Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Author
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Mark Maisel
Editorial Column...............................Tyros
High Speed Modems..............................Clark Development
Insights.......................................Ron Albright
IDCUTILS: A Review, Part 1....................Jay Enterkin
ProFile: Sohail Rabbani.......................Chris Mohney
PROTOSYS 2.0: A Review........................Tyros
Censorship And You.............................Douglas A. Reinsch
So, What Do I Do With It Now?..................Dean Costello
The Windows Column.............................Eric Hunt
Message Board..................................Barry Bowden
Known BBS Numbers..............................Mark Maisel
EzNet Multiple Echo List.......................Randy Hilliard
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We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
all of this and not get too serious about it.
This my first time doing a guest editorial for BTN, and I think I
can see why. The pressure is enormous. I mean, think about it. What
should it be about? I didn't even bother to think about what I would
write until I sat at the keyboard. Actually, I now think that there's a
fair chance that Mark telepathically cajoled me into it, sitting there
griping about how he really didn't want to finish it up. I sat there
and said simply, "I'll write the editorial for you." At least that's
what the tape recordings say. For some reason I don't remember.
Anyhow, normal editorials are usually people railing out against
current events, so maybe that's what I should do. How about this
eastern Europe thing, eh? Hmm. No, I don't like that. Doing current
events is a bad idea.
Maybe I should make up a bunch of lies about how Mark physically
binds his writers until they manage to come up with an article.
Actually, that's sort of been used before. It seems like nearly
everyone who does this gets in his share of Mark-jokes. In fact, I
don't really like the way this is shaping up at all. It gives one a
distinct empathy with celebrities who do the opening monologue on
Saturday Night Live. Oh well, I really don't guess it matters. True
writers always screw up every now and then. Sorry if you were expecting
some kind of crazy greatness or something. Sometimes the stuff just
doesn't come out. You know how it is. Or at least I assume you do. If
you don't, I don't want to hear about it.
Well, now seems like a good time to launch into the summary of this
month's articles that somehow manages to conveniently find its way into
each editorial. Let's see... Okay, I've got the list in front of me.
Someone from Clark Development has written something about modems; I
believe these people are the makers of PCBoard? I haven't read the
article, but it's probably pretty good if you're interested in that sort
of thing. Eric Hunt's Windows column is about some mahjongg-type
computer game; I read this article, I think. Ron Albright's Insights
column... Lemme think, I had this one pegged. Oh well, it's Another Ron
Albright Insight Column. That should bring the fans running. Doug
Reinsch wrote an interesting thing about BBS censorship... Jay Enterkin
contributed another one of those technical-type articles about something
called IDCUTILS. I haven't read it either, but again, I'm sure it's
absolutely captivating. Dean Costello has an article in here about
MIDI; now I did read part of this one, and I can say that the part I
read was good. Chris Mohney's ProFile this month is on Sohail Rabbani,
and it too is very interesting. Oh, and, um, I think there's something
I wrote somewhere around here. Anyhow, that's it, unless I'm supposed
to mention the Message Board, BBS List and EZNet Echo List, which I
don't think I am, so I'm through, and I hope not to see you next month.
The following is from Clark Development Corporation, the producers of
PC Board, and is used with their permission.
PART I: High Speed Modems
We have received numerous messages asking about high speed modems,
their capabilities and compatibility between modems from different
manufacturers. The following text basically discusses the US Robotics
HST 9600 bps modems and the Hayes V-Series 9600 bps modems. It also
covers the subject of V.32 modems.
1) The old USR HST had a top transmission speed of 9600 bps. This is
before taking into account any kind of MNP compression. Typical
throughputs with the old HST ranged from 1150 cps on a compressed
file with the modem- compression-DISABLED to 1900 cps on a regular
text file with modem- compression-ENABLED.
The HST will only transmit at 9600 bps when connected to another HST
but will connect at 300/1200/2400 baud to other standard modems.
2) The new USR HST (termed the 1440) is able to transmit data at 14400
bps (again, this is before taking into account MNP compression, etc).
Typical throughputs with the new HST will range from about 1500-1700
cps on a compressed file with modem-compression-DISABLED to about
2300-2400 cps on a text file with modem-compression-ENABLED -- this
is assuming that you've opened your comm port at 38400 bps.
The HST will only transmit at 9600 bps when connected to another HST
but will connect at 300/1200/2400 baud to other standard modems.
3) The Hayes V-Series 9600 modems are similar to the old USR HST
described in #1 above. You will typically see throughputs as high as
1900 cps on text files but only about 960 cps on compressed files.
The Hayes V-Series 9600 will only transmit at 9600 bps when
connected to another V-Series 9600 modem but will connect at
300/1200/2400 baud to other standard modems.
4) Hayes has recently begun shipping its V-Series modems with new ROM
chips in them giving them V.42 compatibility. This means that the
V-Series 9600 modems can now provide an error-corrected session when
connected to any regular MNP modems at 2400 bps. This is because
V.42 implements MNP levels 1 through 4 (which excludes MNP
compression). You will typically see throughputs of about 260-280
cps on a 2400 bps line due to MNP's stripping of the start and stop
bits.
