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Boardwatch Magazine Volume VII Issue 1
$3.95
B O A R D W A T C H M A G A Z I N E
Guide to the World of Online Services
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Editor: Jack Rickard Volume VII: Issue 1 ISSN:1054-2760 January 1993
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Copyright 1993 Jack Rickard - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Boardwatch Magazine is published monthly in printed form at an annual
subscription rate of $36. In most cases, the operator of the local system
carrying Boardwatch Online Edition can process your subscription order.
Editorial comment may be addressed to Editor, BOARDWATCH MAGAZINE, 7586 West
Jewell, Suite 200, Lakewood, CO 80232. (303)973-6038 voice, (303)973-4222
data, (303)986-8754 fax. This file may not be posted on electronic bulletin
board systems without written permission of the publisher.
SUBSCRIPTION VOICE ORDER LINE - 1-800-933-6038
EDITOR'S NOTES
==============
1 Another Tick off the Old DOS Clock
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
=====================
2 Several Services... Several Terminal Programs
3 How Many Male, How Many Female?
4 My BBS Paged Me
5 This, That, the Other
6 We Read Boardwatch in Russia
7 Hayes and TIES
8 He Missed the Point
TELE-BITS
=========
9 Rumors and Tidbits
10 Cellular Data Connections
11 14.4KBPS Pocket Modem
12 Hayes Launches Fleet of New Product Announcements
13 Global Positioning System for Palmtop Computers
14 Extension Phones for Cellular Telephone
15 Transcontinental ISDN Project 1992
16 Software Etc. Offers 14,400 BPS Fax Modem or CD-ROM Drive - $199.99
17 Boardwatch 100 Reader's Choice BBS Contest 1993
18 U.S. Street Map CD-ROM for Windows
19 Motorola Intros Wireless PCMCIA Modem
SOFTWARE NOTES
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20 Celerity BBS Software Version 1.41 Released
21 PCBoard Announces Multi-port Version
22 eSoft Ships QWK Mail Module for TBBS
ARTICLES
========
23 Packet Radio-BBSing Without Phone Lines
24 Online Weather Data by Modem
INTERNET NEWS
=============
25 Point-to-Point Protocol Consortium
26 Holonet
27 FTP Server for Novell
28 Electronic Frontier Foundation Opens Gopher Server to the Internet
29 MFS Datanet Announces National Service for High-speed Interconnection
30 BIX on Internet
MACINTOSH BBS NEWS
==================
31 Welcome to the Next Level
32 CD Utility from FWB
33 Starnine Lilnks QM & CC
34 Dialog Made Easy(er)
35 Brave New Powerbooks
36 MAC BBS of the Month
37 Attention MAC Sysops
LEGALLY ONLINE
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38 Sysops as Trafic Cops
DIRECT DIAL
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39 Small Business Administration Online
40 Slovenian Bulletin Boards
BBS LISTS
=========
41 233 New Zeland Bulletin Boards
42 New Zeland BBS List
43 Sysop Modem Discount Programs
44 BOARDWATCH List of BBS List Keepers
45 BOARDWATCH National List
==============
EDITOR'S NOTES
==============
ANOTHER TICK OFF THE OLD DOS CLOCK
----------------------------------
By the time this issue is in the hands of most of our readers, the clock will
have felled another annual digit in the march of time, Santa will have
delivered another sled full of modems, and Boardwatch enters calendar year
seven as a print magazine specifically serving a group that abhors the use of
paper and the senseless slaughter of innocent trees to pass information. I
rather enjoy the sense of anachronism - it works with my choice of clothes.
As our readership has grown, the process of doing a Boardwatch has changed as
well. It's become more complicated, requires more people, and isn't just a
guy in the basement of a cabin in the Rocky Mountain foothills any longer.
Due to a bit of a technical foul up, I had to actually go to the printer for
a press check about midnight one evening recently. It was the first time I
had actually seen the publication in the process of printing in well over a
year. The sight of Boardwatch ripping up through about three stories of web
press at a hundred miles an hour or so was a little cathartic. The discarded
misprint stock bundled for recycling comprised more paper than the whole
issue required not so long ago.
This year will see a number of changes in the online community. Prodigy's
success in amassing numbers is causing new life in the concept of bulletin
boards run by large corporations. Bill Gates has funded a company quite
separate from Microsoft to look at distributing graphic images of art online
and some other things. AT&T, IBM, DEC, and any number of other corporate
behemoths are looking at getting into the consumer online services game and
we look forward to a number of product introductions.
The early videotext services failed. Some would ascribe this to being before
their time. We actually think they stalled the clock using a poor paradigm
for the online world and it will be interesting to see if they make the same
mistakes again. Basically, people become involved with online services not to
consume presented information, but to participate in communities
interactively. Oh, they'll glance at the odd weather report, but they are
there, and have always been there, to communicate with each other. Prodigy
almost followed the same fatal path with their service, but did offer
bulletin boards as a "sideline". Today, Prodigy callers post over 80,000
messages a day to "bulletin boards" on the service and Prodigy, to their
credit, did "get it." They are currently expanding the number and nature of
BBS on their online service quite aggressively. While it still appears to be
losing $20-$30 million annually - they also appear to have learned a great
deal about why people want to be online - and that points to eventual
success.
This is a frightening thing for most corporations to contemplate actually.
The world they are comfortable with involves presenting information on a
screen that their lawyers have approved and their programmers have designed
and allowing the masses to "view." This sort of information works pretty well
as window dressing, but it can never be the core of an online service.
Weather, news, and advertising fall into the category of "screen pretties"
not services. Callers want to talk to each other. And the concept of
unleashing callers and non-staff moderators on the service to interact with
each other and basically produce the core of the information of an online
service, with all the limited control that implies, is a frightening thing
for a corporation to face. Organizationally, they are based on coercion and
control of employees, distribution channel, and customers. To let customers
have actual control of the production of the product, to any degree at all,
rather upsets the economic food chain.
Up to this point, this has been most of the "why" in why bulletin boards run
by individuals have been so successful, and online services run by
corporations have found such meager return. It will be very interesting to
see if in the 1993 episode of this saga, corporations can buckle on the gun
belts and stride into the online frontier to good effect. With the stresses
and blows they've encountered on all fronts over the past decade, they may
rather flexibly inclined to learn new models at this point. Or not.
Other predictions for 1993? CD-ROMs. Yes, they've been coming forever, but in
the past there have been few titles because it was a limited market of people
with drives, and there was little reason to buy a pricey $600 drive with so
few titles. The year 1993 is when this breaks. With the price of CD-ROM
drives falling below $200, we would predict that a majority of PC users will
add them to their machines before the end of the year and CD-ROM title
announcements are already coming in a flood. Adding a CD-ROM drive will be no
more of a task than adding a floppy drive. Look for an enormous boom in this
area.
Similarly the move to high speed modems will be over by mid-year with mop-up
operations in the second half. 14,400 kbps V.32bis modems with fax will be
common in the $150-$225 range almost immediately and mass conversion will
happen within weeks. The performance jump from 2400 bps to 14.4 kbps is
enormous - callers have simply been waiting for their price. It's here.
In the BBS community, 1993 will be a big year for bulletin boards to offer
Internet e-mail and Usenet News Groups. Pioneering boards are already doing
this but this service will serve as a separator between the big boys and the
little ones in the BBS pecking order during 1993. The Internet shapes up as
an e-mail backplane that all services, from single line bulletin boards to
Prodigy and other commercial services, plug into for universal global
electronic mail connectivity. It is now bigger than everybody. The e-mail
island struggle that went on for well over a decade will be over and an
account on any significant BBS will allow you global e-mail. Most of what
callers want from the Internet is summed up at this point by Usenet News
Groups and electronic mail. So instead of Mohammed going to the mountain, in
this case the mountain makes the move. Rather than millions of callers
scrabbling for Internet access, by far the majority of them will accept the
BBS as the appropriate interface for Internet services - relieving much of
the agonizing within the Internet community as to how to service and train
vast numbers of new users. Global e-mail from your desktop using QWK mail
readers is happening now. It can be done with a local call to a local BBS
using the interface callers are already familiar with.
And the Internet itself suddenly faces a brighter future. The election of
Clinton/Gore does have one rather obvious consequence. After an election, you
have to have something for a Vice President to do. And Albert Gore has been a
proponent of a national data highway for nearly 10 years now - after the
model of our Interstate highway system. In the scheme of things funded in
Washington, the costs of telecommunications and networking really aren't very
awe inspiring when you focus on the backbone of it all - avoiding the costs
of the "last mile" upgrade to fiber. And whatever economic program emerges,
we're pretty confident Gore will get enough funding to do some substantial
things in the National Education and Research Network (NREN) arena he has
forged. We're encouraged by his July introduction of "Son of NREN"
legislation that he sincerely intends a national data network for the masses
- not just the ivory tower crowd. And this all points toward an expanded
Internet in almost all respects. The following is an excerpt from one of
Clinton's position papers, A TECHNOLOGY POLICY FOR AMERICA Six Broad
Initiatives by Bill Clinton (September, 1991). The first of the six broad
initiatives deals with networks and NREN:
"The Clinton-Gore technology policy consists of six broad initiatives that
together will restore America's technological leadership:
"1. Building a 21st Century Technology Infrastructure. Infrastructure has
traditionally been the responsibility of federal and state governments.
Investing in infrastructure means more than repairing bridges, harbors and
highways. Today, the United States faces a new series of communications,
transportation and environmental needs for the 21st century. The creation of
a 21st century infrastructure program would serve as a critical technology
driver for the nation. It would stimulate major new national R&D efforts;
create large, predictable markets that would prompt significant private
sector investments; and create millions of new jobs.
"A 21st century infrastructure would address many practical problems. For
example, the government can serve as a catalyst for the private sector
development of an advanced national communications network, which would help
companies collaborate on research and design for advanced manufacturing;
allow doctors across the country to access leading medical expertise; put
immense educational resources at the fingertips of American teachers and
students; open new avenues for disabled people to do things they can't do
today; provide technical information to small businesses; and make
telecommuting much easier.
"Such a network could do for the productivity of individuals at their places
of work and learning what the interstate highway of the 1950s did for the
productivity of the nation's travel and distribution system.
"Each year, I plan to devote a significant portion of my four year, $80
billion Rebuild America fund to laying the groundwork for the nation's
infrastructure needs in the 21st century. Federal funding for the National
Research and Education Network is one example of how the federal government
can serve as a catalyst for private sector infrastructure investment. We will
also provide additional funding to network our schools, hospitals and
libraries.
"As part of the effort to assess U.S. needs and develop appropriate programs,
the federal government must monitor, or "benchmark", what foreign governments
are doing. For example, the Japanese government has committed to invest over
$120 billion by 1995 to develop a digital broadband communication
infrastructure called the Information Network System, and plans to invest
another $150 billion to establish model programs for business and residential
users.
"A comprehensive infrastructure program must also include effective standards
and regulations. By establishing reasonable standards and a constructive
regulatory environment, the government can send clear signals to industry
about important, emerging markets and spur private sector investment. For
example, the digital standard that the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC), in cooperation with industry, established for high resolution
television provides an excellent indication of the future technical direction
of the industry and will do much to facilitate private sector R&D.
"A 21st century infrastructure program should consist of the following five
elements: Funding the establishment of key networks and demonstration
projects; Benchmarking U.S. programs against those of other major industrial
nations; Establishing standards and a regulatory climate that fosters private
sector investment; Involving the federal labs, companies, and universities in
conducting R&D on key technical issues; and Providing training for users of
networks and databases...."
It sounds good. Since Clinton scattered promises across America like chaff,
we're a little reluctant to put much confidence in his fulfilling any of
them. But as one of Gore's long term pet interests, this concept has a
chance. Our June 92 editorial called for just such a commitment to a national
data highway in concert with a strong program for adult educational
opportunities. It's possible we'll get it.
As to Boardwatch itself, we continue to grow by every measure. We are
starting our annual BBS contest this month, and working hard on a
significantly expanded and enhanced version of the Online Networking
Exposition and BBS Convention (ONE BBSCON) so well received this past August.
Phil Becker and I were both a little shaken by the explosive forces unleashed
at ONE BBSCON in August and the continuing fallout since then. But we've
about recovered and rather than sitting back and watching it happen, we're
actively working at some pretty overwhelming goals for a convention twice as
big, and an order of magnitude more fun for 1993. Phil's off slaying hotel
and site dragons this month with pretty much agreed goals to do things that
just can't be done in negotiations of this sort. Should he return alive with
the dragon's liver, and he's got a charming habit of doing that, we'll be
reconvening our Executive Advisory Board and announcing the first details of
the next ONE BBSCON. Stay with us.
Jack Rickard
=======
LETTERS
=======
Dear Jack,
This is my first time to correspond with you, but it is way over due.
I'm compelled to complement you on your ability to turn a phrase and capture
the essence of an issue in a succinctly worded column. Your writing style
enables you to communicate on both the complex technology and philosophical
plains. You truly have a unique gift. I find your magazine a real enjoyment
to read each month.
You have come a long way since Martin Marietta. Keep up the good work. Also a
very big congratulations on a successful convention. This is indeed a
powerful industry.
On another note...
I view with some alarm a trend in the online industry. Years back the online
world was virtually all text oriented and all one needed was a good terminal
communications software package to call any service they desired. Now, with
PRODIGY, COCONUT's Coconet, America Online, PowerVision, ZiffNet/CIM, US
VideoTEL, Internet's Gopher, the NAPLPS systems and many others it seems that
future users are going to have to deal with a separate piece of software for
every high-end graphical service they want to access. This in my mind is
getting away from standards and fragmenting the online data access world.
Users are not going to stand for it in the numbers that all these services
need to be financially successful. I, for one, do not have any room left on
my 130 meg system. I would like to put out an open letter challenging all
these graphical services and those yet to get in to this market, to find a
way to standardize on some graphical format that will accommodate all.
Respectfully,
Jim Turner
inquest@aol.com
Dear Jim:
I share your alarm at the number and variety of access programs and the hard
disk chaos that ensues. If you recall, I predicted this bit of mess nearly
four years ago in these pages. But your position comes from a view of a
mature online industry currently devolving into a fractious squabble over
graphics interfaces. I still view the online world as a pre-industry groping
toward the tools necessary to have an industry.
Most of the development of the PC industry was accompanied by the struggle
between standardization and innovation. If you recall, we had a pretty well
accepted standard for 300 baud modems at one time. I'm very pleased to report
we didn't adhere to it religiously. If we had, we would still be at 300 baud.
Standards make life easier for vendors, users, and virtually everyone else.
But they gain a weight of their own that tends to work against innovation and
the development of better technologies.
The PC industry in general has been dominated by individuals who generally
had a better idea and a better implementation for a specific task. If the
product caught on in numbers, it won and became the standard. As a result,
things moved relatively quickly. Standards were developed by brute force.
Electronic bulletin boards and online services are inherently cooperative
services. Every stop bit, parity form, speed, error correction, terminal
emulation, and more is a negotiated compromise between users sharing a common
nether world between computers and telephones and telephone switches -
existing somewhere and nowhere simultaneously. Cyberspace is most precisely
the negotiated zone of compromise between your computer and mine.
That makes standards difficult. And as one Internet mailing list participant
observed online recently, "We simply have to stop standardizing things we
don't understand."
Right now the online world is poised to make another technological leap -
graphics. The barriers to getting online are inexcusably high. You chafe
under multiple terminal programs. But it never was as simple as you describe
with any "standard terminal program." We never could really just deal with
text. We were forced to deal with start bits, stop bits, data bits, parity
bits, originate, answer, AT commands, initialization strings, file transfer
protocols, and more - all to make text print out across the screen. We're
actually having a debate within these pages in 1992 about - if you can
believe it - escape sequences. Frankly, I am embarrassed in some instances to
explain to new callers all the hoops they have to jump through to get online
for the first time. Many are just historical embarrassments at this point
that make not the slightest bit of sense in ANY environment - but we live
with them. You've been doing it for a long while and are familiar with it. Go
explain it to your aunt without getting red in the face.
One way we can lower these barriers is through graphics. Prodigy now sports
1.6 million users and many of them frankly never would have gotten online at
all if it was left up to the BBS community. The concept of requiring people
to learn about data bits and stop bits to get on a BBS makes about as much
sense as requiring people to master pig Latin to get an Arkansas drivers
license. Graphics provides a new environment to hide the historical detritus
behind a curtain where it belongs. File transfer protocols were important
when they were still under development. For my money, ZMODEM is now good
enough. So why make anyone choose. You should point at the file you want and
have it transferred to your PC by wishful thinking - not by taking a
historical examination on the development of file transfer protocols.
But there is no standard "easy" interface. And so anyone wanting one has had
to develop one. Once they developed it, they wanted it to belong to them to
hold their users captive. This is a terrible attitude, but not illegal and
they always reap their own reward. MCI Mail, ATT, Western Union, SprintMail,
and GE were all on the brink of owning electronic mail services in this
country. But each wanted a captive user base and they jealously guarded
theirs from each other. They stalled for years in linking their e-mail
services. The Internet emerged to solve the e-mail island problem and
currently many of the e-mail only services are almost without a reason for
existence. They're scrambling now to try to justify to their user base why
their exorbitant charges make any sense at all simply to send an e-mail
message. If they had treated the world with a bit more generosity of spirit,
they would be an order of magnitude further along in the game than they are
now.
Similarly, we are entering a period where dozens of proprietary graphics
interfaces are emerging. Any one of them could be the standard but none will
because the developers of these standards so desperately want them to create
a captive user base and somehow, a bountiful font of cash. Since it won't
work beyond very short term and meager benefits, they won't get what they
want, but hope springs eternal. Meanwhile, somewhere along the line, someone
will release an open graphic interface with appropriate tools much as
CompuServe did with the GIF image standard. It will struggle to life, and
then proceed to devastate everything else in its path. It will finally emerge
the winner, and we'll have a graphical interface standard for online
services.
While it could be anything, I think something based on the North American
Presentation Level Protocol Syntax (NAPLPS) has the best shot at actually
happening. Someone out there is going to do the tools just because they so
obviously need to be done. I could easily be wrong. It could be something
else entirely new. But at this point I would have to guess it will be NAPLPS
and ultimately NAPLPS as a terminal emulation on a major terminal program
such as Procomm or Qmodem.
Once it appears, it will take several years before it eliminates the problem
you describe. We still get callers who want to know what ANSI graphics are.
And we face several years of graphical confusion before this sorts itself
out. But I don't want to go back to 300 baud ASCII TTY systems. And watching
the creativity and innovation of the online community in developing new
technologies is for me most of the fun. Understand Jim, that when the modems
are all standardized, the interfaces are all standardized, and it all works
like an appliance, I'm outta here. I would guess there will be some new
frontier about that time that needs something like a Boardwatch....
Jack Rickard
Dear Jack:
Let me be among the last to congratulate you on the fine job you did putting
together ONE BBSCON. I'm among the last, not because I appreciate it any
less, but only because I've been so busy since the convention that I didn't
have a chance to be among the first. A lot of exciting things are going to
take place across the land as a direct result of ONE BBSCON. I know this
because I plan to be among those who do some of them. More about that another
time. My point is...Thank You!
With the compliment out of the way, I have a question. You indicated to me at
the meeting in Denver that the BBS community (those people who participate in
BBSing) numbers some 10,000,000 people in the US. At another point I believe
you indicated that number was growing by over 9,000 people per day. I remain
astounded by those numbers, but will take your word for it. My question is,
what percentage of those people are male, and what percentage are female?
That question came up recently in a discussion with a couple of business
associates, and I said that if anyone on the planet knew the answer, Jack
Rickard would know! My associate seemed to think the ratio was 100:1 male,
and I argued that it had to be more balanced than that. What do you think (or
know) about the ratio?
In the way of a suggestion, a demographic study of the BBSing population
might be an interesting topic for a Boardwatch Magazine article.
Mike Sandburg
Dear Mike:
Numbers comprise a funny game, and one I'm a little uncomfortable with.
Primarily, most number generators within the PC community inflate numbers
(lie) incessantly and with great vigor. Secondly, the growth in online usage
is sufficient to make me appear to be lying if I relate the numbers. We
actually put out the most conservative numbers possible, and generally if we
err, we err on the downside rather intentionally.
Right now, we estimate about 45000 public dial up electronic bulletin boards
operating in the United States. We define those as systems that would welcome
a call by modem from a complete stranger with no prior contact. We derive
this approximation using two quite different methodologies that consistently
produce approximately the same result. We aren't exactly guessing.
Let me describe these methodologies and you calculate your own numbers. The
first methodology involves the nodelist of the International FidoNet. There
are over 17,000 bulletin boards worldwide that are "members" of FidoNet and
their membership is actually defined by the nodelist. If you are in the
nodelist, you are in FidoNet, and if you're not in the nodelist, you're not
in FidoNet - pretty definitive. This nodelist is updated each Friday and it
is, as best as I can tell, the most accurate BBS list in the world. Take the
FidoNet nodelist and comb it for redundancy first - some systems are listed
several times as network coordinator, echomail hub, and member system for
example. The objective is to derive a list of unique BBS entries without
redundancies. Further eliminate any BBS outside the area of interest - in our
case the United States. This gives you the base number of FidoNet systems in
the United States.
Next, take six cities that sport well maintained local BBS lists. Derive the
ratio of the number of total BBS to the number of FidoNet BBS for each city
and average them. You can then apply this ratio to the known count of FidoNet
bulletin boards to derive a national BBS count fairly accurately.
The other methodology again depends on maintained local BBS lists. Take a
series of sample cities and total all boards in all the cities. Then total
the population of the metropolitan statistical areas served by those cities
as listed in the U.S. Department of Commerce city and state statistical
abstract. This will give you a population to BBS ratio you can apply to the
total population of the United States (currently about 254 million) to
produce a total BBS population.
We've found these two methodologies consistently produce numbers within a
1000 BBS of each other and usually plus or minus four or five hundred and as
you increase the number of sample cities, they tend to converge. They both
depend on the accuracy and currency of the BBS lists maintained for the
sample cities. We know these lists lag the actual number of active bulletin
boards, but we haven't developed any way to tell precisely by how much - and
it varies according to the enthusiasm and aggressiveness of those maintaining
the lists. But up to this point, we've been confident that the actual number
of operating BBSs is always greater than the count produced by these lists.
And there are any number of BBSs that don't want to be listed on these lists
for whatever reason.
The total number of callers is a bit more difficult. We basically take the
userlog from a series of sample BBS operating in the same area and simply
merge/purge the raw databases to calculate a factor of shared caller base.
The reverse of that is an average number of callers per BBS that are unique.
Currently, this seems to be running about 250 unique callers per BBS with
many boards having fewer and many having a great deal more of course. But
currently this renders a caller base of about 11.25 million. We would note
that this dovetails nicely with an estimate by a research firm, Dataquest, of
about 10.5 million.
The sex of callers is a bit mysterious in that there is a lot of online cross
dressing going on. Many female callers are online under male personas to
avoid various harassing situations, and a few males are on under female
personas - probably to enjoy some of the harassment. Our BBS contest last
year produced a little over 11,000 ballots in an arena that should not pose a
threat to anyone in revealing their sex. It indicates an 86% male to 14%
female distribution. The contest itself tended to bias toward social chat
services that probably have a higher percentage of females than BBSs in
general, but we're not sure by how much. I would guess online activity is
about an 88-89% male sport.
I'm going to guess at this point that the number of new callers coming online
with their first connect is coming very close to the magic 10,000 per day
mark. And it appears to be accelerating. Most gratifyingly, anecdotally the
question among NON callers has moved from "what is a BBS and why do people do
that" to "how can I play - I'm not very technically oriented" and I think
that is a notable shift in public perception. It is very difficult for people
who have not been online to get past the technical awareness of dialing
modems and the concept of simply "fast letters" and "free software" to a
larger awareness of an entire social environment in which they are currently
barred from participation. To put these numbers in perspective, while there
may be over 11 million dialing bulletin boards, over 113 million voted in the
election this past November. And I lay a heavy responsibility on the
technically elite among those online to lower the technical barriers to
participation and empower those with little interest or ability in technical
matters to get in the game. That is the challenge to the online community
today, and largely the subject of Boardwatch Magazine.
Jack Rickard
Jack,
I just received the OneBBS issue in the mails today. I'll add my congrats to
those who've said you threw a successful show. I'm looking forward to next
year's show!
In the current issue you speculate about a new SkyTel service and wonder how
long it will be before we bring a BBS and alphanumeric pagers together. Well,
it's been about a year ago when Sparkware released the programs that let you
interface PCBoard with alpha pagers. We have produced a program named "The
Pager Engine" that lets you send text from your computer to an alpha pager.
