Volume 4, Number 32                                24 August 1987
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    |        - FidoNews -                           (_|  /_)        |
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    |        International                          |     | \   \\  |
    |     FidoNet Association                       | (*) |  \   )) |
    |         Newsletter               ______       |__U__| /  \//  |
    |                                 / FIDO \       _//|| _\   /   |
    |                                (________)     (_/(_|(____/    |
    |                                                     (jm)      |
    +---------------------------------------------------------------+
    Editor in Chief:                                   Thom Henderson
    Chief Procrastinator Emeritus:                       Tom Jennings

    FidoNews  is  published  weekly  by  the  International   FidoNet
    Association  as  its  official newsletter.  You are encouraged to
    submit articles for publication in FidoNews.  Article  submission
    standards  are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC,  available from
    node 1:1/1.

    Copyright 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 at (314) 576-4067.



                            Table of Contents

    1. ARTICLES  .................................................  1
       Problems with Opus distribution  ..........................  1
    2. COLUMNS  ..................................................  9
       The Regular Irregular Column  .............................  9
       Talk To Your Computer!  ................................... 14
    3. NOTICES  .................................................. 16
       Notice of action by the IFNA Board of Directors  .......... 16
       The Interrupt Stack  ...................................... 16
       Latest Software Versions  ................................. 16
       IFNA Order Form  .......................................... 18
       IFNA Membership Application  .............................. 19
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 1                   24 Aug 1987


    =================================================================
                                ARTICLES
    =================================================================

    Origin: JonesNose (1:321/132)


                               The Problem

                      I could not find Opus_102.Arc

    The reason for this document is basically that I could  not  find
    Opus_102.Arc,  two  days  after  the  release  announcement.   In
    particular,  I could not find it on the  SoftwareCentral  system,
    and  I  was flamed by the sysop of that system for wanting him to
    do what he has committed himself and his node to doing.

    Dave  Finster  asked  for  suggested  solutions.  I  rambled  the
    beginnings  of this idea in Meadow,  thought I'd take the time to
    formalize it and get it out,  perhaps in time to be discussed  at
    the Conference.

    Opus distribution format is very inconsistent

    This  is  not  a  criticism - simply a statement of fact.  If one
    polls the various "big" systems around here looking for the major
    Opus archives,  even those  of  the  same  version  will  contain
    different sets of files.

    This is a royal pain in the ass.


    Distribution of new releases often damages other net functions

    Echomail was thoroughly munged in R16 around Bastille Day

    In  our  region,  Echomail  reliability  has been a long standing
    problem.  One of the reasons I was given  for  one  of  the  many
    breakdowns  was  that  the  echomail distribution nodes were busy
    sending Opus around on Bastille Day, and "something had to give".

    If IFNA maintains its hands off echomail policy, perhaps they can
    at least take some of the preassure off in other areas.  I  don't
    see why, with all the capacity of this network, "something has to
    give".

    By   streamlining   and  formalizing  the  software  distribution
    channel,  and keeping it separate  from  the  other  two  primary
    channels  (the  NetMail  routes and the Echomail backbone),  this
    might be avoided.

    Distribution should not be a problem of the creator

    Creators should not have to bear the cost of distribution

    The creators of net compatible software,  particularly  those  in
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 2                   24 Aug 1987


    the  Opus  group,  are  doing us all a great favor by putting out
    fine products for low/no cost.

    It does not seem fair that they should have to bear the  cost  of
    distribution, or even the hassle of arranging distribution.

    Not precluding creator distribution nets

    Of course,  this is not to preclude an author from setting up his
    own distribution network,  nor does it mandate the  use  of  this
    network.  In some cases, such as Spark Software, where money MUST
    change hands, it is obviously the responsibility of the author to
    handle distribution.

    Keeping track of distribution points should be easy for the sysop

    The  main  goal of this proposal is to make the life of the sysop
    simpler.   As  it  stands,   there  are   overlapping   sets   of
    distributors for Sirius,  Opus,  Dutchie,  and all the rest.  The
    sysop is not sure he can get what he wants  from  the  "official"
    IFNA  software  distribution nodes.  And he is unsure of what the
    distribution format is.

    By formalizing the distribution chain,  the  sysop  will  have  a
    known good place to look,  and the author can spend a little more
    time packaging distributions and be sure they are consistant.

    A proposed solution

    A Software Backbone - a la the Echomail backbone

    Backbone nodes to be multi-line (described below)


    Distribution Files Should Be:

    Identical on all distribution systems

    The files on all distribution nodes should be identical in  name,
    contents, internal dates, and external dates.

