BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News

BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News

COPYRIGHT 1993 ISSN 1055-4548

May 1993 Volume 6, Issue 5
Edition 1

Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Author
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
From The Editor................................Scott Hollifield
Letters to the Editor..........................BTN Readers
Special Anniversary Section
[ Phone Lines '93........................Dean Costello
[ Sysops Are Not Gods '93................Lurch Henson
[ Gamer's Corner '93.....................Palindrome/Maisel
Mail Doors, Pt.1: Tomcat.......................David Moss
Mail Doors, Pt.2: MarkMail.....................Damion Furi
Led Zeppelin: History and Albumography.........Jeff Vaughn
Local Music in May.............................Judy Ranelli
BBS Spotlight: Christian Apologetics Board.....Eric Hunt
Known BBS Numbers..............................James Minton

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Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN

We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for damage
due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability, if any for BTN, its
editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions,
etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
of such damages occurring.

With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article.
Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
please forward a copy of your publication to:

Mark Maisel
Publisher, BTN
606 Twin Branch Terrace
BHAM, AL 35216
(205) 823-3956

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.

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F R E E B I E : G E T I T W H I L E I T S H O T !

The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is with no
charge to any existing upload/download ratios.

ADAnet One Alter-Ego Bone Yard
Bus System The Castle Channel 8250
C.A.B. The Comfy Chair! Crunchy Frog
DC Info Exchange Final Frontier Gateway BBS
Hardware Hotline Homewood's Hell Hole Joker's Castle
Lemon Grove Martyrdom Again?! The MATRIX
Milliways BBS Night Watch The Outer Limits
Owlabama BBS Owl's Nest Playground
Safe Harbor Southern Stallion Starbase 12
Teasers BBS T.G.U.E. BBS Thy Master's Dungeon
Weekends BBS

(This list includes some systems which are not local to Birmingham and
therefore not included on our BBS Numbers list.)

If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
me know via The Matrix or Crunchy Frog so that I can post your board as
a free BTN distributor. Thanks.

Please note a slight change in our distribution policy! The local
boards in this list get BTN *first*, to the best of our ability. -SH

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N E W S F L A S H

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

F I V E Y E A R S

OF BTN !!!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Check out our special anniversary features,
this month and next month!

BBS LIST DUTIES
FLUNG AT NEW, UNSUSPECTING
BTN STAFFER!
James Minton takes over the List as of
this month. See the List itself for more details.

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From the Editor
by Scott Hollifield

Well, once again, I'm rejoicing under the realization that, even
though I'm editor of BTN, no one can make me write anything I don't want
to, so I'm going to get away with just the barest of commentary in this
column so that the glory and grandeur that is BTN may speak for itself.
Yep, this is the fifth anniversary issue I've been hyping. Strictly
speaking, last month was our fifth anniversary, since BTN's first issue
was published in April 1988. To rectify this oversight, in my own
ersatz, distorted fashion, we're going to extend the anniversary
celebration into NEXT month's issue. Masochism? Mewling, craven
desperation? Nope, just sheer inspired, spontaneous dada, not unlike
this column.
Actually, the reason for the extra-long festivities is that all of
the anniversary-related articles that I expected didn't quite make it in
on time, including a feature which I am putting together that is
guaranteed to pop your eyeballs. This, and other masterpieces of modern
civilization such as Gwendolyn Norton's state of the female BBS user
address, will have to wait until next month, alack and alas.
Another oversight is that, like I said last month, I had hoped to
finish the issue in time for the totally fab-keen party at the Maisels'
place on May Day, but again, the treachery of the fates conspired agin'
me, and I'm having to bang out this column on the wave of a hangover
produced by Jolt cola and a 3 a.m. gyro at Moneer's. Much thanks to the
marvelous Maisels for the hospitality. A tradition of BTN that has not
had the chance to fall under my administration is the BTN Party Review;
so if anyone wants to take a stab at writing about what you saw, heard
and maybe smelled, we all await your contribution. (For those who
missed the party, it was a good one.)
Speaking of contribution, now's the time, now and forever, to give
of yourself - yes, to give of yourself to your local telecommunications
mass medium. That's us, indeed, and we'd like to hear anything you'd
have to say. It's easy, fun, and most of all, immortalizing (an
increasingly rare luxury in these times when fountains of youth and holy
grails are so hard to come by). To have your name etched in the stone
of the ages, write us an article, on any subject, and upload it
privately to The Matrix or the Crunchy Frog. Be sure to leave me a
message so's I know it's there, and your destiny is assured.

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Letters to the Editor

No letters this time around, people. Get those meaningful missives in!
Leave 'em to me on The Matrix or Crunchy Frog, or through Internet at
[email protected].

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SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY SECTION

Anyone remember this?

BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1988

April 1988 Volume 1, Issue 1

Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Filename

Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Mark Maisel
Editorial Column...............................Mark Maisel
1st Annual Breezin' Birmingham Awards Survey...Scott Hollifield
PC-DOS 3.3: Whats' New........................Ed O'Neill
Starlan Networks...............................Rick Curl
Sysops Are Not Gods............................Tim Straughn
Phone Lines....................................Tom Moore
Its' A Boy.....................................Gary Godsey
Telecommunications And Women...................Michele Cahoon
Gamer's Corner.................................Osman Guner
Known BBS Numbers..............................Mark Maisel
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Yes, it's our first table of contents, with full writing credits.
One thing I thought would be kind of nifty for our anniversary issue is
give our *current* stable of talent a crack at some of these titles.
Granted, there's not much more you could say about Starlan, for
instance, but I thought Michele Cahoon's article could use an update,
and some of the others as well. Three of the above articles are given a
fresh treatment in this special section, and we hope to scrape up a like
amount for next month. Enjoy! - SH

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PHONE LINES
by Dean Costello

I own a Fiero. Specifically, a 1987 Fiero approaching
115,000 miles, with a four-cylinder engine, a three-speed
automatic transmission, and a kick-ass stero system (Kenwood 10-CD
changer, etc., etc.). In the course of my work, I use rental cars
of all makes and models, including the Ford Tempo (dog car, the
doors do not open very far, making it very difficult for anyone to
enter the damned thing, as well as having the power of a Briggs &
Straton under the hood), Mazda 323 (impressive room, but don't use
it to drag race), the Chevy Cavalier (econo-box), a Mustang
convertible (looks sweet as hell, but accelerates like a pregnant
hippo), a Ford Probe (nice), and a Toyota Camry (Interstate
cruiser, feels like it wants to roll when you take a corner hard),
but of all the cars I've driven, I like my Fiero the best.

It isn't like it is the best performing automobile on the
road. The Mazda gets better gas mileage, the Mustang looks nicer,
the Probe out-accelerates and out-manuvers the Fiero, and the
Camry has a much nicer ride. But if given a choice of all those
cars or the Fiero, I'd take my Fiero any day. Better the devil
you know than the devil you don't, I reckon.

I have a weakness for things that perform well, but require
constant care and maintence to keep it on good terms. Especially
after I have owned it for a while. I would rather go without
Chinese food than give up my Korg DW-8000 keyboard (state-of-the-
art, 1985). I feel that way about the computer that I use, an
Atari ST. Works like a charm, haven't had any problems with it
(except when the keyboard dies, about once every 2.5 years), and
it has been only recently that other computers have been able to
offer more value for the money than the ST. And, I feel that way
about a software package for my computer. It is called Freeze-
Dried Terminal, or FZDT for short. It is potentially the best
communications software ever developed for the Atari ST series.

It uses the GEM interface for the Atari ST series of
computers to the finest degree in any comm software I have ever
seen. Hold on, you probably don't know about GEM, do you? GEM is
a real window-based interface. I refuse to debate with you as to
how wonderful the Microsoft product Windows is, but let's just say
I don't need 8 megs of RAM to make my OS run with anything
resembling efficiency. Anyway, the menus that are out there are
very user-intuitive, which to me is a big plus. As a general
rule, if I cannot get a piece of software to do something right
out of the box, the chances of me using it ever again are very
slim. I have cases of software around Atariland (my computer
workstation), each of them software packages that do something,
but have way too steep a learning curve. I am not asking to be
able to run a ray-tracing routine right out of the box, but I do
demand that I be able to do something with the software without
consulting a CD-Rom. FZDT allows me to do this nicely.

