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Birmingham Telecommunications News 026
BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1990
July 1990 Volume 3, Issue 6
Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Author
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
Editorial Column...............................Mark Maisel
Comdex, Ataris, Sen. Foghorn, and Flag Burning.Dean Costello
PCAnywhere III.................................Mike Tyner
Copyright Law..................................Jordan J. Breslow
BASIC Programming..............................Stephen Davis
Profile: Dave Cantrell........................Chris Mohney
Known BBS Numbers..............................Staff
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN
We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for
damage due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability,if any for BTN, its
editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions,
etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
of such damages occurring.
With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article.
Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
please forward a copy of your publication to:
Mark Maisel
Editor, BTN
221 Chestnut St.
BHM, AL 35210-3219
We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
all of this and not get too serious about it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W S F L A S H
The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is with no
charge to any existing upload/download ratios.
The Connection LZ Birmingham Alter-Ego
Channel 8250 Bus System
Crow's Nest Myth Drannor
If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
me know via EzNet so that I can post your board as a free BTN
distributor. Thanks.
---
After much thought and consideration, we have adapted a new format for
the bbs list. I would like to thank Mike Tyner for the initial format
idea. I would also like to thank the many sysops and users who guided
us into the formation of the new format that begins with this issue.
Please take a look and let us know what you think. We invite any and
all comments regarding this change.
MM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Myth Drannor is one of Birminghams newest and brightest BBS's. Give it a
call. The number is (205) 699-5811. Baud rates supported: 1200/2400 with
MNP level 4 reliable communications. 32 megs online including Hi-Res
GIF, Gl files plus great WWIV support directories. Great online games
including Global War. Local message bases including a new RPG sub.
Myth Drannor running WWIV v4.11 BBS software (heavily facelifted). Sysop
is Razor Eater - Co-Sysop(s) Sidney & Mamoulian
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial
by Mark Maisel
It is midsummer and boy has it been busy around my house. Dilemmas,
good fortune, misfortune, slow time on the boards, way too much travel,
and not all of it much fun, have taken their toll. I'd like to take a
few minutes and talk about the past two months or so. If you aren't
really interested, go ahead and scroll on by, but it is your loss.
It has, for the most part, been very nice being a house husband. I
have enjoyed it immensely and it has certainly taken a great strain off
the ole joints. Housework is much better and many times more
satisfying. The drawbacks are not so bad. Spending money is pretty
much unknown to me now. That is alright, I suppose since I have most
everything I want at home. I keep telling Kathy that all I need is a
video camera, digitizer, and color scanner and all will be wonderful. I
don't understand for the life of me why she does not believe me.
Ahhh, now for fortune. I have done a good bit of traveling thus
far this summer. It explains the erratic schedule that I have
maintained for BTN and associated parties; more on that later. First,
the travels!
I had the good fortune to end up with a pair of tickets to Comdex
the second evening of the show. After great deliberations and
gyrations, I managed to convince Dean of the merits of making a trip to
this event. I even got him to make and pay for the motel accomodations.
He did, in some ways, get even later but that is another story. We left
Birmingham about 9:00 p.m. and arrived in Atlanta about midnight. We
got to experience mass transit, Atlanta Style, via the bus connections
and the fairly new subway system. I liked the subway. It is about the
only thing I have ever found to like about Atlanta. I will not go into
any more detail on the city so as to avoid straying from the subject at
hand. We arrived the next morning at the first of the buildings housing
Comdex and began our odyssey. I think that, for at least once, Dean has
managed to capture the true essence of reporting in his commentary on
our trip to Comdex. I will leave the details to him. Please make sure
to read his commments. He actually made an effort to deviate from his
usual ranting approach.
I got to go to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan for a week and get
as close to nature as this great indoorsman ever intends. Unfortunately,
my host was afflicted with an attack of intestinal gas that was nearly
lethal and it lasted for the entirety of my stay. Suffice it to say that
it was not pleasant. For references, you can ask Dean or Kathy about
him since they endured a similar attack when we all went to New Orleans
a few months back. The U.P. is an interesting and beautiful place. I
only wish that they could control the bird-sized flies and other flying
pests that inhabit the area during warm weather. The schedule they have
is wonderful though it can leave you quite tired. Nightfall did not
occur until well past 10 p.m. It is hard to go to sleep when the sun is
high in the sky, regardless of the time. Speaking of nights, we visited
an indian reservation, a first for me, and we frequented the casino that
the indians maintain on the grounds. Apparently this casino is a great
source of irritation to the local and state officials. They have tried,
in vain, for quite a while to shut it down and the only assistance they
get from the federal government is none. I thoroughly enjoyed hearing
about this and spent the evening chatting with casino employees. I was
not terribly interested in gambling so I socialized. The games
available were several variations of a card scratch-off game, black
jack, and craps. To this day, I have not managed to make heads or tails
of the concept of shooting craps. The rules escape me, at least from
observing the game. I went on a boat tour on Lake Superior and was on
the verge of considering a move to the area when the boat captain/real
estate agent informed me that the annual average snow fall for the area
was in the neighborhood of 200-250 inches per year. No pun intended,
that information cooled my heels quickly! I don't want to hear it since
I did have the courtesy to give the warning prior to my statement. One
more thing about this trip before I leave it; don't fly commuter planes
unless you have absolutely no other options. I had to bounce around in
one coming and going from the "Great White North"! Misery is this
experience personified and I have been known to be an ecstatic flyer.