5) The V.32 modems (such as those made by US Robotics and MultiTech)
run at 9600 bps and will give you similar throughputs to those
described in #1 above (i.e. V.32 will give you slower transmission
speeds than will the new HST's running at 14400 described in #2).
However, the advantages of V.32 are that it provides you with better
"interactive response times" (such as when typing) and that because
V.32 is a CCITT "standard" they will connect at 9600 bps to modems
made by OTHER manufacturers. By "other" I mean that you can connect
US Robotics V.32's to MultiTech V.32's to any other V.32's. The V.32
standard appears to be one that remain for some time to come .. so
purchasing a V.32 modem may be a better investment if you are
concerned about future compatibility. However, V.32 still costs more
than the proprietary standards such as the HST 9600 or the V-Series
9600.
6) The USR Dual Standard is BOTH a V.32 and an HST modem. When it is
in the "HST mode" everything said in #2 above (about the new 1440
HST's) is true. When it is in "V.32 mode" then everything said in #5
(about V.32 modems) is true. In other words in V.32 mode you will
not get the full speed advantage of the Dual Standard for file
transfers. However, one BIG advantage to the Dual Standard is that
it is compatible not only with the V.32 standard but with all of the
existing HST modems as well. This may or may not be an advantage for
you depending on which modems you frequently dial into or which
modems dial into you.
7) Hayes is working on a V.32 modem that is similar to the V.32
description given in #5 above. I cannot comment further on this
modem due to lack of details that have been given to me.
NOTE: Another commonly asked question is about the differences between
V.32 and V.42. That topic is discussed in bulletin #8 here on
the Salt Air BBS.
PART II: What is V.32? What's the difference between it and V.42?
The V.32 standard is a "modulation" standard. I like to compare
it to the AM and FM standards used in radio broadcasting. Not only are
they at different frequencies but they use different modulation
techniques. There are different modulation standards for 300, 1200 and
2400 baud. The V.32 standard is a full duplex (data going both ways
simultaneously at the rated speed) standard for 4800 and 9600 bps
connections.
The V.42 standard is an error correction standard. It is a method
by which data is packetized and sent between modems to ensure that the
data that arrives at the receiving end is the same as what was
transmitted. It also includes the ability to compress data on the fly
to enable higher throughput without requiring a different modem
modulation scheme.
MNP is another error correction standard. In fact, the V.42
standard includes MNP as an "alternate" method in case a modem is not
V.42 compliant .. in other words V.42 modems can connect with MNP
modems and achieve a "reliable" connection.
A commonly asked question is if V.32 modems will work with V.42 --
and the answer is yes and no. If you asked the question "can I transmit
ENGLISH over an FM RADIO FREQUENCY and have the listeners understand"
the answer would be the same and for virtually the same reasons
(comparing the V.42 method of packetizing data to English and the V.32
method of modulation to FM).
The V.42 and V.32 standards are for two completely different (but
complimentary) areas of communication. In fact, you'll most likely
discover that every V.32 modem you find has V.42, MNP or some other kind
of error correction control built into it.
So... a V.32 modem can talk to a V.42 modem -- if the modem on the
other end is a V.32 modem and if it can understand the V.42 method of
packetizing data (or the MNP method since MNP is included in the V.42
standard).
PART III: What exactly is the benefit of MNP?
Three things (and I'll discuss both MNP -and- V.42 since they have
the same benefits and the same reasons for being):
1) MNP (or V.42) provides you with an ERROR CORRECTED session between
your modem and the modem at the other end of the phone line.
If you have ever logged onto a system and found that you could
barely read or write messages due to all of the line noise .. then you
can appreciate the difference between a "clean line" and a "noisy line".
When both modems have MNP (or V.42) then they are capable of
filtering out the line noise. BUT, make no mistake about it - the line
noise may STILL be there .. it just does not get printed on your screen
nor the host screen because the modems have filtered it out.
This "filtering process" is similar to the error correction
protocols such as Xmodem or Ymodem. They send a block of data and a CRC
together and if the receiving modem finds a different CRC value then the
two modems re-send the data until it is corrected. So, in the same
manner that a file transferred with Ymodem is pretty much guaranteed to
be "correct" after it arrives (even though line noise may have caused
several re-sends of the data) the same is true of data that you see on
your screen when using error correcting modems.
2) The second benefit of MNP (or V.42) is that while it is creating
data packets for the "error correction protocol" it is able to
reduce the size of the data by stripping out start and stop bits.
For instance, a normal character takes up 8 bits plus 1 start bit
and 1 stop bit for a total of 10 bits. On that basis you can figure
that a 2400 bits per second modem will give you a maximum throughput of
240 characters per second (because each character is 10 bits long).
