±±±±±±Ü ±±Ü ±±±Üܱ±±Ü ±±±±±±Ü ±±±±±±Ü ±±Ü ±±±Üܱ±±Ü ±±±±±±Ü ±±±±±±Ü
±±Ûß±±Û ±±Û ±±Û±±Û±±Û ±±Ûßßßß ß±±Ûßß ±±Û ±±Û±±Û±±Û ±±Ûßßßß ±±Ûßßßß
±±±±±Ûß ±±Û ±±Û ßß±±Û ±±±±±Ü ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ßß±±Û ±±±±±Ü ±±±±±±Ü
±±Ûß±±Ü ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Ûßßß ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Ûßßß ßßß±±Û
±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±±±±±Ü ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±±±±±Ü ±±±±±±Û
ßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßßßßßß
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+---------------------------------+
| EDITORS FILE |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by John Dodson, Node id ->CANTINA.
Welcome to the August issue of RIME Times! This is a great issue and as
they say in the trade, we have something for everybody! Ed interviews one
of our very popular RIME conference hosts, Lyle Davis. James Spinelli
continues with another one of his thought-provoking articles, this time on
freedom of speech and how it relates to the BBS community. You will enjoy
this month's humor articles, one by Jim Prohs and another by Jeff Woods.
"Who's Who in RelayNet" is back with an interview of Skip Ross, our
conference coordinator. In addition to Doug Maclean's 'C' column this
month, we learn about how his family was almost attacked by 50,000 Hell's
Angels! We also have an article from what must be RIME's youngest sysop,
12 year old Scott Drassinower. EXEC-PC better start looking over it's
shoulder, Scott is catching up fast!
Which reminds me... and this may be stating the obvious. RIME is certainly
made up of a very diverse group of sysops. RIME is also growing quite
rapidly, we are now over 520 nodes. I believe this growth and diversity
comes from the open and helpful way new sysops are invited to join. I
think this 'attitude' is a credit to the folks who administer the network.
By being both a quality network AND an open network, RIME is able to
attract the Scott Drassinower's, Skip Ross's, Lyle Davis's and Doug
Maclean's that make this such a fun place to be!
A BIG Thanks to all you contributors... you did it again!
See you on the next relay!
+---------------------------------+
| MEET THE CONFERENCE HOST |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Lyle Davis, Node ID ->RUNNINGB
as told to Ed Lazarowitz
Lyle E. Davis, host of the Global Conference, is a retired
broadcaster/journalist of 25 years. During his broadcast career he
specialized in radio with frequent journeys into print media as well. He
started as an announcer in Omaha, Nebraska, moved into sales and management
in Illinois. His management career continued with stations in Santa
Barbara, Ca. and Escondido, Ca. until the late 1970's. During the Vietnam
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War he served as a war correspondent for a number of radio stations, as
well as several newspaper chains. Several of his documentaries have won
wide acclaim in the industry, including an award for "Best Radio
Documentary in Southern California" (for a documentary dealing with the
recall of Escondido's Mayor - "The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back".)
Following production of his documentary "Vietnam Diary I & II" he was
frequently asked to appear and speak before civic and service club groups.
In the early 1980's he returned to the talent end of broadcasting, serving
as KFMB's (radio) "Eye in the Sky" in San Diego, Ca. He headed up KFMB
Traffic Control for 3 years before finally retiring. Since then, he and his
Scottish-born wife, Mary (whom he refers to as "SWMBO" [She Who Must be
Obeyed]), have owned and operated a fishing resort at Dixon Lake in
Escondido, Ca. Just recently, he also acquired a new beach resort at
Moonlight Beach in Encinitas, Ca., known as "Lyle's at the Beach".
At age 51, Lyle and Mary recently celebrated their 30th wedding
anniversary. They have two sons, Scott, age 27, who lives in Hawaii, and
Kenny, who lives in Carlsbad, Ca. Both are single and loving every minute
of it. "I've written 5 books on our Family History," complains Lyle, "and
I'm beginning to wonder if I'm ever gonna be grandpa! Those two guys of
mine have so darned many good lookin' women that they are showing no
inclination whatsoever to settle down, get married, and have kids!"
Lyle took over the Conference Host task for the Global Conference about a
year ago. "It was a fairly good conference when I first joined," he says.
"But there were two guys that were making outrageous racist statements and
goading the other users into no-win debates and harangues. Very quickly
the conference was beginning to deteriorate into a series of hate-filled
messages. I contacted Bonnie Anthony of the Steering Committee and
suggested that the direction of the conference needed restructuring and
that we had a couple of problem users that needed some attention. Next
thing I knew I was Conference Host. With Bonnie's help we convinced one of
the bad users to move along to another network and the other one to behave
himself. Since then we've had zero problems".
Lyle says he manages his conference with a gentle, but firm, hand. "We
have a generally laid back conference, with a wide variety of member
nations and a wider variety of viewpoints. We do have serious discussions-
-we have a fair amount of joking amongst ourselves. About once a month we
post the conference rules; that seems sufficient. Once in a great while
we'll have someone start to cross the line and I'll speak to him/her via
routed or R/O and that usually takes care of it. Everyone on the conference
knows me and seems to have confidence in me to fairly moderate the
conference. We have a really great working relationship with all of our
users."
"One of our users described our conference best, I think. He called us "a
continuous party with an ongoing cast of characters". That's probably a
pretty fair description of the Global Conference.
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Lyle is just one of the many international 'shining stars' that populate
the Global Conference. Why not take a minute, and wander over there the
next time you access the network. We think you'll be pleasantly surprised!
