to develop a program similar to MULTIJOB for the Victor. Any tips or source for such a program for other machines would be appreciated. Come on by, but please after 6:00PM Pacific Time if you are calling on weekdays. -----------------------------------------------------------------