The MNP (or V.42) protocol can strip the start and stop bits which
subtracts 20% of the data and gives you a 20% increase in speed (minus a
few percentage points for the protocol overhead).
Therefore, without even compressing the data you can expect to see
as much as 270 characters per second on a 2400 BPS line (versus the
"norm" of about 235 cps on the same line).
3) The third benefit of MNP (or V.42) is DATA COMPRESSION.
In the BBS world you are probably aware of files that are ARC'ed or
ZIP'ed. The reason for using ARC or ZIP is to decrease the size of the
file before storing it on disk - and then uncompress the file when you
want to use it. This saves disk storage. When performing file
transfers it also saves time!
The data compression capabilities of MNP and V.42 are not nearly as
good as either ARC or ZIP. But on straight ASCII text they are still
capable of decreasing the data to about 50% of its size. Decreasing by
50% means that you can DOUBLE the throughput on the line so that a 2400
bps modem can effectively transmit 480 cps (the speed of a 4800 bps
modem!).
Now the drawbacks......
1) You only get the benefits of MNP (or V.42) if the modem at the OTHER
END also has MNP (or V.42) built into it.
2) Data Compression between modems is only effective if the data being
transferred is NOT ALREADY COMPRESSED. This means that you can
expect to see fast transfers on ASCII text files - but transferring
a file that is already compressed (such as an ARC or ZIP file) will
actually be SLOWER than if the modems did not perform any data
compression.
Unfortunately, in the BBS world compressed data is more common than
non-compressed data. Sure, you'll be able to read messages faster (if
you can move your eyes that fast!) and you can download bulletins and
other non-compressed data faster. But downloads of most files on BBS's
will actually be slower.
Fortunately, you can usually tell your modem to turn data
compression off (prior to making the phone call) so as not to slow down
your file transfers.
If you don't subscribe to or haven't picked up a,copy of this
month's Personal Computing magazine at the bookstores, do so. It's one
of the best issues for any computer magazine I have run across. For
those of you familiar with "PC'ing," it's sort of the "Everyman's
Computer Magazine." One of the few that cuts across the MS-DOS/Macintosh
barriers and covers both well. It's more about productivity that batch
files, and users of computers than how to roll-your-own code.
The reason this particular issue stands out is that it is their
annual "Computing in America" issue. Every year for the past 4 years,
PC'ing has stood back and taken a close look at where we have been in
computer technology and where we might be heading. It's a combination of
nostalgia, a "State of the PC" message, and a glimpse at the future of
computing. I think I have all 4 such issues and have enjoyed each one.
They make excellent references sources for those fanatics among us who
like to prepare for some future "Computer Trivia" game we may be asked
to be a contestant on. More, it has short articles written by a true
"Who's Who" in computing. Gates, Manzi, Gibbons, Kahn, Sculley, Roach,
and others all have a chance to give us their views on where computers
are headed.
I get to use the issue this year as a springboard to this month's
column. What I would like to do is present a few of the statistics they
present in their "Trends" section. This part of the issue deals with
some hard numbers about what's hot and what's not, software and
hardware. I will add a personal observation with the numbers. You might
learn something - I sure did - and I get the chance to blow off some
steam as well.
Fact #1 - In software sales, word processors continue to lead with
17% of all software; spreadsheets are close at 16.5%,
databases are at 12%. What's surprising is that
communications software is not even given a category. It
might fall into the "Other Productivity" grouping - at 12.5%.
I continue to be amazed that communications - e-mail as well
as information access - is still only a potential Cinderella.
She's a gem in the rough, still mopping floors. I guess until
there is some effort to standardize networks or enhance
connections across networks (X.400?), we modem users will
continue to wait for our glass slipper.
Fact #2 - Someone thinks things will change. Electronic databases are
projected to grow from a $4.2 billion business this year to
$11.8 billion in 1994. I see the potential there. I hope
others do as well. Particularly, the industry themselves.
They need to get better user interfaces, simpler access, and
better front-end communications if this spectacular growth is
to be realized. I wish them luck.
Fact #3 - The Leading Edge Model D was the 7th top-selling computer for
1988. The IBM Modem 50 was tops (460,800 units); Mac SE was
3rd (261,660). I mention this only because the Edge was my
first MS-DOS machine. I bought it in July, 1986. It has run
like a top since. Never a breakdown, never a hard-drive
failure, never a glitch. A great machine. Too bad the Leading
Edge customer and vendor support network was so lousy it
forced the company into Chapter 11 reorganization.
Fact #4 - Of the top 10 personal computers old in the last decade, five
are now orphans. By my quick addition, it came to something
like 8 million computers sold and no longer in production.
Amazing!
Fact #5 - John Sculley is the highest paid CEO in the computer industry.
He pulls down a cool $2,479,000 per year. Double amazing.
Sorry, but I don't think anyone's skills are worth that. No
wonder he wanted to get rid of Jobs - Apple couldn't afford
them both.
Fact #6 - The Commodore VIC-20 was the first computer to sell a million
units. The TI 99/4A was second. What a great war that was!