For further information on the Global Conference, please contact Lyle at
node id ->DBORED.
+---------------------------------+
| WHO'S WHO IN RELAYNET |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by John Dodson, Node id ->CANTINA
Skip Ross, Network Conference Coordinator
Acting as conference coordinator for a 500 node network can be a real
challenge! You must have plenty of patience and some finely tuned 'people
skills' to deal with the 10 to 15 new conference requests that are made
each week.
We are lucky to have such a person in Skip Ross. Skip was born and raised
just outside of New York City. He is a heavy equipment operator and has
been "operating cranes and bulldozers since I got out of school".
Skip started his computing hobby with a PC-Junior about five years ago and
is completely self-taught. He moved up to an IBM model 80 shortly after it
became available (from a go-cart to a Cadillac!) and has been a power user
ever since.
Skip joined RelayNet about three years ago as a co-sysop for the 'The Stand
BBS'. The network was about 40 nodes in number at that time. Skip started
his own BBS "Advanced Computer Concepts" about a year and a half ago. ACC
is now a three node system with hundreds of users.
In October of '89 Howard Belasco, the conference co-ordinator at the time,
"tactfully persuaded" Skip to take over the position. Although unsure at
first, Skip now enjoys the position and all the exciting ideas that come
his way each month. Of the forty to sixty conference requests that are
made each month, three to five are accepted. RelayNet is now made up of
well over 200 conferences. Keeping up with the many conference requests
and additions is a time consuming job. Skip Ross is up to the task and we
are lucky have him!
If you have a conference idea, send a message to Skip, Node id ->ACC. The
commitment of 5 nodes and 2 HUBS (HUBS that do not automatically pick up
all conferences that is) are required before your request can be honored.
The latest conference listing can be file requested from ->NETNODE. The
*very* latest conference listing can be found on Skip's BBS under the name
CONFER.ZIP.
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+---------------------------------+
| HELP! HELP! HELP! |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Jim Prohs, Node id ->NITERIDE
HELP! HELP! HELP!
Dr. Bonnie Anthony, Dr. Bonnie Anthony,
from this addiction please set me free.
Bonnie, Bonnie, can you please help me?
from this computer madness I would flee.
Oh, Dr. Anthony! Oh, Dr. Anthony,
turn around and look at me.
It began only weeks ago when I joined Rime,
Now for my family I have no time.
One sure sign of this horrible addiction, you see,
when your eyes develop red lines like roots of a tree.
Oh, Dr. Anthony! Oh, Dr. Anthony,
turn around and look at me.
My eyes have turned square,
My head has gone bare,
My butt has gone flat,
My gut has gone fat.
The swollen knuckles on my hand all pop,
My tongue hangs out and my mouth doth drop.
And yet from this compulsion I can NOT stop.
Oh, Dr. Anthony! Oh, Dr. Anthony,
turn around and look at me.
I rush home from work and sit in my chair,
there I stay for as long as I dare.
Moments away from my computer are rare,
only when mother natures call can't be bared.
The phone bills are crazy,
My friends think I'm lazy,
IF I don't get some exercise I'll push up daisies.
Oh, Dr. Anthony! Oh, Dr. Anthony,
turn around.....
oh, my gosh she looks like me!!!!
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+---------------------------------+
| RIME'S 12 YEAR OLD SYSOP |
| |
+---------------------------------+
By Scott Drassinower, Node id ->CLOUD
You are probably reading this and thinking to yourself, "A 12 year old
sysop? Yeah right!" No joke. There really IS a 12 year old sysop on the
net, and I'm him.
A few years ago, my dad bought an Apple ][+. Back then, that was a power
users system, complete with 64k RAM! I got very interested in the machine,
and how it worked. My dad bought some books that showed how the machine
worked, and I soon learned the insides of the machine, and learned how to
install an expansion card. Soon the Apple became out dated, and we bought
an IBM XT. I learned DOS, and how to write batch files. Of course soon
that became outdated, and we purchased a IBM PS/2 60. This is when I
became acquainted with my first modem.
I had read lots about modems and about information exchanges. I went down
to the local Software Etc., and was shown the store manager's BBS. That
was then it. I had to have a modem. We bought a simple 2400 baud modem,
and the manager gave me an account on his BBS and a copy of Qmodem. I went
home, and called his board, and slowly learned how to use PCBoard. I
became interested in other boards, so I downloaded several BBS lists, and
found some more boards in my area. I slowly filled my dialing directory,
with boards all over the country. A new board opened up, Advanced Computer
Concepts (sound familiar?). After uploading some files, and giving the
sysop some ideas, I was asked if I would like to assume a Cosysop job. I
agreed, and about 3 months later, I got a copy of PCBoard 14.2 /E3, and the
PCRelay software, then opened up my board, Silver Arrow BBS.
I have been running for over a year, and have gone through a name change
(now Cloud 9 Online), and over 10,000 calls, and a user base of almost 400
(of which maybe 100 have not called in the past 4 months). I will be
moving the machine soon over to a Northgate Elegance 486-25i, and will
probably be á testing DESQview 486 for Quarterdeck.
That is really about it. I'm very happy with the way the board has turned
out, and I have learned a lot, not only about computers, but a lot how to
help people. I hope the board has another great year.
+---------------------------------+
| THE LIFE & TIMES |
| OF A CONFERENCE HOST |
+---------------------------------+
By John Dodson, Node id ->CANTINA
Last month Ed featured Doug Maclean in his "Meet the Conference Host"
column. For those of you who missed the column, Doug hosts 6 RelayNet
conferences and gives tirelessly of his time to help others on the network.