    Someone  who  round robin polls official distribution nodes using
    update file requests should not get the same files  twice  simply
    because the distribution systems have different dates on the same
    archives.


    On all distribution systems within 24 hours

    Once  a  proper distribution hits the chain,  it should,  in most
    cases,  be on all the other distribution  systems  (backbone  and
    regional) within 24 hours.


    Backbone nodes should NOT be otherwise committed

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 3                   24 Aug 1987


    A  Distribution Backbone or Regional Distribution node should not
    perform any other central service -  they  should  not  be  major
    echomail hubs,  NetMail Hubs, Region or Net Co-ordinator systems,
    IGATES or OGATES.

    There is simply no good reason to concentrate all these functions
    into a small number of nodes.  By doing so, all we do is increase
    the chance of one system failure entirely blacking  out  all  the
    functions of a region.


    Regional Nodes assume cost of Backbone pickup

    The  regional  nodes  should bear the cost of picking up from the
    backbones.  This is not as bad as it sounds -  there  are  enough
    latest  and  greatest  freaks out there that this should not be a
    problem.

    The backbone to backbone costs should be borne  by  the  backbone
    systems. (You gots to pay for a 1/ number!)


    Should be defined in Policy/IFNA

    I personally feel this structure should be formalized at least at
    the Policy level, and perhaps at the IFNA level.

    I  don't want to see this to end up like echomail,  where a small
    group (the echomail backbone) effectively dictates the policy  of
    the  net.  This  could be a good test of the abilities of IFNA to
    organize something,  and perhaps change the minds of the echomail
    backbone on some of their obstinancies.


    False Node Distribution

    Multiline node

    The backbone nodes would best be run on multi-line systems.


    Multiple node addresses with same phone in public nodelist

    Private number of the back channel node is kept that way

    The  backbone nodes would operate (at least) two lines,  and have
    (at least) two node numbers.  Their normal node numbers, and a 1/
    number.  The phone numbers in the nodelist would all be the  same
    - the "public" number.

    The  actual  number of the second number of each of these systems
    would be a closely held secret,  and would be associated with the
    "real" 1/ partition of their system.


    Distributors are given the real numbers
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 4                   24 Aug 1987


    Only  the  regional  distributors  would be authorized to use the
    "real" back channel numbers.  This should be enforced by as  much
    technical security as is possible.


    Authors submit via regional nodes

    In   order  to  keep  the  system  secure,   authors  would  make
    distributions via their regional node.  The regional  node  feeds
    to his backbone back channel number.  Once distributed across the
    backbone, it is fed down to the rest of the regional nodes.


    Possible problems with the solution

    Frequent releases

    A  problem  with  something  like  this will be authors of highly
    dynamic products.  Authors who add features and release on  every
    change  could  dramatically  increase  the  costs of running this
    backbone.

    Some definite policy should  be  established  on  how  frequently
    changes  are  to  be allowed,  along with a policy on exceptions.
    For instance,  Opus 1.02 has a couple of very nasty bugs,  a 1.03
    is  soon  to follow.  While there will probably be a week between
    them in this case,  if the maximum submission  rate  is  one  per
    month, some exception would have to be made.

    There  are  also  some  things  that  need  to  be  changed  more
    frequently than our "once a month" example  rule.  For  instance,
    nodelists, newsletters, and the work of the megalist and echolist
    projects.


    Distribution Format Changes

    A  related problem is a change in the format of the distribution.
    If the archive sets change, there is considerable work to be done
    on the part of the distribution system to change the references.


    Deciding what developers get access to the backbone

    Who decides what developers get access to the distribution chain?
    This is not a simple problem.  Obviously,  anyone  with  an  FTSC
    product  code  should be able to get at it.  But many products do
    not require FTSC product codes.

    I don't have any answers, good or bad, to this question.


    How to regulate access in the age of incompatible software

    The obvious way to control access  to  the  back  channel  is  to
    control  file requests and access on the basis of node number and
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 5                   24 Aug 1987


    password.  However,  given the current state  of  incompatibility
    between WaZoo and Bark session security, this is a very difficult
    problem to address.


    Wasting a high speed modem and a line

    The  "back  channel"  lines  would  like to have high speed modem
    attached to them.  However,  since these phone numbers  would  be
    have  to  be  very  restricted  in order to make this work,  this
    capacity would be wasted, to some degree.

    A possible solution is to nominally have a high  speed  modem  on
    the  backbone's  standard  line,  and a medium speed modem on the
    backchannel line, and swap them during distribution sessions.