Okay, on to the details. When you execute the software, you
get a very slickly-designed button-based menu screen (very similar
to the NeXT machines) which allow you a large collection of
options, ranging from monkeying around with the modem
initialization strings to issuing file commands, to fooling with
the default character set. The idea is that an awful lot of
things can be changed if you so desire, but I don't really see the
need. I made what is probably the most drastic change that can
occur to the modem user--I went from 2400bd to 14.4Kbd. I was
filled with stories of Horror and Woe as to what was required to
go the extra step; but I forgot: I was dealing with the PC crowd,
those that require an add-on card to do, well, anything. I
plugged my new modem into the back port (where it says "Modem", no
strange chip-sets like 8250, or 16550, or whathaveyou), fired up
the software, clicked on "19,200" under the "Baud" setting, and
away it went. To be fair, I can't call any BBS in Birmingham and
get dick for transfer speed (something to do with compression, I
have been told, but I frankly don't care, but I don't see the big
difference between 1,025 and 1,067 bps. Oh well, I guess I'm just
naive about 42 characters per second. Hell, that would be about
20K of extra characters over 10 minutes of transfer. Somehow, I'll
survive.), but everywhere else in the country has given me no
problem.

Another very nice thing about FZDT is that it will allow
macros. The idea of such is that you click on a computer system
you wish to communicate with (the default setting allows for an
initial 60 systems, and you can load more if you feel the need),
and then that's it. The software will auto-learn, in that you
click on "Learn", and then execute what you want to do on each
system. When you are finished with what you want to do, click on
"Learn" again, and save the macro. There is an option under each
computer system where you can specify a macro to be run, in which
you can specify more than one macro. This is convenient for me,
since I sometimes log onto systems and get a mail package then
logoff, for this I would use Macro 1. Othertimes I will log on to
rape and pillage the file areas, which is Macro 2. Each computer
system is allowed five distinct macros.

The other thing that I wanted to hit on was the file transfer
areas. This puppy has a lot of horsepower when it comes to file
transfers. Choose a protocol, and this package has it. It has
auto-Zmodem, it has x-modem, y-modem, y-modemG, a couple of
proprietary jobs; you get the picture. Having ST software that
does auto-Zmodem is quite a handy feature.

Other features that occur to me off the top of my head
include a very nicely designed scroll-back buffer (user-defineable
size with bad editing commands, but there is an option to dump the
entire buffer to an editor of your choice, include the nicely-
designed on-board editor), ability to shell-out to GEM, and a very
user-intuitive mousing system. What I mean is that when you hit
the left-mouse button you go the original menu screen, when you
hit the right mouse button you go to the scroll-back buffer. It
does other things, I'm sure, but I haven't gotten around the
exploring what else it can do.

Now, as I intimated in my opening couple of paragraphs,
pleasure is not so good if there is no pain. And there is pain
ahoy with this program. And it can be summed up in one word
(well, a couple of words): Spontaneous System Crashing.

My Atari is not known for locking up. It is a very rare
event, usually after I have been fiddling with the AUTO folder
programs or maybe playing with hard drive specifications for no
good reason. But this software likes to act up, and I cannot
figure out why. The problem occurs (I think) when a file transfer
is about to take place. If you use Z-modem as your file transfer
protocol, when the command is sent to start the transfer (the auto
Z-modem routine), this bitch of a program will lock the computer
up so tight that I have to do a power-down to unlock it again.
And it isn't replicable as far as I can tell. All I can say is
that I have noticed the locking occuring during a file transfer
(before any data has been sent), but it doesn't lock every time,
or even once a week, but maybe once every two months or so, as if
to say, "Hey, pal, I'm still here...".

It is also a RAM-hog. You need a healthy one meg of RAM (I mean a
whole meg, too, not this bastardized extended/expanded bullshit).
I reckon it eats about 700K or so, so be prepared.

Anyways, it isn't a bad program for the power communicator. It's
also shareware, but there have been reported problems of the
author (a 16-year old out of California) not honoring the
shareware fee. Nothing as far as I know has been heard from the
author in about six months, so it is caveat emptor. But I really
feel that the benefits far outweigh the costs. Atari is in the
process of releasing their new system, Falcon, which is a 16mhz
68030-based machine. It appears that this is the future of the
Atari line. There have been no problems reported in running FZDT
on the Falcon.

Have at it.

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Sysops Are Not Gods

or

Says Who?

by

Lurch Henson

Well, for starters, no, Alabama ISN'T the state of my birth....
I was born in Ft. Bragg, NC. A place where they teach men to jump out
of perfectly good airplanes....... Hmmmmmmm, wonder if that has any
relevance to anything???? <<GRIN>>

Now that that's out of the way, let's get on to writing the
re-write to the article of the (almost) same name that was in BTN001. I
just downloaded and read that article....nice, but I think the guy
writing it could have chosen a better title. He went through explaining
all the problems he encountered while setting up his own BBS and
becoming a Sysop....and then was foolish enough not to realize he had
attained "Diety-hood" in surviving it all. Ah well, some have to learn
it slow, I guess..... <<GRIN>>

BUT, after a fashion, Sysops ARE Gods....or as I prefer it, to
limit the tirades from well-intentioned-though-thoroughly-misguided-
Christians, Ghods (a term held over from my gaming days). When you
enter the world that a Sysop has crafted for you, you are entering his
realm. He has created this world from himself. Designed every little
piece of it. Gone to great lengths to get things "just right", often
never QUITE getting there, and forever changing it. In essense, he is
the Ghod of this little world you have just entered, and the supreme
diety therein. If you don't believe me, logon to a BBS and leave
Feedback to the Sysop cursing him in every manner imaginable. If you
call back and your account is still there, then I suggest you log off
QUICKLY.... <<GRIN>> The Sysop obviously wants to play awhile.... In
most cases, though, you'll find the account is not recognized. You have
been removed from existence.....is that not a Ghod's power? To
ultimately destroy, as well as create?

What else can these Dieties do? Hmmmmmm, let's see. Well, a
Sysop can alter reality as you percieve it in his world. Anything left
in his world is subject to his whims. With some systems, this is a
"bad" thing, because, though all Sysops are Ghods, they share much in
common with the Gods of old. Some Sysops are "less mature" than others.
With ultimate power does not come ultimate morality (which can be a good
thing in it's own right....I'd hate to have totally moral Sysops ruining
my day... <<GRIN>> ). On some systems you DO need to watch your back.
Things said "in confidence" are rarely seen by ONLY you and the
intended. That's why so many of the BBSs you call have the common
"disclaimer" on them, as one of the first things you see logging on.
You know the msg I'm talking about, the one that says "No msgs left on
this system are to be considered 'Private' or 'Confidential'. The Sysop
and his Co-Sysops can view all information on this system...blah blah
blah". You've heard it all before....but you probably don't pay it any
attention. Well, you really should. They are telling you the truth.
ANYTHING left on a BBS can be seen by SOMEONE else. That someone might
be just one person, like on my own little Mail Drop system, but it could
be a large number of people, maybe because it's a big system and it
takes alot of people to run it, or maybe because the Sysop has alot of
friends, and shares. For whatever the reason, at least one other
person, besides the one you're talking to, can and does see what you are
saying. In addition to that, they also have your own, personal, User
Information. Your phone number, your address, your age, sex, marital
status, etc. Whatever you put into the User file when you logged on.

Now, I'm NOT saying that ever BBS you call will have some
pervert for a Sysop that is just WAITING to get your phone number or
address, or that anything bad will ever come of you calling into a
system, but it has happened before. Just one of the sad little things
that happen sometimes. It's easy enough to avoid, though. All you have
to do is talk to enough other people, find out what systems they avoid,
and WHY, and then stay clear of them. Another good way is to look for
the ABBSA tag in the logon screen of a BBS. Now, if a BBS doesn't have
ABBSA on it, that DOESN'T mean it's a dangerous place, just that that
BBS isn't a member of ABBSA (for more on what ABBSA is, check the
previous issues of BTN, it's been written up before, or call into the
Matrix BBS and leave a comment for the Sysop, he will be MORE than happy
to tell you all about it). One thing I do NOT recommend you doing,
though, is giving false information to the Sysop, so that you never have
to worry about someone bothering you. That is a major aggravation to
many Sysops, myself included. I hate going through the Validations on
Users and finding they've given disconnected phone numbers or "bogus"
names. I don't even bother to leave them a msg asking if they made a
mistake anymore (unless I am in a good mood), I just delete the account
and go on to the next one. Playing games with Ghod is not a good way to
move up in the world. <<GRIN>> And trust me, Sysops DO talk to each
other. If one Sysop has a problem with a User, he asks other Sysops if
they've had the same problems, and let's them know what's going on.
Sometimes he'll even ask for advice. Usually, the Ghod in question
makes up his or her own mind and passes Judgement, as is the Right of
all Ghods everywhere over their subjects.

