FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet
Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1.
You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in
FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file
FNEWSART.DOC, available from node 1/1.
The contents of the articles contained here are not our
responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them.
Everything here is subject to debate.
Table of Contents
1. EDITORIAL
The Faceless Crowd
2. ARTICLES
DataCare Hard Disk backup Utility
Notes on ConnCentral Fido Sysops Meeting
Goals of the FidoNet Standards Committee
EchoMail and Genealogy
Starting Up Luther_NET
Z-100 based Fido update
3. COLUMNS
Adding RAM is easy!
Computer Industry Spotlight
Job Market Research Part IV
4. FOR SALE
DataCare Hard Disk Utility
Entertainment Software for your PC!
Public Domain Software Library Sale!!
Special Offer to FidoNet Sysops
5. NOTICES
The Interrupt Stack
Starting a Conference for Computer Genealogists
WATCH OUT
Genealogical Computing Seminar
I've been writing to you for over a year and a half now, but I
can't really say I know you. I've carried on correspondence via
FidoNet mail with many of you. I've spoken to quite a lot of you
by phone. But there are only a handful of you that I've ever
met. Do I really know you?
Electronic mail is wonderful, I can't deny that. It's given me a
chance to meet people I'd never have known otherwise. I've
formed valuable friendships that I'd be much the poorer without.
But I can only use "meet" in a figurative sense. While I've
gotten to know many people, I can never be sure just how well I
really know any of them. There is some quality of face-to-face
meetings that's missing in electronic mail.
So much of human communication is undefined. There is so much
that gets relegated to facial expressions, tone of voice, and so
forth, that I find myself often sending follow-up messages on the
order of "I didn't really mean that, I was just trying to make a
joke!" Perhaps I'm just not that good at making jokes, or perhaps
(as I suspect) there's a whole spectrum of human communication
that just doesn't come through in cold, ASCII text.
I've seen this before. I'm not all that "old" to FidoNet, but
I've been communicating through computers for quite a long time.
Two of my best friends today are people I met through a real-time
conferencing system on the DTSS computer, way back when I was in
college (hating to reveal my age, but we're going back ten years
or more). One thing I've found, again and again, is that email
goes down smoother when you've had a chance to actually meet the
people you comunicate with.
In fact, of those two friends, I had a serious problem with one
of them until we had actually met and found out what each other
was really like. Things just didn't work out right between us
over the comm lines until we knew each other.
This is why I see the upcoming FidoNet Conference as such an
important event. This is the second conference, and the first
was rather a closed affair (I wasn't even invited, though I was
editing FidoNews at the time). That was the one where multinet
operation was first established as the way to go. This one
coming up may be equally important, or even more so. FidoNet was
smaller last year, and didn't seem such a big deal. Now it's
larger, and has problems that were never envisioned a year ago.
One may safely assume that equally weighty matters will be
discussed.
But even if not, it's still an important event. EchoMail makes
it even more important, because it makes you interact with that
Fidonews Page 3 28 Jul 1986
many more people. So there are all those people you talk (type?)
with every day; what are they really like? Say you've been
talking with "Mikey" every day for months. Even if you think now
that you don't like him, how can you really know? You might feel
differently once you've actually met him. You might find that
he's a jerk, as you already thought, or you might find that he's
really a nice guy once you get to know him. The main point is
that you CAN'T know until you've met him. Remember, of those two
friends I'd mention earlier, one of them and I never got along
until we'd met. We've been good friends ever since.
So THAT is why this conference is so important. Never mind all
the stuff about the IFNA business meeting and such. Oh, yeah,
that's important too. Especially if you're into political type
maneuvering and such. But the real importance of it all is that
you get to meet these people you've been talking with. Even if
you haven't been talking with people, then this is still
important, because it'll give you a chance to meet interesting
people to talk with in the future. This isn't some group of
strangers you've never heard of and will never see again; this is
a meeting of folks you've talked to or heard of that you can keep
in touch with for the rest of your life.
Believe me, this counts. We hope to have a Third International
FidoNet conference next year, but we can't plan on it. All we
know for sure is that we're having one this year. It takes money
to stage one of these things. COSUG has graciously (too
graciously, it's members might say) offered to sponsor it this
year, but there aren't that many dues-paying organizations in
FidoNet. Who else can afford to sponsor a major convention?
