Volume 5, Number 36 5 September 1988 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief Dale Lovell Editor Emeritus: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings Contributing Editors: Al Arango 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 1988 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. IFNA may also be contacted at PO Box 41143, St. Louis, MO 63141. Fido and FidoNet are registered trademarks of Tom Jennings of Fido Software, 164 Shipley Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94107 and are used with permission. The contents of the articles contained here are not our responsibility, nor do we necessarily agree with them. Everything here is subject to debate. We publish EVERYTHING received. Table of Contents 1. ARTICLES ................................................. 1 Fidonet - Alternet Technical Agreement ................... 1 Religious Ignorance. Is It Too Late? ..................... 2 To Disassemble The Machine ............................... 4 2. COLUMNS .................................................. 13 Rogel's Corner: Backing Up is Hard to Do ................. 13 Let's YACK about The Joys of FidoNet ..................... 17 3. NOTICES .................................................. 18 The Interrupt Stack ...................................... 18 NEW (Again) Region 18 REC! ............................... 18 Latest Software Versions ................................. 18 FidoNews 5-36 Page 1 5 Sep 1988 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= Fidonet - Alternet Technical Agreement David Dodell FidoNet 1:1/0 Ben Baker Alternet 7:44/76 FidoNet and Alternet have agreed in principal to jointly establish an official communications gateway. While the zonegate mechanism may not be the most desirable method, it is never the less one which existing software can support without modification. Therefore, zonegates connecting the two networks will be installed in the respective nodelists effective September 16th. FidoNet and Alternet have further agreed to jointly define a specification for a more appropriate interconnection mechanism. This agreement was arrived at through meetings between officials of the two networks. It is a technical agreement, not a political one. Each network believes that its interests can best be served by facilitating communication and encouraging technical cooperation. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-36 Page 2 5 Sep 1988 I am a Pagan. This is my humble opinion only, and does not relect in any way anyone elses opinion, including the editor of Fido News, or any group other than me, myself, and I. They are NOT the opinions of the author of the Christian Hate Series. Hi! I would like to mimic, perhaps at the expense of sounding argumentive, the concern some have expressed regarding the Christian Hate Series. Some have said that such a project shows those who would condemn us that we are truly out to get them after all, and thus their exertions against us are justified. Still others opinion that such a collection of religious intolerances is valueless because those who follow such Paths care little for what we think of them (save that we fear them in some cases). And still more could say that the Series is nothing more than name-calling, though since the files are for the most part written by those who wish individual thought and expression ill, this stance I cannot see being a valid one. I spent may hours going through the collection, and my mind reels with the vast fusion of incredulity, disbelief, grief, and, above all, a great deal of, well, staggering disappointment. What has happened to the basic, mortal, human capacity for compassion and courtesy? I read and am dismayed! Such base, malignant hate, fear, and contriving force pointed, aimed, like a pistol at the heart of all that should, must, be held inviolate! The hate that darkens the mind and makes it slave to Despite. Worse, the cancerous growth of such execrate grows deep within those who are powerless to beat against such strong a wind as religious intolerance, growing there like a child got by rape, deep within their belly. They have no idea they've been sorely violated by those who would use them, like the pawns they are, for their own ends. I feel powerless, impotent, in the face of such ignorance. I do fear. . . greatly fear. . . that the battle is already lost. Such ill Power walks unhindered, untouched, through our towns, cities, and even our own hearts, and we must keep silent or get stepped on. Panic threatens to choke me, vowing pain and grief in the place of resolution. I think of what we could become. As human beings, we are capable of so much love, warmth, passion, affection. Then I think of what we might allow us to become. And I weep. If nothing more, the Christain Hate Series has pointed out to me that what we value most can so easily be rended from us. This is why I feel this Series has value. It seeks not to call Others Than Us nasty names. It does not demand Others Than Us to treat us with the respect due any thinking, living, being-- To demand that which is already ours by Right. It's basic Function, rather, is to hold up and display, to all who would see, the Great Enemy that faces not only us, but the very same people who would take from us the freedom to