Now, I seriously hope that no one takes offense at this article.
It IS meant in fun, as are the most serious of my articles, but there
ARE some rather good points you need to pay attention to in here. The
guy that wrote the original article (a decent one in it's own right)
told all about the troubles with setting up a BBS. He hadn't been
running his long when he wrote the article, so he didn't have a solid
enough background in "playing Ghod" yet, and didn't quite appreciate the
role as much as I suspect he came to. When you call a BBS, any BBS, you
do indeed enter a world designed, built, sweated over, cursed at, and
ultimately ruled by, a Sysop. That Sysop is Ghod on his or her own
system. You are a guest in their world, and should never forget that.
You have whatever rights are given to you BY THAT GHOD. There are no
"Rights" possessed by you just because you can make your computer call
theirs. There is not even the Right of Free Speech, if that Ghod
doesn't want you to have it. And, always remember, if you don't like
it, you can always logoff, and go to the next BBS in your dialing
directory. No one forces you to call, and no one forces you to stay
online. Most of us hope that you DO call, and DO participate in the
discussions you find online, because without a User, a Sysop will still
be a Ghod.....but what's the use in being the Ghod of a desert
wasteland? (Which is a thought that a Sysop or two might want to ponder
for awhile as well, eh?)

So, always remember.....Sysops ARE Ghods, and should be treated
with at least a LITTLE awe and reverance. I mean, they (we) go to all
of the trouble to create the worlds that you play in....can't you take a
LITTLE time out to say "Thanks"? And there are fewer better ways to say
thanks to a Sysop than by using his world as it was intended....leave as
many GOOD msgs as you can, and spread the faith, Brothers and Sisters,
bring as many into the Flock as you can......sit your friends and
neighbors down in front of your computer and show them the wide and
varied worlds you tread in virtual reality....teach them what it is you
do hunched over your computer all night long.....show them what it's all
about!

Lurch Henson

Sysop, Lurch's Place BBS (private)
Sysop, Lurch's Place BBS (original, defunct)
Sysop, The Maze (defunct)
Sysop, The Unknown BBS (defunct)
Sysop, The Hellfire Special BBS (defunct)
Sysop, The Sex-for-Sex's Sake BBS (defunct)
Co-Sysop, Eagle's Corner BBS (defunct)
Co-Sysop, The Original Dark Side BBS (now in Saudi Arabia)
Co-Sysop, Dungeon BBS (defunct)
Co-Sysop, Pleasure Seekers II BBS (defunct)
Co-Sysop, Enterprise BBS (defunct)
Co-Sysop, The Launch Pad BBS (defunct)
Co-Sysop, The Wiregrass BBS (defunct)
Co-Sysop, Teasers BBS (987-0122) <-- NOT defunct

(The above spans nearly 10 years of BBSing)

(My appologies to the BBSs I have forgotten
to mention being the Co-Sysop on, but my
memory isn't what it used to be. <<GRIN>>)

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Gamer's Corner
by Pope Priapos Palindrome & Prince Cardinal Maisel The Butch

This month: Astrotit from Rudeware
Requires: IBM or compatible PC with 256K memory, CGA graphics

In keeping with the theme of this fifth anniversary issue, we are
bringing back the old feature, Gamer's Corner. To make it seem more at
home, we are reviewing a game that was relatively new at the time the
column was in existence. Astrotit is a curious and deviant game written
around 1987. At the time, it was a pretty good piece of work. It still
speaks in volumes about the reactions of some to the work of groups such
as the Moral Majority. For ourselves, it seems an example of the
inherent sickness of mankind...and we love it.

The plot is simple. Rats have, to our surprise, bonded
telepathically, and have plotted the extinction of mankind. To achieve
this end, the rats have urinated into the water supply. This released
unknown radical drugs that cause man's telepathic abilities to become
active. Unable to control this ability, man, or in this case, you, are
faced with the symbols of your worst hang-ups. You must beat these back
to score and attempt to save yourself. Ultimately, it is futile but
entertaining all the same...in a perverse way.

These symbols, come to life as a result of the rats' efforts, are:

List of Objects in the game:
AstroTits,
Bibles (Straight from the South),
Bouncing Birth-Control Pills,
Heat-seeking Dildo missiles,
Condom packages (for Safe-Sexual warfare),
Vitamin-E bottles (even though it's just a myth),
AIDS virii (truly an 80's touch),
and the
Hamster with a veangeance
(If you don't understand why a hamster, ask your
friends...(or net.motss))

Using your "weapon", you must shoot at the symbols to destroy them.
If you are hit more than a few times by any of the objects, then your
"weapon" will wilt and die, thus ending your desire to play the game.
There are some condoms you may use for protection but once they are
gone, you are on your own and protected only by your own skill and
dexterity.

To enhance your enjoyment of the game, you may want to add your own
sound effects. We particularly enjoyed making "squish" noises while
playing. There are many methods that may be employed for making the
"squish" noises. Such common household objects as oranges, wet wash
cloths, soiled leotards, or small furry mammals may be used to generate
or inspire the noises. While on the subject of small furry mammals,...
oh never mind.

We like the game. Its graphics pale by comparison to the games
available today. We were unable to think of a method for enhancing the
graphics as we did sound. Speaking of enhancements, treppanning might
improve play. We did not attempt this as we lacked time and
committment. The hamster is a nice touch and it feels good too. No
duct tape was required during any of our sessions with the game though
your mileage may vary.

It's springtime, and the hamsters are mating, so watch out for
slime trails in the happy forest where the stoats frolic and large brown
bears feast daintily on buttercups, and salmon, and duck eggs, and
Fruit-on-the-Bottom Yogurt. Then, low-flying fruitbats leave little
splatterings of nectar on the windshields of foreign cars and toy
trains, while fire ants dance the jig to the dulcet tones of Mozart
played on the legs of Chinese crickets by the fierce psychedelic toads,
thirsty for carnal knowledge and better breakfast cereals. But, forget
about breakfast and go play this game. It's brain candy for the
hindparts and won't fill you up! Tell 'em the Pope and His High
Princeness, the Cardinal sent you.

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*** Mail Room ***

by

David Moss

This article is aimed at the new user (like me). So, if you are an
old pro, please don't write telling me I left out this or that. This
article is designed to (hopefully) introduce the new user to the "mail
room" of a BBS.

You see, as a rule, a new user will enter messages, reply to
messages, and read messages on-line. Which, in and of itself is not
wrong by definition. But, there is a better way! The "mail room".

The advantages here are speed, convenience, and the saving's of
one's own "Time Left for Today" on a particular BBS. After all, you
don't want to burn all your time reading mail. ( unless it's someone
else's ) Hence, the "mail room". Ok, for the sake of argument, I will be
discussing "mail rooms" in general, but "Tomcat" in particular.

Now, not wanting to leave anyone out, there are several types of BBS
software that support a "mail room", some easy to configure, some not so
easy. TRIBBS, for example, is very easy to configure. Some are slower
than others, with Tomcat being one of the fastest of the breed.
(depending on set-up )

Now, all you need to get started, is an Off-Line mail reader, like;
OLX, SLMR, Speed, or any of a variety that is offered on Bulletin
Boards. As long as it supports a .QWK/.REP format. Set the Mail Reader
up. Define (1) where you will keep the .QWKs, (2) where you will keep the
compression utility, (3) which compression utilities you will be using,
and (4), anything else that may be required.

Once you've gotten your Off Line Mail Reader configured, the next
step is to call your favorite Bulletin Board and Download a .Qwk. This
file is necessary if you plan to Upload any future mail.

The first time you log into the Tomcat mail room, you will see the
following:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Since you haven't used the Tomcat QWK-compatible mail door before,
please take a few moments to select and save your default settings.
Visit the [C]onfigure your settings selection from the Tomcat menu.

Thanks... Sysop

Commands: [D]ownload QWK packet
[U]pload REP packet
[C]onfigure your settings
[H]elp with Tomcat
[G]oodbye, hang up
[Q]uit back to BBS

TOMCAT MENU [D U C H G Q]:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Here, the first thing on the agenda is to configure your settings.
So you will select "C" for configure your settings, and get the
following.

Tomcat configuration menu:
Current setting
[C]onfigure conferences (shows when selecting)
[R]eset high message pointers
[U]pload BBS.PTR file
[S]end your own messages N
[N]ew Files Scan N
[D]ate For New Files 03/07/93
[I]nclude new bulletins N
[M]aximum packet sizes 1000/200
[A]ttachment size limit 0K / Your attachments only
[T]ransfer protocol Select
[P]acker (archiver) Select
[F]ormat for packets QWK
[G]oodbye after upload N
[H]elp with Tomcat configuration

[Q]uit back to Tomcat main menu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, let's get to it. Select whether you want to download your own
messages. That's up to you. I select "N" for me.

Next, select a Packer. Hit "P" and you will be presented with a list
that the board uses. Usually it will be whatever you are familiar with.
I always select PKZIP.

Now, select a transfer protocol. I always select "Z" for Z-modem.

Next you would decide if you would like to receive the bulletins of
this particular board. I generally select "N" for no. But, that's up to
you. I log on to my favorite boards with enough regularity that I
generally keep up with the bulletins. But, it may be a good idea to
select "Y" on this one anyway.

