Volume 3, Number 14 7 April 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | - FidoNews - /|oo \ | | (_| /_) | | Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ | | Users Group | | \ \\ | | Newsletter | (*) | \ )) | | ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings 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 Trials and Tribulations of a Software Publisher 2. ARTICLES Amigo or Amiga? Computer Addiction A word from the author A New RS-232 Standard in the Making!! 3. COLUMNS Notes from Abroad Rainbow Corner The World of Computing: Super Macs and Israeli Magazines 4. WANTED ProtoCall Needs BBS Sysops! 5. FOR SALE Entertainment Software for your PC! Public Domain Software Library Sale!! ProtoCall National System Goes Online Special Offer to FidoNet Sysops 6. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack FidoNews Bugs New release of PKSCrypt Public Key Encryption System Synchronous Modem Test Sites needed Fidonews Page 2 7 Apr 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Trials and Tribulations of a Software Publisher It's not easy being a software publisher. Even a small one. Probably the hardest part is getting noticed. There are so many companies publishing software these days that it's tough to get anyone to pay any attention to you. Of course, it can be done. All it takes is money. Where have I heard that before? If you haven't got money, then it gets rough. In theory, all you need to do is build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. In practice, that isn't usually true. The shareware concept is helping there. (No, this isn't another shareware editorial. Well, not exactly. Sit down right now and write out checks for all of the shareware you're using. End of commercial.) I've spoken to a few other shareware authors lately, and it does seem that it is finally becoming a viable way to market a product. Two weeks ago I'd have said that not more than a half dozen shareware authors actually got anywhere. Now I'm not so sure. There might just be quite a few people out there getting by on shareware income, which is good. I tend to be cynical. When we first released ARC I didn't think anybody would pay for it. When the first check came in I was astounded. We were torn between cashing it and framing it. (We compromised; we cashed it and framed a Xerox copy.) I've been pleasantly surprised, over and over. People are better than I ever would have imagined. And yes, the user supported software concept works both ways. The new compression stuff in ARC 5.0 took a lot of work. I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't known that people cared. I was asked recently what it takes for a shareware product to "succeed". I said all the usual, it has to be good, and do something popular, and be cheap; but then another thought came to me. You have to be serious. You have to seriously treat the product as a commercial offering, with all that that entails. It means doing the customer support, answering the letters and the phone calls, being responsive to users' needs, and everything else. It's not enough to slap a shareware notice on it and let it go. You have to be willing to follow through. If you don't take it seriously, then nobody else will, either. As a side note: Our printer swears that we'll have the SEAdog manuals by this Wednesday at the latest. We'll start shipping as soon as we get them. Meanwhile, I've seen the SEAdog manual covers. You've gotta see them to believe them. They're, well, They're distinctive. I'm actually not sure whether I like them or not. But they're certainly eye catching. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 3 7 Apr 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Mike Roberts 120/5 Amigo or Amiga? Everyone by now knows about the Amiga. Of course, there are still those that can't pronounce it right. They say Amigo, Omega, Ammago, etc. It's not that tough a word to pronounce, but alas, some Commodore folks STILL have problems. In fact, I was at our Users' Group meeting (MCUG) watching a Commodore official demonstrate the then unreleased Amiga. After he was done, the president of our club decided to say a few words about the Amiga. What did he say? He said "Omega." I think several people were ready to scramble his brains, at least I was! Anyway, the Amiga marks Commodore's first effort to break into the business arena of computers. They have tried hard to give the Amiga its own image and not one of Commodore. They have even go so far as to politely as magazine reporters and others to refer to the Amiga as "the Amiga from Commodore," not the "Commodore Amiga." But can Commodore be successful? The Commodore 64 and Vic 20 were the computers to actually put Commodore on the map. Color AND sound for under, gasp, $1000! The sound is still unrivaled by many a computer, save for the new Amiga. Of course, back then was the good old days of Jack Tramiel, then he decided to leave and purchase Atari. The new Commodore has managed to botch everything up. Remember that Plus/4 and the Commodore 16? They were supposed to replace the 64, ha! That was new Commodore's first mistake. Their second mistake was the Amiga. No, not the computer. It's a masterpiece of work. I am referring to their marketing. Of course the Amiga could compete with the IBM PC on a pure technical level. But who are they fooling? The IBM PC is THE computer for business. Whether it is a good or bad machine, it's entrenched in the daily lives of American business. So why does the new Commodore still try to compete with the IBM PC, let alone IBM PC AT? They're stupid. Now look at Atari with Jack Tramiel. He has come out with a $999, 1 megabyte computer that rivals the Amiga. Well, technically it is inferior, but at that price who cares? Atari has so far been