choose, think, be, and become, what we would, unfettered by constraints of what others would have us be. FidoNews 5-36 Page 3 5 Sep 1988 Is it too late? Read the Christian Hate Series, and then tell me. David Rice, 09/03/88 Sysop, (1:103/503.0) [P.S. The Christian Hate Series is available on The Astro-Net, and is the work of Michelle Klein-Hass, who has done a darn good job collecting these files. You may File Request them here at The Astro-Net as X-HATE2.ARC X-HATE3.ARC X-HATE4.ARC and XIANHATE.ARC or get them from the author at (1:102/862.0)] ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-36 Page 4 5 Sep 1988 To Disassemble The Machine Fredric L. Rice (103/503.3) Quite a few of us consider nuclear war a high possibility and pause to consider its ramifications; the consensus seems to indicate a desire to be among the first few hundred millions to vaporize into a whiff of carbon and not a little ozone when the big ones start dropping. These considerations should, however, be set onto the back burner for now and replaced with yet another, and more probable threat. The threat of a large quake along the San Andreas fault line. Such a quake, being on the order of some 8.25 magnitude, has the same destructive power of a fifty megaton nuclear bomb. Though 50 megatons is considered a pony bomb by today's standards, it is still enough to stop California's commerce, and hence livability, cold for years. Yet this threat, and those that arise from its realization, are not taken seriously except by those insurance companies and engineering firms who make it their business to understand and determine the risk to hopefully minimize damage and fatalities. One of these businesses is the nuclear power plant manufactures; manufacturers such as General Electric and Westinghouse. - - - Strain along the infamous San Andrea fault line can be measured with accuracy by automated equipment. As pressures increase or decrease, the direction of movement and the amount of built-up pressure is radioed to receiving equipment and examined by computer and human alike for indications on the possibility of a destructive release. Recent readings show areas of the fault to contain some 36 feet of stress, ranging through Palmsprings, Palmdale, and Lancaster. Other areas of the fault contain much more while others show much less; on the average of some 15 feet or so. In 1857 there was a fling along the San Bernadino line of the San Andreas fault of 13 feet. This caused much destruction and loss of life. If the fault were to break loose today, releasing even a minute amount of the strain along its length, the 8 point or greater quake would occur. In the event of an 8.25 quake occurring on the San Andreas fault line, there would be anywhere from three thousand to fourteen thousand people killed. Hundreds of thousands of people would become homeless and many more would die if national assistance is slow to respond with medical aid and water. In 1971, "Quake Proof" dams were built to replace the older earth dams that were in use around the Southern FidoNews 5-36 Page 5 5 Sep 1988 California area. These dams are designed to retain water in the event of regional disaster such that little to no water would be lost due to possible damage. It is the water ducts, however, that are engineers main concern. California is mostly an unlivable wasteland, relying on these water ducts for the irrigation of the huge sediment rich basins we live in. In an 8 point or greater quake, we can expect that two of the three ducts would be destroyed, bringing them down for six months or more. These two ducts go deep under ground at some points in their journey and it's likely that those under ground passages would be sealed off, making repairs a difficult; even for the Army Core of Engineers who's assistance would be needed elsewhere. Fire is not thought to be a major hazard when the big one occurs. This is unless there are Santa Ana winds present in which case fire will be a real hazard. The threat of fire was realize in the 1906 quake in San Francisco where fire, more than the quake, totally destroyed the city. In times of high quake probability, fire departments make city-wide rounds, checking on the availability of water dumps and tanks. The amount of water available for use in fighting fires are correlated into a series of maps which comprise a earthquake contigency plan. It's somewhat comforting to note that many hospitals, even fairly minor ones, maintain their own source of power generators, fuel, and water. I know that the city of Glendoras "Foothill Presbyterian Hospital" maintain power generators that switch over automatically when ground movement is first detected. This "seismic trip" assures a structured cross-over from the external power grid to a safe internally contained power source, allowing the surgeon to use her operating equipment without interruption. The need for self contained power systems in the event of a quake is readily apparent when you consider where it is that power comes from. I might also note that a secondary source of fresh water comes from the same place. There are a bewildering number of nuclear reactors strung along the California coast line. The placement of these piles are dictated by their needs for huge amounts of cooling water though in a very few years this need is to change