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Birmingham Telecommunications News 071
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# BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News #
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COPYRIGHT 1994 ISSN 1055-4548
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Volume 7, Issue 7 Issue #71 September 1994
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edition 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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article title author
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Disclaimer/Statement of Policy.............................Staff
From The Editor.................................Scott Hollifield
Submission Guidelines......................................Staff
What Do I Think?.....................................Mark Maisel
Notes From the Trenches............................Dean Costello
The Internet and the Anti-Net........................Nick Arnett
No Beer Blues........................................Damion Furi
Epilogue..............................................Gary Hasty
Special Interest Groups (SIGs).........................Eric Hunt
Known BBS Numbers..........................................Staff
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DISCLAIMER
AND STATEMENT OF POLICY
FOR BTN
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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
Publisher, BTN
606 Twin Branch Terrace
Birmingham, AL 35216
(205) 823-3956
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.
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FREEBIE!!!
GET IT WHILE IT'S HOT! Systems That Offer Free BTN
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The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is
with no charge to any existing upload/download ratios.
ADAnet One Alter-Ego Bus System
The Castle C.A.B. The Comfy Chair!
Crunchy Frog DC Info Exchange Final Frontier
Free Enterprise The Guardian Leaping's Lounge
Lion's Den Martyrdom Again?! The MATRIX
The Outer Limits Owl's Nest Playground
Safe Harbor Southern Stallion Starbase 12
Thy Master's Dungeon Weekends BBS
(This list includes some systems which are not local to Birmingham and
therefore not included on our BBS Numbers list.)
If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
me know via The Matrix or Crunchy Frog so that I can post your board as
a free BTN distributor. Thanks.
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NEWSFLASH!
NEWSFLASH!
NEWSFLASH!
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YEAH YEAH YEAH
Late again.
See From The Editor for
more grousing.
I NEED PASSWORDS!!!
If you're the sysop of either
LUMBY'S PALACE
or
METROMAC BBS,
please either call me or leave me mail on The MATRIX
giving me my password, since I've forgotten or lost it.
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FROM
THE EDITOR Scott Hollifield
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Remember last month when I said the following?
"The next issue of BTN will, according to plan, be released a little
less than a month from now. The next issue, a little less than that.
The idea is eventually, hopefully no more than four issues away, we get
the date back up to the top of the calendar."
Well <sigh> as you've probably guessed by now, things didn't work
out quite that smoothly. (If you can call the original idea smooth at
all.) I won't bore you by detailing the list of things that put me
off my schedule and delayed the arrival of the September issue of BTN
(thereby saving me from having to come up with such a list).
Suffice it to say that you did *not* miss the August issue of BTN,
as there was none.
What can I say? I think we're back on schedule now, and
<hope-hope-hope-hope-hope> the October issue should also come out more
or less on time.
Next month's issue will also mark the beginning of a promising young
career; I'm talking about the naive young grasshopper who will take
over the task of compiling the Known BBS Numbers list as of next issue.
His identity will be revealed next issue; in the meantime, pray to
whatever gods you find fruitful that he is prepared for the labors ahead
of him.
As for this month, yet another "less-is-more" feast awaits your
hungry eyes and minds... Dean Costello is back with another very
relevant article on the current attitudes regarding computer techonology
and the government. Our esteemed publisher, Mark Maisel, actually
wrote something this month in what will hopefully be a semi-regular
series of commentaries. We have an article from outsider Nick Arnett,
who also has some cogent things to say on the culturalization of the
Internet. Gary Hasty concludes his telling of the trials and
tribulations he's immersed in as a sysop in Dalton, GA. And finally,
we showcase Damion Furi's rarely-seen tender, musical side, in the
first of what may alarmingly be a series of... song lyrics. (Longtime
readers will recall that *I* myself tried this angle in an early issue
of BTN, #5 to be exact. And you can see where it got me.)
One final addendum: Despite us being forced awkwardly back to our
old top-of-the-month schedule, Judy Ranelli's Local Music column is
taking a vacation this issue. I would say that hopefully she'll be back
next month, but who knows what kind of world we'll have by then?
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SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
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I. ARTICLE LENGTH
Right now, there's no strict enforcement of a length restriction,
but if your submission is somewhat short, I may request that you make it
longer. Anyone can sit down and type out a screen's worth of stuff. I
have yet to encounter an article that was too *long*, so don't worry
about that.
II. SUBJECT MATTER
Again, there's no hard-and-fast rules about subject matter. I'm
interested in seeing material on a wide variety of topics. That
includes BBSs, politics, music, books, or better yet, something that
doesn't neatly fall into any one category. Next to that, my favorite
articles are the ones that have something to do with BBSing, since that
is supposedly what we're sort of about. Technical reviews are also
good. I tend to kind of frown on fiction, but I'm willing to take a
look at anything you've got. If it's interesting enough, your chances
are good.
Politics is fine, but try not to rant--and make whatever you have to
say original. I can go out and find ten Rush Limbaughs if I want.
Also refrain from "This Is What Happened To Me Today" slice-of-life
articles unless it's leading somewhere good.
Reviews should be both informative and opinionated. Don't be too
objective, but still tell us about what you're reviewing.
III. FILE FORMAT
Plain and simple ASCII is preferred, but we can convert WordPerfect
files if need be.
IV. STYLE GUIDELINES
1. Use a right margin of 72 columns.
2. Indent paragraphs at the fifth column.
3. Put two spaces after each sentence.
4. Skip a line after each paragraph.
5. Refrain from using BBS-specific devices like "<grin>" and ":-)".
6. Be sure to give your article a title.
7. Try to use correct grammar, spelling and capitalization! My staff
proofread as best as we can, but a well-typed article makes our job
easier.
8. The dash is correctly typed as two hyphens, like "--". Use it to
set apart phrases and clauses--as with this sentence.
9. To emphasize a word, place a pair of asterisks around it, like
*this*. This takes the place of italics (except for titles; see
12).
10. If you have to emphasize a group of words, use capitals, AS IN THIS
EXAMPLE. I generally don't like the way that looks, so use it
sparingly, if at all.
11. If you're unsure whether to spell out a number or not, leave it in
numeral form.
12. Titles of books, films, plays, albums and works of art are
surrounded by underlines, like: U2's _The Joshua Tree_. This takes
the place of italics in this regard; I call it "title-cizing".
On the other hand, television shows, songs, poems, article titles
and short stories are surrounded by quotation marks.
V. HOW DO I SUBMIT AN ARTICLE?
The easiest way is to upload it as a private file on one of two
systems: The Matrix and the Crunchy Frog. (Their phone numbers are
listed at the end of this feature.) To upload a file privately, begin
your file description with a slash ("/"). Then leave me (SCOTT
HOLLIFIELD) a private message telling me what the file name is, so that
I can have the sysop make it available for me.
Another way is to leave me the article as a private message, or a
series of private messages.
If you become a regular contributor to BTN, you can get access to
the private BTNWA conference, which is for BTN writers. There we
discuss articles, policy, ideas, etc. The BTNWA conference also
contains a private file directory which I can access more easily than a
private file outside BTNWA.
Finally, as an alternative, if you live outside of the local
Birmingham area and you don't wish to call long distance, you can submit
an article via Internet e-mail. My address is scotth@the-matrix.com.
That's it!
Get to work!
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LETTERS TO
THE EDITOR From BTN Readers
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None this month! I spit on you all!
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WHAT DO I THINK?
Mark Maisel
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"1.) On 05/24/94, Steve Smith said to Damion Furi:
This brings up another question that seems to be brewing in my mind.
The options you refer to above are attractive, to the extreme for me.
By only short extension those options allow me access to information
that is not available via mainstream media. Some are predicting that
the "information superhighway" concepts, ie, wideband interactive TV,
will overshadow then leave BBS technology in the dust. Others say no,
that BBS software and the hardware to run it is just now coming into
it's own. What's your read of this?"
