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
ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1.
Copyright (C) 1987, by the International FidoNet Association.
All rights reserved. Duplication and/or distribution permitted
for noncommercial purposes only. For use in other circumstances,
please contact IFNA.
Table of Contents
1. ARTICLES
The Count is In! The Official Results on the Bylaws Ballot
The Power of FidoCast!
About RECOVERY 125/0 9 31
2. FOR SALE
Magazine on Disk for IBM PC and Compatibles
3. NOTICES
The Interrupt Stack
IFNA Elections Committee Formed
The Power and Perils
of Broadcast Appeals
over
FidoNet!
Below is the text of several messages sent over the Fido Network.
If you are part of the Mensa or Sysop Echos or a Host in Region
18, you have already seen them. If you are not, you may find the
information of interest.
==== Text Begins ====
Message #19
Date: 04 Jan 87 22:03:44
From: Rob Carr on 109/612, The Flying PC, Vienna VA
To: All on 135/14, Metro-Fire Fido, Miami FL
Subj: Help Make a Wish
Hey, how about helping to make a wish come true?
The "Make a Wish Foundation" is asking people to
send post cards to a 7-year old boy in Scotland who
has leukemia. His dream is to get his postcard
collection into the "Guinness Book of World Records."
It only costs 33 cents to mail a postcard to
Scotland. The address is:
Little Buddy
P. O. Box 76
Paisley Renschewshire,
Scotland, United Kingdom
Please, when you log onto other BBS's, pass this message
around. We'll all be helping to make this little boy's
life a whole lot brighter.
Thank you from Judi Duda and Lee Henry of the "Make a
Wish Foundation" and from Rob and Nancy Carr (two
nut-cases with a TRS-80 Model IV).
Matt. 25:40
--- v1.36
* Origin: China Blue BBS * Pittsburgh, PA * (129/28)
Message #38
Date: 06 Jan 87 12:14:03
From: George Falcon on 109/612, The Flying PC, Vienna VA
To: Rob Carr on 135/14, Metro-Fire Fido, Miami FL
Subj: Little Buddy
Re: Help Make a Wish
Fidonews Page 4 9 Feb 1987
Perhaps you didn't see the notification that the "Little Buddy"
story is an old hoax. I haven't attempted any verification.
---
* Origin: The Falcon's Rock - College Park, Md (109/648)
Message #87
Date: 12 Jan 87 16:28:18
From: Christopher Baker on 135/14, Metro-Fire Fido, Miami FL
To: "Wishers"
Subj: Making a Wish, Part II...
Message #80 0.25 (RCVD) (KILL/SENT)
Date: Mon 12 Jan 87 15:14
From: David Dodell on 114/15, ST JOES HOSPITAL, Phoenix AZ
To: Christopher Baker on 135/14, Metro-Fire Fido, Miami FL
Subj: WISH.TXT
Chris - I received a message from the moderator of the Disabled
conference on Usenet telling me that this message is at least
2 years old ... it started on Usenet about 1984 and mail has
been marked returned for years ... you might want to renotify
everyone ... David
********
so FidoNet falls for an old Usenet gag? look for an upcoming
article in FidoNews on FidoNet and broadcast appeals.
TTFN.
Chris
--- v1.36
* Origin: Metro-Fire Fido - Miami, FL (135/14)
==== Text Ends ====
What was this all about, you ask? This was a hoax picked up from
Usenet (a UNIX conferencing system) and introduced into FidoNet.
What happened next? I took the message, converted it into a text
file and broadcast it to the Hosts in my Region (18), IFNA HQ,
1-3/0, and the Hosts of FireNet and Health Net Echo; with a
carbon copy back to the originator.
Within 24 hours this message was making the rounds of the U.S.,
Europe, and the South Pacific; spreading like crazy from Rangoon
to Reykjavik (figuratively speaking).
When the word came in that this old chestnut was ancient history
on Usenet, the retraction went out with the same speed. As the
cancellations went out, the power and potential of this affair
began to dawn on me.