We also released a program that can scan PCBoard message bases for messages
addressed to "PAGER" and can send the text to the pager. I've handled
customer support calls from our local state fair from messages left on our
customer support BBS and sent to the pager. My system also tells me when we
sell Qmail Doors or 1stReaders over my alpha pager too. I know of several
sysops who use our program to monitor their system events while they are not
present.
If you'd like more info about how all of this works please give me a call at
the office. My number is (615)230-6245. If you use an alphanumeric pager then
it's quite possible our program will work with it - the only requirement is
that your pager company use the Motorola "IXO" protocol (which is an industry
standard). I'll be happy to set you up with a copy so you can find ways to
interface your PC with your alpha pager.
Sparky Herring
Sparky:
I can think of any number of applications where pager notification could be
put into play. You actually have your pager beep you when your system sells a
Qmail or 1stReader? I hope that after our December cover, it sounds like a
whistle. May your pager beep incessantly. I would bet you would have fun with
one of those vibrating pocket pagers.
Jack:
As always, a provocative issue. I got a good chuckle from "BATH TIME" and
"PRETTY GIRL" on the first page. Boy, sure made me want to log in immediately
and download pictures. Almost as exciting as the eSOFT CREW...
Your editorial confused me. You say that you "don't believe that the case law
covers this extension of right of copy to a right to dictate how and when you
do what." Why don't you believe it? Software is licensed, not sold. The
license is agreed to by both parties. Either party can make as many dorky
requirements in the license as they want. If the other party doesn't like it,
they don't "sign" the license.
You seem skeptical of Playboy's rights over scanned images. If I scanned my
copy of Boardwatch, ran it through an OCR, and sold it for less than you do
for your electronic version, you'd be rightfully pissed. And it would be
illegal. The copyright law is particularly clear here: the copyright owner
has the exclusive right to prepare derivative works from the original. A scan
of a photo is certainly a derivative work. The case law has almost always
sided with the owner of the original; I know of no cases where it got shady
if the thing represented was immediately recognizable, such as in the case of
Event Horizons, home of BATH TIME.
I'm glad to hear that Jon Larimore of GLIB "has never been gay at you." Great
choice of prepositions. And you deny that you're a good ol' boy! I guess I'm
just being liberal at you here...
My take on the US Robotics story is that I will never use or recommend one of
their modems again. They are clearly lying. Unless they can show even scant
evidence of the existence of the Trojan horse or of their copyright
protection, they should be scorned.
Great article on ISDN.
Thanks for running the Hayes ad. Now we all know what a bunch of lying dweebs
they are.
Great graphics in the Supra ad. Are We Connecting Yet?
Still love the magazine and think that I'm responsible for at least five
other people's subscriptions. Keep up the good works! Gotta go, it's bath
time.
Paul Hoffman
Paul:
I would call that a binary personality - pretty black and white impressions.
My world tends toward the 256 shades of gray unfortunately.
Bath time is history. There was a bit of communications confusion that led to
that but it is not what Boardwatch is about and there will be no further
bubbles in the future.
On copyright issues, I don't see them as clearly as you do - the point of the
editorial. I just returned from a National Academy of Sciences conference
where we all strained mightily to map real world laws and analogies to the
online experience and I'm persuaded there are as many mis's as fits. One
school of thought is that there is nothing new under the sun and existing
copyright laws translate easily to the online world. The other, of course, is
that new technology that allows making thousands of copies and delivery of
them globally in minutes changes the game. Which side of this you fall on
tends to depend on your level of wishful thinking and whether you are a
producer or consumer of creative works. I'm willing to concede that it could
eventually come down either or any way. As to your point about software
licensing, software is sometimes licensed, and sometimes sold, and no one
signed anything in most cases. That's part of the conundrum.
I can easily recommend and use a USR modem again. They're good modems and we
use them. The company had a bit of a marketing slip, and instead of making
hay while the sun shines, someone panicked. I took exception to their
reaction with the harangue about copyrights and Trojan horses, but it's about
limited to that. I would note that a number of readers take exception to
things we do in Boardwatch - i.e. bubbles bath time adventure - but I hope
they don't throw the baby out with the bath water so to speak. Take a powder
- relax. Some people got a good deal on a USR modem. USR issued a stupid
blurb. Life goes on.
Likewise, Hayes may have overplayed their hand on the TIES issue with
sensational ads. But there was a technical issue - and one difficult to
publicize that they felt should be heard. I happen to come down on their side
technically - who wants the SECOND best escape sequence algorithm when by far
the majority of modems available, including ANY that use the Rockwell chip
set, already do it well using the Hayes escape sequence.
Happy bath time..
Jack Rickard
Jack:
I'm Arcady Khotin from St.Petersburg, Russia. Assistant professor of Computer
Science at the Institute of municipal and government management and Clipper
Users Group's President.
Jack, I heard a lot about the fine magazine 'Boardwatch' you are running, but
my first REAL meeting with it was just a couple of days ago, when one of your
subscribers, Jeff Bennett from New York ( Havppavge), NY brought to me a
sample copy. He got it from you recently. It was back issue of May 1991.
Boy, was I impressed! It looks like you covered so many of the topics I
looked for for ages, and the approach was so careful and simple, I read all
issue from top to bottom in one gulp! And you even touched the issue of
xSoviet BBSing! I can imagine how informative other Boardwatch's should be!
I used to run BBS for about a year - it was FIDO board, 2:5030/8. My student
Michael Pogrebniak used to be a SysOp and I was his Co. At that time I worked
with St.Pete's branch of JV Dialogue. Now I changed job and with it gone was
my BBS, but Mike is still running it - for the different organization, and I
still have account at it.
My Clipper Users Group is 200 strong, about 30-50 at every meeting. We work
closely with Computer Associates Moscow office (used to be Nantucket before
the acquisition) and are about to set up our own BBS. So far, we are running
several echo-conferences at one of the local boards - SoftScribe BBS.
Jack, you got me hooked. I fell in love with your magazine and want to read
it! Unfortunately, I'm not in a position now just get out my vallet and
subscribe - with current $/rouble rate it'll take my 5 month salary. Look,
why don't you give us, a CUG of St.Petersburg complimentary subscription? I
talked about it with Esther Dyson (she is supplying us with her Release 1.0
and RelEast) and she advised me to beg on you.
May be you'd be interested to hear news from my part of the Globe in return?
I'm avid user of BBS and Internet (Relcom) over here and can keep you posted
of the news we have. We are already bigger then European part of the Internet
and have more room to develop. Closed networks are mushrooming everyday,
alternate Networks are created, etc. This country is experiencing not only
decline and fall in economy, but boom in Networking.
Well, it becomes too long. Many thanks for the great magazine and please
consider my request. Hope to hear from you.
Best regards.
Arcady Khotin
St.Petersburg, Russia,
E-Mail: agh@nwpc.spb.su
Arcady.Khotin at 2:5030/8
Arcady:
Hey, if it's ok by Esther, it works for me. We've had a little difficulty
getting timely mail delivery into Russia, but we'll add you to our subscriber
rolls and the issues do generally get there eventually.
In return, I'll take you up on your offer to provide us with a monthly report
on the state of networking in Russia. You may deliver it by e-mail to
jack.rickard@boardwatch.com, and we'll pass any interesting items onto our
readers in the pages of Boardwatch. What's the best way for the average
Russian to get access to the Internet? Are there any particularly interesting
bulletin boards in St. Petersburg? Boardwatch readers want to know.
Jack Rickard
Dear Mr. Rickard:
Multi-Tech Systems is a manufacturer of modems and other data communications
products and systems. Although we are not as prominent in the BBS community
as some of our competitors, we are one of the largest modem makers in the
industry (1992 sales will exceed $80 million). My reason for writing to you
is twofold. One is to introduce ourselves. The other is to discuss your
coverage of the Hayes/Multi-Tech escape sequence patent litigation and
related subjects in recent issues of Boardwatch.
First of all, since you've covered the modem escape sequence wars involving
Hayes and Multi-Tech and others, and probably have received Hayes' White
Paper on the topic, I thought you'd like to have OUR White Paper. A copy is
enclosed. It is also available for downloading on our BBS, at (612)785-9875.
Secondly, I have a copy of some pages out of what I believe is your October
issue (or perhaps it's an earlier issue). I also have your December issue. In
the October issue, in a section entitled, "Hayes Opens Guns Over Escape
Sequence Patent", you expressed your view that "Hayes will win the war over
escape sequences", along with similar views on related topics. In the
December issue, you characterized the Court proceedings as having mixed
results. As you might expect, we strongly disagree. We don't expect Hayes to
win the war, nor do we feel they're even winning the battles, including the
latest one in Court where they were enjoined.
I suspect that one of your sources of information on this topic is Hayes.
Since we've never spoken (my fault, not yours), I would have to conclude that
you're not getting the full story. Knowing Hayes, I would also suspect that
they're giving you an inaccurate picture of the issues and events (e.g.
"Court clears way for Hayes education campaign", etc.). Rather than get into
specifics, I would simply suggest that you read the enclosed White Paper. We
feel that it provides more current and accurate (and convincing) picture of
the situation. Perhaps you could then revisit this subject in the next issue
of Boardwatch.
Also, in Boardwatch you have twice informed your readers that they could
download Hayes' test files, and you have provided Hayes' BBS phone number to
aid them in doing so. In the interest of fairness, you might consider
informing your readers that Multi-Tech's White Paper can be downloaded from
our BBS (14.4k, 9600 or 2400 bps), at (612)785-9875.
Finally, I have enclosed some additional materials on Multi-Tech, our
products and the lawsuits. I apologize for not providing them to you earlier.
Thanks for listening!
Sincerely,
Thomas E. Heimerman
Director/Sales & Marketing
Dear Mr.Heimerman:
I do appreciate your letter and package of materials. We're most pleased to
publish BBS numbers where and how we find them, and I have no problem with
making complete information on both sides of this issue available to our
readers.
Actually I had read several items outlining Multi-Tech's position, as well as
your White Paper, along with information from Hayes, and of course their
White Paper. Were I to depend on the largess of public relations departments
in vendor companies to stay informed, Boardwatch readers would be six months
in arrears on everything. But we were remiss in not publishing your BBS
number in the earlier stories.
Lawsuits can be time absorbing and emotionally draining. Usually the
participants become preoccupied with the battle and for some reason assume
that the rest of the world is as interested in all the legal wranglings as
they are. From our perspective, the question becomes most purely a technical
one. Your White Paper is long on listing the heinous crimes of Hayes in the
marketing arena, and short on technical information. I understand that Hayes
and Multi-Tech are both trying to publicly explain this situation to many
customers who are not particularly technically accomplished. Our readers tend
to be a bit more inquisitive into precisely how the technology works, and
somewhat less interested in who owns what market share.
Our view of escape sequences revolves entirely on technical issues. Virtually
the entire technical case made in your White Paper rests on the acceptable
level of risk posed by the TIES escape sequence and the acceptability of the
level is entirely defined by the statement that you've sold 60,000 modems and
no one has complained about them. This is, in my view, an entirely
unacceptable position for an engineering and design company to take and it
startles me to see it actually cast into print. You essentially abandoned the
Heatherington 302 escape sequence for legal reasons - not technical ones.
The problem is that in the day to day field of passing bytes through the
night, things are not nearly as perfect as modem manufacturers would have us
believe. We review literally hundreds of modems each year - most of them
broken. We've watched as BBS operators and BBS software vendors have
virtually assaulted modem manufacturers, reputable market leaders mind you,
repeatedly into actually getting their products to work in the real world.
Most of these issues have to do with predictable response to commands. Actual
data passing usually comes down to making a good connection - or not -
generally noise tolerance. But LOTS of things happen in the real world of
telephone lines. If I transmitted a file and it didn't make the trip, there
are about 300 HUNDRED things I could reasonably check before it might ever
dawn on me that the modem itself just wouldn't pass a particular file. We
assume that the modem treats all data essentially without discrimination and
doesn't do better with some files than others.
Most of your angst with the Hayes test kit is that it is an unfair test
because they INTENTIONALLY put the string of 6 characters that will cause
your modem to abort a file transfer and change into command mode. The odds of
this occurring naturally are not difficult to calculate. There are 255
possible ASCII characters and the TIES escape sequence requires five
consecutive absolute with a sixth somewhat variable. The resulting odds of
this data occurring in that order are large, very large, but not unthinkable.
In the BBS world, we don't transmit text files at all - or very rarely. Text
files are generally precompressed using PKZIP or other compression utilities
and we don't know or care what the resulting hash of bytes looks like. It is
conceivable we could take a text file that DOESN'T contain your escape
sequence and compress it to the point where the resulting .ZIP file DOES
contain the string. Worse, we routinely transmit relatively enormous .GIF
images containing binary image data. A sequence of six eight bit bytes has no
particular ASCII meaning in this case - except to your modem. It is much more
unlikely that anyone would transmit a file, encounter a problem, and come to
the conclusion that it was the modem's fault and report it to you, than it is
that they might encounter a problem and just give up on that particular file.
As I mentioned, there are countless other things that could cause it as well.
There is very little incentive, given the apparently nonexistent price
differential between modems licensing Hayes technology and those that don't,
to accept yet another variable. Since Rockwell licensed the Hayes escape
sequence, the overwhelming majority of modems available use it, and but a
scant handful use TIES.
The strength of the Hayes escape sequence is a cross matrix of TWO variables
to detect an escape sequence, a fixed guard time AND a series of characters.
One second delays do not trigger an escape to command mode. The +++ATn series
of characters do not trigger an escape to command mode. Only the two in
concert trigger the escape. This multiplies two extremely large "odds of
occurrence" to produce one that really is unthinkable. Note that these two
variables are not additive, they are virtually exponential.
The TIES escape sequence eliminates the time factor entirely. And it is
therefore many orders of magnitude more likely to escape while transmitting a
data file than the Heatherington 302 technique. This is simply inarguable.
They are not comparable at any level.
More damning is the fact that there are modem manufacturers that have escape
sequences that do not infringe Hayes Heatherington patent that are very
nearly as good. TIES just isn't one of them. The ZyXEL modem, for example,
DOES cross the escape character series with time - it just isn't a fixed
guard time. They do an ongoing statistical analysis of data rates through the
modem. While there are pauses and distortions in data flow, they tend to be
very different ones from those caused by a human entering an escape sequence
from the keyboard, or even AT commands entered by software programs. Only
when the escape sequence occurs in a time flow disruption outside of some
statistical norms encountered in data transmission, (actually measured and
extrapolated from the CURRENT data transmission) will an escape sequence be
noted. It easily passes the Hayes test kit data file with no difficulty -
every time. We're not guessing.
The bottom line for our readers and indeed most of the BBS community is not
how virtuous or evil you perceive Hayes, how virtuous or evil Hayes perceives
you, or how virtuous or evil either one of you may be in your business
practices, competitive posture, or even how litigious you may be. They want
the best possible modem for the dollar. And another little "gotcha" from an
already too complex and error prone communications system doesn't spell value
to this community. There does not appear to be any economic incentive to
purchase a modem with the "second best" escape sequence built in.
For what it's worth, I thought the bomb ad was a little artless, but it
apparently had the effect Hayes was seeking - raising the issue. And it is
such a gruesomely technical issue to communicate, I'm going to guess it did
so faster than I thought possible. Certainly no one is going to lose their
jobs, endanger their company, or damage their data for that matter, and the
ad rather seriously overplayed the potential for disaster. The worst that can
realistically happen is that you will find a file that you just cannot
successfully download or upload, and no immediately rational explanation as
to why. And I would find it curiously surprising, without the Hayes ad, if
anyone at all ever called you to complain. We simply assume that if a modem
will pass one file, it will pass them all and the modem can't possibly be at
fault. That said, we have quite enough in the way of little mysteries to deal
with without one designed specifically for us.
So, while I'm sympathetic to the outrage at the ad, and even quite
sympathetic to the resistance to Dennis Hayes establishing a personal
retirement program by shaking down the entire modem industry for a 2.5%
royalty, as it stands now, he developed and marketed a product very early in
the development of the personal computer, he developed new techniques to deal
with some of these issues, and the U.S. Patent office has issued a patent for
it. Until that is overturned in court, there you have it.
Jack Rickard
Dear Jack,
Couldn't resist writing you after reading the first three issues of my
Boardwatch subscription.
First of all as a former college professor, I appreciate your occasional
forays into the ills of education in this country. See the enclosed letter I
wrote to U.S. News and World Report last spring; of course, they did not
reply or print excerpts. I can confirm your observations and criticisms are
"on target"; your intuition is quite good. Al Gore has an unusual insight
(for a politician) into the interface between technology and education.
Perhaps we are finally going to get some movement.
I found Bob Freeman's letter (Dec. issue) offensive, as did you. He missed
the point entirely. If there are only a handful of native American BBS, whose
write up barely fills one page, and you chose nonetheless to feature them
with a cover photo and headline, you have done them a genuine service. This
positive reaction comes from someone who has taught tribal anthropology in
the past, still researches and writes about shamanism and has had sympathetic
native American friends and acquaintances. I doubt you got negative reaction
from the BBS's involved.
I don't think you should feel in competition for the Pulitzer Prize when you
write for the magazine. While not polished, what your writing does possess is
clarity, energy and passion - along with what seems to be an awesome
technical background. That combination makes Boardwatch not only fun, but
seriously interesting and valuable. Your personality as it comes through in
the magazine reminds me of an anthropologist named John Greenway who worked
out of Berkeley in the 60's and roamed the Australian outback. He produced a
book called Down Among the Wild Men which was roundly abused by his
professional colleagues. I thought it was marvelous because the ethnographic
reporting was responsible and accurate but, above all, his energy and
enthusiasm were infectious. In the book, anthropology lost its dull, dry,
"objective", academic "interface" and became a flesh and blood involvement
with real people. Your reporting of the BBS industry, whether it is a
technical review of hardware or software, editorial comments, description of
new terrific BBS, etc. has the same quality. Greenway was condemned for his
lack of objectivity; he had the audacity to discuss Australian Aborigines as
real people, some of whom were quite unlikeable, some of whom were especially
attractive personalities. You will be forever cursed for bringing the same
qualities to CyberSpace, its hardware, software and people.
You bring the same courage and passion to the infusion of your religious
ideas into the magazine. While I agree with some, disagree with others, I do
not find you at all offensive. (My own views are ecumenical and go beyond the
Judao-Christian realm.) I'm certain you know God has a pair of dice. But do
you know how many dots are on the side of each die?
Well, to a matter of more immediate interest, perhaps. I've followed your
discussion of NAPLPS with interest. I've found away around having to use PP3
which I suspect would drive many users batty who do not have a computer
technology background. Subscribe to NVN - National Videtex Network - (which
is NAPLPS based) who will send the NVTEL graphic interface which mediates the
connection. The software includes a phone directory (whose limits I don't
know) so other NAPLPS systems can be added and dialed up. The only problem
with this approach is that it is not free. NVN is $5.95 per month which might
put some folks off. When I entered this game, I always assumed I would pay to
go the user friendly route and do so without anger whenever I make that
choice. I enjoy the Native American art from the Russell County BBS and now
use the NVTEL interface to call 'em; PP3 sits unused on floppy. (I agree with
your puzzlement over their choice of marketing strategy; seems like an odd
approach to selling computer art and the copyright issue is not clear. If
someone purchased the graphics file which generates a particular picture, can
the new "owner" then reproduce it or incorporate it in software, freely? What
if such software is a commercial product?)
Hope this makes up a bit for the guy in Maine who sends you hate mail with
his renewal check. But then, I'm not a real Mainer, just "from away" (someone
who was born and raised in another state).
Warm Regards,
Ben Blumenberg
Waldoboro, Maine
Ben:
Thank you for the very kind words regarding Boardwatch. I don't place nearly
the value on objectivity that many do. There are some fields where it is
important for good science as a procedural doctrine. But in presenting
information, it too often has been used as a cheap replacement for honesty
and credibility. Technical information is usually easier to convey from a
point of view - any point of view. And as long as the technical information
is conveyed in an interesting and readable fashion, what our readers do with
our "point of view" is pretty unimportant. For the most part, neither they
nor we take it all terribly seriously. But we are enthusiastic in greeting
each new development that expands the dimensions of CyberSpace.
I was not aware of the NVTEL program or the National Videtext Network. I
believe I'm slotted to pay a visit to an online real time conference on this
service in January, but it will be my first visit. In any event, we'll take a
look at this terminal program with a great deal of hope. The release of PP3
was an important contribution to introduce NAPLPS to the BBS community but we
clearly need to get beyond it, and Microstar seems curiously disinterested in
completing their good work in this area. I'm convinced that eventually some
second tier shareware terminal program on the order of a Telemate or Como
will make their place in the sun by incorporating NAPLPS into a capable
terminal program. It's possible that a market leader such as Procomm or
Qmodem will do it first, but historically that does not seem to be how these
things develop. Innovation seems to have a curious affinity for the lean,
hungry, and small. And there are still some other options rumbling around out
there, including RIP, Fracterm, and a few others.
Jack Rickard
========
TELEBITS
========
RUMORS AND TIDBITS
------------------
PC prices may get a slight up tick due to RAM memory prices. The U.S. Justice
department has charged several Korean firms with dumping memory chips in the
U.S. at prices below cost. As a result, a 100% duty has been levied against
the firms shipments. The companies have responded by cutting memory chip
shipments to the U.S. in half. Memory prices jumped immediately with 4MB
rising from just over $100 to some $160 in less than two weeks.
McAffee Associates has done very well with their shareware anti-virus
utilities SCAN, NETSCAN, and CLEAN. Electronic distribution as a shareware
product got them in the door to almost every MIS department in the country.
The result is some $20-$30 million in annual sales. The company just
completed an initial public offering adding some $48 million to their war
chest and making McAffee Associates the first shareware company ever to go
public. Rumor has it that the firm is so convinced electronic distribution is
what got them there that they are looking to acquire a BBS software developer
as one of their first official acts as a publicly traded company. Likely
prospects? Clark Development Company, Inc., developers of PCBoard BBS
software or eSoft Inc., developers of TBBS.
Things to watch - VIDEO just got a big boost with the introduction of
Microsoft's $199 Video for Windows. This program allows you to capture, edit,
and display video scenes captured with a cam corder and entered via a video
capture board. Significantly, you can create videos and distribute them.
Others can view them WITHOUT the full Video for Windows package - though they
will need to run Windows 3.1. It can't be any time before we will begin to
see videos online available for download. But the files won't be small...
Quotables: 90% of winning is being the last to quit.
AT&T has announced a further reduction in long distance costs for subscribers
to their Reach Out America residential calling plans. Effective November 26,
the long distance carrier will reduce the cost of night/weekend calls to ten
cents per minute ($6.00 per hour) anywhere within the continental U.S.
CELLULAR DATA CONNECTIONS
-------------------------
Cellular telephones are a less than ideal medium for transmitting data. But
the urge to connect without wires continues. Many of the solutions revolve
around specific radio modem solutions often carrying price tags over $1500
and usually tied to some specific data service at exorbitant service charges
of as much as $100. Because of the mass production of cellular telephone
devices for some nine million cellular users, cellular telephones are
available for as little as $99. Even the latest tiny handset pocket phones
are commonly available on the street for under $700. Looking at these pocket
telephones that really DO fit in a pocket, and laptops that really are five
pounds or less with some palmtops coming in at under a pound, most gadget
people are a little miffed that they can't plug one into another and make the
connection to whatever data service they desire. Why isn't there an RJ-11
jack somewhere on this pocket phone?
The good news is that now there is. The bad news is that it works with but a
handful of telephones, and it requires a device from Spectrum Cellular
Corporation of Dallas that itself costs nearly $400.
A handful of pocket telephone manufacturers have settled on a common external
jack for their pocket telephones. These phones include the AT&T 3730 Portable
and 3035 Transportable, the Ericsson/GE Hotline Portable Pocketphone, the
Fujitsu Stylus Portable, the NEC P200/300 and P201/301 models, and the OKI
900 Portable and 800 Transportable models. Spectrum makes a device they call
the AXCELL that connects to this proprietary connector plug. It provides an
RJ-11C jack with tip and ring connection and dialtone for any peripheral that
can connect to a normal modular wall jack. In this way, you can connect a
facsimile machine, modem, or credit card verification device, for example, to
one of these pocket telephones.
The device weighs 2.5 ounces and measures 15/16 X 2 1/4 X 3 7/8 inches. It's
powered by a 9V alkaline battery. The AXCELL is priced at a very proud $395.
SpectrumCellular, 2710 Stemmons Freeway, 800 North Tower, Dallas, TX 75207;
(214)630-9825 voice;
(214)630-1612 fax.
