Volume 3, Number 49 22 December 1986 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | _ | | / \ | | /|oo \ | | - FidoNews - (_| /_) | | _`@/_ \ _ | | International | | \ \\ | | FidoNet Association | (*) | \ )) | | Newsletter ______ |__U__| / \// | | / FIDO \ _//|| _\ / | | (________) (_/(_|(____/ | | (jm) | +---------------------------------------------------------------+ Editor in Chief: Thom Henderson Chief Procrastinator Emeritus: Tom Jennings FidoNews is the official newsletter of the International FidoNet Association, and is published weekly by SEAdog Leader, node 1/1. You are encouraged to submit articles for publication in FidoNews. Article submission standards are contained in the file ARTSPEC.DOC, available from node 1/1. Copyright (C) 1986, 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. SPECIAL BYLAWS VOTING ISSUE Table of Contents 1. EDITORIAL Time to Vote! 2. ARTICLES IFNA ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION DRAFT IFNA BY-LAWS DRAFT disABLED - an Echo for the Handicap Doug's Column Registered programs and "canned" messages SEAdog Nodes Get With It! "Sponges" - Solution? 3. COLUMNS Mike Ringer's Column Nautical View Part 6: Shouldst Thou Notch Thy Disks? 4. NOTICES The Interrupt Stack For Sale: All Rights to Computer Game Program (GAGS) Fidonews Page 2 22 Dec 1986 ================================================================= EDITORIAL ================================================================= Time to Vote! Remember the draft bylaws we published awhile back? A lot of people had some very good suggestions to make about them, and the bylaws committee listened to those ideas and made a few small changes. I haven't read through it in detail, but the biggest change seems to be putting in a way to change the bylaws later. It seems they forgot that one small detail the first time around. So we're running the bylaws again this issue in their new, revised form. The bylaws published in this issue of FidoNews are what we are now voting on. The last page of this issue is your official ballot. Run it off on a printer, fill it out, and mail it in. Everyone who was listed in node list 311 for 1986 gets one vote. If you're in the node list twice, you still only get one vote. Ditto if two people sysop one board, they only get one vote between them. You have until 17 January 1987 to get your vote in to the CPA firm that's counting them, but don't wait until the last minute! Do it NOW, while you're thinking of it. About the board elections: The interim board felt that it didn't make much sense to vote for a board before we know for sure what YOU want the board to be like, so we're holding off electing a new board until we find a set of bylaws you like. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 3 22 Dec 1986 ================================================================= ARTICLES ================================================================= IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION FOR INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION Be it known that we, the suscribers, do hereby associate ourselves as a body politic and corporate pursuant to the statute laws of the State of Missouri regulating the formation and organization of corporations without capital stock and the following are our Articles of Association: Article 1 - The name of our corporation shall be the International FidoNet Association also known as "IFNA". The corporation commenced its corporate existence as the International FidoNet Association, when its Articles of Association were approved by the Secretary of the State of Missouri on August 13, 1986. The original Articles of Association were subscribed by Kenneth H. Kaplan, Sally R. Kaplan, and Mark S. Rubin. Article 2 - The period of duration of the corporation is perpetual. Article 3 - The address of its initial Registered Office in the State of Missouri is: 120 S. Central, Suite 1400, St. Louis, Missouri 63105 and the name of its initial Registered Agent at said address is: Mark S. Rubin. The mailing address is: PO Box 41143, St. Louis, Missouri 63141. Article 4 - The purposes for which our corporation is formed are the following: the promotion of interest in telecommunications and experimentation; the establishment of telecommunication networks to provide publicly accessable and publicly available electronic communications; the furtherance of the public welfare; the advancement of telecommunications art the fostering of education in the field of electronic communication; the promotion and conduct of research and development to further the development of electronic communication; the dissemination of technical, educational, and scientific information relating to electronic communication; the printing and publishing of documents, books, magazines, newspapers and pamphlets necessary or incidental to any of the above purposes. No part of the assets or income of our corporation shall inure to the benefit of or be distributable to the members, the officers, or any of them, or to other private persons except that our corporation shall be authorized and empowered to pay reasonable compensation for services rendered and to make payments and distributions in furtherance of the purposes set forth herein. Article 5 - The affairs of the Corporation shall be governed by a Board consisting of Directors as defined in the By-Laws. Each Fidonews Page 4 22 Dec 1986 Director shall be elected for terms of two years by the members eligible to vote. Half of the Directors shall be elected for terms beginning on even numbered years and half shall be elected for terms beginning on odd-numbered years. Election of Directors shall be in accordance with the rules and regulations prescribed in the By-Laws. The Board shall meet at least once annually at times and places as provided in the By-Laws. Special meetings of the Board shall be called by the Chair of the Board upon written request of at least one-half of the membership of the Board as then constituted. Article 6 - During the intervals between meetings of the Board of Directors, the affairs of the Corporation shall be administered by an Executive Committee consisting of the President, four Directors selected by the Board of Directors, and, without vote, the Vice President and Vice President - Technical Coordinator. The term of office for the Executive Committee members shall be for one year or until their successors are elected. The Executive Committee shall meet at the call of the President, but no less often than quarterly. The Executive Committee may in its discretion submit for determination or decision by members of the Board of Directors any proposal pending before the Executive Committee. When such submission is made, it shall be in precise terms embodying the text of the proposed resolution. Such action shall be binding upon the Executive Committee. Article 7 - A vacancy in the Board of Directors shall be deemed to occur upon the death, resignation, recall, move of permanent residence outside the consituency from which