Publisher: Fido 1/1
Editor: Thom Henderson
Review Editor: Andy Foray
Fido Utility Review Editor: Ben Baker
Regional Bureau Chiefs: Hosts and coordinators everywhere
Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings
Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 1/1. You are
encouraged to submit articles for publication in Fidonews.
Article submission standards are contained in the file
FIDONEWS.DOC, available on request from Fido 1/1.
Disclaimer or don't-blame-us:
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them;
everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING
received.
ARC? What's an ARC?
I don't know if you know it or not, but we're the guys who
wrote ARC. I don't mention this to brag or anything. It's
just that I've made a few interesting observations that I'd
like to share with you.
[The real truth is that I'm stuck for a topic this week.]
I've been told that everybody who's anybody has ARC by now.
I hope so, since Ben Baker is using it to compress the node
list. Mostly I get told this by people who want me to use
ARC to compress the newsletter.
For some strange reason this bothers me. It was written
first and foremost as an archive utility, with compression
being added later. I guess I just have a problem with the
idea of a one-file archive. At least one person told me
that he used ARC on every single file on his board. I don't
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:37 Page 2
think I could do that. Among other things, I'd be afraid
that my users would think I was getting pushy or something.
I don't think I'd use it on the newsletter anyway. Partly
because I don't want to seem pushy, but that's not the only
reason. While every Fido sysop might have ARC by now, I
don't know if every Fido user has it. Supposedly this thing
is for users as well. I suppose Fidonews is really mainly
for users, since they certainly outnumber the sysops. I'd
like to think that they have a good chance of being able to
read it.
It's done us some good in a couple of ways, though. We've
gotten some good advertising out of it. I had occasion to
call a bureau chief for one of the computer trade magazines
not long ago. He paused for a few seconds after I announced
myself, and said, "You guys wrote ARC, didn't you?" One or
two of those can make you feel pretty good. But most of our
clients (current and potential) don't seem to use bulletin
boards much, so it doesn't cut much ice with them.
In truth, we've gotten much more out of it than I ever
expected. We've gotten alot of free advertising, which
might not always help, but certainly doesn't hurt. And much
to my surprise, we've even gotten some donations.
I'm afraid I'm a bit cynical about human nature. We
released it because we didn't really think it would sell
well enough (if it cost money) to pay back the costs of
marketing it. We made it "freeware" because that doesn't
cost any extra. I personally never thought we'd see a dime
from it. When the first check came in, we were astounded.
We were torn between cashing it, and framing it. (We
compromised; we cashed it and framed a Xerox copy of it.)
So far we're up to about $300, and even have a couple of
letters asking about site licensing.
So maybe it will take off yet. Maybe in a few months checks
will be pouring in, and we'll be making decent money on the
thing. Maybe NASA will invite me to go on a shuttle flight.
Maybe my partner will be elected President in a write-in
campaign. Somehow I doubt it.
But I hope I'm wrong. I hope it does work. Not so much for
the money (well, the money would be nice too), but because
I'd like to think that freeware is a viable concept. I'd
like to think that a guy with a good idea can succeed on a
shoestring. I have very little faith in human nature, but
I'd really like to be wrong.
Here it is, the first of October, and the leaves have
just begun their yearly metamorphosis to the colors of Fall.
At least, that is how it is down here in the South. Why,
you may ask, am I submitting my Christmas wish list now?
Why not wait until a more appropriate season? Why not wait
until there is a chill in the air and all of the leaves are
on the ground, if indeed not snow? Well, like everything
else in this world, a "wish list" needs time to develop and
grow. As Fido Sysops, we already run perhaps the finest BBS
software in the land. But could it be improved? And
indeed, SHOULD it be improved? The answer is a resounding
YES! A program that is not improved is yesterday's news and
tomorrow's relic. Fido has been constantly improved as we
have all seen. It is up now to version 11 now, and there
have been quite a few improvements over the old version 10.
But is this the best we can do? I think not! The list that
I am submitting below contains some things that I, as well
as many Fido users, would like to see become a part of Fido.
Kind of an "early" Christmas list of sorts. I'll bet some
of the things on MY list are on YOUR list, too! Let's take
a moment to compare our notes and see what we have. Tom, if
you're listening, you could be our big old Santa Clause and
make our Christmas dreams come true!!
"THE LIST"
1. Give the user a choice of what kind of screens he'd
like to see by adding code to support ANSI graphics.
Just as RBBS-PC (grrrr...) gives the user a choice of
screens, so should Fido! It would be easy! If the
user says he wants ANSI graphics, then access a file
called WELCOME1.ANS, otherwise, access WELCOME1.BBS as
usual. Same for all the other panels on the system.