It'd be nice if IFNA could afford to provide the seed money, but
IFNA is, at least at present, a very cash-poor operation that can
just barely afford the paperwork involved in being recognized as
an "official" non-profit corporation. For now we must look
elsewhere, and elsewhere looks pretty bleak indeed.
So now might be your last (and only) chance for quite some time
to come. If you don't make it, I, at least, will be very
disappointed. I'll be there, and I'm looking forward to meeting
you. If you can't make it this year, then I don't know when
we'll ever be able to meet. Like I said, I've been writing to
you every week for over a year and a half. I can't really say
that I know you, but I sure would like to.
Those of us who operate Fido boards know that the sanctity of
content of the hard disk on which Fido resides is of utmost
importance if the BBS is to operate day after day in a manner
that is reliable and free of trouble. NOBODY wants to make it
into the doghouse.
My PC Clone has 2 20-megabyte Seagate drives that I love. These
are among the most reliable drives in the world. STILL, without
regard to intrinsic reliability, they have to be backed up to
some other medium on a regular basis, so that neither lightning
nor your friendly utility company can scramble your FAT or do
some other violence to the data that is so precious to proper
operation of Fido.
Here at the Reindeer Shed we use DataCare, which just recently
received a very favorable review from PC Magazine. It is easy to
use, being either command-line OR menu-driven, is reliable, NOT
copy-protected, and well documented. It is not as fast as
FastBack, but is at least as reliable. Because it writes the
backup diskettes in IBM backup format, no restore utility is
needed, so no matter what happens, your PC-DOS or MS-DOS disk
will restore your files, sub-directories or complete disks in
whatever way you wish.
DataCare also includes a file compare utility, a revised (and
much smarter and more useful) DIR replacement, and a file and
directory RENAMER that even allows INTERNAL DOS commands to be
renamed.
As DataCare operates, it creates backup diskettes (if you have
the good fortune to have 2 floppy drives, it will alternate be-
tween them) that are labeled, and it will refuse to overwrite a
diskette that it knows it has just created. It maintains a file
that can be searched to fine the diskette on which a particular
file resides, so that you needn't feed 30 diskettes to it to
restore a file on diskette 31. Its last act is to back up the
locator file to the last diskette, so the diskettes ALWAYS have
the index set associated with a given set resident on the last
diskette in the set.
DataCare will also do incremental backups, and is smart enough to
request the last diskette in the series to which files are to be
appended to be mounted in a drive, at which time it reads off the
index of files, appending to both the diskette series AND the
index of files, again backing up the index of files as the last
file on the diskette set.
Fidonews Page 5 28 Jul 1986
DataCare verifies diskettes as written, and does not require that
diskettes (after the first diskette in a backup series) be
formatted, being capable of formatting them "on the fly". The
error checking that is done on both the primary and backup medium
is exceptional - files that I could not read with any other
utility DataCare has been able to read. Because it does not
depend on the error recovery in DOS, it is not subject to DOS
error recovery flakes, as are some other utilities.
Another unique feature of DataCare is that each licensed user is
not only permitted but encouraged to give a limited copy (by
limited I mean that the program works for three weeks) to a
friend or acquaintance who wants to try it out. I personally have
sent more than a dozen copies out to friends, many of whom were
impressed enough to have paid the old price.
I have saved the best part for last. The price of DataCare has
been $129.95 for over a year. The price has been cut to $49.95.
How long this price will hold I do not know.
DataCare is published by:
Ellicott Software
3777 Plum Hill Court
Ellicott City, MD 21043
(301) 465-2690
Questions may be addressed to me at Fido 109/628, or to the
publisher at the above address.
Fido 109/628 has no financial interest in Ellicott Software, and
receives nothing in return for this review. We just like to see
someone who has done his homework be rewarded for his effort, and
the author of DataCare has done his homework well.
A small group of Fido Sysops met at Jim Ryan's office (Presco) in
Woodbridge to discuss matters pertaining primarily to the
ConnCentral Net. The following topics were discussed:
1. Picnic: A picnic will be held on Saturday, July 19, at the
Lake Quassapaug Amusement Park. The picnic will be open to
all Bulletin Board people (and their families). Sysops can
announce the picnic on their boards. Bring your own drinks
and food to share. Jim Ryan is in charge and will send out a
file on it.