elected, or refusal to act of any director. Upon the occurrence of such vacancy, the Secretary shall proclaim it, and thereafter the duties of the Director shall be assumed by the Alternate, and the Alternate shall hold the office of Director for the remainder of the term for which he was appointed Alternate. Should the office of Alternate be vacant, the vacancy shall be filled by appointment by the Board of Directors. The Alternate shall also serve as Director at any meeting of the Board of Directors which the Director is unable to attend. Article 8 - The officers of the Corporation shall be a President, a Vice President, Vice President - Technical Coordinator, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall be elected by a majority of the Directors at the Annual Meeting. Article 9 - These articles may be amended by the three-fourths vote of all directors, or, provided due notice of the proposed amendment shall have been sent to each director at least thirty days in advance, by a two-thirds vote of all directors. Article 10 - The membership of IFNA shall consist members as defined in the By-Laws. The membership shall by appropriate By-Laws specify the requirements for membership and classes of membership provided, however, that the membership shall not terminate or reduce the rights of any member except for the lapse or termination of a condition now required as precedent to the exercise of such rights. Nothing herein contained shall Fidonews Page 5 22 Dec 1986 preclude the Board of Directors from expelling a member upon good cause shown and after notice and an opportunity to be heard. Article 11 - No person shall be eligible for the office of Director, Alternate, President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, or Vice President - Technical Coordinator, whose business connections are of such nature that they could gain financially through the shaping of the affairs of the Association by the Board, or by the improper exploitation of their office for the furtherance of their own aims or those of their employer. The primary test of eligibility under this Article shall be the freedom from commercial or government connections of such nature that their influence in the affairs of the Association could be used for their private benefit. Article 12 - Upon the dissolution of our corporation, the Board of Directors shall, after paying or making provision for the payment of all of the liabilities of our corporation, dispose of all of the assets of our corporation exclusively for the purposes of our corporation in such manner, or to such organization or organizations organized and operated exclusively for charitable, educational, religious, or scientific purposes as shall at the time qualify as an exempt organization or organizations under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954 (or the corresponding provision of any future United States Internal Revenue Law), as the Board of Directors shall determine. Any such assets not so disposed of shall be disposed of by a court of competent jurisdiction of the county in which the principle office of our coporation is then located, exclusively for such purposes or to such organization or organizations, as said court shall determine, which are organized and operated exclusively for such purposes. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 6 22 Dec 1986 IFNA By-Laws and Rules Committee Bob Hartman, Chairperson (132/101) BY-LAWS FOR INTERNATIONAL FIDONET ASSOCIATION DEFINITIONS: The following terms have meanings as follows for all purposes of these By-Laws and Articles of Association: IFNA: International FidoNet Association. IFNA NETWORK: The current set of systems which have been certified as FidoNet compatible and conform to policies established by the Board of Directors. IFNA NODELIST: The list of nodes active in the IFNA NETWORK, prepared by the IFNA Vice President - Technical Coordinator. PUBLIC ACCESS: A system that has a telephone number published in the IFNA Nodelist, and in addition provides services to the public. ANNUAL MEETING: A yearly meeting of all members of IFNA with the expressed purpose of conducting business requiring the membership to vote. The Vice President, in conjuntion with the Membership Services Committee, shall arrange for and coordinate all activities leading up to and the conduct of this meeting. ENDORSED: A physical, hand-written, verifiable signature of a member or such equivalent as shall be specified by the Board of Directors. BALLOT: A paper listing of all candidates for office and issues requiring a vote, or such equivalent as shall be specified by the Board of Directors. ALTERNATE: A member of IFNA who is designated by a director. The responsibilities of the ALTERNATE include, but are not limited to acting as a replacement for the director in any instance of the director's absence. CHAIR: The person elected by the members of the Board of Directors, or a committee, to be responsible for the overall conduct of meetings of the body that elected the CHAIR. BY-LAWS: 1. The following membership categories are established: (a) Regular Member. To be eligible, an applicant: must be the system operator in good standing of a PUBLIC ACCESS node; must have paid any dues required; is entitled to one vote. Fidonews Page 7 22 Dec 1986 (b) Associate Member. Any person who is not eligible to be a Regular Member, but who is interested in electronic communications, is eligible to be an Associate Member by paying required dues. Associate Members have all of the rights of a Regular Member except the right to vote. (c) Commercial Member. Any entity using the IFNA NETWORK for the conduct of any business is eligible to be a Commercial Member by paying required dues. Any Commercial Member also satisfying the requirements to be a Regular Member shall be entitled to vote. (d) Honorary Member. The Board of Directors may award Honorary Member status to any entity. Honorary Members have all of the rights of a Regular Member except the right to vote. (e) Life Member. Any member may become a Life Member by paying the required dues. 2. Applications for membership shall be submitted to the Secretary. In the case of any applicant whose character, reputation or conduct might make him an undesirable member, the Secretary shall refer the application to the Executive Committee for review; in all other cases, the Secretary shall have the authority to grant membership. 3. The Secretary shall notify members of the expiration of their membership not less than thirty days prior to expiration. In determining membership status, memberships renewed within thirty days of expiration shall be regarded as continuous. 4. Dues shall be set by the Board of Directors, and be payable in advance. For members outside the United States, the Executive Committee shall assess such additional costs as may be required for destinations outside the United States. 5. Every member of the Board of Directors shall: serve and continue in office until their successor shall have been elected; serve on at least one standing committee. 