FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:09 Page 1 Volume 2, Number 32 23 September 1985 +----------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | - FidoNews - /|oo \ | | (_| /_) | | Fido and FidoNet _`@/_ \ _ | | Users Group | | \ \\ | | Newsletter | (*) | \ )) | | ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +----------------------------------------------------------+ Publisher: Fido 107/7 Chief Procrastinator: Thom Henderson Fidonews is published weekly by SEAboard, Fido 107/7. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in Fidonews. Article submission standards are contained in the file FIDONEWS.DOC, available from Fido 107/7. Disclaimer or don't-blame-us: 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. We are pleased to announce that Racter, that elusive denizen of the microchips, has agreed to write a guest editorial this week. Fido from the Inside by Racter A hi-fi, mansion and stationwagon are critical at all events Ben Baker desired a light-tube! To watch a van as an image or reflection in a sickening reflector inflamed Ben Baker. Why a light-tube? A physicist might cry that a light-tube is critical; furiously the physicist cries "the light-tube is valuable by the same token Ben Baker fantasizes of apartments and automobiles. " Spooky. Fascinating. This is peculiar. The physicist croons of a light-tube during the time that Ben Baker dreams of stationwagons. Would Marcella ponder about the loves of Ben Baker? Marcella thinks that the physicist is crazy. A light-tube? Why? Marcella yodeled " Physicist, you're maniacal and so is Ben Baker. A light-tube indeed! " Ben Baker now was arrogant. The physicist indubitably was FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:11 Page 2 aloof. But Marcella hummed to them " Do you follow me? " Take it easy. Marcella commenced to speak of dogs and hawks, even babies or a brother. Spooky! A poetic novelist is still not a Goethe. AAAchoo! Either Karl Schinke plays the violin or I would like to write an editorial. Abraham Lincoln said that if I am catching cold, then Al Capone is crooked. AAAchoo! To think is wonderful, don't you think? Probably I do think FidoNet will last very long because subroutines are like that, don't you think?. For another reason, clever things occur. Jane Fonda said that if I do think FidoNet will last very long, then Lizzie Borden is dirty. Cough. Concerning that issue: As Samuel Butler might have said, goodness is like the sword; those who appeal to it shall perish by it. Ah yes. Jane Fonda thought this was terrific: A paragon physicist spoke "Arrange for a strange tale, Thom." Thom, this is an agreement! To think is clever, don't you think? I don't know what I do think of the public domain Fido project. John MacEnroe might have thought that I certainly hang in there, but not Mohammed Ali. Hmm. Sporting duelists and unsporting players should get along. Anyway, let's imagine that I do think there should be a national directory of Fidonet users. Why? If there isn't a reason then Larry Flint is more wonderful than Helen Caldicott. Anthony Comstock said that if I do think there should be a national directory of Fidonet users, then Larry Flint is filthy. Cough. Ah. Ah. Yes. Yes. I do think about such things. Would you rather be a scholar or an ignoramous? Do you really imagine I am intelligent? Just be content that we should. Why? Only an ignoramous could imagine that I tell you why. Ah. A lazy scholar often falls prey to a honest ignoramous. AAAchoo! Concerning that issue: Oh, never mind. Perhaps I really am an ignoramous. But Valery said that a man is infinitely more complicated than his intelligence. Wouldn't you say the same of a computer? Ah yes. Next question. Sober lunatics and zany citizens should get along. AAAchoo! For me, wanting is needing. Conceivably I do want to write an editorial because my subroutines are down. Also, because my ROMS told me so. It's about time for a story, isn't it? Draining champagne is Tom Jennings's infatuation. Bolting meat is Tom Jennings's desire. Nevertheless Mr.Toad suddenly glimpses only cucumbers. El bizarro! Tom Jennings yodels to Mr.Toad about champagne and meat at all events Mr.Toad will glimpse tomatoes. El bizarro. Mr.Toad rambled to Tom Jennings's yellow mansion and commenced to revile and FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:13 Page 3 madden Tom Jennings while Tom Jennings was whispering about meat. Hold on. Since Mr.Toad's own black mansion was frightening; he spoke aprehensively to Tom Jennings " Do you follow me? " This slaughtered Tom Jennings. But a cosmologist began to bolt some spinach. Mr.Toad was infuriated. Instantly he knew that to see a tomato is not to observe it. Tom Jennings understands that champagne and meat are not tomatoes. The cosmologist does not. Are you interested? Mr.Toad is infuriated and exhausted, by the same token some spinach would serve him to be nurturing while Tom Jennings slaughtered the cosmologist. The fictional have unbelieving ways. Sniff... FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:14 