14.4KBPS POCKET MODEM
---------------------
Virtually every modem manufacturer has introduced a CCITT V.32bis modem
sporting 14.4kbps data transmissions and many today are including fax
features. But the miniature pocket modems commonly used with laptop computers
have lagged a bit in introducing high speed connections - a scant handful on
the market and usually at a premium price. Practical Peripherals has
announced a new pocket modem titled the PM14400FX featuring 14.4kbps data
plus fax in a 4.2 ounce package measuring 2.3 X 4.0 X 1.2 inches. And the new
model sports a number of surprising features.
The PM14400FX includes six pages of online help text coded into the Read Only
Memory (ROM) in the modem. For laptop users on the go, this handy feature
eliminates the search for the manual in many situations. The modem can also
translate alphanumeric telephone numbers (i.e. 1-800-FXMODEM) entered from
the keyboard to their numeric equivalents and it can recognize telephone
calling card prompt (bong) tones. It also features send/receive Group III fax
function at 9600 bps and is compatible with Class I and Class II PC fax
software. The PM14400 FX is powered by four AA alkaline batteries or AC
power. The DOS version ($499) comes with cable, AC adapter, and Quick Link II
fax/terminal software. A Mac version with appropriate software will be
available for $529. Practical Peripherals, 375 Conejo Ridge Avenue, Thousand
Oaks, CA 91361; (800)442-4774 voice; (805)374-7200 fax; (805)496-4445 BBS.
HAYES LAUNCHES FLEET OF NEW PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS
-------------------------------------------------
Hayes Microcomputer Products appears to be launching a new assault on the
online market with a fleet of new products and pricing announcements. Most
notably, there has been some obvious efforts to enhance their BBS operator
discount program.
With delays for getting US Robotics modems actually delivered still hovering
around eight weeks and more, many BBS operators are looking for an option.
We're hearing reports of Hayes verifying bulletin boards and shipping modems
THE NEXT DAY in some cases and in all cases within a week. Even better, their
new Hayes Ultra and Optima 144 models, carrying a sysop discount price as low
as $299 appear to be working flawlessly. The result could be a serious
defection from the ranks of those BBS operators who previously considered
U.S. Robotics to be as much a religion as a modem vendor.
In new product announcements, Hayes has introduced the Hayes Smartmodem
OPTIMA 14400 FAX 144 Pocket Edition. This is a very unusual modem -
ostensibly a pocket modem but a fairly hefty one at 8.5 ounces with a very
unusual case design. The effect is of a hybrid between a desktop modem and a
travel modem. It will work from AC or battery power, and is quite portable.
Functionally the modem is very much like the OPTIMA 14400 FAX model featuring
V.32bis 14,400 bps data connections with V.42/42bis error correction and data
compression as well as MNP5. It also sports Group III fax transmissions at
rates up to 14,400 bps under the V.17 standard as well as the more common
9600 V.29 fax transmission.
Significantly, this model sports a mode called Hayes AutoSync that allows the
modem to make synchronous modem connections to corporate mainframe computers.
While most of the BBS community operates entirely in an asynchronous
communications mode, many existing mainframe systems still require
synchronous communications to make the connection. The Pocket Edition allows
this from a laptop quite easily.
The Pocket Edition comes with cables, battery pack, AC adapter, the Smartcom
EZ and Smartcom FAX software programs. The modem is scheduled to ship during
the first quarter of 1993 at a list price of $599.
"In addition to being lightweight and easy to carry, the modem is also very
convenient and appropriate for the desktop," said Hayes President Dennis C.
Hayes. "OPTIMA Pocket Edition is perfect for employees who are always in and
out of the office. With features like Hayes AutoSync users can now perform
synchronous communications from a laptop computer to the corporate
mainframe."
Another interesting new product from Hayes is their first PCMCIA modem - the
OPTIMA 24 + FAX96 for PCMCIA. PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association) bus is becoming quite the standard for laptop and
portable computers to add memory and a variety of peripheral devices -
essentially an expansion bus. The HP95LX palmtop computer and the Poquet
notebook, for example, sport PCMCIA slots.
Hayes' first venture into PCMCIA offers 2400 bps connections with V.42/42bis
and MNP5 AND 9600 bps fax transmit/receive capabilities. The device is a tiny
credit card-sized modem that plugs into a PCMCIA slot and connects to the
telephone via a standard RJ-11 modular plug. The new device will be available
during the first quarter of 1993 at a list price of $399. With the growing
availability of 9600 and 14,400 bps pocket modems, while the PCMCIA form
factor is very interesting, we don't know that it merits $399 for a 2400 bps
modem.
The company has also introduced an internal circuit card version of its
OPTIMA series with the OPTIMA 144B +FAX144. This modem features all the data
and fax connections of the OPTIMA 144 and the pocket edition, including the
Smartcom EZ and Smartcom FAX software, V.42/42bis, and MNP5 in a CCITT
v.32bis 14,400 bps modem. But additionally, it includes the Hayes Enhanced
Serial Port (ESP) function - now referred to as the Communications
Accelerator. Many PCs still sport NS16450 Universal Asynchronous
Receiver/Transmitter (UART) serial ports and some have serious problems with
higher data rates encountered with the new high speed modems. Nearly two
years ago, Hayes introduced an ESP serial card featuring NS16550 UARTs and a
1 KB buffer with a coprocessor on it to perform direct DMA data transfers.
The new OPTIMA144B +FAX144 has this ESP technology built in. It also includes
a Hayes ESP Driver for Windows 3.1. The OPTIMA 144B + 144FAX will be
available at a list price of $519.
Finally, Hayes has introduced a Windows communications program titled
Smartcom for Windows version 1.0. The software is available in English,
Spanish, Italian, French, or German and includes support for the Hayes ESP
Communications Accelerator, the Hayes ISDN Adapter, and TCP/IP
Internetworking. It also includes a text editor allowing callers to
incorporate ANSI graphics into messages quite easily.
All Hayes modems come with a two year warranty. Those who purchase modems
directly from Hayes by mail or via the Hayes Online bulletin board system at
(800)USHAYES or (404)HIMODEM within the first 90 days will have that warranty
extended to a full five years at no additional cost. Hayes Microcomputer
Products, Inc., 5835 Peachtree Corners East, Norcross, GA 30092;
(404)441-1617 voice; (404)441-1238 fax.
GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM FOR PALMTOP COMPUTERS
-----------------------------------------------
A big part of getting anywhere in life is determining where you were when you
started. Thanks to a series of some 24 navigational satellites put into orbit
around the earth, that's becoming a much less relative question.
Termed the Navstar Global Positioning System, this series of satellites, when
all are finally launched, will orbit the earth at 29,200 kilometers in six
orbital planes inclined 55 degrees from the equator. Each satellite sports
its own atomic clock to provide ranging signals on two L-band frequencies to
receivers on earth. Five satellites should be within view from any point on
the planet at any single time. The result is a navigational location system
operated by the U.S. Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado
that can allow anyone, anywhere on the planet to determine precise location
to within a few meters. This service was extremely useful to the U.S.
military during operation Desert Storm, and is increasingly proving a boon to
civilian users.
The U.S. Coast Guard operates the GPS Information Center in Alexandria
Virginia providing info on satellite conditions, schedules, and status. This
information is available on their 9600 bps BBS at (703)866-3894. GPSIC, US
Coast Guard ONSCEN, 7323 Telegraph Road, Alexandria, VA 22310; (703)866-3806
voice; (703)866-3825 fax.
The key to effectively using this service is the cost of the GPS receivers.
Most of these we've discussed in Boardwatch before were priced at nearly
$5000 and often did not allow any connection to a personal computer.
Recently, we came across a package by GESSA, a Swiss firm that calls their
product the GPSpac. It's designed to work with the HP95LX palmtop computer
and appears to be priced at around $1550. This is the lowest priced GPS
receiver we've found that DOES sport PC connectivity for data. And the HP95LX
makes an excellent portable position logging machine. It's light, very
portable, and it connects well to standard PCs to exchange data.
The heart of the GPSpac is a sensor based on the Rockwell NavCore V GPS
receiver with built in antenna. This is a five channel receiver capable of
receiving data from all five satellites that may be within view at any one
time. It connects to the HP Data Link Cradle (HP F1007A/B). The HP95LX plugs
into the cradle and obtains position data from the Rockwell unit. The GPSpac
software can be loaded into the HP95LX either from a memory card, or from a
floppy via another PC.
The package must be used out doors to gain an accurate reading, and it can
take several minutes to obtain a fix. The system will give you your altitude
in feet, your horizontal velocity, true track, vertical velocity, date/time,
and latitude and longitude within an accuracy of about 25 meters. It can be
used from trains, planes, or automobiles easily. The software provided also
provides navigation and data logging functions. Data can be logged directly
into Lotus 123 spreadsheets in the HP95LX.
While still a bit pricey at $1550, the Global Positioning System is one of
those devices gadget gurus just can't keep their hands off of. GESSA can be
reached at GESSA, 45a Route des Acacias, CH-1227, Geneva, Switzerland;
41-22-342-78-06 fax. The U.S. distributor for the GESSA GPSpac is PalmTree
Products, Inc. They offer the GPS sensor, software necessary to communicate
with the 95LX, an HP cradle, a battery pack for remote operation, cables, a
foam-lined transit case and manuals for $1550. Contact Gregg Brasso, PalmTree
Products, Inc., 145 Washington St., Norwell, MA 02061; (617)871-7050 voice;
(617)871-6018 fax.
EXTENSION PHONES FOR CELLULAR TELEPHONE
---------------------------------------
Many years ago, it was common to have a single telephone in your house. Over
time, it became increasingly common to have extension telephones added. These
phones were simply wired into the same lines coming in to the house, and all
extensions worked from the same telephone number. But of course they allowed
you to answer the telephone from whatever telephone set you were nearest to.
Somehow, all of this got out of control and sometimes these days it seems
like I have telephones chasing me down the hall. But it is convenient.
Imagine my surprise then when the cellular telephone representative patiently
explained to me that the cell phone in my hand was the only one in the world
that I could have on that account. It was the lone phone in the universe that
would ring when that particular number was dialed. And there was no way to
add any extensions.
This poses a few minor inconveniences. I would like to have a phone
permanently mounted in the van for example. But not badly enough to allow the
telephone company to gobble another monthly minimum charge of obscene
proportions from my pocket.
But a company in Montgomery Alabama claims they can fix me. C2 PLUS makes it
possible to put two or more cellular phones on a single number. You send them
your current cellular telephone and a second one that is either an NEC,
Audiovox, Novatel, or Motorola Transportable, and basically, they program the
second phone to work just like the first one on the same cellular account.
There are some restrictions. Apparently, if you have both phone sets turned
on at the same time, neither one will ring. And you cannot use the two
telephones to talk to each other. But as long as you use one telephone at a
time, you can have more than one phone on the same account and whichever one
you do have on will ring for incoming calls. The service costs $199. C2 PLUS
Technology, 3174 Mobile Highway, Montgomery, AL 36108; (205)264-0264.
TRANSCONTINENTAL ISDN PROJECT 1992
----------------------------------
Hayes has operated a support BBS for some time, but within the last year they
have become probably the first product support BBS to offer ISDN connections.
While interesting, this has been a bit premature in some ways since few areas
sport ISDN service and long distance ISDN has been out of the question. A
demonstration termed the Transcontinental ISDN Project 92 was held November
16-20 with over 70 organizations around the country participating in ISDN
demonstrations. The purpose of TRIP '92 was to demonstrate that long distance
ISDN could be accomplished - it was the "golden splice" ceremony for coast to
coast ISDN.
ISDN stands for Integrated Services Digital Network and represents the next
most logical step in data communication speeds for consumers. Using existing
wiring to the home or office, ISDN basic rate interface service consists of
two 64 kbps digital bearer or B channels, and one 16 kbps D channel.
Installing ISDN does require an upgrade to the telephone company central
office (CO) and the addition of customer premise equipment (CPE) such as an
ISDN adapter.
ISDN was first proposed in 1979, but implementation has been a problem.
Although a CCITT standard exists, interoperability between different vendor
products has been a problem. In February 1991, Bell Communications Research
led an effort to finalize a workable ISDN implementation standard called
National ISDN 1 to solve the interoperability problem. The North American
ISDN User's Forum (NIUF), together with the Corporation for Open Systems
proposed a special event to publicly demonstrate National ISDN 1. The concept
was that this would motivate vendors to fully implement National ISDN 1 by
the time of the event. And so the Transcontinental ISDN Project 1992 (TRIP
'92) was born.
During Trip '92, over 70 vendors and organizations demonstrated ISDN
applications at open houses held at over 150 sites in 26 states across the
U.S., four Canadian provinces and parts of Europe, Asia, and Australia. An
ISDN exposition was held at Reston Virginia show casing ISDN products and
services. The Golden Splice event was held November 16 to demonstrate
inauguration of transcontinental ISDN service. The first calls were made from
TRIP '92 headquarters in Reston Virginia to sites in Chicago, Huntsville, and
Pasadena.
The Corporation for Open Systems has produced an ISDN source book providing
technical overviews of each open house application demonstrated during TRIP
'92. This information will be made available online by the Corporation for
Open Systems - they can be reached at 800-759-2674.
Hayes has been a proponent of ISDN for some time and during TRIP 92' they
provided the world's first Online Open House ISDN Bulletin Board System from
their world headquarters in Norcross, Georgia. ISDN access to the Online With
Hayes BBS is available at (404)729-6525 and one area of the BBS is devoted to
information about ISDN. They also operated sites in San Francisco and at
their COMDEX booth. The company has developed two ISDN products of interest,
the Hayes ISDN System Adapter and the Hayes ISDN PC Adapter. On October 28,
they announced a 25% price reduction on both products to a list price of
$1199.
The Hayes ISDN System Adapter is an external device with voice and data
capabilities supporting the Hayes AT command set for ISDN and comes with
software for both Macintosh and DOS computers. The Hayes ISDN PC Adapter in
an internal circuit card for installation in PC compatible computers. The
current adapters work with either AT&T or Northern Telecom ISDN switches. An
upgrade to the Hayes adapters to National 1 ISDN will be available in March
1993 at a price of $75. Notably, both devices feature standard RJ-11 modular
connectors allowing you to connect any existing analog telephone device,
including modems, voice phones, and fax machines, to the ISDN network via the
adapter.
Despite TRIP '92, implementation has been spotty. Ameritech, for example has
been one of the more aggressive RBOC in implementing ISDN. Kevin Behrens
operates Aquila BBS in Chicago at (708)820-8344. Aquila is a PCBoard BBS
operating on 25 lines. Working with Hayes Microcomputer Products, Behrens
added two ISDN lines to his system using the Hayes ISDN Adapter in November
at (708)978-2221/2222. But while the monthly charges for the lines are modest
(around $37), Ameritech, for no known reason, has applied clock charges of
over ten cents per minute both to the caller AND to the location called.
"We'll have to figure out some way to charge callers clocked rates on the
ISDN lines - and that doesn't fit very well with our normal way of doing
business - or theirs.", said Behrens. He indicates Ameritech may be
considering some changes in this area.
For ISDN to be real, it must be universally available. And with what we're
seeing from most of the RBOC's regarding such pricing moves, despite TRIP
'92, the future story on ISDN is shaping up to be "How the Telephone
Companies killed ISDN".
For more information on Hayes products for ISDN, contact Hayes Microcomputer
Products, Inc., Hayes ISDN Technologies, 501 Second Street, Suite 300, San
Francisco, CA 94107; (415)974-5544 voice; (415)543-5810 fax.
SOFTWARE ETC. OFFERS CHOICE OF 14,400 BPS FAX MODEM OR CD-ROM DRIVE - $199.99
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Gary Funk
Software Etc. has developed a following with a chain of over 250 stores
nationwide, located primarily in shopping center/mall locations. The stores
carry a very up-to-date selection of computer books, magazines, and software
at handsomely discounted prices. And the mall location has proven key.
Finally, the computer enthusiast in the family has something to do at the
mall while the spouse or spousette, as the case may be, does the mall crawl.
But Software Etc. in the past has tended to specialize in....well...
software. We were surprised to learn of some pretty serious adventures into
the land of computer hardware - particularly peripherals. While we're
accustomed to seeing the odd mouse pad and power outlet in these stores, some
recent products have caught our eye.
Leading the pack is high-speed modems. The move to higher modem speeds has
not been delayed by lack of desire, but rather by price. A thousand dollars
for a high speed modem has historically been beyond the budget of callers who
may not have sunk quite that much into their entire computer system and even
at the $300-$400 range, only the serious online aficionado is likely to spend
that kind of money for a modem. A large number of callers out there are stuck
at 2400 bps until a more economical modem comes along.
In November, Software Etc. began offering an internal modem from Digicom
Systems sporting V.32bis 14,400 bps connections AND Group III fax at the
historic price of $199.99. We've long considered $200 the magic number, and
Software Etc. seems to have been the first to break it. This is not a sysop
deal - anyone can walk into a Software Etc. and get one of these modems for
$199.99 plus sales tax.
And the modem isn't at all bad. An internal circuit card, it features the
16550 UART, CCITT V.32bis 14,400 bps modulation, V.42/42bis error correction
and compression as well as Microcom Networking Protocol (MNP) level 5, 9600
bps Group III send and receive fax, and a five year warranty. It comes with
the Qmodem version 4.5 terminal program and Bitfax version 2.1 to run the fax
function.
This is basically the standard feature set most modems are offering in the
14.4kbps data with fax market. And in testing this modem, we achieved good
results on file transfers and the fax worked without complaint.
Digicom operates a support BBS using Wildcat! v3.5. A call to the system
revealed some interesting information. It seems they are offering the same
modem, which retails for $359, to Sysop's for $266. This is also the same
modem that QuickComm markets as the Spirit II internal. Digicom Systems,
Inc., 188 Topaz Street Milpitas, CA 95035; (408)262-1277 voice; (408)262-1390
fax; (408)262-1412 BBS.
The other area of interest is CD-ROM drives. CD-ROMs have suffered a bit from
the chicken and egg syndrome. Few titles were available because of a limited
market, and with few titles, the drives have remained a bit pricey. That is
due to change shortly. CD-ROM titles are currently being released in a swarm
and the prices of the drives are coming down. We think 1993 will be the year
of the CD-ROM.
Early in 1992, Software Etc. started carrying CD-ROMs and CD-ROM drives. This
meant you could easily buy the CD-ROM drives at retail even though the prices
were above the $500 mark. We actually purchased a Sony CD-535 drive for the
Boardwatch BBS at Software Etc. The chain continues to make a mark as a price
leader with a new internal CD-ROM drive for under $200.
The drive is the Mitsumi CRMC and Software Etc. is selling it for $199.99. It
is a 5 1/4 half-height drive and fits nicely inside most any PC. It is very
well made and seems sturdy enough to stand up to most any 10 year old. It
installed easily and the software setup program walks you through the setup
rather quickly.
Once the unit is in place, reading a CD-ROM is as easy as pulling the drawer
out, inserting the ROM, and closing the drawer. You can even play music CDs
with this unit. Included on the interface card are two RCA phone jacks for
left and right audio. The front panel contains a busy light, headphone jack,
and headphone volume control.
A couple of drawbacks to this drive indicate its use as a personal CD-ROM
rather than an online BBS unit. The drive we tested has a relatively slow
access time, typically 800 ms, a respectable data transfer rate of 150 Kbytes
per second with a burst speed of 1.6 MBytes per second. We used the drive
with a 386-40 MHz PC to excellent results. But insiders tell us the drive
will be upgraded to a 320 msec unit in January at the same price. That may be
a significant enough performance increase to wait a week or two.
Additionally, most CD-ROM drives feature a Small Computer Systems Interface
(SCSI - pronounced "scuzzy") that allows multiple drives to be daisy chained.
the Mitsumi CRMC features its own proprietary I/O card and it can only handle
a single CD-ROM drive. While this may limit its usefulness for large BBS
installations, as a personal CD-ROM, Software Etc.'s introduction of the
Mitsumi at $199.99 puts this addition on par to adding a floppy disk drive to
your system, and you gain access to a whole new world of large-data
applications.
Both the Digicom V.32bis modem and the Mitsumi disk drive are capable
products at a historic bargain price point and have the potential to change
the personal computing terrain by virtue of introducing many thousands of
users to high speed communications and CD-ROM applications that simply
wouldn't have made the trip at the higher prices we usually associate with
these devices. To find the Software Etc. store nearest you, call
1-800-328-4646 and give them your zip-code. Software Etc., 7505 Metro Blvd.,
Edina, MN 55439; (800)328-4646 voice.
BOARDWATCH 100 READER'S CHOICE BBS CONTEST 1993
-----------------------------------------------
Boardwatch Magazine is sponsoring a contest to find the 100 most popular
bulletin board systems in North America - and the ONE BBS most popular among
callers. The contest will run from January 1, 1993 through July 1, 1993.
Winners will be announced at the Online Networking Exposition and BBS
Convention (ONE BBSCON) held at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs
Colorado, August 26-29, 1993. The Boardwatch 100 list will be published in
subsequent issues of Boardwatch Magazine and distributed in electronic form
world-wide.
PRIZES FOR BULLETIN BOARD OPERATORS
1ST PRIZE: The BBS system receiving the largest number of valid ballots will
be named the most popular BBS. A trophy will be awarded to the top BBS at the
Online Networking Exposition and BBS Convention (ONE BBSCON) held August
26-29th, 1993, at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Additionally, the winning BBS will receive air fare, hotel accommodations and
registration at ONE BBSCON for the primary BBS operator as the guest of
Boardwatch Magazine. Additionally, the system will be featured on the cover
of Boardwatch Magazine with an accompanying feature length story about their
system and a free full-page black and white advertisement in Boardwatch
Magazine for a period of three months.
TOP TEN: The ten most popular bulletin boards selected by the voters will
each receive an award trophy at the ONE BBSCON, a feature story on their
system in Boardwatch Magazine, inclusion in a special top ten BBS listing in
the magazine, and a free quarter-page black and white advertisement in three
successive issues. Additionally, they will be listed in the Boardwatch 100
BBS list.
TOP ONE HUNDRED: The 100 bulletin boards receiving the most votes will each
be listed in the Boardwatch 100 readers choice BBS list. This list will be
published in Boardwatch Magazine and freely distributed electronically on
thousands of bulletin boards world-wide.
IN CASE OF TIE. Positions for which an identical number of votes are received
will be determined by point value established by the date stamp assigned to
each received ballot. Time/Date stamp values are accumulated for all votes
and a cumulative score assigned to each BBS based on date of receipt of
ballots. Votes receive a date stamp value between 1 and 180 based on the day
of the contest the vote is received. System with lowest (earliest) cumulative
date stamp score will prevail in event of tie.
PRIZES FOR VOTERS
All valid ballots submitted by voters will be entered in a random sweepstakes
drawing. As of the opening date of this contest, prizes include two U.S.
Robotics Courier Dual Standard 16.8K Modems, two Hayes OPTIMA 14400 + FAX 144
modems, and two ZyXEL U-1496 14,400 bps modems - and more are on the way. A
minimum of six valid ballots will be selected from all entries and each will
receive a free modem - from the most popular modem manufacturers in the
world.
RULES FOR CALLERS
Each voter can vote once, for a single bulletin board system. Each ballot
must be fully completed, and individually mailed by each voter. We will
verify ballots as necessary. There are three ways to vote:
1. Complete this ballot and mail to: BOARDWATCH MAGAZINE, READERS CHOICE BBS
CONTEST, 5970 South Vivian Street, Littleton, CO 80127
2. Complete this ballot and FAX to (303)973-3731.
3. Or, dial the Boardwatch BBS at (303)973-4222 and complete the online
ballot provided on the main menu.
Balloting closes at 23:59:59 on June 30, 1993. Last year it ended at
midnight on July 1 and called all manner of grief and confusion so we're
cutting a second off of this year's contest.
This contest is not limited to Boardwatch Magazine subscribers, and no
purchase of anything is required to participate in this contest. Reasonable
facsimile's of this ballot are acceptable, so long as all specified
information is included.
We held this contest during 1992 and it generated 11,152 votes by the close
of balloting for some 1250 different bulletin boards. The TOP system received
about 450 votes. Your individual vote can have a tremendous impact on the
outcome of this contest. Further, the odds of winning a modem in last years
contest, were 1 in 1394. You won't get those odds in the lottery.
RULES FOR BBS OPERATORS
While the obvious winners in such a contest are the BBSs voted the most
popular, The Boardwatch 100 Reader's Choice contest is designed for the
callers. This is their chance to note what elements of a BBS are important to
them, and to designate a BBS they think the world should know about. And they
receive the hardware prizes.