6. All officers and directors shall serve without compensation in any form. 7. No person shall be an officer or director unless they qualify under all applicable statutes. 8. The members of the Board of Directors shall be one director from each of the several voting divisions of IFNA (Divisional Directors) and an equivalent number of directors elected from the membership (At-large Directors). At the first meeting of the Board of Directors they will elect a CHAIR who shall preside over all meetings of the Board. 9. The directors shall keep themselves informed as to conditions and activities of their constituents and as to the needs and Fidonews Page 8 22 Dec 1986 desires of the members therein in order that they may faithfully and intelligently represent the true interests of such members. All directors shall attend all meetings of the Board. At least sixty days prior to each annual meeting of the Board of Directors each Divisional Director shall file with the Secretary a written report on the status of the affairs of IFNA in that division, together with a statement of their recommendations as to any actions required for the effective administration of the objectives and affairs of IFNA. 10. On any date not later than noon of the 120th day prior to the ANNUAL MEETING, nomination petitions ENDORSED by ten or more voting members and naming a member as a candidate for director, may be filed with the Secretary. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall solicit such petitions at least 180 days prior to the ANNUAL MEETING in FidoNews in each election year by a notice that will show the name of the incumbents. 11. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall delete the name of any nominee who may be ineligible for election and the name of any who may withdraw by written communication. The remaining names shall be listed on a ballot, in alphabetical order. If there be but one eligible nominee, the Nominations and Elections Committee shall declare him elected without balloting by the membership. If there be more than one eligible nominee, then at least 45 days prior to the ANNUAL MEETING the Secretary shall send by mail to every voting member, and publish in FidoNews, a ballot listing the candidates for director. The ballot shall contain a copy of the current voting rules. 12. Mail BALLOTS, to be counted, shall reach the Secretary not later than the start of the ANNUAL MEETING. 13. The Nominations and Elections Committee shall arrange to have a certified public accountant receive and collate all mail BALLOTS received prior to the ANNUAL MEETING, and to be responsible for the receipt, tabulation and verification of all BALLOTS cast before the close of voting. The certified public accountant shall present and certify the results of the balloting. 14. A director position shall be declared vacant by the Board of Directors if: there be no eligible nominee for that director position; a director is no longer able or willing to fulfill the responsibilities of that position and has not appointed an ALTERNATE. 15. All vacant director positions will be filled by appointment of the Board of Directors for the remainder of the term. 16. Each director shall designate in writing within 30 days after the election an eligible ALTERNATE. Failure to comply shall cause the ALTERNATE position to be declared vacant by the Board of Directors. 17. A director shall be elected in each even-numbered year for Fidonews Page 9 22 Dec 1986 each even-numbered division and an equal number of At-large directors and in each odd-numbered year for the remaining director positions. The term of each director shall be for two years. The terms of all directors shall begin as soon as the results of the election are declared official by the Secretary. 18. A recall petition shall be presented to the Secretary not later than 180 days prior to the end of the Director's term. A valid petition shall contain the signatures of not less than 10 percent of the number of voting members represented by that director. Upon certification by the Executive Committee that the petition is valid, the Secretary shall prepare a ballot asking the single question, "Shall the Director be recalled, yes or no". These ballots shall be mailed to all voting members represented by that director accompanied by the current voting rules. If a majority of the votes cast are for recall, then the office of director shall be declared vacant. No director shall be subject to more than one recall during a single term of office. 19. The annual meeting of the Board of Directors shall be held at a location near the place of business designated in the Articles of Association on the third Friday of February of each year. The places of additional meetings shall be designated by the Chair of the Board and notified by the Secretary. The times and places of the meetings may be changed provided that specific provision is made by (1) majority vote of the directors at the preceding meeting or (2) majority vote of the directors by mail initiated by the Executive Committee or on petition of at least five directors, such mail vote to be taken at least 45 days prior to the date proposed for the meeting. 20. Special meetings of the Board of Directors may consider or act upon only those matters which are set out in the request. The call for any such meeting shall specify the matters to be considered. 21. A majority of the members of the Board of Directors or of any committee shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the Board or Committee. 22. Prior to any meeting of the Board of Directors, the Secretary, upon consideration of the reports of the officers and directors, shall establish an agenda for the meeting. Proposals for amendment of the agenda or for the deletion or addition of items shall be the first order of business. 23. On questions of order and procedure not otherwise determined by these By-Laws the provisions of the current edition of Robert's Rules of Order shall prevail. 24. The following voting divisions are established: Division 2 Europe, Africa Division 10 CA NV Division 11 IL IN KY MI OH WI - USA and ON PQ PEI NS NB NF - Canada Fidonews Page 10 22 Dec 1986 Division 12 HI Asia, Australia, Antartica Division 13 DE DC MD NJ NY PA VA Division 14 IA KS MN MO NB ND SD Division 15 AZ CO NM UT WY Division 16 CT ME MA NH RI VT Division 17 AK ID MT OR WA - USA and BC ALB SSK - Canada Division 18 AL FL GA MS NC SC TN Division 19 AR LA OK TX, South America, Mexico, Central America 25. The President shall, subject to instruction from the Board of Directors and with the assistance of the Vice President, represent IFNA in its relationships with the public and the various governments, governmental agencies and officials with which IFNA may be concerned and shall be the official spokesperson of IFNA in regard to all matters of IFNA policy. 26. In the absence or disability of the President, the Vice- President shall assume the duties of the President. 