No sooner had I gotten home then Kathy had to leave on a business
trip for her employer. The day after she left, a relative in Maryland
passed away and I ended up spending the week consoling her and the
million relatives who called. I also had to coordinate with family to
arrange for us to go for the funeral. Kathy crawled into town on a
Friday night very late and had to turn right around and head out early
Sunday morning. We had to rush, rush, rush the entire time we were up
there and only got back a few days ago which leads us to why this issue
is late. It was pretty much unavoidable.
I managed to receive my retirement check which was a wonderful
thing since it was available to help finance our travels. The drawback
to this is that I ended up being attacked by a money hungry credit
union, one of whose members filed bankruptcy and left them to pursue
those who had signed on the loan. This left me with a dilemma since it
was the only thing I owned, and I am not likely to ever see such a
windfall again. In order to serve my family's best interests, I decided
to pay off as much of my personal debt as I could. Now I am back to "0"
once again. My debt is a bit smaller though. Such is life, easy come
and easy go. It is so easy to rationalize this way when you have your
back against the wall.
I spoke with the editor of a national magazine recently and
suggested that there is a ripe market for coverage of bulletin boards
and shareware reviews pointing at this august publication and its
readership as ample proof. I was told that I was incorrect. Perhaps
you folks ought to write to the magazines and let them know your
interests if you think such magazines could do us a service in reporting
on our hobby. I have been thinking, once again, of converting this
thing or creating a new one similar, for profitable publication. What
are your thoughts on this idea? I am in no particular rush, as usual,
and welcome all ideas.
I know... its' about time I got 'round to talking about parties. My
travels for the summer are far from over, for good or bad, and I am
going to be a bit limited in what I can do in the party department. I
envision two more this summer at the very least. I am definitely having
one on this date:
JULY 21ST, 1990
From 6 p.m. until...
It will be at my home and a map will be available on Matrix,
Crunchy Frog, and Channel 8250. I figure that those boards receive most
all of you at one time or another. I would post on EzNet and may still
if it gets back up. Ed's system always waits until he leaves to stop
running right. Perhaps it misses him. All you sysops are welcome to
copy the map and post it on your own boards but I just don't have the
time to send it around to each one of you.
It is closing time now so those of you who have made it thus far
are to be congratulated for your patience and good taste. The issue has
some very interesting things in it and I have even more planned for
future issues. If there is something you would like to see in BTN that
is not here or something already here changed, please let me know.
Remember, I gave up telepathy a few years ago.
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Comdex, Ataris, Senator Foghorn, and Flag Burning
by Rev. Dr. Dean Costello
A couple of weeks ago, I went to Comdex, in Atlanta, GA. For the
life of me, I really don't understand why I went, since I realized that
everything there would be for mainframe/IBM-Slave people. But went I
did, for some strange reason. Probably so I could get a first-hand look
at the 'newest advances in business, academic, and personal computing"
(from the Press Package).
I have been reading about Comdex after the event. It seems that
Comdex was first scheduled for sometime in April, and then was moved to
Chicago. And by the time it was moved back to Atlanta, all of the good
places were gone. And that leads me to one of the problems I had with
the Comdex: It was scattered all over Atlanta. Well, not all over
Atlanta, but it was definitely in several differing sites, and even
within one of the sites (the Merchandise Mart, I believe) it was
scattered through a number of different exhibition halls. As a result
of the lowered attendance, there are plans by the nice people of the
Interface Group to bag a Spring Comdex (which is traditionally the
lowest attendance gathering) and to have a Spring Comdex in Europe, the
rumours are that it will probably be held in France.
One of things that has been bothering a lot of people are not the
number of people that come, but who DOESN'T come. For instance, IBM
didn't show up, neither did Microsoft (well, not really, but I will get
to that in a minute), Apple, Atari, or Commodore. Ostensibly because of
the poor display areas, Microsoft has a fleet of limos in front of the
Merchandise Mart to take reporters to a private home in Atlanta where
they had a party to show off Windows. So, all was not nice at Comdex.
Now, onto my impressions of the event. Well, it was big. Very
big. So very, very huge. Gosh, it was tremendously large. Anyway,
there was a lot of people. Estimates of 60K ranged before hand, but
apparently, the final turnout was somewhat disappointing. There were
also 1100 vendors of one sort or another.
The hot thing this year is, obviously, 486 boards. If you didn't
have a 486 board, you were relegated to some backroom where you could
peddle your printer with impunity, though ignomity. I really didn't
give a frog's fat ass about 486 boards, but I was amused by some of the
promos they had. Probably the most obvious was the linking of sex to pc
(printed circuit) boards. One 486 vendor had a poster for their board
that had a naked female holding the boards in such a way as to cover the
'naughty bits'. It was the ultimate poster for the computer nerd--A
naked woman, and computer gear. Many people had erections walking up to
the desk where the female in question autographed the poster for the
technogeeks.