He is also just a plain nice guy! You may have noticed some message
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spillover from his 'C' conferences in COMMON a couple of weeks ago.
(Spillover is what happens when a user seeks a broader audience by posting
messages in COMMON.)
You might think discussion in a programming conference would be fairly
mundane. However, when 'C' programmers start discussing the relative value
of 'Basic' programmers, look out! The insulting messages, by a couple of
users, escalated to the point where Doug felt he needed to make an appeal
to those involved to 'cool down'. His request only served to focus the
abuse on himself! Doug then made a request that one of the abusers be
removed from the 'C' conference, which was honored by the BBS sysop. After
a short period of time, one of the abuser regained access to the 'C'
conference with reinforcements (one of which was recruited from the WARZONE
conference!). Meanwhile, the membership of the conference is posting
messages backing Doug and the whole conference turns into a crusade!
The fun and games end when Doug gets a long insulting message in the 'C'
conference threatening to harm is family and dog (Doug has no dog, but has
five cats and some would argue that this is enough justification to heap
abuse!). The same day he gets a long insulting message in COMMON. This
message is in "poem" form and the abuser rambles on about how he is like a
buzzard, "mellow" from overuse of drugs, recently elected to the presidency
of a large biker club and how he is going to send 50,000 bikers to torture
and kill Doug! The abuser ends the message by threatening to use a home
made nuclear device against Doug! Needless to say, the "three musketeers"
have been denied access to the network.
Such is the life of a conference host. The last time we checked, all seems
to be returning to normal in the 'C' conference... of course the 'Pascal"
programmers have yet to drop by!
+---------------------------------+
| CONFERENCE NEWS |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Skip Ross, Node id ->ACC
Here it is time again for a new batch of conferences. Please read the list
carefully as there are many very good conferences here! Also, I will send
the updated Conference List with this packet to all the nodes that
requested to be on the auto-send, so look for CONFER.ZIP Any node not
currently on the auto-send list for the conference list may send a routed
message to me at Node ID ->ACC asking to be added to the list.
NAME: Remote Access Software
NUMBER: 213
DESCRIPTION: This conference is for the Sysops and users of the
newest BBS softwares available, Remote Access
HOST: John Murray Node ID ->COBRA
ACTIVITY: NEW
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NAME: Poetry Corner
NUMBER: 214
DESCRIPTION: Poetry Corner is a conference where anyone who
writes Poetry, or would like to share one of their
favorite poems, is welcomed and encouraged to do so.
HOST: Inez Harrison Node ID ->DORSAI
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: United Sysop Associations
NUMBER: 215
DESCRIPTION: This conference deals with the issues of concern to
Sysops, local meeting information, discussions
between various Sysop organizations such as USA,
CASA, and others
HOST: Shawn McCullar Node ID ->NEWDIM
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: ACOA (Adult Children Of Alcoholics)
NUMBER: 216
DESCRIPTION: Online meeting and discussions of ACOA issues, such
as dysfunctional families, living with alcoholic
parents or mates, trouble with anger, co-dependency,
etc...
HOST: Dr. Bonnie Anthony Node ID ->RUNNINGA
ACTIVITY: NEW
NAME: Phobias
NUMBER: 217
DESCRIPTION: Support group for people with phobias or those who
want to learn more about them.
HOST: Andre Rouleau Node ID ->ONLINEI
ACTIVITY: NEW
Also, please welcome Mike Coticchio back as the Host for the Small
Business/ Work at Home conference (network #70). We are also pleased to
announce that Daniel Norcott, a representative for Lotus Development, has
taken the position of Host for the Lotus Support Conference (network #65).
+---------------------------------+
| A COMPARISON: |
| WRIGLEY FIELD TO RELAYNET |
+---------------------------------+
By Jeff Woods, Node id ->
During my move to Canada, I couldn't resist. This die-hard Cub fan drove
300 miles out of his way to see the Cubs lose at Wrigley Field. While I
was there, it occurred to me that there are certain similarities and
parallels that can be drawn between RelayNet and good Old Wrigley.
1. Many fans would like to take the lights out of Wrigley.
Many users would like to punch the lights out of Matt Giwer.
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2. Wrigley is sometimes called the Friendly Confines.
RelayNet is simply friendly.
3. Most people will go out of their way to get to Wrigley.
Most people will go out of their way to get around the bylaws.
4. Cubs. You either love them or you hate them.
The SC. You either love them or you are history.
5. More lies are told at Wrigley than anywhere else (like "Harry Caray
is NOT drunk", or "August is our month.")
Nobody lies on RelayNet (I type this from Wrigley right now).
6. There are more Cub fans outside of Chicago than in Chicago.
There are no HUBs in Chicago at all.
7. At Wrigley they debate about natural grass.
In the debate conference, they smoke it.
8. People will attend the funeral of Harry Caray to mourn.
People will attend the funeral of Howard Belasco to make sure.
9. Wrigley Field has a group of proud "Bleacher Bums".
RelayNet has a group of "Bummed Beachers".
10. At Wrigley, you only get three strikes before you are out.
+---------------------------------+
| BEGINNERS CORNER |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Dane Beko, Node id ->BABBLE
Using Ez-Reader with the MarkMail door
Last month, we discussed the use of the MarkMail door to collect your new
messages, new files listings and new bulletins. This month, we're going to
discuss the use of an off-line message reader to process that file that you
downloaded from the MarkMail door.