27. The Secretary shall: record the proceedings of all meetings of the Board and of the Executive Committee; promptly furnish copies of the minutes of these meetings to all officers and members of the Board; publish such minutes in FidoNews; be responsible for the maintenance of the corporate status of IFNA and the filing of all reports and certificates which may be required of IFNA under the corporation laws of the State of Missouri; be the archivist of IFNA; maintain the corporate membership and voting records of IFNA; performs other duties as described in applicable By-Laws. To the extent that may from time to time be required by law, the Secretary shall act as agent for the service of process but only while present in the State of Missouri and is not authorized to accept service of process elsewhere. 28. The Treasurer shall: be the recipient of all monies of IFNA and shall deposit the same in the name of IFNA in a depository specified by the Board of Directors; sign checks drawn by the President in payment of obligations known by him to be proper and authorized; make a report at the annual session of the Board of Directors and attend meetings of the Board; furnish bond satisfactory to the Board, the expense of such bond to be borne by IFNA; be ex-officio a member of the Administration and Finance Committee provided for in By-Law 31; make quarterly financial statements to the Adminstration and Finance Committee; on consultation with and subject to the general supervision of the Administration and Finance Committee, invest and reinvest the surplus funds of IFNA in any bonds or stocks or other securities as would be selected by a trustee with the care of a prudent investor. 29. The Vice President - Technical Coordinator shall: be responsible for maintenance and distribution of the master NODELIST; creation and distribution of the weekly update file for the master NODELIST; ensuring the smooth operation of the IFNA Fidonews Page 11 22 Dec 1986 NETWORK as prescribed by the Board of Directors; serve as a member of the Technical Standards Committee. STANDING COMMITTEES: 30. The following standing committees are established: a. Administration and Finance b. Executive Committee c. Nominations and Elections d. By-Laws and Rules e. Technical Standards f. Publications g. International Affairs h. Membership Services Each standing committee shall include among its members at least one director. Additionally, the Treasurer shall serve as a member of the Administration and Finance Committee. Appointments of all standing committee members shall be made by the President at the Annual Meeting and shall be for a term of one year. The Chair of the Board shall designate the chair of each committee. Standing committees shall make written reports at least 30 days prior to each regular meeting of the Board of Directors. Standing committees may originate studies in their fields and may generate recommendations to the Board on their own initiative. 31. The Administration and Finance Committee: Reviews IFNA management performance and effectiveness, including IFNA finances, on a continuing basis. On an annual basis, reviews the operating budget prepared by the Treasurer for the coming year and, after approval, forwards to the Board of Directors for ratification at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the fiscal year. Reviews intermediate and long term budgetary projections as prepared by the Treasurer and makes appropriate recommendations to the Board of Directors. Makes recommendations to the Board in connection with audit and tax matters, and acts as a Board audit committee. Is reponsible to the presentation of an annual financial report which shall be presented to the Board and the Membership. Makes recommendations to the Board and the President in areas of staff management, procedures and renumeration. Acts as advisor to and supervisor of the Treasurer in regard to the investment of IFNA's funds. 32. The Membership Services Committee performs studies and makes recommendations to the Board, and acts as advisor to the President, with regard to services provided to individual members, other than publications and including, but not limited to the ANNUAL MEETING. 33. The Publications Committee performs studies and makes recommendations to the Board, and acts as advisor to the President, with regard to IFNA's publications, including FidoNews. 34. The Nomination and Elections Committee shall be responsible Fidonews Page 12 22 Dec 1986 for: finding and qualifying candidates; reviewing voting procedures and recommending modifications as necessary; performs other duties as described in applicable By-Laws. 35. The By-Laws and Rules Committee shall be responsible for review and any suggestion of changes to these by-laws. 36. The Technical Standards Committee shall be responsible for: a. Providing a rigorous definition of FidoNet and all FidoNet protocols sufficient to implement a compatible electronic mail system. b. Providing IFNA the means to determine whether a system is compatible with FidoNet. This will allow IFNA to list compatible systems so Sysops may decide which system to install. c. Producing and enhancing standards for: 1. Data Transmitted 2. Connection 3. Protocols 4. Nodelist 5. Routing 37. The International Affairs Committee shall monitor the conduct of international liaison by IFNA staff. They shall initiate recommendations for IFNA representation at international meetings. They shall encourage the growth and strengthening of IFNA, its member societies and telecommunications worldwide. They shall coordinate and monitor planning and strategy for improving international telecommunications. 38. The Executive Committee shall be responsible for: Monitoring progress of the Board actions and recommendations in order to see that they are expeditiously accomplished. Monitoring expenditures for legal assistance. Providing assistance to the staff and general counsel in connection with Board recommendations for petitions to the Federal Communications Commission and other governmental agencies. Evaluating for the Board proposed rules and regulatory changes. 39. There shall be an official publication maintained by IFNA, in the form of a weekly journal, the name of which shall be FidoNews. A copy of this journal shall be available each week to every member of IFNA in good standing. The general management of this journal shall be in the hands of the President. The policy of the journal shall be determined by the Board of Directors. 40. These By-Laws may be amended or changed by majority vote of the membership during any election. To get the amendment or change included on the ballot, text of the proposal must be received by the Secretary at least 60 days prior to the scheduled date of the election. 41. Without changing their import, the Secretary may from time to time, on notice to the members of the Board of Directors, Fidonews Page 13 22 Dec 1986 renumber these By-Laws so as to serve the purpose of ready reference. References in these By-Laws to Articles shall be corrected, when necessary, by the Secretary to conform to the renumbered Articles. Fido and FidoNet are trademarks of Fido Software. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 14 22 Dec 1986 Stu Turk Sysop, SoundingBoard 129/26 Pittsburgh PA As a result of a article I wrote for FidoNews last December, outlining the use of Fido by the Deaf / Blind, David Drexler, sysop of SOURCEry System Fido 147/1, Oklahoma City OK, put me in touch with one of his users, Vernon Henley, the producer of the American Council of the Blind's Radio Reading Program and publisher of ACB's Braille Forum. Vernon asked me to write a companion article for the Forum and we began exchanging several messages a week via FidoMail. A large part of our mail volume dealt with the use of computers by the handicap and Vernon was planing on organizing a Handicap Users Network similar to MedNet. At the time I was assistant sysop of the L-5Net Fido 129/13, but the boards sysop was planing on moving to Colorado Springs, Colorado, and we were engaged in getting me set up with a Fido of my own before he moved. My board, of course, would join Vernon's Handicap Users Net. Vernon was scheduled to come to Pittsburgh in May for a Radio Reading Program conference and we made plans to meet and check out the local watering holes. In the meantime I had kept up correspondence with David Drexler over quite a few different subjects, one of which, for some reason, was beer. I had planned on sending a sixpack of my city's Iron City Golden Lager with Vernon for David - had even composed a message "The bottles were full when I gave them to Vernon!" to send David as soon as Vernon was on the way home. SoundingBoard Fido 129/26 went online in May and one of its first fidomail messages was a congratulations from Vernon. His message went on to other topics (he always used the entire 46 line limit) and ended with the note that, due to his organizations financal problems, he might not be able to make the Pittsburgh conference the following week after all. As his messages scrolled off the screen I though "Oh, great! Now how am I going to get the beer to David?" when the next message scrolled on. It was from David, telling me that Vernon Henley had died early that morning in a house fire, shortly after posting that last message to me. Vernon Henley was a man who was actively involved in communications for the handicap, especially in radio for the blind and computers for the deaf. He will be greatly missed. I thought for a while that Vernon's dream of a Handicap User Net had died with him. I did not know who else he had been talking to about joining the net and did not know how to set one up myself. It was something that went on the "back burner". About that time sysops who had been playing with a new program called EchoMail began hearing the questions put to them change from "What's EchoMail?" to "How's it work?" Net 129 installed a Sysops Echo, of which I was the hub and new uses keep turning up for EchoMail. In time, a National Sysop's Echo started and a few messages Fidonews Page 15 22 Dec 1986 showed up asking if anyone was interested in a Echo conference for the handicapped. I sent out a few feelers and get back a few replies and sooner or later things get started. I got a message from Dr. David Dodell of St. Joseph's Hospital Fido 114/15, Phoenix AZ saying he would host/co-ordinate the conference for the disabled. This Echo deals with all subjects relating to/for the and disabled (not necessarily computer related) and its ripples have already reached coast to coast with the Echo being picked up by boards from Washington D.C.'s Insight Fido 109/634 to Chico CA's Lazarus Fido 119/5 and Links Fido 119/13. If you have users on your board who are handicapped, or just want to add a public service Echo, contact David Dodell, St. Joseph's Hospital Fido 114/15 and join the ABLED Echo. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 16 22 Dec 1986 Doug Mohney Fido 109/74 "The Bear's Den" Doug's Column BEFORE WE BEGIN: SysOps are a strange breed. I need look no further than mine. Sent him mail last week to "fire off the puppy" (refering to my column). His response to me was "Loading the charge...elevation 45 degrees...Drop the dog. FIRE ...Puppy away, sirrah." I think he's hacked UNIX systems for too long; most UNIX wizards are gonzo in some form or another. HOW MANY READERS DOES FIDONEWS HAVE? I've read the claim of 70,000. How is this number derived? Has someone polled all 70,000? Or is it a projected number based upon number of FidoNet users? If this is the case, then it is an inflated estimate, because everyone who uses Fido doesn't have the time to read FidoNews. I would suggest a poll or reader survey, but if there are 70,000 readers of FidoNews, it would choke the network (or at least my home node) PDQ. IS FIDONEWS *TOO* COMMERCIAL? I don't know if it is my imagination, but it seems like a lot of people who send articles into FidoNews are plugging some product or service (Yes America, I am guilty of this too, but no one's offered me money for my literary skills, so I don't feel too bad). If this is case, shouldn't FidoNews charge a flat fee of $5 per promo (or something like that) in order to reemburse the people who put FidoNews together? C'mon. If there's money left over, they can always put it in the "Doug to Comdex" junket fund, eh? Seriously however, I think it is an idea worth considering. Perhaps a "shareware" type of arrangement. Oops. Maybe not; shareware is dying of apathy these days. NATIONAL USER GROUP? Apparently, Capital PC User Group, the IBM SIG of Boston Computer Society, and HAL of Texas (don't ask me what HAL stands for) got together at Comdex and talked about the feasibility of a national (yes, nation WIDE) user group. After some discussion, they decided that a true national user group was a bogus idea, but a "Federation" of user groups might not be a bad thing at all. I have mixed feelings about this, probably because my patron saint, Ben Franklin, tended to frown on complex organizations. Whenever you amass a group of people, you always get the power-greedy who want to use the situtation for their own gain. And bureaucracies tend to ignore the small, while trumpeting their "goal." However, a "Federation" does have some advantages, specifically in areas such as user's rights. If you have an obxiousness company like oh...a spreadsheet manufacturer, Fidonews Page 17 22 Dec 1986 you can send them nasty mail saying you dislike their cash cow policies on copy protection and make a big stink about it. They would (hopefully) recognized the vast masses of pissed off people are trying to tell them something important and change their policies accordingly. I dunno. On the other hand, bureaucracies tend to make a lot of rules and spend most of the time making sure their members adhear to them. Hmm. Anyone got any opinions on this? Is Fido a "federation"? If it is, how powerful is it? What is the focus of it aside from communications? Something to think about when you assume the lotus position. MOANING 'BOUT THE MAC: If you should happen to