2. Responsibilities of Sysops: Chuck Venter made the point that
although he is the Net Coordinator, it is not his
responsibility to monitor individual nodes, or provide all the
answers to everybody questions. The Sysop EchoMail area is a
good place to leave questions. Chuck feels he doesn't have
time for everything so decided to delegate some of his
responsibilities.
New Users: Bill Lyman volunteered to help new sysops get
started. He is going to put together an archived disk with
all the files a new sysop needs to get started, including
utilities.
Fido Utilities: Ed Rauh will take charge of keeping a
collection of all useful Fido Utilities up-to-date. He would
like all sysops to send him a list of the Utilities they have
and the version number. The files will be kept on Cheshire
Fido for convenience. Ed will set up a Server on his board for
sysops only so they can request files from him. He will send
around documentation on how to use the server.
Modem Help: Jim Ryan is available for technical help with
modems.
Reorganization of FidoMail: Because of the heavy flow of
FidoMail and EchoMail through Cheshire Fido, it was decided a
decentralization of the mail was needed. Based primarily on
calling areas, the Fidos were divided into four groups each
with their own hub. Chuck will send mail to each hub and they
will distribute to their own members. Conversely, each node
will route all net mail to their hub who will send it on to
Chuck (or to another node in their own group. This should
greatly simplify matters and eliminate backlog at Cheshire
Fido. Bob Morris will be the hub for the Bridgeport and
Milford area, as he has toll-free calling. The hub
assignments are as follows ( all net 141 unless otherwise
noted):
Bill Wonneberger will also receive mail from 333 when he has
his Fido set up.
Each sysop should put the new routing files into effect on
July 15 (for mail the morning of the 16th) This should give us
a few days to test it and discuss any problems at the picnic.
4. Connection with Hartford Net: A few sysops from the 142 net
were present. They were asked if they were interested in
linking up with our net. Bill Unghire (142/214) said he would
bring it up with the other sysops. Bob Morris will try hooking
up with Bill for EchoMail. We do not have a connection to the
Hartford area now but Bob can manage it somehow.
5. Arbitration: The question arose how to resolve various
conflicts that come up between boards. At first an arbitration
board was suggested, but was considered unnecessary. Problems
can first be discussed via EchoMail, then if there is still a
problem, it can be arbitrated at the next sysop meeting. The
meetings will be held every two months. Problem boards can be
dropped from the net and the information sent to the Region
Coordinator.
6. User problems: Problems with user's are left up to the
individual sysop. EchoMail should be used to alert other
Fido's. Ed Rauh mentioned a bogus version of Fido 11u which
was uploaded to his system which caused it to crash.
7. Next meeting: The Next meeting is scheduled for Sept. 9 at
7:30pm at the AT&T office in Hamden. 2750 Dixwell Ave. Bob
Morris will be host.
8. New EchoMail: Ed Rauh has version 1.31 which he will
distribute.
9. Misc.: Bill Lyman is going to the Fido Conference out west. If
anyone has anything they want him to bring up, let him know.
Ray Brand ( sysop of Lido Hotel) wants people to know he does
NOT work at Computer Factory, so don't ask him prices already.
Ed Rauh says he is restraining from mentioning his prices in
EchoMail and others should do so too. All agreed.
The meeting lasted about 3 hours. The attendees are as follows:
Jim Ryan Silver Screen 141/9 Woodbridge
Ellen Snyder B.O.M.C. 141/350 Orange
Joel Robb Ganymede 141/730 Watertown
Chuck Venter Cheshire Fido 141/600 Cheshire
Bill Lyman Compusoft#1 141/810 Wallingford
Mike Mortell Compusoft#2 141/820 Meriden
Fidonews Page 8 28 Jul 1986
Vince Perriello Naugy-Net 141/491 Naugatuck
Eric Nilsson Eric's Fido 16/645 New Britain
Bob Morris ASCII Neighborhood 141/333 West Haven
Pete Rosenthal Fido/First State Net Wilmington,DE
Ed Rauh BCP Tech 141/215 New Haven
Bill Unghire Bill's Fido 142/214 Newington
Bob Beaudoin Dave's Fido 141/xxx Bridgeport
Dave Beaudoin Dave's Fido 141/xxx Bridgeport
Raymond S. Brand Lido Hotel 16/630 Hamden
Bill Wonneberger Calllahan's Stratford
This article is intended to describe the purpose and goals of the
FidoNet Standards Committee. Your input and feedback will be
very much appreciated.
