Copyright 1990, Fido Software. All rights reserved. Duplication
and/or distribution permitted for noncommercial purposes only.
For use in other circumstances, please contact Fido Software.
FidoNews is published weekly by the System Operators of the
FidoNet (r) International BBS Network. It is a compilation of
individual articles contributed by their authors or authorized
agents of the authors. The contribution of articles to this
compilation does not diminish the rights of the authors.
You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1:1/1. 1:1/1 is a Continuous
Mail system, available for network mail 24 hours a day.
Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of
Fido Software, Box 77731, San Francisco CA 94107, USA and are
used with permission.
Opinions expressed in FidoNews articles are those of the authors
and are not necessarily those of the Editor or of Fido Software.
Most articles are unsolicited. Our policy is to publish every
responsible submission received.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1
A Sysop's Sorrow ......................................... 1
Electronic Publishers & Writers Group Echo ............... 3
Short Story Disk ......................................... 4
The Electronic Book Club! ................................ 6
Electronic Writing & Electronic Publishing ............... 9
Home School Echo Conference .............................. 13
How To Be A Sysop And Avoid Ulcers ....................... 14
FIDOCON 1990 REGISTRATION FORM ........................... 17
2. COLUMNS .................................................. 20
Talk Me Through It, Honey ................................ 20
And more!
FidoNews 7-23 Page 1 4 Jun 1990
A Sysop's Sorrow
(an overdue public apology to Tracy Graves)
In the course of cleaning up and shutting down my BBS after more
than 3 years of operation, there are several things left undone
which I have found surfacing and needing to be handled. One of
them, long left unfinished, is the subject of this article.
Two and a half years ago, I did what I thought was necessary for
the well-being of my region. I took actions, I said words, which
brought about a great deal of disharmony to my little corner of
FidoNet. I, in effect, ran roughshod over the feelings, honor,
trust, and dignity of a fellow sysop, Tracy Graves. Though the
rift and commotion eventually settled down within our region,
the effect and injustice committed has remained unacknowledged
and somewhat repressed by me. As a whole, region 17 got back to
business-as-usual, but the pain and sorrow persists for some of
us to this day. Others found excuses, justifications, perfectly
good-sounding reasons for things having occurred as they did,
but I have personally remained haunted by my memories and
impressions of what I did, and particularly 'how' I did it.
In 1987 I set in motion events which led to the harm of someone
else in FidoNet. Whether the end result was justified or not,
nothing really justifies my methodology, my means.
So, this article is a public apology to Tracy Graves, for the
events and actions I was part of in 1987. During that time I
asked Tracy to resign as REC of region 17, and I initiated
conditions that took the freedom of choice from him. This was
certainly very cruel, not excusable, and evil in nature. To
compound this, I forced the issue at a time when Tracy was
unable to defend himself to the best of his abilities. I am
fully guilty and culpable for the damage that I did to Tracy,
and I have harmed myself by not publicly acknowledging that this
was a conscious choice on my part, not a necessity. Of an
infinite number of ways we could have interacted, I chose the
worst, probably the most despicable method.
I'll say this to FidoNet: EchoMail, our worldwide network, our
obsession with the 'flow of mail' - isn't worth hurting or
disgracing anyone. It isn't worth anything if we harm others in
the process. The guilt will silently eat you alive, as it has
done to me in many ways, until it is ultimately confronted and
honestly acknowledged as the remorse that it is for making a
brutal and harmful choice.
FidoNews 7-23 Page 2 4 Jun 1990
No healing, no recovery, no exorcism will ever absolve you (or
me) of the responsibility for our actions. When you're angry,
when you're desperate to be 'right', be darn sure that you don't
do violence to the reputation and feelings of another, don't
blame someone else for your actions, or for your reactions.
That's a lie that will live inside you, and consume your
humanity, until you find yourself actually justifying the damage
that you did. Oh yes, you'll be proudly self-righteous, but
empty. You'll ignore the injury that you caused - as I did.