The program is called Ez-Reader. The author is Eric Cockrell of Thumper
Technologies in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's just one of several off-line message
readers compatible with the MarkMail door and its competitors, the Qmail
and the Tomcat! doors. Some of the other reader programs are Qmail, Qmail
Deluxe, Session Manager and a few more. The MarkMail door and Ez-Reader
are really the only ones used here in Orlando.
The MarkMail door generates a file by the name of BBS_ID.QWK where BBS_ID
is the name of the bulletin board. For example, on FABulous, the name is
FAB.QWK and on BABBLE BBS, it's BABBLE.QWK. Ez-Reader uses this file. You
need to download EZ130.ZIP which is the latest version.
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Installing it is fairly simple. First, create a sub-directory on your hard
disk and call whatever you'd like. For our purposes here, I'll call it
C:\EZ. Then unzip the EZ130.ZIP file into that sub-directory. After doing
so, you should have the following files:
CONFIG EXE 64966 2-23-90 10:53a
CONVERT EXE 22832 12-21-89 2:39p
EZ-RDR DOC 117192 5-15-90 6:41p
EZ-RDR EXE 174166 5-15-90 6:12p
EZ-RDR HST 29877 5-15-90 6:23p
EZ_Q&A DOC 5211 5-15-90 6:30p
INSTALL EXE 41792 5-15-90 6:01p
MONO BIN 4000 5-15-90 6:05p
ORDER FRM 3015 5-15-90 6:08p
README 2040 5-15-90 6:11p
SYSOP FRM 3114 5-15-90 6:08p
TED COM 2984 11-13-88 10:56p
UPGRADE FRM 2419 5-15-90 6:09p
The first step is run the INSTALL.EXE program. This will install Ez-Reader
and allow you to configure it for your system. When you first run install,
the program will ask a series of questions about your setup, the paths to
the download and upload directories, etc. It will ask you if you have a
color monitor, if you are using a RAM disk, and some more. The prompts are
self-explanatory. Once you've answered the questions, the INSTALL.EXE
program will tell you to run the config.exe program. This configuration
program will setup your editor, set colors, set paths, hot-keys, taglines
if you want them, etc. Run config.exe next. The following menu will
appear:
CONFIGURE
Archive
Colors
Editor
Flags
Hot Keys
Paths
Replies
Save
Taglines
The highlight bar will be on Archive so just press Return. Here's the sub-
menu:
ARC files
Archive: PKPAK.EXE A
Unarchive: PKUNPAK.EXE
ZIP files
Archive: PKZIP.EXE -EX
Unarchive: PKUNZIP.EXE -O
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Note: It's not really important to define the ARC extraction programs as
they're not used by the MarkMail door. It's important to define the PKZIP
and PKUNZIP files though. If you don't have these programs in the DOS
path, make sure to type in the complete pathname of each of them. For
example: C:\utils\pkzip.exe and C:\utils\pkunzip.exe. That way, Ez-Reader
can find them when it's uncompressing the .qwk packet and compressing your
replies.
You can back out of any menu at any time by hitting the Escape key. After
ensuring that the pathnames are correct, hit the Escape key and proceed to
the next menu item, Colors. These I'll let you define as obviously,
everyone's preference is different. Suffice to say, that the screen
examples will change with the color selection so that you can see what it
will look like.
The third menu choice is Editor. This is where you would define what the
complete path and name of the program that you'll use to enter or reply to
messages. The menu looks like this:
Editor: C:\EZ\SLED.COM
Options:
Reply filename: MESSAGE.TXT
Message filename: MESSAGE.TXT
Does the editor accept two files on the command line [Y/N]?: N
Ez-Reader will default to TED.COM in the sub-directory that you unzipped
Ez-Reader into. My recommendation is that you *NOT* use TED.COM as it
doesn't have word wrap and most other basic text editor functions. The
majority of the people who use Ez-Reader use Qedit, SLED or Norton's Editor
(among others) as their text editor. You could also use WordPerfect if you
wanted to but that would be overkill! Anything that can save text in an
ASCII file should work. Let's dissect the Editor screen:
1. Editor: This is the complete path and filename of the editor that
you're going to be using. For our example, we'll use c:\ez\sled.com
2. Options: This entry is for the editor that you're using. In Qedit, for
example, you could load a macro file from Qedit's command line. This is
where you would put any command line options for your editor. Leave it
blank if you don't have any.
3. Reply and Message Filename: The easiest to do here is to make the
filenames the same for both. When you press F9 from within Ez-Reader to
either reply to a message or enter a new one, EZ shells out to whichever
editor you've defined. If you're replying to a message, EZ will pass the
message filename to the editor as well as the filename of your reply. You
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should quote small snippets of the message that you're replying to to give
the addressee an idea of what you're referring. It helps to jog his memory.
If you define the reply and message filename as two different names, then
you'll have to answer NO to the last question and then manually cut and
paste which parts of the original that you want to include in your reply.
If you put the same filename for both reply and message (like in the
example above) then you'd answer YES to the last question and then Ez-
Reader will put both the original and your reply to it in the same window.
Just delete the parts that you don't want and continue. The one filename
method is most assuredly the easiest and the fastest.
4. Does the editor accept more than one filename on the command line (Y/N):
Again, if you have defined the same filename for both reply and message,
then answer NO.