There were other pretty clever gadgets and such to get people to
pay attention to one dealers' booth over another. And let's face it:
WIth about 1000 booths to choose from, the individual vendor does have
to do something out of the ordinary to get attention for the most part.
For instance, there was a DRAM chip making from Kansas that had their
promo on a bag of hot 'n spicy potato chips from Kansas, with the tag
line "These aren't the only hot chips from Kansas". By the way, the
chips tasted pretty good, too. Another manufacturer of printers had
this blue gloop that was a strange combination of Slime (tm) and
silicone caulking. It had neat characteristics, though, and I got a
kick out of it. The tag line "Don't let your printer glob up your
productivity". They were selling a very quiet printer (50 dBs), that
also cranked along at about 500cps. The puppy seemed to hum.
Let's see what other freebies there were: Hayes had a very nice
standard/Phillips screwdriver with a pen clip on it. Those were in high
demand; there were pens of all shapes, sizes, colours, and flavours;
very nice tote bags (which ended up being VERY handy, since the bags at
the entrance to the Comdex were really pretty crappy, so the people that
made Mark's VGA card had a popular booth since they had nicer bags. I
got bogged down at the Control Data booth since it was rumoured that
they had nice bags, also. But all I got for my trouble was some paper
on these outrageously expensive do-hickies designed for data-acquistion
systems in a lab. Let's see what else there was: Demo disks of all
kinds (yeah, I can really use them), a free 3.5" floppy (now I really
could use that), I spent some time on BIX, Mark probably got the neatest
little freebie at the entire Comdex. It consists of a videotape. The
vendor was advertising a VCR-Computer interface, and what he was doing
was combining Mark's Etruscan looks with computer generated graphics on
a videotape. Kind of clever, in a minor league kind of way (my computer
has had that ability for at least 3 years, now, but I digress).
There was, however, a really neat device, something fiendishly
clever and impressive that I was surprised to see it come out for the
IBM. Basically, it was a 3.5" drive. You reply "What's the big deal?"
I answer, "Because it can store 25 or 50 megs per disk". Ha. It was
very nice. It took specially designed 3.5" floppies (about $20/disk),
and used a voice coil to control the read/write head. The price was
somewhere around $650, I believe.
As to my computer, I was woefully disappointed. The only thing
that I saw for my computer was Microprose and Avalon Hill were still
making games for it. At least it hadn't completely died. And as for
other systems, let's not get cocky. There was a little bit for the Mac
II, but again, not a whole lot, and the only thing that I saw for the
Amiga was that it was being used to display some simplistic promo for a
program (art, I think, but I cannot remember). The upshot? If you
aren't a PC-Slave, or more specifically, a 386 (a true 386, not a 386sx
fake fast person) or 486 slave, then the Comdex really isn't for you. I
see no reason to go back at this stage of the game.
Which is a warped segue into something about Alabama politics. Why
are you (plural) proud that your legislators were all ready to vote for
a flag-desecration amendment as soon as it passed the U.S. Congress?
That is appalling. And your Senator Foghorn (I believe he goes by
Howell Heflin, the Foghorn being an appellation given to him by a
nameless acquaintence of Mark's who is deathly afraid of ever offending
someone since he has his eye on a political position in the future) was
right at the front of the pack. I also noticed that your delegation in
Congress all voted for the flag amendment. Appalling.
I was told that there are chickens on the yard at your state
capital. For some reason I am not all that surprised. One thing I
really want to do before I leave Alabama forever is to break onto the
capital grounds, tear down that damned confederate flag (note the lower
case letters) that you (again pluarl) insist is proper to fly over your
capital, burn that fucker on the front steps of the capital, and roast
one of those chickens over the flickering flame.
Anyone care to join me?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
PCAnywhere III
by Mike Tyner
This review introduces PCAnywhere III from Dynamic Microprocessor
Associates, Inc. Anywhere is a comprehensive package for connecting two
PCs by modem, and gets high marks for ease of installation and
transparency. Anywhere is available through mail-order for $60-$70, but
I found it at Software City for $75. It is not copy protected. The
license agreement allows its use on one microprocessor, though the
companion terminal program may be used on a second, remote computer.
Unlike Carbon Copy, it does not appear to check serial numbers when
connecting.
Anywhere allows you to run one computer from another, just as if
you were sitting there. Generally, shareware programs of this nature,
such as PCREMOTE, choke if you switch video modes and can't handle
multiple users or password security. Anywhere does it with finesse.
Anywhere also has helpful embellishments for software developers and
support personnel, such as logging calls for billing purposes, and
storing a transcript for later playback.
Anywhere loads as a 45K TSR on the "host" system, then lies
dormant, waiting for a call. The user simply types ANYWHERE AUTOMATIC
and goes about his business, using dBase, Lotus, or whatever. When the
caller ("remote") logs in, his screen and keyboard operate as a mirror
of the host system, running the user's program.
The Anywhere package includes a custom terminal program ATERM,
which the remote uses to dial. Anywhere will support other terminal
types, however - 30 of them, including VT52, Hazeltine, and ANSI-BBS.
There is an optional terminal program that runs a PC from a Macintosh.