The International Fido Network represents over one thousand
publically accessible Nodes, spanning the globe. If every Node
has only 100 hundred users (very conservative figure), that now
Fidonews Page 5 9 Feb 1987
represents 100,000 people who are exposed to anything put into
the FidoNet. If each one of those users took the information
(as a hard-copy) and posted it on a company or community
bulletin board and thereby exposed 10 more people to the
information, we have reached one million people. Given more
people in any part of this equation and the possible exposure
would be even more tremendous. Consider. This thing has been
been growing by leaps and bounds since its creation but have you
stopped to reflect on the enormity of what we are doing?
What we have, in FidoNet, is an incredible, grass roots system
for communicating world-wide with people and cultures we would
never touch without it. With the adjuncts of SEAdog and Opus and
the other systems to come, we have the ability to send NetMail
anytime, virtually any place. Don't think just of NetMail to a
Node next door. Think of the possibilities.
Even though this "wish" was not genuine, the speed and power of
FidoNet was amply demonstrated. Think of this "joke" as a drill
that demonstrated that FidoNet is alive and well and READY for
action. There is something to be gained from this experience.
What I propose, now, is setting some standards for a broadcast
appeal entered into the Fido Network, hereinafter referred to as
a FidoCast(c).[IFNA, you are welcome to this term.]
1. The message should be labeled as a FidoCast to
indicate handling over the FidoNet.
2. The contents should be verified as genuine by the
Sysop/User entering the FidoCast into the system.
3. The message should contain a contact name and
number (Net/Node, telephone, etc.) of some kind
for the originator and/or the requestor.
4. The message should have an expiration and/or an
effective date (good idea, David) to indicate how
long it has been in the system and when it may be
tossed.
5. When received by a Host Node, the FidoCast should
be forwarded to all the Nodes that Host is
responsible for thus spreading the text as far as
possible.
6. When a FidoCast is posted on a Fido Node, users
should be encouraged to capture or download the
notice/file and post it to other BBSes or on
workplace and community bulletin boards and to
pass it on to as wide an audience as possible.
7. The originator or requestor should provide an
update on the status of the FidoCast, i.e., what
results were obtained. This report could be in the
form of another FidoCast or a FidoNews notice or
Fidonews Page 6 9 Feb 1987
article.
FidoCast is a workable method for introducing broadcast messages
into the FidoNet. The broadcast appeal has worked in the past as
you may recall from the Canadian appeal for information about
pediatric breathing disorders entered into the Network from Fred
Blauer. The costs associated with a FidoCast are minimal if it
is passed from point-to-point within the normal scope of Host
or Region to Node traffic, i.e., bundled with FidoNews or with
Nodediff Polls and pickups. Even if it is sent out from a few
central points, the cost is still negligible compared to a
telegram, mailgram or commercial time on radio or television.
This is only one good way to make FidoNet responsive and
respectable. It will work because FidoNet Sysops care. They care
about their systems. They care about their users. They WANT to
help and often do; without recompense and without hesitation.
We have just scratched the surface of a communications
revolution that will rival movable type! (Remember, you heard it
here, first.)
Any suggestions or comments are welcome. Respond here or by Net
Mail to 135/14.
RECOVERY is a Fido BBS committed to the needs of people in
Twelve Step programs who are in recovery from various addictions
and compulsive behaviors. RECOVERY is also a valuable source of
information and support for for those who think they may have a
problem with an an addiction or a compulsive behavior.
The message areas include:
1) Alcoholics Anonymous
2) The Closed Meeting
3) Narcotics & Cocaine Anonymous
4) Overeaters Anonymous
5) Sex & Love Addicts Anonymous
6) Smokers Anonymous
7) Al-Anon Alateen & ACA
8) AIDS Network
9) RECOVERY Network (coming soon)
The file areas contain meeting listings and various
information files. The AIDS file area contains recent articles
by John S. James of the San Francisco Sentinal.
Many people have found the help they need and are able to
use RECOVERY as a tool for personal growth and as a forum where
they can share their experience, strength and hope with each
other.
The AIDS Network area has just started and will soon be a
nationwide conference for people with AIDS and ARC and for
those who are interested in learning more about the epidemic.
