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