The host program can prompt for terminal type at login. Using
ATERM, the remote user has a control panel called with <Ctrl><RShift>
which allows him to switch to chat mode, or disconnect, or reboot the
host computer. For printing, the remote user can select either his own
or the host's printer.
The package includes predefined support for a long list of modems,
including generic Hayes standard, HST, and V.32. Anywhere supports baud
rates from 50 (ugh!) to 57,600 for direct connections, on COM1 through
COM4.
File transfers are handled with the included program ASEND, which
operates almost like the DOS COPY command. ASEND appears to be an
XMODEM variant with 1K transfer blocks and some compression abilities.
For noisy phone lines, there are three levels of error-checking
(none, fast, and slow). The deepest level of error checking will slow
performance somewhat, but prevents bad data from ever reaching the
host's keyboard buffer.
Anywhere does graphics. I use 50-line video mode a lot, and there
is no problem switching modes as long as the computers on both ends have
the same video. If the host has VGA, though, and the remote has only
Hercules, Anywhere will say "Host is using unsupported graphics mode;
reboot host computer or back out of graphics mode into an 80x25 mode
(you will need to know exactly how the host program works to back out
gracefully.)" If you know the key sequences to return to character
mode, everything works fine.
How useful is Anywhere? Here is a typical example. I maintain an
office system written in Foxpro, located in Alabaster, about a 30-minute
drive. I get a call from Lucy Floozy, who knows diddly about computers,
but uses my system all day. She calls to tell me that my program messes
up when she particulates the widget in the part of the program that
barfoozles the mopedium. I say, "OK, Lucy. Exit to DOS, type HOST, and
run the program again. I'll call back and watch you do it."
I load ATERM, hit F2 to dial Lucy from the dial list, and connect
with her system. I watch as she enters the name 'diFiore' and she
presses <Esc> to enter chat mode. She types, "See? I want it to say
'diFiore' and it INSISTS on making it 'DiFiore'." I type back "OK. Go
get a cup of coffee and calm down. I'll fix it."
I shell to DOS, modify the source code, recompile it (again!) and
zip it up. I return to ATERM, still online, ASEND the zip, unzip it to
her working directory, and re-run her program. When she gets back from
her coffee break, the changes are in place.
The example is hypothetical. Actually, I'd wait a few days before
sending the modification - wouldn't want 'em thinking it's this easy...
If Anywhere sounds impressive, it is. I've found VERY few aspects
to criticize. You could grow old waiting for an 800x600x256 screen to
update, of course. And I have seen it confuse the VGA color palette,
although this occurred with dissimilar video cards. Anywhere spends a
little long initializing the modem; watching the LED's I can see that it
repeats the initializing sequence several times. But overall, it would
be hard to improve upon, and it has paid for itself repeatedly, saving
countless trips out to Lucy's office.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The following is reprinted with permission from CPU/STR 16/32bit
Magazine, No. 4.19, May 11, 1990. It has been split into two parts of
which this is part two. MM
Copyright Law
=============
Jordan J. Breslow
1225 Alpine Road, Suite 200
Walnut Creek, CA 94596
+1 415 932 4828
2. Copyright Sounds Neat -- How Do I Get One? Or, How Do I Know if
this Program is Copyrighted?
2.1. How do you get a copyright?
If you've written an original program, what do you have to do to
get a copyright? Nothing. You already have one.
2.2. How do you lose a copyright?
If you've written an original program, what do you have to do to
lose your copyright protection? Give copies away without the copyright
notice.
2.3. How do you waste a stamp?
If you mail the program to yourself in a sealed envelope, what have
you accomplished? You've wasted a stamp and an envelope and burdened the
postal system unnecessarily.
2.4. Do you have to register?
Do you have to register your program with the U.S. Copyright
Office? No, but it's a damn good idea.
2.5. How copyright comes into existence
Copyright protection (meaning the five exclusive rights) comes into
existence the moment you fix your program in a tangible medium. That
means write it down, or store it on a floppy disk, or do something
similar. Registration is optional. The one thing you must do, however,
is protect your copyright by including a copyright notice on every copy
of every program you sell, give away, lend out, etc. If you don't,
someone who hap- pens across your program with no notice on it can
safely assume that it is in the public domain (unless he actually knows
that it is not).
2.6. The copyright notice
The copyright notice has three parts. The first can be either a c
with a circle around it ((C)), or the word Copyright or the abbreviation
Copr. The c with a circle around it is preferable, because it is
recognized around the world; the others are not. That's incredibly
important. Countries around the world have agreed to recognize and
uphold each others' copyrights, but this world-wide protection requires
the use of the c in a circle. On disk labels and program packaging, use
the encircled c. Unfortunately, computers don't draw small circles
well, so programmers have resorted to a c in parentheses: (c). Too bad.
That has no legal meaning. When you put your notice in the code and on
the screen, use Copyright or Copr. if you can't make a circle.
The second part of the notice is the "year of first publication of
the work." Publication doesn't mean distribution by Os- borne Publishing
Co. It means distribution of copies of the pro- gram to the public "by
sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending."