But past contests have indicated that the winning bulletin boards do campaign
a bit. Bulletin Board Operators may encourage callers to vote for their
system by offering whatever inducements/encouragements they like. There is
one rule to this contest for BBS operators. YOU MAY NOT HANDLE ANY VOTE AFTER
THE CALLER HAS COMPLETED THE BALLOT. YOU MAY NOT HANDLE IT IN ANY WAY.
BBS operators may provide callers with anything they like, including postage
paid envelopes, printed matter, solicitations, Jaguar convertibles, etc. But
once they have completed a ballot, if they touch, handle, or otherwise deal
with the ballot in any way, their BBS will be disqualified from the contest
without appeal or recourse.
This is because we have developed adequate mechanisms to determine the
validity of votes received - and they have proven effective. But if we allow
BBSs to collect ballots, we have no mechanism for determining ballots that
"got lost" and were never passed on to Boardwatch Magazine.
This contest is open to all bulletin boards worldwide with the sole exception
of the Boardwatch Magazine BBS - which is ineligible. Commercial services
such as Prodigy, America Online, CompuServe, are considered to be networks
and not bulletin boards for the purposes of this contest. HOWEVER, individual
forums, roundtables, or special interest areas moderated by a specific human
SYSOP on those services and allowing callers to post messages in that
specific area ARE considered to be bulletin boards for the purposes of this
contest and may participate.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS FROM LAST YEAR'S CONTEST
Q. Can I vote for my own BBS.
A. Yes. If you don't think your BBS is the best in North America, it's
unlikely anyone else will. You may vote for your own BBS, and encourage
others to do likewise.
Q. Can I vote more than once?
A. No.
Q. Can I change my vote?
A. No. Once a vote is received, it is added to a database and tallied. There
is no mechanism for altering votes. If we receive more than one vote from a
single person, BOTH votes are disqualified and removed without notification.
If more than one vote is received from the same address, we may contact the
voters to ensure both votes are from different callers.
Q. Can I post an electronic survey form on my BBS and allow my callers to
vote electronically online?
A. No. Electronic balloting is provided only on the Boardwatch BBS, primarily
in response to past requests from vision impaired/disabled callers. BBS
operators participating in the contest may not handle the ballot in any way,
electronically or otherwise, after it is completed by the caller.
Q. Can I collect votes from my callers and mail them in for them.
A. No.
Q. Can I collect votes from my callers and fax them in for them?
A. No.
Q. Can I print up special ballots, and mail them to my callers with postage
prepaid envelopes?
A. Yes. The ballot must include ALL information and questions from the ballot
printed in Boardwatch Magazine and the ballot provided to callers must not be
pre-completed. It must be a truly blank ballot allowing them to vote for
whatever BBS they wish to vote for. But broadly, you can provide anything you
like TO the voters.
Q. Can I obtain a list of those voting for my BBS?
A. No. Voter data is used for vote verification and statistical analysis
only. We cannot provide voter lists to bulletin boards.
U.S. STREET MAP CD-ROM FOR WINDOWS
----------------------------------
Delorme Mapping has developed a $495 Windows-based software program titled
MapExpert that works with a CD-ROM titled Street Atlas USA. The product
allows users to zoom from a national map down through 16 zoom levels to
actual street addresses in over 300 metropolitan areas. Users can search the
map database by name, zip code, or telephone number.
The system allows users to annotate maps with text, new road additions,
shading, or from an array of supplied map symbols. These overlay annotations
can be saved to a hard disk or floppy and recalled later. A
latitude/longitude display updates as the cursor is moved and the program
will calculate distances between two points. MapExpert is $495 while the
Street Atlas USA CD-ROM is priced at $169/ Delorme, Freeport Maine,
(207)865-4171.
MOTOROLA INTROS WIRELESS PCMCIA MODEM
-------------------------------------
Motorola Inc. has introduced the first wireless modem in the PCMCIA card
format for laptops. Dubbed the NewsCard, the modem is receive only, and can
receive electronic mail and paging messages in the same format as Motorola's
NewsStream pagers. The device works with SkyTel's SkyStream news and data
service, Motorola's EMBARC wireless electronic mail network, Bell South's
MobileComm paging service, and Southwestern Bell's Metromedia.
PCMCIA is the Personal Computer Memory Card International Association
standard for credit card sized memory cards. The standard is increasingly
being used for other hardware peripherals, such as modems and LAN adapters,
and is shaping up as a type of tiny expansion bus for laptops. The NewsCard
product is expected in 1993 at less than $400. Motorola, Boynton Beach,
Florida, (407)364-2000.
========
SOFTWARE
========
CELERITY BBS SOFTWARE VERSION 1.41 RELEASED
-------------------------------------------
Lexicon Computers has announced the release of version 1.41 of Celerity BBS.
Celerity is a shareware BBS package with a $60 registration fee offering
FidoNet compatibility, internal QWK offline mail support, and highly
configurable menu scripting. The package can operate multiple lines using a
local area network of PCs and can run existing doors programs compatible with
DOOR.SYS, DORINFO.DEF and CHAIN.TXT formats. It also provides some limited
support for NAPLPS graphics. The shareware files can be downloaded from the
support BBS at (310)693-9405. Lexicon Computers, 13716 Penn St. Suite #1B,
Whittier, CA 90602.
PCBOARD ANNOUNCES MULTI-PORT VERSION
------------------------------------
Clark Development Company, Inc. (CDC) has announced release of a new
multi-port version of PCBoard software supporting both intelligent and
non-intelligent multi-port serial cards and allowing PCBoard operators to
more easily run multiple PCBoard nodes on a single PC.
PCBoard systems offer tremendous flexibility using a model of LANned PCs with
each PC serving a single telephone line. This model allows the system to drop
to DOS and run virtually any other program as a DOOR. But at some line
counts, the economics of running a PC for each telephone line begin to look a
little grim. As a result, many PCBoard operators have experimented with
running PCBoard under multitaskers such as DESQview to serve multiple lines
from a single PC. But the overhead of doing so tends to limit this to about
four lines in most cases.
The new PCBoard version makes the task of running multiple lines from a
single PC much easier, and by offloading much of the communication task to
intelligent serial i/o boards, allows PCBoard operators to run eight lines or
more from a single 386 or 486 PC.
The new version includes a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) communications
driver that is loaded ahead of the multi-tasking software such as DESQview.
Third party programs can use this communications driver as well either by
INT14h calls, or by using a linked library provided by Clark Development to
recompile their programs.
According to David W. Terry, Director of Programming at CDC, "This new
version of PCBoard was developed to meet the needs of our many customers who
want to run more than four nodes on a single machine. In order to ensure the
widest range of compatibility with current hardware and software
configurations, I decided to make the new PCBoard software work with
virtually any intelligent or non-intelligent serial card on the market -
rather than limiting our customers to a single board manufacturer or
solution. Additionally, I designed the software to work with any combination
of serial ports installed in a single machine. In other words, a customer can
use a combination of both intelligent and non-intelligent boards from
different manufacturers in the same machine at the same time."
The one issue that comes up with the new version is compatibility with DOORS
and other PCBoard utilities used on a typical PCBoard BBS. Most of them will
not work with the new version directly. DOORS such as DOORWAY, Qmail,
HS/Link, and PCBFileView that already support a FOSSIL interface will work
with the new version. But given the demand for a multiline version, most
PCBoard operators expect other DOOR authors to release multiline versions
quickly. CDC has upgraded their PCBoard Toolkit to include two .OBJ files
which can be linked into a DOOR program to allow it to use the TSR
communications driver via INT14h calls. Additionally, CDC has released a new
programming aid titled COMM-DRV library that will allow third party
developers to access the communications driver directly. COMM-DRV Library is
priced at $159.
The new PCBoard multi-port software is available at an upgrade price of $100
or to new customers at $440 for PCBoard/10M (10 nodes) or $780 for
PCBoard/100M (100 nodes). Further, CDC is offering a series of intelligent
serial i/o cards from Arnet including the Arnet SmartPlus 4 Port Card at $495
and the Arnet SmartPlus 8 Port Card at $995. Clark Development is currently
testing the new software on their 10 line Saltair support BBS at
(801)261-8976 for those who would like to see the new multi-port version in
action. Clark Development Company, Inc., PO Box 571365, Murray, UT 84107;
(800)356-1686 order line; (801)261-1686 tech support; (801)261-8987 fax.
ESOFT SHIPS QWK MAIL MODULE FOR TBBS
------------------------------------
Sparky Herring's QWK file format for offline mail has become a significant
element in the BBS world - for the odd reason that it allows callers to get
back OFF line faster. Offline mail readers patterned after Herring's original
QMail program allow callers to dial a BBS, download a packet containing
messages from conferences they are interested in, and disconnect. They can
then read and respond to the messages offline, and call back in later to
upload their replies.
The QWK mail programs on the BBS end have virtually all been add-on door
programs run in conjunction with BBS programs. Very few BBS software programs
actually have the .QWK mail function built-in. For systems such as PCBoard,
Wildcat!, and Searchlight, running a door program is a relatively simple
matter. But for most true multiline systems, doors aren't an easy option and
in many cases not an option at all.
eSoft, Inc. began shipments of their new QWK Support Option module or QSO for
The Bread Board System (TBBS) on November 16. This is an integrated assembly
language extension to the TBBS program that allows TBBS systems to offer full
and unqualified support for offline mail. While eSoft is lagging the game a
bit with an offline mail entry at this late point, a number of TBBS operators
are noting it was worth the wait.
First, the QSO option module is fast. Mail doors must scan a large series of
message areas and aggregate messages from those conferences the caller has
selected. These messages are then packaged and compressed - usually using the
.ZIP compression format developed by Phil Katz of PKWare. And this process
typically takes a few minutes. Since the objective is to get on the BBS, get
your mail, and get off, time IS a factor. QSO is written entirely in assembly
language, and it shows.
Part of the speed is actually perceptual. QSO has three different compression
modes the system operator can select. They can have QSO compress all mail,
compress no mail, or just compress mail for those who DON'T logon with
V.42/42bis or MNP5 connections. When the mail is not compressed, it IS still
packaged in a .ZIP file, but the file isn't compressed. Why? Well, the
compression is the lion's share of what the caller is waiting for while they
wait for the mail to pack. Virtually all new modems available today offer
CCITT V.42 error correction and V.42bis compression. This compression in
hardware is really quite similar to compression attained by programs like
PKZIP. So effectively, QSO gives the mail packet to the caller almost
IMMEDIATELY with NO compression, and lets the modems handle the compression
on the fly. If both ends do use V.42bis, this works quite well and the total
time to get a mail package is actually less. The option to compress mail for
callers who don't have V.42bis and not compress mail for those who do, is
pretty cunning.
We noted that files that WERE compressed in QSO tended to be about 5% larger
than those done with the actual PKZIP utility - apparently a function of the
limited memory space available for each caller on a multiline system. In
practice, it's not noticeable.
QSO offers a couple of things beyond most mailers. Notable among these are
file attachments and return receipts for e-mail. File attachments allow one
caller to send another an e-mail message with an attached file containing a
program or whatever. Both these functions require a bit of cooperation from
the offline mail reader. Mustang Software, Inc.'s new mail manager Qmodem
Pro, for example, supports file attachments and eSoft has used the same
technique in QSO making the two compatible. Between Qmodem Pro, Wildcat!, and
TBBS, we expect this function to gain a following rather quickly and rapidly
migrate to most other offline mail readers.
Further, QSO allows messages of virtually unlimited length to make the trip
between caller and BBS. For many, this won't make much sense since offline
mail readers typically limit message length to 100 or 150 lines. But
developers of offline mail readers are growing increasingly adventurous in
venturing from the original QMail model and several have already indicated a
willingness to support longer messages.
One of the most surprising things about the QSO option module is that it
supports message area subdirectories based on the PCBoard message format.
Since TBBS uses a message database format internally, this is a bit
surprising. The BBS can't actually display PCBoard message directories online
yet, but QSO can and so callers can participate in conferences held entirely
in these hidden directories. According to developer Phil Becker, this allows
TBBS operators to instantly take advantage of the existing utilities to
participate in QWK mail networks such as RIME, ILINK, and others.
Additionally, for offline mail it eliminates the previous limitations TBBS
applied to mail, such as 63 message areas and 65,000 total messages. With
QSO, TBBS systems can handle unlimited messages and conferences - up to
available hard drive space.
QSO is priced at $99.95. And most of the negatives about this option are more
traceable to an early file format stretched beyond it's original limits than
to lack of eSoft efforts. The 25-character limit on the TO and FROM field is
increasingly a bottleneck for systems participating in Internet and other
networking adventures. But we think QSO will not only bring offline mail to
some TBBS systems that sorely needed this function, it will likely set a new
standard for mail door performance that's tough to beat. eSoft, Inc., 15,200
E. Girard Avenue, Suite 3000, Aurora, CO 80014; (303)699-6565 voice;
(303)699-8222 BBS.
=========================================
PACKET RADIO - BBSING WITHOUT PHONE LINES
=========================================
A worldwide Amateur Radio network lets you go modeming around the world and
even into outer space--and you'll never get a telephone bill.
By Brian Battles, WS1O
Telephone BBSing is an exciting way to meet people, exchange electronic mail
and transfer software from your computer to thousands of others.
Unfortunately, playing with a telephone modem can be costly if you spend much
time connecting to machines outside your local telephone calling area.
Commercial online services, such as CompuServe, Prodigy, GEnie, Delphi, BIX
and America Online, can quickly dry up your bank account with monthly or
hourly charges. Private BBSs often request nominal membership fees that can
add up BBSers. You can, however, use your computer, communications software
and simple add-on hardware to gain free access to a worldwide
data-communications network.
You may have heard of Amateur Radio--also known as "ham radio"--but many
people think of it as a sophisticated form of Citizen's Band (CB) or as an
arcane pastime of wild-eyed old-timers tapping out messages around the world
on Morse code keys. Those images are based on a degree of fact, but Amateur
Radio is far more. And it may be a perfect hobby for you. Ham vs. CB
To debunk the myth that "ham radio is like CB," here are a few key
differences:
1) CB users operate without any form of licensing.
Hams must pass formal examinations and are licensed by the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC).
2) By federal law, CB operators are restricted to four watts of power output
and may only communicate with other CBers up to 150 miles away.
Hams may use as much as 1500 watts and may contact other hams anywhere in the
world. They even make two-way radio contacts via orbiting space
satellites--built by amateurs--and talk directly to astronauts aboard US
space shuttles and the Russian Mir space station. Communicating with distant
hams is, in fact, a distinctive Amateur Radio pursuit--there are awards
issued for confirming contacts with certain numbers of hams in all US
states or foreign countries.
3) CB signal transmissions may only take the form of voice communications or
operation of radio-controlled hobby devices (model aircraft, cars, boats and
so on).
Hams are authorized to use both of those and Morse code, radio teletype
(RTTY), television, fax and computerized digital data communications.
4) CB stations operate on a narrow 450-kHz-wide group of 40 channels spanning
26.96-27.41 MHz.
Hams have almost 26,000 MHz of radio spectrum assigned to them, in 25
frequency bands from 1800 kHz-300 GHz. (footnote 1)
Anyone involved with Amateur Radio has probably heard of, and perhaps tried,
packet radio. It's an exciting mode whose development is far less mature in
its potential than other amateur operating modes. The field of Amateur Radio
operating and experimenting has been around since the turn of the century. It
began with the tentative investigations into wireless communications
performed by researchers like Mahlon Loomis, Guglielmo Marconi, Edwin H.
Armstrong and other pioneers. As technology and equipment evolved into
reliable means of communicating, more people dabbled in radio, and radio
amateurs included not only specialists in laboratories, but weekend tinkerers
who assembled transmitting and receiving equipment in garages, attics and
basements all over the country. The hobby of Amateur Radio caught on as a
"serious" avocation for thousands of enthusiasts. As amateurs discovered more
effective ways to communicate, their techniques were adopted by commercial
interests. Early professional wireless operators dubbed the amateurs "hams,"
referring to what were viewed as random, unconventional and largely
disorganized experiments and attempts to contact each other just for fun. As
ham radio activity grew, the authorities took note and got involved. Laws
were passed, rules drawn up and regulation entered the picture. Amateur Radio
has been formally recognized and overseen by the US government since 1912.
Packet radio was first authorized in Canada in 1979, and the first Amateur
Radio experiments with packet in 1980. Amateur packet radio has come a long
way in just a little more than a decade. Packet users enjoy personal mailbox
systems (PMSs) or check into local packet bulletin board systems (PBBSs) for
electronic mail and bulletins, or real-time information on overseas hams who
are spotted on the air seeking voice or Morse code contacts. There's a whole
world out there for anyone interested in experimenting. What hams don't know
about or haven't tried with packet is as exciting as what's available now.
High-Speed Networks
FCC rules specify the maximum permissible bandwidth for radio signals. The
way equipment sends data makes the speed directly proportional to bandwidth.
Because of the bandwidth required to modulate a faster packet signal,
higher-baud-rate transmissions must be conducted on higher frequencies. Most
packet operating in the US is on the amateur 2-meter band, in the portion at
about 145.95-145.09 MHz. The legal speed limit on 2 meters with present
modulation techniques is 19,200 bauds, but most 2-meter packet still runs at
1200 bauds.
Hams can run faster data-transfer systems on higher frequencies. On the
420-450 MHz band, the FCC permits speeds up to 56 kbauds, and "backbone"
message forwarding commonly moves at 9600 bits/sec or faster. Stations linked
on frequencies from 1.2 GHz to 10 GHz and up to the microwave bands aren't
limited in speed, successfully communicate at 56 kbit/sec and faster! At the
higher speeds, it's reasonable to build networks that allow passing along
large files. These include executable computer programs, detailed color
graphics and even digitized voice and music data. (The FCC prohibits hams
from playing music on the air, but you can send digital code from a compact
disc or MIDI data to someone else who can receive it for decoding and
playback off the air.)
The possibilities for high-speed data transmission are staggering. Hams are
working on real-time digitized voice communications, still-frame (and even
moving) graphics, and live multiplayer games. Imagine an emergency operations
command post with a dozen operators typing messages on a group of keyboards,
with high-speed packet carrying several hundred messages per hour.
Keyboarders wouldn't out pace the hardware, and "mail" would arrive at the
target sooner. The contents of an entire computer diskette could move from
coast to coast overnight.
These advances take time, expertise, effort and a certain amount of money.
Not all hams have the necessary resources. A handful of dedicated
enthusiasts, however, are working on easy-to-implement, affordable solutions
that will someday appear in every modestly equipped ham shack. It sounds like
a fantasy, but imagine what a 1950s-era ham, copying 40-WPM Morse code, would
think of today's 9600-baud UHF networks.
CLUSTERING AROUND THE RADIO
According to the FCC, there are more than 580,000 licensed hams in the US and
other governments report several million more worldwide. Almost every country
permits some form of Amateur Radio operation, although not all countries have
many indigenous hams. Amateurs enjoy making two-way radio contacts with
stations in foreign countries. This aspect of the hobby is called "working
DX." It's particularly satisfying to log a station from a location that's
rarely heard on the air, especially when you achieve the contact by "beating
the pileup" of dozens of other hams all trying to call the same station at
once! There are awards, certificates and plaques you can earn for contacting
hams outside your local area. Many of these are fulfilled by collecting a
specified number of "QSL cards," custom-printed postcards hams mail to each
other that verify and authenticate the details of a radio contact.
How do hams know when to try to snag a contact with a "rare" DX station?
Mostly by tuning around and listening until they happen to find one. But
there are ways to improve the odds. Not many years ago, making DX contacts
consisted of randomly hunting around the dial, hoping to be lucky enough to
stumble across a new one. When local VHF repeaters became popular in the late
1960s and early '70s, DXers would arrange to "spot" DX for each other. That
is, after finding and working a rare one, the lucky ham would get on the
repeater and announce the DX station's frequency and call sign for his pals'
benefit. Dedicated hams devised ways to greatly reduce the time it might
otherwise take to fill their station logs with exotic call signs.
As packet became more ubiquitous, Dick Newell of Bolton, Massachusetts, wrote
a program called PacketCluster. This allows a large number of stations on VHF
and UHF to connect simultaneously to a central LAN-type hub. Several LANs
connect to each other. The software enables anyone connected to type in a
simple DX-spot announcement, and the cluster instantly repeats it to all the
other stations in the network. Packet operators see the information displayed
on their monitor screens and can then tune their shortwave transceivers to
the frequency where the DX station is operating and have a shot at contacting
it. All the interLAN links and user connections are made by radio.
MOVING THE MAIL
Today's hams can literally talk to the world with radios smaller than a shoe
box and simple wire antennas. Early experimenters in "wireless," however, had
a hard time devising equipment that would send out signals more than a few
dozens or hundreds of miles. US amateurs on opposite coasts couldn't
communicate directly. Yet, if a few stations agreed to meet on the air at
particular times, they could relay a message, station to station, as far as
necessary. Recognizing this technique and its potential, a group of hams
banded together to meet on the air according to prearranged schedules. They
were then able to relay a message from almost anywhere in the country until
it arrived at the one closest to the delivery address.
This relay system formed the basis of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL),
which continued to refine the network system and spawned the formal ARRL
National Traffic System (NTS) in the late 1940s. Today, the NTS operates in
much the same way, with transcontinental, regional and local nets meeting
daily. In addition to messages that are handled using Morse code and voice,
RTTY and packet radio carry a large portion of the messages introduced into
the system. The ARRL has long been the nation's Amateur Radio membership
organization, supporting the service hobby through government lobbying,
international representation, providing direction and support to its
extensive Field Organization, and acting as a resource for information of
interest to Amateur Radio operators around the world.
Not only do radio amateurs provide the public service of relaying free
noncommercial messages on behalf of the non ham population, they also send
mail to each other in the form of personal messages and general-interest
bulletins relating to Amateur Radio news, technical questions and other
topics. Dozens of these messages are posted on thousands of PBBSs around the
world. Packet messages can be forwarded from PBBS to PBBS or via PBBS to
orbiting bulletin boards and mailboxes aboard the many Amateur Radio
satellites. More Than Mail
PBBSs also offer files for hams to download. While most such file transfers
are limited to plain-ASCII text files, there are free or inexpensive software
programs available that make it a snap to transfer binary files, such as
.EXE, .COM, .ZIP files. YAPP (Yet Another Packet Protocol) is one such
application.
From the world of wired networks, newcomers with experience on Unix equipment
or the Internet may recognize the TCP/IP suite of communications protocols
has been adapted for amateur packet radio. TCP/IP stands for Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, and several varieties of TCP/IP software
are available free. Most are based on the pioneering work done by Phil Karn
(footnote 2), and a few other gifted programming wizards. A packet station
running TCP/IP software can send and receive mail, upload and download files,
hold "live" keyboard-to-keyboard conversations, and more, in a functionally
multitasking environment--even on a PC XT or clone. With TCP/IP, you could
look at a subdirectory on a fellow ham's computer 500 miles away, select a
file and begin downloading it to your hard drive; meanwhile, personal mail
for you would arrive, your outgoing messages would be put on your friends'
computer mailboxes, and other operators could download files from your
specified "public" subdirectory. Free TCP/IP software is readily available
for IBM-compatibles, Apple Macintosh, Commodore Amiga and other computers, on
local and national BBSs and commercial online services. You'll Love It
If this sounds like fun, you're right! Not only can you contribute an
important service to your community, you can participate in helping to build
and improve the growing, developing amateur packet radio networks that
crisscross North America and the rest of the world. For information about
becoming a ham, contact the ARRL, Dept EAD-BW, 225 Main St, Newington, CT
06111; tel 203-666-1541, fax 203-665-7531.
The ARRL HQ BBS is open to the public and is completely free to anyone
interested in Amateur Radio, with no access charges or fees. It supports five
simultaneous telephone lines at 203-666-0578, connected to Practical
Peripherals external modems operating at 14,400, 9600, 2400 and 1200 bauds
(V.32, V.32bis, V.42, V.42bis, MNP 3-5). It runs Mustang's WildCat! multiline
software on a Gateway 2000 50-MHz 80486 IBM-compatible computer. The SysOp is
Luck Hurder, KY1T, Deputy Manager of the ARRL Field Services Department.
At your request, the League will send you free literature about Amateur
Radio, lists of volunteer instructors and clubs in your area, local license
exam session schedules and more to help you get started.
Before you know it, you can be a federally licensed Amateur Radio operator
and have the world at your keyboard!