The next screen is FLAGS:
FLAGS
Add sound effects: YES
Read Direction: FORWARD
Beep if personal message: YES
Read previously read mail: NO
Print header in reply: NO
Output to video RAM: YES
Erase the work directory: YES
Auto-increment taglines: YES
Enter info before/after Message: AFTER
Add tagline to end of Message: YES
Press the <SPACE BAR> to toggle options
Most of these are self-explanatory. The documentation will give you
examples on the various meanings of each of these so I won't go into detail
on them.
The next one is Hot Keys but since we're just trying to get you up and
running with Ez-Reader, I'll let you work on this one as you like.
The next one is PATHS, this is where you define where EZ can expect to find
the .qwk packets, where it should put your replies, etc.
PATHS
EZ-Reader: C:\EZ\
Download: C:\DOWNLOAD
Upload: C:\UPLOAD
Save File: C:\SAVE\@CONF@.TXT
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Address Book: C:\EZ\ADDRESS.BK
The Ez-Reader path would be where you installed Ez-Reader. In our example,
this would be C:\EZ. The download and upload paths would be the same as
the ones that you use with your communications software. Wherever you
download to, put that in the Download: entry and the same for your uploads.
The Save file is the sub-directory where you want to save any messages in.
The @CONF@.TXT is a new feature in EZ where it will (if set to this) read
the current conference name and create a save file with that name. IE; if
you're in the MAIN area of a board and hit the key to save the message,
then the following would appear: C:\SAVE\MAIN.TXT. If you're in the Hard
Drives conference, C:\EZ\HARDDRV.TXT may be the filename.
The address book is a feature that is enabled only in registered versions
of Ez-Reader.
The next menu is Replies. This is a personal preference here so I'm not
going to discuss it. Please read the documentation on this portion.
The next step is to save. This will save all of the settings that you have
just entered into a file called EZ-RDR.CFG. This file will be read by Ez-
Reader every time that it's executed.
Your next step will be to call a board that has the MarkMail door, open it
and download a packet of mail. Once off-line, run the EZ.BAT file,
highlight the .QWK packet that you want to read, and press return. Ez-
Reader will uncompress the packet, sort it and then bring up the first
conference for you to read. If you want to reply to a message, press 'R'.
If you want to enter a new message, press 'E'. There is always help by
pressing F1.
I hope that with this short introduction and the Ez-Reader manual itself,
you'll be able to configure EZ and use it without any problems. We'll
demonstrate and actually use Ez-Reader at the BBS/Modem SIG meeting in
August. In the interim, if you have any questions or problems with either
Ez-Reader or the MarkMail, leave a message in the MarkMail or EZ-Reader
Relaynet conferences! See ya there. D.B.
[Editor's Note: By the time this edition of RIME Times went to press, a
newer release of Ez-Reader, 1.31 had been released. All of the items
discussed in the above article are 100% valid with the new release. The
only noticeable difference will be in the lengths and date/time stamps of
several of the files extracted from the .ZIP file, EZ131.ZIP. We apologize
for any confusion this may cause.]
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+---------------------------------+
| 'C' TUTOR |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Doug Maclean, Node id->RUNNINGB
Last month we looked at a program in 'C' to merge several ASCII text files
into a single file and sort the lines. Here is the same file in C++ using
a class and member functions to process the linked list.
#include <iostream.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <alloc.h>
#include <string.h>
class LinkList
{
class LinkItem
{
friend class LinkList;
private:
LinkItem(char *buf); // initialize a node
char *str; // data member of class
LinkItem *next; // ptr to next node
};
public:
LinkList() {croot = clast = ccurr = NULL;};
void firstnode() {ccurr = croot;};
void lastnode() {ccurr = clast;};
char * operator ()() {return((char *)ccurr->str);};
void operator =(char *);
int operator ++();
private:
static LinkItem *croot; // always points to the start
static LinkItem *clast; // always points to the end
static LinkItem *ccurr; // sliding current ptr
};
LinkItem::LinkItem(char *buf)
{
str = new char[strlen(buf)+1];
strcpy(str,buf);
next = NULL;
}
void
LinkList::operator =(char *buf)
{
LinkItem *pt = new LinkItem(buf);
ccurr = pt;
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if(croot != NULL)
{
if(strcmp(buf,croot->str) <= 0)
{
pt->next = croot;
croot = pt;
return;
}
if(strcmp(buf,clast->str) > 0)
{
clast->next = pt;
clast = pt;
pt->next = NULL;
return;
}
for(ccurr=croot;ccurr;ccurr=ccurr->next)
if(strcmp(buf,ccurr->next->str) <=0)
{
pt->next = ccurr->next;
ccurr->next = pt;
return;
}
}
else
{
croot = clast = pt;
pt->next = NULL;
return;
}
}
int LinkList::operator ++()
{
if(ccurr != clast)
{
ccurr = ccurr->next;
return 1;
}
else
return 0;
}
The above is the header file used to define the class structure. Notice
how the operators ++ and = are overloaded to make the programming easier
the actual program.