smart. They've attacked the Macintosh and Amiga. They don't really seem to be worried about the IBM PC. What I mean is that they are selling to the home, not the business. But who does Commodore continue to put in all their comparison charts? The IBM PC, IBM PC AT, and the Macintosh. You will never see the Atari ST's in a Commodore comparison chart. But who do you see in the Atari comparison charts? The Amiga and the Macintosh and yes, the IBM PC AT, but you'll notice they included Fidonews Page 4 7 Apr 1986 the Amiga. Let's face it, if you put a base model IBM PC, IBM PC AT, Amiga, Macintosh, and Atari 520 ST together the overall better one is the Amiga. Remember I said BASE model. The Amiga has excellent graphics, sound, and built-in multitasking. It's also faster than all of them except for the ST (8.00 MHZ) and the Macintosh (7.63 MHZ). But when you include the Amiga's (7.16 MHZ) coppers (co-processors) it is overall faster except for pure number-crunching. Now IBM users, here's where you win out. The IBM has the following features: (1) a financially sound company, (2) 100% IBM compatibility, (3) lots of third-party support, (4) and lots of your employers may use IBM's so you can work somewhat at home. In fact, this is another place where Commodore has screwed up. $600 for IBM compatibility? Then, if you want it to actually run as FAST as an IBM, you must buy the Enhancer ($100 to $200). That's ridiculous. On top of all this, I have heard that the IBM Emulator is less than 95% compatible. For the price of Amiga/IBM compatibility, you could purchase a Tandy 1000 or a bare Tandy 1200 that is MUCH more compatible. As far as the Amiga and the Macintosh go, well. With the original Macintosh, the Amiga obviously is far superior. I don't know about the newer Macs though. The main thesis of this article, though, is really whether the new Commodore is doing an adequate job of advertising and marketing the Amiga. I think they are doing the worst they have ever done. My main qualm about the Amiga is its price: $2000 for 512K, monitor, drive, and computer/OS. This is ridiculous if they want to succeed. As you know, Commodore is on its last legs unless they do something drastic. The 1040 ST from Atari just may be the final straw that breaks the camel's back. Please send any responses to me at Uticom (120/5) or on QuantumLink to "MikeR1" or to "CommoLore". ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 5 7 Apr 1986 Mike Gordon, WB0OXO Fido 123/4/6 Getting Hooked! I'd like to see if any of you fido nuts can identify with the following story. Believe it or not it's all TRUE. Computer addiction is a word that was not in my vocabulary six months ago, but since I discovered modems well... It all started on a warm night in July 1985. I decided to buy a computer so the kids could practice math, spelling, etc. (sound familiar?) I decided to buy a Commodore 64 because the software was plentiful and cheap. I know CBM seems to be a taboo word in the Fido Net, but keep reading you might learn something. First, the kids started asking for more programs; then, my wife got hooked on CBM graphics (games). Four months later I began to wonder, if there was a cheaper way to get new programs to keep them all happy. That is when someone at work mentioned the local bulletin board system as a source. I gathered my pennies and went to the local Target Store and purchased the only modem they had at the time (one called Modem Master). The directions in the manual seemed simple and the software's menu screens seemed "friendly" right from the start, so off I went into the world of the bulletin board. After several near misses with "kiddy pirate boards", I happened upon a phone number for Fido Grapevine 123/4, so I called. I did not find any CBM software, but I did find a whole new world. The world of Fido Net. At first, I was overwhelmed by the system, but thanks to the novice prompt default I soon became good at moving through, commenting on, and entering message conversations. Next, came text file transfers like the Fido Newsletter. This is where the Modem Master software let me down. I could download a file alright, but when I tried to read or print the file all I got was a bunch of graphic characters on the screen or the printer. I must have made dozens of phone calls, trying to find out why, but no one could tell me (I didn't know about the Commodore Users Group in town). Finally one night, Earl Bates (Sysop 123/4) and I were comparing the ASCII codes of his Tandy 1100 and my Commodore. BINGO! I discovered CBM ASCII (PETASCII to some). I looked and looked for an ASCII translator program but I could not find one. Finally, I decided that I'd write my own (I have software degree). I did and it works, slow, but it works. Now I could print those files, wow, was I proud! Fidonews Page 6 7 Apr 1986 Next, enter a new Fido board in town called Fido Hydrant (123/6). Bingo again, there on my screen were several terminal programs that supported automatic ASCII translation. My search was over (or so I thought). I suspect many Fido Sysops are not familiar with "other" types of computer systems other than the big namers (IBM, Compaq, etc.); therefore, I will try to explain PETASCII as I know it. PETASCII is a non industry standard ASCII code that Commodore Business Machines, Inc. came up with to support many of their personal computers. The major differences between industry standard ASCII and PETASCII as viewed on the screen are: 1) Upper and lower case reversal - this occurs because the character codes for PETASCII upper case characters are the same as industry standard ASCII lower case characters. Upper case characters in the industry standard ASCII translate to the graphics character set on the C-64. 