So when you start handing out or selling copies of your precious code,
you are publishing. Publication also takes place when you merely OFFER
to distribute copies to a group for further distribution. Your notice
must include the year that you first did so.
The third part of the notice is the name of the owner of the
copyright. Hopefully, that's you, in which case your last name will do.
If your company owns the program -- a legal issue which I will address
later in this article -- the company name is appropriate.
Where do you put the notice? The general idea is to put it where
people are likely to see it. Specifically, if you're distributing a
human-readable code listing, put it on the first page in the first few
lines of code, and hard code it so that it appears on the title screen,
or at sign-off, or continuously. If you're distributing
machine-readable versions only, hard code it. As an extra precaution,
you should also place the notice on the gummed disk label or in some
other fashion permanently attached to the storage medium.
2.7. Advantages of registration
Now, why register the program? If no one ever rips off your
program, you won't care much about registration. If someone does rip it
off, you'll kick yourself for not having registered it. The reason is
that if the program is registered before the infringement takes place,
you can recover some big bucks from the infringer, called statutory
damages, and the court can order the infringer to pay your attorneys
fees. Registration only costs $10.00, and it's easy to do yourself. The
only potential disadvantage is the requirement that you deposit the
first and last 25 pages of your source code, which can be inspected (but
not copied) by members of the public.
2.8. A test to see if you understand this article
Now, someone tell me this: is this article copyrighted? Can you
print it?
3. Who Owns The Program You Wrote?
3.1. Introduction
The starting point of this analysis is that if you wrote the
program, you are the author, and copyright belongs to the author.
HOWEVER, that can change instantly. There are two common ways for your
ownership to shift to someone else: first, your program might be a "work
for hire." Second, you might sell or assign your rights in the program,
which for our purposes means the copyright.
3.2. Programs written as an employee
Most of the programs which you write at work, if not all of them,
belong to your employer. That's because a program prepared by an
employee within the scope of his or her employment is a "work for hire,"
and the employer is considered the author. This is more or less
automatic if you are an employee -- no written agreement is necessary to
make your employer the copyright owner. By contrast, if you can convince
your employer to let you be the copyright owner, you must have that
agreement in writing.
By the way, before you give up hope of owning the copyright to the
program you wrote at work, figure out if you are really an employee.
That is actually a complex legal question, but I can tell you now that
just because your boss says you are an employee doesn't mean that it's
so. And remember that if you created the program outside the scope of
your job, the program is not a "work for hire." Finally, in California
and probably elsewhere, the state labor law provides that employees own
products they create on their own time, using their own tools and
materials. Employment contracts which attempt to make the employer the
owner of those off-the-job inventions are void, at least in sunny
California.
3.3. Programs written as a contractor
Wait a minute: I'm an independent contractor to Company X, not an
employee. I come and go as I please, get paid by the hour with no tax
withheld, and was retained to complete a specific project. I frequently
work at home with my own equipment. Is the program I'm writing a "work
for hire," owned by the Company? Maybe, maybe not. In California, this
area is full of land mines for employers, and gold for contractors.
A contractor's program is not a "work for hire," and is not owned
by the company, unless (1) there is a written agreement between the
company and the contractor which says that it is, and (2) the work is a
commissioned work. A commissioned work is one of the following: (a) a
contribution to a collective work, (b) an audiovisual work (like a
movie, and maybe like a video game), (c) a translation, (d) a
compilation, (e) an instructional text, (f) a test or answer to a test,
or (g) an atlas. I know you must be tired of definitions, but this is
what the real legal world is made of. An example of a collective work
is a book of poetry, with poems contributed by various authors. A piece
of code which is incorporated into a large program isn't a contribution
to a collective work, but a stand-alone program which is packaged and
sold with other stand-alone programs could be.
So where are we? If you are a contract programmer, not an employee,
and your program is a commissioned work, and you have a written
agreement that says that the program is a "work for hire" owned by the
greedy company, who owns the program? That's right, the company. But
guess what? In California and elsewhere the company just became your
employer! This means that the company must now provide worker's
compensation benefits for you AND UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE.
4. A Brief Word About Licenses.
4.1. Why a license?
When you get software at the local five and dime, the manufacturer
claims that you have a license to use that copy of the program. The
reason for this is that the manufacturer wants to place more
restrictions on your use of the program than copy- right law places. For
example, licenses typically say you can only use the program on a single
designated CPU. Nothing in the copyright law says that. Some licenses
say you cannot make an archive copy. The copyright law says you can,
remember? But if the license is a valid license, now you can't. You can
sell or give away your copy of a program if you purchased it, right?
That's permitted by copyright law, but the license may prohibit it. The
more restrictive terms of the license will apply instead of the more
liberal copyright rules.
4.2. Is it valid?
Is the license valid? This is hotly debated among lawyers. (What
isn't? We'll argue about the time of day.) A few states have passed or
will soon pass laws declaring that they are valid. A few will go the
other way. Federal legislation is unlikely. My argument is that at the
consumer level, the license is not binding because there is no true
negotiation (unless a state law says it is binding), but hey that's just
an argument and I'm not saying that that's the law. In any case, I
think businesses which buy software will be treated differently in court
than consumers. Businesses should read those licenses and negotiate
with the manufacturer if the terms are unacceptable.