#include <iostream.h>
#include <fstream.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <alloc.h>
#include <string.h>
#include "merge.h"
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#define MAXLINE 128
main(int argc,char **argv)
{
LinkList lst;
char dest[64];
FILE *fn;
char buf[MAXLINE];
char *ch;
if(argc < 3)
{
cerr << "usage [<file>...] dest\n";
exit(4);
}
strcpy(dest,argv[argc-1]); /* save destination file name
*/
while(argv++,--argc> 1) /* loop thru all file names
*/
{
cout << "file: " << *argv << "\n";
if((fn = fopen(*argv,"rt")) == NULL) /* open a file to process */
{
cerr << "Error opening: " << *argv << "\n";
exit(1);
}
/* get a line of text and convert to NULL terminated string */
while(fgets(buf,MAXLINE,fn) != NULL)
{
for(ch=&buf[strlen(buf)];--ch >= buf;)
if(*ch < 0x20)
*ch = '\0';
lst = buf; /* add current line to linked list */
}
fclose(fn); /* be polite and close the file */
}
cout << "dest: " << dest << "\n";
ofstream outfile(dest,ios::out);
if(!outfile) /* open destination file */
{
cerr << "Error opening destination file: " << dest << "\n";
exit(2);
}
/* loop thru sorted list and write to destination file */
lst.firstnode();
do
outfile << lst() << "\n";
while(lst++);
outfile.close();
cout << "All files sorted and merged into " << dest << "\n";
exit(0);
}
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As you can see, the assignment of a new node is handled by the statement
lst = buf;
The looping through all of the nodes is also very easy. We overloaded the
() operator to return the string held by the node and can use it directly
in the output stream. The bottom of the loop contains a while statement to
control the do loop. The incrementation and test can be done with one
step. The output file is handled by defining a file and using the <<
operator which is overloaded to send the output. Compare this article to
the pure 'C' implementation in last month's column.
Next month we return to 'C' to start a series on recursive programming.
Coming events:
'C' TSR, recursion revisited, PWB programming
ASM interfacing with 'C'
OOPS inherited classes
Systems Object oriented programming
Brief Useful macros
Genetics Legal issues
+---------------------------------+
| TIDBITS FROM PAUL |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Paul Elder, Node ID ->CAPCON
If you have WordPerfect 5.0 and also use Extended Memory, trying to print
to a laser printer such as a LaserJet II will cause problems. In fact,
WordPerfect truly hates this type of combination and will only print part
of the page. Next time you start up WordPerfect, try it this way and you
won't have that nasty bug biting you again: WP /n
+---------------------------------+
| YOUR RIGHT TO FREEDOM OF |
| SPEECH AND FREEDOM OF THE PRESS |
+---------------------------------+
by James J. Spinelli, Node ID ->VMC
Over the course of my nearly three-year tenure here on RIME, I have
encountered many discussions among users and sysops dealing with what they
perceive to be a fundamental First Amendment right to say whatever they
please in whatever manner they please. While this perception may be well
intentioned, at times there is a basic flaw in its implementation, at least
as it pertains to a BBS network such as RIME.
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This article will address our basic rights as defined by the First
Amendment, but will also examine those rights within the framework of the
community we all know as the BBS network.
The First Amendment to the US Constitution, the first of the Bill of
Rights, says in part that "Congress shall make no law... abridging
[limiting] the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people peaceably to assemble, and petition the Government for a redress of
grievances." A similar provision is found in the constitutions of many
states. According to many surveys, we believe freedom of speech and the
press is the one fundamental personal right or liberty. We might be able to
do without the right to carry weapons or the right to a grand jury in a
federal case or several other rights. But inability to speak and write and
publish freely is, we think, simply inconsistent with our democracy.
And so the courts have held, but with exception or within limits, because
this is a world crowded with people with conflicting interests, no freedom
is absolute.
Freedom of speech does not exist in the abstract. You as an individual,
despite the words quoted above from the First Amendment, are not free to
stand on a street corner and urge your listeners to follow you now and kill
the President of the United States, or the governor of your state or the
mayor of your city, or anyone else, for that matter.
You may discuss -- from the street corner or in the columns of a newspaper
(above or underground) or in pamphlets distributed by hand or through the
mail, or even as a message in this network -- the beauties you see in a
monarchy or in a society where all persons have two or more spouses. But if
you urge the commission of a crime, you may very likely be charged with a
crime yourself: inciting to riot, bringing about or seeking to bring about
murder or arson, etc.. It's one thing to urge people to have several
spouses, but to actually have more than one is to commit the crime of
bigamy.
Governmental interference with freedom of speech takes several forms. On
the one hand are laws that attempt to control speech or publication before
the event. One the other are laws that impose penalties after the event.
The courts will declare unconstitutional both controls and penalties unless
they are generally applicable, are specific enough for all to understand
and can be justified as an exercise of the police power, which includes the
public's right to protect itself from harmful writings. A few examples may
be helpful.
A law requiring the preliminary showing of motion pictures to a state (or
municipal) licensing board is constitutional if its purpose is only to
protect the public from films that are offensive to public morals or
accepted standards of decency, but the courts do not hesitate to substitute
their judgment for that of the licensing board if they disagree with it.
United States Customs officials have the right to challenge the importation
into the US of books and magazines they regard as obscene or subversive,
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but they must obtain judicial support of their opinion by going to court
first.
The Postmaster General, using his power to grant magazines a second-class
mailing privilege, had unsuccessfully tried to deny permits to magazines he
found objectionable, but he has successfully denied the use of the mails to
people trying to promote schemes that defraud the public.
Activists recently indicted for various crimes against the flag have
defended their actions as a form of symbolic speech, and the reaction of
the courts to this assertion is becoming clearer.
A particular challenge to the concept of freedom of the press has arisen
with the increase in the amount of printed matter on our newsstands and via
electronic media that would certainly have been classified as obscene and
pornographic not too long ago. In trying to strike a balance between the
public's right to read what it chooses and its right to protect itself
against material that is offensive by the standards of the community, the
courts have frequently been forced to walk a narrow line. Unable to lay
down a satisfactory general rule as to what is and is not obscene, they
have found it necessary to examine each case on its own merits. The result
is that unscrupulous publishers can print and distribute material that is
clearly prurient with the knowledge that, practically speaking, they run
only a moderate risk of prosecution and conviction for their violation of
obscenity statutes. More or less the same situation exists in regard to
films.