The Problems
------------
1. Implementors of FidoNet software (Fido itself and the many
emerging "FidoClones") need a rigorous definition of FidoNet.
2. When deciding whether to list a class of nodes in the node
list, the IFNA has no way of knowing if a FidoClone is
sufficiently compatible with FidoNet to be "safe" to list.
3. Sysops need to know if a particular system will allow them to
access FidoNet.
4. There are already two significant FidoNet standards, the one
that is implemented by Fido, and SEAdog's extensions; plus at
least one clone that seems incompatible (not by intent). The
situation is becoming urgent.
The Goals
---------
The goals of the FSC are, of course, primarily aimed at solving
the above problems.
Our first priority is to document the existing FidoNet protocol,
as designed by Tom Jennings, sufficient to implement a FidoClone
without recourse to other sources. We must also provide IFNA
with some means of quickly and decisively determining the degree
of compatibility of a given FidoClone, thus providing a wider
range of systems to FidoNet sysops.
Once this initial task is complete, the next step is to document
the existing extensions to the basic FidoNet protocol,
specifically including the added capabilities of SEAdog.
Finally, when all of the existing protocols have been documented,
we may then look at how the standard can be improved.
We optimistically hope to have the first stage (documentation of
existing protocol, as implemented by Fido) ready for the
International FidoNet Conference in Colorado Springs. In any
event, we will be there and will present a progress report at
that time. We are also, of course, always open to suggestions
and comments, and are available to answer any questions.
Randy Bush 122/6, Chaircreature
Fidonews Page 10 28 Jul 1986
Ken Kaplan 100/22, IFNA Administration
Ben Baker 100/76, IFNA Technical
Tom Jennings 125/1, Fido
Thom Henderson 107/8, SEAdog
Gee Wong 107/312, Random techie
Bob Pritchett 107/414, Neighbor of Colossus
More people than ever are barking up the family tree and many are
using the latest in high tech to do so. Now a Genealogy EchoMail
Conference has been started to enable those who have computerized
their family research to take advantage of FidoNet's unique
message-sharing capabilities.
At present, the conference is running on two systems: Commsoft
Fido (143/26) in Mountain View, California and Downeast Roots
Fido (132/104) in Rye, New Hampshire. We believe this is the
first time automatic unrestricted message communication across
the country has been available for genealogists.
Genealogy is the third most popular hobby in America (only coin
and stamp collecting appearing to have a larger following). But,
personal computing is rising rapidly as an avocation, and for
good reason. We've never before had an in-home tool that gives
us the power to amplify our minds and labors as we go about
performing intellectual tasks and enjoying the pursuit of our
hobbies. We hope the new Genealogy EchoMail Conference will be a
guide to combining the power of the computer with the fascination
of genealogy.
Technology and interest in family origins and relationships are
the engine and fuel which will drive family research to new
levels of popularity, adequacy, accuracy, and importance. But it
is involvement with personal computers which will make each of
millions of genealogists advocates of better documentation,
greater standardization, more adequate access to existing (but
hidden) information, and more sharing of unpublished data.
Large numbers of people involved in microcomputing are rapidly
producing a society as familiar with technology as genealogists
are familiar with genealogical research methods. The marriage of
technology and genealogical methodology is ripe and most
promising. The potential for involving genealogists in computing
is awesome. The knowledge is dawning on genealogists that the
computer is a new, affordable, and powerful tool for research and
records management or book production.
For the present, telecommunications is the most untapped area of
microcomputing and nowhere moreso than in the area of
genealogical computing. We hope the Genealogy EchoMail
Conference will begin to change that. If you would like to join
the conference, contact Ken Whitaker, Sysop of Commsoft Fido
143/26, via FidoMail. Ken is conference coordinator.