You'll loose trust in yourself, and for good reason. You aren't
trustworthy if you don't let your conscience guide you to taking
positive and creative actions.
Whatever you want FidoNet to be, it isn't ever worth
assasinating the character of another human being. It cheapens
you and your 'cause'. Look at what all the flames (pro and con)
did to IFNA's chances of ever serving and growing with FidoNet.
So, I come here to publicly apologize to Tracy Graves, a person
who once trusted me as his friend. I'm not trying to erase the
damage and acrimony that I caused. I am here to acknowledge my
own inadequacy at the time, to denote my errors, and to free my
quiet shame, so that I can fully possess the guilt that I
created and deserve.
John Bradshaw says, "The only sorrow is the sorrow of not being
a saint." I have carried my sorrow and shame for two and a half
years - like the razor blade that I once carried in my pocket as
a child. Not knowing the consequences, thinking that I could
cause no real harm, yet bleeding privately and not seeing why I
was becoming so weak, so unsure of my abilities. I became
ashamed of myself, thinking that there was something 'wrong'
with me, instead of seeing that I was simply guilty of making a
terrible and barbaric mistake.
Now I can have the quiet truth and guilt of my errors, and
Tracy, you now have a very public apology. You were the first
REC to bring a well structured echomail system to our region.
You took great risks, endured much criticism, yet you were fair
to all, and you went far beyond the call of duty. Your
volunterism and commitment to community service stands today as
the epitomy of what makes FidoNet really work. You truly
deserved so much better than to be betrayed and slandered by
myself and others.
My long lost friend... I will always miss you.
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FidoNews 7-23 Page 3 4 Jun 1990
Jake Hargrove
301/1
Electronic Publishers and Writers Group Echo
--------------------------------------------
Copyright 1990
By Jake Hargrove (301/1)
I have started a new message echo area for electronic
publishing and writing. This echo will not interfere with the
current operation of the National Writers echo (WRITING). My
intention is to fill some gaps left by the WRITING echo and other
echo areas dealing with publishing or writing.
This echo is not exclusively for electronic publishers. It
is for new writers or anyone interested in self-publishing. If
you have an interest in publishing your work electronically, your
local sysop can help you. There is now little support for
electronic publishing. I say electronic publishing works. Your
reading this newsletter proves my point.
Sony recently announced the latest entry into the electronic
gadget field. The "Data Discman" -- a portable compact disc
player that displays written text on a tiny screen. It uses
three-inch compact discs called "Electronic Books." Each disc is
capable of storing more than 100,000 pages of text, or the
equivalent of some 300 paperback books. The "Data Discman" hits
the Japanese store shelves in July.
The echo name will be EPWG; the guidelines are in draft and
sent to various supporters of electronic publishing to get their
feedback. They should be available within the next three or four
weeks.
If you do not have net mail capability, you may get them by
calling 1-505-865-8385 (data-BBS).
If you would like to get connected, you may contact me on
node 301/1 or Robert King on 370/40.
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FidoNews 7-23 Page 4 4 Jun 1990
Jake Hargrove
301/1
High Mesa Publishing
13 Osage Dr
Los Lunas, NM 87031
Announces!
Short Story Disk
Electronic publishing is about to take a leap into the lives
of every computer user in the world. Many of us have not been
aware of electronic publishing. The biggest thing has been
the limited places from which true electronically published
items have been available.
On 25 May 1990, High Mesa Publishing will introduce a Short
Story Disk, this disk will contain short stories never
published. This is not an experiment, long range plans call for
a minimum of one (1) disk published monthly. With
additional submissions of works by writers this will expand to
as many disk as necessary to provide coverage of received
material.
For many years now, we have read things using
computers and never give a dedicated publishing aspect one single
thought. News letters, and messages get read every single day by
several hundred thousand readers. Even some of the larger news
papers like USA Today get read electronically. So our question
has been why not books, magazines, and even short stories.