somewhat. Currently, water is drawn into the nuclear system through underground pipes that usually contain a series of filters to remove the unwanted plants, silt, and marine life which might make it to the reactors intake. This water is brought to the pile core and is circulated around the fuel rods, (usually Zirconium Allow cladding), which are at high temperature, causing the water to expand FidoNews 5-36 Page 6 5 Sep 1988 into steam. This steam is drawn off of the core to drive turbofans which turn the electric generators. The steam is usually brought to condensers and then released, warmed, back into the ocean. I should also note that if there are breakages in the fuel rod cladding, a large amount and variety of fission by-products are released into the water and hence will be released into the ocean only miles from our shores, (Zirconium alloy, Zircalloy, has its problems as does steel and most metals when subjected to harsh radiations, pressure, and heat over periods of time, and breakage is often cause for expensive replacements. Because of the cost, however, the Atomic Energy Commission will allow leaky fuel rods to remain in operation until the rad count rises to well beyond the legal limit. Not health limit; any release of radiation is a health hazard). The result is a lot of power and, if the condensed steam is retained, fresh water; water and power both badly needed by Californians. This need for water will place nuclear piles very close to the coast line to reduce water transportation costs. There is under development, and even in operation, liquid metal cooled nuclear reactors. The "sodium cooled reactors" represent perhaps a greater threat to life in California than the threat of nuclear war. Situated far from water sources because there is no great need for cooling water and land is cheaper, these reactors are brought as close to the cities as economically feasible to bring power transmission costs down. Without a back-up source of water to cool them in the event of a loss of coolant accident, (LOCA), some fairly elaborate schemes to contain the explosions are developed, (the usual containment vessel is not enough when dealing with liquid sodium as it reacts violently with both water and air). Most people agree that nuclear reactors are unsafe, except, of course, those of the power companies themselves. We in California have our share of them and it has been seen that California coats line is the worst place to put them. A LOCA, such as the case of Three Mile Island, can be disastrous. In that event, a stuck-open pourve, (sp), was the initial cause for the environmental hazard alert issued throughout the plant. It was the technicians lack skills, then, after the problem was started that cause much of the concern. Dealing with a stuck open valve was commonplace in simulations; the understanding of the cause for the reactor scram under actual conditions was absent. In this LOCA, during the investigation that took place after the scram, NRA officers asked one of the technicians what would have happened if the pile had been allowed to operate uncovered for a minute or two more than it did. "It would have disassembled the machine", was his answer, meaning a nuclear explosion of course. FidoNews 5-36 Page 7 5 Sep 1988 This type of accident, those where human operators are controlling the system, can be disastrous. When a quake breaks open the containment environment of a nuclear pile, however, the result can be much worse. Pipes which bring the coolant in, though usually designed for redundancy, can be severed causing an automatic reactor scram. There have been some indications that during a seismic event, some reactors have been designed to shut down at the onset. The reason this is not too desirable a trait in a nuclear power plant is, of course, one of expense. It is cost which was and remains the overriding concern of businesses, not safety. When reactor manufactures which to make application for the building of a nuclear power plant, their engineers must submit a "maximum hazard summary report" to the Atomic Energy Commission, (AEC). Some of these, (and they are a matter for public record in some states), are truthful while most of them describe no loss of life in the event of an earthquake; trusting on the redundancy of multiply-backed-up subsystems and elaborate designed tailored to containment of the explosion in the event all else fails. It has always been a good idea to accept everything you read about nuclear power plants to be biased one way or the other. Indeed, you might have noticed a slightly negative bent within this article. Considering this, I'd like to detail an event which could occur at the San Onofre power plant which would by no means be typical. It is, however, plausible. This didn't happen. On the morning of May 17'th, 1987, scientist at the United States Geological Survey team in Pasadena detect minor quakes ranged along the southern sections of the San Andreas fault line, affecting San Diego, Carlsbad, and Camp Pendelton. From some 250 pressure monitors along the fault come pressure readings which are rising quickly. Argon levels from wells quickly rise as water levels drop in some parts of the state and rises in others. From the Los Angeles area down to San Diego, ion counts pick up and within minutes have