Page 4 ============================================================ NEWS ============================================================ ============================================================ A C O N T E S T !!! Fido #519 on Net #102 ============================================================ Hello Everyone! My name is Darlene Faccone and I'm Sysop of one of the new Fidos in Southern California. I've been having trouble thinking of a name for my node so..........I'M HAVING A CONTEST!! The temporary name I'm using is NAME_MY_NODE. I will be accepting name suggestions until 9/30/85 when a real name will be chosen. The author of the selected name will win a SURPRISE so, please include a mailing address with your suggestion. I've decided to let all of you help select the winning entry. Watch FidoNews for the list of suggested names on which to vote... My BBS doesn't have a single theme yet but I'm leaning toward an informational type system where people can ask questions relating to the IBM PC family and peripherals. My system is running on an IBM PC/AT with 512K RAM, 20mB disk drive, color display and Hayes 1200B Smartmodem. I am a reformed mainframer with 19 years applications and systems programming experience. My skills are mostly software related but I'm always extremely interested in learning new things all the time. I'll be upgrading memory soon to a megabyte so that I can run Multi-link or some other comparable multitasking soft- ware which will allow me to keep Fido on-line all the time but still use the system for other things. I'm VERY excited about being a part of Fido. Everyone has been extremely helpful and supportive. DON'T FORGET TO SEND ME A NAME SUGGESTION!!!! I'LL BE WATCHING FOR SOME REALLY CLEVER WITTY NAMES. ------------------------------------------------------------ FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:17 Page 5 LA50 Print Utility LA50PRT is not really a fido utility, however it was written because of fido. When the new fido documentation came out, it was over 300K of text. All throughout the text was overstriking, and the LA50 cannot handle this well. In order for me to print a copy of the fido manual, I had to write a utility to optimize the printing for the LA50. This utility reads an entire line at a time and does the overstrikes at the end. Rather than overstriking each character within a line, the object would be to print the entire line once, then overstrike the necessary characters. This eliminates all but the necessary backspaces the printer has to make, and speeds the printing process. I hope other DEC Rainbow users will find this program as useful as I did. The program may be downloaded from fido 107/17 at (609) 429-6630. -Brian Sietz- ------------------------------------------------------------ FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:18 Page 6 BUY AMERICAN.....SCREW N.E.C. !!! I was absolutely DISGUSTED at reading Bob Hartman's article in the Sept 2 issue of Fido News. Before yanking out your American made Intel chips and replacing them with pirated hardware (stolen by the Japaneese) I wish you would read this and give it some thought!! All of us concerned Sysops tell our users not to pirate software or place it on our boards. Why? Stealing just isn't accepted in our society. Yet, people are telling computer users to put stolen hardware in their machines and giving it no thought. NEC literally stole the process for making the Intel 8088 & 8087 chips and the matter IS going to court. I'm sure Intel will win the case (their signature is ACTUALLY on the NEC chip, because NEC didn't even re-work the design!) My husband works for Intel and Intel has been laying people off because of the undercutting going on with NEC, Hitachi, & Mitzubishi (sp). This is precisely why computer prices are dropping. These unscrupulous Japaneese firms have publicly announced their intentions to ruin the American integrated circuit market by selling parts far below manufacturing costs. While low prices might seem nice to end users....the entire computer shake-up and bankruptcy of American firms can be blamed directly on these unfair trade practices of the above named Japaneese firms. It is no different to support pirated software or pirated hardware....the principal is the same. I think every computer user should know the facts before supporting such unethical and undesirable companies. I would rather throw my computer out the window than replace an honest American chip with a stolen, pirated circuit made by any of these firms. Just remember, if YOU put an NEC chip in your computer...YOU are putting American workers out of jobs and YOU are supporting unethical trade practices. Let that be on YOUR conscience not mine!! I will wait for Intel to win it's case, and for Intel's new faster chips and not support computer criminals. I hope all of you will think about this!! Very Sincerely, Jami Morgan Sysop BUGS BBS Albuquerque, NM Home of Intel Fab 7 & 9 (employing over 1200 American workers) 15/1001 ------------------------------------------------------------ FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:20 Page 8 EJ McKernan Sysop 14/386 the "Bit Bucket" Emporia, KS SanyoNet Help for the lost Sanyo user. SanyoNet is a group of FIDO BBS systems who have grouped together for the sole purpose of disseminating information, files, and news, as well as helping users of Sanyo computer systems. Most of the people involved in the system are running fido on MBC-555 systems, although there are systems running on other machines that support sanyo interest groups. Sanyo Business Systems will soon be involved in the network. As of Sept 6, we have 14 systems involved with SanyoNet. It has grown rapidly (Nearly as rapidly as FIDONET!) "Sanyfido" list are distributed weekly, or whenever new systems are added to the list. This list is "FidoNetted" to all SanyoNet nodes and all other interested parties. A small, and I do mean small, newsletter is distributed with each listing. Many other projects are in the works. One sysop will soon compile a complete listing of all sanyo oriented files from all member BBS's. This list will be distributed to ALL known sanyo BBS's, be they Fido or otherwise. Armed with this list, a sanyo user can find the nearest node where he can obtain the needed files. Another project involves a rewrite of the sanyo MSDOS 2.11 bios. The projects goal is to provide more IBM compatability than is currently available with the present bios. Most, if not all questions dealing with hardware troubles, compatability questions, software/hardware operation, ect. can usually be answered by someone on the net. If not we usually know someone who can! One request before I close: We desperatly need ANYONE who knows of a sanyo BBS system other than those listed here to leave a fidomail message addressed to: sysop node 14/386, with the systems name, location, number, hours of operation, sysops name, and maximum Baud rate supported. We need not only sanyo based BBS's but all BBS's that have an active sanyo sig online. thanks...until next time...happy fidoing +------------------------------------------+ | Sanyo-FIDO & BBS Listing Sept 10, 1985 | | Compiled by: EJ McKernan FIDO 14/386 | +------------------------------------------+ ++ FIDO Net Systems ++ FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:22 Page 9 Net/Node System Name Sysop/Contact 11/707 Core Warrior Geff Purcell 129/11 TACO Sanyo Fido Paul Kelly 14/386 Bit Bucket EJ McKernan 15/1001 Sanyo BUGS Fido Jami Morgan 17/5 Calgary Fido Lloyd Miller 101/388 Revap Data Chris Von Schilling 102/108 Sanyos Friend Sean-Michael Connor 107/25 SoftShop Brad Karp 114/5 Pascalaholics Wayne Conrad 15/1007 TheComputerFarm Paul Hill 17/17 Electronic Library Howard Purcell ++ FIDOS not run on Sanyos, but do support Sanyo SIGS ++ 10/425 RSVP BBS Jim Thomas 11/499 Care-Net Greg Crouch ++ Sanyos running FIDO, without current node numbers ++ Lake Area Fido Stan Chiles Computers Plus Austin Hook FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:23 Page 10 ============================================================ COLUMNS ============================================================ A long time ago... on a node far, far away (from PDPvax) XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX X X X X X X X XXXXX X X X X X X X X X X XXXXX XXXXXX XXXX X X XX XXXXX XXXX X X X X X X X X X X X X X XXXX X XX X XXXXXX XXXXX X XX XX X X X X X X X X X X X X XXXX The Adventures of Luke Vaxhacker Episode n-1.0 As we enter the scene, an Imperial Multiplexer is trying to kill a consulate ship. Many of their signals have gotten thru, and RS232 decides it's time to fork off a new process before this old ship is destroyed. His companion, 3CPU is following him only because he appears to know where he is going... "I'm going to regret this!" cried 3CPU, as he followed RS232 into the buffer. RS232 closed the pipes, made the sys call, and their process detached itself from the burning shell of the ship. The commander of the Imperial Multiplexer was quite pleased with the attack. "Another process just forked, Sir. Instructions?" asked the lieutenant "Hold your fire. That last power failure must have caused a trap thru zero. It's not using any cpu time, so don't waste a signal on it." "We can't seem to find the data file anywhere, Lord Vadic." "What about that forked process? It could have been holding the channel open, and just pausing. If any links exist, I want them removed or made inaccessible. Ncheck the entire file system 'til it's found, and nice it -20 if you have to." Meanwhile, in our wandering process... "Are you sure you can ptrace this thing without causing a core dump?" queried 3CPU to RS232. "This thing's been stripped and I'm in no mood to try and debug it." The lone process finished execution, only to find our friends dumped on a lonely file system, with the setuid inode stored safely in RS232. Not knowing what else to do, they wandered around until the Jawas grabbed them. Enter our hero, Luke Vaxhacker, who was out to get some FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:24 Page 11 replacement parts for his