Here at HMP we electronically publish our works in IBM executable
format.
We now have a monthly Diskazine titled, Computer
Information Monthly News or CIMN for short. It is an
IBM compatible computer program. Cimn is in the sixth month
of publishing, with the May issue dedicated to publishing and
writing on computers. The issue for June will cover some of
the places around the country where electronic publishing is
now taking place.
With the introduction of Short Story Disk, we are taking a
step into a new area. We are not the first but our intention is
to become one of the leading electronic publishers. A current
catalog of our disk is yours by writing to the address listed
above. You may get it electronically from our BBS at 1-505-865-
8385. Look in files area 1.
Unlike CIMN(sm), Short Story Disk(s) will not be FREEWARE or
SHAREWARE. They sell for $3.00 each, and are not available to
computer users by any other means. Unless the computer user
happens to be a member of the Electronic Book Club. Then these
programs will be available by password for down loading from the
support BBS.
I know just what you are thinking. Oh! No! Not another book
club flyer in the mail. Well let's discuss this. Do you go to
the book store and buy books? Do you even receive some books in
the mail? What is wrong with an Electronic Book Club? I think
the idea is spreading and I think if I do not do it first then
someone else will do it. My biggest concern is getting the
material to fullfill the needs of the reader. I do not like
starting things and then being unable to finish them.
The electronic book club, is a revolutionary idea intended
to make me some money. #Actually it is to make me rich. So who
will be the ones to do this? Well I hope you like the idea and
join the Electronic Book Club. So I will try to explain it to
you.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Once a month, you will get a disk with unpublished poetry,
short stories, novella's, novelettes, or possibly novel excerpts.
This material will be available from an Electronic Bulletin Board
system operated by High Mesa Publishing. In the file's area you
will be able to find material for your reading enjoyment. What I
am looking for is to make enough money to pay good writers to
write things that you enjoy reading. As the manuscript
submissions increase. The number of programs disk product each
month will increase, and members givne their choice of which
program they want to receive (Poetry, Short Story, Science
Fiction Short Story, Novela, Novelette, ect).
What is this going to cost? Well after looking at simular
programs, which feature things like tapes, magazines and books.
I feel an annual membership fee of $36.00 will be enough. Now
you ask what will the $36.00 get you? That is a reasonable
request. The $36.00 will get you.
1. The monthly Diskette filled with unpublished material.
Thus it may not be available in printed form from any source.
----------------------------------------------------------------
2. Passworded access to other programs available for your
reading from High Mesa Publishing's own Electronic Bulletin
Board, 1-505-865-8385. Members have unlimited file access. You
will have to register with the BBS by calling. Once you have
called, you will get the PASSWORD for the dowload area.
FidoNews 7-23 Page 7 4 Jun 1990
3. If you are a writer, you can submit your material for
publishing. Writers keep all rights to published material. They
will share in the profits from diskettes sold with their material
published on it. I base shares on a percentage of the amount
$.60 set aside for authors. Right now this is about $0.50 per
disk, or $0.50 per monthly membership fee. Five authors per disk
would receive $0.10 per disk/membership sold containing their
story or article published.
4. How do you join this Club? By sending your membership
fee to: C_Tech's, 13 Osage Dr., Los Lunas, NM 87031, or you can
make the check payable to: Paula Hargrove.
5. You will receive your first diskette, within 2 weeks of
receipt of your check or money order.
IF OTHER THAN IBM COMPATABLE YOU WILL BE REQUIRED
TO USE THE BULLETIN BOARD TO DOWNLOAD THE MONTHLY
PROGRAMS. NOW WE SUPPORT ONLY IBM FORMAT.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I would like to become a member of the High Mesa Publishing,
Electronic Book Club. I understand the membership fee entitles
me only to items listed above. I also understand membership
refunds cover only the number of months I am a member. I may
termiante my membership anytime after the first 90 days with a
guarantte return of the unused portion of my membership. At the
following rates: $3.00 per unused month after the first 3 months.