2) CBM 64 does not require a line feed after a carriage return; therefore, any text file uploaded to a standard ASCII board will be seen as one long line rather than as intended (line length less than 80 characters). Any text file download from a standard ASCII board to a C-64 will appear double spaced. If any C-64 users reading this are in need of terminal programs that support automatic translation I suggest they either download CBTerm from the CBSig on Compuserve or call Fido Hydrant 123/6 in Memphis (901) 353-4563 24hr; also, if there are some sysops out there who have C-64 users on their board that are having the same trouble as I did I suggest you do your non-IBM'ers a favor and provide these files for them to download. Hydrant has several terminal programs available that do automatic ASCII translation and support both x-modem and punter protocol. In addition, CBTerm also supports disk to disk downloading and uploading. This allows the C-64 user the luxury of downloading files longer than their buffers will allow. Buffer downloading on the C-64 is usually limited to around 30 to 40 thousand bytes. Fido Newsletters are longer than this!! It was just about this time that I learned of a new modem that was within my price range. It was called the 64 Modem and supported auto dialing. This was a real eye opener. I no longer had to stay glued to the computer while trying to check into Fido! Everything seemed fine because now I had a Fido board that supported CBM and the files were keeping everyone happy, until I ran into a file that was so long I did not have enough time to download it. It was about this time that I learned of a new 1200 baud modem that supports Hayes commands (Commodore Model 1670). I finally saved enough pennies to buy one ($186.00) and rushed home to try it out. To my disappointment, CBTerm would not run it, so I Fidonews Page 7 7 Apr 1986 started a search for another terminal program. After many downloads and searching I finally discovered that the reason that CBTerm would not run the 1670 properly was because I had both my disk drives online at the same time. CBTerm will operate at either 300 or 1200 baud and WILL operate the 1670 modem properly IF only one 1541 disk drive is hooked up! In a few weeks I will try to provide a detailed look at CBTerm for the CBM user, but for now I will just say that it is the best terminal program I have used to date. So now I'm stuck with 1200 baud (fastest the C-64 will run), high telephone bills, and computer widow for a wife. I doubt that this story is one of a kind. If you would like to comment send Fidomail to Fido Hydrant 123/6 or Fido Grapevine 123/4. Phone numbers for the above two boards are shown below: The Hydrant BBS 123/6 (901) 353-4563 The Grapevine BBS 123/4 (901) 683-8168 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 8 7 Apr 1986 Tom Jennings Fido 125/1 It's probably old news, but Fido 125/1, the old "Fido #1", is temporarily dead. An actual hard disk crash; aluminum shavings inside the drive. Not too good. Not only that, I broke the machine while trying to fix it, so I tossed it in a closet and took the opportunity to take a long needed vacation from running a BBS. The vacation is temporary; Fido will be up again once I replace the hardware. I'm building a computer to use. (Industrial, not commercial grade components: Intel Multibuss based, 300W supply, hard disk no floppies, no CRT, fan and automotive air filter.) Since I don't have a DTC Host Adapter to bolt the Xebec to the buss, I gotta rewrite my ROM, and write a parallel port driver, which of course I keep putting off. Anyone have a Data Technology Corp. DTC-86 Host Adapter for the Multibuss? I'll pay a reasonable sum for one. New, used, I don't care. If I get one, I can have the machine up in a week, otherwise it's whenever I get around to writing and debugging yucky drivers. Either postoffice me a note (2269 Market St. #118, San Francisco, CA 94114) or FidoNet me at 1/0. On an unrelated subject: I'm glad to see the HELP and BUG nodes are up. Thanks to all the volunteers. In a few weeks, go check out the number of messages on all of them, all at once. Then imagine only two or three people answering all of those. Ugh. It was our own fault, however, we never made it clear just how much work it was. Things change. Which brings me to the real point: many, many people have requested from me protocol specs and such things on FidoNet compatibility issues. I'd really really like to write them, but I know I will never get to it. For example, I wrote a FIDOLIST program, that generates a human readable FIDOLIST.TXT from the node list. Its really nice and fast, but I found that there were keywords in the node list that I didn't understand! Now that's not a problem. Things should get repaired and updated as needed, and I'm glad someone else did it instead of me (the HUB keyword had me baffled). This stuff has gotta get documented, in some "official" way, or we are going to be in SERIOUS trouble very soon. FIDOMAIL.DOC was a nice start (my first pass at a FidoNet protocol spec) but its poorly written, and now out of date, as it doesn't have pickup and poll in it. How about this: we start some new IFNA region nodes: FidoNet Protocol SPECS File Transfer SPECS NodeList SPECS Fidonews Page 9 7 Apr 1986 FidoNet Protocol SPECS would generate and maintain something that describes in some detail the FidoNet protocol, plus fill in some of the missing parts (like the undocumented boundary conditions). The FIDOMAIL.DOC file is a rude start, and I'll gladly fill in what I can for missing details. The person(s) involved here should be high level techie: message packet attribute bits should be allocated and defined from here, and future protocol expansions, which I have in my head, should be written up. I will continue to maintain FIDO_???.EXE, and changes to