The above was posted as noted. I was sitting here and thought it
high time I addressed this issue. I've discussed with a variety of
folks over the years, at least what the future holds for BBSs. I've not
given much thought to any conglomeration of TV, digitally stored and
produced information, and the notion of "Information Super Highway".
To start, BBSs began as the domain of hobbyists. I'd like to have
been around when it occurred to the first one that the thing might make
money, even were it only to pay for itself. I've always preferred BBSs
as a hobby, though I certainly don't hold anything against anyone who
wishes to cover their costs or even attempt to extract a profit. It is
difficult to prognosticate but here goes...
A year or two ago, I wrote a piece about BBSs in change. In it, I
suggested that BBSs would adapt in order to compete against much more
sophisticated services. To cover the increased costs of such changes,
most would either have to charge, give up, or continue in hopes of
attracting folks who prefer the simpler bbs offerings or are simply "old
timers" a la Brett Thorn.
[Brett is quite the curmudgeon regarding the shift over the years
of BBSs from the domain of hobbyists to the new "CB Radio". I've
spoken extensively with him about these changes and our mutual
feelings about them. Thanks to him for his insight before I
continue.]
So far, my thoughts have come to pass, at least locally. The trend
started much sooner throughout much of the country, but I gathered that
much of the charging elsewhere was done solely to discourage children
and adolescents from participating with the "grown-ups". A few months
after I wrote that piece, The MATRIX placed greater emphasis on
subscriptions and shortly thereafter went subscription only, though some
free time is offered as an introduction to new callers. Other boards
have changed their policies toward charging that had previously been
free and new boards have sprung up expressly to charge for access. I do
not call these systems, being satisfied these days with the few systems
I do call. I gather they do well, at least well enough that they
continue to appear in the BTN BBS List each month. The older boards and
the new ones are offering much wider variety of services and openly
competing against each other, though most of this competition has been
friendly. Other boards have either languished or gone down. There are
several local examples of these changes. The boards that have gone down
over the last several months are of interest to me. In particular,
Joker's Castle and Channel 8250 come to mind. The former only recently
ceased service and I have not yet talked to the sysop to find out why he
took it down. From having called it for years prior to its end, I can
tell you that it became a less busy place with the passage of time. I
do not know if this was a factor. The latter is a story I know better.
The sysop had not been active for a year or two though he was
infrequently and irregularly spotted on another system. I suspect he
was simply waiting for an event to give him an excuse to pull the plug.
Things have changed...for both people and BBSs. Both sysops were
hobbyists. Neither, as best can be told, had any interest in charging
for access or adding services beyond what they already offered.
From this I conclude that lots of folks see some money to be made
dishing up information and related services. From here, much depends on
what the phone, utility, and cable companies are permitted to do in
regards to offering same. If they become players, all bets are off and
I suspect that most BBSs will decline back to the realm of hobbyists.
If these companies continued to be hobbled by the government and their
own corporate trappings, BBSs will continue to grow until they resemble
larger siblings such as The Well. They'll have to make lots of money to
do it. Expect price increases and increased services, availability, and
speed. I gather that the "big boys" are working toward getting services
online. I suspect that they will, in time. For this section, you'll
have to accept my possibilities rather than a single possibility.
This leads us to what the future of online holds. Currently, many
projects are underway with many hoping for a piece of the action from
the so called "Information Super Highway". Movies on demand seem a
popular notion and experiments are under way to make them a reality.
Other entertainment and educational opportunities that will rely on
interactivity, high bandwidth, etc. will come in time. A hybrid of TV
and our desktop computers seems a reasonable delivery device for homes.
But, is this what the "ISH" is supposed to be? Is this what the
Internet is supposed to be?
Before I go on, I'll define some terms. Interactivity means
that you are an active participant rather than an inert
viewer taking in whatever is broadcast to you. Bandwidth
refers to the capacity for the medium and how much can be
crammed onto it at any one time, and the speed at which it
travels. For example, let us take the DC Beltway, designated
as US Interstate 495 (Yes, there are several roads designated
with this number. I don't know why.); it was designed for
high speed travel by automobiles and commercial vehicles.
Once upon a time, it was sufficient to carry the number of
vehicles expected in a reasonable time from point a to point
b. As time went by, the number of vehicles increased until
it reached a point of saturation, leaving the road choked
with vehicles moving at a crawl, if moving at all. The
result is that US 495 lacks bandwidth for the traffic on it.
To define Internet, I again talked with Dean as his efforts give
him insight here as well. Technically, the Internet defies definition
because it is such a "mish-mosh" or conglomeration, if you will, of
research facilities (private and government), universities, businesses,
and libraries. Historically, the Internet was set up for researchers to
quickly and easily share data from their research. From there, graduate
and undergraduate students got hold of it and got us where we are today.
It was never intended to be especially user friendly, having been geared
for researchers rather than for casual electronic correspondence and
file hunting.
To define the "ISH", I conferred with Dean Costello, who has given
much energy to research regarding this and related topics. Keep in mind
that we are going to be talking about government defined terms and the
like. As such, the definition is, shall we say, sorta vague. The
closest the government has come is HR-1757 or The National Information
Infrastructure Act of 1993. The preamble of this law basicly sets out a
wish list for a wide area network with several public and not so public
databases for use by the public and governmental agencies. Its purpose
is to make more information available for education, research, commerce,
and individual enlightenment. The "NII" is supposed to be
technologically neutral so as to not favor any particular vendor or
vendor standards over another. There are four elements composing "NII".
The first is data. Information exists and is produced daily in many
places. The second is software, that is the actual tools for
retrieving, processing, and using the collected data. The third is
standards. These are the network transmission standards that facilitate
interconnectivity and interoperation between networks to insure privacy
and integrity of data. The fourth element is people. The people that
generate the information, develop the tools, construct the hardware, and
train the rest of us to use it all.
Is the Internet the basis for the "NII"? I don't think so, though
it may start off that way. The Internet was not designed for "us". As
such, it will crumble under our collective weight when we try to load it
down too heavily. Already, research institutions, government agencies,
and private concerns are building their own private networks so they
will not have to rely on the Internet as they did at one time. Enjoy it
while it lasts. I certainly intend to do just that. Don't worry about
its potential for demise as something just as good or better will be
available by the time it can no longer carry us. It may carry a higher
personal price tag and be policed, but that is the price of progress, or
so history tells me.
Is the "NII" going "leave bbs technology in the dust"? Probably.
It will do so in the same way as the automobile did this favor for the
horse and buggy. The result may well be similar in that BBSs will
become quaint and entertaining vehicles for leisure time, much as they
are now...much as riding horse is a leisure time activity for most of
the folks who do so. The entertainment Americans crave will be at the
forefront of any private efforts to build any "NII" in which
entrepreneurs and corporations take a stake. The government will
attempt to build to its advantage whatever it can from "NII". The
preamble to HR-1757 clearly spells this out. The speed with which this
will happen depends upon many variables, some of which have already been
described here. This speed will determine much of how BBSs will fare.
In closing, I can't say that the "NII" is what we'll plug into when
we want to watch some new flick or grab that new game, but whatever that
turns out to be will benefit from "NII" and vice versa. If you have a
particularly sentimental attachment for BBSs as they currently exist,
you'll probably still be able to find the old diehard hobbyist carefully
tending to their system. More likely, you'll find someone trying to be
a part of what the future holds, bearing the attendant costs, and
possibly passing them along to you for the privilege of access. I
really can't get worked up about it in any event as I intend to adapt as
I always have to whatever comes my way. I hope this helps.