    I look at this as part of the price one has to pay if  one  wants
    to be a "bigwig" in the net.


    Summation

    I don't want the job!

    I  obviously  am  not  tempermentally  suited  for  any social or
    political task in the network.  More importantly,  I  don't  have
    the  hardware  needed  for  this  job.  I  don't  really have the
    hardware to even handle region distribution.

    However,  there is a person I have in mind for the task of  being
    an  organizer  of  the backbone - I'm hoping he'll know who he is
    and stand up and offer to do it.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 6                   24 Aug 1987


    NOTE:  This  article first appeared in FidoNews,  Vol. 3, No. 30,
    11 Aug., 1986.  The author  now  lives  at  1083 Mandarin Dr. NE,
    Palm Bay, FL  32905, and is a Staff Software Engineer for Grumman
    Aerospace.

    * One Man's Opinion of PC-WRITE

                     One Man's Opinion of PC-WRITE

        by John J. Herro, 1456 Miner Circle, Endicott, NY  13760

    The author is a Senior Software Engineer for the General Electric
    Company.  He has no connection with  Quicksoft, Inc.,  except for
    being  a  registered user of PC-WRITE.  Since he knows of no Fido
    nodes near him,  he is probably best reached by the  U. S. Snail,
    otherwise known as the U. S. Mule or the Phony Express.


    PC-WRITE is an excellent  word processor / text editor written by
    Quicksoft, Inc.,  and  marketed  under  the  "Shareware" concept.
    This means that you can download the latest version from your fa-
    vorite bulletin board and try PC-WRITE for free.  You can option-
    ally "register" with Quicksoft for a reasonable fee,  but even if
    you choose not to register,  you are still encouraged to distrib-
    ute copies of the program.  This  is  such a welcome  relief from
    copy-protected  word  processors  that  sell  for several hundred
    dollars!

    PC-WRITE runs on any size PC, including a PC Junior.  The program
    includes a  brief  tutorial manual  and a quick reference  guide,
    both of which can be printed out.  Thus,  when you copy  PC-WRITE
    you are also making  copies of the two manuals,  without the need
    of an office copying machine!

    Quicksoft provides several  incentives  for you to register.  One
    is telephone support.  (More about that later.)  Users who regis-
    ter also receive a more detailed printed manual  (which would not
    fit on the PC-WRITE diskette), a one-year subscription to a news-
    letter, and two free updates (or one update and the source code).
    Finally, when you register, Quicksoft assigns a unique number for
    you to embed into the  program  before  you give away copies.  If
    anyone registers from one of your copies, Quicksoft will send you
    a modest sum, hence the name "Shareware."

    PC-WRITE contains two major programs, ED to edit a file and PR to
    print it.  You simply type  ED <filename> or  PR <filename>;  the
    on-line help is excellent.  When you first get PC-WRITE,  you run
    a special program to customize it for your particular printer.  A
    large menu of printer manufacturers is presented; when one is se-
    lected,  a menu of printer models made by that  manufacturer  ap-
    pears.  Subscripts, superscripts, boldfacing, underlining,  a va-
    riety of fonts, etc., are then all available if your printer sup-
    ports them.

    If your printer is not on the menu, PC-WRITE can treat the print-
    er as "dumb" (having no special features).  Underlining and bold-
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 7                   24 Aug 1987


    facing are still available if your printer recognizes backspaces.
    Alternately, Quicksoft will help you customize PC-WRITE.

    I've found the telephone support to be excellent, and I never re-
    ceived a busy signal.  Even  before I registered,  Quicksoft  was
    nice  enough  to help me with a printer problem.  I have a Smith-
    -Corona Deville 3 Messenger  typewriter  with a parallel computer
    interface; it isn't on the PC-WRITE menu.  It amounts to a daisy-
    -wheel printer with a very small buffer.  The DOS  PRINT  command
    was working correctly, but when I ran PR, I would get the message
    "Printer not ready, Abort, Retry, or Ignore?"  Responding with  R
    caused errors on the printed page.  My  MS-DOS  manual  explained
    how to do "infinite retry" with a SERIAL interface,  but not with
    a  PARALLEL  interface.  Since my version of MS-DOS  came with 90
    days of telephone  support,  and the 90 days  had not expired,  I
    first called the MS-DOS support telephone number.  When they were
    not able to help,  I called Quicksoft.  When Quicksoft asked if I
    had registered, I said, "No.  I'm willing to register, but I want
    to be certain  that  PC-WRITE  will  work with my printer first."
    They were very courteous about giving me help,  and advised me to
    type MODE LPT1:,,P.  That  fixed  the  problem,  and  of course I
    added that command to my  AUTOEXEC.BAT file.  Quicksoft also told
    me that if I had registered  first and later became dissatisfied,
    I would have no trouble getting my money back.