Commodore and Texas Instruments...1982-1983. Commodore won,
but not with the VIC-20. It was the C64 that sunk TI (and
Coleco's Adam, and the Timex Sinclair, and the Mattel Tomy,
and ...).
Fact #7 - A whopping 220 Apple I computers were sold at $666.66 each.
Fact #8 - The ratio of computers-to-students in U.S. schools is 1-
to-19. I wonder what it is in Birmingham? In Alabama? My
guess is 1-to-50 - maybe.
Fact #9 - In 1988, 15.4 million corporate Americans telecommuted
full-time. Where do I sign up? Have modem, travel not.
Fact #10 - Pete Rose has a software game named after him called "Pennant
Fever." I wonder if it has a betting module? Sorry, couldn't
resist.
That's enough (I hear you! I hear you!). Do get the issue. I like
PC'ing most of the time. This month, I like it more than ever.
IDCUTILS - Infinity Design Concepts Utilities
Part One of Two: Alarm thru Freeram
by Jay Enterkin
IDCUTILS is a set of utilities from the creators of the NARC
archiving/file compression programs.
-----
ALARM - This is a clock display and alarm function.
-----
USAGE: ALARM enable clock display
ALARM hh:mm enable clock display and set alarm to hh:mm
ALARM - disable alarm and clock display
Once you enable this function with one of the above commands, the
current day and date are displayed in reverse video in the upper right
hand corner of the screen in the format: Day hh:mm:ss am/pm. Example:
Sun. 11:19:36 am Since the ALARM function is memory resident, the
display is continuous in the upper right hand corner of the screen, even
when you load other programs. This might be a plus if you really want a
continuous day/date/time display at all times, but there is no way to
disable the display without disabling the alarm, and you can't view any
data that another program you are using might display in the last 16
positions of row 1 while ALARM is active. The alarm only lasts 5
seconds, and depending on how loud your PC's built-in speaker is, and
how close you are to your PC, it may or may not get your attention.
Disabling the alarm and display with the "ALARM -" command does not free
up the memory used by ALARM, but since it is only 1008 bytes that
shouldn't be a problem (assuming there is no memory conflict with other
programs/TSRs). Although the time is displayed in AM/PM format, you must
key in the alarm time in military format (ie. 1700 rather than 5:00 pm).
----
BOOT - This is a small program to re-boot your computer.
----
This small (5 bytes!) program re-boots your PC when you key in
"BOOT" on the command line and press ENTER. The documentation has an
example of a .BAT file that allows alternate configurations using
different AUTOEXEC.BAT files, and shows how you can use BOOT to select
various TSR configurations automatically using .BAT files.
---
CRC - Displays CRC-16 and CRC-32 for selected file(s).
---
CRC-16 is the standard used with ARC files and CRC-32 is the
standard used with ZIP files. If the original CRC value of the file is
known, this provides a means of finding out if the file has been altered
or corrupted.
--
DD - Disk directory program
--
This disk directory automatically pauses when the screen is full
unless you invoke the /np (no pause) switch. It can also display 43
lines in EGA mode by using the /43 switch. When all files in the
directory have been displayed, additional information is shown at the
bottom of the screen including the number of files in the displayed
directory, total space used by those files, total drive space, drive
space used, and drive free space.
----
DISK
----
This program displays a wide range of data about the selected disk
drive from the BIOS parameter block including bytes per sector, sectors
per cluster, reserved sectors, number of FAT tables, maximum number of
root directory entries, data start sector, total data clusters, sectors
per FAT, directory start sector, media descriptor, total sectors,
sectors per cylinder, the number of heads and number of hidden sectors.
------
DTROFF
------
USAGE: DTROFF COMPORT <1 or 2>
Turns DTR OFF (hangs up) modem.
--------
DUMPINTS
--------
This programmer's aid displays a list of interrupt vectors and
their meanings to the screen, and can be redirected to a printer if
desired.
-------
EGADUMP
-------
This program is a TSR (memory resident) utility that adds more
capabilities to the DOS print screen functions. The DOS program
GRAPHICS.COM will not work with certain EGA graphics modes, and this
program is designed to overcome this limitation. I was unable to
personally test EGADUMP since I don't have an EGA monitor available at
this writing.
--
FF
--
This is a file find utility that is very similar to Norton's
FileFind utility, in fact it has the same exact name and filename. The
only difference I could find is that Norton's also displays the day with
the date (as Sun 11/02/89) where the IDC version only displays the date
(11/02/89). In every other respect they are virtually identical. The
IDC FF is one of the FEW file find utilities that is as fast as Norton's
FF. In my tests, there was never more than a second or two's difference
between them.
--------
FINDASCI
--------
Findasci finds ASCII text within executable files and displays it
to the screen. The stated purpose of the program is to find copyright
notices within executable files, but it could also be used to screen for
suspicious ASCII text within possible 'trojan' files, like CHK4BOMB
does.