5. I Have A Neat Idea. Can I Trademark It? What About patent?
5.1. Trademark law explained
Sorry, no luck. Trademark law protects names: names of products
and names of services. (Note that I did not say names of companies.
Company names are not trademarkable.) If you buy a program that has a
trademarked name, all that means is that you can't sell your own similar
program under the same name. It has nothing to do with copying the
program.
5.2. Patent Law
Patent law can apply to computer programs, but it seldom does. The
main reasons it seldom applies are practical: the patent process is too
slow and too expensive to do much good in the software world. There are
also considerable legal hurdles to overcome in order to obtain a patent.
If, by chance, a program is patented, the patent owner has the exclusive
right to make, use or sell it for 17 years.
6. CONCLUSION
I know this is a long article, but believe it or not I just
scratched the surface. Hopefully, you'll find this information useful,
and you'll stop passing along myths about copyright law. If anyone needs
more information, I can be reached at the address on the first page.
Sorry, but I do not usually have access to the network, so you can't
reach me there.
Thank you. JORDAN J. BRESLOW
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Basic Programming
by Stephen Davis
Part 1
Basic programming is a easy and fun way to get a computer to do what you
want it to do. You can do many things in Basic that most people think
you cannot do. In basic you can make music, graphics, games, and much
more. In this leasson we will start off very easy then we will ever
month get a little harder. So for you people who already know how to do
what I teach just wait a few lessons and I am sure I will get to
something that you do not know. So let's get started.
After you load basic you should get to a prompt that says "Ready" or
"Ok". Different versions of Basic say different things. Just
get to the part where the computer is ready to take a command. A
command is information telling the computer what to do.
To start off we will get the computer to type something out. At the
prompt or cursor type the following:
PRINT"HELLO. I AM YOUR COMPUTER!!"
Then press return. What did the computer do? Well did it print the
same thing you told it to. If it didn't then you did something wrong.
Make sure you typed in exactly what was up there. How did it work?
Well let me tell you. The first word "PRINT" tells the computer to print
exactly what is in the (" "). Notice it did not print the word "PRINT"
because it is not in between the (" "). So whatever is between the ("
") is printed.
The "PRINT" statement can also do other things. It can draw. Draw?
Yes. Let me show you. To draw you must have a line number. A line
number goes in front of the command. Another words it is the order of
the commands like a set of instructions. Type this in:
10 Print"**************************
20 Print"* *
30 Print"* ***** ***** *
40 Print"* * * *
50 Print"* **** *
60 Print"* ***** ***** *
70 Print"* * * *
80 Print"* ************** *
90 Print"**************************
Now type:Run
Did it draw the face. It should have. The numbers in front of the line
is the line number. The computer will follow the line in order however
you have it numbered. If you were to rearrange the numbers it would put
them back in order and still follow it the right way. How neat!!
Part 2 of 1
Math
You said earlier that we could make the computer do math. So where is
all the good math? Well let me show you.
If you have a computer you also have an adding machine. It will do
everything an adding machine will do. Type the following:
Print"1+1="
Press enter or return. What did it do? Did it answer the problem? I
hope not because if it did you did something wrong. If you did it right
it just printed the problem. How do you make it answer. Well I will
tell you. Type the following:
Print 1+1
Press Return or enter. Did it solve it? It should have. How did we do
that? It is very easy. All you do it type the word "print" But do not
put (" ") around the problem. If you put (" ") around the problem the
computer will think that you want it to print the problem out. But
without the (" ") it will just answer it. How do you subtract or
mutilply or divide? Here is how.
+ add
- subtract
* mutilply
/ divide
It is all very easy.
Part 3 of 1
Printing Strings
The PRINT statement can do more than math and draw. It can print
Strings. Type this in:
Print string$(40,"*")
Now press enter
If you typed it in right the computer will print a row of asterisks.
How do we do this? Really it is very easy. The first number tells how
long the string will be. The second number in (" ")tell what character
to use. You can use number, letters or whateverr you what.
Now type this in: Print String$(40,149)
Now press enter. What did it do? The first number again tells how many
strings you want. The second number tells what kind of special string
you what to be drawn. On different computers the string is different.
Try different numbers to see what you come up with. You can try any
number up to 191. Some computers may go higher than that.
Part 4 of 1
Line numbers
Earlier in the lesson I told you about line numbers. They go in front
of a command like directions. They are a set of instructions that the
computer will follow no matter how you put them in order. Look below:
1
10
30
2
5
60
5
76
If these were line numbers the computer would put them in order so that
the program would turn out right. If you were to list the program then
the computer would also put the numbers in order. So if you were doing
a program and you forgot something you could type a line number between
the place where you want the line to go and the computer would go ahead
and put it in order for you. See the computer is not all dumb. I think
it is kind of smart.
Part 5 of 1
Computer Words
Here are a few computer words that we will be useing in later lessons.
New --- The new statement tells the computer that you are going to
start a new program. The old one if not saved will be erased.
Cls(FOR APPLE (HOME)) --- Tells the computer to clear the screen.
List --- Tells the computer to list a program in order of the line
numbers.