The $4.00 registration fee is not returnable.
Letters make words, and words make reading material. Ever
since man began to put words into forms for others to read we
have searched for different means of storing our words. First
there was probably stones, then there was clay hardend by the
sun. Next came paprus, or paper and plastic or what ever. The
most common form of storing our words may well be a #2 pencil and
a piece of paper. In the forms of letters, first draft stories,
or final draft novels. What I would like to do is bring writers
into the 1990's.
How can I possibly do this? Well I cannot do it by myself,
but there are writers out there who are probably doing what I am
about to discuss already. For the sake of being clear, I will
refer to part of the subject of this article as Electronic
Writing. By this I mean, the use of a computer to create works
by a writer. Allowing the writer to store the work to either a
hard disk, or to a floppy disk. The storage media used by
computers may vary widely but will usually be one of these means.
Floppy disks are simular to tape cartridges used by stero's
or VCR's. The tape material forms into a disk used to store
information. Hard disk use the same material only a little
thicker. They store many times the amount of data used by a
floppy disk.
The writer, who uses a computer to create his/her work, is
actually performing a very important function. This function is
to store the information onto a device used by others to read,
or to otherwise use the information. Electronic writing, will
someday be as natural as using a pencil or pen and paper was 20
years ago. Even the use of typewriters for such functions may
have limited use. Because using a computer with the keyboard and
monitor is much easier, and much simpler. Even with correctable
typewriters, where if you make a mistake you can correct it. The
typewriter does not truly have the means to proof a piece of work
once completed. The writer must do this function, and finding
mistakes can be time consuming and tedious.
The writer enters information or data using a keyboard. The
writer then watches the letters appear on the montior. The
writer can now put his words to the screen, and change, edit, or
even cut whole paragraphs. Without having to retype the whole
piece of work. Once finished the writer can save the piece of
work to the storage media and make it available for later
retrival.
FidoNews 7-23 Page 10 4 Jun 1990
Electronic writing, can make the writers work easier. It
allows the writer to start a work and leave it to come back later
and make drastic changes. It allows the writer to look at the
work time and time again without fear of tearing a page.
So you are a writer? Well are you a writer of the future or
a writer of the past? Can you make the change? Can you afford
not to? I can surmise some of your questions, and I would like
to give you some of the answers.
1. Why should I spend the money to buy a computer system to
accomplish my writing?
A: The relative price of a good system in todays market
makes it almost imparative writers take the step towards
computers. You can buy a system for as little as $2500.00 which
will meed a writers needs.
2. What should a system include?
A: A system should include: Computer system, with Monitor,
Keyboard, harddisk (20/40 megabytes) and CPU. A printer, (Dot
Matrix with Letter Quality print), a modem, and of course
software (wordprocessing, communications).
3. What kind of system is better?
A: With todays systems, the brand name is unimportant, but
the speed and size of the system is important. A reputable
consultant may advise your in this matter if you ask one. They
work in computer stores or some private individuals are
performing this service.
4. What is a modem?
A: A modem is a device you attach to a computer. It allows
the computer use to send data (files) over telephone lines to
another computer. This electronic transmission of files can mean
the difference in meeting a deadline. It can acutally cut the
time a writer has to spend in rewrite of material.
5. How much training do you need to use a computer, modem
and printer system?
A: Relative little, most computer users can learn to do the
things they need to learn within a few days. Some simple hands
on instructions or individual instruction is obtainable from
several sources.
6. What are some advantages of Electronic Writing and
Electronic Publishing?
FidoNews 7-23 Page 11 4 Jun 1990
A: An easy question. From start, to complete draft this
article will take me less than two days. It then goes to Michele
Mauro by modem. She will hopefully edit it and put it into a
more suitable format. She may even make it available to Carin
Smith for her to read. I will have spell checked it, ran it
through an analysis program and killed all the passive passages.