FOOTNOTES
1 For reference, the radio-frequency bands are conventionally broken into the
following: 1800-2000 kHz, Medium Frequency (MF); 3500-28000 kHz, High
Frequency (HF); 50-225 MHz, Very High Frequency (VHF); 420-2450 MHz,
Ultra-High Frequency (UHF); 3.3-24.25 GHz, Super-High Frequency (SHF); and
Extremely High Frequency (EHF), 47-300 GHz. Frequencies above 1000 MHz (1
GHz) are considered microwaves.
2 Phil Karn, KA9Q, works for Qualcomm in San Diego, California, and was
formerly an engineer at Bell Communications Research Laboratories (BELLCORE)
in New Jersey. He was profiled in the April 1990 issue of QST Magazine.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
BOOKS
Your Gateway to Packet Radio, Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, who writes monthly
columns on digital Amateur Radio in two national publications, offers a
thorough discussion of packet radio, including many of the latest
developments. Published by the ARRL.
The ARRL Operating Manual, 4th edition. In chapter 10, Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU,
addresses operating techniques and various networking systems, such as
NetROM, TCP/IP, ROSE and TexNet.
AX.25 Amateur Packet Radio Link-Layer Protocol Learn the inner workings and
technical specifications of packet protocol. AX.25 is adapted from the
commercial X.25 networking standards and is specified for ham radio operation
in the FCC rules. Published by the ARRL.
Satellite Experimenter's Handbook, Martin Davidoff, K2UBC, has prepared the
ultimate reference for the satellite operator. Published by the ARRL.
Decoding Telemetry from Amateur Satellites, G. Gould Smith, WA4SXM, shows you
how to receive and decode telemetry signals. Available from AMSAT, PO Box 27,
Washington, DC 20044; tel 301-589-6062. $15.
The ARRL has sponsored a series of definitive Amateur Packet radio Networking
Conferences annually for more than a decade. Papers presented at these
conferences have been collected and published in 10 Proceedings booklets.
These exciting and scholarly anthologies cover advanced data communications
technology, systems and operation. For information, contact ARRL HQ.
NEWSLETTERS
Packet Status Register, Published quarterly by the Tucson Amateur Packet
Radio Corp (TAPR), PO Box 12925, Tucson, AZ 85732. $15/year.
The AMSAT Journal, Available from AMSAT, PO Box 27, Washington, DC 20044; tel
301-589-6062. $30/year.
OSCAR Satellite Report, Available from R. Myers Communications, PO Box 17108,
Fountain Hill, AZ 85269-7108. $56/year US, $62/year Canada.
PBBS SOFTWARE
A variety of PBBS and mailbox software is available for most popular personal
computers. An extensive list of Amateur Radio-oriented BBSs was published in
the June(?) 1991 issue of Boardwatch. Here's a list of software, most of
which is available on private BBSs and commercial online services:
ATARI 520ST/1040ST
Atari ST Mailbox, A W0RLI-type mailbox program for the Atari 520ST and 1040ST
computers. To obtain a copy of the software, contact Thor Andersen, LA2DAA,
at Riddersporen 6, N-3032 Drammen, Norway.
PBBS, Mike Curtis, WD6EHR, has ported the W0RLI PBBS software to the Atari
520ST and 1040ST computers. The program has most of the features of the
original program and is available by sending a blank 3.5-inch diskette and
postpaid diskette mailer. Contact Mike at 7921 Wilkinson Ave, N Hollywood, CA
91605.
COMMODORE AMIGA
AmigaBBS, Randal Lilly, N3ET, wrote this PBBS software to run with the
Kantronics KPC-1, KPC-2, KPC-4 and KAM TNCs. The software is available on the
Amiga Amateur Radio Public Domain Disk #5, which is distributed by Kathy
Wehr, WB3KRN, RD #1, Box 193, Watsontown, PA 17777. To obtain a copy of the
disk, send a blank, formatted disk, a sturdy return envelope, a label printed
with your name and address and sufficient return postage.
COMMODORE C-64
C-64 Packet Talker, This unique mailbox system for the C-64 stores messages
for up to 300 users and converts packet radio messages to voice. It's
available from Engineering Consulting, 583 Candlewood St, Brea, CA 92621.
Packet Radio BBS, This C-64 program was written in BASIC by Verne Buland,
W9ZGS. It may be downloaded from CompuServe's HamNet.
WB4APR PBBS, Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, wrote Commodore C-64 software that
emulates many of the features of the W0RLI PBBS. The features include message
storage, limited file storage and automatic message forwarding. This BASIC
program may be obtained by sending a formatted diskette and $5 to Bob at 59
Southgate Ave, Annapolis, MD 21401.
IBM PCs AND COMPATIBLES
ARES/Data, ARES/Data is a multiple-connection, multiport data base and
conference bridge
designed specifically for tracking victims and emergency
personnel in a disaster. It was written by Bill Moerner, WN6I, and Dave
Palmer, N6KL, and may be downloaded from CompuServe's HamNet.
BB, The BB program for the IBM PC and compatibles is a multiple-connection
PBBS that was written by Roy Engehausen, AA4RE. It may be downloaded from
CompuServe's HamNet, or from the WA6RDH BBS at 916-678-1535. It's also
available on disk from the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Corp (TAPR), PO Box
12925, Tucson, AZ 85732.
CBBS Mailbox System, CBBS was written for the IBM PC and compatibles by Ed
Picchetti, K3RLI, and Joe Lagermasini, AG3F. It may be downloaded from
CompuServe's HamNet and is also available on disk from TAPR.
MPC, This multiport AMTOR and packet radio BBS for the IBM PC and compatibles
was written by Lacy McCall, AC4X. It may be downloaded from CompuServe's
HamNet.
MSYS, A multiuser, multiport PBBS that runs on the IBM PC and compatibles (it
requires a hard disk). MSYS supports gateway, KA-Node and TCP/IP operations
and was written by Mike Pechura, WA8BXN. It may be downloaded from
CompuServe's HamNet.
ROSErver/Packet Radio Mailbox System (PRMBS), This multiuser PBBS/packet
server for the IBM PC and compatibles attempts to eliminate some of the SysOp
maintenance other systems require. Written by Brian Riley, KA2BQE, and Dave
Trulli, NN2Z, it may be downloaded from the RATS BBS at 201-387-8898 or
CompuServe, and is available on disk from TAPR or from RATS at PO Box 93,
Park Ridge, NJ 07656-0093; BBS (9600-1200 V.32) 201-387-8898 or 718-956-7133
(don't press Enter, wait for the sign-on message).
W0RLI Mailbox, This is the original PBBS software rewritten in C by Hank
Oredson, W0RLI, and David Toth, VE3GYQ. The current version is intended for
the IBM PC and compatibles and may be downloaded from CompuServe's HamNet,
the WA6RDH BBS (916-678-1535), the VE3GYQ BBS (active at 519-660-1442 when a
new version is out) and the VE4UB BBS (204-785-8518), and is also available
on disk from TAPR.
WA7MBL PBBS, This is the implementation by Jeff Jacobsen, WA7MBL, of the
original W0RLI PBBS for the IBM PC and compatibles. It's fully compatible
with W0RLI systems. The WA7MBL PBBS software may be downloaded from
CompuServe's HamNet and is available on disk from TAPR.
Wake Digital Communications Group (WDCG) PBBS, The WDCG's PBBS runs on the
IBM PC and compatibles. It supports file transfers using ASCII, XMODEM and
XPACKET protocols. The system includes a fully developed message bulletin
board, but doesn't support mail forwarding. The software may be downloaded
from CompuServe's HamNet or may be obtained from the WDCG, c/o Randy Ray,
WA5SZL, 9401 Taurus Ct, Raleigh, NC 27612.
TANDY COLOR COMPUTER
WJ5W CoCo/PBBS, Monty Haley, WJ5W, produced a partial implementation of the
W0RLI PBBS for the Radio Shack/Tandy Color Computer. The program is written
in BASIC and may be obtained directly from Monty at Rte 1, Box 210-B, Evening
Shade, AR 72532.
TANDY TRS-80 MODELS I AND II
KC8JN PBBS, This is a single-port implementation of the W0RLI PBBS written in
BASIC for the Radio Shack/Tandy TRS-80 Models I and III by Greg Day, KC8JN.
It's available for $5 directly from the author at 109 Meadow Rd,
Wintersville, OH 43952. Packet Equipment Manufacturers
The businesses listed here manufacture TNCs and packet hardware for use with
personal computers and terminals. You don't need an FCC ham radio license to
legally receive packet radio transmissions. If you plan to get a license, you
might want to get started monitoring packet and other digital modes with
equipment available from the following companies:
A&A Engineering, 2521 W La Palma, Suite K, Anaheim, CA 92801, tel
714-952-2114.
Advanced Electronic Applications (AEA), PO Box C2160, Lynnwood, WA
98036-0918, tel 206-775-7373.
Gracilis, 623 Palace St, Aurora, IL 60506, tel 708-897-9346.
HAL Communications Corp, PO Box 365, Urbana, IL 61801, tel 217-367-7373.
Kantronics, 1202 E 23rd St, Lawrence, KS 66046, tel 913-842-7745.
L. L. Grace Corp, 41 Acadia Dr, Voorhees, NJ 08043, tel 609-751-1018.
PacComm, 4413 N Hesperides St, Tampa, FL 33614-7618, tel 813-874-2980.
SATELLITE SOFTWARE
Software for satellite tracking, telemetry decoding and Pacsat operation is
available from AMSAT, PO Box 27, Washington, DC 20044; tel 301-589-6062. Send
a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) and ask for their software catalog.
Pacsat Beginner's Guide, Includes the Microsat Ground Station software
required to access many of the Pacsats. Available from AMSAT. $12 US.
DISPLAY4, A freeware program designed specifically for viewing UoSAT-OSCAR 22
and KITSAT-A images. A VGA or super VGA monitor is required. The software is
available on many Amateur Radio-oriented telephone BBSs and on CompuServe's
HAMNET. Check the following BBSs for availability:
Dallas Remote Imaging Group (DRIG), tel 214-394-7438
Celestial RCP/M, tel 513-427-0674
N8EMR, tel 614-895-2553
SATELLITE MODEMS
TAPR, PO Box 12925, Tucson, AZ 85732; tel 602-749-9479.
PacCOMM Inc, 4413 N Hesperides St, Tampa, FL 33614-7618; tel 813-874-2980.
SATELLITE ORBITAL ELEMENTS
Orbital elements for all active Amateur Radio satellites are published in
amateur satellite newsletters (see above) and are transmitted twice weekly by
W1AW at ARRL HQ (call the League for a schedule and list of frequencies).
TCP/IP SOFTWARE
There's typically a nominal fee charged to cover the cost of disks and
postage, so send an SASE first to find out what's required. Some versions of
TCP/IP software can be downloaded from local BBSs or from CompuServe's HamNet
Library 9.
Apple Macintosh: Doug Thom, N6OYU, c/o Thetherless Access Ltd, 1405 Graywood
Dr, San Jose, CA 95129-2210.
Atari ST: Mike Curtis, WD6EHR, 7921 Wilkinson Ave, N Hollywood, CA
91605-2210.
Commodore Amiga: John Heaton, G1YYH, MCC Network Unit, Oxford Rd, Manchester
M13 9PL, UK.
IBM PCs and compatibles: TAPR, PO Box 12925, Tucson, AZ 85732-2925.
For a list of national IP coordinators, write to National IP Coordinator
Brian Kantor, WB6CYT, at 7108 Werner St, San Diego, CA 92122.
[Brian Battles is Features Editor for QST Magazine, and a member of the
American Radio Relay League - WS1O. He can be reached at 225 Main St.,
Newington, CT 06111 or via BBS at (203)666-0578 - Editor]
============================
ONLINE WEATHER DATA BY MODEM
============================
As a child growing up in an agricultural area of the Midwest, I still recall
Don McNeeley giving the evening weather report on KFVS-TV - one of the two
television channels we could get on the old black and white Admiral. Don was
the weather guesser in Southeast Missouri and he sported a black magic marker
and a line map of the United States. Each evening he would write temperatures
all over the map one after another with that squeaky black magic marker as he
told us what they were. I always wondered how he knew, and how he could
remember that many numbers related to that many cities. Looking back on it, I
suppose we were hurting for something to watch on television.
Today, local television stations in the most remote areas sport radar weather
maps, satellite views of the nation and hemisphere, up to the minute snow and
ice grids, and other graphics to show us what the weather is. Most of them
imply that these graphics were generated by their "staff meteorologist." But
for the most part, they download them from an online service using a modem
and personal computer.
One of the largest commercial weather data providers in the country is
Accu-Weather, located in State College Pennsylvania. Accu-Weather pays the
National Weather Service a fee for access to national weather service weather
data. The National Weather Service has some 1000 stations scattered across
the country and receives satellite images. They issue forecasts and data in a
brutally short coded form that most users wouldn't find particularly useful.
The Accu-Weather staff of 70 meteorologists and some 30 artists then add
value to this data through analysis, graphic generation, and other formatting
and database functions. Forecasts are converted to something resembling
English. Over 200 television stations then download this data for
presentation to their viewers.
Accu-Weather is quite willing to make this data available to anyone with a PC
and a modem. In fact, they offer a $39.95 software package titled
ACCU-WEATHER FORECASTER developed by a company titled Software Toolworks that
allows users to access weather data from anywhere without a great deal of
effort.
The software features attractive pull-down menus and a fairly simple setup
procedure. The package comes with an account number and password. The
terminal package allows you to logon at 1200 or 2400 bps and browse the
system - requesting various maps and reports from a menu system. While this
is easy enough, some of the reports available are quite technical and there
are literally thousands of them updated daily. Over 2000 different graphic
presentations are updated each day for example. This allows amateur
meteorologists to access a wealth of data on par with any professional.
More casual callers can look up the three letter code for the weather station
nearest them in the accompanying documentation. This code is entered into the
setup screen and subsequently, you can click on GET DATA and the system will
go fetch a preselected set of forecast and graphic data.
This includes a text forecast in plain English as well as a national weather
map for current conditions, a similar map for the 24 hour forecast, and a 48
hour forecast. A "window" view shows temperature, precipitation, and
barometric pressure via little thermometer graphics with a window showing
what it looks like outside. This screen verges on the too cute for belief,
but actually it does provide a quick snapshot of what the weather is.
The graphics are actually quite good. There are four primary levels of map
graphics.
Simple Map Graphics provides fairly unattractive maps created from ASCII text
characters.
Advanced Map Plotting System or AMPS graphics provide much more detailed
vector graphics that actually draw a map on screen and then plot data against
it.
Difax graphics are actually maps and topographic depictions of weather in a
format suitable for facsimile use - essentially 75 dpi black and white
images, and have some limited utility on screen.
Finally, TV Graphics provide the color radar map, satellite image, and
surface map graphics we are accustomed to viewing on television. Satellite
data from the Geostationary Orbiting Environmental Satellite (GOES) weather
satellite is available online within minutes. This was a source of some
interest during the recent Hurricane Andrew assault on Florida. In addition
to satellite images, Accu-Weather provides maps showing lightning strikes,
snow/ice/rain activity, wind strength, etc.
Accu-Weather is somewhat proud of all this data and graphics. They offer two
different levels of service pricing - one for individuals and another for
commercial or institutional use. Basically, individuals can access the
service for $0.10 per minute from Midnight to 5:00 AM, $0.19 per minute from
7:00 PM to Midnight, and $0.39 per minute from 5:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Institutions are tagged, 10, 49, and 79 cents per minute respectively for the
same periods. Individuals face a $9.95 monthly minimum while institutions
must use at least $24.95 of use per month. A more complete database users
manual is available for $18.50 and is well worth it for serious weather
watchers.
Despite the price, Accu-Weather offers an unusual value. One of the ongoing
conundrums of software and online service design is the trade off between
making something easy to use for casual users, and at the same time powerful
enough for more serious applications. Accu-Weather has done as good a job of
striking this devil's bargain between the two. Casual users can rather
automatically press a key and get useful weather information in a visual and
uncomplicated format. At the same time, serious amateur and professional
meteorologists can spend months digging through the thousands of different
data sets, graphics, and map customization options provided online.
Accu-Weather, Inc., 619 West College Ave., State College, PA 16801;
(814)237-0309 voice; (814)238-1339 fax; (814)237-0652 data.
For those with Internet access, there are other options. Most Universities
have online services on the Internet and almost all provide some weather
information. A company titled Unidata in Boulder Colorado provides weather
data to Universities at very low cost.
Perhaps the best implementation of this is the University of Michigan's
Weather Underground system. This is produced by the College of Engineering,
Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences.
You may access this system by telnet by entering telnet hermes.merit.edu. The
query Which Host? will appear on screen. Enter um-weather. The system will
present a simple menu driven display listing a number of weather options.
Forecast by city, for example, allows you to enter a three digit code for the
city of interest, much like ACCU-WEATHER does, and prints out an all capital
letter summary of the weather forecast for that city. A database allows you
to look up the three-digit codes online as well. The system provides access
to a treasure trove of weather information including daily temperatures from
cities around the world, ski reports, earthquake activity, marine weather
reports, severe weather advisories, hurricane advisories, long-range
forecasts, a national weather summary, and Canadian forecasts. While none of
it has the simple to use and graphic interface of the more polished
ACCU-WEATHER service, it is more weather information than you can deal with
and it is quite usable. Better, it's free.
The Weather Underground system actually gets their information from Unidata
in Boulder. We didn't find much in the way of public access to a similar
system there, but they do have an ftp file archive open to the public that
does hold some interesting information. To access this, enter ftp
unidata.ucar.edu. At the user prompt, enter anonymous and at the password
prompt, enter your e-mail address. Once you are on the system, change
directories with a cd/images command. In this images directory, you will find
dozens of image files in the familiar .GIF image format containing weather
pictures somewhat more after the fashion of ACCU-WEATHER images. The file
WXMAP.GIF, for example, shows a national weather radar map created that day.
Other images depict various graphs and charts for different areas detailing
weather activity.
The old saw that weather is something that everybody talks about, but no one
does anything about, is not precisely true online. They also make pictures of
it, map it, and make extensive forecasts of it available. You can now access
more detailed and voluminous data on weather than Don McNeeley ever imagined,
or than you can possibly get in a five minute television broadcast. With a
modem, some interest, and a few hours of exploration, anyone can be an
amateur meteorologist.
========
INTERNET
========
POINT-TO-POINT PROTOCOL CONSORTIUM
----------------------------------
The PPP Consortium, an independent organization of manufacturers that use and
support the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), has announced the adoption of a
charter and election of a steering committee at the organizations's second
testing period. PPP is the multiprotocol successor to SLIP (Serial Line
Internet Protocol) and enables connections via synchronous and dialup
asynchronous modem connections.
Much of the drive behind the growth in the Internet involves local area
networks linking to the Internet using leased lines and routers to actually
form a full time bridge between their LAN and the network using the Internet
Protocol. SLIP and now PPP allow smaller firms to make the connection by
dialup modem on an as needed basis while still providing an IP connection
supporting such utilities as ftp and telnet. For LANs that only need to
connect to the Internet periodically to get a file, exchange mail, or logon
to a service for a specific search, PPP using the public switched telephone
network is much less expensive than a full time link. But to date, different
vendors have implemented PPP in slightly different ways. The PPP Consortium
should advance the cause of getting them all to work together productively.
PPP, defined in RFC-1331, RFC-1332 and RFC-1333 should be a more robust, full
featured protocol than SLIP, and in theory, will prevent many of the setup
glitches system administrators encounter when setting up a SLIP connection.
This is because most of the "options" in PPP are negotiated by the protocol
itself.
The second PPP testing period was held October 19-23 at a Telebit Corporation
site. The original nine vendors were joined by 21 others for this second
meeting bringing the standardization and testing group to a total of 30
vendors. The group includes such networking luminaries as Novell Inc.,
Wellfleet Communications, Rockwell International, 3Com Corp., DEC, Hewlett
Packard, IBM, and Cisco Systems Inc.
"As networks become more complex, interoperability between products becomes
more important to customers. The key objective of the PPP Consortium is to
enhance interoperability between vendor products. Through systematic testing,
manufacturers learn how to improve their PPP implementation," said Mark S.
Lewis, chairperson for the PPP Consortium.
PPP Consortium testing information will be provided to the Internet
Engineering Task Force PPP Extensions Working Group. PPP Consortium c/o
Telebit Corporation, 1315 Chesapeake Terrace, Sunnyvale, CA 94089;
(408)745-3068 voice; (408)745-3802 fax.
HOLONET
-------
The biggest challenge in dealing with the Internet is gaining inexpensive
access to it. Originally, 32 regional networks were established by the
National Science Foundation under a charter mandate to become self supporting
- essentially by selling access to the network and related services. Their
success has been broadly mixed. As a result, in some areas of the country,
access to the Internet is easy and inexpensive. In others, the regionals have
decided they have the keys to the gold and ordinary people aren't allowed.
It's ironically satisfying to observe how well the regionals operating on the
former model are prospering while those with the latter are struggling.
Meanwhile, a relatively new type of service has emerged - small
entrepreneurial systems that operate much like a BBS in scale, but to provide
Internet access. As an example, the Whole Earth Lectronic Link in Sausalito
now offers accounts providing full Internet access - a mail box, file
transfer protocol, telnet logins, and some utilities. This full Internet
Protocol Link is the best means to fully explore the Internet, though it does
expose you to a new learning curve in dealing with the Unix command line in
many cases.
This month, we look at another of these small Internet port services. A
company titled Information Access Technologies in Berkeley California, headed
by Arthur Britto, operates a fascinating service titled HoloNet. Holo, from
the Greek Holos meaning complete or total, and the more obvious Net from
network would seem to imply a total Internet service. We found it just so.
HoloNet is relatively inexpensive - if a bit complicated to calculate. The
base charge appears to be $6 per month, but that is applied to usage fees.
The basic system charges by the hour at $2 hourly off peak and $4 hourly peak
(8AM-5PM Mon-Fri). This is pretty reasonable, but actually applies only to
those dialing directly into the Berkeley telephone number and paying their
own long distance charges. A variety of surcharged options are available
using packet switching networks such as BT Tymnet to get local access from
your city. These save a little over normal long distance charges, but not
noticeably so.
There is another caveat on expense. The "connect" charge allows up to 1 MB of
data transfer per hour. This data transfer includes transfers from other
Internet sites to HoloNet, AND from HoloNet to your terminal. If you go over
the 1 MB, they tack on an additional $1 per additional MB off peak and $2 per
peak. A 14.4kbps modem can do a bit over 4 MB per hour, so potentially this
can jack up the connect rate during prime time from $4 per hour to a rather
stratospheric $14 per hour.
The system does provide you an Internet e-mail box as user@holonet.net. And
it does provide all the normal utilities of a full IP connection including
file transfer protocol, telnet logins, talk, Usenet News Groups, etc. Most of
it is provided initially on a fairly nicely designed menu system. Instead of
just facing the Unix command line, you can use this menu to perform most
functions somewhat rationally. And it serves to point out some of the
additional services available on the Internet such as the WHOIS database to
lookup someone's e-mail address on another Internet host, or the World Wide
Web or Gopher front ends used to look for things. This was actually the first
time we had played with traceroute. This utility lists all connections
between HoloNet and any other system on the Internet. It can be quite
interesting to see the route your e-mail messages actually take to get to a
particular site.
The system does provide some interesting things locally. They carry a number
of publications online including NewsBytes, Boardwatch, USA Today
Decisionlines, EeeekBits etc. allowing users to read current information on
the covered topics. A menu of games online looked a bit unusual for an
Internet site. The user can request to NOT use the menu and use a Unix shell
instead if they prefer.
Another innovation from HoloNet is a program titled HoloTerm. This terminal
program is not actually released yet, but according to Britto, it will
support multiple sessions - allowing you to download files in the background
while reading Usenet News Groups for example.
For BBS operators, HoloNet does support UUCP BBS accounts. The initial setup
fee is a modest $50 and your system address would be BBS.uu.holonet.net. For
an additional $25, they will process an application for a domain name
registration so that you can have a shorter and more descriptive address
(YOURBBS.COM for example). After that, you simply pay the connect charges to
access the system and pick up your mail and any newsgroups you may choose to
carry on your system. For systems taking large volumes of newsgroup mail,
those normal connect rates can add up quickly. A $125 monthly flat rate for
unlimited connect is available for UUCP accounts. But HoloNet offers over
3000 Usenet News Groups that can total as much as 35 MB of data daily.
According to Art Britto, a full news feed of that size would require over 5
hours daily of connect time and the long distance charges might make it
prohibitive. At that point, a dedicated leased line might make sense and
HoloNet can handle it. In fact, the company plans to offer full IP
connections to bulletin boards.