Scattered about out there in the far reaches of Fido's touch
there must be a few Lutherans. For those of you who don't even
know what a Lutheran is, well, you may never know just how
deprived a life you lead, though Garrison Keillor has helped to
promulgate our reputation. But just in case this message may
grace the eyes of one of these rare birds, are you interested in
forming a net? We could co-ordinate the list, might even help
with some kind of newsletter. As it stands now, Dr. Mau,
recently of General Secretary fame from the Lutheran World
Federation is on staff here and he is able to obtain the latest
news from Geneva via telenet which we've been putting up on our
board. We've also been putting up selected "hot" news items from
the World Council of Churches from their Ecumenical News Service,
but we're not as timely with them. We could pass these news
releases on through a net, or just help pass around info on
computer use in the church, lesson plans and materials on faith
development, ecumenical concerns, i.e.; the dialogues and
education, sermon helps, Adult Forum ideas, Young Adult ideas (we
minister with the yuppies of Capitol Hill in Washington - what an
interesting lot they are), or perhaps you would want to echo mail
some message areas on ethics or theology.
If any of the above sounds at all interesting, send us a line, or
if someone out there is already invloved in this, send us a line
too and we'd be happy to join in. Send Fidomail c/o Brian Hughes
109/634.
Hello again. This is just a quick note to let all H/Z-100 owners
know of an improved version of the Generic Fido interrupt handler
that I wrote. Being the typical type of person that is not
satisfied to leave well enough alone, I have added a few features
to the handler that I think are useful.
First, there is now a "watchdog" function for use when someone is
outside Fido remotely. When activated, it simply monitors the
modem and reboots the system if the caller hangs up.
The second function, and the one that was much more difficult to
implement, is an "answer and send message" function. The idea
behind this function is that I wanted to not have incoming
callers get either a constant busy signal or no answer at all
when I was using the machine (and therefore Fido was not
running). This function monitors the modem and when a caller has
connected it determines the incoming baud rate and then sends a
message. The message can be set at any time with a simple
program from the console (or a file) and activated/deactivated
with two other small programs.
The complete set of programs can be downloaded from my system
(Fido 128/15 -- phone 303-591-4273).
One thing I would like to do is to compile a list of all Z-100
based Fido's. Therefore, I would appreciate it if everyone who
is running a Z-100 based Fido would leave me a note (easy to do
if you call to get the new version). I would also like to know if
anyone has their own version of a Z-100 Fido interrupt handler.
I think that I have the first Z-100 based Fido and would like to
confirm or (hopefully not) disprove this thought.
It's no real problem to install chips in your computer. Just a
little common sense and care are all that is required.
TURN OFF THE POWER. Remove the PC cover and any cards, but
remember which slots the cards were in. [Marking them with tape
and writing the location is a good idea.] An installation tool is
not required but a chip extractor, a special tweezers with hooks
at the tips, is highly recommended when removing chips.
NEVER DISCONNECT A CABLE, INSTALL OR PULL EITHER A CARD OR CHIP
WITH THE POWER ON!!!
The three main problems encountered are static electricity,
broken pins, and carelessness.
STATIC. Do not wear synthetic clothes or leather soled shoes.
Work and stand on newspaper. Discharge yourself before beginning
[by touching the metal chassis of the computer]. Do =not= use
aluminum foil as a work surface!!
PINS. The pins on most chips are spread apart in too much of a
"v" shape to align easily with the socket holes. You may need to
place the chip on its side and press on it gently, bending the
set of pins resting on the table inward SLIGHTLY to move them
more near vertical. Do this one chip at a time as you install
them into the sockets. [Learning to install chips without this
bending is strongly recommended -- it =can= be done.]
Each chip has a "U" shaped notch at one end. This is important!
This notch should match up with a similar mark on the socket or
you may have to use other chips of the same type [on the board]
as a guide. Set each chip into its socket GENTLY and push it
firmly in with both thumbs. DO NOT RUSH. [Installing a chip
backwards may be harmful to its health when the power is turned
on.]
------------
| |
> |
| |
------------
^
|
NOTCH
After the chips are installed, you will need to set the dip
Fidonews Page 15 28 Jul 1986
switches if you are adding memory chips. There are two switch
units on the PC and one on the XT. Positions 1-4 of switch #2
reflect the total memory of all the installed memory on the PC.
The single switch unit on the XT reflects only the total on the
system board and does not deal with expansion card memory. Some
switches 'slide' while others 'rock'. Consult the Guide to
Operations manual or expansion card documentation for the proper
switch settings. [But read it BEFORE all else fails.]