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NOTES FROM THE TRENCHES:
Me Hablo Computadora Dean Costello
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I am sitting here, high above I-66 in metro Virginia, and I got to
thinking about things like the difference between ideas and words.
George Carlin, several decades ago, made a statement along the lines of,
"All we have are ideas, which are ephemeral. You take an idea and tag
it with a word, and boom, the idea is locked to a specific word, and
that's all there is to the idea." Which vaguely reminds me of the first
couple verses of John, which go, "When all things began, the Word
already was. The Word dwelt with God, and what God was, the Word was.
The Word, then, was with God at the beginning, and through him all
things came to be...", etc., etc. The basic progression appears to be,
then, Idea -> Word -> Man. I like this; it appeals to something in my
soul, especially since misinterpretation can occur at any step of the
progression. But anyway, enough of vague spiritual philosophy.
I learned in my world civics class (1982-1983, Cambridge-South
Dorchester High) that many trades liked to keep the teeming masses away
from their particular trade by using a specific language that only those
initiated in the trade have learned. This kept the number of riff-raff
who were trying to crash the trade to a low level. The above was the
major reason for the existance of trade guilds: If any Thomas, Richard,
and Henry could manage to perform a task, than the cost for performing
the task will drop through the dirt floors of the High Medieval age. So,
primarily as windowdressing, guilds created a language to surround a
particular trade. As a general rule, if you (the Archbishop of some
bishopric in Cornwall who was trying to build a cathedral, for the
betterment of God and trade) hired someone who sounded like they knew
their trade, you would feel better about hiring them.
This is never more true than today. When I was in high school, I
took a class in human anatomy and physiology which taught the
fundamentals of medical terminology. For instance, I could say things
like "This tissue appears to exhibit sarcomic behavior, limited to
ciliated- pseudostratifiedcolumnarepithelium," and everyone (who knows
medical terminology) would immediately understand the above statement to
mean, "hmm, looks like we got some cancer stuff running around in cells
of the trachea (sarcomic - like sarcoma (type of cancer), ciliated -
cells that have cilia (small hairs for filtering air), pseudo-
stratified - appear to contain nuclei that are layered, columnar - cells
that are tall/column shaped, epithelium - cells that are on the outside
of something). Neat, huh? And this is the basis behind a branch of
medicine called Histology (the study of tissues), which is what a
medical examiner (ie. Quincy) has to be a master of.
As a result of the training I have received over the nineteen-odd
years of education I have participated in, I have a pretty good grasp
of many different trade languages, which I would argue is the major
component of learning a particular craft. The trade that I spend most
of my time on these days, environmental protection, has a unique
language all of its own. Above and beyond the basic things ("What in
the hell is a molten-salt incinerator with preburner?"), I also have to
deal with acronyms.
As a function of what I do and who I do it for (ie. the U.S.
Government), I have to not only know the catchwords that show that I am
an acredited member of my guild, but I also have to know the
abbreviations that are used. The use of acronyms is so prevalent, that
I am exposed to phrases like this: "The ROD for OU-II was
predecisional, so using an RI/FS to support an RD/RA is a no-go, even
though the ARAR MCL/MCLGs noted during the EA/EIS allowed a FONSI."
This will take a minute or two to explain...
ROD: Record of Decision. This is the rememdy that was agreed upon
by all of the parties concerned with a particular site. It is signed by
the EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) RA (Regional
Administrator), and has, more or less, the force of law.
OU-II: Operable Unit Number 2. Oftentimes at the average Superfund
site, one particular part of a remedy needs to be implemented before
another. For instance, if you have contaminated soil which is
contaminating the groundwater, there is no point of establishing a
groundwater cleanup system until the soil is cleaned or removed. As a
result, OU-II means the second functional part of a cleanup. As a
matter of interest, each OU usually has its own ROD (see the way these
acronyms start piling up?).
Predecisional: Not necessarily an acronym, but it is still a
vocabulary word in my guild. This means that a particular method of
site cleanup is already in the minds of the decisionmakers, regardless
of what is determined during later onsite work. For instance, if you
have a wood preserving plant that used creosote to treat railroad ties,
you already know going into it that either onsite incineration or
bioremediation is the way to go (onsite incineration: Using an
incinerator on the grounds of the plant to 'burn' the contamination off
the soil using very high temperatures, bioremediation: Using bacteria to
'eat' the contamination in the soil). One project I worked on a couple
of years ago is designing some kind of decision document so that if you
know a couple of things about a site, you can start the cleanup using a
pre-specified technology. Advantages: Fast as the dickens.
Disadvantages: May not clean stuff to protect the health of locals,
takes a long time.
RI/FS: Remedial investigation/feasability study. The RI determines
what kind of contaminants are at a particular site and where they are
located (usually referred to as "amount and extent of contamination").
The FS determines what type of technology should be used for cleanup.
This is not as simple as it sounds, since there are currently about 250
different technologies available for remedial work.
RD/RA: Remedial design/remedial action. The RD determines how the
cleanup will actually be built. The number of reactor chambers, the
size of the piping, the amount of backfill; the nuts and bolts of the
cleanup. The RA is the actual work. This is where the bulldozers and
front-end loaders are used.
ARAR: Applicable, relevant, and appropriate regulations. Basically,
what kind of regulations are in place that are effected by the site in
question. For instance, there is something called LDRs (land disposal
restrictions) which determine the maximum concentration of a contaminant
that can be sent to a hazardous waste landfill. Sometimes, you can just
ship the hazardous stuff off to the landfill, and sometimes you have to
treat it. Are there any local regulations? State regulations? Does
the DOT (Department of Transportation) have anything to say? If you are
shipping waste to another country, does the Department of State have any
complaints? This can get sticky, as one can imagine...
MCL/MCLG: Maximum contaminant level/maximum contaminant level goal.
These are the limits of contamination that can be found in a water
source. Let's use the wood treating plant example above. If the amount
of, ummm, benzene in the groundwater is above the MCL, then the
groundwater has to be cleaned to at least the MCL. Mind you, this is a
general rule, and the groundwater may have to be cleaned to a lower
level than the MCL. The MCLG is a goal for a particular contaminant,
basically meaning that it would be nice if the contamination is below
the MCLG.
EA/EIS: Environmental assessment/Environmental Impact Statement.
These are studies that are conducted to determine the effect that a
certain project would have on an area. An EA is the first step, almost
a quicky kind of thing to determine if there are any problem areas like
wetlands, or historical sites, that would be adversely effected. If
there is no significant effects, a FONSI (finding of no significant
impact) is registered, and the project continues. If there is a finding
of significant impact (no acronym as far as I can tell), than the EIS is
conducted, which is much more involved. It is unlikely that these
studies would be conducted for a Superfund site, but it is possible that
they were conducted prior to the discovery of contamination.
So, let us go back to the original statement and decode it:
"The ROD for OU-II was predecisional, so using an RI/FS to support
an RD/RA is a no-go, even though the ARAR MCL/MCLGs noted during the
EA/EIS allowed a FONSI."
Okay, it means something along the lines of: "The cleanup technology
for the second part of the site was decided ahead of time, so there is
no reason to conduct sampling and determine the best technology to
support the design and implementation of the cleanup strategy, even
though groundwater contamination limits that were examined during an
initial study showed that they were not a problem."
Welcome to the environmental field.
"Dean," you say, "how does this effect me? I drive computers for a
living." Simple. Computer users have just as a confusing and silly
lexicon as the doctors or the environmental folk. Take the following
sentence: "Well, I just bought a PC, 486dx2, 525Meg SCSI, 16megs RAM,
SVGA with a meg, and PS2 mouse". Most of you probably have a pretty
good feel for what this means. But for the uninitiated, it means no
more than "toxic insult to the medial pyramidial tracts" (some kind of
poisoning to an area of the brain/spinal column).