Next, and very important, select if you would like to receive a list
of new files. This way you can view the list off-line and decide what
files you would like to have. If you select "Y" for new files, then you
will have to enter a date for these files. If this is the first time on
this particular board, you may wish to run this number up close to the
actual date that you are on this board. Some boards have several
thousand files, and the packet may take a long time to receive, so
select a date that is near the current date. The mail room will keep up
with it after that.

Now for the big one. Configuring your conferences.

Select which conferences interest you, you can always add to or
subtract from later. After selecting the conferences, you will be
asked to select a pointer. The pointer is the number of messages you
would like to receive. If you log on to a BBS that has numerous
conferences with hundreds of messages in these conferences, then you
will only want to get a select number of messages. For instance, -10
will give you the last 10 messages entered into that conference. I was
recently reminded by a very helpful sysop, while I was fumbling through
the mass number of conferences attempting to select "No" on a number of
conferences, that the "Toggle" switch will deselect All, or select All.
Then you can go back and select the ones you actually want to download
from.

Now for the big moment. Quit back to the Tomcat menu and select "D"
for Download, and Tomcat will gather all the mail you wish to receive
and send it to you. Read the mail off-line, reply to the messages you
want to reply to, and discard the rest.

To send the mail back, just call the board, enter the mail room, and
select "U" for upload mail. The rest is dependent upon your
communications software. Most often you will hit "Page Up", declare
where the .rep is, and hit "Enter". After you've uploaded the reply, say
"Goodbye", and you have saved yourself a lot of time.

With a little practice, you will find yourself making mail runs in
under a minute. Not bad, eh?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFLINE MAIL SERIES, PT. 2

by

Damion Furi

MARK MAIL

One of the nicest things about BBSs is the ability to download your
mail and keep track of things offline. There are several advantages to this.
First, it allows users to conserve precious online time. Second, offline
mail readers (OLRs) offer a number of utilities that are not available
online. Third, the downloading process can be automated using the script
language of a good terminal program or a specialized application just for
this purpose (which saves the user's personal time) such as RoboComm.
Finally, it allows a wider "service time" window for the BBS, allowing a
larger number of users to use the system than would be possible otherwise.

Once you have set up a QWK/REP compatible offline mail reader with
which you think you think will be comfortable (David Moss and I will be
covering this subject in future articles), you can proceed to configuring
the various BBS mail doors for your particular needs.

In this article, I'll show you how to use the Mark Mail door, which
is used primarily by PCBoard BBSs such as Crunchy Frog, Alter Ego, The
Matrix, and a number of others. Later articles will cover VBBS's internal
mail door, WWIV Mail (WWIV 4.x and higher systems), and BGQWK (GT Power 17.x
and higher systems).

Your first step, of course, is to logon to the PCBoard in a normal
manner. Next, find the mail door. On The Matrix, there are two ways to
get there; one is the MM-2 command, and the other is o 4 (OPEN [door #] 4).
On Alter Ego and Crunchy Frog, type OPEN to get to the door menu and select
the mail door.

When you have selected the door, Mark Mail opens and you will see
this:

M a r k M a i l
2.00�30

Copyright (c) 1992
Cliff R. Watkins

Registered to
Crunchy Frog BBS

MarkMail v2.00
��Ŀ
� ��Ŀ
Operations � �Ĵ �� Configurations
��Ŀ �� ٳ �Ĵ � ��Ŀ
� D - Download QWK Packet � �� B - Bulletin Selections �
� DG - Download & Goodbye � For PCBoard! � C - Compression Methods �
� G - Goodbye (Logoff) � � F - File Scan Selection �
� M - Mode Graphix Toggle � � H - Help With Commands �
� O - Operator Page � � S - Select Conferences �
� Q - Quit Back to System � � T - Transfer Protocols �
� U - Upload REP Packet � � V - View Your Settings �
� UG - Upload REP & Logoff � � W - Write Your Settings �
� X - eXpert Mode Toggle � ��
��

For right now, you can ignore the left side menu. On the right is
the Configurations menu, and the commands listed will allow you to choose
what will be included in your downloaded mail packets (.QWK files).

The B and F commands are toggles, which means they are either
"selected" or "deselected" and no further options are available. Since
Mark Mail is configurable by the sysop, you'll have to experiment in order
to determine the defaults. You toggle the selection by entering the
appropriate command; if Bulletins is defaulted to "ON," that means that unless
you specify otherwise your QWK packets will always receive system bulletins.
(Receiving the system bulletins is a good idea, particularly on larger
systems such as The Matrix. Crucial subscription information may be posted
in a bulletin, and you will need to know details.)

The File Scan option allows you to receive the "NEWFILES.DAT" file
with your packet, which will allow you to see any newly uploaded files
available on the system. This is important if you are at all interested
in available shareware and freeware.

The C command takes you to a sub-menu that allows you a choice of
compressions methods. If you prefer ARJ to ZIP, you'll simply specify that
at the prompt. The default is usually PKZIP, and most systems are using
2.04. (You will need to make sure that whatever compression utility you
select is available to your OLR either via the PATH command in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT or else in the OLR's primary directory.)

The T command allows you to specify your preferred transfer protocol.
The default is usually ZMODEM, but if you have a high-speed, error-correcting,
14.4 baud modem, you may prefer to use YMODEM. In some cases, you may prefer
HSLINK where it is available, if you plan to U/L and D/L simultaneously. (If
your terminal program does not have the protocol you prefer, you may want to
install the protocol externally or possibly change terminal programs.) As a
general rule, you won't want to select XMODEM, KERMIT, or SEA-LINK unless
your modem documentation specifies one of these protocols for some reason.

The S command allows you to select the conferences from which you
like to receive mail. Entering S takes you to a sub-menu, which can lead
to layered sub-menus. There are two main shortcut commands available: one is
the SELECT ALL command, which selects every conference available to your
security level. If you choose this command, you will receive every post in
every available conference. (I would not advise using this command on The
Matrix unless you really don't have anything better to do than read mail.)

The other shortcut command is DESELECT ALL, which is a quick way to
turn off everything so you can select the conferences yourself.

Here is an example of the help available for the S command:

MarkMail Help - Select Forums
-----------------------------
This is where you decide which conferences you wish to extract
mail from. When you entered Markmail the first time, you had no
conferences selected. Therefore you must select the conferences
you wish to extract messages from if you wish to receive any
messages.

When choosing the [S]elect conferences option, you're provided
a list of the first thirty conferences in the bbs. To select a
conference simply enter its number. If you press <enter> alone
Markmail will display the NEXT 30 conferences. If you enter a
number that is not being displayed, Markmail will now automat-
ically display a new page of conferences containing the number
you had entered.

When you choose a conference by entering its number, Markmail
displays a sub menu like this one:

Selected Conference: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Currently: Not Selected

High Message Number: xxxxx Select [N]one, [A]ll, [Y]our,
Last Read Pointer: xxxxx or [YA] for Yours and TO: ALL ?

You then choose one of the four options based on how much mail you
wish to extract out of this conference.
Here are the options in detail:

[N]one - Deselects this conference, removes it from your list
[A]ll - Tells Markmail to extract ALL messages
[Y]our - Extracts only messages sent to YOU
[YA] - Extracts messages only to YOU and to ALL

Once you have decided which of the above you wish, enter the
selection followed by <enter>, and Markmail will display the
submenu shown here:

High Message Number: xxxxx Input New Pointer
Last Read Pointer: xxxxx or [Enter] for no change?

Markmail displays the highest message in the conference, and
displays the last message you have read in the conference, and
asks you for a new pointer. By default, Markmail leaves your
pointer alone, and will extract all mail since then. If you wish
less mail, enter a number higher than your current pointer. If
you wish more, enter a number lower than your current pointer.

As you may have noticed, two sub-menus are available after you
select the S command.

You will see the following:

Networks Available

1. LO Local
2. mn metronet
3. ln lucifernet
4. bn bunnet
5. an adanet
6. sn spamnet
7. ll llamanet
8. pn PopeNet

Select a Network (Enter)=All?

NOTE: Pressing enter here allows you to view all conferences available
in the listed networks. Go ahead and press ENTER, since this is your first
time in the mail door. Otherwise, you can specify a number, which will take
you to a listing of conferences available only on that net.