It will then be ready for your review. This question brings up
another good subject.
Publication of works created electronically and prepared in
certain formats for reading by computer users. The most common
form of publishing is TEXT format. Simple files created on
computers are available to users much like this file will be
available to you. It is nothing more than taking the writers
work and making it available through electronic means to other
people who want to read it. This is done through what we call
BBS. Individual's or groups operate BBS's on personal computers
from their home or business. These BBS are Electronic Bulletin
Board Service's. They are capable of file transfer, message
passing and many other things you may have read about.
The creation of any work is not complete until read by the
intended reader. We have lived with hard cover books, and paper
back books now for 50 years. The age has come where these things
will be available to readers in the format of electronically
stored data. The reason this particular type of publishing has
not caught on is publishers like their current ways of doing
things. They may well have computers in their publishing houses.
Computers allow the writer to bring their works into the
publishing house and have it published on paper. When in fact
the material is 90% published. If the information or data is
already on the storage media, then making a copy of it is simple.
Publishers must take the same step into the future with
writers. It is not my intention to do away with publishing on
paper but to supplement it with Electronic Publishing. Computer
files easily copies to disk for passing to the reader. The
writer and publisher market the writer's material on floppy
diskette for $3.00 and still make a profit. The publisher might
even set up BBS's themselves or form Electronic Book Clubs.
Paying the annual membership fees, the member gets a password.
This allows access to the system. It will then allown access to
the writers works file area. Another means would be for the
publisher to dispense copies of material on a monthly basis. For
example, club members fee can be $40.00. For this 40.00 they
would receive, (password to BBS) where they would have access to
all available works. They could choose to have the monthly disk
sent via US Mail. Which would cost only about $1.00 each month.
With the publisher controlling access to the writers works.
FidoNews 7-23 Page 12 4 Jun 1990
This is a new thing, and may very well be the wave of the
future in reading.
Copyright 1990
High Mesa Publishing
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-23 Page 13 4 Jun 1990
Home School Echo Conference
David Thompson
Fido 1:18/60
This article announces availability of an echo conference for
families educating their children at home. The content of the
conference includes anything related to home education, and is
intended to diseminate timely news of interest to home schoolers.
Participation of home educated children is welcome and invited.
The conference is currently being hubbed at 1:18/60, and is also
available from REDCON, 1:151/1000 (REC18). If you wish to
connect to this conference, you can pick it up from my system
(1:18/60; send me netmail and we can arrange the connection), or
exercise your existing connection to REDCON. After sufficient
traffic has developed the conference will be moved to the
backbone.
Homeschool is a legal form of education in most states and
provides an alternative to both public and private schools. It
is simply parents who have decided to teach their children in
their homes. As you can imagine, this requires a considerable
commitment, but the result is worth it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-23 Page 14 4 Jun 1990
Believe it or not, it really IS possible to enjoy being a sysop.
Granted that it's something of an acquired taste (you probably
didn't like beer or caviar at first, either). It's a lot more
fun being a sysop when you get the knack, but that's true of
anything. Over the years I've compiled my own list of tips and
hints for enjoying being a sysop:
1) Back up your system at least once every six months.
I'm normally a fanatic about backups. I used to keep two
sets of three backups (one onsite, one offsite), and used one
every day in rotation. Finally I went out and bought a tape
backup system that keeps three permanent copies of everything
forever, with most of the tapes rotated to offsite storage.
But that's for my work system. A BBS doesn't need to be
backed up all that much.
Once upon a time a sysop would spend months building up a
good message base. If anything happened to it, it was often
more than mortal flesh could bear to think of doing it all
over again. But in these days of hundred-message-a-day
conferences, the message base just isn't that big of a deal.
If anything happens to it, it'll regenerate in a week or two.