For individual callers that simply want an Internet mail box, most commercial
services and a number of bulletin boards offer them now. But if you do want
to experiment with Internet functions such as Interactive Real Time Chat,
File Transfer Protocol, and Telnet, HoloNet offers a good value. Information
Access Technologies, Inc., 46 Shattuck Square, Suite 11, Berkeley, CA
94704-1152; E-mail: info@holonet.net; Modem: 510-704-1058; Voice:
510-704-0160; Fax: 510-704-8019
FTP SERVER FOR NOVELL
---------------------
Novell Netware users are finding it increasingly easy to connect to the
Internet. The TCPIP.NLM Netware Loadable Module allows Novell Networks to
make the connection to the Internet by providing the necessary protocols to
participate in this global network. But Novell networks still lack the rich
variety of tools enjoyed by Unix users.
This is changing. We did run into an interesting product from MurkWorks in
Potsdam New York titled FTPD - File Transfer Protocol Daemon for Netware 386
Version 3.11. FTPD Version 1.31 is also a Netware Loadable Module that allows
the system to be used on the Internet as an FTP site.
FTP, or File Transfer Protocol, is defined in RFC 959 and serves as a means
to transfer files between Internet sites. A common convention that has come
from this function is the anonymous ftp function - allowing anonymous users
to logon to a specific system and download files from a specific and usually
limited set of directories that are open to the public. FTPD allows users to
ftp into a Novell site and logon to the system to transfer files. It allows
use of a full logon name and password for authorized users, and also makes
provisions for allowing anonymous ftp. MurkWorks, P.O. Box 631, Potsdam, NY
13676; info@murkworks.com.
ELECTRONIC FRONTIER FOUNDATION OPENS GOPHER SERVER TO THE INTERNET
------------------------------------------------------------------
The Electronic Frontier Foundation announced that they now offer access to
their online document library via the Internet Gopher protocol, developed at
the University of Minnesota. Gopher access joins WAIS, electronic mail
service, and anonymous ftp as an electronic means of access to EFF documents.
Gopher clients are available for Mac, NeXT, GNU Emacs, X11, VM/CMS, VMS, and
curses interfaces. Many of these are available for anonymous ftp from
boombox.micro.umn.edu in pub/gopher. Those without clients can telnet to
consultant.micro.umn.edu and login as "gopher" to try it out. (EFF's Gopher
server is listed under "Other Gopher and Information Servers".)
The EFF Gopher service is available on gopher.eff.org, port 70. WAIS access
is available on wais.eff.org, port 210. Anonymous ftp access to the document
library is available on ftp.eff.org, in directory pub/EFF. Mail service is
handled through archive-server@eff.org; use "index eff" for a list of
documents and document sections.
Mike Godwin, a staff counsel for EFF, took exception to our characterization
of the EFF in the letters section of our November issue. He notes that he is
always available for consultation by telephone at no charge for BBS operators
with legal questions. For more information on the EFF or online access to
documents, send electronic or postal mail to EFF,155 Second Street, Cambridge
MA 02141; (617)864-0665 voice; eff@eff.org
MFS DATANET ANNOUNCES FIRST NATIONAL SERVICE FOR HIGH-SPEED INTERCONNECTION
OF LANS AND CUSTOM NETWORKS
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
OAKBROOK TERRACE, IL, October 5, 1992 -- MFS Datanet, Inc., an operating
subsidiary of MFS Communications Company, Inc. (MFSCC) has announced the
first commercially available nationwide network designed specifically to
allow companies to interconnect geographically dispersed Local Area Networks
(LANs) at native LAN speeds.
MFS Datanet said that its new national High-speed LAN Interconnect (HLI)
service supports Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, and custom networks via a
nationwide fiber optic based network. To be available in the 14 metropolitan
areas now serviced by MFSCC's local access services, the first national
service offering will interconnect Washington, D.C., New York City, and
Chicago, and is scheduled to be operational in December 1992. Other national
LAN interconnection networks are anticipated to follow over the next five
months.
"An important but complex part of internetworking has overnight become a
relatively routine matter with the introduction of the first national data
superhighway," said Royce Holland, president of MFSCC. "This development
means companies, government agencies and institutions will for the first time
be able to connect their LAN networks and communicate at high speeds up to
100 megabits per second (Mbs) with other LANs. This can occur not only within
metropolitan areas, but across the nation with ease and with complete
confidence in the system's overall reliability and security."
Holland further noted that this national service offering is a dramatic
addition to MFSCC's metropolitan LAN interconnection services introduced in
August 1991.
"Until now, communications and MIS professionals had to tailor their local
and long-distance LAN interconnect requirements to transmission rates
designed primarily for voice services," said Al Fenn, president of MFS
Datanet. "This usually meant choosing between either too much or too little
transport capacity."
"Also, building and operating networks required negotiations with multiple
carriers and equipment vendors," said Fenn. "Users were offered little or no
flexibility in achieving rapid upgrades to accommodate high-bandwidth
applications such as distributed computing, exchanging image files, or large
file transfers."
Fenn said MFS Datanet's nationwide HLI services "relieve users of daily
concern with complex, trouble-prone interfaces and systems integration so
they can concentrate on supporting their companies' strategic objectives."
Accessing MFS Datanet's HLI services can be a simple as plugging into a LAN
wall jack connected to MFSCC's fully secured point of presence in the
customer's building. Transport is over a fiber-based network that is
monitored around the clock.
In addition to native LAN rates of 4, 10, 16, and 100 Mbs, MFS Datanet also
offers fractional data rates for customers requiring less bandwidth.
"Fractional-rate customers get the same benefits of MFS Datanet's end-to-end
network management and maintenance services, plus the ability to upgrade to
higher capacities with the ease of a telephone call," Fenn said. "Since the
MFS Datanet network protocol is independent of the customer's network
protocol, the customer is free to migrate from Ethernet to Token Ring to FDDI
as requirements dictate."
"A nationwide LAN offering is a natural evolution in MFSCC's position as the
leading supplier of total solutions for business communications," said
Holland. "Coupled with the September 17, 1992 decision by the FCC mandating
interconnection between local exchange carrier and competitive access
provider networks, it means that customers on or off our network, big or
small, can take advantage of our services. More than ever before we can now
provide telecommunications services that mesh with a customer's use patterns
or that may not be available elsewhere."
Metropolitan areas served by MFSCC networks include: Atlanta, Baltimore,
Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City,
Northern New Jersey, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Washington,
D.C. MFSCC subsidiaries include MFS, Inc., the nation's largest Competitive
Access Provider; MFS Network Technologies, Inc., a major communications
systems integrator and facility manager; and MFS Datanet, Inc., which
develops and markets advanced data communications services.
BIX ON INTERNET
---------------
The BYTE Information Exchange (BIX) has been on a bit of an odyssey over the
past year or two. This unusual information service started life very much a
part of BYTE Magazine, one of the earliest computer publications and still a
favorite among the technical end of the PC world.
BIX continues a tie to BYTE and provides listings and programs from each
issue, available for download. But the service was actually sold to General
Videotex Corporation last year. General Videotex operates the DELPHI service
as well.
Within the past month or so, BIX has joined the ranks of online services
experimenting with Internet access. At this point, you can actually telnet
into BIX via the Internet, sign up for the service, and play. To access BIX,
enter telnet x25.bix.com. You will see a Username: prompt. This is a little
misleading. At this point you should enter BIX as the username. A short
screen blurb announcing the service will scroll up and you will get a SECOND
Username: prompt. If you don't already have an account on the service, enter
NEW at this prompt. Otherwise, enter your username and password.
The system performs well via telnet. The BIX host is actually a Unix machine
running the CoSy Conferencing System. BIX sports conferences, file areas, and
a few online text products such as Newsbytes. The conferences and file areas
tend toward the technical - we found some good information on Unix utilities,
DOS assembly language programming, and a lot of oddities you don't encounter
much on most bulletin boards. Of course, they still sport the file listings
from BYTE magazine. We found the AGREP utility discussed in the November
issue without much difficulty. This is a fascinating new utility that does
"fuzzy" text searches across files on a disk drive where a specified amount
of error is allowed in finding matches. If you can't remember the exact
spelling of some Croatian Pygmy Shoemaker and need to follow up on a last
order, if you can get part of the name spelled right, AGREP can find it for
you.
We found we were able to download files via telnet to our PC - but it was a
little heartbreaking. ZMODEM didn't work at all. Likewise XMODEM didn't do
very well. The KERMIT protocol worked reliably, but in somewhat uninspired
fashion at about 110 cps via our 14.4kbps modem. But you can download files.
Jerry Pournelle, a columnist in Byte has an area on the service and the
service does have a crowd of surprising regulars such as Ward Christensen,
and others. It has some pretty good conferences for writers.
Access to BIX is $13 per month plus connection charges which vary based on
how you get there. Their 9600 bps direct dialup connection, for example, runs
$4 per hour. The Internet access was a very reasonable $1 hourly. They do
sport a 20/20 plan on an X.25 network allowing 20 hours of access for $20.
BIX provides a relatively cost efficient connection for a group of fairly
technical callers. Programming and writing are the primary focus of most of
the system. The CoSys interface is a bit plain, but you can scrap the menus
with a single command and the command interface, once you learn it, is
extremely efficient. Novice callers and those enamored of pretty interfaces
are not likely to find this service as charming as ADA programmers, but it is
nonetheless interesting.
They are clearly going through some growing pains. While telnet access is
already up, you can't actually address electronic mail to a user on the
service from another Internet site, nor can callers to the service send mail
out. We understand this is an operating system upgrade problem destined to
cure itself shortly. For more information, contact BIX, c/o General Videotex
Corp., 1030 Massachusetts Ave., 4th Floor, Cambridge, MA 02138; (800)695-4775
voice; (617)491-6642 fax; (617)491-5410 data.
==================
MACINTOSH BBS NEWS
==================
by Bill Gram-Reefer
WELCOME TO THE NEXT LEVEL
-------------------------
1993 will truly be the year CD-ROM grabs hold and squeezes tight. (Ouch!) For
instance, you should be able to find the new external version of the speedy
CD player that Apple offers as an internal option in its new Performa and
MacIIvx Macintosh computers. The Apple CD 300, scheduled for December
shipment, is reported to achieve average access times of 295 milliseconds,
with data transfer rates of 300 Kbps, about twice as fast as Apple's CD 150.
All of that speed will cost you $599 MSRP. Apple's Sony-based player includes
driver software and a speed-select switch that lets you toggle to 150-Kbps
speeds if your CPU isn't on steroids (like you really prefer file transfers
and QuickTime to run twice as slow).
With Apple's new foray into mail-order, warehouse and mass-channel
merchandising, and its semi-official stance of aggressively pushing CD
technology into the forefront as a real consumer item, there's no telling
where the street price on these babies will end up. We could possibly see
pricing for 150-Kbps CD players drop so fast it will make the freefall in
modem prices look tame in comparison, let alone make Perry Solomon's head
spin.
Which is a benefit for cash-strapped Mac sysops that can live with (yawn) 150
Kbps. The twice-as-fast speed of the CD 300 is also a good thing, especially
for systems that charge by the downloaded bit since it potentially gives you
room to double revenues out of the same finite amount of minutes in a day
without raising prices.
But when you look at the potential of CD as THE (for now) cost-effective and
efficient entertainment delivery system, it's not all good news for your BBS.
For instance, Apple's new CD players, and via the set-up software driver,
even the CD 150s, provide access to Kodak's Photo CD single-session compact
discs. Multi-session (write more than once) compatibility is coming soon, and
kick-butt CD-Interactive ain't far behind.
Have you seen the Interactive Network or the Phillips CD demos in your local
electronics superstore? These offer real-time, you-make-the-call NFL
football, or arcade quality shoot-em ups, kick-boxing and moto-cross
video-game action, all from the privacy and comfort of your big-screen,
Pro-Logic-equipped, surround-sound thumping, home entertainment system; not
to mention some electronic-docent narrating an interactive stroll through the
Louvre ("Oh honey, can we go back down the hall to the post-modernists?").
Interactive ADULT CDs? Bet your bippy. But, can your BBS compete with that?
The obituary for your BBS reads like this: your potential customers bought a
$500 Kodak or Phillips CD unit for their TV, not a V.32bis modem. Why?
Because TV is worlds easier to understand than telecommunications. Plus, they
wanted to look at the pictures from their trip to Alaska rather than stare in
wonderment at your precious GUI interface while they tried to figure out how
to download buckets of meaningless, low-level information from your Internet
gateway. And you know what? They also got an Apple CD 300 player for their
Mac. There went another $500 that could of bought a modem. Good grief, the
year just started and you're $1,000 in the hole. If you think Apple decided
to sell its AppleLink files on CD-ROM because they couldn't dress-up the
interface, you're history.
But you won't be alone. Nintendo's gotta be having nose bleeds over this CD
and interactive stuff. The economy may improve in '93, but a few sysops might
find themselves standing in the unemployment line; right behind the Super
Mario Brothers.
CD UTILITY FROM FWB
-------------------
Before we leave the CD topic, don't forget to stop by FWB's booth at MacWorld
EXPO and pick up a copy of their new CD Utility that will speed-up CD-ROM
player access significantly.
STARNINE LINKS QM & CC
----------------------
Electronic mail gateway developer, StarNine Technologies, has introduced
Mail*Link, which provides transparent cross-platform connectivity between
Macintosh Quickmail users and cc:Mail users on PCs and the Mac. StarNine
Technologies, 2550 Ninth Street, Suite 112, Berkeley, California 94710; (510)
649-4949 voice; Internet: info@starnine.com; or AppleLink: STARNINE.
DIALOG MADE EASY(ER)
--------------------
An Ann Arbor, MI, developer, Personal Bibliographic Software, Inc. (PBS)
offers Pro-Search (PS) for the Macintosh. PS is search-aid software designed
to assist novice and professional searchers access and retrieve information
from DIALOG databases. The Mac version is specially offered at $295 ($495 for
DOS). It offers an intuitive interface for formulating searches and other
tasks that require speed and accuracy when the $200/hr. clock is ticking.
Much like Navigator, PS let's you prepare a search session offline,
get-on/get-off, and massage the data later.
Bluesheets that display accessible databases and their contents can be
searched offline. Fully configurable, PS includes terminal emulation and a
scripting language that lets you automate your connection to DIALOG,
Knowledge Index (KI), and to other online services, supporting 300-,
1,200-, and 2,400-bps speeds. You can select retrieval formats from a pop-up
list of format descriptions. PS lets you display key words in contents
(KWIC), or retrieve records with field labels (TAG) for later processing with
other PBS software packages, Biblio-Link and Pro-Cite, programs that let you
work with a variety of database layouts, document formats, and bibliographic
styles.
A built-in accounting feature lets you accurately track DIALOG charges by
search, client and charge code. Included is a module that lets you generate
monthly invoices and accounting reports so information brokers (who make it
sound so hard) can bill back their time-plus costs. Optional features include
a Bluesheet Disk Subscription Service that keeps your Bluesheet Disk
up-to-date with data for new or modified databases.
PBS offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. PS works on a Macintosh with at
least one Meg RAM, using System 6.02 or later. Hard disk is recommended. 100%
Hayes compatible modem required. . .you wouldn't want to trigger an escape
sequence with some renegade standard, now, would you? Personal Bibliographic
Services, Inc., P.O. Box 4250, Ann Arbor, MI 48106; (313) 996-1580 (voice).
BRAVE NEW POWERBOOKS
--------------------
Apple's new Duo Docks aren't the issue. Call me nuts, but my odds-on favorite
to be the I-want-one-how-much-is-it-hit of this year's MacWorld EXPO is
Applied Engineering's (AE) AErport family of products that promise to
transform Apple's PowerBooks (PB) into truly mobile telephony command
centers. Announced last August at the Boston Mac EXPO, most of the modules
should be available now. The complete AErport conditioning will include:
cellular link for wireless fax and modem capability, V.32bis DataLink PB
fax/modem with MNP Level-10 error correction and industry-standard
compression. The fax/modem will also be hard-wired for digitizing voice (more
about which later) and will include STF Technologies' FAXstf fax software
that sports character recognition.
But wait, you've won the jackpot, there's more! You get AE's integrated
software that controls the modem's digital telephone capabilities with an
on-screen keypad, phonebook, and answering machine program (voice capability,
remember?). Plus, a Caller ID option will enable AErport to store specific
messages or instructions for individuals in the program's phone book. The
Caller ID implementation also supports dual-tone modulated frequency support,
which will let you or authorized callers control the program remotely using
standard touch-tone key pads, sources say.
Can this be for real, you ask? We'll see. AE has stated it will have shipped
by the end of 92. The cellular part of AErport is a separate multifunction
device. Because of its size, it replaces the PB's floppy drive with a PCMCIA
slot that will let you access an external floppy drive, third-party add-ons
(like you'd really need something else), such as a pager, digital camera, or
wireless LAN adapter (guess you did). Fully configured, this "stuff of
dreams" will run you over $3,000, and just suck the juice right out of your
ni-cad batteries. So get a solar energy battery charger and you're totally
mobile!
Look for AE and its third-party partners to wow 'em with a demo in which a
cellular PB is controlled via voice over a wireless connection to place
calls, download files, playback messages, print files, and more.
O.K., so what's this got to do with BBSing? Plenty. You've already got the
connectivity angle cold; 'cause you could place a call from either the voice,
serial, cellular, or wireless LAN ports. And, there are at least two other
not-too futuristic applications you might be interested in masticating on.
1.) Say you picked the $45,000, 79-day Holland America World Cruise from
behind Door #2? Just get a "follow-me-roam" cellular access account with
ship-to-shore satellite access and take the Lido Deck BBS with you.
2.) Add one more element and we go off to la-la land. In a completely
unrelated matter from AE's announcements, Sierra Semiconductor, a San Jose,
CA-based integrated circuit (IC) boutique shop, let slip over a newswire
recently that it has developed a voice-recognition IC. Implement that on an
AT&T or pink chipset in the right way, and you could create some QuicKeys
scripts, store them in RAM, invoke a couple of Apple Events mantras, and
place a remote call from Bangkok. During that single voice call you could
tell your computer to update the BBS' user file and back-up to the floptical,
delete a couple of deadbeat accounts, run a virus check on the new uploads
and move them to the files section, delete dated conference mail, store some
voice mail for mom and dad, adjust the lawn's watering-system timer, and open
the pod-bay doors please, HAL.
On the user's side of BBSing, forget GUI, forget TTY commands, because your
subscribers will call and navigate your BBS by voice, leave e-mail and
conference messages orally, in addition to "uploading" attached text messages
and files, compressed graphics, video, and executable programs. We're talking
live, oral, aural and visual multi-node chat, with AT&T picture phones.
The Duo Docks I really want to see are the ones that'll be implanted in the
back of our great-grand-kids' heads--in vitro. Talk about distance learning.
Like they'll never miss another day of school because they'll start before
they're born. You think Apple's serious about today's education market--just
wait. That particular future-history has already been edited and sent to the
printer, folks. Those guys believe in technology with a capital B and a
capital T. It's really only a question of whether we get Aldous Huxley's
ending, or, that we may yet delight with Miranda, Prospero's daughter in
Shakespeare's The Tempest, ". . .these wonderful goodly creatures. . .O brave
new world that has such people in't."
You're right. I'm crazy. It's the sugar. Lock me up. Applied Engineering,
Inc., 3210 Beltline, Dallas, TX 75234; (800) 554-6227 (voice).
MAC BBS OF THE MONTH
--------------------
Mac Line BBS carries 120 MB of compressed files, messages, and computer news
including TidBits and Info-Mac Digest, all for a $15 annual access fee. Based
in Madison, WI, Mac Line's two lines are operated by John Allen. Launched in
1989, Mac Line now runs First Class 2.0. CD-ROM support is "on the way."
The New Files section appeared active with a variety of contributions from
many sources, while the Perot discussion, in the "Politics and Philosophy"
conference was lively and well attended. I was amused to find that the "World
Events" conference was home to a celebration of a recent Badger Big-Ten
football victory! Fans, gotta love 'em.
Allen suggests two conferences that make Mac Line special. The "Fantasy & Sci
Fi Conference," features reviews and discussions of Star Trek: The Next
Generation episodes. Another, "The Mac Guru" (by David Zavadsky--a regular
Mac Line user), offers a weekly column about the Macintosh; giving hints and
tips to Mac Line users. Every week, David answers questions, posts
information, and recommends & picks a shareware program of the week. I find
this to be an interesting effort to make "user support" a little less dry by
actually making it a feature. It shows that somebody cares about what's going
on. Users can even see a picture of David while on-line thanks to the
FirstClass PICT viewer. But, is it art? Tighten-up David's dots maybe, but
decide for yourself.
Mac Line BBS. 1223 Wellesley Road, Madison, WI 53705; (608) 233-9487 (2,400
bps and primary number); (608) 233-1798 (9600+bps with Supra FAXModem
v.32bis).
ATTENTION MAC SYSOPS
--------------------
If you have a Macintosh-based BBS, let us know who you are and what you think
you're doing that makes your board special. To make things easy for everyone,
mail a diskette containing your user program with a preset account, time
allotment (1-hr for editorial deadbeats like me should be plenty) and
password to the address below so I can log on and take a look around your
system. Also include a text-file that describes your board and any
interesting places on it you think are special. I'll try to visit as many
boards as possible and write about the most interesting ones I can find. MAC
BBS, 2069 Highland Drive, Concord, CA 94520.
[Bill Gram-Reefer, based in Concord, California, is a publicist working with
Comstock Communications. He operates WORLDVIEW BBS (510) 676-2919, running on
a Macintosh computer, and moderates Planet BMUG's modem conference (510)
849-2684. Bill can also be reached on CompuServe: #70451,3304 (sorry, no
snooty Internet address--dot-com this!). As the former editor of SHOWPAGE and
associate publisher of Western MicroMarket, Bill has been writing about
Macintosh computers since 1984.]
==============
LEGALLY ONLINE
==============
SYSOPS AS TRAFFIC COPS
----------------------
by Lance Rose
One of the questions sysops regularly agonize over is their degree of legal
exposure and liability for messages posted on their systems by callers. Not
long ago the accepted wisdom was that sysops should review their BBS message
traffic regularly, and follow up on any questionable materials they might
come across. This "periodic review" standard for sysop responsibility seemed
to balance sysop and public needs fairly. Sysops were not terribly burdened
under this scheme, as they were not obligated to investigate or search for
damaging materials left undiscovered in their routine review. The public
benefited, receiving reasonable protection from dangerously arranged
electrons.
HIGH-VOLUME BBS'
But times have changed swiftly. For one thing, BBS' are interconnecting at an
exhilarating pace. BBS networks such as FidoNet, RIME, ILINK and others
continue to grow nonstop. Non-Unix BBS' are beginning to carry Internet
services, including Usenet. Gateways are opening to connect BBS networks to
other e-mail networks and large commercial message services. As a result,
many BBS' carry large amounts of message traffic originated at other BBS's
and network sites, often acting merely as intermediate transmission points.
Many BBS' are also automating more of their internal operations. Current
automated procedures include forwarding message traffic between BBS' in the
network, screening files for viruses and compressing them for download, and
scanning file lists for unwanted duplicates. Mail door software, which is
becoming ubiquitous, collects the messages selected by each user, packs them
into a compressed file, and downloads the mail packet file automatically.
User interaction with BBS' is becoming automated as well, with programs that
log on to the BBS, upload and download mail packets and log off, with no need
for the user to be in attendance.
When these interconnected, automated systems function properly, huge volumes
of message traffic are moved smoothly and automatically across the BBS
networks. There is little or no human interaction with the message traffic
except at the sending and receiving ends.
For such high-volume BBS', any legal responsibility requiring sysops to
monitor message or file content presents a major problem. It just slows
everything down, creates a burden on BBS' and networks alike, and delays
communications between users. The sysops mainly devote their efforts to
keeping the messages and files moving. They don't have the time or resources
to screen user messages regularly for problems. That would be like asking a
traffic cop at a busy intersection to peer into the window of each car
passing by to see if the passengers are doing anything that would raise an
eyebrow.
In addition, there is currently a great deal of uncertainty and disagreement
about what level of sysop review of BBS materials would be legally
sufficient. For small, relatively isolated BBS', this is only a minor
problem. The sysops can educate themselves on the risks associated with
various levels of review (crudely and somewhat inaccurately put, the less
review, the greater the risk for the sysop), and choose the combination of
message review efforts and legal risk that best suits their needs.
For high-volume BBS' and networks, the lack of a settled legal standard has a
far more damaging effect. Sysops uncertain of their legal obligations can
become unwilling to continue their interconnection and automation activities.