doubled. The USGS and other authorities are faced with a moral decision that may affect the population of the Southern California area: the may report the heightened quake condition and bring the civil defence and fire departments of the area to an alert condition two, or they may choose not to say anything. In their past decisions, problems have arisen from BOTH sides of the coin. When alerts reach the public and nothing happens, authorities are flooded with complaints. When damage occurs and loss of life is realized when people are not alerted, it brings cries of "what are you people being paid for?" from the populace. As the morning progresses and all indications strengthen, FidoNews 5-36 Page 8 5 Sep 1988 authorities make the decision not to alert the news medias but to bring fire departments and national guardsmen to alert con 3. At firehouses throughout the cities affected, water availability is tabulated as is medical supplies and a condition of readiness is ascertained. The National Guard alerts its commanding officers to wait for possible ground movement and are told of the most likely location of the zone of fling. Nothing happens during the working day of May 17'th and pressure monitors have stabilized at high levels. Towards the evening, they start to drop slightly and by morning have dropped a few points. - - Authors note: These pressure readings, random measurements, well water depth, and ion counters are real and information obtained from them are radioed through the Ham Radio community of the Southern California area. The signature which often precursor quake activity show steady increase, a leveling off, two or three days of slow decline, and then a quake. Graphs of the pressure readings show signatures which can be used by the Ham Radio community to indicate an alert condition. On the morning of the 18'th, at 3:28 local time, a section of the San Andreas fault line breaks off, flinging the two opposing plates fifteen feet along each side. The result is a 7.6 magnitude quake which is centered six miles from Carlsbad. The epicenter is some six miles from Carlsbad and much damage is encountered there. Over two thousand people are homeless and the fatality count starts at 137. Their problems aren't over with yet, as unknown to them, not far away, a reactor is having problems of its own. At Camp Pendelton, marines are awakened to the rocking of their barracks and not a few are knocked to the floor. As the ground swells roll through the camp, the water tower breaks at the base and crashes down on the officers mess, killing three and injuring another dozen. Along the camps western side, the sea reacts violently to the quake and fifteen foot swells travel along the coast line and swim away out to sea. A helicopter which was landing suddenly finds the ground rocking and thinks there's something wrong with the helicopters landing gear. As he lifts off, the ground quivers again tipping the craft slightly; hovering, the pilot radios for a visual check of his landing struts but will have to wait; the flight control tower operator is sitting on the floor waiting for the small stubby tower to stop shaking. Throughout the Southern California area, various degrees of ground movements are recorded. Along the Foothills of San Bernadino, the ground waves bounce off the mountains and head back to give those communities which are at its base a second treatment to the quake, prolonging the quake. There is major damage ten miles from the epicenter, minor damage FidoNews 5-36 Page 9 5 Sep 1988 thirty miles away, and noticeable ground movement up to one hundred miles away. And at the San Onofre power plant, the extent of the damage is still to be noticed. During the quake, sensors along the property lines pick up the sonic waves that precede the quake and alert the automated equipment just seconds before the ground waves. Under the reactors water intake and purification building, several pipes break, causing the dumping of water being pumped in from the sea. As the pumps are automatically brought off line, air makes its way into the intake system and is churned into the water oxidizing it. The broken pipe is sealed from the reactor and pumps are brought up on secondary intake pipes. During the first ten seconds of the quake, the reactor site is still completely intact. The broken pipes have been bypassed and the backups have been taken on line. The monitoring operator who is even now on his knees beside his bed pulling a shirt on with one hand and steadying himself with the other, quickly tries to get dressed to make it to the control room. Other operators who are on duty and watch over the automated system are still frozen, waiting for the quake to stop. As the first few large swells pass within the first ten seconds, smaller swells come through the reactor site, rise in intensity, and then resume their strength. The aerated water condenses in the reactor circulatory system, causing an air bubble to be loosed through the pumps. As the water alternately compresses and rarefies the trapped air, the pipes internal to the reactor building start to cavitate, thudding the twenty ton pipe fittings against the concrete floors and walls. The reactor is in a state of scram due to the intensity of the quake but has not been fast enough to stop what comes next. As