-------
FREERAM
-------
This utility displays the total RAM memory, the amount of free RAM
and the amount of RAM currently in use.
All of the utilities reviewed above worked well on my
IBM-compatible XT machine as well as on a Compaq 286-12. I was
particularly impressed with the speed of the FF (FileFind) utility, the
large amount of information returned by DISK, and with DUMPINTS which
has the potential to keep programmers who need interrupt vector data
from constantly referring to the reference manuals for this info.
Next time, in part two of this review, we will cover the rest of
the IDCUTILS and summarize our findings and impressions.
Suggested shareware registration fee for IDCUTILS is $25 from:
The Pro File is a short, half-serious biographical sketch given to
various computer telecommunications personalities around Birmingham.
Victims are selected randomly from a group of names put into the
notorious Hat. Anyone who thinks himself brave or witty enough may
petition for admittance to the Hat by leaving E-Mail to me (Chris
Mohney, most boards around town) to that effect. Anyone who wishes to
suggest more questions or sneakily nominate someone without their
knowledge may take the same route ....
---------
Pro File on SOHAIL RABBANI
---------
Age: 459.5 lunar months
Birthplace: Latitude 32 degrees North, Longitude 73 degrees East.
Occupation: perpetual student of LIFE
My hobbies include: Wine and women, and other assorted delicacies.
Years telecomputing: Who knows, who cares, why bother, who's counting?
My oddest habit is:
Sleepwalking. Next morning I remember nothing. I've been told
that I tend to concentrate on, and am quite apt at, performing a
whole range of physiological functions in that state. My eyes are
open and alert but I do not make conversation. I have been
accused by overnight guests of inventing this lame excuse to
violate my "scout's honor" pledge that I shall sleep on the living
room couch.
My greatest unfulfilled ambition is:
To be a women's locker-room attendant at the UAB gym.
The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is:
I have never been caught red handed, ever!
My favorite performers are:
Donald Duck and Ronald Reagan
The last good movie I saw was:
BLOOD THIRSTY RAMBO Part XVIII, which I saw by chance after
tickets to DEAD POETS' SOCIETY were sold out.
The last good book I read was:
Uh, well I can't translate it in english (seriously). "DAVAAM",
its a collection of urdu poetry.
If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played by:
Roger Rabbit! (At least I'll be indestructible)
My pet peeves are:
A bottle of wine that is empty, and a woman who is "full of it"!
When nobody's looking, I like to:
Pretend that I am Mozart. Standing before the mirror with a
plastic straw in hand and bowing three times to the audience I
gracefully proceed to conduct the 41st symphony at the Royal Opera
House in Vienna.
Since the introduction of ProtoSys 1.0 and KonServe's Cascade, the
quest for a comprehensive and compact QYS data amalgam-fixing program
has been a confusing one. Enter ProtoSys 2.0, a major upgrade that
apparently solves the dilemmas inherent in its predecessors while
capitalizing on the improvements found in its competitors.
A big problem with ProtoSys 1.0 was the lack of any capsule-type
autoloop breaking routines. HoseaWare has made huge strides in this
area; a whole scan level command block has been set aside for people who
like to dabble in C-type processing. In fact, a plethora of the more
esoteric cross-stack sequences have been implemented, making for quite
an impressive package.
Even so, harried trace-crunchers who are still stuck with
free-loading break patterns shouldn't fret; ProtoSys is more than
accommodating when it comes to uni- and bi-surface gap searching.
Default function spin has been cleaned up, and a lot of flat-field
sort/base operations have been put in to prevent resulting catch-groups
from being fraught with misslotted trisync points. There's even a
ReCollapse pointer for moving individual system headers from one
multiform to another.
Performance time is excellent. A fully-linked fault-checked
dynalog with 200 translocked multilines going both ways was shot through
the GN-op cache in less than 46 mF. Test stores can be high-placed just
as quickly, and left/right time for roving screen slots is pretty good
too.
The only shortcoming I found was that you still can't send a file
rider over the top of a DENN-format stagescale. This is something a lot
of people hoped would be worked out by now, but it's a fairly universal
problem. ProtoSys fully supports FRM20, OverThink-Z, SD-Elkin and Tenth
Planet formats; and if your flash-count doesn't entail more than 20
topgates, you can add Conway and Smartserve to the list.
Even documentation is ample; comprehensive, clear, organized, and
best of all, both hardcopy and online. All in all, ProtoSys is the
definitive way to go in practically every respect.
Censorship and You - A Layman's Guide
by Douglas A. Reinsch
One of many problems that Sysops face today is rampant in American
society. This problem is censorship. Having control over semi-private
and public messages on BBSs, they must often decide whether the content
of a particular message is acceptable or appropriate to be posted in the
message base. This situation arises often, due to the wide diversity of
people who use computer bulletin boards.
As a new Sysop, I have only recently been subjected to some of the
intricacies involved with censorship. You must walk the fine line
between freedom of speech and elimination of inappropriate outbursts.