A similar network for RECOVERY will begin soon. If you are
interested in joining either of these echos please let me know.
I can poll you between the hours of midnight and 3am Pacific
time if you cannot afford the long distance costs.
Technical Stuff:
RECOVERY is running on an XT clone (8 mHz) with 640K and a
20MB hard disk. The two nodes are multitasking under DesqView
with independant mail systems, schedules and phone lines, while
maintaining common message and file systems and one user file.
The two phone lines are in hunting and are connected by two Hayes
1200 external modems.
The whole system is operating in one directory, except, of
Fidonews Page 8 9 Feb 1987
course for the message, file and help subdirectories. All the
Fido utilities are in a separate directory with a dos path to
them. This enables some order in the Fido root directory.
How does all this work in one directory with separate
schedules and mail systems? A little history first. At first it
was just 2 phone lines, one node number and one mail schedule, so
the /i switch worked fine except for an occasional crash. I
suspect the crash was caused by trying to write to user.bbs,
system.bbs, nodes.bbs or some-such file simultaneously by both
tasks.
The next stage was two separate directories with two node
numbers and separate schedules. This also meant two user files,
two system files and two timelog files. I think you can see the
nightmare here. The user file and total number of callers and
more were totally inaccurate. A nice man named John Penberthy
from CHINA BLUE 129/28 saw my plea on the SYSOP echo and sent me
DPATH. I was able to have each node in a separate directory with
DPATH writing to the files that needed to be common. It worked,
but that setup brought DesqView to its knees. It was very slow.
Then came the inspiration. I saw that it was possible to
patch FIDO and it's utilities so that I could rename the files
that I needed to keep separate. I used PCTools and searched for
the file name in FIDO that I wanted to change and changed it.
Some files appear several times in the FIDO code. The first name
I changed was FIDO_IBM. I changed that to FIDO2IBM so that it
could find its overlays. the other files I changed were:
Of course, the new file for the second task is called
FIDO2IBM.EXE. The whole procedure is painless and I have patched
SCANMAIL, TOSSMAIL, ROBOT and other utilities so that they
recognize the renamed MAIL.SYS. The utilities don't seem to use
overlays, so you may rename the patched files anything you like.
You may use any new file names that you like, as long as the new
file name is the same number of characters as the original file
name.
I havn't had any crashes and the system is dependably
running four separate mail schedules on the two nodes so that I
can distribute all the incoming mail, nodediffs, fnews and Net125
echomail without any delay. I call this whole process 'Blood on
the Keyboard' but it is really gratifying to see the modified
system in action.
About DesqView and FIDO:
I have not tried DoubleDos or MultiLink, but I know I like
Fidonews Page 9 9 Feb 1987
DesqView better if for only one reason. Windows! In addition to
the windows that allow me to see both tasks operating at the same
time, I can open a DOS window if I need to do some file shuffling
and not interupt the two FIDOS. I can cut and paste text between
windows and create keyboard macros called script files to speed
some operations. The user support at Quarterdeck Office Systems
if knowledgeable and very helpful. For example, when I asked
about setting the clocks for foreground and background tasks for
FIDO, they had information on what the RBBS folks use
successfully. 5 foreground and 4 background - High Speed Comm.
They also helped me with a script that allows both tasks to
start themselves on a re-boot. Define the ! key the way you
would start things manually. When DesqView is started the ! will
be executed.
A SI in each window shows about a 1.0 in the foreground and
0.9 in the background with the clone running at 8 mHz. It is a
little jerky appearing as the text comes out, but it is still a
little too fast for me to read at 1200 baud. Xmodem transfers
seem to take normal time.
I Have Some Questions:
1. Is there a fix for the last message read bug?
2. My Hayes 1200s can use the X4 option. Can Fido?
3. Is there a way to start Fido without 'Local Console
Off' when using the /i switch?
4. Is it possible to change the privilege for V)ersion to
sysop?
5. Is there a way to make ROUTEGEN recognize a node number
that is the same as the default net number?