the final ground swells sweep through the site, the pipe fittings deep within the reactor core housing cracks open and widens before the air is purged through this crack. As the pipe stop jumping, the hot water spurts into the reactor housing and turns to steam, releasing much heat into the building. The reactor operators hear the environmental hazard warning horns blaring through out the site as they make it to the control room and cycle themselves through the security devices. Even as they enter the room one by one or in pairs, they are looking at and evaluating the rash of red actuators ranged along three of the walls, trying to see where the damage is and what the automated equipment has done, what should be done, and what the automated equipment should not have done. They quickly notice the reactors automated systems have inserted the quick-drop dampening rods into the core and that the slower-dropping rods are all on the way down. Unknown to them, however, is the fact that FidoNews 5-36 Page 10 5 Sep 1988 the intake water is no longer circulating throughout the reactor and that water existing in the system is being forced out as the temperature rises through several valves. Seven minutes after the quake, the first signs that something really wrong is taking place is realized. As the dampening rods hit bottom and reactor temperatures in some areas of the core continue to rise, it's realized that some of the fuel rods have been exposed and have melted into an unstable configuration. There are hasty conclusions made which attempt to find why the reactor was uncovered and it's cause is quickly observed by camera. Though the picture is wet and steamed, a picture into the reactor housing shows deep water on the floor; more water than the emergency drains can expel safely. At 5:00 on the morning of May the 18'th, all nonessential personnel are ordered off the site and the governor is alerted to a possible disaster at the San Onofre site. A quick description of the problem is enough to make the governor declare a quiet state of emergency and a call to the USGS to ascertain the possibility of aftershocks. Though pressure readings dropped to all-time lows immediately after the quake, they are rising again at exponential rates. The possibility of aftershocks are very high. At the site, several hydrogen explosions are recorded under the pressure dome over the reactor core. Air inside the core is heated and compressed past the flash point and the thousand ton dome bounces eighteen inches into the air, landing flat in its suspension pool. The record shows this may have happened four or five times, no one who remained at the site could agree on the readings, before the final explosion. Attempts are made to cool the reactor by using high volume sprays set into the containment dome. When brought on line, however, all fail to work because of the severing of their feed lines when the containment moved. Emergency coolant has been pumped into the reactor core but not all parts of the core are accessible due to its melted configuration; some areas are quite cold while others are molten. At 5:27, a reactor operator sees something that makes him leave the control room unauthorized. The operator has viewed molten uranium dripping from a crack in the core onto the concrete floor. As the operator hops into his American Made car an operator monitors the reactor's progress, at exactly 5:30 am, the reactor disassembles itself, seeding all those within three miles with am immediate and lethal dose of harsh gamma radiation. As the containment dome comes back down the twenty five feet it has risen, it does so at an angle, making it crash and fragment upon the top of the reactor housing. Much of the tonnage holds the heavy particles of the lethal radiation in but still a lot escapes FidoNews 5-36 Page 11 5 Sep 1988 in the form of liquid products, gas products, and solid products borne on the winds and shrewn into the air. Up to twenty-five miles away, people in such places as San Diego, Camp Pendelton, and Carlsbad are treated to heavy doses of quick and dirty gamma particles. The slower betas hammer through the cities causing burning and bruising of flesh. This flesh will never heal; the cells have been traumatized into forming cancer cells by the destruction of their DNA molecules. Many cancer deaths will be recorded this year and those that follow for the remaining years of life for the survivors. For up to 1500 miles from the site, dangerously high readings of radiation is encountered in the soil which the cattle graze on and which the people of Los Angeles walk on, play baseball on, and generally live on. It can't be scrubbed from the air, scraped from the ground, or taken from the bones of the animals we eat, or from the leaves of the plants we eat. The explosion has blown the reactor fuels into many non-critical fragments, much of which sits at the base of the core melted and then reformed along a shallow pyramid of zirconium. This pyramid insures that if a melt down occurs, the reforming of the molten uranium will not freeze into a critical mass and cause a small nuclear detonation. Its likely to remain in this condition for many years to come. It may even remain so for hundreds of years after engineers decide to simply cover the thing with concrete and forget about