You will then see:

Page 1 of 2 Conference Select Screen Sort: Numerical
Num Net Conference Lst Rd Flags Num Net Conference Lst Rd Flags
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0 LO Main Board 7326 S 16 ln bytebros 22183 S
1 LO EZNET 1597 S 17 ln The_Den 0
2 LO Readers 16 S 18 sn spam 4345
3 LO Listener 141 S 20 ln PantyBar! 0
4 LO argument 1001 S 23 ll Trekkie Abuse 38
5 LO gamers 7 25 bn BunnyBull 8140 S
6 LO BTN 8 S 26 bn BunANSI 1083
7 LO HUH 88 S 28 bn Lunatics 10796 S
8 LO MSDOS 1443 S 32 bn UUCODE 0
9 LO GMC 1302 33 mn BEER 2319
10 LO Closed 0 34 ll Llama Net 3212 S
11 LO XRated 0 36 mn NetChat 11649 S
13 LO BTNWA 1074 S 37 mn Trading Cards 1260
14 ll Whippets 237 38 mn Sci-Fi 0
15 LO abuse 22 S 39 mn Sharwar 41 S
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flags: (S)elected, (Y)our Mail, (A)LL Included, (P)riority Conference

Select Conference by Name or Number,
(C)hange Sort, (S)elect All, (D)eselect All, (Q)uit:

On the far right is the conference number, which is what you will
enter in order to select it. Just to the right of the conference number is
the abbreviation for the net (LO is local). To the right of the net
affiliation is the conference name. To the right of the conference names is
the LAST RD column, which lists the highest message number that you've read in
that conference. (I'll refer back to this a bit later.) To the right of
of that is the FLAGS column; that is, it will show the selection status for
each conference. And to the right of that is another set of conference
listings.

In your case, the FLAGS column will be blank. Because I captured
the above chart directly from Crunchy Frog on my account, it shows my
selection stats for the listed conferences, and I didn't bother to edit it.

At this point, all you have to do is enter a conference number to
select it. (It's a good idea to always select MAIN, in cases where the
sysop has made it an option.) You will be presented with another menu.

Selected Conference: Main Board Currently: Selected for All Mail
Network: Local
High Message Number: 7357
Last Read Pointer: 7326
Select [N]one, [A]ll, [Y]our,
or [YA] for Yours and TO: ALL ? A

Since MAIN is the selected conference, it is a good idea to enter A
at the prompt. This will select [A]ll public messages in the MAIN conference.
As you can see, I have entered A. However, regardless of your selection,
you will then be presented with another sub-menu.

Selected for All Mail

Input New Pointer
or [Enter] for no change?
7326

In my case, I last read message number 7326, and the highest number
available is 7357. In your case, you may have last read a considerably lower
message number, which means that you should probably set your message pointer
high. In this case, you would enter 7357. That tells Mark Mail to treat
your QWK packet as if you had already read all those messages (you haven't,
but it would take several hours to download and read all the messages that
are actually left on the system).

I would suggest, however, that you not set your message pointer to
the highest number. Instead, you should probably keep about 10 or so posts
to read so you can get an idea of what's going on in that conference. In
this case, you would enter 7347 instead of 7357.

After you have done this, you are returned to this menu:

Flags: (S)elected, (Y)our Mail, (A)LL Included, (P)riority Conference

Select Conference by Name or Number,
(C)hange Sort, (S)elect All, (D)eselect All, (Q)uit:

Keep doing this until you have selected all the conferences you want,
and have everything the way you want it.

When you have finished, you'll need to select the W command. You
will be presented with this menu:

Write MarkMail Options

1. Max Size of MESSAGES.DAT : 500 K
2. Max Messages/Conference : Default Default= 200 for your Baud Rate.
3. Max Messages/Packet : Default Default= 500 for your Baud Rate.
4. Receive Messages YOU Posted: Yes
5. Receive Pkts with No Msgs : No

(#) to Change, (R)e-List Options, or (Enter) alone to Exit:

I have a 2400 baud modem, so you can see the default settings for
this (above). I have not changed anything here because I have no need. In
your case, you may want to increase or decrease the size of MESSAGES.DAT,
which is the primary part of your QWK packet, or you may want to increase or
decrease the maximum number of messages to download per conference and/or
per QWK packet. You can also opt to receive messages you've posted, which
can help you keep track of things if your memory is as bad as mine or if
you receive too much mail to track casually, as I do.

The last option, Receive Packets with No Messages, is defaulted to
No, but the truth of the matter is that you will rarely, if ever, run into
a BBS with no messages.

After you have this set to your liking, press enter. You will be
returned to the main menu. At this point, it would be a good idea to select
the V command, to view your settings one last time. Of course, you can
reconfigure the mail door as many times as necessary. There's nothing
permanent about it, so you can always go back later and change your mind.

All that's left to do now is select D or DG. Selecting D tells
Mark Mail to download your mail without logging off when the download is
complete. Selecting DG tells Mark Mail to "Download & Goodbye." This is,
Mark Mail logs you off the system when the download is complete. (If you
would prefer to quit without downloading a packet, you can select Q to
return to the main board menu, or you can select G to logoff from within
the Mark Mail door.)

If you ever select DG by accident, don't worry about it. After your
download is complete, you are given the option to abort the logoff process
by pressing CTRL+K or to expedite the process by pressing H.

You're all set! You will never again have to worry about running
out of time before you're done.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Led Zeppelin Documentary
by Jeff Vaughn

My story is about a band who has helped shape the history of rock
and roll for the last 24 years, Led Zeppelin. The band consisted of
four men with backgrounds which were different, yet alike in many ways.

Robert Plant, lead vocals for Led Zeppelin.
Plant was not originally Page's first choice for Zeppelin's lead
singer; the first were Steve Mariott and Terry Reed. Terry Reed put Page
on to Robert Plant, who was, at the time, playing up in the midlands
because Page hadn't heard of him before. After an invitation to Page's
house and throwing some ideas around, Plant became lead singer. Plant's
influences to the group were blues and some country blues.

Jimmy Page, lead guitars & background vocals.
Jimmy Page was basically thought of as the 'studious' member of Led
Zeppelin. Since Page had come from the YardBirds previously, he had the
technical know-how of the group. Page also produced all of Zeppelin's
albums. His influences to the band were country blues, rock and roll,
and Indian.

John Bonham, percussion & background vocals.
In a quote fron Jimmy Page, "Although I had a powerful drummer in
mind, I wasn't ready for John Bonham. He was beyond the realms of
anything I could possibily have imagined. He was absolutely phenomenal
and still is". Bonham's influences to the group were mostly soul and
rock and roll.

John Paul Jones, bass guitars, organs, and background vocals.
Jones called Page during the time Plant and Page were going around
together and asked about 'getting together'. Apparently, a tabloid
called 'Melody Maker' had published some rumors about it and Jones
picked up on it. Jones was, and still is, a session musician that added
a lot of magic to the group. He was also the arranger of the group.
In a quote from Jones, "They asked who'd arrange and I put me hand up".
Jones' influences were jazz, soul, Arabaic, and Indian.

The name 'Led Zeppelin' was coined by Keith Moon, which was
originally going to be for another band made up of Jeff Beck, Jimmy
Page, Micky Hopkins, John Paul Jones, and Keith Moon. The original band
did a couple of tracks, but nothing came of it. Luckily, Jones and Page
remembered the name and asked Moon if they could use it.

"We got together and had a rehersal, and didn't look back from
there." -- Jimmy Page. The first jam session the band did was in a
little room filled with amplifiers. According to each member of the
band, there was an incrdible feeling about the whole idea of the band
durinng the first rehersal. In Plant's words, "We had found something
and had to be very careful with it or we might lose it". The band
started out by finishing up the Yardbirds' previously scheduled
engagements. Soon after, Led Zeppelin's first album was recorded.

Howling Wolf, Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Joan Baez, Larry
Williams, Jean Vincent, Moby Grapes, and lots of American west coast
music were various influences of Led Zeppelin. According to Plant,
"American west coast stuff saved me from being the typical English pop
singer". Plant said that the Californian music scene was the
'spearhead' of how music should actually be.

The first U.S. tour for Zeppelin was when the band played with
another band called Vanilla Fudge. According to Page, he guessed that
several people were wondering what he was up. Apparently the reception
Zeppelin got was great. The band really started to take off when they
did some numbers in San Francisco. In Page's words, "It was just like
dynamite".

Even though the first Zeppelin album was widely accepted and made a
big splash, Plant wasn't really happy with the album. According to him,
if he'd been a little more relaxed and a little less intimidated, it
would've went off better. "I would've sung the same song with the same
phrasing, but a little less nervously." -- Plant. He felt the
performances weren't that great. "The records were super. They were
all good. There ain't a bad record in any one of 'em. Maybe I
was just paranoid or neurotic".

According to Plant, the 'element of risk' was the great thing about
the Zeppelin stage show. Zeppelin usually ended up doing things and
going places they hadn't plotted at all, hoping to get out of it. In
the end, they just kept getting out of it. No Zeppelin member had a set
area of expertise. There was always somewhere where someone could
contribute. Bonham contributed riffs, Jones his own ideas, and Page the
more 'studious' ideas. In Plant's words, "I didn't really play anything
and I didn't really want to". To sum it up, "when i was doin' it, i was
doin' it.