These days, what's important is your system structure and
your download libraries. But they don't change all that
much, so it's almost always good enough if you get a full
backup every few months.
Why is this important to happiness? Simple. It does away
with concerns about viruses, trojans, hackers, and other
annoyances. So what's the worst thing anybody can do to your
system? Trash it? Big deal -- reformat the drives and
restore from backup.
2) Do whatever you like. It's your system, isn't it? Run it
however you please. Just don't talk about it.
For example, suppose your local (insert favorite expletive
here) sends you a message telling you that your upload
directory has to be sorted in chronological order, but YOU
FidoNews 7-23 Page 15 4 Jun 1990
want to sort it in alphabetic order. Don't send nastygrams
about how you're going to sort your upload directory. Don't
scream and yell in conferences about the injustice of it all.
Just ignore the message and sort your uploads however you
like. You'll find that, as long as you keep quiet about it,
nobody will ever check up on you. And even if they do, it's
highly unlikely that they'll ever do anything other than send
you a nasty message, which you can then ignore.
The worst that can possibly happen is you might get
"excommunicated". That is, you might be dropped from your
local network. Even then, there's no need to scream and
shout. Just quietly ask another network to put you back in.
In all the years that FidoNet has been around, there has
never once been a case where somebody was kept out of the net
if he really wanted to be in it.
3) You have god-like powers over your own board. Use them. If
somebody was calling your board and annoying you, you'd lower
his access so he couldn't post anything, right? So do the
same thing with conferences.
Almost every network BBS out there has some utility available
for deleting messages based on who they are from or to. Get
the one for your board and use it. Do the messages from Joe
Bloe in KWIKBAS raise your blood pressure? Add a line to a
control file and *POOF*, no more annoyance.
4) Avoid falling for the "devil theory". Remember that deep
down inside, everyone thinks that he is doing The Right Thing
for The Right Reasons. If you see messages from someone
advocating something you disagree with, remember that HE
thinks he's right. You might think he's wrong, but if you
start thinking that he's EVIL you're just going to raise your
own blood pressure.
5) Don't worry about viruses. Yes, there are such things as
viruses, but they are NOT the big bugaboo of BBSing that the
press likes to make out. In particular, they can't spread
anything like as fast or as far as some folks would have you
believe.
First of all, remember that your downloads are all safe. You
don't have to worry about a virus infecting all those games
(or whatever) you have. They're all stored in a compressed
form, aren't they? If you have "raw" COM or EXE files for
download, then maybe you might worry just a bit, but the
virus hasn't been made that can infect a program that's
sitting inside an archive. And if anyone ever DID make such
FidoNews 7-23 Page 16 4 Jun 1990
a virus, it'd be pretty darned obvious, what with all the
unpacking and repacking it'd have to do. So your downloads
are perfectly safe.
Second of all, your users are safe. If your download
libraries are safe, then the users are safe. After all, the
ONLY way to get a virus is by running an infected program,
and your downloadable archives can't be infected.
And finally, your system is safe. You ARE backing up your
system once in awhile like I suggested in point 1, aren't
you? That logic still applies -- the worst any virus can do
is trash your system, in which case you reformat the drives,
restore from backup, and THEN worry about it. Meanwhile,
don't let the odd chance of catching a virus bother you.
You're much more likely to lose your system from a lightning
strike, and THAT would burn out hardware that would cost
money to replace! The worst a virus can possibly do is to
waste some of your time.
6) Last of all, avoid taking it too seriously. Remember, it's
just a hobby.
That's pretty much it. Hopefully you'll find these tips of use.