it. - - - Even a "minor" quake like the one described above can rupture a reactor. In this hypothetical example, it wasn't the actual quake which triggered the destruction of the containment but its effects. In the quake Californians are expecting, an 8.25 or more, the quake will be over one hundred times stronger than a 7 point quake. It's also important to note why radiation causes the problems it does. When an atomic particle passes through your body, it will encounter many cells by colliding violently with them. The molecules within the cell have, as you know, electrons in orbit around a nucleus. If the atomic particle hits an electron, it may strip it away from its orbit, causing the molecule to become ionized. If the atomic particle hits the nucleus, it can break that atom into its parts; neutrons, protons, and electrons. Some times the cell may recover. Most of the times, however, the cell dies. It is when a cell recovers where the problem starts. A cell that has been traumatized in such a manor may have had its FidoNews 5-36 Page 12 5 Sep 1988 DNA code altered by the collision. In this case, its reproduction facilities may or may not work. If not, then the cell becomes cancerous and is slowly or quickly removed from the organ depending on where it occurs in the body. If the reproduction facilities are intact, then the cell goes onto rebuilding many copies of its altered self, using materials which surround the altered cell. A dose of radiation may not cause immediate damage. When an atomic particle enters an object, it may become imbedded within it. Certainly plant life collects such radiation in this way. When a large area of radiated plant life is eatten by an animal, the accumulated radiation is compressed into neat little packets which are further compressed by other animals and also dispersed by still others. In the event of a particle becoming lodged in a human bone, it may well stay their for thirty years before it decides to decay and release a ray. This ray proceeds out of the human body crashing its way through and ionizing a trail of flesh. What can be done about nuclear power by the general public? Nothing. We are stuck with it because of the demand for more and more power and water than does not tie us tighter with unfriendly nations. If the public was willing to pay greatly for their power and fresh water, nuclear power plants could be made safe and clean. As it is, however, we are not yet ready to pay the price financially. We are, however, willing to pay the price in other, less civilized ways. - As usual, comments, suggestions and corrections should be posted to FidoNews. If you wish, send them directly to me at 1:103/503.0, The Astro-Net at (714)-662-2294, Fredric Rice. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-36 Page 13 5 Sep 1988 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= --------------------------------------------- | ROGEL'S CORNER: BACKING UP IS HARD TO DO | --------------------------------------------- Copyright @ 1988, by Todd S. Rogel. [Permission is granted to copy this article for noncommercial purposes only. Any other reproduction or use is strictly prohibited without the express written permission of the author, Todd S. Rogel] I know, I know, backup my hard disk. There are all sorts of great reasons to do it and every issue of every computer magazine contains at least one article, column or advertisement plucking on the ol' guilt string. But have you tried backing up with DOS? It's a royal pain in the big toe. Sure, there are backup tape systems, Bernoulli boxes, and other high tech alternatives. But these gems are expensive so I don't have of these convenient devices. So I procrastinate, quickly flip past the "have you backed up today?" stuff in the magazines, and swear to myself that I will indeed backup . . . someday. But my guilt complex has become almost unbearable. So it was with great interest -- and relief -- that I had a chance to try out Fast Back Plus by Fifth Generation Systems, Inc.. This program has received good marks from most of the major computer magazines and is available for under $100. The documentation is very readable, well organized and instructive. The menuing system combined with the context-sensitive help makes the use of this program so easy, however, that you really don't have to resort to the manual. Three user levels are selectable: beginner, experienced, and advanced. The higher the user level, the greater the number of options available; conversely, the help screens are more detailed as you lower the user level. In addition to a "Full Backup", you can choose "Full Copy" (make a copy of your backup without changing the archive bit), "Differential" (backup of files changed since the last full backup), and "Incremental" (backup of files changed since the last incremental backup). You may also select or deselect subdirectories and files for backup purposes. You do not need to have formatted disks on hand. Fast Back Plus will do the formatting for you, although this will take FidoNews 5-36 Page 14 5 Sep 1988 some additional time. This is a nice feature, particularly for those of us who have had to abort a lengthy DOS backup because we have discovered towards the end of the backup that we do not have any more formatted floppies. It also will reject floppy disks with