packet formats, message header bits, etc, need to be coordinated. We already ran into one of those messes already, we don't need to a second time! File Transfer SPECS is pretty simple: it should cover XMODEM, TELINK and KERMIT file transfer protocols. Not really a big deal, since these are documented currently, but not all in one place. Also we need one set standard reference docs, that we refer to for all FidoNet related stuff, and not just whatever ancient file someone finds laying about. NodeList SPECS is to cover the things like the node list keywords and their additions and changes, plus probably keep the software for things like the new Diff file format. Right now we're pretty safe, but this could get out of hand very easily. There are many more things that are SPEC related that need to be covered, these are just the biggies. Tim Pozar and I talked to Erik Fair, in Berkeley, a high level Unix wizard and UUCP/Arpa expert, and all around excellent person. We found out that even though FidoNet is an email system, but not a "packet switched" system (my fault for the faulty terminology, I don't know anything about traditional telecom) FidoNet has many high level features and structural advantages that are now holding back UUCP net. We have the advantages of Arpa's "host tables" (our nodelist) and the damn high efficiency that comes from paying for your own phone bills! We really need to keep things improving. We have a hot network, even though it's not getting the recognition it deserves. FidoNet is greater than the sum of its parts, obviously: the software is necessary but not enough; the human structure is what makes it run! It is amazing how smoothly and quickly the HELP and BUG nodes went together. I take it as an indication of the size of the need it filled. The SPECS nodes won't be gobbled up so quickly, but will provide long term insurance. First of all, we will be the only ones doing such things, so the rest of the BBS world will turn to us for specs. We're building an expertise base here, we might might as well do it purposefully instead of haphazardly, so that we all can benefit. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 10 7 Apr 1986 I found this on a well-known mid-western BBS. Thought I'd share it with all my good friends at FidoLand. Juan E. Jimenez, 103/511, 1/110 Micro Consulting Associates Newport Beach, California DL-232 -- A New Standard by Dave Lyons (CompuCenter Iowa: JoeApple; CompuServe 72177,3233) I may never understand how the designers of the RS-232 "standard" for serial communication managed to use 25 wires where only 3 are really necessary. Maybe they made a deal with the companies that make cables, connectors, and switch boxes. I just don't know. Well, I thought of a few things that the RS-232 standard lacks, and since there are already so many extra signals, a few more can't hurt anybody, right? Heck, let's go for 50-pin connectors and cables and add the following new signals. (Just to make sure this isn't compatible with any old equipment, all OLD signals are moved up one pin number (Carrier Detect becomes 9 instead of 8, etc., and pin 25 goes to pin 1). Pin Name Description --- ---- ----------- 26 XCAT Should be connected to chassis of devices. Used with the next two signals, this provides protec- tion against cats who haven't learned not to walk on floppy disks or serial equipment. This signal should supply about 2000 volts (at a VERY low current level; wouldn't want to HURT the cute little thing, just teach it not to walk on anything in the computer room). 27 CATGND Cat ground. Used with pin 26. This signal should be connected to another part of the chassis or the tabletop. 28 CTD Cat detect. 29 SD Self-destruct. This signals causes the device to destroy itself. 30 SDACK Self-destruct acknowledge. Acknowledges that the device has destroyed itself. 31 VADIC This signal indicates to a computer that the device on the other end is a modem that uses VADIC protocol. (Note: CompuCenter Iowa users should jumper this signal to SD and then buy a decent modem.) Fidonews Page 11 7 Apr 1986 32 STBIT1 Stutter bits. With pin 33, sets the number of "stutter bits" (0 to 3 of them) to be included before each byte transmitted. This may reduce the number of people who feel inferior to compu- ter equipment by showing them that computers have problems communicating with each other. 33 STBIT2 34 CABR Cable ready. It's not enough to know that the Data Set is ready (DSR) and the Data Terminal is read (DTR). We also need to know that the CABLE connecting them is ready. 35 GRR Gremlins ready. Not everybody knows it, but there are little green guys inside most modern computer equipment. Most of the time they sleep, but other times they cause trouble. The next 6 signals are for dealing with gremlins. 36 220A Used with pin 37, supplies 220 volt power for the gremlins' air conditioning. On hot days when gremlins can't sleep, applying power to these pins may solve your problems. 37 220B 38 110H 110 volts, hot side. When the 220 volt power doesn't help and gremlin problems persist, use this with pin 39 to supply 110 volts for the gremlins' TV and video game center. 39 110N 110 volts, neutral side. 40 MOON Indicates the phase of the moon. Sometimes solves mysterious problems. 41 LHI Pins 41 through 45 can be used to implement the "like" protocol when the normal RTS/CTS protocol isn't enough. This one means "Like HI" and is used to establish a connection. 42 LHTY2 Like HI to You Too. Acknowledges pin 41. 43 LLTT Like Listen To This. Requests permission to send data. 44 LOK Like OK. Grants permission to transmit data. 45 LWOW Like WOW. Acknowledges receipt of data. 46 HEY Pins 46 to 50 may be used to implement the "Eighties" protocol when RTS/CTS and "Like" protocols won't do the job. This signal is similar to RTS (Request to Send). Fidonews Page 12 7 Apr 1986 47 NP No Problem. Acknowledges HEY. 48 HUH? Signals that data was not received correctly (possibly wrong number of stutter bits). 