    ED,  the screen editor, has a few features not found even on some
    expensive word processors.  For example,  you can optionally make
    the program  continuously  keep a  paragraph  within the margins,
    even while adding words to the  middle of the paragraph!  I  find
    this feature very useful.  Also,  PC-WRITE works with ASCII files
    - a MUST for programmers.  I've even edited  .EXE files,  because
    there's no limit to the  line length.  (The screen  automatically
    scrolls  horizontally  when  long lines are edited.)  There are a
    few "font characters,"  for example,  alternate-B for Boldfacing.
    These  characters  can  optionally  be made visible or invisible.
    When  they  are  invisible,  boldfacing  appears on the screen as
    high intensity, etc.

    PR interprets the special characters for your particular printer,
    and also  optionally pauses at the end of each page,  in case you
    don't have  continuous paper.  It also has a nice feature for re-
    covering from a paper jam in a long document.  If the paper jams,
    you can interrupt PR and resume printing from the top of the cur-
    rent page or any other page.

    Other features include  definable keys, mail-merge, footnotes and
    headers, table of contents and index, automatic page breaks, file
    includes,  keyboard input  during  printing,  etc.  The method of
    writing to the screen can be changed to avoid "snow" on some sys-
    tems,  and the screen can be divided  into two windows of unequal
    size.  Text can be "cut" from one file and "pasted" into another.

    Much thought has been given to  assigning  functions to keys, al-
    though  the  assignments  can be changed if desired.  To  COPY  a
    block of text, you use F3 three times: at the start of the block,
    at the end of the block,  and at the new location.  Similarly, to
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 8                   24 Aug 1987


    MOVE a block of text, you use  F6  three times, and to  DELETE  a
    block, you use  F4  twice.  (You can undelete the block with con-
    trol-F4.)  For the  masochists  among  you,  most  of the control
    codes of Wordstar (tm of MicroPro) are duplicated.  Control-D can
    be used instead of the  -> key to move the cursor right one char-
    acter, control-F will move right one word, etc.

    PC-WRITE lacks two features that are found on some expensive word
    processors.  At present,  ED cannot handle files that are too big
    to fit in memory, and there is no spelling checker.  Rumor has it
    that both of these  deficiencies  will be removed in a later ver-
    sion.  In the meantime,  PC-WRITE  will at least help you segment
    large files, and spelling checkers like  EZSPELL and PC-SPELL can
    be found on many bulletin boards.

    PC-WRITE.ARC  is  available  on the IFNA board,  314-576-2743.  I
    hope that  PC-WRITE will become the de facto standard for PCs and
    compatibles,  and that the "Shareware" concept will put an end to
    copy protection forever!

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 9                   24 Aug 1987


    =================================================================
                                 COLUMNS
    =================================================================


                   -- The Regular Irregular Column --
                               Dale Lovell
                               1:157/504.1

         FidoCon, here  at last. I'm writing this from my room at the
    conference  having  just  checked  in  and   registered  for  the
    conference. I'll  be writing  parts of this over the next several
    days and am going try to keep the flow of events intact.  Most of
    this column  is going  to be  initial views of the people and the
    earlier events at  the  conference.  While  registering  I  had a
    chance to  meet several people including Thom Henderson. All I'll
    say is my mental image of Thom wasn't even close!  While he seems
    to have  the personality I expected, the physical picture doesn't
    even come close to matching.  So  far  everyone  has  seemed very
    friendly. This  paragraph is  going to come to a quick close as I
    head off to SEA's hospitality suite, the reception  and hopefully
    a dinner squeezed in somewhere.

         The  reception  on  Thursday  night  proved  to  be  a great
    success. Got  to  meet  several  of  the  net's  more  well known
    personalities, and  some that aren't so well known but definitely
    interesting. The real gem  so far  has been  the Opus hospitality
    suite sponsored  by Vince  Perriello. My  only disappointment was
    Telebit's representative turned in early.  I  had  hoped  to talk
    with him longer, but he slipped away from me while I was involved
    in another discussion. This  turned  out  to  be  for  the better
    because I got almost everything I needed the next day. We'll have
    to see how much of the good will  lasts through  this conference.
    Thankfully everyone  I've talked  to that was also at last year's
    conference say this looks  much better  organized. With  the IFNA
    meeting being  held last  on Sunday  morning, I'm  hoping it will
    last at least that long and possibly even through the meeting.