The second Led Zeppelin album was recorded on the road. When the
band was in Los Angeles, they wanted to use GoldStar studios, but all the
equipment had been taken out at the time. Bcause of this, Zeppelin ended
up going to Del-Fi Studios where Richie Valens had recorded, and they
recorded "Moby Dick" there. "Ramble On" was recorded in New York, and
parts of "Bring It On Home" in Vancouver. The band used mobile
recording trucks a lot. According to Jones, it was easier if they
wanted to just work on something right on the spot.

Page and Plant ended up going to Wales for a lot of the material
for Led Zeppelin III. Both wanted to expand Zeppelin into different
fields. According to Plant, Zeppelin wanted a more 'accoustic' sound
for the third album. Even though Led Zeppelin III was their least
sucessful album, Plant quoted, "It was probably one of our finest
moments".

"Houses of the Holy was really an inspired time. I think the
material is very much to the point, very foucsed and very strong" --
Robert Plant. The band had definately put a lot of imagination in the
album; there was a lot of Jamaican sound in it.

One of the latest releases, "Traveling Riverside Blues", was a
remake dedication song to Robert Johnson, one of the earliest blues
artists. It was originally released on June 20th, 1927 in Dallas on
Columbia Records. "'Traveling Riverside Blues' is when a man gets
personal and wants to have his fun", was a short description about
Robert Plant about the song.

"It was really quite something when we laid the Bonzo's Montreaux
on top of the Moby Dick and it fitted great like that. It was a gas
actually. I had that idea because i didn't want to leave one or the
other off, so I thought let's see if it's possibile to 'marry' them
together, and in fact it was really successful. The fortunate part
about it was the tempos on the two solos were pretty near done exact, so
it was a matter of waiting to see if the picture i had in my mind would
work, and fortunately it did. I think John Bonham would be happy with
it." -- Jimmy Page's explination of the Moby Dick/Bonzo's Montreaux
conbination package.

John Paul Jones was asked what it was like to be the 'low profile'
member of the group. "The main advantages were, nobody knew what you
looked like. If I got to a city, I could just go out and walk and see
the sights". Plant, Page, and Bonham were not so lucky. Jones said it
was hard for the others to go out without causing great trails of
people. "I'd just slip security and creep out the back door and get out
on the street," said Jones. Yes, it had a great advantage.

The most satisfying thing, according to the band, is the fact that
their music has stood up to the test of time, something all bands hope
for.

"It was a songs band, and musically it's the same, but with four
different personalities and four different tastes in music. We all had
completely different tastes. They generally overlapped, and where they
overlapped was Zeppelin, which was the bit in the middle, which was
great." -- John Paul Jones.

In an interview, Plant was asked how he wanted Led Zeppelin
remembered. "I'd like to mantain the dignity of the group. I'm very
proud that people are so enchanted by it, and I think that the way that
it is now is that whatever it was that people loved is not going to be
spoiled. I think the fact that Zeppelin was bold and brave and chaotic
and honest...in a loose sort of framework. It was honest and took
chances that are no longer possibile if you start from scratch. We were
a filter for all the good thing, and we begged, borrowed...and stole and
made something that was particularly original by which a lot of other
music has been measured."
I definately agree.

Credits : All quotes were take from the Led Zeppelin 3 Disk remasters
collection, Compact Disk #3, "Interview".

The Led Zeppelin Legacy:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Led Zeppelin, Atlantic (1969) Led Zeppelin II, Atlantic (1969)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Good Times Bad Times Whole Lotta Love
Babe I'm Gonna Leave You What Is And What Should Never Be
You Shook Me The Lemon Song
Dazed & Confused Thank You
Your Time is Gonna Come Heartbreaker
Black Mountain Side Living Loving Maid
Communication Breakdown Ramble On
I Can't Quit You Babe Moby Dick
How Many More Times Bring It On Home

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Led Zeppelin III, Atlantic (1970) Untitled 4th album, Atlantic (1971)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Immigrant Song Black Dog
Friends Rock And Roll
Celebration Day The Battle of Evermore
Since I've Been Loving You Stairway to Heaven
Out on the Tiles Misty Mountain Hop
Gallows Pole Four Sticks
Tangerine Going To California
That's The Way When The Levee Breaks
Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Hats Off To (Roy) Harper

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Houses of the Holy, Atlantic (1973) Physical Graffiti, S.S. (1975)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Song Remains The Same Custard Pie
The Rain Song The Rover
Over The Hills & Far Away In My Time Of Dying
The Crunge Houses of The Holy
Dancing Days Tramples Underfoot
D'Yer Maker Kashmir
No Quater In The Light
The Ocean Bron-Y-Aur
Down By The SeaSide
Ten Years Gone
Night Flight
The Wanton Song
Booogie With Stu
Black Country Woman
Sick Again

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Presence, Swan Song (1976) The Song Remains The Same,
Swan Song (1975)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Achilles Last Stand Rock & Roll
For Your Life Celebration Day
Royal Orleans The Song Remains The Same
Nobody's Fault But Mine Rain Song
Candy Store Rock Dazed & Confused
Hots On For Nowhere No Quater
Tea For One Stairway to Heaven
Moby Dick
Whole Lotta Love

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
In Through The Out Door Coda, Swan Song (1982)
Swan Song (1979)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
In The Evening We're Gonna Groove
South Bound Suarez Poor Tom
Fool In The Rain I Can't Quit You Baby
Hot Dog Walter's Walk
Carouselambra Ozone Baby
All My Love Darlene
I'm Gonna Crawl Bonzo's Montreux
Wearing And Tearing

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Led Zeppelin Box Set (1990)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
[All tracks were digitally remastered by Jimmy Page & George Marino]

Whole Lotta Love Heartbreaker
Communication Breakdown Babe I'm Gonna Leave You
What Is And What Should Never Be Thank You
I Can't Quit You Baby Dazed And Confused
Your Time Is Gonna Come Ramble On
Traveling Riverside Blues(*) Friends
Celebration Day Hey Hey What Can I Do?(*)
White Summer/Black Mountain Side Black Dog
Over The Hills And Far Away Immigrant Song
The Battle Of Evermore Bron-Y-Aur Stomp
Tangerine Going To California
Since I've Been Loving You D'Yer Maker
Gallows Pole Custard Pie
Misty Mountain Hop Rock And Roll
The Rain Song Stairway To Heaven
Kashmir Trampled Underfoot
For Your Life No Quater
Dancing Days When The Levee Breaks
Achilles Last Stand The Song Remains The Same
Ten Years Gone In My Time Of Dying
In The Evening Candy Store Rock
The Ocean Ozone Baby
Houses Of The Holy Wearing And Tearing
Poor Tom Nobody's Fault But Mine
Fool In The Rain In The Light
The Wanton Song Moby Dick/Bonzo's Montreaux(*)
I'm Gonna Crawl All Of My Love

(*) Indicates a title not previously released on any other album or two
songs mixed together.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Local Music in May
by Judy Ranelli

Tues. 4
MICHAEL HEDGES at Zydeco
When this guy played the UAB arena, even the maintenance people came
and watched after they finished their work. He's a great guitarist and
songwriter.

Wed. 5
ORANGE MOTHERS/A MET Z at The Nick
A Met Z were nastily refused the right to play at City Stages this
Year, something I'll comment on later in the year or sooner if you
catch me in a bar feeling ornery. I think they're innovative, sincere,
and exemplars of Birmingham musicians trying to do something unique.

Wed. 5
fIREHOUSE/PINKY THE STABBER/PARANOID PAM at Zydeco
I must confess I shall attend this indeed because Mike Watt is such
a wonderful guy.
[Editor's Note: For the benefit of the unhip, Mike Watt is the
bassist in "fIREHOUSE", and yes, it's spelled that way.]

Thurs. 6
KENT DUCHAINE at Burly Earl
If you request "Preaching Blues", he knows it, plus lots of other
classic blues tunes.

Fri. 7
STEPPENWOLF at Louie Louie
Huh? Well, why not? I am surprised to find them playing a local
club, but how the mighty fall... One time, Meatloaf was scheduled to
play in town and I was ecstatic, but he cancelled; surely someone feels
the same fervor about seeing Steppenwolf in a small venue.

Wed. 12
Mariachi band at Sol Azteca
Have you seen this yet? They even go back in the kitchen and regale
the cooks to the sound of breaking plates. They also do bits of any
song requested. I'm gonna ask for some Bread next time.

Thurs. 13
UNCLE GREEN/FUZZY SONS
I sort of recall finding Uncle Green pleasant, long ago. They
haven't traveled through here in years to my recollection, so I'll
probably at least stand out front and eavesdrop for a minute to see if
my memory is correct.

Sat. 15
MOTHER TONGUE/VIRGIN GROVE/FREELOADERS/MONKEY'S UNCLE/GODPLOW
at The Nick (and its FREE!)
Another six pack, it seems. Could these events be working in spite
of my cynicism? It's possible.