I have this article that I found on a local BBS in Washington, D.C.,
which I will extract from (apoligies to Irving Kind). It is basically
115K of various terms that as a computer user you are expected to know,
but may very easily not. Let's take a look at some:
AASP ASCII Asynchronous Support Package
AAT Average Access Time
ACDI Asynchronous Communications Device Interface
ADP Automatic Data Processing
ADPCM Adaptive Differential Pulse Code Modulation
ADR Address
ANSI American National Standards Institute
AO Analog Output
AS3AP ANSI SQL Standard Scalable and Portable
.ASC ASCII text (file name extension)
ASCII American Standard Code for Information Interchange
EDOS Enhanced DOS for Windows
EDP Electronic Data Processing
EDPM Electronic Data Processing Machine
HPPI High Performance Parallel Interface
HPW High Performance Workstation [Sun]
HRIS Human Resource Information System
HRG High Resolution Graphics
ISO/OSI International Standards Organization/Open Systems
Interconnection (model)
LGDT Load Global Descriptor Table
.LIB Library (file name extension)
LZW Lempel-Ziv-Walsh (algorithm)
mA Milliampere
MMIS Materials Manager Information System
MMPM Multi Media Presentation Manager
NMOS Negative Channel Metal-Oxide Semiconductor
NMS Network Management System [Novell]
PABX Private Automatic Branch Exchange
PACS-L Public Access Computer Systems List [Internet]
PAD Packet Assembler/Disassembler
RARP Reverse Address Resolution Protocol
RAS Random Access Storage +
SEC Single Error Correction
SECAM Sequentiel Couleur Avec Memoire
TQM Total Quality Management
TR Terminal Ready
VGC Video Graphics Controller
VHS Very High Speed + Virtual Host Storage
VHSIC Very High Speed Integrated Circuit
An impressive list of terms, I have to admit. I would assume that
most of you (since you are reading this via a computer and therefore
have at least some passing knowledge of the subject) know about half of
these statements. I picked them as close to random as I could, since
there were about 1000 lines of text, and I didn't want to spend the time
to pick "good" or "bad" examples. I took a quick gander at the
aforementioned list, and I knew about six of the terms, but I have never
claimed to be a master of computers.
The point being that the computer types have just as specialized a
vocabulary as other particular guilds. I would say that people that use
computer as a hobby, or use them for word processing and such do not
have the grasp of the vocabulary, the same as someone who goes to
General Nutrition Center (GNC) for vitamins do not have the same grasp
of biochemistry as I.
Since I am an environmental scientist, I have had a lot of people
ask me about certain topics: The steps of the Superfund process, how
different technologies work to clean soil, sampling protocol,
regulations, etc. I have to think about the answers that I give, not
because they are "good" or "bad", but because I have to gear the
response to the audience. To examine my prior sentence about OU-II and
RODs and MCLs and such, people I work with would have no problem with
understanding what I am saying. When a civilian asks me a question, I
have to respond in a way that is 1). Informative; which answers the
question at hand, and 2) Not technical; which means without the
acronyms, and explaining other concepts on the fly. I have been
answering questions about asbestos for a person in the Birmingham
community over the last couple of weeks. I love spreading the knowledge
around, as it is good to educate people and it also sharpens my
knowledge of a particular field (to paraphrase Bruce Sterling, data may
not be free, but knowledge is). But it is very easy, especially with a
guild such as mine, to swamp the auschlanders with either too much
information or with information with no context.
I have not noted the above constraints with the average computer
user. From what I can tell, they (on the whole) love nothing more than
to wow the questioner with their knowledge of arcane factoids. Do I
really care what a HD interleave is? Is it really important that I
learn about compression on my modem to ease another 3 cps out of my
transfer times? .INI files? Memory on graphics card? GIF compression
routines? Oh, stop it. I'm not impressed. In all of my wandering of
the computer countryside, questing for knowledge, one person so far has
routinely and successfully explained computer (and statistics, but
that's another matter) topics to me without getting lost in the cool
verbiage: Brett Thorn. Others do to a lesser extent, and I assume it
is less a function of their ability and more that they assume I know
more about stuff than I do and can then strut their vocabulary to a
greater extent. But, far and away, the average user appears to like
nothing better than to swamp people with their way-awesome vocabulary.
It is time to face facts: Until you (the personal computer user) get
over the love of the computer lexicon, you will not be accepted by the
general population. When your aunt, who is thinking about buying a
computer, comes up to you and asks what kind of computer she should buy
for keeping her recipes in order, you don't swamp her with (in her eye)
meaningless questions about hard drive space, VGA, RAM, EISA, or
anything like that. For the most part your audience is not impressed,
and will simply ignore you and/or wander off and either not fool around
with the purchase or ask someone else who does know the exact same
stuff you do, but is able to translate from Guildspeak to English
better than you do.
This is not a Good Thing. You have either successfully driven
someone to not use a computer, or to not be happy using a computer
since they believe that they will never master the intricies that you
obviously are familiar with. The upshot: Think before you spout
information. The questioner usually has a genuine desire to learn
something. Take the extra 10 seconds to spell out an acronym and to
define a term. The person asking the questions will not walk away more
confused than they were before, and you get the warm satisfaction of
passing Knowledge to another person.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
################################################################
THE INTERNET
AND THE ANTI-NET Nick Arnett
################################################################
Two public internetworks are better than one
Networking policy debates tend to paint a future monolithic
internetwork that will follow consistent policies despite a number of
independent operators. Although that's how the interstate highway and
telephone systems--favorite metaphors for network futurists--operate,
historical comparisons suggest that it is probably not what the future
holds. Two distinct, interconnected publicly accessible digital
internetworks are likely to emerge, which is surely better than just
one.
One of the future internetworks will grow out of today's Internet,
whose roots are in the technology and scientific/academic communities,
funded by government, institutions and increasingly, corporate and
individual users. Although the Internet will support commercial
services, they rarely will depend on advertising. The other great
internetwork will grow out of the technology and mass communications
industries, especially cable and broadcast industries. The "Anti-net"
will rely on advertising revenue to recoup the cost of the
infrastructure necessary to create cheap, high-speed bandwidth. (I call
this second network the Anti-net not to be a demagogue but to make a
historical allusion, explained shortly.) All three communities --
technology, science and academia, and mass media -- will participate in
many joint projects. The most successful new ventures often will arise
from three-way collaborations; skills of each are essential to create
and deliver network-based information products and services.
The Internet community reacts with profound anger and resentment at
Anti-net behavior on the Internet -- in net-speak, "spamming"
advertising messages into hundreds of discussions. The outrage is based
in part on the idealistic traditions of academic and scientific freedom
of thought and debate, but there's more behind it. Anger and resentment
fueled by the world's love-hate relationship with the mass media,
particularly television, surface in many other contexts. Nearly
everyone in the modern world and large segments of the third world
watches television; nearly all think broadcast television is stupid,
offering a homogenized, sensationalized point of view that serves
advertising interests above all others. In competition with
television's hypnotic powers, or perhaps simply due to the high cost of
distribution, other mass media have followed suit.
Idealistic defenders of the Internet's purity believe they are
waging a humanitarian or even a holy war that pits a democracy of ideas
against the mass media's empty promises and indulgences. Television and
its kin offer the false idols and communities of soaps, sitcoms and
sports. The mass media tantalize with suggestions of healing, wealth,
popularity and advertising's other blessings and temptations. Internet
idealists even question the U.S. administration's unclear proposal of
an "information superhighway," suspecting that the masses will be taxed
only to further expand the Anti-net's stranglehold on information.
The same kind of stage was set 500 years ago. The convergence of
inexpensive printing and inexpensive paper began to loosen the Roman
Catholic church's centuries-old stranglehold on cultural information.