         At  the  end  of  the  first  day  of  the  program  my good
    intentions on  giving everyone  a quick  look over the conference
    have died  a  quick  death.  While  the  opening  ceremonies went
    without any  problem, I  started having to type in quick notes (I
    type faster than I write longhand).  By the  time the  high speed
    modem report  was done,  I had  over 2 pages of "quick notes" and
    things only got worse.  By the  end of  the day  I've got  over 9
    pages of these notes and it's going to take me a couple days just
    to fully decrypt all of them.  While I'm  still going  to try and
    give you  an overview  of what going on at FidoCon, I am going to
    be unable to go into any detail for the most of it.  Instead I'll
    be sending  in a  series of  articles in  addition to the regular
    column and give everyone a proper report on the most interesting,
    to me, presentations and events.

         Things  started  picking  up  Friday morning with the report
    from the FidoNet Technical Standards Committee.  The basic report
    went  quickly  with  Ryugen  Fisher,  the  Old  Frog, managing to
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 10                  24 Aug 1987


    lighten up an all too serious crowd. If  things keep  going along
    as they are, we should be seeing a complete level one document (a
    very complete version of what many of you  have already  seen) by
    the end  of the  year. After  the report, several people from the
    floor were able to ask some good questions  of the  committee. By
    the  end  of  the  question  and  answer  period,  we had already
    started to fall behind the agenda and we weren't able to get back
    on it until the banquet that evening.

         The report  on the  high speed modems was perhaps one of the
    longer reports on Friday, and it was unfortunately cut short just
    to get on with the agenda (we may have gotten over an hour behind
    if the question and answer period had been allowed). If  all goes
    well the  question and  answer period  is going to be rescheduled
    sometime over  the next  few days.  Other than  that, the reports
    went well  with some  genuinely interesting  information from Gee
    Wong and Bob Hartman.  Information on  why the  high speed modems
    may  not  work  well  in  certain  circumstances, the pipe-lining
    effect, and other problems that had  been encountered  with them.
    The representatives  from US  Robotics and Telebit were than able
    to give a short spiel about their products which was scheduled to
    be  followed  the  question  and  answer  period. While Hayes was
    present in the exhibition  area, we  were informed  that it  is a
    company policy  NOT to  appear at  talks like  this one. I wish I
    could give you a solid report on the  modems yet,  but I  need to
    talk to a few people and try to make some sense out of some of my
    notes on their presentations. All I say is  that Telebit appeared
    to  be  much  better  prepared  than  US  Robotics,  and that the
    Trailblazer sounds interesting.

         After the report on the high speed modems there was  a break
    for  lunch,  and  I  spent  an enjoyable lunch with Phil Ardussi,
    Marshall Presnall (of Fido  Utility), and  Vince Perriello. While
    the discussion  between Vince  and Marhsall was very interesting,
    it did leave me in the dark in a lot of places. I may know a fair
    amount about  programming, but  these two  left me sitting at the
    starting line. I was able  to  learn  some  of  Vince's  ideas on
    speeding  up  bulletin  boards.  Among them having a special term
    program to be used with a particular type of BBS program. Instead
    of having  to resend  all the  menus over and over, it would send
    them once. The next time the  user needed  to see  that menu, the
    bbs  would  only  have  send  a short code and the communications
    program would redisplay  the  captured  menu.  I've  always found
    offbeat  solutions  to  problems  like this interesting and found
    some of his ideas very interesting. I'm going to have to do a lot
    of thinking  on parts of the discussion, but be assured that once
    I've come to a conclusion, you'll know what it is!

         The afternoon  program was  split into  two different parts.
    One  a  technical  program,  which  covered  most  of the IBM net
    compatible software (some of them  new  releases  since  the last
    conference) and a legal program. I decided to go to the technical
    sessions, but will hopefully find  someone  to  talk  to  on what
    happened in  the other  room. First up was Tom Jennings, and Fido
    version 12 is  here!  This  long  awaited  version  is  ready. Be
    forewarned that  it is  a commercial  product, although there are
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 11                  24 Aug 1987


    several different rates and specials that will be  made available
    to  IFNA   members,  registered  users  and  other  groups.  From
    everything in the presentation, it is what many  of us  have been
    looking for  in Fido.  I was  able to get a copy later in the day
    from Tom, and should be able to give a really solid report  on it
    in a few weeks.