Note: Rocker settings are not always intuitive. The active end
is pushed down (use a ball point pen). However, some diagrams
show the raised end of the rocker as black. Black in this case
is the 'other end'. Confusing? Beware of illustrations.
Compare the illustration for the pre-upgrade settings to what you
had before, this will help you determine whether a switch should
be down or up in the illustration.
Some expansion cards have switches to 'switch in' individual
banks of memory as needed. This should not be confused with
setting the starting address of the card which is usually equal
to the amount of memory on the system board. Some cards require
to be told the total memory on the card itself.
Now, reinstall the cards, insert DOS in drive A and turn on the
power. It will take longer than you are accustomed to.
Run CHKDSK and note the total memory at the bottom of the screen.
this should be your new total memory. If it is not, then the
switches are set incorrectly.
If the memory failed the diagnostic and gave an error message on
the screen, you may have a bad chip. This is rare but it does
happen. If you have a special diagnostic that can locate the
chip use it.
The first step is to locate the row of chips with the bad one(s).
POWER OFF. Set the memory switches to the next lower 64K and
power on again. If the diagnostic passes, then the bad chip is
in the last 64K. If it does not pass, reduce the memory (by the
switches) by another 64K etc. until the row harboring the culprit
is isolated.
Note: Since the XT switches do not deal with expansion card
memory and therefore the total memory, a different technique will
have to be used. If the card allows the switching out of
individual memory banks, use them. Otherwise you may have to
remove chips a row at a time until the fault goes away.
Once the row has been isolated, pull a chip from a good row and
set it aside. Pull a chip from the bad row and install it in the
good row. Repeat until you get a failure. Remember when you
pull and install each chip Power Down first. There could be more
than one bad chip.
After you have tried all the chips from the bad row and not found
a bad one, things may be okay. If a chip was not fully seated,
Fidonews Page 16 28 Jul 1986
or if oxidation has formed, an undeserved error may point to a
perfectly good chip. When you moved the chip, you may have
corrected the fault when it was reseated. Install the chips you
removed from the good row and install them in the row that you
removed all the "suspect" chips from. Rerun the diagnostics with
all the memory switched on again. If all goes well, power off,
button up, and enjoy.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
1) Not all IBM compatibles can be upgraded merely by adding the
extra RAM. Some may need some other addition. For example,
the machine I used required a proprietary chip from the
manufacturer.
2) Some IBM compatibles run diagnostics on power up. One way to
check out new chips is to swap them with original RAM chips
and run the diagnostics. You may be able to find a bad chip
this way. Running the diagnostics overnite may help isolate a
marginal chip. This is suggested as a method only if you
cannot isolate a new RAM chip as bad any other way. But be
careful. It means =carefully= removing chips you know are
good.
3) A useful tool to help installing the new chips is a plastic
(disposable) putty knife available in most hardware stores.
If it slips, it is less likely to damage the mother board.
4) Probably the most common problem in this process is the
correct setting of the DIP switches. For example, I thought I
had done everything right, but on first power-up I lost
graphics capability and could only address 256k. I was SURE I
had done everything right. But it was a matter of having
flipped the wrong DIP switch. Not all compatibles follow
IBM's standards in which switches do what. IF ALL ELSE FAILS,
TRY READING YOUR OPERATING MANUAL.
DATA SYSTEMS DESIGN, INC. -- Data Systems Design, Inc.
manufactures computer peripheral systems such as mass storage
subsystems in control boards. Positions are available in
engineering and sales. There are on-the-job instruction and
training programs for each field of service.
Contact: Dick Krenshaw, Employment Administrator, Data
Systems Design, Inc., 2241 Lundy Avenue, San Jose, CA 95131.
When you have completed the second phase of your research --
and have compiled a substantial list of firms that seem likely to
have current suitable opportunities (including names of hiring
officials whenever possible) -- then you must prepare a
customized cover letter for each firm and mail this, together
with a copy of your resume, to each company. Note that, in
preparing your cover letter it is extremely valuable if you can
cite a referral or other contact within the firm. In fact,
anything you can do to personalize your application -- thereby
separating it from the daily tide of anonymous applications most
large firms must deal with -- will greatly help your chances of
being called in for an interview. Even if you don't know someone
inside the firm, you may have made some indirect contact with the
firm or industry that can be mentioned; for example you may have
attended a lecture or meeting where a company official presided;
mention this as having sparked your interest in the firm. Use
your imagination: try to find some way of relating yourself in a
personal way to the hiring official, his department, his
occupation, his firm, or his industry.