6. Where can I get SETMARK?
I'd like to thank Tim Pozar 125/406, Butch Walker 161/1 and
John Penberthy 129/28 for their help in getting me this far. And
I'd especially like to thank Tom Jennings for providing FIDO and
for helping me get started in telecommunications three years ago.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please let me know
if you would like to join the AIDS or RECOVERY echos.
=================================================================
FOR SALE
=================================================================
MAGAZINE ON DISK FOR IBM PC AND COMPATIBLES
BIG BLUE DISK, the magazine on disk for the IBM PC and
compatibles, is currently available at Waldenbooks stores and
many other retail locations, as well as by mail subscription.
It is contained entirely on a floppy disk. Each issue contains
programs, articles, feedback from subscribers, program reviews
and demos, and more.
For example, issue 4 (now on sale) contains, as a special bonus
disk, the latest version of PC-WRITE. This is not a demo; it's
a complete, full-featured word processor.
In addition, here's what else is in BIG BLUE DISK #4:
- Cribbage Squares: A computerized version of the popular card
game.
- The Voting Game: A mathematical model showing how random
changes in opinions can result in supremacy of one party.
- The Watergate Quiz: Recall events from this turbulent era of
American history.
- Job Preference: Match your interests with possible careers.
- The LS Command: One of the Kramden Utilities; a powerful
directory list command.
In addition, there are other programs, articles, and regular
features, including feedback from our readers.
You can order this issue by direct mail by sending $9.95 (check,
money order, or Visa/Mastercard/American Express accepted) to:
BIG BLUE DISK, DEPT F2, PO BOX 30008, SHREVEPORT, LA 71130-0008.
Mail subscriptions are also available: One year (12 monthly
issues) costs only $69.95. (A 41% savings over newsstand
price.) A six-month subscription is available for $39.95.
Lots of interesting stuff is coming up; issue 5 contains a
useful program to index your disk collection, a versatile disk
file copy command, games, educational programs, and more.
Subscribe now and don't miss anything.
BIG BLUE DISK requires an IBM PC or compatible, with at least
256K and MS-DOS 2.0 or later. Color graphics is recommended.
Send questions/comments to Daniel Tobias on FIDO 380/2.
17 May 1987
Metro-Fire Fido's Second Birthday BlowOut and Floppy Disk
Throwing Tournament! All Fido Sysops and Families Invited!
Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for more information.
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.
A new committee has been formed to handle the matter of elections
to the IFNA Board of Directors. Bob Morris has been appointed as
chairman, and will appoint additional committee members as he
deems fit.
Anyone with any questions regarding the elections should direct
them to Bob at node 141/333. If you are interested in
volunteering your services for the Elections Committee, you
should contact Bob as soon as possible.
TOPICAL TECHMAIL FILES, FidoNews 404
Ken McVay, SysOp, Fido 340/20
I done done it agin, folks! Seems every time I submit something to
the News, I screw up....The CORRECT telephone numbers for those
wishing to download topical archives is: 604-758-3072
The VOICE number is 604-758-4137.
Files can be supplied in FASTBACK, BAC, or BACKUP format.
Membership for the International FidoNet Association
Membership in IFNA is open to any individual or organization that
pays an annual specified membership fee. IFNA serves the
international FidoNet-compatible electronic mail community to
increase worldwide communications. **
Name _________________________________ Date ________
Address ______________________________
City & State _________________________
Country_______________________________
Phone (Voice) ________________________
Net/Node Number ______________________
Board Name____________________________
Phone (Data) _________________________
Baud Rate Supported___________________
Board Restrictions____________________
Special Interests_____________________
______________________________________
______________________________________
Is there some area where you would be
willing to help out in FidoNet?_______
______________________________________
______________________________________
Send your membership form and a check or money order for $25 to:
International FidoNet Association
P. O. Box 41143
St Louis, Missouri 63141
USA
Thank you for your membership! Your participation will help to
insure the future of FidoNet.
** Please NOTE that IFNA is a general not-for-profit organization
in formation and Articles of Association and By-Laws were adopted
by the membership in January 1987. An Elections Committee has
been established to fill positions outlined in the By-Laws for
the Board of Directors. An IFNA Echomail Conference has been
established on FidoNet to assist the Elections Committee. We
welcome your input on this Conference.