         The Opus presentation was one of less impressive to me. I am
    familiar with Opus and although I haven't done a solid review and
    test of  the new  version 1,  I have started to look at it. After
    a brief look at Opus by  Vince  Perriello  it  was  opened  up to
    questions with Wynn Wagner answering. I found it interesting that
    despite all the claims  that his  Opus has  nothing to  do with a
    certain flightless waterfowl often seen in the Bloom County comic
    strip, he was carrying a very suspicious looking  stuffed animal.
    While some  of the  questions were bug reports or problems people
    were having, there was more than  enough new  ideas on  things to
    add to  Opus to  make it  interesting. Among them Wynn's proposal
    for a new user.bbs structure and  an explanation  of some  of the
    more unusual parts of Opus. I found it interesting that there are
    three common methods for clearing a screen, and Opus uses  all of
    them. Wynn's  personality helped keep what might have become very
    down beat, bug reports, into something  that was  entertaining as
    well as informative.

         The  next  presentation  was  one  that  I  found  extremely
    interesting, TBBS.  Phil  Becker,  the  author,  had  with  him a
    complete 16  line system.  While it  can only  handle mail during
    specified times, during which  the  board  is  down,  the package
    itself came close to leaving me speechless. Many of us in the net
    have had no experience, and little knowledge of  TBBS. Until this
    presentation all  I knew  was that  it was another bulletin board
    program that  had  been  made  FidoNet  and  Echomail compatible,
    mainly through  the use  of SEAdog. There was something about one
    reasonably fast (8 mhz) AT running 16 users  at once  with little
    degradation  to  the  user  that  I found impressive. I had often
    thought it would be interesting to write a piece of software that
    would handle  several different  people at once, to find out that
    it was actually being done astonished me. In addition to this the
    board sounds  to be very flexible on how it looks and what it can
    do. Hopefully, I'll be doing a series of articles on  in the near
    future.

         Last up  was Henk  Weaver with  Dutchie. I  was surprised to
    find out that Dutchie originally started  as a  joke. Henk  did a
    wonderful job describing what Dutchie is and the slot it fills in
    the net. Some of the people  present had  never heard  of a point
    and were  very interested  in the  concept. Henk believes that in
    the next 3 to 5 years  we'll see  the traditional  bulletin board
    vanish.  Instead   we'll  use   point  systems  for  the  greater
    flexibility they can provide.  Message base  readers can  keep up
    with an  enormous number of conferences without losing out due to
    time limits. Those users who prefer  the file  areas would merely
    request a  master file list and pick the files they're interested
    in acquiring and their system would proceed to go and get them.

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 12                  24 Aug 1987


         The banquet was uneventful until near  the end. Surprisingly
    the  meal  was  not  as  bland  as usually found at a banquet. My
    dinner companions were "Mort Sysop" and  his wife,  my local host
    and his family, and the Looneys. Combined it made for a wonderful
    dinner with  the discussion  including such  topics as historical
    points of  interest to  visit, the current educational system and
    universities,  and  the  success  of  some  of  the  projects the
    Looney's been  involved with and have announced through FidoNews.
    The speaker after the meal was George Bond,  the Senior Executive
    Editor of BIX (Byte Information Exchange). I learned that BIX has
    much of its roots in Fido.

         In addition to the history of BIX, George asked for any help
    that could  be provided  to a special project going on in Central
    and South America. The current war  situation has  caused several
    diseases  to  reappear  and  the  doctors in the areas have often
    never seen or been trained to handle them. They had  been thought
    cured or  eradicated years  ago and it was never covered in their
    schooling. Byte was asked if they knew of  any way  for a central
    hospital to  keep in touch with its doctors and help advise them.
    At first some of the high tech people at Byte  started going into
    Microwave  relays  and  satellite  communications,  until someone
    realized that this a perfect application  of Fido.  He asked that
    if we  could spare  some time  (on the  technical matters) or old
    equipment,  it  would  be   greatly   appreciated.   For  further
    information on  this you  can contact him directly at Byte, their
    address is near the front of every issue  and address  the letter
    to George Bond. I think it is a great compliment that FidoNet has
    been asked to help such a  situation by  providing some technical
    know-how on  the very  methods its  developed. This will prove to
    many  that  we  have  come  up  with  an   important  and  useful
    technology.  This  may  become  very important if the legislators
    ever get involved with the bulletin board community.