By setting a binary flag at logon in reply to a
question, the user could be presented a consistent set
of graphics or non-graphics screens!
2. Give the sysop the ability to have the CHAT bell also
ring the printer bell. The chat bell by itself is hard
to hear unless you happen to be very near the computer.
I have myself missed many a chat because I could not
hear the bell. If you sound the printer horn at the
same time, then it would be a little easier to hear,
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:41 Page 4
and I wouldn't miss near as many users requesting to
chat with me! Many times a user will give up using the
system in frustration because he cannot get the help he
needs when he needs it the most!
3. The ability to configure our systems to support
specific baud rates. For example, Fido will now
support 300, 1200, and 2400 baud (and maybe others that
I am unaware of). Some sysops prefer to limit their
systems to only 1200 baud access, or 1200 and 2400 baud
access. This is particularly true within companies.
Perhaps Tom could assign a set of switches. For
example one switch would enable 300 baud, another 1200
baud, and yet another 2400 baud. Then, a Sysop could
decide which baud rates HE wanted to support!
4. Automatic baud rate sensing is needed. Instead of
having to whack the carriage return or the space bar
(depending on the modem you have), why not take a
lesson from the RBBS-PC folks and automatically
determine how the user is connected? Shouldn't be that
difficult. The method is already available by simply
studying the latest RBBS source code. Then we would
not have to have the new user sit there, connected, and
not know what he is expected to do. I personally have
seen MANY a new BBS user sit there connected to my
system, unsure of what he is supposed to do, only to
get frustrated and drop carrier without ever seeing a
thing of my BBS!
5. This wish concerns the Fido Newsletter. I would like
to see a Table of Contents, listed on the front page!!
It would be NICE to be able to find the issue that I
was interested in WITHOUT having to thumb through every
single back-issue looking for that ONE article of
interest. By creating a TOC on the front page, all I
or anyone else would have to do is just browse the
front page! The ARPANET newsletters are done this way,
so I think perhaps we should take a lesson and do the
Fido Newsletters in a similar manner!
6. I would like to see a better security system for Fido.
I can already hear someone out there moaning, but think
about it a moment. Users tend to use the same password
on every system they log onto. If some turkey finds
out what your password is on one system, then he has
access to every other BBS that you visit as well!
Other than stating policy (that no one reads), there is
no good way to make sure that passwords are revalidated
from time to time. My suggestion would be to put a
flag in the user file for each user, and after say, 60
days, warn him at his next logon that he has to change
his password THAT session, or be locked out of the
system (or be converted to TWIT access, or something
along those lines). This would force users to at least
periodically change their passwords in an effort keep
"BBS crashers" at bay. By not allowing a user to
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:43 Page 5
change his password to his "current" password, he would
be forced to use something different that a crasher
would have a hard time keeping up with. Many
commercial systems (VM, MVS, etc) have this kind of
security, and it seems to WORK! There are other checks
of the new password that could be made (not his first
or last names, city or state, etc), but this basic
method would do much to keep our systems secure! I
realize that we are NOT talking about main-frames here
... these are Personal Computers. But just take a look
at most of the BBS's in this country today and compare
them to, say, 2 years ago. They are now BRISTLING with
security (or attempted security) because of what
"crashers" have been up to!
7. Have Fido check for mail ONCE for ALL AREAS when the
user first log on, rather than when he tries to go into
a new message area. Many users have told me this is
irritating. They had rather be asked ONCE, and TOLD
ONCE, rather than have to keep on answering questions.
Even if this creates a short delay while all the
message bases are checked, most folks agree that this
would be more desirable than constantly being quizzed
about whether or not to check mail.
8. A better SYSOP_xxx.EXE program, that when run remotely,
would give a DECENT display. The current version
writes all over the screen when the SysOp is in REMOTE
mode, and is very difficult to use!
9. This one might be considered part of number 8 above.
Might it be desirable to have a tidier way to access
the user file while ONLINE (a SysOp command)? There
are times when it sure would be NICE to NOT have to
drop down into DOS and that you COULD maintain the user
file while logged on normally!
Well, those are my wishes for now. I will probably have a
few others before Christmas, and if I do I will publish them
here. I would like to see what kind of wishes the rest of
you out there have regarding Fido. As I said, Fido is
probably the finest BBS software that a Sysop could run.
Tom Jennings has MUCH to be proud of as Fido's creator. He
is a prime example that you CAN teach an old dog new tricks!
He does in every release! Maybe he'll be able to teach Fido
some of the "tricks" that comprise my wish list, and perhaps
he'll include some of YOUR favorite wishes!