The efficiency of message flow on BBS' and BBS networks can become subject to
news reports about sysops being held legally responsible for user materials
on their systems, as well as collective sysop paranoia. Entire networks can
be destabilized based on the member sysops' differing assessments of their
shared legal risks, affecting the communications activities of thousands of
users. Overall, an intolerable situation.
These very effects were demonstrated recently in a disagreement among FidoNet
network coordinators over transmitting encrypted private e-mail through the
network. Some sysops were refusing to pass the e-mail through their systems
from fear it would expose them to liability. As a result, they were sending
back attempted transmissions of encrypted materials, causing inconveniences
and repercussions throughout the system, and the e-mail to be delayed or
undelivered. Other sysops disagreed strongly, believing they could not
possibly be liable for passing messages they could not even read. A battle
over network procedures ensued, based on differing sysop beliefs about their
legal responsibility for encrypted messages. From what I see, this is only
one of many skirmishes to come.
CAUSES OF UNCERTAINTY IN BBS REVIEW STANDARDS
There are several major reasons that the legal standard for sysop review of
BBS materials is uncertain today. One is the problem of many laws. The
different branches of law implicated in BBS activities, such as copyright,
libel, credit card fraud and pornography, bring with them different legal
traditions. Even if we could agree that a sysop's duty under all the laws put
together should never exceed a now-and-then look at BBS traffic, the proper
level of sysop review efforts at any moment may depend directly on the
sysop's particular legal concern at that time. This result seems especially
likely when we reflect on the real world of legal mud wrestling and court
brawling. Every time someone sues a sysop, his lawyer will argue that for
*this* legal violation (be it copyright, invasion of privacy, or whatever),
the sysop is under a much stricter standard than in other legal areas - not
because it makes sense, but because it will help win the case against the
sysop. This will inevitably result in different review standards for sysops
in different areas of law. Further, the branch of law demanding the most
stringent sysop review efforts could end up as the measure for *all* sysop
review efforts. For high-volume BBS' this is a bad result, since it could
mean sysops would involve themselves deeply in message traffic to avoid
liability, which could seriously slow down that traffic.
Another factor creating uncertainty in legal review standards is the BBS
community's quest for the proper metaphor or model for BBS'. This intrigue
has been pursued for so long it has become a tradition, and all we have to
show for it is a toy box full of BBS models. Every time the subject comes up,
someone gleefully adds a new metaphor to the list. Last time I was part of
such a discussion, we ran quickly through "printing press", "telephone
switch", "book seller" and "inn", winding up in the unlikely territory of
"flea market". The goal of all these metaphors is to help us understand BBS'
better, for just such purposes as setting proper review standards for sysops.
For example, if we say a BBS is like a supermarket, then we can look at the
supermarket's duty to patrol store aisles regularly and clean up fallen
merchandise, which is already well-understood under the law, and try to
define the ways that a sysop should similarly "patrol the aisles" of his BBS.
The problem is that in practice we only end up more confused than ever. We
waste half our time arguing about whether a sysop's responsibility for online
materials is more like that of a "publisher" or an "innkeeper", and the other
half cataloguing the ways in which BBS' differ from any particular model that
is finally chosen. Indeed, in the FidoNet dispute described above, one of the
major unresolved arguments among sysops was whether BBS' qualified for the
same shield from liability accorded by law to regulated "common carriers"
like telephone companies and cable TV companies.
It is becoming clear over time that BBS metaphors are nothing but a wobbly
footbridge to understanding the legal status of BBS' in their own right. But
until such an understanding is reached both in the BBS community and in the
broader culture in which laws are made and enforced, we will need to continue
refereeing a tug-of-war between the many BBS metaphors pulling in different
directions. Such uncertainty will, again, cause sysops of high- volume
systems to monitor more message activity to play it safe, with the result of
impairing BBS and network traffic.
Further uncertainty arises from the likelihood that when more BBS cases
finally end up in court, they will be decided largely on their own unique
sets of facts, rather than broad principles of law. This would leave the case
results mostly up to the subjective opinions of individual judges of what the
outcome should be, or as commonly said among lawyers, the cases will be
decided according to "what the judge ate for breakfast." We can only keep our
fingers crossed and hope that this randomly selected set of judges enjoy
their breakfasts, and seek to create a body of cases setting a consistent
standard for sysop review of BBS messages.
In sum, the problem of imposing a legal duty on sysops of high-volume BBS' to
monitor user messages is twofold: First, any requirement that high-volume
sysops distract themselves from traffic handling to monitor message traffic
creates a burden on the operation and development of their BBS' and networks;
second, once a monitoring obligation is imposed, any uncertainties in that
obligation can destabilize and inhibit the operation of those BBS' and
networks. The growth of high-volume BBS' and networks has created an urgent
demand for a more stable legal approach that does not unduly slow down
message traffic. Are there any solutions in sight?
THE ECFA PROPOSAL
Here's one possible solution - a federal law that would protect sysops from
all legal action for user messages or files passing through their systems, as
long as they do not censor or alter them. Such a law would instantly
eliminate virtually all the concerns discussed so far in this article. It
would also cut down on lots of other legal hair-pulling. All those annoying
user warning bulletins could be dispensed with. Prospective sysops who dream
of new kinds of messaging-based businesses, but are holding back from fear of
being sued for user antics ranging from pandering to gambling to giving
unauthorized investment advice, could now plunge forward freely with all
sorts of new and fascinating online services. Without much fanfare, the
Electronic Frontier Foundation and some of its associates put a good deal of
effort last year into working up exactly such a law. They called their
proposal "The Electronic Communications Forwarding Act of 1991" ("ECFA"). Due
to an inability at the time to gain a clear consensus on all goals within
their working group, they ultimately decided not to proceed with the
attempted legislation toward the end of 1991.
It is nonetheless well worth looking over the ECFA in some detail, as an
example of a law that could help solve the problems of high-volume BBS' under
existing legal review obligations as pointed out above. It represents no less
than an attempt to do away with virtually all sysop liability in pure
message-forwarding situations, high and low volume alike. And perhaps it can
be revived if enough people are interested . . . (Background information on
the ECFA comes from discussions with one of the participants, attorney David
Johnson of the D.C. firm Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering)
The ECFA would have worked as follows: it was to protect all sysops who
merely forward or transfer messages between users from virtually all legal or
government actions based on those messages. The protected message-forwarding
activity could take place anywhere - within BBS' or networks of all kinds.
The ECFA concept of a "message" was very expansive. It included not only text
messages, such as the ASCII e-mail and public postings so familiar in the
online world, but also files, such as sound, image and animation files,
computer programs, and databases.
The ECFA imposed certain conditions to assure its legal protection would be
available only where sysops forwarded messages without change. First, the
sysop could not alter the "identifiability of the sender" of the message.
This is a little ambiguous - if message systems are set up so that senders
are not identifiable even on their own home systems (such as BBS' that accept
users identified only by "handles"), then the identifiability of the sender
would be effectively nil without any alteration by the sysop. Despite the
ambiguity, the ECFA drafters apparently felt the identifiability condition
gave some assurances that the senders of illegal messages could be tracked
down and held accountable if necessary.
Second, ECFA protection would not be available to sysops for any class of
messages that they screen based on message content,or even where merely
assert they have the right to do so. Sysops would be protected only where
they genuinely keep their hands off the messages. This condition assures that
in exchange for the release of liability the ECFA proposal offers sysops,
sysops will truly permit unimpeded message traffic, and advance First
Amendment freedom of speech goals.
The third condition is that the sysop seeking ECFA protection could not
sponsor, promote or adopt the messages in question as his own. For instance,
if a BBS advertises or promotes a given person's messages, electronic column
or electronic newsletter as a feature of the BBS itself, it could forfeit the
ECFA's protection with regard to such materials.
There are some very nice aspects to the ECFA proposal. The most obvious is
freeing sysops from responsibility for messages in any area where they follow
a true hands-off policy. BBS' and networks could, if they wish, act as pure
clearing houses for the messages of others, with absolutely no liability for
content. This could lead to a regime of absolutely free, yet highly
accessible,
communications among the online citizenry. Wherever sysops want
to screen or censor messages, the ECFA proposal would do no damage. Its
extraordinary protection simply would not apply to such situations.
This would create an ideal regime for high-volume BBS sysops. They could
focus on connecting, automating and moving message traffic, without worrying
about being sued for some unknown user materials flowing through the system.
Developers of BBS' and networks would be free to develop the most useful and
efficient communications systems possible, all for the ultimate benefit of
the public using those systems. The ECFA proposal was not without its
drawbacks. Possibly the biggest was its blanket protection of sysops who know
that a given message or file is illegal. In fact, the ECFA would apparently
have protected even sysops knowingly running criminal message systems, as
long as they don't promote their BBS' as pirate, porn or malicious hacker
boards, don't interfere with message traffic, and let people log on under
whatever fake handles they choose.
The ECFA proposal also would have relieved regular, law- abiding sysops of
all responsibility for illegal messages. Just meet the "hands-off"
conditions, and you will never be held responsible for any illegal activities
on your board by others. This is great when the sysop is not aware of a given
illegal message. But when he hears about a seriously problematic message,
such as posting illegal credit card numbers or a file that would destroy the
hard disks of any users who try to run it, why should he be exempted from
addressing that message in any way? After all, he may be the only one who can
prevent damage or injury due to the illegal message.
Another difficulty of the ECFA proposal was its limitation of protection only
to those sysops who absolutely do not touch messages. This would discourage
sysops from preventing the spread of dangerous materials. For instance, a
sysop may want to delete obscene or other illegal materials from further
distribution, yet refrain to do so based on fear of losing his protected
status under the ECFA; touch it, and you're liable . . . It might be better
to permit sysops voluntarily to screen or remove messages honestly believed
to be illegal, without putting them under any mandatory screening obligation
or making them lose protected status for the entire class of messages.
The ECFA proposal also left some important questions open:
- Would it prevent sysops from imposing any system rules at all relating to
message content, unless they want to forgo protection? If so, is that the
kind of choice we wish to force upon sysops?
- It offered no guidance on how a sysop could lock a troublesome user out of
the BBS without losing protection. Is kicking a user off a board "declining
to forward" a message? Would the strong protections provided to sysops under
this proposal lead to a court-made rule, that sysops desiring ECFA protection
could not deny any user access to unscreened message classes as long as they
pay the standard system fees (if any)?
- Finally, did the ECFA proposal go far enough in the major areas of concern
to sysops? While it addressed the sysops' concerns about personal legal
risks, it did nothing about seizure of BBS' based on suspicious user
activities.
For instance, the ECFA would not have prevented Steve Jackson Games in
Austin, Texas from having its BBS seized by government agents in search of
illegal user messages. Technically, this seizure was not a legal penalty
directed at Steve Jackson Games, and would not have invoked ECFA protection.
As is well known, Steve Jackson was never even charged with a crime in
connection with that seizure.
Should the ECFA drafters have faced this problem too? It would be easy enough
to add appropriate language, such as: "No person forwarding or transmitting
messages may have his equipment or other facilities used in the course of
such transmission, or any of his other property or other property on his
premises, searched or seized by government authorities merely by reason of
their belief that certain messages were or will be forwarded or transmitted
through such equipment or facilities, or that certain persons transmitted or
will transmit messages through such equipment or facilities, where such
person qualifies for the protections from liability as to such messages under
this Act as provided in Sections XXXXX."
OTHER POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
The ECFA proposal never in fact became law, so what other means of protection
from legal risk are available to high-volume BBS sysops today? One
possibility is continuing pursuit of First Amendment protection for freedom
of speech. Under a First Amendment approach, sysops would be protected from
liability wherever it would cause a "chilling effect" on BBS operations.
Since even a mild obligation to monitor user materials could seriously chill
high-volume BBS and network operations, as we saw above, strong recognition
of First Amendment rights in BBS' could provide most or all of the legal risk
protection needed for such operations to best succeed. It is not certain,
however, that industrial strength First Amendment protection will ultimately
be extended to BBS', as appropriate as that may seem to those who use the
networks. Even if it is ultimately recognized by the courts, we should not
expect to see this established definitively for at least 10 or 20 years,
unless special legislation is passed earlier. For the time being, we can gain
encouragement from the First Amendment limits on sysop liability announced in
the CompuServe v. Cubby case of last year (and discussed about a year ago in
this column), and the general optimism that other courts will follow this
lead.
Another possibility is to push for official "common carrier" treatment for
BBS', releasing them from responsibility for message content the way that
telephone companies are released today. The problem with this approach is
that in exchange for offering the liability protection, the rule making
authorities might impose a heavy share of regulation on BBS', including such
requirements as must-carry rules and rate controls. The end result could be a
regulatory burden on high-volume BBS operations far greater than the burden
they sustain now due to uncertain legal monitoring obligations, entirely
defeating the purpose of achieving common carrier status.
User contracts can fill in a lot of the remaining need for protection for
many sysops. Combining freedom of speech protection with well-constructed
user contracts, and factoring in First Amendment "freedom of assembly"
protection that may well provide legal protection from having to reveal
system user lists or identities to government authorities, may enable a
workable balance of user anonymity with meaningful shielding of sysops from
liability.
Since there is already some meaningful liability protection available for
sysops, should ECFA-type federal legislation be pursued at all? We do have
this dandy prototype already highly developed, and all set for further
development and prompt proposal to Congress. I have no doubt that the
problems and questions I raised above could be ironed out fairly easily.
The ECFA model remains very attractive because unlike the common carrier
approach, it's not "regulation" at all. It's purely a way of protecting BBS'
and sysops from liability for unscreened user messages, without forcing them
to do anything extra to obtain that protection. If they don't meet its
conditions, the ECFA simply would not apply. The ECFA is an example of a
"safe harbor" law. It provides protection to those who fit within its
conditions, and does not alter the legal treatment of anyone else positively
or negatively.
We must be careful, though, since proposing legislation can be a double-edged
sword. Once a law is proposed, it is often viewed by others not involved in
its original development as a vehicle for their own agendas. It could be very
difficult to prevent an ECFA-type proposal from becoming riddled with
opportunistic exceptions, add-ons or regulatory devices to suit some
politicians' pet agendas, be they viruses, computer crime, software
infringement, adult materials, or some other online-related subject. In the
perverse manner of real-world legislation, a bill initiated to protect BBS'
could become, instead, a law that would actually regulate BBS', and even
increase sysop liability for specified "bad things". This is one result we
should all do our best to prevent.
===========
DIRECT DIAL
===========
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION ONLINE
------------------------------------
Most discussions of business and the economy focus on the Fortune 500 - the
500 largest corporations in America. This is a bit myopic in that
statistically they don't exist. They are easy to quantify, diagram, and
diagnose because they generally file a lot of information as public
disclosures to the Securities and Exchange Commission. But they aren't
actually the bulk of our economy or jobs. What's good for the Fortune 500 may
not be what's good for America.
There are over 20.5 million businesses operating in the United States and 99%
of them are considered "small businesses." The number of small businesses has
increased 54% since 1980 and they account for virtually all of the new job
creation in the period since. And actually, the role small businesses play in
our creation of wealth as a nation has been recognized for some time. In
1953, Congress created the United States Small Business Administration to
help entrepreneurs form successful small enterprises.
And while it might seem a bit odd to go to a government agency to find out
how to run a small business (what would they know about it), the agency has
done a passable job acting as a clearing house for information on management,
marketing, and financing. The latter being particularly important as banks
like the sure hit of loaning to Fortune 500 and are wary of new ventures. As
a result, 30-40% of all loans to small businesses nationwide are obtained
under loan guarantees provided by the SBA. Effectively, the SBA takes the
risk off the shoulders of the bank so they can loan money a bit more freely.
In October, the SBA erected a 20-line BBS to help small business men and
women find information and discover resources that may help them to start,
maintain, expand or operate their businesses. SBA ONLINE is entirely free of
charge and operates on a toll-free 800 number at 800-697-4636.
The system was an instant hit. Up less than a week, it already enjoyed over a
thousand calls daily and immediately expanded the line count to 41. The
system runs on a single PC using TBBS software, and after looking it over, we
must report it is one of the best menu/access designs we've seen for a new
government operated BBS. Many such efforts start as "shells" with slots for
information but no real information on them. They tend to acquire an
encrustation of information veneered over the top of them over a period of
time. The result is rarely pretty or useful. The SBA system looks like a
complete design from the start with lots of useful information up the first
week.
After logon, the system displays a very plain ASCII presentation with
instructions on how to turn ANSI graphics on (H for HELP - 5 for CHANGE USER
PROFILE, A for ANSI and G for IBM graphics). This improves the system
dramatically.
The system does something that most "support" type systems should always do.
It provides a list of most frequently asked questions. Any type of support
service online tends to receive 90% of their inquiries on ten or twelve
questions that get asked over and over and over again. Part of the magic of
the BBS is that it can answer them quite consistently the same way each time
and not leave the humans feeling tied up on repetitive work. The SBA system
posts the 30 most frequently asked questions the SBA deals with - with
answers. The answers looked a bit general to me, but the most frequently
asked questions did as well.
Another thing this system employs superbly is searchable databases. The SBA
is a big department with offices in all 50 states and some 600 Small Business
Development Centers. A database of local office locations allows callers to
enter a two-digit state abbreviation to get a list of offices in the state,
street addresses, and telephone numbers. The same technique of listing by
state is provided for a list of preferred lenders where you can obtain SBA
financing. The SBA guarantees loans of up to $750,000 to small businesses and
guarantees up to 85% of that loan amount.
The SBA is as much an educational organization as anything else - sponsoring
seminars and work shops on marketing, sales, promotion, and hundreds of other
aspects of operating a business. They maintain a database titled Calendar of
Events that again lists items by state. Enter your state code and it prints
out a calendar of such seminars with location, date, etc.
The system sports a message area where callers can exchange information and
it is already booming. Many were consultants seeking to drum up a bit of
business, but there was a fellow with a log home franchise in Arkansas,
another operating a knife and tool sharpening service, and others exchanging
information on business plans, resumes, how to obtain credit reports from
TRW, Trans-Union, and Equifax. Some just tried out business ideas or
described marketing problems they had. For a service this young, they appear
to have already reached a critical mass of users.
The system also sports information files discussing dozens of SBA "programs"
designed to help minority business owners, women, Vietnam Veterans, and other
special categories and special loan programs. An online newsletter titled the
Small Business Advocate provided some interesting news. Overall, the system
was unusually friendly and welcoming in tone and presentation and appears to
offer a real resource for those struggling to start or build small
businesses. A voice information answer desk operates at 800-827-5722.
SLOVENIAN BULLETIN BOARDS
------------------------
Pozdravljen. When Yugoslavia disintegrated a little over a year ago it
entered a stark period of fighting and unrest now to some degree the focus of
the world. The country was parceled out into six new federal republics
including:
Slovenia (Slovenija), capital Ljubljana
Croatia (Hrvatska), capital Zagreb
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina), capital Sarajevo
Monte Negro (Crna Gora), capital Podgorica (formerly Titograd)
Serbia (Srbija), capital Belgrade (Beograd)
Macedonia (Makedonija), capital Skopje
Serbia and Monte Negro now claim to be the inheritors of Yugoslavia and are
effectively the last communist regime operating in Europe. They are currently
waging war to try to gain Bosnia and Herzegovina and over 100,000 citizens
there have died from Serbian shelling and fighting. While Sarajevo once
sported several bulletin boards, one of the early casualties of Serbian
shelling was a telecommunications center and less than 10% of telephone lines
in this area work at all - and virtually none to the outer world.
But the surrounding areas do support a few systems. Running a bulletin board
in such a climate is no easy task. Telephone line installations in Slovenia
run about $800 while in more rural settings it can run as high as $2000 -
this in a land where the average wage of top executives runs some $400-$500
monthly. But Boris Horvat fervently believes in the electronic bulletin board
as a voice of freedom. With Aljaz Turk and Maja Fajdiga, he founded the ABM
BBS at 38-64-218-663 in Ljubljana (lew-bee-anna) using PCBoard software in
April of 1991. The system currently operates on nine lines and provides more
than 250 message areas. It operates in the International FidoNet as
2:380/102.
Horvat graduated with a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from the
University of Ljubljana in 1980. By trade he is an Organ Restorer, he builds
and restores keyboard instruments - harpsichords and church organs. But he's
also developed a bit of a career as a writer. He started with lectures and
writing for a music magazine, but currently he serves as editor of the
Electronic Communications section of MONITOR MAGAZINE, the largest general
purpose PC magazine in Slovenia with a circulation of some 6000 copies
monthly. In a country of two million people, it's considered large.
The system features a ZyXEL U-1496 modem at 38-61-155-136 and a U.S. Robotics
Courier Dual Standard 16.8K at 38-61-218-663 as a result of Horvat's trip to
ONE BBSCON in Denver this past August. Using our ZyXEL U-1496, we were
surprised to obtain a solid 9600 bps connection to the ZyXEL line on ABM-BBS.
We actually downloaded a 519KB GIF image of some of the ABM-BBS users and
obtained a 1043 character per second transfer rate.
A note on dialing internationally. Of course, you must preface the number
with 011 - the digits for an international switch. The country code in
Slovenija is 38 and the city code for Llubljana is 61. But there are a number
of strange sounds issued by the switching circuitry between here and many
European countries. Many modems, ours included, somehow decide the line is
busy from the tones it detects. We actually dialed the number with a
telephone connected to the same line as the modem. When ABM-BBS answered, we
entered the command ATO from the keyboard and hung up the phone. The modems
negotiated a handshake quite easily from there.
During his trip to the U.S., Horvat also made contact with PeaceNet in San
Francisco and joined the network through the London GreenNet. As a result,
all ABM users, including Boris Horvat, can be reached by Internet at the
address first.last@abm.gn. apc.org.
The system is undoubtedly the largest BBS in Slovenija. And it lists the
other bulletin boards operating in Slovenija and Hervatska in Bulletin 5.
Most of the system is in Slovenija so you may incur some difficulty in
reading many of the file descriptions and messages. But many callers are
surprisingly fluent in English as well. Lep Pozdrav. Boris Horvat, ABM-BBS,
Ziherlova 43/40, 61000 Ljubljana, Slovenija. 38-61-211-553 voice;
boris.horvat @abm.gn.apc.org.
Horvat provides us with a list of bulletin boards in the ex Yugoslavia area.
Matjaz Potrc of MojsterR BBS in Novo mesto Slovenia actually compiles a list
of bulletin boards for Slovenia.
Slovenija
--------------------------------------------
ABM-BBS 2:380/102 (061)218-663 DS
(061)154-270 2400
(061)154-156 2400
(061)154-185 2400
(061)155-136 14400
(061)154-073 14400
(061)153-269 2400
AgroPORT (064)723-264
Alien Nation (061)667-863
Atlantis (061)210-140 2400
ATR 2:380/108 (061)343-904 9600
Bezigrad 2:380/106 (061)311-024 2400
Crackhouse (063)855-208 HST
dIRE sTRAITS 2:380/110 (061)554-137
EDIpro 2:380/109 (063)852-527 9600
GimVic 2:380/107 (061)267-940 9600
Headstone (0602)20-767
Infobox (062)222-742
Kadett (061)271-324
Krpan 2:380/104 (062)221-574 14400
Medium (061)225-175
MicroArt 2:380/100 (066)34-986 14400
Mlacom (061)114-204
MojsteR 2:380/101 (068)23-731 14400
Omega (061)374-213 2400
Paranomia 2:380/114 (061)340-846 2400
Pony Express (061)223-229 14400
Programmer's (062)810-824
Radio Student 2:380/111 (061)271-087 14400
R.I.S.P. 2:380/103 (061)199-400 14400
UnikUm 2:380/112 (061)728-014
Vogon Poetry 2:380/105 (0602)42-127 14400
Hrvatska (Croatia)
--------------------------------------------
3C-Coning (041)538-120
ABM-ZAGREB 2:381/101 (041)535-049 14400
Alt::BBS 2:381/100 (058)320-444 14400
Bug (041)451-030 14400
Croatia (054)127-118 9600
FiguRA (041)112-372
FireFly (041)237-920
Genesis (041)752-970
Globtour-Istra (0531)351-846
GT (051)274-943
MDS (041)161-360 14400
MIPS (041)251-486 9600
Oziris (041)612-810 2400
Sih (041)423-006
Strategy 2 (041)416-439
TVRi (051)36-518
UnderWorld (041)411-995
Mr. Dejan Ristanovic of Sezam BBS in Belgrade maintains the list of BBS
operating in Serbia. While Serbia is under sanctions of the international
community, the computer connections between Slovenia and Serbia still work
occasionally.