         I'm going to wind  this  down  now.  It's  getting  time for
    another  presentation  and  I've  got  to  get this to Thom a few
    hours from now. FidoCon has been utterly enjoyable  so far  and I
    only wish  that more  had showed up. Next week the column will be
    back to normal and  you'll see  my reports  as articles appearing
    over the  next few  weeks. In  the meantime I always welcome your
    comments and can be reached at any of the addresses listed below.
    For those  of you sending me mail through FidoNet, please have it
    routed through 157/1 (157/0) as I'm currently a private node.


    Dale Lovell
    3266 Vezber Drive
    Seven Hills, OH  44131

    FidoNet  1:157/504.1
    uucp:

    decvax\
           >!cwruecmp!hal\
    cbosgd/               \
                           >!ncoast!lovell
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 13                  24 Aug 1987


          ames\           /
       talcott \         /
                >!necntc/
       harvard /
       sri-nic/


    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 14                  24 Aug 1987


    Todd C. Looney
    SysOp, Vietnam Veterans Valhalla
    IFNA (Opus 1.02) 143/27


                         TALK TO YOUR COMPUTER!


    I recently had the good fortune to be introduced to a product
    that I had so much fun playing with I just HAD to tell everyone
    about it!  It's called VoiceLink, and it's consists of a little
    half-card that installs in seconds into any IBM compatible
    computer mother-board.  The micro-phone plugs right into the back
    of the card, and the cord is long enough for me to lay back in my
    chair and chatter away all day long without getting
    uncomfortable.  The software has an install program so it goes
    onto your hard disk very quickly, and theirs only one diskette!
    I've had one of these units in my home now for over a month now
    and have programmed about 87 BBS-related words so far and all I
    have to say is ... WOW!   The ONLY problem I've had so far is
    remembering the words I programmed into the system (grin).  Other
    than that, it's a snap to just walk up to my system, press the
    ALT-SPACE keys, pick up the microphone, lean back and say "DO IT
    BABALOO!" yes, you can program multiple word commands!)

    At my verbal commands I go into Opus, tell it my name, my
    password, bark out the menu commands, tell it to "CHANGE TO AREA
    5!", "READ 195!", "NEXT MESSAGE", "REPLY AND KILL", etc. etc.  I
    even played around and programmed in all the keys on my keyboard
    and if I want to just kick back and recite the letters to type,
    it'll type out my message for me!  No more little unnoticed slip
    of the fingers so I have to go back and edit, GREAT!!!!

    I must say I've really had a ball checking this product out, and
    the offer of $195.00 made below by the manufacturers through the
    Vietnam Veterans Valhalla is a fair and honest deal.  It
    installed in less than 10 minutes (just a half card...took me
    longer to get the screws off the back of the computer!)

    This product is worth the $195.00!  It's worth the $395.00!!!!!!

                   Go for it...but don't dilly dally!
    If you don't have the money now, call Bill Newton up and tell him
    to put in your order and hold it for you (tell him Todd Looney at
                 the Vietnam Veterans Valhalla SAID SO!)



                    TALK TO YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER!!
                           FREE UP YOUR HANDS
                            FREE UP YOUR EYES
                            FREE UP YOUR MIND
                        WITH 400 VOICE COMMANDS!

    ADD VOICE RECOGNITION TO YOUR IBM PC/XT/AT OR MOST COMPATIBLES !

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 15                  24 Aug 1987


                          --- ONLY $199.95 ---
                 INTERSTATE VOICE PRODUCTS MODEL SRB-LC
                                $199.95!
                 FACTORY SPECIAL FOR LIMITED TIME ONLY!
                        REGULAR  LIST IS $395.00
                               BRAND NEW!
                      INCLUDES  PLUG-IN  HALF CARD
             MICROPHONE, SOFTWARE, AND FULL FACTORY WARRANTY

    FEATURES:
    1.  400 WORD/PHRASE VOCABULARY  (IE. 400 VOICE  CONTROLLED
    KEYBOARD MACROS. SAY, 'DIAL BBS' AND BOARD WOULD  TYPE
    'ATDTNNNNNNN<CR>') OR WHATEVER YOU PROGRAM IT TO TYPE.

    2.  SPEAKER DEPENDENT - YOU MUST TRAIN IT TO YOUR VOICE
    (SECURITY+).  NO ONE ELSE CAN TLAK TO YOUR COMPUTER UNLESS
    YOU LET THEM!

    3.  DISCRETE WORD RECOGNIZER -- YOU MUST PAUSE BETWEEN
    WORDS/PHRASES, BUT NO LONGER THAN YOU WOULD IN NORMAL
    SPEECH.