Control of material broadcast by radio or television has not been seriously
challenged in the courts. The number of radio frequencies and television
channels is relatively limited, and Congress has given the Federal
Communications Commission broad powers to supervise what is transmitted by
the limited number of broadcasters and telecasters it licenses. (Of course,
with the substantial increase and permeation of cable television recently,
things are undergoing some changes. In addition, as we're beginning to see,
the FCC is extending its controlling influence over common carrier
services, such as the so-called "Dial-a-Porn" services.) Here is an
instance in which controls are imposed over what kind of material may be
broadcast by the media and in which stiff penalties will be assessed if the
controls are violated.
The radio and television media have much less practical freedom than do
publishers of newspapers, magazines and books. Because the renewal of its
license to broadcast depends on approval of a federal regulatory agency, a
radio or television station will normally exercise a very considerable
degree of self-censorship simply to protect its economic interests. The
result may be a bland diet for the public, but, on the other hand, the
threat of outside censorship is unlikely to materialize.
Any legal challenge to the controls over radio and television would most
likely come about as the result of objection to specific censorship of a
particular program on the ground that it was obscene or subversive. If and
when such cases arise, the Supreme Court follows the procedure adopted in
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censorship cases involving books and motions pictures, which is not to
question the public's right to protect itself against obscenity or
subversion but to decide in the individual cases before it whether the
challenged radio or television program is, by any reasonable standard,
obscene or subversive.
The most troublesome cases involving freedom of speech and press have
arisen from efforts by the national and state governments to protect
themselves against frankly revolutionary individuals and groups. What
occupies the attention of the courts in all cases of this kind is the
problem of whether the speech in which these groups indulge is likely to
lead to illegal action. When do valid dissent and debate aimed at
influencing people's beliefs influence their conduct instead and cause them
to do something the law forbids?
So far the courts have taken a lenient view, reflecting the philosophy
about their role expressed by the eminent former federal jurist Learned
Hand when he said:
"The most important issues [as concerns free speech] arise when
a majority of the voters are hostile, often bitterly hostile, to
dissidents against whom the statute is directed; and legislatures
are more likely than courts to repress what ought to be free. It
is true that the periods of passion or panic are ordinarily not
very long, and that they are usually succeeded by a serene and
more tolerant temper; but, as I have just said, serious damage
may have been done that cannot be undone, and no restitution is
ordinarily possible for the individuals who have suffered."
Up to now, I have provided you with a very broad framework of the First
Amendment. Of course, it has not been my intention, either directly or
indirectly, to provide for any type of in depth discussion or definition of
our freedoms of speech and the press. Hopefully at this point you have
sufficient grasp as to what the fundamental concept of the First Amendment
serves.
What I would like to do now is to establish as basis for you to understand
how the First Amendment applies to you as a sysop or user of (a) an
individual BBS and, (b) an international BBS network.
Principle #1: As a sysop, you have the right to run your BBS as you
see fit.
Corollary Principle #1: As the ultimate administrative body, net-
work management has the right to run the network
as it sees fit.
[What can be said now applies both to individual BBSs and to BBS networks.
You may simply substitute the words "board" (or "BBS") for the word
"network" and "sysop" for "management" in what follows.]
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At least for administrative purposes, along with legal accountability and
liability, the network belongs to management. As such, management has the
legal right and responsibility to run it in the way it chooses. Network
management has no "common carrier" status or obligation to maintain or
transmit everybody's messages. By the same token, management has no legal
obligation to admit every applicant into the network. Management has the
right, indeed sometimes even the obligation, to delete messages, to limit
subject matters and to set a policy that defines and restricts the
particular types of speech that are engaged in within the network. There
will, of course, be complaints from some network users. But, despite these
complaints, no one has a First Amendment right to post messages on the
network, and no one has a First Amendment right to say whatever he/she
pleases on the network.
Management has every right to promote certain points of view at the
possible or potential exclusion or expense of other points of view.
Management has every right to delete and edit certain kinds of messages.
These activities are not and do not constitute "censorship" in any form in
terms of one's First Amendment rights.
Just like the publishers of magazines and newspapers, network management is
the ultimate "publisher" of all of the information on the network. As such,
management has the right to shape the contents and style of the network in
any way it deems appropriate and fair.
Although the First Amendment does not govern management's relationship with
its network users, it does prevent the government from dictating the
contents of the network -- at least up to this point in time. This, of
course, does not mean to suggest that the network is permitted to run wild.
There are both federal and state laws, for example, that regulate such
things as copyrights and obscenity, along with various statutes that
protect private property. However, no governmental agency can interfere or
intervene based solely on the political or social ideas that are
communicated on the network, no matter how potentially controversial such
communication may be. The key here is the word "ideas," not the specific
words or images used -- for example, ideas can be communicated in an
obscene manner, which might very well subject the specific contents to some
form of regulation.
In conclusion, it has been said that "Freedom of the press belongs to those
who own one." While I have no intention of disputing this concept, I would
like to point out that a BBS network is, indeed, a very powerful tool for
the expression and communication of information and ideas. It should be
used to its most full capabilities. While doing so, don't forget your
rights. But, by the same token, don't forget your responsibilities either.
In our next article, for the September issue, we'll begin a discussion near
and dear to me -- the sysop as "information resource manager," and the
legal implications of this role.