Thurs. 20
SPACE CAMP at Oasis
I know, I keep mentioning Space Camp, but here's another reason to
see them: Oasis is a nifty tiny bar with the good sense to stay open
very late and on Sundays as well, plus they have a nice outdoor
courtyard.

Mon. 24
INSECT SIREN at The Nick
I decided to randomly choose one band I've never heard of to see and
to recommend. But if you're hesistant to dip into unknown waters, I'll
let you know how it was.

Fri. 28
FOLLOW FOR NOW at Louie Louie
I remember watching the paramedics attend some guy in the crowd for
the FFN crowd at City Stages last year; do you? Let's go get in the
crush again.

That's it; a short column this time. All dates are subject to change,
etc. And I have a few comments to make becuase I can:

Extending Birmingham Green up 20th Street has irritated me beyond
expression. Whoever came up with this 'improvement' is heir to a throne
held by former asses who did such jewels as tear down the train station
and remodel Morris Avenue so slowly and sloppily that all of the
business left the street. NOW they're taking the parking and tearing up
the street in a historic, scenic neighborhood to put up ugly modular/
kidney-shaped cement curbs and a useless median full of young trees
while destroying perfectly good trees that the doves and I shall miss.
Futhermore, they're spending funds to "landscape" the old Joe lot (how
much money? For lawn for a *vacant lot*?) I want those responsible to
know, telepathically if necessary because I'm sure they won't read this,
that I find them despicable, evil, demon-spawn.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

BBS Spotlight
by Eric Hunt

1) Name of the BBS:

The Christian Apologetics Board

2) Name of the sysop:

Jeff Brumlow. Harry Jones, Co-sysop

3) BBS software used:

Wildcat 3.60

4) How long have you been sysoping:

1.5 years

5) Are you a subscription only / completely free / hybrid of the
two BBS?

We are a completely free access BBS.

6) How many incoming phone lines and approximate disk space? Do
you support high speed modems? If so, what type(s)?

We are single node at 808-0763 running at 14.4 bps. We
have one 130 meg hard drive.

7) Is your BBS primarily a files BBS, primarily a message based
BBS, or a combination of the two?

The CAB is primarily a message base system but has a
growing file base of Christian text and issues files. It also
serves as a primary distribution point for several Christian
ministries including my own as pastor of Walkers Chapel
Baptist Church.

8) If you've sysop'd more than just this BBS, briefly list previous
endeavours and their lifespans.

I was the Co-Sysop of the now defunct Old Rugged Cross
BBS in Dalton, Georgia for 1.5 years.

9) What made you decide to take the masochistic plunge and become a
sysop:

I had a spare dollar and was wondering what I could do
with it...(g)

10) What is the general 'thrust' or area of specialty for your BBS:

We specialize in providing resources for the Christian
community of BBSers to defend their faith as well as making
available material for those who are interested in learning
more about Christians. In addition, the main thrust of all of
our conferences are secular debate style conferences in which
we encourage Christians to participate.

11) (optional) What is your regular job/career to support this
leeching hobby of sysoping?

I pastor the Walkers Chapel Baptist Church in
Fultondale, Al.

12) What are your plans for the coming year?

I want to expand the hard drive space and BBS speed
(to 486) in order to accomodate more files and greater
Flexibility in file areas.

13) Where would you like your BBS to go over the next 5 years?

I think I am happy with the direction it is going
right now. We are not a huge BBS but we do have a large number
of national callers. I want the board to continue and grow as
a primary output source for several well known and recognized
Christian ministries and am working toward that end right now.

14) What do you feel the highlights of your BBS are?

Right now, I think it is the RushNet conferences which
we carry. They have sparked a lot of interest in the B'ham
area the last few weeks. Beyond that, I try to support every
user on the board as best I can no matter what their
ideological beliefs may be in regard to my own. We try our
best to be a free thinking BBS for our users.

15) What is your personal vision of the 'ideal user?'

Someone who is willing to post their own ideas and
support and defend them, especially when they are not in
agreement with my own. I enjoy a good, pointed BBS debate and
really kind of despise preaching to the choir.

16) What is the thing you've enjoyed most about providing your BBS?

I enjoy the users I have gotten to know. I have very
little abuse of my board because it doesn't offer the things
that most consider abuse (file leeching for example.) I have
friendly relationships with many in the BBS community and
respect many of the users with whom I debate quite often.

17) What is the thing you've enjoyed least about providing your BBS?

That spare quarter I had turned out not to be a little
bit shy.

18) What is the funniest story you can tell about your BBS and/or you
users?

I have a program on my board called SHAMpage. It is a
great little program of artificial intelligence that answers
anytime someone pages me with a funny, interactive
conversation. Its quite humorous to see otherwise rational
human beings respond to this "sysop" for the first time.

[EH: I can verify this! In trying to contact Jeff through chat
on CAB, I encountered SHAMpage twice. I remarked to Scott H.
later on that I thought I chatted with either a drunk teenager
or a really bad Eliza AI program!]

Here's a space to write a paragraph or two to cover
any points/details/questions I missed, yet you feel should be
addressed.

As a BBS user I have been known through the years
(been at it for about five years now) as a fanatical debater
which has led some people to view me as a mean spirited person
and because sometimes my wit and humor does not always come
across that way, that image is re-enforced. Those in the BBS
community that have met me personally I think at least have
come away with a different image than the ASCII characters of
my writing. If there is one thing I regret, it is that many of
the people who lambast me or my faith because of these
perceptions may never get to know the person behind the
letters. That is one thing this medium just does not provide.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area

Special note: Sysops, PLEASE check your listing to make sure everything
is correct, especially the networks. Corrections should be mailed on
the Matrix to James Minton. (James can also be more speedily reached on
his own board, Outer Limits.)

Also, if anyone has any information about networks listed at the bottom
with "uncertain at press time", let us know.

This issue marks the list-making debut of James Minton. REMEMBER that
James is your contact man for changes in the listing of your board!
I'll be using James' list to distribute BTN with, so if you're not on
it, get on it! - SH

NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES MODEM BBS SOFTWARE
SUPPORTED TYPE