bad sectors -- a real confidence booster. More than one drive can be designated and different drive formats are accommodated. If you have two disk drives, this will considerably speed up your backup since Fast Back Plus does not have to wait for you to change floppies -- it will backup on one drive, while you change the floppy disk on the other. Fast Back Plus contains some truly helpful features. For example, it offers data compression. You can either choose to "save time" or "save disks". The "save time" option compresses data during idle processor time. On the other hand, the "save disks" option takes whatever time is necessary to compress the data which, according to Fifth Generation Systems, Inc., can result in up to a 77% file compression. There also is an "Advanced Error Correction System". By writing extra correction information to disk, Fast Back Plus can recover missing data should the disk later become damaged. The manual claims that up to 13% damage to disk surface can be tolerated, depending upon the media. A "Write Verify" option also is available. This feature will cause Fast Back Plus to compare every byte of backed up data with every byte of data copied from the hard disk. The manual observes that "this option provides absolute certainty as to the integrity" of the backup. The cost, however, is that you will double your backup time. inally, Fast Back Plus has a powerful macro capability. This can be accessed from within the program, itself, to save steps in using repetitive features. You can also invoke this capability from DOS, which will allow you to create a simple batch program to run a daily backup with ease. For my first run on Fast Back Plus, I decided to backup my entire hard drive with the exception of one particular directory and its subdirectories (it was very large, contained nonessential information and programs, and I already had a backup). The "exclusion" process is fairly simple. All I had to do was ask for directory tree to be displayed and then I deselected the directory by the point-and-shoot method. On the other hand, it took quite some time for Fast Back Plus to read my disk before it could present the directory tree. Ordinarily I would not complain but I had previously invoked a directory tree whie I was playing around with some of the program's features and it seems to me that Fast Back Plus FidoNews 5-36 Page 15 5 Sep 1988 should not have to take the time to read the disk more than once during a session. Fast Back Plus's need to read the hard disk each time you want a directory tree could be tiresome if you wanted to first selectively include certain subdirectories/files and then exclude some subdirectories/files from that group. fter I made my backup deselection, I requested an "estimate" of the amount of time and floppy disks that would be required for my backup session. I was amazed at the speed with which Fast Back Plus presented me with this estimate. However, the estimate was woefully inaccurate. I was told that 55 floppies would be required and that the backup would take 10:51 minutes. In fact, I only used 28 floppies but it took over 51 minutes for the backup. According to the Manual, the estimate "will usually be pretty close [to the actual backup requirements], although the Time: may be longer if you used unformatted floppy disks, or changed diskettes slowly." However, my floppy disks were already formatted and I immediately changed diskettes -- long before Fast Back Plus finished writing to my other floppy disk drive. The estimate also does not reflect the options chosen. I received exactly the same estimate when I selected the data compression option ("Disk Save") as when I did not select a data compression option. Certainly the estimate should take into account the use of options that will affect the number of floppies or the amount of time required for a backup. I was impressed by the data compression "Disk Save" option. Over 50 disks were required when I tried a backup without selecting data compression. As I mentioned earlier, with the "Disk Save" option, I only needed 28 floppies. Notwithstanding my criticisms, Fast Back Plus is easy to use, reliable, and economic. So remember: brush your teeth after every meal, never take candy from a stranger, always say thank you and . . . never ever forget to backup your hard drive -- with Fast Back Plus! Rogel's Wrap-Up +======================================================+ | Product: Fast Back Plus Version 1.01 | | Price: | | Lists for $189 (mail-order prices range around | | $90-$99). | | Product description: | | Hard disk backup program; not copy protected | | System Requirements: | | DOS system | | Comments: | | Extremely easy to use, reliable backup utility. | | Minor complaints: estimator (terrific idea) is | | inaccurate; cumbersome select/exclude | | subdirectories/files option | FidoNews 5-36 Page 16 5 Sep 1988 | For more information, contact: | | Fifth Generation Systems, Inc., 11200 | | Industriplex Boulevard, Baton Rouge, Louisiana | | 70809; sales office: 1322 Bell Avenue, Suite | | 1A, Tustin, California 92680 (800) 225-2775, | | (714) 553-0111; technical support: (504) | | 291-7283 | +======================================================+ Sincerely, Todd Rogel Raleigh, North Carolina August 4, 1988 Office 919 828-1396 Home 919 851-2103 