This latter point suggests the great importance that
virtually all employers attach to dealing with the applicant AS A
PERSON. Employers, like all human beings, tend to be favorably
disposed to people who share their own interests and views. Your
cover letter is only one of many ways you can create a favorable
personal reaction from an employer. Another way -- probably the
best way -- is by talking directly with him (or her), or with
someone he works with. Of course, you may find a personal
conversation very difficult to arrange, even via telephone.
Still you should be keenly aware of the importance of personal
contact with prospective employers. Whenever possible, put aside
your resume and talk as often as you can, as much as you can, to
anyone in the industry. Discuss the industry, the company, or
even yourself. For usually, it's the "human-factor" --
identifying yourself to the employer as an individual -- that
makes the difference. Whether you call this "networking,"
"informational interviewing," or simply "an informed approach to
job hunting" it is the best way known to land the job you want
and deserve.
Distributed via FidoNet BBS by NOVA_WEG Fido 109/626, W.E.G.
Systems, P.O. Box 5072, Springfield, VA 22150.
For more information regarding the series of articles
printed here, contact the NOVA_WEG direct at (703)-425-0695,
1200baud, 24hrs daily. OR contact the FidoNet Host Node nearest
you carrying the employment listings and download the file
RESEARCH.TXT which contains all 4-parts in one article.
=================================================================
FOR SALE
=================================================================
Ellicott Software
Fido 109/628
DataCare, a PC Magazine choice in its recent review of hard
disk products, is available at a new low price - $49.95, down
from $129.95. This is the same product that has been favorably
reviewed. The price is for a limited time only.
This product is used by a number of Fido BBS's in net 109, and
has found favor with many people that are not SYSOPS in the
Baltimore - DC - Virginia area.
Three-week trials are available from any user of the product.
The review can be read in the PC magazine issue that had as its
emphasis EGA boards. A review has been submitted to FidoNews
for publication, but it is uncertain when it will appear.
DataCare is published by:
Ellicott Software, Inc.
3777 Plum Hill Court
Ellicott City, MD 21043
Professional quality games include PASCAL source! From the
author of KALAH Version 1.6, SuperDots, a variation of the
popular pencil/paper DOTS game, has MAGIC and HIDDEN DOT
options. KALAH 1.7 is an African strategy game requiring
skill to manipulate pegs around a playing board. Both games
use the ANSI Escape sequences provided with the ANSI.SYS
device driver for the IBM-PC, or built into the firmware on
the DEC Rainbow. Only $19.95 each or $39.95 for both
exciting games! Please specify version and disk format.
These games have been written in standard TURBO-PASCAL and
run on the IBM-PC, DEC Rainbow 100 (MSDOS and CPM), CPM/80,
CPM/86, and PDP-11. Other disk formats are available, but
minor customization may be required.
BSS Software
P.O. Box 3827
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
For every order placed, a donation will be made to the Fido
coordinators! Also, if you have a previous version of KALAH
and send me a donation, a portion of that donation will also
be sent to the coordinators. When you place an order, BE
CERTAIN TO MENTION WHERE YOU SAW THE AD since it also
appears in PC Magazine and Digital Review.
Questions and comments can be sent to:
Brian Sietz at Fido 107/17
(609) 429-6630 300/1200/2400 baud
Public Domain collection - 550+ "ARC" archives - 20+ megs of
software and other goodies, and that's "archived" size! When
unpacked, you get approximately 28 megabytes worth of all kinds
of software, from text editors to games to unprotection schemes
to communications programs, compilers, interpreters, etc... Over
55 DS/DD diskettes!!
This collection is the result of more than 15 months of intensive
downloads from just about 150 or more BBS's and other sources,
all of which have been examined, indexed and archived for your
convenience. Starting a Bulletin Board System? Want to add on
to your software base without spending thousands of dollars? This
is the answer!!!