But who should decide such a thing? What standard do you consult? Is it
best to allow as much freedom as possible without censoring, or should
the Sysop rule with an iron fist? Each Sysop must find his/her own
answers to these questions and reconcile the users to live with that
judgment.
So, what is the Sysop's legal responsibility? Well, it could be
argued that Sysops have no right to control the content of messages on
their systems because of freedom of speech. This is not binding
however, because the user is free to go elsewhere to express his/her
thoughts. The key words here are "rights" and "privileges". It is your
"right" to express yourself. It is your "privilege" to express yourself
on someone else's computer system. So clearly a Sysop has the authority
to censor. But is it required? I think not. As in most things, you are
ultimately responsible for your own actions (If you are a minor, then in
some cases it is your parent's responsibility). If you send an obscene
letter to a city official (nobody HERE would do that of course), the
U.S. Postal Service is not responsible for your action. You are
responsible, even if the Postal Service could have intercepted the
letter.
If Sysops don't have to censor, then why do they? We all have an
internal code by which we conduct ourselves in public. Sysops generally
extrapolate their codes to include all users on their systems. I would
say that in most cases Sysops are willing to permit a fair amount of
slack beyond what they themselves would do however. Many Sysops do not
use profanity themselves, but they are willing to tolerate users who do
not push the issue too often. Censoring is the Sysop's way of keeping
some degree of control over the bulletin board. The analogy has been
raised that entering a BBS is like entering the home of the Sysop, and
you should behave accordingly. This is not far from the truth, since
the computer is in fact in the home of the Sysop, and the Sysop IS your
host. If your host does not like profanity, then you had better not use
it, or you may be thrown out on your tail. Aggression toward other
users is in the same line. Your host does not want his/her "home" used
as a battlefield by other people.
So is there a standard for acceptable behavior on bulletin boards?
I think that there is a range of acceptability. Some boards will fall
on the lax end of the spectrum and others will be on the restrictive
end. The best observation I can make is that users can get away with
just about anything, anywhere......once. If you do not consistently
disrupt the operation of a board or a whole group of boards, then
chances are that Sysops will let you alone. Police do not always stop
you for speeding, even though it is against the law. As long as you are
not really harming anyone, what does it hurt to give you the benefit of
the doubt? There will always be exceptions of course, since some Sysops
have had major altercations with "bad" users and have bitter attitudes.
You can hardly blame them for this since in most cases they have put
considerable time and money into a computer system for the benefit of
others only to be slapped in the face.
What about messages that some people find to be offensive? We have
to ask ourselves, "Is the thing being said REALLY offensive, or have we
just decided to take exception with it?" I have recently witnessed an
incident where one user chastised another for saying certain things in
messages which the first user found to be offensive. While the first
user certainly has the right to voice that opinion, I feel that making
this sort of judgment is a dangerous thing. The highest laws of this
land are based on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
These documents outline a tremendous amount of freedom (because of
religious and political persecution in other parts of the world),
including the freedom of speech. They do not say anything about freedom
of speech except where it is deemed by somebody to be offensive. This
is a subjective view clearly prohibited by the laws enacted by the
creators of this country. Without these freedoms we are little more
than a dictatorship, only in our case we have a group of people deciding
what everyone else will or will not be allowed to do instead of having a
dictator. Jesus said, "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone."
I say, "Let he who has the absolute knowledge of a god pass judgment on
another person for being offensive." I don't have that knowledge, and I
don't think any of you do either. I say this with the understanding that
these judgments will be made, and in some cases they will be justified,
but just as in the analogy of the home, the Sysop is the only one who
may make such a judgment on his/her own board. Users do not have
"rights" or "due process" on computer bulletin boards.
If both users and Sysops can keep a view of the other's
perspective, then I think that the computer community will be a happier
place, without the needless bickering and squabbling. So Sysops, think
about the necessity of your actions next time you decide to censor a
user, and users, use a little discretion as to the way you present your
ideas in public. Surely it will make <<<<<<CENSORED>>>>>>>.
Well, there are a fairly good quantity of people out there that own
musical keyboards. The newer ones have something in them called MIDI
(Musical Instrument Digital Interface). MIDI allows keyboards to yak
with each other, and to other devices, including computers. Now I
realize that Keith Cahoon has already written a bit about MIDI, but this
is less technical, more generalized and for the non-musicians out there,
you may even learn a little something.
MIDI is a fairly clever idea. The idea of it is kind of like this.
Let's say I own a Korg keyboard and a Ensoniq sampler. In a song I
perform I need the sounds from both the Korg and the Ensoniq. So what
do I do, of course, I play each of them separately, each with one hand.
But on the other hand, let's assume I like the feel of the keyboard on
the Korg better than the one on the Ensoniq. MIDI allows me to transmit
data to the Ensoniq from the Korg that controls which note was hit, how
hard it was hit, aftertouch, and a couple of other parameters; thusly
making Ensoniq noises on the Ensoniq whenever I hit a key on the Korg.