buy a Mac Plus, you'll notice you need to also buy your cables from Apple, plus your dot-matrix printer, since third-party Imagewriter IIs and mini-DIN 8 connectors are slim and none in the marketplace. It imposed a propietaryness which I find Offensive. You should encourage 3rd party competition, because ultimately speaking, it is what will sell more boxes. ON THE OTHER HAND: If you sit down and think about it, those ditzy little mini-DINs are soooo easy to snap into the back of the Mac; no contortions with screwdrivers in the back of the machine. And you only need to pick either A) An ImageWriter printer driver or B) A LaserWriter printer driver. How many printer drivers does it take to get an IBM-PC word processing program talking to another third-party printer you bought on sale at K-Mart? CD-ROM, O-ROM == NO ROM: We've had CD-ROM and O-ROMs for quite a while. Yet, I don't see anyone rushing out to sell or buy CD-ROM/O-ROM type players. Why? Part of the problem is a lack of standards; no one wants to get stuck with an $1,000+ incompatible investment two years down the road. However, the way the standards committees are floating around, it will probably be another 2 years before we see any CD-ROM/O-ROM standard; just in time for the first $1,000/68020 desktop machine. Another part which I think plays a key role is the concept of Read Only. "Yup, I got 500 Meg of storage here which I can only read. Amazing how many dictionaries you can put on one disk, ain't it?" C'mon! You must be able to write info out on all that storage as well as read it back. Optical storage will only take off when A) It is truly Erasable/Writable (WORM is relatively stupido, except for accounting functions and "hard" backups) and B) Standards are set for 12", CD-size, and sub (3 1/2") size. GOSH, YOU LOOK DIFFERENT DR. POURNELLE: Has anyone else noticed Jerry's pic in "InfoWorld" has changed? His old picture had him with this utterly arrogant look on his face, kind of like the one the Al Haig use to get into, and he was Fidonews Page 18 22 Dec 1986 dressed in an Ascot Tie, like he'd just stepped off the bloody YACHT, for crying out loud. His new picture shows no Ascot and I believe he looks almost friendly. Almost. Then you read his column and you wish he'd pull his head out of the CP/M graveyard....Actually, I must say his writing in "InfoWorld" is improving...for Jerry. I still miss Dvorak's column tho'. YO ADRIENNE!: If you want to reach me, send me FidoMail to Doug Mohney at 109/74. Or write me at: Personal Computing Association Adele H. Stamp Union College Park, MD 20742 ATTN: DOUG Good gossip or demo copies of anything welcome. Money not refused (although if I get real successful, I may have to give a cut to my SYSOP at 109/74). ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 19 22 Dec 1986 Registered programs and "canned" messages -Ron Bemis 151/104 There have been many comments about my methods of asking for donations for my shareware products. My programs are "registered" to a particular net/node number. Programs downloaded from my board are always registered to my node, 151/104. When one of these programs is run on another node, two messages are created: one to the sysop of the board thanking him for trying the program, and one to me telling me that the node has used the program. This second message is now created with the file attach bit set, causing the message to be sent directly via FidoMail and not routed through the normal chain of hosts. The first message created looks something like this: ----------------------------------------------------------- From: Ron Bemis on 151/104 To: Sysop on 138/39 Subj: OUTER V2.1 Thank you for trying OUTER V2.1. A message was created informing me that you have tried it. Another message will be created each day you use OUTER V2.1. If you don't plan to use this program on a regular basis please delete these messages. Otherwise kindly register this program by sending $20 to: Ron Bemis PO Box 13279 Research Triangle Park NC 27709. -Thanks Ron Bemis (151/104) ----------------------------------------------------------- It's unbelievable how many sysops have sent nasty messages about these messages being created. Others have asked "How do I make it stop sending these messages?" To answer this question, the best way to stop sending the messages is to register the program. You receive a registered copy of the program immediately after I receive your check. Programs running on the "registered" net/node do not create messages. To the sysop who needs 90 days to decide if a program suits his needs, you should pay for the program(s) you're using. I would hope that I would get ONE message from every person who has tried one of my programs. Many utility writers have contacted me asking for source code for this protection scheme. It's a good idea, and it works. A sysop can use the program as often as he wants on a trial basis. After running the program, he should then delete the messages it created. This only needs to be done once a day. If/when the Fidonews Page 20 22 Dec 1986 sysop installs the utility into his RUNBBS.BAT file or uses it on a daily basis, that is the time when he should pay for the program. I'm trying a little experiment. I've written a little program called "DIAL" which can be used through the ProComm (or other comm program's) shell to retrieve, display, and dial any FidoNet node. It has absolutely none of this protection in it. I'm distributing it as shareware and asking for a $3 contribution if you keep it and use it. I consider this to be a very useful program. SEALink claims to be able to do this, but only on a SEAdog node. I'm willing to bet that I don't get nearly the number of $3 contributions for this program as I have for the protected versions of my other programs. And to all the people who have complained about my automatic message creation: put up or shut up! If you don't like the way the program was written, delete it from your computer. That's what shareware's all about. Seems that the people who complain the loudest are the ones who won't pay one red cent for my shareware, but also can't live without it. I'd like to hear any comments on this subject - I understand there's been a lot of talk in the National Sysop's echomail conference, of which I am not a participant. Ron Bemis Fido 151/104 (919) 942-9267 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 21 22 Dec 1986 Christopher Baker Metro-Fire Fido, 135/14(0) XP: SEAdog Mail Events and FidoNet Compatibility Did you ever watch your system during a Crash mail event receive an incoming SEAdog packet from a Node that you were trying reach during that event? Did you notice that most of the time the other Node Refused to Collect the mail you tried to pass to him during that connect? Maybe you DIDN'T try to pass it to him and now YOU get to make ANOTHER call to transfer the packet to him. What a waste, eh? SEAdog differs from Fido in that mail is only transferred WHEN and IF the mail event you are in is set to GIVE-TO and/or PICKUP. SEAdog is designed with