The church's rise to power centuries earlier had followed the arrival of
the Dark Ages, caused in Marshall McLuhan's analysis by the loss of
papyrus supplies. The church quickly became the best customer of many
of the early printer-publishers, but not to disseminate information,
only to make money. The earliest dated publication of Johann Gutenberg
himself was a "papal indulgence" to raise money for the church's defense
against the Turk invasions. Indulgences were papers sold to the common
folk to pay for the Pope's remission of their sins, a sort of insurance
against the wrath of God. Indulgences had been sold by the church since
the 11th century, but shortly after the arrival of printing, the pope
expanded the market considerably by extending indulgences to include
souls in purgatory. Indulgence revenue was shared with government
officials, becoming almost a form of state and holy taxation. The money
financed the church's holy wars, as well as church officials' luxurious
lifestyles.
Jumping on the new technology for corrupt purposes, the church had
sown the seeds of its own undoing. The church had the same sort of
love-hate relationship with common people and government that the mass
media have today. The spark for the 15th-century "flame war," in
net-speak, was a monk, Martin Luther. Outraged by the depth of the
church's corruption, Luther wrote a series of short theses in 1517,
questioning indulgences, papal infallibility, Latin-only Bibles and
services, and other authoritarian, self-serving church practices.
Although Luther had previously written similar theses, something
different happened to the 95 that he nailed to the church door in
Wittenburg. Printers -- the "hackers" of their day, poking about the
geographic network of church doors and libraries -- found Luther's
theses.
As an academic, Luther enjoyed a certain amount of freedom to raise
potentially heretical arguments against church practice. Nailing his
theses to the Wittenburg door was a standard way to distribute
information to his academic community for discussion, much like putting
a research paper on an Internet server today. In Luther's time,
intellectual property laws hadn't even been contemplated, so his papers
were fair game for publication (as today's Internet postings often seem
to be, to the dismay of many). Luther's ideas quickly became the talk
of Europe. Heresy sells, especially when the questioned authority is
corrupt. But the speed of printing technology caught many by surprise.
Even Luther, defending himself before the pope, was at a loss to explain
how so many had been influenced so fast.
Luther's initial goal was to reform the church. But his ideas were
rejected and he was excommunicated by his order, the pope and the
emperor, convincing Luther that the Antichrist was in charge in Rome.
Abandoning attempts at reform, but accepting Biblical prophecy, Luther
resisted the utopian goal of removing the Antichrist from the papacy.
Instead, as a pacifist, he focused on teaching and preaching his views
of true Christianity. Luther believed that he could make the world a
better place by countering the angst and insecurity caused by the
Antichrist, not that he could save it by his own powers.
Luther's philosophy would serve the Internet's utopians well,
especially those who believe that the Internet's economy of ideas
untainted by advertising must "win" over the mass media's Anti-net
ideas. The Internet's incredibly low cost of distribution almost
assures that it will remain free of advertising-based commerce.
Nonetheless, if lobbying by network idealists succeeds in derailing or
co-opting efforts to build an advertising-based internetwork, then
surely commercial interests will conspire with government officials to
destroy or perhaps worse, to take over the Internet by political and
economic means. Historians, instead of comparing the Internet to the
U.S. Interstate highway system's success, may compare it with the
near-destruction of the nation's railroad and trolley infrastructure by
corrupt businesses with interests in automobiles and trucking.
The printing press and cheap paper did not lead to widespread
literacy in Europe; that event awaited the wealth created by the
Industrial Revolution and the need for educated factory workers.
Printing technology's immediate and profound effect was the destruction
of the self-serving, homogenized point of view of a single institution.
Although today's mass media don't claim divine inspiration, they are no
less homogenized and at least as self-serving. The people drown in
information overload, but one point of view is barely discernable from
another, ironically encouraging polarization of issues.
Richard Butler, Australia's ambassador to the United Nations, draws
the most disturbing analogy of all. Butler, a leader in disarmament,
compares the church's actions to the nuclear weapons industry's
unwillingness to come under public scrutiny. Like the church and its
Bible, physicists argued that their subject was too difficult for lay
people. Medieval popes sold salvation; physicists sold destruction.
Neither was questioned until information began to move more freely. The
political power of nuclear weapons has begun to fall in part due to the
role of the Internet and fax communications in the dissolution of the
Soviet Union.
The truly influential and successful early publishers, such as Aldus
Manutius, were merchant technologists who formed collaborations with the
scientific/academic community and even the church, especially those who
dissented against Rome. Out of business needs for economies of scale,
they brought together people with diverse points of view and created
books that appealed to diverse communities. The Renaissance was
propelled in part by books that allowed geniuses such as Copernicus to
easily compare and contrast the many points of view of his predecessors,
reaching world-changing conclusions.
Today we are at a turning point. We are leaving behind a world
dominated by easy, audiovisual, sensational, advertising-based media,
beginning a future in which the mass media's power will be diluted by
the low cost of distribution of many other points of view. Using the
Internet is still something like trying to learn from the pre-Gutenberg
libraries, in which manuscripts were chained to tables and there were no
standards for organization and structure. But like the mendicant
scholars of those days, today's "mendicant sysops," especially on the
Internet, are doing much of the work of organization in exchange for
free access to information.
Today, the great opportunity is not to make copies of theses on the
digital church doors. It is to build electronic magazines, newspapers,
books, newsletters, libraries and other collections that organize and
package the writings, photos, videos, sounds and other multimedia
information from diverse points of view on the networks. The Internet,
with one foot in technology and the other in science and academia, needs
only a bit of help from the mass media in order to show the Anti-net how
it's done.
_________________________________________________________________
Nick Arnett [nicka@mccmedia.com] is president of Multimedia Computing
Corporation, a strategic consulting and publishing company
established in 1988.
Comments about this article e-mailed to [antinet@mccmedia.com] will
be linked to a copy of this essay on Multimedia Computing Corp.'s
World-Wide Web server: <URL:http://asearch.mccmedia.com/>
Recommended reading: "The printing press as an agent of change:
Communications and cultural transformation in early-modern Europe,"
Vols. I and II. Elizabeth Eisenstein. Cambridge University Press,
1979.
Copyright (c) 1994, Multimedia Computing Corp., Campbell, Calif.,
U.S.A. This article is shareware; it may be distributed at no charge,
whole and unaltered, including this notice. If you enjoy reading it
and would like to encourage free distribution of more like it, please
send a contribution to Plugged In (1923 University Ave., East Palo
Alto, CA 94303), an after-school educational program for children in
under-served communities.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
################################################################
NO BEER BLUES
(Song lyrics) Damion Furi
################################################################
It's one fifty-eight on a Saturday night,
All the bars are closin', and I'm real uptight,
No beer in the fridge, and I'm outta luck,
Got no money and it really sucks,
All the bills are paid, got nothin' for fun,
Got my bullets, can't find my gun,
C'mon, pal, lend me a five,
I got two minutes, and I wanna get live,
Got the no beer blues,
Got the no beer blues,
Got no beer and I'm feelin' abused,
It's Saturday night and time for a beer,
I'm not a Baptist, so hand it here,
I don't wanna be ramrod straight,
I've got enough on my mind, and on my plate,
Does anybody know a place to go,
Gimme a beer, don't tell me no,
Got the no beer blues,
Got the no beer blues,
Yeah, you heard what I said,
C'mon, anybody, and gimme some head,
Got the no beer blues,
Got the no beer blues,
Got no beer and there's no excuse,
Well, I'll know better next time,
But that's what I said the last time,
Got the no beer blues,
Got the no beer blues,
Got no beer and I'm feelin' abused,
I wanna get with it,
I'm no good without it,
I want another beer,
There's no doubt about it,
Give me a bottle, a mug, or a case,
I just want to shove another beer in my face...!