49 YEAH Acknowledges data received. 50 KMG365 Like YEAH, but for avid Emergency One fans. That makes 50! Let's hear your suggestions for MORE serial signals. Maybe we can get 100 and REALLY make the cable manufacturers happy. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 13 7 Apr 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Notes from Abroad The Future of Fido in Europe As Fido grows I think that countries must become self supporting in handing out node numbers. I will be doing the central coordination to prevent total chaos. The question is when to start this. As a CC gets a USA compatible (fast) modem a country or part of it can become a separate net, getting mail from the USA directly. From an organizational point of view this good, but it suffers on cost aspects if the number of nodes in a country is low and/or international mail is on a low level. Messages are cheaper if you pack them into one packet. So it all depends on how much mail is send between countries and to and from the USA. At the moment it is not a big problem anyway, but if you have thoughts about this point let us know through this newsletter. The best solutions will emerge from the discussion I hope. Our board at 500/1 ------------------ This board is run (payed for) by the Dutch hobby computer club (HCC), a club with 23000+ members organized in local clubs and computer/operating system orientated user groups. We publish a monthly magazine (35000+) with more than 100 pages each month mostly filled by articles from our members. 500/1 is used as a collection point for these articles. Also the communication between the central board, the professional workers at our office in utrecht and the 300+ local officials have become a problem that we try to solve with this board and a Fido in Utrecht. In principal the central board of the HCC has decided to have a Fido installed for as much local HCC clubs and user groups as possible. There is money available for about 12 boards but as being a democratic club, the final approval of our Fido plans must be done on a general meeting in September. We are actively seeking sponsoring of local boards and are approaching the government for some money. (The managers of the Ministry of Education have already had some demonstrations on 500/1). In November we have the annual HCC-days (2 days of computer shows with more than 35000 people attending last year) and we hope to announce the Fido_net_HCC then loud and clear. We are heavily promoting Fido in the news with continuing articles in our own magazine (first one in September) and in other magazines (2 articles on Fido appearing in October in a small and a very big magazine (PCM). Radio will give a Fido report in the first week of September. We also give out press releases. This board will be devoted to coordination and collecting articles and will not have much software online after the local Fido's have started. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 14 7 Apr 1986 The Rainbow Corner by Ted Needleman I had planned to review the first package in "Project Transport". The package I picked to test was a $15 per module accounting package for the IBM and compatibles. At $15 each for General Ledger, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Payroll, and Inventory, or $50 for all 5 packages, I figured if they work, they should be a terrific buy. Using the "IDrive" IBM compatible disk drive from Suitable Solutions (408/725-8944), I transferred the programs onto Rainbow diskettes, then installed the General Ledger on my hard disk. The installation process went fine, with no problems reported, but when I ran the G/L, some of the screens were a bit garbled. The program still appears to be usable, but I decided to forestall a thorough review until I try the program on my COLUMBIA. If the same thing happens, then it's the software, not the process of transporting it over to the Rainbow. If, in the meantime, you figure it's worth the $15 (plus $5 shipping and handling) to find out for yourself, give MCBS a call at 713/444-6269. You will, however, need someone with an IBM or compatible to copy the double sided disks to single sided format (which the Rainbow can then read directly). One of the problems with "Project Transport" is that if it is successful, there is going to be a need to convert programs which are most often supplied on double sided disks, into single sided format. To address this problem, I'm trying to arrange with some of the user's groups for some volunteers with the proper equipment. For a nominal donation (perhaps a dollar or two per disk) which will go into the group's treasury, a user's original purchased software disk would be copied onto user supplied Rainbow formatted disks. So far, there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest on the part of user's groups in participating, but in the next few months, I'll be speaking to several groups here along the East coast, and hopefully, will garner some assistance. As usual, I'm still behind in answering the mail, but I have noticed a lot of questions lately on modems. Rather than just gloss over the subject, I'm doing a feature article on using a modem with your Rainbow. This should appear in a few months, and will discuss speed (baud rate), parity, setting your comm port & parameters, using comm software, and a few other goodies. In the interim, if you have a specific question or problem, leave a message for me on the RAINBW_CORNR Fido board (914/425-2613). I don't promise to have all the answers, but I'll try to help. One question that comes up with a fair amount of frequency