$ --- Useing the Print Strings statement tells the computer to get ready
for a string.
Part 6 of 1
Variables
Variables are addresses like where you live. They are very simple to
use. Type in the following:
A=12.5
Well it wasn't a very exciting result was it? But you did do something
in the memory of the computer. Let me show you. Type the following:
PRINT A
Now press Enter
Well do you know what happened? When you typyed in PRINT A the computer
looked for a place in memory where "A" was stored. Then it print it out
for you. The "A" is called the Variable.
Variables can do more than that. Type this in.
A=1
Press Enter and then type this:
A=A+1
Press Enter.
Then type:
Print A
Press Enter.
Did you see what happened. It added the numbers. To some people that
is great but to others that is just numbers. But variables do even
more. Type in the following:
10 CLS
20 PRINT"HI! I'M YOU WONDERFUL COMPUTER!!"
30 PRINT"WHAT IS YOUR NAME?"
40 INPUT N$
50 PRINT"HELLO ";N$; "!!"
Now run it. Did it work? It remembered your name. How well I will
take you step by step through the program.
Line 10 CLS tells the computer to clear the screen. On some computers
like Apple HOME clears the screen.
Line 20 we use the "PRINT" command. Earlier we talked about it. I hope
you still know how to use it.
LIne 30 we use the "PRINT" command again.
LIne 40 We are still learning. Remember we talked about Variables and
how we learned that it is and address. What INPUT N$ does is store in
memory you name. Because in line 30 we asked what your name was. In a
program if you want an answer remembered just put in a variable. It can
be any letter. How did it recall your name. Well that is in line 50.
Line 50 we use the PRINT command then we type hello followed by a space
and (") You should already know how to do that. The (;) tells that the
computer needs to get something out of memory. The N$ tell the computer
to recall you name. Then the (;) tells the computer that there is still
more to put in the message. The (") tells the computer to type what is
after it. Just like The (") before and after the word HELLO. The last
(") tells the computer that is the end of the line.
So as you can see it can be easy and hard. Hope you enjoy it.
Part 7 of 1
If you have any questions or would like something for me to put int the
Basic section please leave a message on the Matrix to Stephen Davis.
See you next issue
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
ProFile
by Chris Mohney
ProFile is a short, half-serious biographical sketch given to
various computer telecommunications personalities around Birmingham.
Victims are selected randomly from a group of names put into the
notorious Hat. Anyone who thinks himself brave or witty enough may
petition for admittance to the Hat by leaving E-Mail to me (Chris
Mohney, most boards around town) to that effect. Anyone who wishes to
suggest more questions or sneakily nominate someone without their
knowledge may take the same route....
---------
Pro File on DAVE CANTRELL
---------
Age: 18
Birthplace: St. Vincent's, Birmingham
Occupation: Programmer/program maintanence, Carraway Gardendale/student
My hobbies include: Computers, Every aspect of music, dance, writing,
Automobile modification, Chemistry
Years telecomputing: 5
Sysop, past/present/future of: The Future Students' Board
My oddest habits are: Washing my windshield compulsively, smoking
ciggarettes filter first, and masturbation
My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: Paula Abdul, and my MD degree
The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is:
Holding down a full time job since 14 years of age, paying off a
car, and still remaining reasonably sane. I am also proud of the
fact that I can spell almost as well, and type as fast as Dean
Costello.
My favorite performers are: Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, Ann Wilson,
Sigourney Weaver, MARILYN MONROE, Betty
Davis, and Johan S. Bach.
The last good movie I saw was: Bird On A Wire. (Steel Magnolias was
great)
The last good book I read was: "The Satan Sellers" by Mike Warnke
If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played by:
Kelly Rosatto or Tom Hanks
My pet peeves are: Feet and Nose Pickers, Mowing Lawns, 300 baud,
Yugos, Low Riders, Twin Peaks, and Dean Costello
(Just funning, Dean.)
When nobody's looking, I like to: Scratch my crotch, and fart so
everyone will think that everyone
else did it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area
I HAVE INSTITUTED MAJOR CHANGES IN THE BBS LIST THIS MONTH AND I WOULD
APPRECIATE IT IF YOU WOULD INFORM ME OF ANY MISTAKES. THE "QUESTION
MARKS" UNDER THE "BBS SOFTWARE" COLUMN REPRESENT INFORMATION I DID NOT
HAVE AT PRESS TIME. SOFTWARE NAME AND/OR VERSION OF SAME. PLEASE HELP
ME TO COLLECT THIS INFORMATION. IF YOU HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER
IMPROVING THE LIST, PLEASE FORWARD THEM TO ME THROUGH EZNET. MM
NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES MODEM BBS SOFTWARE
SUPPORTED TYPE
* Alter-Ego BBS 925-0707 300-2400 ProBBS/ProDoor
* American BBS 674-1851 300-2400 PC Board 14.?
* Bus System BBS 595-1627 300-2400 PC Board 14.2
#* Byte Me 979-2983 1200-9600 HST WWIV 4.1?
Camelot BBS 856-0679 300-2400 Teleguard ?