MMS 919 779-6674 [151/102] NCC 919 851-8460 [151/100] Next Month +----------------------------------------------------------+ | | | October, 1988 of Rogel's Corner: Pedal-to-the-metal | | review of Two Powerful Automatic Document Assembly | | Programs: GPS (by Campbell U. Law School's Prof. | | Richard T. Rodgers) and OverDrive (by TurboSoft) | +----------------------------------------------------------+ ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-36 Page 17 5 Sep 1988 YACK Yet Another Complicated Komment by Steven K. Hoskin ( STEVE HOSKIN at 1:128/31 ) Episode 8: The Joys of FidoNet Oh, I love FidoNet! As a veteran BBS user, I just love the expanded abilities offered by FidoNet! Boy! I don't have to hunt around every time I move to find a good BBS. One where the users are polite, the SysOps are friendly, the conversations are good, and once in awhile there's some good software out there to try, maybe keep. All I have to do is snag a copy of the local NodeList before I move and get on a FidoNode when I get there! I've 'subscribed' to quite a few boards in my day, ranging from that old TRS-80 software all the way up to a Vax-driven system. And there's been some real DEAD boards out there. SysOp responses over a month's worth of waiting; users (have we got more than 10 yet?); message base (what's that? Nobody _talks_ on a BBS?!) or message bases that resemble the Mojavah. Not anymore. BBSs are getting accepted, and the BBSaholics proliferate enough to make it easy to find a board to talk on. And then along came EchoMail. EchoMail may cause the majority of the problems in the Network these days, but it is also greatly responsible for the popularity of BBSs. Perhaps the users can't EXPLAIN why they like EchoMail, but if they could explain it then I'd say they're probably not having fun at it -- they're rationalizing. I just LIKE echomail; getting to converse with people in this strange medium I've never met. Oh, sure, now I am half of a software development company where having FidoNet access is nice. Sure, it gives us a place to show off our EagleTech software, especially our PD and shareware utilities. And these are better reasons than 'I like it', but they are not the important ones. Just the fact that I look forward to those messages in my frequented echoes and that occasional NetMail message is the best reason to have it. It's FUN. No whytos or whereabouts to it. It's just...plain...fun. Now I'm a SysOp; has this changed? No. What has? Well, for starters, now I can CHOOSE which Echos I wish to have access to. I'm into flying; I can get into the National FLYING echo. You don't find many boards that support that. And there's a little tingly feeling about being a SysOp. I can't explain it. But it's there, bigger 'n life, and I for one am going to enjoy it. Here's to you, FidoNet. Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-36 Page 18 5 Sep 1988 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. 5 Oct 1989 20th Anniversary of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1:1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Christopher Baker Region 18 Coordinator 135/14 (18/0) 30 Aug 88 NOTICE: Region 18 has a NEW Region Echomail Coordinator. Ken Shackelford at 133/1 has taken over the duties of REC for Region 18. This change may be noted in the current Nodelist. The listing for 1/218 will be correct when it reflects this information. Please update your system accordingly. The change in 1/218 should be reflected in Nodelist.246. 133/1 is set up will ALL of the Echo control files from 123/12. The Alternate Hubs in Region 18 are unaffected as of this writing. Thank you, Jon Hall at 123/12, for holding down the fort while the baton was passed. Thank you, Ken, for volunteering to resume the duties of REC for this Region. Thank you. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Latest Software Versions BBS Systems Node List Other & Mailers Version Utilities Version Utilities Version Dutchie 2.90b* EditNL 4.00 ARC 5.22* Fido 12h MakeNL 2.12 ARCmail 1.1 FidoNews 5-36 Page 19 5 Sep 1988 Opus 1.03b Prune 1.40 ConfMail 4.00* SEAdog 4.10 XlatList 2.86 EchoMail 1.31 TBBS 2.0M XlaxNode 2.10 MGM 1.1 BinkleyTerm 2.00* XlaxDiff 2.10 QuickBBS 2.01 ParseList 1.20* * 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 all utilities here, only those which verge on necessity. ----------------------------------------------------------------- FidoNews 5-36 Page 20 5 Sep 1988 OFFICERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Hal DuPrie 101/106 Chairman of the Board Bob Rudolph 261/628 President Matt Whelan 3:3/1 Vice President Ray Gwinn 109/650 Vice President - Technical Coordinator David Garrett 103/501 Secretary Steve Bonine 115/777 Treasurer IFNA BOARD OF DIRECTORS DIVISION AT-LARGE 10 Courtney Harris 102/732? Don Daniels 107/210 11 Bill Allbritten 11/301 Hal DuPrie 101/106 12 Bill Bolton 3:54/61 Mark Grennan 147/1 13 Rick Siegel 107/27 Steve Bonine 115/777 14 Ken Kaplan 100/22 Ted Polczyinski 154/5 15 Larry Kayser 104/739? Matt Whelan 3:3/1 16 Vince Perriello 141/491 Robert Rudolph 261/628 17 Rob Barker 138/34 Steve Jordan 102/2871 18 Christopher Baker 135/14 Bob Swift 140/24 19 David Drexler 19/1 Larry Wall 15/18 2 Henk Wevers 2:500/1 David Melnik 107/233 -----------------------------------------------------------------