Clever, isn't it?
Now, you needn't use MIDI merely for going from synthesizer to
synthesizer. You can also connect synthesizers with sampling keyboards
(like the Ensoniq mentioned above), drum machines, sequencers (kind of
like a digital tape player, it records MIDI data, and replays it at a
later time), and to, yes, the computer.
I don't know how easy (or hard, as the case may be) it is to
install MIDI on other computers, but on mine, it is extremely easy. All
you do is plug in a cable that is similar to 5-pin DIN cable, and there
you are, with a MIDI cable that desperately want to interface with
something. As a matter of fact, that was one of the reasons why I
bought my computer.
But then another question comes up. What do you do after you have
your trusty synth hooked up to your computer? Well, there are a number
of different things to do from there. They include getting sequencing
programs, patch editors, samplers, and compositional programs.
Let me start at sequencing programs. These neat little rascals are
quickly becoming indispensable in performing music. What they do is
allow, in one form or another, data in the form of musical notes to be
inputted to its memory. The data can then be replayed into a MIDI
device (usually either a drum machine or a synthesizer) at a particular
point in time. Basically, they act as a kind of MIDI tape recorder. You
either type in the data (on the computer) or play it in, depending on
the program you are using. After it is in, you can then edit the music
around so that it sounds exactly like you want it to. This can include
moving hunks of the composition around, changing the time, changing the
key, or just deleting or adding notes at a strategic place. A number of
bands use sequencers to play some of the parts of a song.
Patch editors and patch bays are rapidly becoming even more
important than sequencers. As the number of patches that a keyboard
player owns grows, the logistics of keeping them all under control
rapidly gets out of hand. For instance, my keyboard can handle 64
patches at a time. For each particular performance I give, a different
bank of 64 patches is usually used. I have about 600-1200 specific
patches for my keyboard lying around on audio cassette (Just like the
old TIs). But, using patch editors, I can load a patch into the
computer, play with all the parameters, and then store it on a disk
somewhere using the patch bay program. When it is time to play, I load
the new patches back into the keyboard from the computer, and life is
significantly easier.
Sampling programs are not so much a sound generation program, but
it is like the patch editor, in that it is used more for altering the
sound that has already been sampled and for storing the sound, than for
creation of the sound. For instance, the sampling device is used for
the actual acquisition of the sampled sound, and then the sampling
program is used to alter the sound where necessary. There are sampling
programs for my computer, in particular, that would allow me to create a
sampled sound, edit it, then in essence use my computer as a MIDI
keyboard, in that I would play a note on my Korg, and the sound would
come from the computer.
Finally, the compositional programs. These little honeys are
designed for the professional composer or arranger, not so much for the
amateur player. They are on the expensive side (ie. about $500-1000)
and they use things that most people just don't use. They are similar to
the sequencer, in that one would be able to edit data without much
trouble, but they are more designed for the compositional end of things,
not for performance. The print-out from one of these programs is
exceptional, and is many times geared for the laser printer. Like I
said, these are more for the professional than for the weekend
performer.
I am also under the impression that the IBM-types out there can buy
a card that in essence operates as a keyboard, and one accesses it using
a specific type of software. This leads me to another area of
keyboards: The rack mounts. Many keyboards today are built without
actual keys on it, as a result of MIDI. The rationale is that since
many players use MIDI anyway, there isn't any reason to have keys on
some keyboards. All the performer needs to do is to attach the MIDI
cables to the rack mounts (which have the same internal components as
normal keyboards), and she/he can play it from another keyboard; via
MIDI.
I hope that the above has helped you with at least the rudiments of
MIDI. I can't come close to the information that Keith Cahoon has, and
if you have any questions about the technical end of things, I
definitely recommend that you take a look at his article in BTN a couple
of months ago. I hope you get something out of this.
This month I will look at one of the entertainment applications
offered under Windows, Taipei!. Taipei! is an Oriental tile game unlike
anything I have ever seen. People have told me that it is similar to
Shanghai for the Apple IIGS or Mahjongg for IBM EGA machines.
The object of the game is to remove all of the tiles from the
screen by sliding them off with another tile that matches. The catch is
that in order for the tile to be removed, one of the left or right sides
has to be free. The board is set up in a three-dimensional pyramid-type
design with one hundred forty four tiles on it. You simply select the
two tiles that you wish to remove with the mouse. An added bonus is
that the mouse pointer changes to a cross on a tile that is free, so you
really don't have to guess where the free tiles are. Tiles must match
exactly OR they must either be one of two groups to match. The tiles are
divided into groups: Craks, Bams, Dragons, Wind, Flowers, and Seasons.
If two tiles are both Seasons then they match, or if two tiles are both
Flowers, they match and are removed from the board.
The main menus that appear on the menu bar are Game, Help, and
Options. Under Game there is New Game, Select Game, Hint, Start Over,
Backup, and Autoplay. On my version, Select Game did absolutely
nothing, Nada, Zilch. Must be an option for further improvements. Hint
is invaluable, for in a sea of tiles it highlights two tiles that match.