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
################################################################
EPILOGUE
Gary Hasty
################################################################
"What happened next, Uncle Rev?", screamed the violent children.
"Well, I'll tell ya...", I sternly shrugged...
GAWD...This week has been phun! The little wars in my little Cyber-area
had gone from phunny to boring and now they were just pathetic. So I
scripted an "Open letter the the local BBS community" using snipets from
messages I had received and posted it in the local echo. (oh, BTW, this
is the local echo that I had been twitted from because I wouldn't lock
out a 'trouble user' from my board...not just this echo).
Then the mail started to flow...J0y!!!!
=======================================================================
BBS: WILD WHEELS LATE NITE BBS
Date: 07-29-94 (20:16) Number: 20
From: TOM ROBERTSON Refer#: 1037
To: GARY HASTY Recvd: NO
Subj: Open Letter to BBS Wo Conf: (20) Chats/Dalt
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
GH>This is crap, folks....this constant bickering and whinning can get
GH>on a person's nerves. This is a BBS not some damn conspiracy for
GH>paranoids...it a hobby. PERIOD! I do this because I like doing it.
GH>PERIOD! These little wars used to be phun to sit back and watch but
GH>now they're just pathetic. N time I hear that someone "heard
GH>something I said about blah-blah" I'll freakin' puke. Who the HELL
GH>do I talk these things over with? I have no idea...I have a
GH>life...remember!
FIRST OFF if ya want to post to everyone about whats going on between
the local BBS POST IT ON YOUR OWN BOARD were hackers can call useing any
name they want YOUR WORDS TO ME! Yes this is a HOBIE I spend MY MONEY on
and don't want MY computer tore up by a VIRUES Tim Smith has already
uploaded to other boards. When I told you about this and other stuff he
was doing Like calling up useing his user data file to gain access to
other area BBS you said fine doen't bother me its just a hobie. That
users can do what ever they want. And as for you talking to Tim Smith
this is what he said and wrote a message to him from you stated you
even gave him your home voice number to call you and you'd talk to him.
So quite your two faced lies and eaither help the other BBS stop people
from hacking there systems or just play in your own world. You have a
reputation of haveing trouble users on your board ORC and the Old N. W.
GA bbs both had problems with you telling users that were locked off
there boards to just call your you don't care what users do. YOU EVEN
TOLD ME THAT.
GH>So....I'm taking a well deserved rest from this crap and will only be
GH>accessable locally via The Chair!, Hi-Tech and Ft Mtn...and hopefully
GH>the Chatsworth/Dalton echo. Have phun in yar wars...and don't
GH>include moi!
No you wont have access to this or any other conf. on this board gary
aND THANKS FOR TRING TO COME BETWEEN THE LOCAL BBS WE WERE WORKING
TOGETHER TO STOP HACKERS BUT THANKS TO YOU POSTING A MESSAGE TO ALL
WHEN WE WERE KEEPING IT PRIVETE WAS CHILDISH AND STUPID AND I DO HOPE
WE MEET SOMETIME AGAIN!
========================================================================
...then came this jewel in the local Fido Sysop Chat conference...
========================================================================
From: Tom Robertson Posted: 29 Jul 94
To : All
Subj: Gary Hasty
Listen up Sysop's thought ya might want to know what kinda sysop Gary
Hasty is:
1: we had a user in dalton who ran and still is a bbs and was useing his
user.dat to gain access to other bbs. I run my board reg. users and he
was accessing there time they pay for so the other bbs Except Gary
locked the user out he griped and complained and even sent up a VIRUS to
two local boards caousing one to go down for good. Any way gary refused
to follow suit said users can do that on his board HIS WORDS to ME. So I
no longer allowed him acces (his board) to my local echo conf.
2: Now this was all just between sysop's of the local area only but Ol
gary left a message on my borad denounsing the problem calling it a bbs
war to all users of my board and I have since had two local BBS drop
there feeds and 5 users say they won't be calling back. So thanks to
Gary I'm out $100 and a local echo conf. that was doing good.
3. He stated this is just a hobie But Hell I pay money to run this board
and dont want a user messing up my computer by uploading a virus thru a
message as already done to one board.
Just thought you'd want to know what a fine fellow Gary Hasty is.
Tom Robertson.
===========================================================================
...at this point I'm blushing like a li'l party grrrl...Hi!! I'm Satan!
Then of course the paranoid syslop was bombarded by other syslops...
===========================================================================
Message #447 [NetMail (FidoNet)]
From: Mike Hill (1:362/112) Posted: 1 Aug 94
To : Gary Hasty (1:362/844) Received: 1 Aug 94
Subj: Advance copy, message in SYSCHAT to Tom Robertson
Gary, I saw the messages from Tom Robertson, and wanted to send you an
advance copy of one I posted today in the SYSCHAT echo:
Mon 1 Aug 94 12:12a
By: Mike Hill
To: Tom Robertson
Re: Gary Hasty
St: Local
------------------------------------------------------------------------
>@MSGID: 1:362/112@@Fido 6a17c6c0
>@PID: FM 2.02
Tom, it seems to me that you tried the same little tactics with Gary
Hasty that you tried with me. You tried to make another sysop do
something you wanted, you tried to make him dance to your tune, and to
your rules. When you did not get your way, you went crying off to your
corner. With no warning to Gary, you passworded him out of your system.
You DEMANDED that he lock a user out of his system. The moderator of
your local echo could have banned a user, and could have made the ban
stick. For you to arbitrarily password Gary Smith out, you prevented him
from connecting to you. You also prevented an intelligent adult
conversation about the thing, and instead lied to Gary as he sought
guidance in our sysop echo as to why his system could no longer connect
to yours. Gary Hasty has grounds for filing an "excessively annoying"
complaint against you for your actions. You should also realize that I
also have grounds to file the same complaint, and for the same reason.
Two such complaints could very likely cost you your node number in FIDO.
Is this what you want?
Now you have the audacity to complain that Gary's actions cost you $100
in fees to your precious board! You seem to be presenting a shining
example to the public on what NOT to do with a BBS, and on just how
backwards and behind the times that the for-profit Dalton systems can
be.
How dare you bring your whining drivel to this echo and complain about
Gary Hasty! Go home, turn off your computer, drink a couple of Pepsi's
and mellow out for a bit. Learn some manners, learn to spell, learn what
Fido is really about, and then come back and use your node number for
something besides tossing insults at everyone in sight.
Don't bother replying to this message for a couple of days, as I will
not argue with you. If you want to have a reasonable discussion with no
flames, I am willing to listen, but if you want to rant and rave at me
like your last few netmail messages, then save your breath!
========================================================================
Message #269 [SYSCHAT (FidoNet)]
From: Michael Lewis Posted: 30 Jul 94
To : Tom Robertson
Subj: Gary Hasty
Hello Tom!
29 Jul 94 20:28, Tom Robertson wrote to All:
TR> Listen up Sysop's thought ya might want to know what kinda sysop
TR> Gary Hasty is: 1:
So far so good.
TR> we had a user in dalton who ran and still is a
TR> bbs
A user is a BBS? He used to run a BBS and now he still *IS* a BBS?
TR> run my board reg. users
Regular users? Regal users? Users named Reg?
TR> and he was accessing there time they pay
Their time, their money.
TR> for so the other bbs
You lost me here.
TR> Except Gary locked the user out he griped
TR> and complained and even sent up a VIRUS to two local boards
TR> caousing one to go down for good.
Causing.
TR> Any way gary refused to follow
TR> suit said users can do that on his board HIS WORDS to ME.
You owe us three commas.
TR> So I no
TR> longer allowed him acces (his board) to my local echo conf.
Cool.