Oh, one last thing. Remember that you're supposed to be enjoying
yourself. Any time you find yourself doing something you don't
enjoy, then stop doing it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-23 Page 17 4 Jun 1990
The Secret Sysop Society presents __
*** Conclave '90 *** / \
The SYSOPS Convention /|oo \
Home of FidoCon 1990 (_| /_)
Lyndhurst, New Jersey _`@/_ \ _
August 1-5, 1990 | | \ \\
| (*) | \ ))
______ |__U__| / \//
/ Fido \ _//|| _\ /
(________) (_/(_|(____/ (tm)
Rate Plan Schedule: Before 6/1/90: Before 5/1/90:
-------------- --------------
A. Single Occupancy.......$595.00 $545.00 $495.00
B. Double Occupancy.......$450.00 $400.00 $350.00
C. Conference w/ meals....$300.00 $250.00 $200.00
D. Conference w/ Banquet..$205.00 $155.00 $105.00
E. Conference only........$175.00 $125.00 $ 75.00
F. Banquet only...........$130.00 $80.00 $ 30.00
G. Registrant & Spouse....$720.00 $670.00 $620.00
(All rate plans except plan F include all conference and hotel
fees. Those registering before 5/1/90 get a $100.00 discount,
those registering before 6/1/90 get a $50.00 discount.)
You must pay by Check, Money Order, or Credit Card. Please send
no cash. All monies must be in U.S. Funds. Checks should be
made out to: "Conclave '90"
The following registration form must be completed and mailed to:
PO Box 12
Lyndhurst, NJ 07071
You may register by Netmailing this completed form to 1:1/90 for
processing. Rename it to ZNNNXXXX.REG where Z is your Zone
number, N is your Net number, and X is your Node number. US Mail
confirmation is required within 72 hours of electronic filing.
If you are paying by credit card, please include the required
information. For your own security, do not route any message
with your credit card number on it. Crash it directly to 1:1/90.
The official Conclave '90 airline is American Airlines.
American offers a 5% discount the lowest applicable round-trip
fare, including 1st class travel, subject to availability of
inventory. All fare rules and restrictions apply. In addition,
American offers 40% off their round trip unrestricted day coach
fare. International travelers qualify for special benefits,
including complimentary admittance to the Admiral's Club Lounge
at any American Airlines terminal. Newark is an American Air-
lines city with direct flights to most major cities. When making
reservations, you must call American's Toll-free reservation
number at 800-433-1790, and reference Star number 13704F.
FidoNews 7-23 Page 18 4 Jun 1990
C O N C L A V E '90 R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M
Remember those stereo contests, where you could win the world's
greatest stereo, worth over $50,000 ? Yeah, I didn't win
either. I haven't noticed any contests where you can win the
World's Greatest PC. Where are those guys ?
Anyway, it's got to be a 486-33, right ? Let's not go crazy
and get 10 of everything; so I vote a 16-bit SCSI controller
with a 720 meg hard disk, an erasable optical drive and a
CD-ROM player. Sure, we get both a 1.2 and 1.44 floppy. I
think 16 megs of RAM is plenty, oh and make sure the 486 has
a 265 KB cache. Two serial, two parallel, clock, battery,
101 key keyboard, etc.
I would want one of those 16-bit video frame grabber boards,
you know, the kind you can plug your VCR into; oh, and a big 20
inch monitor. You know the one, ( no name dropping... ).
We need a full page scanner and a laser printer ( the one I
want can use a Postscript cartridge ) and a big bed plotter...
gee isn't there one company that makes all these ?!
Then we add the 14.4 kbps modem, fax board, answering
machine/voice mail card, midi board, bus mouse card and
ethernet card ( just in case you ever lost your mind ).
There, I think that should about fill up the slots.
Then we get a big UPS, power director and all extra long color
coded cables. A huge oak table and swivel high-backed leather
chair. Add a separate clock and calculator to our table,
because, of course this system is the World's Greatest PC, not
a clock or calculator. <smirk>
There I think we are set, oops, what about software ?
Oh, here we go, now the Unix, OS/2, and QMX pundits rise up from
the cemetery plots like some kind of zombie movie. Sorry
boys, this baby runs DOS. Heck, it runs Binkley most all the
time ! Remember ? Anyhow, I'm writing this, so these are my
opinions. It's a contest grand prize; you don't want it,
don't enter.