^ Cat House 854-5907 300-9600 V.32 WWIV 4.11
-* Channel 8250 Node 1 744-8546 300-9600 HST/V.32 PC Board 14.5
-* Channel 8250 Node 2 744-5166 300-9600 HST PC Board 14.5
* Crow's Nest 951-5678 300-2400 PC Board 14.?
* Crunchy Frog 956-1755 300-2400 PC Board 14.0
D3 Systems BBS 663-2759 300-9600 HST/V.32 Quick BBS ?
+ Duck Pond BBS 822-0956 300-9600 HST/V.32 Opus ?
^* Eazy's Playhouse 870-0434 1200-4800 MNP4 WWIV 4.11
Elite Fleet 853-1257 300-2400 ? ?
Emerald Castle 871-6510 300-2400 ? ?
EzNet Central 785-7417 1200-9600 HST PC Board 14.2
Hacker's Corner 674-5449 300-2400 ? ?
+ I.S.A. BBS 995-6590 300-9600 HST ? ?
* Joker's Castle 744-6120 300-2400 PC Board 14.0
^* Lands Of Brittania 791-0421 1200-2400 WWIV 4.11
* Little Kingdom Node 1 823-9175 300-9600 HST/V.32 PC Board 14.5
* Little Kingdom Node 2 823-9192 300-2400 MNP4 PC Board 14.5
LZ Birmingham 870-7770 300-2400 PC Board 14.5
* Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300-9600 HST PC Board 14.?
* Radio Free Troad 592-6234 300-9600 HST PC Board 14.?
Role Player's Paradise 631-7654 300-2400 PC Board 14.?
Safe Harbor 665-4355 300-2400 ? ?
Shadetree BBS 787-6723 300-2400 Phoenix ?
Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-9600 Hayes PC Board 14.5
* ST BBS 836-9311 300-2400 PC Board 14.?
The Commodore Zone 856-3783 300-2400 ? ?
The Connection 854-9074 1200-2400 PC Board 14.?
The Islands BBS 870-7776 300-2400 PC Board 14.?
The Kingdom Of Teletech 674-0852 300-2400 WWIV 4.11
- The Matrix Nodes 1-4 323-2016 300-2400 PC Board 14.5
- The Matrix Node 5 251-2344 300-9600 HST PC Board 14.5
VCM(ee) BBS Node 1 655-4059 300-2400 Oracomm ?
VCM(ee) BBS Node 2 655-4065 300-1200 Oracomm ?
Victory Express 425-0731 300-1200 ? ?
Willie's DYM Node 1 979-1629 300-2400 Oracomm ?
Willie's DYM Node 2 979-7739 300-2400 Oracomm ?
Willie's DYM Node 3 979-7743 300-1200 Oracomm ?
Willie's DYM Node 4 979-8156 300-1200 Oracomm ?
Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696 300-1200 Unaxess ?
Boards with a "*" before their name are members of our local network,
EzNet, and public messages left in the EzNet Conferences of any of these
boards will be echoed to all members.
Boards with a "+" before their name are members of FidoNet, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.
Boards with a "#" before their name are members of our local WWIV
network, and public messages left in any of the netowrk conferences
will be echoed to all members.
Boards with a "-" before their name are members of MetroNet, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.
Boards with a "^" before their name are members of WWIV-Net, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.
If you have any corrections, additions, deletions, etc., please let us
know via EzNet.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
EzNet Multiple Echo List
EzNet now supports multiple conference echoing but there are a few
things you should be aware of regarding private mail.
A. You have one 'address' for private mail. If you are registered for
private mail on Channel 8250 and someone sends you a private
message in the MS-DOS conference from Crunchy Frog it will wind
up in the Hardware conference on Channel 8250 as it should.
However, if you were registered for private mail on Magnolia and
someone sends you a private message in a conference that Magnolia
does not support (echo) then the message will wind up in the
twilight zone.
B. If you go by a handle on one BBS and your real name on another even
if the private message goes where it is supposed to, you will not
be able to read it because it is addressed to someone else as far
as PC Board is concerned. PC Board has no way of knowing that Red
Foxx and John Doe are the same person. No tickee, no washee.
Advice on sending private mail: If you don't know if the person you
are sending private mail to is registered for private mail then keep a
copy of the message in case you have to find an alternate route. EzNet
Central will delete your private, undelivered message and inform you
that the user you attempted to reach is not registered for private mail
on any EzNet Node.
This is a list of the current echoes that I am aware of. More are
in the making and will be posted in future issues. If you are a sysop
and are running an echo not listed for your board, please make us aware
of it so we may correct it next issue.
Eznet Program IBM Adult Scitech BTNWA
Alter-Ego ........... * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..
American BBS ........ * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..
Bus System BBS ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * ..... * ..
Byte Me ............. * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... ..
Channel 8250 ........ * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * ..... ..
Crow's Nest ......... * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..
Crunchy Frog ........ * ..... ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * ..
Eazy's Playhouse .... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... ..
Joker's Castle ...... * ..... ..... ..... * ..... ..... ..
Lands Of Brittania .. * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... ..... ..
Little Kingdom ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..
Magnolia BBS ........ * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..
Radio Free Troad .... * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... ..
ST BBS .............. * ..... ..... ..... * ..... ..... ..