TR> 2: Now this was all just between sysop's of the local area only
TR> but Ol gary left a message on my borad denounsing the problem
TR> calling it a bbs war to all users of my board and I have since
TR> had two local BBS drop there feeds and 5 users say the
y won't be
TR> calling back.
Three more commas and two periods.
Are you sure those two boards dropped their feed, or did you password them
out? :-)
TR> So thanks to Gary I'm out $100 and a local echo
TR> conf.
Thanks to Software Creations, I'm out thousands.
TR> that was doing good.
No that was doing bad, doing good would be using capitalization.
TR> 3. He stated this is just a hobie
Hobby. You owe us one period.
TR> But Hell I pay money to run
TR> this board
Same here.
TR> and dont want a user messing up my computer by
TR> uploading a virus thru a message as already done to one board.
Same here.
TR> Just thought you'd want to know what a fine fellow Gary Hasty is.
Man, I can't believe someone hasn't burned a cross on his front yard already!
TR> Following is his message he left to all users on my
TR> board.
Oh goody. I hope it makes more sense than this one. :-)
===========================================================================
Then, of course, comes...
===========================================================================
Message #438 [NetMail (FidoNet)]
From: Tom Robertson (1:362/881) Posted: 31 Jul 94 13:5
To : Gary Hasty (1:362/844) Received: 31 Jul 94 22:0
Subj: Look I am Sorry
Gary I'm sorry I blew up in Syschat It just made me mad when You posted a
messages about what was going on between the sysop's that was being keep (on
my part anyway) priveat. I had to vent my anger sum way and didn't want to
involve the users of your's or my BBS this was between us and I seen no need
to involve them. Again I am sorry for my part in this and Wish to put it
behind us. Its just after Warren sent me messages you were suppose to have
writen to Tim Smith I assumed when He said He would get us thru the messages
you allowed him to echo I reacted. Bad on my part but From what I have seen
and heard of Tim Smith He would do it. Again hope we can put this behind us.
Tom>
===========================================================================
...just an update, folks...
===========================================================================
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
################################################################
SPECIAL INTEREST
GROUPS (SIG's)
[COMPUTER RELATED] compiled by Eric Hunt
################################################################
BIPUG Alabama UniForum
Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group Homewood Public Library
UAB Nutrition Science Blg 1st Tuesday
RM 535/541 Shawn Cleary 870-6130
1st Sunday (delayed one week
if meeting is a holiday)
Marty Schulman 967-5883
Birmingham Apple Core
Informal breakfast meeting every Saturday, 9am - 11am
@ Kopper Kettle, lower level Brookwood Village Mall
Formal meeting held second Saturday of each month, location
variable (to be announced at breakfast meetings and in the
user group's newsletter "The PEEL".)
President: Sam Johnston - 322-5379
Vice-Prez: Marie Prater - 822-8135
The SIG listing is being re-verified. If you know of an active
Computer Related user's group, please let me know.
I can be reached via Internet email at
eric.hunt@the-matrix.com or drop me a note directly on the
MATRIX.
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
################################################################
KNOWN BBS NUMBERS
FOR THE
BIRMINGHAM AREA
################################################################
Sysops, PLEASE check your listing to make sure everything is
correct, especially the networks. Corrections should be mailed on
the Matrix or Crunchy Frog to Scott Hollifield.
ADAnet One (Nodes 1-3) 250-0013 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
[ez, fi, ad]
ADAnet One (Node 4) 254-6050 2400-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, fi, ad]
Alter-Ego BBS 925-5099 1200-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
[alt, ez, mn]
Baudville (Nodes 1-7) 995-0013 300-2400 Major BBS 6.12
[none]
Birmingham Online 870-0305 300-2400 Major BBS 6.2
[none]
Birmingham Online 870-5400 300-19200 Major BBS 6.2
[none]
BulletProof 668-1624 300-19200 ZyXEL Wildcat 3.90 *RIP*
[none]
Bus System 987-5419 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
[none]
Byte Me! 979-BYTE! 2400-14400 V.32 WWIV 4.12
[none]
Castle, The 841-7618 300-2400 Image 1.2
[none]
Cherry Tree 681-1710 1200-14400 TriBBS 4.01
[wm, ca]
Christian Apologetic 808-0763 1200-14400 V.32bis Wildcat! 3.90
[ez, cp]
Crunchy Frog (Node 1) 823-3957 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, lu, ll]
Crunchy Frog (Node 2) 823-3958 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn, lu, ll]
Crystal Village 856-3749 1200-2400 VBBS 6.10
[cr, cs, al, ho, co, fn, vi]
Den, The 933-8744 300-14400 USR DS PCBoard 15.1
[ez, mn, il]
Digital Publishing 854-1660 300-9600 V.32 Wildcat! 3.60
[pl]
Drawing Room, The 951-2391 300=14400 V.32/42 Wildcat! 3.90
[none]
Electro-BBS 491-8402 300-14400 V.32/42 Maximus 2.01
[fi]
Family Smorgas-Board 744-0943 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
[ez, fi, mj, bc, fa, ic, cf, cd, ve, ad, wg, pt, ed, gn]
Final Frontier 838-5634 300-14400 VBBS 6.11 *RIP*
[al, he, re, fn]
Free Enterprise 856-9809 300-14400 V.32/42 Synchronet
[fi, sz, br, tr, dv]
GenesisOnline (sign-up) 620-9076 300-14400 V.32bis Major BBS 6.11
[mr]
GenesisOnline (Nds 1-8) 620-4150 300-2400 V.32bis Major BBS 6.11
[mr]
GenesisOnline (Nds 9-16) 620-9076 300-14400 V.32bis Major BBS 6.11
[mr]
Guardian, The (Node 1) 425-1951 1200-14400 V.42bis Synchronet 2.0
[dv, sp]
Guardian, The (Node 2) 425-1956 1200-14400 V.42bis Synchronet 2.0
[dv, sp]
The Island BBS 631-0184 300-2400 WWIV 4.23
[none]
KickAxis BBS (Node 1) 733-0253 1200-14400 USR DS PCBoard 15.0
[he]
KickAxis BBS (Node 2) 733-0299 1200-14400 USR DS PCBoard 15.0
[he]
Knight's Castle 631-6668 300-14400 WWIV 4.23
[qu, dd]
Leaping's Lounge 856-2521 1200-14400 GTPower 18.00
[gt, ez, mn, wm, di]
Lions Den 871-9668 300-14400 USR DS Wildcat! 3.90
[wi, fi]
Lumby's Palace 520-0041 300-14400 VBBS 6.0
[he]
Magic City (Node 1) 664-9883 300-14400 USR DS Wildcat! 4.0
[di, wm, wi, ca, cm]
Magic City (Node 2) 664-0435 300-1400 Wildcat! 4.0
[di, wm, wi, ca, sk, yr, ms]
MATRIX, The (Nodes 1-10) 252-9888 300-2400 Major BBS *RIP*
[ez, mn, th, il, in, us, al, sh, sc, gl, ic, ri, fr]
MATRIX, The (Nodes 11-25) 252-5566 9600-14400 USR DS Major BBS *RIP*
[ez, mn, th, il, in, us, al, sh, sc, gl, ic, ri, fr]
MetaBoard 854-4814 300-14400 USR DS Opus CBCS 1.73
[fi, ad]
MetroMac BBS (Node 1) 323-6306 1200-28800 V.FC TeleFinder 3.1
[none]
MetroMac BBS (Node 2) 252-0582 1200-28800 V.FC TeleFinder 3.1
[none]
Missing Link 853-1257 300-16800 USR DS C-Net Amiga 2.63
[cl, cn]
Neon Moon (Node 1) 477-9352 9600-14400 TriBBS 4.0
[none]
Neon Moon (Node 2) 477-5894 300-2400 TriBBS 4.0
[none]
Outer Limits 985-1078 300-16800 Wildcat 4.0
[fi, pn, it]
Owl's Nest, The 854-4852 300-38400 PCBoard 14.5
[ez, mn]
Parthenon, The 678-9676 1200-28800 Wildcat 3.9
[fi, un, wi, ru, me]
Party Line 856-1336 300-14000 V.32bis TriBBS 4.0
[cc, wm, di]
Pirate's Cove 665-7924 300-14000 PowerBBS
[us]