FidoNews 7-23 Page 21 4 Jun 1990
This brings me to my 7 categories of PC software, which are :
Documentation
Communications
Programming
Accounting
Database
Utility
Games
For Documentation, I'll go with WordPerfect ( if it's perfect,
why is this version 5.1 ? ), PC Paintbrush, and Ventura
Publisher. The rest you get with the printer/scanner setup
above. Throw in LaserTorq for a print spooler.
For Communications, give me Boyan, PC Anywhere, Binkley and
Opus. ( Funny, one of those you have to buy to try ! ) You
will get a lot of comm type software with all those expansion
cards. Also Laplink when your laptop buddies show up.
Programming ? I'm a confirmed Brief, MS C pundit, so kick me.
Toss in the Greenleaf comm library, I can write any program I
want. I get C libraries to interface everything above. Since
I rarely make mistakes, I don't need Multiscope, but you might.
Accounting would have to include Supercalc, Quicken, and Amtax.
I'm avoiding this area because I don't like to account to
anyone.
Database, well, I like two. Oracle for big jobs, and Q&A for
the little ones. For technical reasons, include here also
Qmail, Areafix, Tick and all those other E-mail/file functions
you have and use to get track of that modem.
Utility : DOS 3.31, Desqview, PCED ( new version reviewed in
V9N11 ), Norton, PKanything, Fastback and SuperPCKwik.
Games : well, I have an old saying -- My favorite game is Tax
Spreadsheet, and the winning score is $0.00. I'll leave the
door wide open on this one.
There you have it. Hot setup, no, yes ? On a quick
guestimate, I can see $42,000 for the hardware, and about
$4,000 for the software ( sure, it's all registered for you ).
So what the heck ? The total is under 50. Of course, in our
Dream Contest, we get additional cash to pay taxes. Where are
those guys with the contest ?
Honey says the UPS truck is pulling up now...
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FidoNews 7-23 Page 22 4 Jun 1990
Utility authors: Please help keep this list up to date by
reporting new versions to 1:1/1. It is not our intent to list
all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
FidoNews 7-23 Page 25 4 Jun 1990
12 Jun 1990
Fifth anniversary of FidoNet's switch to multiple nets.
14 Jul 1990
Start of Eurocon / Techcon conference in Antwerp, Belgium.
Please note that the date has changed: The conferences are
one day later than originally planned !
27 Jul 1990
The beginning of the REGION 17 Convention at Menucha Resort in
the Columbia Gorge, Oregon. For details contact Ken Zwaschka,
1:105/54.
1 Aug 1990
Start of FidoCon '90. Contact Bill Vanglahn at 1:1/90 for
details.
5 Oct 1990
21st Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus"
6 Nov 1990
First anniversary of Van Diepen Automatiseert, 2:500/28
14 Nov 1990
Marco Maccaferri's 21rd Birthday. Send greetings to him at
2:332/16.0
1 Jan 1991
Implementation of 7% Goods and Services Tax in Canada. Contact
Joe Lindstrom at 1:134/55 for a more colorful description.
16 Feb 1991
Fifth anniversary of the introduction of Echomail, by Jeff Rush.
7 Oct 1991
Area code 415 fragments. Alameda and Contra Costa Counties
will begin using area code 510. This includes Oakland,
Concord, Berkeley and Hayward. San Francisco, San Mateo,
Marin, parts of Santa Clara County, and the San Francisco Bay
Islands will retain area code 415.
FidoNews 7-23 Page 26 4 Jun 1990
1 Feb 1992
Area code 213 fragments. Western, coastal, southern and
eastern portions of Los Angeles County will begin using area
code 310. This includes Los Angeles International Airport,
West Los Angeles, San Pedro and Whittier. Downtown Los
Angeles and surrounding communities (such as Hollywood and
Montebello) will retain area code 213.
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1.