concerns modem speed. I keep getting asked whether I recommend 2400 baud modems over the slower 1200 baud modems. The answer to this is not cut-and-dried. It depends to a large extent on how much use you make (or anticipate making) of communications. Right now, a 2400 baud modem can cost several hundred dollars more than a 1200 baud modem. If you only use your system for an occasional call to a local BBS, or a computer service which utilizes one of the packet switching networks (such as TymNet or Fidonews Page 15 7 Apr 1986 Telenet), then save your money, buy the less expensive 1200 baud modem. If, however, you are like me, and tend to spend hours dialing boards around the country, then spend the extra money on a high speed modem. Not all boards support 2400 baud, and even if the one you are calling does support this speed, the phone lines don't always cooperate. But over the long run the tendency in the industry is always toward greater speed and power. It may cost you a bit more now, but you will be buying a bit more time before your equipment becomes obsolete. You might also want to check with A.T.& T. about their "Reach Out America" program. This lets you dial anywhere in the continental U.S.A. for a flat fee of $10 for the first hour, and $8 and change for additional hours. Of course there are restrictions, such as having to make these calls after 11 P.M. or on the weekends, but you might save some money. It's worth a look. See you next week. (c) Ted Needleman 1986 (all rights reserved) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 7 Apr 1986 THE WORLD OF COMPUTING written by Reuven M. Lerner FidoMail 107/33 Welcome to another edition of The World of Computing! As the title in the Table of Contents suggests, this time, I'll be mainly discussing the new "Super Macintosh," and some Israeli magazines that I recently had a chance to read. As you probably noticed, there has been a little time between the last column and this one. I'm kind of new to deadlines, but hopefully that was the last time I'll miss them. If you're a careful reader, you may have noticed that I promised last week to discuss "the words we use." I had a little something prepared, but as the magazines seemed to fit that description, I decided to hold off on computer words until another week. The big news in January was the announcement of the Macintosh Plus by Apple. Everyone knew about it, right down to how it looked, but John Sculley acted as though he didn't realize that, and announced it as if the new machine was a surprise to us all. When Apple first brought out the Mac, they intended for it to be in the office where IBM PC's had taken hold. Unfortunately, that failed miserably. Apple was forced to change their strategy, and publicly said that they would not compete with IBM any more. Now that they've come out with the Mac Plus, what can they say? It's the machine that they should have come out with in the first place (but then, improvements and updates always are). Every reviewer said that it needed more memory, a better keyboard, expansion slots, larger capacity drives, and at least two drives. Well, they finally got what they were waiting for. Almost exactly two years later, the Macintosh Plus has 1 Megabyte of memory (that's a thousand K for those who don't know; one Gigabyte is 1,000 Megabytes), like it should have been given. I'm sure someone out there is saying, "Hold on! Didn't Apple listen to the reviewers and add memory to give it 512K?" Well, they did, but why didn't they add more? People would have gladly paid for it (they paid other companies for memory upgrades, why not Apple?). Computer users are a strange breed. We always want more memory, whether or not our computers can use it or not. We want to have as much memory as is possible, plus another few hundred K. Apple should have realized this when they originally brought out the Mac, and made their basic model with 512K, and their advanced model with 1 or 2 Megabytes. Anyway, the next complaint was the keyboard. As Jerry Fidonews Page 17 7 Apr 1986 Pournelle put it in BYTE, if anyone else had designed a small keyboard with nonstandard keys and no special-function keys (i.e. ESC), no one would have bought it! But since it's Apple, they must know what they're doing, and thus it's okay. WRONG!! Just because the Mac is a special machine doesn't mean that it needs a strange keyboard! Users should feel as comfortable on a PC as they do on a Mac, especially with the keyboard. I've used many machines which could have been improved a lot either by the layout or by the feel of the keyboards. Making keys with oddball names and taking others out is a real no-no. As far as I know, the ESCape and other keys like it are on the new Mac Plus, as is a numeric keypad and cursor keys. Lots of people also complained about the disk drives. First of all, they held too little. For a graphics-oriented machine, where each pixel is more than one byte (like on other computers), 400K drives are not nearly enough. 