Playground 681-5070 1200-14000 V.32 TriBBS 5.0
[wm, di, al, ez]
Posys BBS 854-5131 300-9600 V.32 PCBoard
[none]
Programmer's Shack 988-4695 2400-14400 HST DS Renegade
[ws, fi, it]
Quiet Zone 833-2066 300-2400 ExpressNet
[none]
Safe Harbor (Node 1) 665-4332 300-2400 GTPower 18.00
[gt, ez, mn, lg, ae, fr]
Safe Harbor (Node 2) 665-4355 300-14400 USR DS GTPower 18.00
[gt, ez, mn, lg, ae, fr]
Sam's Domain 956-2757 1200-14400 SL. 3.50
[da, he]
Safety BBS 581-2866 300-2400 RBBS-PC 17.4
[none]
Southern Stallion 322-3816 300-16800 ZyXEL PCBoard 15.1 *RIP*
[alt, ez, lu, th, rs, un]
Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-2400 V.32/42b PCBoard 15.0
[none]
ST BBS 836-9311 300-14400 HST PCBoard 14.2
[ez]
StarBase 12 647-7184 1200-14000 TriBBS 5.02 *RIP*
[ez, mn, wm, sx]
Torch Song 328-1517 1200-14000 V.32/42b Wildcat 3.90
[pr, st, gn]
Virtual Football 823-2029 300-2400 Hermes II v.3.0.2
[none]
Weekends BBS 841-8583 2400-16800 USR DS Wildcat! 3.9
[ca]
Willie's DYM (Node 1) 664-9902 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Willie's DYM (Node 2) 664-9903 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Willie's DYM (Node 3) 664-9895 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Willie's DYM (Node 4) 664-9896 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
[or]
Ziggy Unix BBS 991-5696 300-1200 UNaXess
[none]
*RIP* = BBS Software is RIP Graphics capable. You must be using a RIP
compatible term software to view them. RIPTerm or QmodemPro v1.50 are
the only two I know of that support it at this time. RIPTerm is shareware
and can be downloaded from most BBS's. QmodemPro is a commercial product.
The two-letter abbreviations you see on the line below the names of
many of the bbs' in the list signify that they are members of one or
more networks that exchange or echo mail to each other in some organized
fashion.
ad = ADAnet, an international network dedicated to the handicapped
ae = Arts & Entertainment, a national network, multi-topic
ag = AgapeNet, a national Christian network, multi-topic
al = AlaNet, a local network, multi-topic
alt = AlterNet, a local network, multi-topic
an = The Annex, an international network, multi-topic
at = AdultNet, a national network, adult-oriented
bc = BCBNet, a local network, religion-oriented
bh = BhamTalk, a local network, multi-topic
bi = BitchNet, uncertain at press time
br = BreezeNet, National network, multitopic
ca = CafeNet, a local network, restaurant/dining, recipes, etc.
cc = Coast2Coast, a national network, multi-topic
cd = CDN, a national Christian network for file distribution
cf = CFN, a national Christian network, multi-topic
ch = ChristNet, a national Christian network
cl = CLink, uncertain at press time
cm = CompuLink, a national network, multi-topic
cn = CNet, multi-topic
co = ComicNet, a local net for comic book readers
cp = CAPNet, a national Christian network, multi-topic
cr = CrystalNet, uncertain at press time
cs = ChaosNet, uncertain at press time
cy = Cybernet, uncertain at press time
da = DateNet, uncertain at press time
dd = DeadNet, uncertain at press time
de = DevNet, an international network for programmers and developers
di = Dixie Net, a regional network, multi-topic geared toward the south
eastern United States
do = DoorNet, a national network for the distribution of BBS doors
dv = DoveNet, uncertain at press time
ec = EchoNet, an international network, multi-topic
ed = EduNet, a national network devoted to homeschooling and Christian
education
er = ErosNet, an international network, adult oriented, files & messages
ez = EzNet, a local IBM compatible network
fa = FamilyNet, an international network, multi-topic
fi = FidoNet, an international network, multi-topic
fn = FrontierNet, a local network, multi-topic
fr = FredNet, a regional network, political discussion
fs = FSNet, uncertain at press time
ga = GameNet, a local network, uncertain at press time
gl = GlobalLink, an international network, multi-topic
gm = GayCom, an international network, homosexually oriented
gn = GlobeNet, an international network, multi-topic
gt = GTNet, an international network, multi-topic
gy = GayNet, a national network, homosexually oriented
he = HellNet, a local network, multi-topic
ho = HobbyNet, a local network for hobbyists
ic = ICDM, an international Christian network, multi-topic
ie = Intelec, a national network, multi-topic
il = ILink, an international network, multi-topic
in = InterNet, an international network of mail, linking businesses,
universities, and bbs', multi-topic
it = ITCNet, a national network, multi-topic
lg = Local GT Net, a local network, connecting GT Power systems
ll = LlamaNet, a national network, freeform correspondence
lo = LocalNet, uncertain at press time
lu = LuciferNet, an international network, adult oriented
ma = MAXnet, a local network, connecting WWIV and VBBS systems
me = Medieval-Net, uncertain at press time
mj = MJCN, an international network for Messianic Jews
mn = Metronet, an international network which echoes RIME, multi-topic
mr = MajorNet, an international network, multi-topic
ms = MSI SupportNet
nl = NewLife, uncertain at press time
np = NPN, a national network for new parents
or = OraNet, a national E-mail network
pe = Planet Earth Network, a national network, multi-topic
pl = PlanoNet, a national network, multi-topic
pn = PoliceNet, an international network, law-enforcement only
pr = PrideNet, a national homosexually oriented network
pt = PRNet, a national network devoted to 2nd amendment rights
qu = QuadNet, uncertain at press time
rf = RF Net, a national network for ham radio users and hobbyists
ri = RIME, an international network, multi-topic
rb = RoboLink, a national network, multi-topic
re = RealityNet, uncertain at press time
rp = RPGnet, a local network for role-playing games
rs = RoseNet, a national network, technically orient*ed
ru = RushNet, a national network for Rush Limbaugh fans
sc = Science Factor Net, a national network, science and technology
oriented
se = SEC, a regional network, homosexually oriented geared toward the
southeastern United States
sh = Shades N Shadows Net, a national network for role-playing games
sk = SeekNet, uncertain at press time
sl = SearchlightNet, a national network, multi-topic
sm = SmartNet, a national network, multi-topic
sn = ShadowNet, a national network for role-playing games
sp = Sub-SpaceNet, uncertain at press time
ss = SexSations!, a national network, adult-oriented
sx = SeXXXnet, an national network, adult-oriented
st = StudsNet, a national network, homosexually oriented
sz = SCN-Net, uncertain at press time
te = TECHnet, a local network, hardware and utility oriented
th = ThrobNet, an international network, adult oriented
tr = TrekNet, a national network for Star Trek fans
un = U'NI-Net, an international network, multi-topic
us = Usenet, an international network existing on the Internet, multi-
topic
ve = VETLink, a national network for military veterans
vi = VirtualNet, an international network, multi-topic
wg = WGA, an international network devoted to genealogy research
wi = WildNet, a national network, multi-topic
wm = World Message Exchange, an international network, multi-topic
ws = WishNet, uncertain at press time
ww = WWIV-Net, an international network, multi-topic
yr = YourNet, uncertain at press time