Thanks to all of you who submitted NODE NAME suggestions to
my NAME_MY_NODE contest. As of the 9/30/85 deadline, 23
names had been submitted.
I have determined five finalists from the list and NOW, it's
your turn....
The author of the winning name will be sent a surprise. You
have two weeks to VOTE. The winning name will be announced
in the October 21 FidoNews. Stay tuned!!
Yes, I'm tired. For several years I've been blaming it on
middle-age, iron-poor blood, lack of vitamins, air
pollution, water pollution, saccharin, obesity, dieting,
under-arm odor, yellow wax build-up, and a dozen other
maladies that make you wonder if life is really worth
living. But now I find out, tain't that. I'm tired because
I'm overworked. The population of this country is 200
million. Eighty-four million are retired. That leaves 116
million to do the work. There are 75 million in school,
which leaves 41 million to do the work. Of this total,
there are 22 million employed by the government. That
leaves 19 million to do the work. Four million are in the
Armed Forces, which leaves 15 million to do the work. Take
from that total the 14,800,000 people who work for State and
City Government and that leaves 200,000 to do the work.
There are 188,000 in hospitals, so that leaves 12,000 to do
the work. Now there are 11,998 people in prisons. That
leaves just two people to do the work. You and me. And
you're sitting there reading this. No wonder I'm tired.
Submitted by Rob Rothberg, Sysop of Digital Bitch.
I've always wanted to be a Sysop, and
when I found out that Elite Software
needed someone to run there Fido
(117/1262) I jumped at the opportunity
to do it! Well I just Might have jumped
in over my head. I knew it took alot of
time and effort but not as much as I'm
putting in. What really makes this
board a hassle though is the fact that
it is NOT AT MY HOUSE! other words all
the work I do on it is by over the phone
lines and the one day aweek I go in to
work on it. One of the most common
questions I get from one user is "how do
I down load to a c-64?" What I usually
tell him is that he has to use ascii
(depending upon what comm program he
uses of course), then this user comes
along and uses xmodem to down load a
file he can't even use if he has a c-64.
Of course I've had my share of obscene
messages with a few adressed to me (of
course). I have reason to believe they
where left by the ex-sysop who didn't
know how to run the system and was
fired, but I have nothing to go with so
I can't prove it.(sigh) Anyway I've had
alot of fun running there Fido Call it
up we've go a 10 meg with alot of util
programs!
Mike Ringer
Fido 1262 Net 117
(409)-846-4367
I have to take exception to the comments about setting our
Fido clocks back to Standard time at the end of the month
and then not changing them to Daylight time again.
An accurate date/time stamp is quite an important audit
trail in keeping track of files. True the user cannot easily
access the system time, but the sysop sure needs to know
when things are created. (We are hoping to install a
concurrent DOS product so as to be able to get double duty
out of our system, and this would make the date/time even
more meaningful.
Rather than have the wrong time for SIX months out of the
year, why not have the wrong time for one DAY. The FIDO's
could change their clocks on FRIDAY, before the Saturday AM
mail schedule, thus accomodating the corporate users
mentioned in the editorial, and keeping the clocks accurate
for the rest of the time.
I would request that the powers that be in St. Louis
consider such a plan. They would have to decide whether the
confusion of changing early would be less than the confusion
of having nodes miss mail time on SUNDAY AM, due to not
having changed the clocks....
David Kaplan, SYSOP 16/387
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:50 Page 10
============================================================
COLUMNS
============================================================
A long time ago... on a node far, far away (from PDPvax)
XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX
X X X X X
X X XXXXX X
X X X X
X X X X X
XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX
X X XX XXXXX XXXX
X X X X X X X
X X X X X X XXXX
X XX X XXXXXX XXXXX X
XX XX X X X X X X
X X X X X X XXXX
Still More Adventures of Luke Vaxhacker Episode n+3
When we last left Luke, the Milliamp Falcon was being
pulled down to the open collector of the Imperial Arem Star
Workstation. Dec Vadic surveys the relic as Imperial
Flunkies search for passengers...
"LS scan shows no one aboard, sir," was the report.
Vadic was unconvinced.
"Send a fully equipped Ncheck squad on board," he said.
"I want every inode checked out." He turned around
(secondary channel) and stalked off.
On board the Milliamp Falcon, .Luke was puzzled. "They
just walked in, looked around and walked off," he said. "Why
didn't they see us?"
.Con smiled. "An old munchkin trick", he explained. "See
that period in front of your name?"
.Luke spun around, just in time to see the decimal point.
"Where'd that come from?" he asked.