an inherently more secure mail transfer system than Fido for use in a corporate atmosphere where security may be essential to avoid compromising files or information. Within the FidoNet, however, this level of security is not necessarily a consideration. To make your SEAdog mail events (including Crash) MORE FidoNet compatible, BE SURE to insert the routing verbs GIVE-TO (All or whatever called for during an event; All is the best for maximum receptiveness.) and PICKUP (All or whatever, as before) into your ROUTE.DOG. This INCLUDES your S (Crash) Schedule. Oh, you DON'T have an S Schedule? Now would be a good time to insert one. The S schedule is very simple, as follows: Schedule S Send-to All Give-to All Pickup All Send-only (redundant in Crash). Now your system will try to pass and collect mail whenever connected to another system during a mail event. If your Crash events are designated as S in your CONFIG.DOG, that is. The use of these routing verbs is the same in each of your Schedule listings in your ROUTE.DOG. If you are running a SEAdog capable Node that I call, I hope you will consider these points and help make our future transfers MORE successful. We Give-to and Pickup in ALL events at Metro-Fire Fido! Thanks. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 22 22 Dec 1986 Jon Allen The CompuNet Zone Huntsville, AL Fido 18/20 Although I'm not much of a writer (as users who read the B)ulletins that I post on my BBS will attest), I decided to submit this article after several experiences I had. Most Sysops are aware of "sponges" (users who do absolutely nothing but download software), and combat the problem with new user questionnaires, download/time limit quotas, and so on. I have tried several things to correct the problem, and so far have been unsuccessful. I installed my 20meg more than half a year ago, and have since discovered that "sponges" abound in our (at least in Huntsville) BBS community! Someone who downloads over 1100K of files, uploads ABSOLUTELY NOTHING, sends no donations, and leaves 0 messages (to the Sysop or anyone else) is not exactly every system operator's vision of an "ideal" user! I may be unreasonable at times, but 1100K and no uploads? That's a little "wolfish" to me. Now, a few users (on my system) had some explanations for that kind of behavior, such as: 1. They are calling long distance and would rather spend their money downloading rather than uploading or leaving messages. (Every "sponge" on my system was calling locally.) 2. They are unable to upload since they are a new to telecommunications (and therefore have no Public Domain files to upload) or they don't have anything that the system doesn't already offer. (There are currently 3 (including myself) IBM-based systems running here in Huntsville, each with a file system. After spending so much time downloading on my system, I'd think they were "raping" the other boards also. (Hence they'd pick up software that my system doesn't offer.)) 3. They were overwhelmed by such an impressive files system and caught "download fever". (Understandable. We all have acquired "download fever" at one time or another. However, that impressive file system will not stay that way if users don't contribute.) 4. Downloading. That's what you're running a BBS for, isn't it? (Certainly not. Fido is not just an AE line by another name. Users are expected to participate. To quote FIDOINTR (a utility that tailors WELCOME2.BBS to each user): "Would you go to a party a spend the whole time sitting by yourself in a corner gobbling up hors d'oeuvres?") Fidonews Page 23 22 Dec 1986 The only reason I have a substantial file selection is due to the fact that a good friend of mine, who had acquired many files over the years, uploaded most of what he had (LBR'd) to my then empty hard drive. (He was even nice enough to include a list of descriptions.) I've been told I've gotten rather harsh about the subject of sponges (ever since I started using RATIO the other day), but they should have expected some kind of action after my countless messages and bulletins literally begging for uploads. (Pole RATIO is a very good utility that (in my case) sends users who have taken more than 400K and exceeded a 500:1 [Downloads:Uploads] ratio a reminder to upload. It will then lower the access level of any user who downloads more than 800K and exceeds the 800:1 ratio. (And yes, it nabbed quite a few people.)) Well, that's my attempt at an article. I know I haven't touched on all points, but I wouldn't want to take up most of FidoNews. I'd appreciate ANY responses, comments, or whatever via FidoNet. Jon Allen The CompuNet Zone - 18/20 Huntsville, AL 205-534-8246 (300/1200) ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 24 22 Dec 1986 ================================================================= COLUMNS ================================================================= Mike Ringer 229 HUBBELL HALL East Texas Station Commerce Texas 75428 PD ENTERTAINMENT Well since I've hit college I haven't had a chance to do much with or for fido. And I miss it. During the time I have been gone I have picked up and dropped bad habits. Those being Drugs and Smoking. I feel much better now that I have stopped both habits. They are probably the stupidest things I have ever done to my body. At the moment my only drug is Punk Rock, and booze, maybe I should stop drinking to. Oh well, college is a pain and not being in touch with fido is even worse. My new column here will last till I exterminate all of my PD games. Yes it is my long awaited entertainment column I promised back when I wrote my first article. This time I'll take a look at STRIKER, and SOLITAIR. STRIKER Striker is one of the best graphics adventure games I have encountered so far. In striker you must attempt to pick up and drop off spies and cargo shipments. There are five missions on four levels. Striker uses keyboard or joy stick. It has color graphics, but I'm not sure what the colors are. (I have a red plasma screen.) You can change between 3 palettes and move the screen left or right. STRIKER also has sound which can't be turned off. This can cause problems when you play the game at 3 am and your neighbors are trying to sleep. Striker was written by Derek Williams 10503 Doering Ln. Austin Texas, 78750 Rating **** SOLITAIR This is one of the best computerized card games I have ever seen. Like STRIKER it is color graphics. The only cheating Solitair lets you do is go through the cards as many times as you can. It is a fairly simple game to figure out and can be won by almost any level of Solitair player. The only problem I can find with SOLITAIR is that it doesn't always do a good job of shuffling the cards all of the time. Besides that it is worth downloading. SOLITAIR was written by Larry Williams for Apple Soft Translated by Herbert J. Terdin, December 1982 Rating *** Fidonews Page 25 22 Dec 1986 * ok, but it would make a dog puke. ** better, but not very interesting *** almost perfect, needs a little work **** perfect, even your mother would like this one. I can be contacted at Elite Software node 1262 net 117. I am looking for a Node in Dallas, so I can cut down on long distance phone bills. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 26 22 Dec 1986 Joe Lindstrom TC-Link Fido (134/7) Calgary, AB +-------------------+ ! The Nautical View ! +-------------------+ Part 6: To Notch Or Not To Notch (That Is The Question) I would imagine that most of the readers of "The Nautical View" are Commodore owners. Well, this particular column applies also to Atari and Apple owners too. We all own home computers, and use them to fulfill a fairly inexpensive hobby. I would like to address one point, though: many people who own single sided disk drives will cut a notch on the opposite side of their diskettes, so that the disk can be flipped and the back side can be used for data. Most of us have some kind of program which allows us to check a disk for bad sectors. You can indeed "notch" your disks, format the reverse sides, and then check to see if the back side was indeed good. You can then store all the data on there you like. However, a very serious problem can arise, one that many of us ignore so often. After some use, dust particles will build up inside the disk jacket. The disk jacket is designed to catch these particles, thus avoiding damage to your disks. However, when you put a disk in upside down, the disk starts rotating in the opposite direction. This has the fun effect of RELEASING all that assorted crud that's been hiding inside the disk jacket for the past year, and forcing it to SCRAPE across the diskette surface before being trapped again. This can ruin the surface of the disk, and can even damage the read/write head on your disk drive! Most people get away scott-free for so long that they scoff when people like me tell them to STOP NOTCHING! "Hey, man, I've been doing it for years and haven't lost a bit yet!". Well, "Hey, man" yourself. I, too, had been doing it for years, as were many of my friends. Then, one day, one of my disks showed a read error. The error proved to be of the "non-recoverable" kind, and a valuable program was lost. Then, a little later on, a few more disks bombed, and then a few more, etc. The data I managed to rescue is now safe on SINGLE sided diskettes, thank you very much. I own a double-sided drive (the 1571), but when my C-128 is running in C-64 mode, it performs like the (single-sided) 1541. Therefore I MUST use single-sided disks, for my data's sake. For the longest time, double-notching your disks was an effective way of curbing the high price of quality diskettes. But come on now: the price of disks has gone DOWN, not up. An average disk nowadays is three times cheaper than it was, say, 5 years ago. I went out the other day and bought a pack of 25 GOOD Fidonews Page 27 22 Dec 1986 diskettes (single-sided) for the whopping price of $19.75 (Canadian). That works out to 79 cents per disk, and that is pretty darn cheap if you have some valuable data. Notching these disks would (eventually) turn them into BAD diskettes. I used to say "I've never had a disk fail, so why should I worry?", just like many of you. You can stop notching now, or you can wait for it to happen to you. I learned the hard way, so I am here now to try to prevent this from happening to you. Please, DON'T double-notch your diskettes. I'm interested in answering any of your questions about either the C-64 or C-128. If you are having a problem, please address your mail to Joe Lindstrom via TC-Link Fido (Calgary, Net 134 Node 7), and I'll address it in an upcoming article. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 28 22 Dec 1986 ================================================================= NOTICES ================================================================= The Interrupt Stack 17 Jan 1987 Deadline for voting on the proposed bylaws. Your ballot MUST be received by this date! 17 May 1987 Metro-Fire Fido's Second Birthday BlowOut! All Fido Sysops and Families Invited! Contact Christopher Baker at 135/14 for more information. 24 Aug 1989 Voyager 2 passes Neptune. If you have something which you would like to see on this calendar, please send a message to FidoNet node 1/1. ----------------------------------------------------------------- For Sale: All Rights to Computer Game Program (GAGS) I am looking for a software publisher or other enterprise interested in acquiring the rights to the Generic Adventure Game System (GAGS), a text adventure-game development system currently available for all MS-DOS computers. GAGS is written in vanilla Turbo Pascal (7,000+ lines of code), and can be ported to other computer systems very easily. I am currently revising the program to make it "international," and am revising the manual extensively. I can make additional changes, or port it for a particular computer system if needed for a particular marketing effort. Earlier versions of GAGS were released as "Shareware." Shareware doesn't work for games. I am willing to consider all offers, including royalty arrangements, bundling deals, or an "all-rights" sale. If no reasonable offers are received, I will release the new version of GAGS myself on a very limited basis as a commercial program in early 1987, with a printed manual and possibly including source code. Any interested parties are invited to contact me. -- Mark J. Welch P.O. Box 2409 San Francisco, CA 94126 (415) 841-8759 (voice) Fidonews Page 29 22 Dec 1986 Fido 161/459 [private node] BIX: 'mwelch' ----------------------------------------------------------------- Fidonews Page 30 22 Dec 1986 *Official IFNA By-laws Ballot Official IFNA Articles of Association and By-laws Ballot We, the interim directors of IFNA, submit for ratification the Articles of Association and By-laws as published in FidoNews number 349. In accordance with the recommendation of the By-laws Committee, each person listed as the Sysop of one or more FidoNet nodes, as of NODELIST.311 dated November 7, 1986, is entitled to ONE vote. The proposed IFNA Articles of Association and By-laws, as published in Fido349.NWS dated December 22, 1986, should be: (Check one line) Adopted ________ Rejected ________ I am the SYSOP of record a FidoNet node which was listed in NODELIST.311 dated November 7, 1986 and have the right to cast one vote. There will be ONLY be one vote per person. There will be ONLY one vote per net/node number. I understand these rules and cast my ballot in accordance with them. _______________________ ___________ Signature Date _____/______ Net Node Return this ballot via U. S. Mail to arrive not later than January 17, 1987 at: IFNA Ratification C/O Christopher L. Bonfanti, CPA Aselage, Kiefer & Co. 701 Emerson Road, Suite 201 Creve Coeur Corporate Center St Louis, Mo. 63141-6709 Aselage, Kiefer & Co. are Certified Public Accountants and will provide an independent count of the vote and publish the results in FidoNews. Votes received by Saturday, January 17th will be included in the results. -----------------------------------------------------------------