800K drives are good, but only if they're faster than the old ones. Any Mac user can tell you what a pain it is to wait for the machine to boot a disk. The last important thing about the Mac Plus is the SCSI, or Small Computer Standard Interface. John Dvorak of InfoWorld says that it's pronounced "scuzzy." Besides the pronunciation, there are a few other drawbacks to the SCSI. First of all, who says that it's going to be standard? It's supposed to be for hard drives. Hyperdrive connects inside the machine, and therefore has no use for the interface. Others use the serial port, and would require an upgrade. Secondly, it's too little, too late. If they wanted to make any real impact, they would have done it last year, when they introduced AppleTalk, the LaserWriter, and the Mac XL (aka Lisa). Now, no one's going to use it except for Apple (even their drive doesn't use it yet). And besides, there's only one. Apple and IBM users have a hard time squeezing the most out of their five to eight slots...what can you do with just one? The Macintosh Plus is a great idea, but, unfortunately for Apple, it's a little late. Israeli Magazines This past week (right now, it's March 5th), one of the members of my family as well as several of my friends went to Israel for a 5-day conference. When he came back, he gave me three computer magazines from Israel. Two of them were called "Anashim Umichashvim", or "People and Computers", and the other was just plain "Michashvim", "Computers". As Israel was occupied by Britain until its independence in 1948, there's still a lot of English used in publishing. However, it surprised me to see how much English was really used Fidonews Page 18 7 Apr 1986 in the magazine. Names of computers were frequently given in English, as were words like "JUYSTICKS" \[sic\]. At one point, values were hand-written onto the magazine. People and Computers is put out by CW Communications, the same people who do InfoWorld (an excellent magazine, by the way). Thus, it didn't surprise me when the cover was very much like my magazine-format InfoWorlds at home. There are two versions of P&C put out in Israel -- one is a monthly that looks like the old InfoWorld magazines (from October 1984 to August 1985), and another is a weekly that is mainly a trade journal, telling business people when shows are. One of the articles caught my attention (I guess the headline-makers are doing their job) when I saw it in the Table of Contents. It was entitled "1986: The Death of the Personal Computer." Incidentally, the word for computer in Hebrew is Michashev, from the word "thought", even though they don't actually think (yet). The article outlines the computer used in Israel and what will happen with them. It's interesting to note that Israel uses many of the same types of computers available in Europe, for instance, the Commodore PC10 and PC20, their IBM-compatibles. I also saw the IBM PC G and the IBM PC DD, neither of which I know anything about (except from the specs list on one of the pages), except that the PC G has been discontinued because there are no more. The author of the article predicts success with the Amiga and 520 ST, and the death of CP/M. I have to differ on two of the three points. I don't think that the Amiga will really make it to the point that the 520, and certainly not the 1040 ST will. Both of the Atari machines have more base memory than the Amiga for much less money, and these days, that really makes a machine. As to the death of CP/M, I doubt that highly. Many people use CP/M and continue to use it every day. I, for one, use it more than I use my other computers, since I'm so used to its feel (although MS-DOS comes kind of close). As reported in InfoWorld, a company is thriving selling old CP/M software that no one else thinks is worth the effort any more. That about wraps up my section on computers in Israel. In a few weeks, I hope to compare their review of Excel with an American magazine's. Corrections Every columnist everywhere I read makes mistakes, so why should I be any different? I've received some mail, and although I responded in person to them, I'll explain in a little more detail what I did. Fidonews Page 19 7 Apr 1986 First of all, I have a message from Mike Harrington, of the Blue Telegraph in Seattle. He wanted to know if I could drop the copyright notice at the bottom of the column, to keep in the spirit of the public domain. After receiving his letter, I realized that he was absolutely right in what he said. If you look at the bottom of this week's (and future week's) column, you'll see that I now give full copying rights, so long as there is not profit made. However, there is still a copyright on it, much like many public-domain utilities. If anyone has any comments, just write to me. I also received a letter from Bob Spivack, of Spiv's Fido in San Jose, California. Bob gave the real reasons why IBM chose the 8088, and I'll condense it here. Intel created the 8086 before the 8088, but since companies didn't need the extra 16-bit hardware for their products and peripherals, they weren't buying it as fast as Intel thought they would. Intel then designed a chip that was identical to the 8086, but utilizes an 8-bit data and I/O bus instead of 16-bit. IBM chose the 8088 instead for most of the same reasons: the speed and expandability of the 8086, but with the ease of interfacing with 8-bit memory and peripherals. If any of you spot mistakes, don't hesitate to write me and point them out! I try to be as accurate as possible, but I am still human. Well, I'm really out of space for this week, so let me just remind you how open I am to suggestions and comments. Just send mail to me either through FidoMail at Fido 107/33, or at 21 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, NY, 11568. Until next time, happy computing! (c)1986 Reuven M. Lerner. All Rights Reserved. Permission is given to copy this column so long as it is for non-profit use. If you wish to use it for other than non-profit use, write to the author at 21 Old Westbury Road, Old Westbury, NY 11568, or at FidoMail 107/33. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 20 7 Apr 1986 ================================================================= WANTED ================================================================= Tom Zelinski, Coordinator Interplay, Incorporated (Through Node 109/622, Peter Thomas) ProtoCall Needs BBS Sysops! ProtoCall is a new nationwide system available thru Tymnet starting on March 25th. It's an economical and entertaining answer to more expensive national systems that are available and features a VERY unique Talk/CB, SIGs, and other features. At $3.60 per hour/300 baud and $4.80/1200 baud, it is one of the most reasonably priced national systems available anywhere! We recognize that local BBS's in the U.S. can be a powerful advertising medium for us and we're looking for Sysops to post messages and bulletins on their BBS's advertising our new system! In return, ProtoCall will open an account for you on our system and give you 5 hours online time FREE! We'll also list your BBS on our data base and give you access to our special BBS Sysop's SIG. AND, for every new account that we open as a result of your ad, you'll receive an additional HOUR of online time FREE! ProtoCall recognizes all of the hard work that BBS Sysops must do to keep their systems online. And this offer is our way of thanking you for making telecommunications the popular medium that it is. If you're interested, please call us (Mon-Fri, 2 PM- 12 Midnight) at (800) 826-3286 to set up your Sysop's Account. PLEASE pass this special offer to every Sysop/BBS in your area. We're counting on you to help us make ProtoCall the success we know it will become! Join the growing number of BBS Sysops who have FREE access to ProtoCall! Call us today fo all the details. Remember, this costs you nothing! Call today! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 21 7 Apr 1986 ================================================================= FOR SALE ================================================================= ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE FOR YOUR PC! SUPERDOTS! KALAH! 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 22 7 Apr 1986 Now available from Micro Consulting Associates!! Public Domain collection - 300+ "ARC" archives - 10 megs of software and other goodies, and that's "archived" size! When unpacked, you get approximately 17 megabytes worth of all kinds of software, from text editors to games to unprotection schemes to communications programs, compilers, interpreters, etc... This collection is the result of more than 10 months of intensive downloads from just about 100 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 Plain ol' files (add $50, though, it's a lot of work and takes more diskettes...) 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 23 7 Apr 1986 Tom Zelinski, Coordinator Interplay, Incorporated (Through node 109/622, Peter Thomas, SysOp) ProtoCall National System Goes Online ProtoCall, a new national online leisure system available through Tymnet, will be available on March 25th! ProtoCall features the most unique Talk/CB areas available anywhere! Tired of signing onto "Channel 1" or "Line 17" on other national systems? Why not sign into the Town of Remote and walk our streets? Drop into a singles bar and meet people? Take someone to a lonely beach for private conversation? Go to the Remote Airport and fly to the "Caribbean"? You can create and describe your own private room for your special rendezvous! Anything is possible! ProtoCall also features Electronic Mail, Special Interest Groups, and informational data bases too. And the best news is that ProtoCall costs less than ANY other system available nationally! During evenings, weekends, and holidays, access is only $3.60 at 300 baud and $4.80 at 1200 baud. And, there is no sign-up fee or any other hidden costs involved. If you sign-up today, ProtoCall will give you FIVE HOURS FREE online time! There is no obligation for this, but you must register with us. And, we also are offering a special 2-for-1 sign-up special. For every hour that you purchase, we'll give you another hour free! These offers are limited, so please call us today! Call (800) 826-3286 between 9AM and Midnight. Join the growing number of users who have chosen the newest and most economical national telecommunications system available today! ProtoCall!!! ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 24 7 Apr 1986 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 $35! 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). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 25 7 Apr 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 11 Apr 1986 Halley's Comet reaches perigee. 12 Apr 1986 The Next Occasional MetroNet Sysop Meeting, to be held in West Milford, New Jersey. Contact The Wizard at node 107/16 for details and directions. 19 May 1986 Steve Lemke's next birthday. 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------- The Node Number given in FidoNews Volume 3, Number 12 for the Shuttle Poem was wrong. The number given was 109/612. The correct number is 109/606. The Peom was written by a Science Teacher at the Maret School in Washington, DC. As he is not a user on 109/606, any message regarding the poem should be addressed to the SYSOP of 109/606. Alexander Wall -- Sysop of 109/606 ----------------------------------------------------------------- New release of PKSCrypt Public Key Encryption System Version 0.02 of PKSCrypt is now available for download from node 134/1. It is up to 4 times as fast as the previous version. PKSCrypt is an implementation of "public key encryption" where the encrypt and decrypt keys are different. It runs on MS-DOS versions 2 or 3. Lloyd Miller Calgary, Alberta March 25, 1986 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 26 7 Apr 1986 Jim Ryan Fido 141/9 Synchronous Modem Test Sites Needed ----------------------------------- A major communications manufacturer is looking for test sites for it's new line of asynchronous/synchronous 2400 baud modems. If you are presently using a remote synchronous communications system (via a synchronous modem) on an IBM PC or true compatible, please contact Ray Lecours at (203) 758-1811. -----------------------------------------------------------------