"Spare decimal points lying around from the last time I
fixed the floating point accelerator," said .Con. "Handy for
smuggling blocks across file system boundarys, but I never
thought I'd have to use them on myself. They aren't going
to be fooled for long, though. We'd better figure a way outa
here."
-------------------------------------------
At this point (.) the dialogue tends to wedge. Being the
editor and in total control of the situation, I think it
would be best if we just sort of gronk the next few
paragraphs. For those who care, our heroes find themselves
in a terminal room of the Workstation, having thrashed
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:51 Page 11
several Flunkies to get there. For the rest of you, just
keep banging the rocks together, Guys. --Ed.
-------------------------------------------
"Hold on," said Con. "It says we have 'new mail'. Is
that an error?"
"%SYS-W-NORMAL, Normal, successful completion," said
PDP-1. "Doesn't look like it. I've found the inode for the
Milliamp Falcon. It's locked in kernal data space. I'll
have to slip in and patch the reference count, alone..." He
disappeared through a nearby entry point.
Meanwhile, RS232 found a serial port and logged in. His
bell started ringing loudly. "He keeps saying, 'She's on
line, She's on line'," said 3CPU. "I believe he means
Princess LPA0:. She's being held on one of the priviledged
levels."
----------------------------------------------------------
Once again, things get sticky, and the dialogue suffers the
most damage. After much handwaving and general flaming, they
agree to rescue her. They headed for the detention level,
posing as Flunkies (which is hard for most hackers) claiming
that they had trapped the Bookie executing an illegal
racket. They reached the block where the Princess was
locked up and found only two guards in the header. --Ed.
-------------------------------------------------------
"Good day, eh?" said the first guard.
"How's it goin', eh?" said the other. "Like, what's
that, eh?"
"Process transfer from block 1138, dev 10/9," said Con.
"Take off, it is not," said the first guard. "Nobody
told us about it, and we're not morons, eh?"
At this point (.), the Bookie started raving wildly, Con
shouted "Look out, he's loose!" and they all started
blasting PROMs left and right. The guards started to catch
on and were about to issue a general wakeup when the PROM
blasters were turned on them.
"Quickly, now," said Con. "What buffer is she in? It's
not going to take long for these..."
The intercom receiver interrupted him, so he took out
it's firmware with a short blast.
"...guys to figure out something is goin' on," he
continued...
TO BE INTERMINABLE...
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:53 Page 12
============================================================
FOR SALE
============================================================
Kevin R. Porter
Sysop of WayStar Fido at (617)-481-7147 (DATA)
FOR SALE: Digital Equipment DF03-AC dual speed (300 or 1200
baud) autodialer MODEM, in excellent condition with all of
the original DEC documentation. Software like Fido
BBS/FidoNET, KERMIT, XMODEM, POLY-COM, and many others can
use this modem. Asking $200.00 or best offer. Leave
message to: KEVIN PORTER on WayStar Fido (FidoNET #16/0 or
#101/14) or call (617)-480-6300 (VOICE-days) or at (617)-
481-3306 (VOICE-evenings)
FOR SALE: Infoton I-100 professional CRT TERMINAL with 25
line by 80 column display, dual-intensity, reverse-video,
direct screen access, speeds from 110 to 9,600 baud,
EXCELLENT "Hall-effect" keyboard with full autorepeat on ALL
keys, asking $250.00 or best offer. Leave message to:
KEVIN PORTER on WayStar Fido (FidoNET #16/0 or #101/14) or
call (617)-480-6300 (VOICE-days) or at (617)-481-3306
(VOICE-evenings)
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:54 Page 13
============================================================
WANTED
============================================================
WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE
(OK..Working anyway)
I am in need of TRS-80 Model III or IV systems. Preferably
with drives but not manditory. If you have one or two you'd
like to part with I can use them. Please send FIDO MAIL to:
EJ McKernan or SYSOP of node 14/386 or call (data) 316-343-8028
or (voice) 316-342-6782 (after 6pm evenings central.)
I really want these systems. Please contact me and let me
know EXACTLY what you have (condition, model, RAM, ect...)
and price you want for said machine(s).
Thanks,
ej mckernan sysop Bit Bucket/SanyoNet Headquarters
FIDONEWS -- 14 Oct 85 03:02:55 Page 14
============================================================
NOTICES
============================================================
Interruptions to Service
We here at the Fidonews office will be moving soon. (I sold
my house and am moving into an apartment.) Among the
expected problems is that it may take some time for us to
get full phone service installed at our new location. We
will strive mightily to prevent it, but we may be forced to
skip an issue or two. We'll try to give you advance notice
when the time comes.