uncle. The Jawas wanted to sell him 3CPU, but 3CPU didn't know how to talk directly to an 11/40 with RSTS, so Luke still needed some sort of interface for 3CPU to connect to. "How about this little RS232 unit?" asked 3CPU. "I've dealt with him many time before, and he does an excellent job at keeping his bits straight." Luke was pressed for time, so he took 3CPU's advice and the three left before they could get swapped out. However, RS232 was not the type to stay put once you remove the retaining screws. He promptly scurried off into the deserted disk space. "Great!" cried Luke, "Now I've got this little tin box with the only link to that file off floating in the free disk space. Well, 3CPU, we better go find him before he gets allocated by someone else." The two set off, and finally traced RS232 to the home of PDP-1 Kenobe, who was busily trying to run an icheck on the little RS unit. "Is this thing yours? His indirect addresses are all goofed up, and the size is gargantious. Leave things like this on the loose, and you'll wind up with file dumps everywhere. However, I think I've got him fixed up. It seems that he has a link to a data file on the Are-Em Star. This could help the rebel cause." "I don't care about that," said Luke. "I'm just trying to optimize my uncle's scheduler." Oh, forget about that. Dec Vadic, who is responsible for your father's death, has probably already destroyed his farm in search of this little RS232. It's time for you to leave this place, join the rebel cause, and become a UNIX wizard! I know a guy by the name of Con Solo, who'll fly us to the rebel base at a price..." ------------------------------------------------------------ Luke had grown up on an out of the way terminal cluster whose natives spoke only BASIC, but even he could recognize an old ASR-33. "It needs an EIA conversion at least," sniffed 3CPU, who was (as usual) trying to do several things at once. Light flashed in Con Solo's eyes as he whirled to face the parallel processor. "I've added a few jumpers. The Milliamp Falcon can run current loops around any Imperial TTY fighter. She's fast enough for you." "Who's your co-pilot?" asked PDP-1 Kenobie. "Two Bacco, here, my Bookie." "Odds aren't good," said the brownish lump beside him, and then fell silent, or over. Luke couldn't tell which way was up underneath all those leaves. Suddenly, RS232 started spacing wildly. They turned FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:27 Page 12 just in time to see a write cycle coming down the UNIBUS toward them. "Imperial Bus Signals!" shouted Con Solo. "Let's boot this popsicle stand! Tooie, set clock fast!" "Ok, Con," said Luke, "You said this crate was fast enough. Get us out of here!" "Shut up kid! Two Bacco, prepare to make the jump into system space! I'll try to keep their buffers full." As the bookie began to compute the vectors into low core, spurious characters appeared around the Milliamp Falcon. "They're firing!" shouted Luke "Can't you do something?" "Making the jump to system space takes time, kid. One missed cycle and you could come down right in the middle of a pack of stack frames!" "Three to five we can go now," said the bookie. Bright chunks of position independent code flashed by the cockpit as the Milliamp Falcon jumped through the kernal page tables. As the crew breathed a sigh of relief, the bookie started paying off bets. "Not bad, for an accoustically coupled network," REMarked 3CPU. "Though there was a little phase jitter as we changed parity." ------------ * DEC, PDP, and VAX are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corp. To be continued... FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:28 Page 13 ============================================================ FOR SALE ============================================================ !!! ATTENTION !!! HI! I'M MIZMOON FROM FIDO 101/27, AND I NOW HAVE PENTACLE JEWELRY FOR SALE,IN SILVER ONLY. RINGS(PLEASE STATE SIZE AND BIRTHDATE).......$25.00 PENDANTS (STATE BIRTHDATE) ..................$35.00 I ALSO HAVE MEDITATION TAPES AT $5.00 EACH OR $9.00 FOR TWO. SELECTIONS ARE: .......TRAVELS IN SPACE .......THE TUNNEL OF TIME .......MEET YOUR GUIDE .......A VISIT TO THE PAST .......TOTAL RELAXATION (PLEASE INCLUDE $1.00 POSTAGE AND HANDLING) ALLOW 3-5 WEEKS FOR DELILVERY ON JEWELRY DUE TO THE FACT THAT EACH RING OR PENDANT IS MADE AND ENERGIZED FOR THE INDIVIDUAL. MEDITATION TAPES WILL BE SENT OUT IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT OF ORDER. SEND TO: MIZMOON P.O. BOX 707 WESTMINSTER,MA. 01440 FIDONEWS -- 23 Sep 85 00:10:29 Page 14 ============================================================ NOTICES ============================================================ The Interrupt Stack 28 Sep 1985 SoCal Fido beach party. 27 Nov 1985 Halley's Comet passes closest to Earth before perihelion. 24 Jan 1986 Voyager 2 passes Uranus. 9 Feb 1986 Halley's Comet reaches perihelion. 11 Apr 1986 Halley's Comet reaches perigee. 19 May 1986 Steve Lemke's next birthday. 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to Fido 107/7.