221-B Baker Street 856-7034 1200-2400 VBBS 5.6
[vi, al]
ADAnet One (Nodes 1-3) 854-9074 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
[ez, fi, ad]
ADAnet One (Node 4) 854-5863 2400-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, fi, ad]
Alcatraz BBS 608-0880 300-9600 VBBS 6.0
[he, vi]
Alter-Ego BBS 925-5099 1200-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn]
Asgard 663-9171 300-9600 V.32 WWIV 4.21a
[ez, al, te]
Baudville (Node 1) 980-1089 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02
[none]
Baudville (Node 2) 991-2095 300-14400 Major BBS 6.02
[none]
Baudville (Node 3) 991-9144 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02
[none]
Baudville (Node 4) 995-0013 300-2400 Major BBS 6.02
[none]
Bone Yard, The 631-6023 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
[fi, ez]
Boy's Room 674-8117 300-2400 Wildcat! 3.55
[none]
Bus System 987-5419 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
[none]
Byte Me! 979-BYTE! 2400-14400 USR HST WWIV 4.12
[ez, th, al]
Cannibal Cafe 942-9576 300-2400 VBBS 6.0
[vi, da, he]
Castle, The 841-7618 300-2400 Image 1.2
[none]
Castle Rock 995-9900 1200-19200 VBBS 5.6
[vi, al, he]
Channel 8250 (Node 1) 744-8546 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, un]
Channel 8250 (Node 2) 744-5166 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, un]
Christian Apologetic 808-0763 1200-14400 V.32bis Wildcat! 3.55
[ez, wi, bc, ru]
Crunchy Frog (Node 1) 823-3957 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, lu, ll]
Crunchy Frog (Node 2) 823-3958 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, lu, ll]
DataLynx BBS 328-7688 300-2400 WWIV 4.21
[ez]
DataWorks BBS! 664-0406 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
[un, sm, dv, rf, rs, in]
Den, The 933-8744 300-9600 USR HST ProLogon/ProDoor
[ez, mn, il]
Digital Publishing 854-1660 300-9600 V.32 Wildcat! 3.01
[pl]
EcoBBS 933-2238 300-2400 VBBS 5.6
[al, vi]
Faction, The 995-2757 1200-14400 VBBS 6.0
[none]
Family Smorgas-Board 744-0943 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
[ez, fi, mj, bc, fa, ic, cf, cd, np, ag, ve, ad]
Final Frontier 838-5634 300-14400 VBBS 6.0
[none]
Flip Side 798-3961 300-2400 Renegade 8.27
[none]
Gamer's Online 942-4581 1200-14400 VBBS 6.0
[none]
Genesis Online (Nodes 1-4) 620-4144 300-14400 V.32bis Major BBS 5.3
[mr]
Guardian, The 425-1951 1200-9600 V.32bis VBBS 6.0
[vi, ga]
Hardeman's BBS 640-6436 1200-14400 Wildcat! 3.51
[wi, di, bc]
Hardware Hotline 631-6629 300-14400 V.32/42 VBBS 6.0
[none]
Headland, The 991-0947 300-14400 V.32bis VBBS 6.0
[he, vi]
Highlander BBS 856-9391 300-2400 VBBS 6.0
[none]
Homewood's Hell Hole 870-9067 2400-14440 V.32bis VBBS 5.6
[he]
Illuminatus BBS 871-0489 1200-9600 VBBS 6.0
[vi, al]
Infinite Probability 791-0421 2400-14400 VBBS 5.6
[vi, al]
Intruder Enterprizes 969-0870 300-9600 V.32 VBBS 5.6
[vi, al]
Joker's Castle 664-5589 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, un]
KickAxis BBS 733-0253 1200-14400 USR DS VBBS 6.0
[he]
Last Word 663-4721 300-2400 VBBS 6.0
[sn]
Lemon Grove 836-1184 300-12000 V.42bis SLBBS 3.0
[fi, sl]
Lion & The Unicorn 424-1599 1200-57600 VBBS 5.6
[ga, al, vi, lo]
Lumby's Palace 520-0041 300-14400 VBBS 6.0
[he]
Magic City 664-9883 300-14400 V.42bis Wildcat! 3.55
[cc, dx, tr, wi]
Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300-14400 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn]
MATRIX, The (Nodes 1-14) 323-2016 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, th, il, in, al, sh, sc, gl, ic, ri, fr]
MATRIX, The (Nodes 20-23) 323-6016 9600-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, th, il, in, al, sh, sc, gl, ic, ri, fr]
MATRIX, The (Node 25-26) 458-3449 9600-14400 V.32bis PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, th, il, in, al, sh, sc, gl, ic, ri, fr]
MetaBoard 854-4814 300-14400 USR DS Opus CBCS 1.73
[fi, ad]
MetroMac BBS 323-6306 300-2400 TeleFinder 3.0
[none]
Milliways BBS 956-3177 1200-14440 V.32 VBBS 6.0
[he, vi, al]
Missing Link 853-1257 300-16800 USR DS C-Net Amiga 2.31
[none]
Neon Moon 477-5894 300-14400 TriBBS 4.0
[dx]
Night Watch 841-2790 1200-14400 USR DS TriBBS 4.01
[cc, tr, di, fi, ez, ab]
Nirvana 942-6702 300-14400 V.32bis VBBS 6.0
[al, vi, at, rp]
Outer Limits (Node 1) 425-5871 1200-14400 USR HST Wildcat! 3.60
[fi, do, ec, pn]
Outer Limits (Node 2) 426-2939 1200-14400 V.32bis Wildcat! 3.60
[fi, do, ec, pn]
Owlabama BBS 856-2521 1200-14400 GTPower 17.06
[gt, ez, mn, cc, tr, sc, ab]
Owl's Nest 680-0851 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn]
Party Line 856-1336 300-14000 V.32bis TriBBS 4.0
[cc, tr, di]
Penny Arcade 699-4625 300-2400 Running Force! 3.75
[none]
Playground 681-5070 2400-14000 V.32 TriBBS 4.0
[tr, di, cc, ez, al, fr]
Posys BBS 854-5131 300-9600 V.32 PCBoard
[none]
Quiet Zone 833-2066 300-2400 ExpressNet
[none]
Razor's Edge 995-0412 1200-2400 VBBS 5.6
[he, al]
Safe Harbor (Node 1) 665-4332 300-2400 GTPower 17.06
[gt, ez, mn, il]
Safe Harbor (Node 2) 665-4355 300-14400 USR DS GTPower 17.06
[gt, ez, mn, il]
Sam's Domain 956-2757 1200-14400 VBBS 6.0
[da, he]
Safety BBS 581-2866 300-2400 RBBS-PC 17.4
[none]
Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-2400 V.32/42bis PCBoard 14.5
[none]
ST BBS 836-9311 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
[ez]
StarBase 12 647-7184 300-2400 TriBBS 4.0
[ez, mn]
Teasers 987-0122 300-2400 WWIV 4.21
[al]
Thy Master's Dungeon 940-2116 300-57600 V.32/42bis PCBoard 14.5
[fr]
Torch Song 328-1517 300-9600 V.32 Wildcat 3.6
[pr, se, st, do]
Venus BBS 424-2872 300-2400 WWIV 4.22
[cy, te, al]
Weekends BBS 841-8583 2400-16800 USR DS Wildcat! 3.6
[none]
Willie's DYM (Node 1) 664-9902 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Willie's DYM (Node 2) 664-9903 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Willie's DYM (Node 3) 664-9895 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Willie's DYM (Node 4) 664-9896 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Ziggy Unix BBS 991-5696 300-1200 UNaXess
[none]

The two-letter abbreviations you see on the line below the names of
many of the bbs' in the list signify that they are members of one or
more networks that exchange or echo mail to each other in some organized
fashion.

ad = ADAnet, an international network dedicated to the handicapped
ag = AgapeNet, a national Christian network, multi-topic
al = AlaNet, a local network, multi-topic
an = Annex Network, uncertain at press time
at = AdultNet, a national network, adult-oriented
bc = BCBNet, a local network, religion-oriented
bh = BhamTalk, a local network, multi-topic
cc = City2City, a national network, multi-topic
cd = CDN, a national Christian network for file distribution
cf = CFN, a national Christian network, multi-topic
cy = Cybernet, uncertain at press time
da = DateNet, uncertain at press time
de = DevNet, an international network for programmers and developers
di = Dixie Net, a regional network, multi-topic geared toward the south
eastern United States
do = DoorNet, a national network for the distribution of BBS doors
ec = EchoNet, an international network, multi-topic
ez = EzNet, a local IBM compatible network
fa = FamilyNet, an international network, multi-topic
fi = FidoNet, an international network, multi-topic
fr = FredNet, a regional network, political discussion
ga = GameNet, a local network, uncertain at press time
gl = GlobalLink, an international network, multi-topic
gt = GTNet, an international network, multi-topic
he = HellNet, a local network, multi-topic
ic = ICDM, an international Christian network, multi-topic
il = ILink, an international network, multi-topic
ic = Intelec, a national network, multi-topic
in = InterNet, an international network, linking businesses,
universities, and bbs', multi-topic
ll = LlamaNet, a national network, freeform correspondence
lo = LocalNet, uncertain at press time
lu = LuciferNet, an international network, adult oriented
ma = MAXnet, a local network, connecting WWIV and VBBS systems
mj = MJCN, an international network for Messianic Jews
mn = Metronet, an international network which echoes RIME, multi-topic
mr = MajorNet, an international network, multi-topic
np = NPN, a national network for new parents
or = OraNet, a national E-mail network
pl = PlanoNet, a national network, multi-topic
pn = PoliceNet, an international network, law-enforcement only
pr = PrideNet, a local homosexually oriented network
rf = RF Net, a national network for ham radio users and hobbyists
ri = RIME, an international network, multi-topic
rb = RoboLink, a national network, multi-topic
rp = RPGnet, a local network for role-playing games
rs = RoseNet, a national network, technically oriented
ru = RushNet, a national network for Rush Limbaugh fans
sc = Science Factor Net, a national network, science and technology
oriented
se = SEC, a regional network, homosexually oriented geared toward the
southeastern United States
sh = Shades N Shadows Net, a national network for role-playing games
sl = SearchlightNet, a national network, multi-topic
sm = SmartNet, a national network, multi-topic
sn = ShadowNet, a national network for role-playing games
st = StudsNet, a national network, homosexually oriented
te = TECHnet, a local network, hardware and utility oriented
th = ThrobNet, an international network, adult oriented
tr = TriBBS Net, a national network, multi-topic
un = Uni'Net, an international network, multi-topic
ve = VETLink, a national network for military veterans
vi = VirtualNet, an international network, multi-topic
wi = WildNet, a national network, multi-topic
ww = WWIV-Net, an international network, multi-topic

In case you hadn't heard, this month's list was compiled by someone new.
I am James Minton, Sysop of The Outer Limits BBS. So if you find any errors
then blame me and not Scott! :) If you are a Sysop and would like to have
your board added to the list, or need some changes made to your listing,
drop me a message on The Matrix, or a Sysop comment on my board.

NOTE: Bert's BBS at 424-2872 has changed it's name to Venus BBS but stayed
at the same phone number.

The following BBSs appeared to be down or malfunctioning when I tried to
verify them. If you have any information on their status, please let me
know.

The Faction Hardeman's BBS Highlander BBS
Last Word Lion & Unicorn Razor's Edge

The following BBSs were dropped from the list since we weren't able to
verify them for 60 days or more.

Cow's Head Frat House Hacker's Corner
Hoots with Owls Sleepy Hollow

-----------------------------------------------------------------------