To order the library, send $100 (personal or company check,
postal money order or company purchase order) to:
Micro Consulting Associates, Fido 103/511
Post Office Box 4296
200-1/2 E. Balboa Boulevard
Balboa, Ca. 92661-4296
Please allow 3 weeks for delivery of your order.
Note: No profit is made from the sale of the Public Domain
software in this collection. The price is applied entirely to
the cost of downloading the software over the phone lines,
running a BBS to receive file submissions, and inspecting,
cataloguing, archiving and maintaining the files. Obtaining this
software yourself through the use of a computer with a modem
using commercial phone access would cost you much more than what
we charge for the service...
Please specify what type of format you would like the disks to be
prepared on. The following choices are available:
- IBM PC-DOS Backup utility
- Zenith MS-DOS 2.11 Backup Utility
- DSBackup
- Fastback
- ACS INTRCPT 720k format
- Plain ol' files (add $50)
Add $30 if you want the library on 1.2 meg AT disks (more
expensive disks). There are no shipping or handling charges.
California residents add 6% tax.
For each sale, $10 will go to the FidoNet Administrators.
SEAdog Electronic Mail System
Special Offer for FidoNet Sysops
System Enhancement Associates, the makers of the popular ARC file
archive utility, are proud to announce the release of the SEAdog
electronic mail system.
SEAdog is a PC-based electronic mail system which is fully
FidoNet compatible. In addition to all the functionality of
FidoNet mail, SEAdog adds the following:
o User directory support, for automatic lookup of node numbers
o Return receipts
o Audit trails
o Message forwarding, with or without a retained copy
o Twenty four hour mail reception
o High priority mail for immediate delivery
o The ability to request files and updates of files from other
SEAdog systems.
o No route files needed!
o A full screen user interface that our beta test sites fell in
love with!
SEAdog is NOT a bulletin board system, but it can be used as a
"front end" for Fido (version 11q or later), allowing you to add
the full functionality of SEAdog to your existing system.
SEAdog normally sells for $100/node, but for a limited time only
we are offering SEAdog to registered FidoNet sysops for only $50!
Orders may be placed by sending a check or money order to:
System Enhancement Associates
21 New Street, Wayne NJ 07470
Or by calling (201) 473-5153 (VISA and MasterCard accepted).
1 Aug 1986
Registration deadline for the International FidoNet
Conference. Late registrations cost extra, so register now!
14 Aug 1986
Start of the International FidoNet Conference, Colorado
Springs, Colorado. Contact George Wing at node 1/10 for
details. Get your reservations in NOW! We'll see you there!
24 Aug 1989
Voyager 2 passes Neptune.
If you have something which you would like to see on this
calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1/1.
I am looking for Fido nodes in the U.S who would like to
participate in an EchoMail conference dedicated to genealogy.
This conference would be for the computer genealogist and the
sharing of genealogical information. Currently we have only one
other node in Rye, NH (132/104) and we're looking for more.
If you are interested in carrying this conference on your board,
contact me via FidoMail at 143/26.
I have just discovered that when a user logs on under
the first name ALL and no second name he has just become
one of the mose written to users on the board. If he has
access to the message area (as he does on my system), he
also has the ability to delete message to that name.
So all of those messages that were previously written to
ALL then this person has all the power to delete these
messages. I hope that this notice doesn't get to you too
late.
The New England Historic and Genealogical Society will sponsor
another Genealogical Computing Seminar September 20, 1986, at the
Boston Museum of Science Computer Place. This will be an
opportunity to learn from qualified professionals in both
computers and genealogy, to experiment with different
genealogical computing software and word processing programs
available, and to gain valuable hands-on experience under expert
guidance.
Familiarity with either and IBM (or IBM-compatible) or an Apple
personal computer is necessary, and you should be in a stage in
your genealogical research where you can benefit from
computerization--you may need a system to organize your own data,
or you may be working on a book for your family association.
There will be an advanced class for those ready to try database
programming, but the seminar is primarily designed for
intermediate level computer genealogists.
The costs since last year's computer seminar have risen
dramatically, so the seminar fee has been raised accordingly, to
$85.00 for the day. Hotel accommodations within mass transit
distance of the museum are available for NEHGS members at a
discount.
Space is limited! For more information, or to register, call or
write Marian White
Education Department
New England Historic Genealogical Society
101 Newbury Street
Boston, MA 02116