Serbia
--------------------------------------------
Durlan 018 713 836 2400
Evrounion 011 655 592 9600
Fenix 011 414 312 9600
FON File Server 011 237 2392 2400
Huter 011 788 189 2400
Kuchevo 012 52 109 2400
Madonna 011 644 082 2400
Moonlight Amiga 011 154 836 14400
Oreska 031 28 276 2400
Pingvin 011 606 928 2400
Politika 011 329 148 2400
Prometheus 024 51 792 2400
Rhinoceros 021 350 751 2400
Rimtutituki 011 872 147 2400
Sezam (10 nodes) 011 648 899 2400
Tangram 018 21 651 2400
Velcom 011 751 820 2400
Finally, we found one BBS operating in Macedonia
Dzunitsa SKOPJE 091/254-619 2400
========================
THIS MONTH - NEW ZEALAND
========================
Our featured list this month is a national list of 233 bulletin boards
operating in New Zealand. New Zealand is an island country of some 103,736
square miles lying to the south and east of Australia. The country sports a
population of 3,434,000 people. It lies in the GMT+12 time zone approximately
7333 miles southwest of Denver. Auckland is the largest metropolitan area in
the country with a population of some 842,000 followed by Wellington and
Christchurch which each sport a bit over 300,000 people.
Our list this month is actually compiled by a gentleman in Auckland named
Richard Vowles. Richard operates a Unix-like system titled Malleus
Maleficarum (The Hammer of Witches) at 64-9-483-6959. Note that the country
code for New Zealand is 64 and the city code for Auckland is 9. Preface this
number with 011 for an international switch if dialing directly from the
United States. It operates on the Internet as nacjack.gen.nz and Mr. Vowles
can be reached by e-mail at richard@nacjack.gen.nz. The system is also on
FidoNet as 3:772/110. In fact, the system even operates via packet radio at
ZL1UTF@ZL1AB.#11.AKL. NZL.OC. Vowles, who goes by the alias Hexen Hammer
online, keeps the Auckland list and compiles other lists into one list for
New Zealand. The main contributors seem to be Pat Caine, with the Wellington
list, and Craig Shore with a list from Christchurch.
As to BBS software, New Zealand seems to have an affinity for Frank LaRosa's
Searchlight BBS package. Some 43 systems run Searchlight BBS with Remote
Access coming in a distant second with 21 systems. We found a number of New
Zealand systems intriguing. THE HAIRLESS BBS, for example, is run by BALDMAN
and is dedicated to hassling others.
To dial any number on the list from the United States, first dial 011 to get
the international direct dial switch, followed by 64 for the New Zealand
country code. Next, dial the area prefix (for example: Christchurch is 03)
followed by the listed telephone number for the board. Actually connections
to the Pacific rim have for some reason improved fairly dramatically and we
got good connections into New Zealand.
NEW ZELAND BBS LIST
BBS PHONE SW SYSOP
-------------------------------------------------------------------
AUCKLAND - PREFIX 09
15 Credibility St 537-5808 Xenolink Xaxxa
Apples Only [A.O.] 276-0680 Hermes James Maguire
A Board 815-3579 Sapphire Harry Bennett
ABUG II 445-2923 Archimedies Edouard Poor
Amiga Board 818-9698 BBS-PC! Rodger Manson
Ammo Dump 479-5657 TAG Ice 'M'F'n T
Asylum 479-7677 Searchlight Jeremy Wylie
A.T.I. 303-2456 Opus Stephen Clark
Auckland Data Exchange 360-2419 RA Mark Stephens
(The) BBS Works 630-7739 Waffle Wayne McDougall
Bee Hive 576-7728 Telegard Terry Hart
Bill & Ted's Excellent BBS 576-1049 MAXBoard Bill
BlackCat 360-2506 Enigma Lynn Prentice
BladeRunner BBS 410-7915 Hermes Blademan, Joey
BorderLine 276-9151 Maximus Jaymax
Bruiser's BBS 836-4576 Telegard Bruiser
Castle Rathbone II 486-2566 TAG Desert Hawk
(The) Center 443-7679 Wildcat Jon Meekins
Christian Ministry 636-4795 Maximus Errol Thompson
Circle Games BBS 307-0687 Spitfire Jon McSpadden
Circuit Board 537-2822 Telegard Tony Margetts
CmP! 521-4215 Paragon
Computa Club 575-8665 Spitfire Neville Harlick
Com-Link 263-4163 Proboard Mamercus
Connections 482-0124 Telegard Ron Wilson
Davey Jones's Locker 520-3657 RA Davey Jones
(The) DavTech BBS 579-9003 Hermes David Lilienthal
Deep Thought 443-7636 Hermes Nick Warburton
Delta Alpha Kilo 817-5002 Telegard The Blind Mullet
Dimension BBS 8464-184 Telegard Dr Who
Doctor Disk Auckland 373-3389 Telegard
(The) Edge 837-1754 Spitfire Russell Hardie
Electron BBS 525-0300 Electron Kevin Johnson
Enigma 480-0951 Enigma Rohit Gupta
Explosive Suicide 278-1989 RA
Frenzy! 410-9846 MAXBoard Bad Attitude
Fun Zone BBS 832-1680 Telegard Fred Zlinsi
Funkys House 630-0633 Spitfire John Migias
Golden Delicious 815-1285 Red Ryder Michael Hope
(The) Graveyard 267-9559 MAXBoard Chuck!
Hairless BBS 298-6116 MAXBoard Baldman
Hell 521-0164 Ami-Express Freddy
Hitch-Hiker's 817-5515 Paragon Ford Prefect
Hoons For Christ 537-4272 Spitfire Dave Clements
Houseboat Haven 372-7129 RA Phantom Uploader
InfoBoard 833-8788 Maximus Colin Swabey
Infomania! 489-6750 RA Aaron Schiff
Jazz's Strip 478-3629 Telegard Homey D. Clown
Jupiter II 478-6926 Jupiter Adrian Dorrington
Just Another Board 849-2035 Hermes Nicholas Brooker
Kappa Crucis 817-3324 ESIX David Dix
(The) Kiwi BBS 818-7079 Telegard Harry Rose
Knoddy's House 266-4597 Telegard Knoddy
Life Force 537-1586 Spitfire Michael Chen
Malleus Maleficarum 483-6959 MMNA Hexen Hammer
Matrix BBS 235-1364 Ultra Shane Kitcher
MAXBoard Central 815-2576 MAXBoard Max Headroom
McAfee NZ BBS 486-7606 Maximus Selwyn Arrow
(The) Miser's Vault 820-2164 RA Scrooge McDuck
Monster Land 522-1306 Telegard Tom Ho
Moogaboard 267-2865 Falcon Mooga
New Board 410-9671 Herbet Blademan
New Era 527-6501 Paragon New Era
Nexus II 520-3265 Paragon Dragonlady
NikBoard 373-4347 Custom Nikolaos Wakem
Nite Owl BBS 570-2885 RA Mark Brandwood
Niteline BBS 832-2164 Spitfire Tony Stephens
NutHouse BBS 836-1113 Renegade
NZ Commodore UG 528-5872 BBS-PC! Richard Doul
NZMC Fidonet Gateway 445-4571 Maximus Chris Miller
NZ Micro Maxie 444-0989 Maximus Peter Knapper
Out of Sight 298-3805 Ultra Jonathan Mosen
Paradise BBS 817-4134 RA Ray LeCheminant
(The) Patch 277-9807 RA Orion
PC Computer Group 302-2189 Spitfire Grant Hackett
PC Extras 525-6023 Opus Robert Pregnall
Pee Wee's Playhouse 827-8371 Spitfire Steve Murray
Phoenix! 412-7860 Wildcat Tony Rielly
(The) Pinnacle Club 631-5382 Waffle Bernadette Mooney
Pipeline 479-7623 Xenolink Michael Taylor
Portunus's Little CBCS 372-5454 Maximus Portunus
Power Board 372-8103 Spitfire Blake Shave
Powerlink 525-5492 Merlin
Prime Directive 846-4734 Telegard Cornucopia
Quo Regnum 629-2540 Spitfire The Mage
Sound Source 579-3356 Telegard Mod Man
(The) Starship Enterprise 525-2756 Warp6 Captain Kirk
State of Chaos 410-3815 Spitfire Geraint Bycroft
STaTus BBS 358-5543 Waffle Jon Clarke
TC's Muzak BBS 268-1624 RA Tony Carpenter
Tech Pacific Support 415-8464 TAG Peter Sabelis
Time Zone BBS 625-7980 Telegard MAD-MAX
TL Systems 634-2972 Telegard Colin Swabey
Toadhall BBS 570-5171 Paragon Roadtoad
Triton BBS 537-5857 Matthew Greenfield
(The) Ubiquitous Conn 443-7108 Express Murray Moffat
(The) Village 443-4049 Wildcat The Mayor
Whakapapa 832-4457 Maximus Ross Archer
BLENHEIM - PREFIX 03
MACE 578-8604 BBS Express Ian Scott
CHRISTCHURCH - PREFIX 03
All A Baud 343-0962 Starnet Terence Blyth
Amiga Info BBS 797-564 Falcon David Hassall
Connection II 355-3896 Commnet Jon Himing
Direct Link 332-7297 RA Mark Abbott
Enterprise III TNG 355-2166 Searchlight Craig Blaikie
Equinox Networks 385-4406 Dialog Pro Geoff McCaughan
General Support 338-7100 Searchlight
Lost Souls Domain 359-7031 Oasis Calvin Broadhurst
Mirth Control BBS 890-898 Maximus Daniel Ayers
Modems Not Included 358-8253 Searchlight David Robb
Nationwide Computers Ltd 796-334 Searchlight Warrick Atherton
Never Never Land 811-088 Wildcat Paul Sexstone
Online Support 667-324 Searchlight John Clarke
Outer Limits 388-9021 Shawn Fuller
Planet Melmac 348-6522 Searchlight Murray Cameron
Polyvox IV 649-027 Searchlight Peter Ellens
Realm Of Insanity 338-6461 Searchlight Seth Wogoner
RemoteAccess 349-3236 RA Graeme Kerr
Short Circuit 795-559 Commnet Peter Meuldijk
Simplicity BBS 352-0688 Oasis John Haines
Source Board 656-301 Searchlight Ed Sickmann
Split Infinity BBS 384-4393 RA Paul Le Page
SuperSystem IV 849-0830 Searchlight Bob Curwood
Tony's BBS 383-1155 Opus Tony Hall
Trashcan BBS 799-345 Searchlight Chris Hellyar
(The) Village [South] 355-7490 Wildcat Dave Cooke
Xenophobia 358-9120 C-Base Matthew Hallson
DUNEDIN - PREFIX 03
Midnite Modemer BBS 455-5359 Searchlight Iain Lourie
Southern Vortex 489-3420 Searchlight Chris Pheloung
Taieri BBS 489-7777 Forem Barry Clearwater
GERALDINE - PREFIX 03
Pioneer 693-9684 PCBoard Barry Newel
GREYMOUTH - PREFIX
Bates Motel 768-6036 Searchlight Mike Rooney
Gateway 842-850 Spitfire Grant Thomas
FEATHERSTONE, SOUTH WAIRARAPA - PREFIX 06
Foxtrot BBS 308-9456 Paragon Mark Gooding
HAMILTON - PREFIX 07
(The) BEST BBS 849-0486 PCBoard Aaron Westerby
(The) Bridge Baud BBS 843-0086 Paragon Ryan Beecher
(The) Great Escape CBCS 846-1610 RA Fraser Kemp
(The) Labyrinth CBCS 856-4227 David Miller
USA Connection 856-6851 TAG Carl Rayner
Waikato Amiga CBCS 846-6918 Barry Blackford
HASTINGS - PREFIX 06
Bay Baud 876-7683 Spitfire John Newson
CC's Baud 876-3804
HIBISCUS COAST - PREFIX 09
Hotline 424-2004 Wildcat Wayne
INVERCARGILL - PREFIX 03
Baud of the City? 218-6445 Searchlight Cathy MacKenzie
No Carrier BBS 216-8076 RA Andrew Joll
Land's End BBS 214-4150 Searchlight Ken Sutton
Micro South 218-4056 Searchlight Jamie Dowling
Night Shift 217-6644 Searchlight Bill Niven
KAITAIA - PREFIX 09
Aotearoa BBS 408-1905 Tenga Reese
NAPIER - PREFIX 06
The Beer Club 835-1288 RA Grayson Orr
Jaybee's 844-1144 RA John Bickerstaff
Plus Baud 844-1489 RA Andrew Johnston
Tiny's Small Environment 843-6783 Allan Harding
NELSON - PREFIX 03
Sun City BBS 548-9171 Wildcat Damon Rose
NEW PLYMOUTH - PREFIX 06
AmigaLink 24-8118 DLG John Veldthuis
Harley's Heaven 758-7892 Paragon Noel Oakley
The Hobbits Hole 753-2353 Spitfire Michael Hobin
Informex 775-584 Airdrie Black
Frontal Lobe 751-1285 Xenolink Adam Burtt
PALMERSTON NORTH - PREFIX 06
ACME BBS 355-1342 Waffle Craig Harding
Atari Rose City BBS 358-0367 BBS Express George Henry
The Big Bang Burger Bar 353-6213 Searchlight Rod McPherson
Christian Bulletin Board 356-2058 Spitfire Shane Harvey
Closed User Groups Board 323-9660 Searchlight John Poulsen
Cyberlink 2 359-2658 Searchlight Dean Richards
Dawghaus BBS 357-9245 Waffle Alan Brown
Hamboard 357-1781 Wildcat John de Burgh
Oasis 358-8942 Proboard Peter Tamehana
Sidewalk 359-2142 Searchlight Paul Lush
Stonehenge 356-6375 Falcon Grant Ovenden
Top Gun BBS 351-5152 Searchlight Savern Reweti
Transition BBS 357-7574 Falcon Renze de Ruiter
Xpress Board 358-1235 Wildcat S Strawbridge
PARAPARAUMU - PREFIX 04
The Gremlins 298-4194 Maximus Phill McKenna
Radio Chaos 98-5582 RA Wayne Galloway
RANGIORA - PREFIX 03
Whispers BBS 313-5181 Ben Wheeler
ROTORUA - PREFIX 07
The Beast 3490-588 Opus Peter Hendricks
OTAGO - PREFIX 024
VAX 779-068
TAURANGA - PREFIX 07
Kiwifruit Coast 578-1333 Wildcat Matthew Percy
TE KAUWHATU - PREFIX 0817
Waikato Technical 88-165 Philip Bradey
TIMARU - PREFIX 03
Computer SW LIB of NZ 615-9313 Searchlight Bill Strauss
WANGANUI - PREFIX 06
The Wanganui Amigans 347-1200 Waffle
WELLINGTON - PREFIX 04
Aces High 564-1222 Searchlight Glenn Williams
Actrix & Springboard II 564-3429 Unix XBBS Paul Gillingwater
Andrew's Folly 233-9126 Maximus Andrew McMillan
The Board 564-6035 Major BBS Mark Richardson
Board Shitless 385-8971 Searchlight Aimee Winn
The Bridge 386-1968 Odyssey Julian Wright
Casanova 387-2359 Searchlight Mike Jones
(The) Cave III 564-3429 Kiwiboard C. Lear
(The) Cave IV 564-2314 Unix C. Lear
CityNET 801-3060 VAX Richard Naylor
(The) Clarion Exchange 388-9379 Maximus Karen Hayward
Computer Exchange 499-3181 Searchlight Greg Cooney
Cutting Edge 526-4407 Searchlight Gramps
CYBERIA 387-8469 Xenolink Ash Wednesday
Digital Vaults III 473-6679 Spitfire Gary Morrison
Dragon's Lair 565-1332 Spitfire Night Stalker
Fred's Diner 568-3830 Searchlight Gary Dickinson
Garfield's Greenhouse 528-0790 Searchlight Damian Kennedy
GenBoard 499-0490 Maximus Murray Thessman
(The) Graphics Connection 473-0981 Maximus Mark Remfrey
Harbour Board 476-2852 Forum ST Chris Thorpe
Hideaway 526-0221 Searchlight Rick Malkin
Leisure Board 298-5871 Maximus George Snell
Major Force! 566-7194 RA Russell Pratt
Maranatha 476-7542 Paragon Bryan Daley
Meet Board 384-3918 Oracomm Alan Merry
MEGA-BAUD 389-5371 RA Rick Smith
Naos 478-3117 Ewen McNeill
No Bauds Barred 528-9730 Searchlight Greg Cooney
Open All Hours 384-2342 Wildcat Mark Wilson
Out of this World 233-1293 Searchlight Wild One
Power Board 801-6599 Searchlight Tony Hitchcock
Romboard 583-6040 Wildcat Brent Wood
Sail Baud 389-1516 Searchlight Charles Folkema
Seaboard 478-1008 Kiwiboard Peter Longman
Sideways 569-5695 Waffle Patrick Cain
SILICON FANTASIES 565-0628 Searchlight Logic
SMASH 566-1021 Ultra Gavin Cross
Spider's Web 477-3133 Searchlight Jay Montilla
SPOTLIGHT 479-3540 Searchlight Nigel Lynskey
Stargate 566-6728 Wildcat David Benfell
STEPHEN'S STUDIO 479-5609 Spitfire John Stephens
Te Wahapu BBS 388-5552 Opus Richard Benton
Tornado 233-1843 Waffle Sai
THE TOWER OF HIGH SORCERY 566-8156 Searchlight Dalamar
Tracker's Plane 476-3361 Searchlight Mad Gnome
Video Drome 388-5410 Searchlight Sam Hutton
Waug Shorts 527-8817 Dumboard Allan Honey
WHAKATANE/KAWERAU - PREFIX 07
Apanui Link 308-5098 Wildcat Ralph Clulow
PC-Link 323-8925 Wildcat Grant Seamark
WHANGAREI - PREFIX 089
OPUS North 437-3976 Opus Bryan Rentoul
BULLETIN BOARD OPERATOR DISCOUNT PROGRAMS
=========================================
V.32 and V.32bis Modems
VENDOR MODEL LIST SYSOP BBS
ATI Technologies ATI V.32 $699 $350 416-756-4591
Cardinal Technologies 9600V42 V.32 $699 $269 717-293-3074
Computer Peripherals Viva 9624e V.32 $349 $249 805-499-9646
Galaxy Networks UFO V.32bis $999 $299 None 818-998-7851
GVC Technologies FM-9696/144V V.32bis $689 $413 201-579-2380
GVC Technologies SM-96V V.32 $599 $329 201-579-2380
Hayes Microcomputer Ultra 144 V.32bis $1199 $599 404-446-6336
Hayes Microcomputer Optima 144+FAX $499 $299 404-446-6336
Hayes Microcomputer ISDN System Adapter $1599 $799 404-446-6336
Image Communications Twincomm 9600 V.32 $299 $279 None
Intel Corporation 14.4EX V.32bis $549 $269 503-645-6275
Intel Corporation 9600EX V.32 $599 $299 503-645-6275
Multi-Tech Systems MT932BA V.32 $869 $435 612-785-9875
Multi-Tech Systems MT1432BA V.32bis $899 $450 612-785-9875
Practical Peripherals PM14400FXSA V.32bis $549 $250 818-706-2467
Supra Corporation SupraFAX V.32bis $399 $249 503-967-2444
Supra Corporation SupraFAX V.32 $299 $199 503-967-2444
Telebit Corporation T3000 V.32bis $949 $399 None
U.S. Robotics HST/DS V.32bis $1295 $499 708-982-5092
Ven-Tel EC96 V.32 $699 $439 408-922-0988
ZyXEL U-1496 V.32bis $799 $450 714-693-0762
ZyXEL U-1496E V.32bis $469 $299 714-693-0762
Austin Area BBS List AC 512 -=ACE*BBS=- (512)258-9553
Ham/Amateur Radio BBS 3WINKs BBS (301)590-9629
Minnesota Twin Cities AC 612 Abiogenetic BBS (612)489-7983
Tulsa Oklahoman Area BBS List Access America (918)747-2542
Autocad Related BBS Alacrity BBS (206)643-5477
National BBS List Ameriboard (412)349-6862
Tacoma Washington AC 206 AmoCat BBS (206)566-1155
Houston Area 713 Atomic Cafe BBS (713)530-8875
Baltimore Area 301 Baltimore BBS News (301)633-7870
San Francisco Area 408/415/510 Bay List BBS (510)339-1045
Black Issue BBS BDPA Bay Area BBS (707)552-3314
Medical Issues BBS Black Bag (302)731-1998
Republic of South Africa Catalyst BBS (041)34-1122
Airline Pilot/JUMPSEAT BBSs ChicAAgo Hangar (708)980-1613
Conservation/Nature BBS List Coin of the Realm (301)585-66
Engineering Related BBS Computer Plumber (319)337-6723
San Diego, CA AC 619 Computor's Edge (619)573-1675
Ontario Area 705 Cottage Country BBS (705)835-6192
U.S.S.R. BBS List Court Crimson King 7-3832-356722
Connecticut AC 203 Creative Edge BBS (203)743-4044
Computer Shopper BBS List CS List BBS (913)478-3088
Portland Oregon BBS DawGone Disgusted (503)297-9145
Technical Support BBS List Digicom BBS (812)479-1310
96 List - 9600+bps BBS Downtown BBS (213)484-0260
Rhode Island Area 401 Eagle's Nest (401)732-5292
Ecology/Conservation BBS EarthArt BBS (803)552-4389
Seattle AC 206/West Washington Eskimo North (206)367-3837
Macintosh BBS Fort Mill Tabby (803)548-0900
BBS With Handicapped Focus Handicap News BBS (203)337-1607
National 800 Number BBS List Hayes Online (800)874-2937
Handicapped Issues BBS HEX BBS (301)593-7357
Central California Area 805 His Board (805)652-1478
Chicago HURK BBS (708)801-0823
NAPLPS Graphics BBS IHBC BBS (404)498-4254
California AC 310 Illusions BBS (310)804-3324
Atlanta Area 404 INDEX System (404)924-8472
Desktop Publishing BBS Infinite Perspective (301)924-0398
Washington DC BBS List Interconnect (703)425-2505
Selected BBS J&J's BBS (513)236-1229
Wisconsin 608 JW-PC Dataflex.HST (608)837-1923
Open Access UNIX Site List LGNP1 (login:BBS) (215)348-9727
OS/2 Related BBS LiveNet 1:170/110 (918)481-5715
Rochester NY AC 716 Logan's Run (716)256-2659
Orlando Florida AC 407 London BBS (407)423-5226
AC 516 Free Shareware BBS Long Island Exchange (516)385-7882
Raleigh NC Area Code 919 Micro Message Svc. (919)779-6674
Geneology Related BBS NGS-CIG (703)528-2612
Atlanta Area 404 OASIS (404)627-2662
St. Louis AC 314 Offworld BBS (314)579-0700
OS/2 BBS Systems OS2/Shareware BBS (703)385-4325
ASP BBS Member List PBS-BBS (317)856-2087
The List National BBS List PDSLO (The List) (516)938-6722
New Jersey Area 201/609/908 Praedo BBS (609)953-0769
Milwaukee Area 414 Priplanus (414)442-0170
Apple II BBS with Internet con pro-sol (619)670-5379
Kitsap County Washington Quicksilver BBS (206)780-2011
CompuCom Modem BBS List Referral Market BBS (803)297-4395
List of Gay/Lesbian BBS S-TEK BBS (514)597-2409
Area Code 215 PA and 609 NJ Satalink BBS (215)364-3324
Dallas/Ft Worth Area 214/817 Second Sanctum (817)784-1178
South Florida Area 305/407 Silicon Beach BBS (305)474-6512
Southern California SOCAL Corner (213)422-7942
Kansas City Area 816/913 Sound Advice (816)436-4516
New Orleans BBS List Southern Star BBS (504)885-5928
Astronomy/Space BBS Starbase III BBS (209)432-2487
Chicago Stillwaters (708)403-2826
South Jersey Area 609 The Casino EBBS (609)561-3377
Arkansas Area 501 The Gaslight BBS (501)444-8420
Graphical User Interface BBS The Gooey (GUI) BBS (212)876-5885
National Adult BBS List Titan BBS 1:3612/140 (904)476-1270
Detroit Area 313 Tony's Corner (313)754-1131
Virginia AC 703/804 TOSOR BBS (703)366-4620
Darwin National BBS List USBBS Update Line (202)547-3037
Wildcat! BBS Wildcat! HQ (805)395-0650
Cleveland Area 216 Wine Cellar (216)382-2558
Area Code 517 - Mid-Michigan Wolverine BBS (517)695-9952
Central California AC 209 Zen Den Systems (209)675-8436
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