    4.  HIGH RECOGNITION ACCURACY -- 98%+ RECOGNITION RATE.

    5.  RAM RESIDENT SOFTWARE -- REQUIRES NO USER SOFTWARE
    MODIFICATION!  MEMORY REQUIREMENTS - 256K FOR MOST APPLICATIONS
    OF WHICH 64K IS USED FOR SRB-LC SOFTWARE.  REMAINDER FOR DOS AND
    APPLICATION.

    6.  COMPLETELY USER PROGRAMMABLE --- YOU DEFINE VOCABULARY AND
    WHAT KEYSTROKES YOU WANT TYPED WHEN YOU SAY THE WORDS/PHRASES.
    USE VOICE INPUT TO ELIMINATE KEYBOARD ERRORS, CUT COSTS,  BOOST
    YOUR PRODUCTION SPEED AND QUALITY.

                 FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR TO ORDER CONTACT:

                                 BILL NEWTON
                          INTERSTATE VOICE  PRODUCTS
                             1849 W. SEQUOIA AVE.
                              ORANGE, CA.  92668
                        PHONE: (714) 937-9010 (VOICE)

       AGAIN, TELL BILL THAT YOU WANT THE SPECIAL VIETNAM VETERANS
                             VALHALLA OFFER!





    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 16                  24 Aug 1987


    =================================================================
                                 NOTICES
    =================================================================

    At a special session of the Board of Directors of the
    International FidoNet Association held by teleconference on
    Monday, 18 August 1987:

    Whereas: An election for a new Board of Directors is now in
    progress, and

    Whereas: A strict interpretation of Article 11 of the Articles of
    Association would disqualify the majority of the new board
    nominees, therefore

    Be it resolved: That Article 11 is hereby suspended until such
    time as the newly elected Board of Directors can convene and
    consider further action.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

                         The Interrupt Stack


    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 1:1/1.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    Hello from Bartow, West Virginia!

    Are there any National Youth Science Camp Alumni sysops
    lurking out there in FidoNet-land.  If so, please contact
    Mike Jacobs, DE 85, 150/900.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

                         Latest Software Versions

    BBS Systems            Node List              Other
    & Mailers   Version    Utilities   Version    Utilities   Version

    Dutchie        2.51    EDITNL          3.3    ARC            5.21
    Fido            11w    LISTGEN    05.25.86    ARCmail        1.00
    Opus           1.03*   MakeNL         1.00    ConfMail       3.00
    SEAdog         4.00    Prune          1.40    EchoMail       1.31
    TBBS           2.0M    XlatList       2.81    Renum          3.30

    * Recently changed

    Utility authors:  Please help  keep  this  list  up  to  date  by
    reporting  new  versions  to 1:1/1.  It is not our intent to list
    FidoNews 4-32                Page 17                  24 Aug 1987


    all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 18                  24 Aug 1987


                    INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION
                                ORDER FORM

                               Publications

    The IFNA publications can be obtained by  downloading  from  Fido
    1/10  or other FidoNet compatible systems,  or by purchasing them
    directly from IFNA.  We ask that all our IFNA Committee  Chairmen
    provide  us with the latest versions of each publication,  but we
    can make no written guarantees.

                  Hardcopy prices as of October 1, 1986

    IFNA Fido BBS listing                       $15.00    _____
    IFNA Administrative Policy DOCs             $10.00    _____
    IFNA FidoNet Standards Committee DOCs       $10.00    _____

                                              SUBTOTAL    _____

                     IFNA Member ONLY Special Offers

    System Enhancement Associates SEAdog        $60.00    _____
    SEAdog price as of March 1, 1987
    ONLY 1 copy SEAdog per IFNA Member

    International orders include $5.00 for
           surface shipping or $15.00 for air shipping    _____

                                              SUBTOTAL    _____

                   Mo. Residents add 5.725 % Sales tax    _____

                                              TOTAL       _____

       SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO:
             IFNA
        P.O. Box 41143
        St. Louis, Missouri 63141  USA


    Name________________________________
    Net/Node____/____
    Company_____________________________
    Address_____________________________
    City____________________  State____________  Zip_____
    Voice Phone_________________________


    Signature___________________________

    -----------------------------------------------------------------

    FidoNews 4-32                Page 19                  24 Aug 1987


                                     __
                The World's First   /  \
                   BBS Network     /|oo \
                   * FidoNet *    (_|  /_)
                                   _`@/_ \    _
                                  |     | \   \\
                                  | (*) |  \   ))
                     ______       |__U__| /  \//
                    / Fido \       _//|| _\   /
                   (________)     (_/(_|(____/ (jm)

           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.

    -----------------------------------------------------------------