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+---------------------------------+
| FARMERS |
| DISCOVER COMPUTERS |
+---------------------------------+
by Phillip Brown, Node id ->IVYTECH
Part One:
It's the eve of a new decade, and times are changing. Even on the family
farm.
Just a few years ago, most folks scoffed at the notion of installing
computers in their home offices to monitor and track their farming
operations. Not now.
As operating procedures and marketing tactics change, expand and become
more complex, more and more farmers are discovering that computers are
valuable tools in their operations.
Among other things, they are using computers to store bookkeeping records
and planting histories, to maintain acreage and conversation data to
calculate chemical applications and feeding costs.
And now, Doug Stevens, who is Instructor/PC Coordinator at Indiana
Vocational Technical College, is suggesting that computers also be used as
a networking -- or communication -- device among the farm community.
With that thought in mind, the computer lab at Ivy Tech is offering a
computer "Bulletin Board" to area farmers -- and others interested in
agriculture.
In addition to listing the traditional "buy-sell-or-trade" items found on
any bulletin board, this one offers agriculture-oriented programs and
spreadsheets. The index includes information about such things as fencing
costs, corn-drying costs, livestock, cash-grain crops, sorghum and
tobacco, as well as general data about equipment, building materials, and
farm chemicals.
The system offers educational information and educational games for
children and for adults, along such lines as languages and math. It also
contains a message base which enables callers to leave private and public
messages.
Stevens describes the system as "neat" and "simple to operate".
"If you have a telephone line, you can get into it," he says. Access to
the bulletin board is free, except for those who must make a long-distance
telephone call.
Each participant is limited to one hour per day on the system. But that's
adjustable, Stevens says. The system allows only one caller at a time.
Even though the service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week,
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some farmers wait until the early morning hours to tap into the system,
Stevens adds.
+---------------------------------+
| NAME THAT AUTHOR! |
| |
+---------------------------------+
by Ed Lazarowitz, Node id ->CAPCON
Well, I've always said that I know when to call it quits. Due to the
incredible lack of response towards this column, it has been cancelled.
Again this month, not a single RelayNet user guessed the correct authors of
last month's quotes:
"An alcoholic is someone you don't like who --Dylan Thomas--
Drinks as much as you do."
"In our country we have those three --Mark Twain--
unspeakably precious things: freedom of
speech, Freedom of conscience, and the
prudence never to practice either."
"Communism is like one big phone company." --Lenny Bruce--
+---------------------------------+
| NOTES FROM |
| ADMIN |
+---------------------------------+
RelayNet is now 520 nodes strong!
An Explanation of the New Bylaws:
On Tuesday July 16, 1990 the Steering Committee of RIME announced an
addition to the bylaws of our network. These bylaw changes were
necessitated by the unprecedented growth that we have experienced in our
network over the last six months.
Since December of 1989, we have grown from approximately 250 nodes to over
500 nodes. As a consequence of that growth, our hubs are now handling mail
packets in excess of 1 meg per day. In order to assist our hubs with that
burden we would like to ensure that the mail that they transfer daily is of
the highest quality possible.
We have noticed that many users of the network, sysops included of course,
have in their zeal to be original, added signatures to the bottom of their
messages. More and more software packages also add their own configurable
tagline that is not configurable. In the interest of reducing unnecessary
bytes in messages and therefore in each mail packet, we have instituted
the new rules.
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Every sysop is asked to turn off any configurable tagline that the software
they use adds. Some software does not allow you to turn off the
information that it adds to the bottom of a message. That is fine.
However, if your software does allow you to configure a tagline addition to
a message, you must now turn that tagline off.
Many users add signature lines to their messages. That is also fine.
However, these signature lines must now be no more than two lines and
cannot contain any ansi graphics or any control characters that produce a
noise. The signature line must be no more than two lines from the end of
the message text. And of course, no PCBoard variables are allowed anywhere
in a message whether it is the signature, header or in the body of the
message.
We hope that you all will understand the need for these changes in our
bylaws. They are there to help us ensure that the mail that flows through
our network is of the highest quality without adding an unnecessary burden
to our sysops.
+---------------------------------+
| AS SEEN ON THE BIT STREAM |
| |
+---------------------------------+
TAGLINE OF THE MONTH:
"Infrared turn signals seem to be catching on!"
(As seen on a post by Mark Adams)
WORST TAGLINE OF THE MONTH:
"Asphalt: rectal trouble"
(As seen on a post by Burt Fisher)
THE THREAD THAT LOST CONTROL:
Tie: Photo Radar (Started on COMMON and then spread to UPLINK)
New name for the COMMON Conference
DEODORANT - Discussion on whose computer room/cubicle was in worse
shape
MALFUNCTION OF THE MONTH:
(The following was found this month in COMMON. Names have been removed to
protect the innocent.)
I didn't know COMMON had a 10 line limit. Why is that? Let me see
here.
4
5
6
7
8
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9
10
11
12
13
Doesn't seem to stop at 10.
+---------------------------------+
| NOTICES |
| |
+---------------------------------+
The RIME Times is published monthly by the membership of RelayNet
International Message Exchange as its official newsletter. Users and
Sysops are encouraged to contribute. Submissions and questions may be
directed to the editors John Dodson, node ->CANTINA or Ed Lazarowitz, node
->CAPCON.
(c)Copyright 1990, The RelayNet International Message Exchange. Permission
is hereby granted for unlimited distribution and duplication, provided
such distribution and duplication are strictly for non-commercial purposes
only. All other rights reserved. RelayNet and RIME are registered
trademarks.