Autoplay pretty much freezes the computer until the game is finished, I
had to do a reset to regain control when I decided that I really didn't
want to watch. The next main menu item is Help and it contains How to
Play, Tiles, and Strategy. Tiles is the only option that works and it
brings up a dialogue box that gives the name and description of every
tile, grouped by category. The other two options were always dimmed on
my version. The last main menu item is Options. It contains Color, No
Beeps, Lighten Tile Sides, and Darken Tile Sides. Color was dimmed,
which is feasible, since I have a CGA system. The last two, Lighten and
Darken Tile sides are for those people who have problems with depth
perception on the 3-D pyramid.
A note about running on an XT with CGA: The game itself runs fairly
fast but the black and white display doesn't do justice to the tiles
themselves. I have seen this exact game on EGA and the brilliant color
and detail is breathtaking, even with only 8 colors. Also, with CGA, do
not run this under anything but a full-screen window. Trying to cram it
into anything less will cause the tiles to become totally
unintelligible. If you suffer from eye fatigue or eyestrain while using
a CRT, don't play this game. I would leave everyday after playing it
with a terrific headache that would last the rest of the day. The game
itself takes a while to load and Windows has to swap itself out to the
HD on my XT, which takes a good while.
Overall, the game is very enjoyable, and if it weren't for the
eyestrain that I experience, I would play it all the time. It is
addicting and the people around you will often be drawn to the screen
and help play and to find matching tiles.
Taipei! can be found on The Crunchy Frog and if you would like to
ask me for help personally with Taipei! or with Windows, I can be
reached under Monk Eric on Crunchy and Eric Hunt on most other boards.
S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
November 1 All Saint's Day
November 4 FAOUG
November 5 BIPUG
November 14 CCS (C64/C128)
Election Day
November 11 Veterans Day
November 12 BCCC
November 13 BACE
November 17 BEPCUG
November 20 CCS (Amiga)
November 21 CADUB
November 23 Thanksgiving
November 26 BCCC
November 28 CCS (C64/C128)
BEPCUG CCS
Birmingham East PC Users Group Commodore Club South
Jefferson Sate Jr. College Springville Road Library
Ruby Carson Hall, Rm 114 2nd & 4th Tuesday (C64/C128)
3rd Friday, 7-9 PM 3rd Monday (Amiga)
Paula Ballard 251-6058 (after 5PM) 7:30-10 PM
Maurice Lovelady 684-6843
BCCC BIPUG
Birmingham Commodore Computer Club Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group
POB 59564 UAB Nutrition Science Blg
Birmingham, Al 35259 RM 535/541
UAB School of Education, Rm 153 1st Sunday (delayed one week
2nd and 4th Sundays, 2 PM if meeting is a holiday)
Rusty Hargett 854-5172 Marty Schulman 967-5883
BACE FAOUG
Birmingham Atari Computer First Alabama Osborne Users
Enthusiast Group
Vestavia Library, downstairs Homewood Library
2nd Monday, 7 PM 1st Saturday, 1PM
Benny Brown 822-5059 Ed Purquez 669-5200
CADUB
CAD Users of Birmingham
Homewood Library
3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Bobby Benson 791-0426
If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed, please let
me know by sending E-Mail to me thru EzNet or on The Bus System BBS.
Please leave the group name and a contact person/phone number.
Boards with a "*" before their name are members of our local network,
EzNet, and public messages left in the EzNet Conferences of any of these
boards will be echoed to all members.
Boards with a "+" before their name are members of FidoNet, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.
EZNET now supports multiple conference echoing but there are a few
things you should be aware of regarding private mail.
A. You have one 'address' for private mail. If you are registered
for private mail on Channel 8250 and someone sends you a private
message in the Writers conference from Crunchy Frog it will wind
up in the Writers conference on Channel 8250 as it should.
However, if you were registered for private mail on Magnolia and
someone sends you a private message in a conference that
Magnolia does not support (echo) then the message will wind up in
the twilight zone.
B. If you go by a handle on one BBS and your real name on another
even if the private message goes where it is supposed to, you
will not be able to read it because it is addressed to someone
else as far as PC Board is concerned. PC Board has no way of
knowing that Red Foxx and John Doe are the same person. No
tickee, no washee.
Advice on sending private mail: If you don't know if the person you
are sending private mail to is registered for private mail then keep a
copy of the message in case you have to find an alternate route.
EzNet Central will delete your private, undelivered message and inform
you that the user you attempted to reach is not registered for private
mail on any EzNet Node.
This is a list of the current echos that I am aware of. More are in
the making and will be posted in future issues.
editor's note: As a last minute entry in the echo business,
Joker's Castle's Lust Boat and Crunchy Frog's
Roxanne's are now echoing messages in order to
provide better access to all of the perverse types
who frequent these two areas. MM
