1203 lines
61 KiB
Plaintext
1203 lines
61 KiB
Plaintext
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BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
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COPYRIGHT 1988
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December 1988 Volume 1, Issue 8
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Table Of Contents
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Article Title Author
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Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Mark Maisel
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Editorial Column...............................Mark Maisel
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The EZNET System...............................Tim Straughn
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The Sex Life Of Guppies And It's Relationship
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To Telecommunications....................Co-SysOp One, Channel 8250
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A Tutorial Of Unknown, Unpredictable Length....Blake Miller
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E-Mail.........................................Barry Bowden
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The New Look: Graphics Interchange Format.....Gary Steven Godsey
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The Realm Of Tarot BBS: An Overview...........Dean Adams
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ProFile: Tim Straughn..........................Chris Mohney
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Reader Survey..................................Barry Bowden
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My BBS.........................................Joe Kearley
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Message Board..................................Barry Bowden
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Known BBS Numbers..............................Mark Maisel
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Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN
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We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
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information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for
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damage due to errors, ommisions, etc. The liability,if any for BTN, its
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editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or ommisions,
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etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
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even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
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of such damages occurring.
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With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
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policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
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monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
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publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
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time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
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in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
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harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
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content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
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work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
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from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
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reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article.
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Othewise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
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the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
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article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
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please forward a copy of your publication to:
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Mark Maisel
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Editor, BTN
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221 Chestnut St.
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BHM, AL 35210-3219
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We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
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you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
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all of this and not get too serious about it.
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Editorial
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by Mark Maisel
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We have run a bit behind this month and we apologize for it. We hope
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that you will have found this month's issue to be well worth the wait.
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This issue abounds in great educational and humorous content. The real
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story behind EZNET is our feature this issue and I am sure that it will
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be of interest to everyone who uses our local boards. For those of you
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who would like to learn more about the C programming language, look into
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Blake Miller's tutorial on the subject. With any luck, you readers and
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I may be able to convince Blake to continue the tutorial with
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regularity. For those of you who have trouble understanding his typing,
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I translate each word into English before it gets into BTN. What about
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GIF pictures? What indeed! When you finish reading what Gary Godsey
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has discovered, you will know all about it. Our ProFile victim this
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month is Tim Straughn and we invite you to see how our resident
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interviewer shreds, er, converses with his victim. We have two SysOps
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who have written to entice you to visit their systems and give you some
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highly entertaining background on their systems and themselves. Barry
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Bowden is conducting a reader survey and we would definitely appreciate
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all the participation we can get. We are extremely interested in
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finding out more about you. There are many other things in this issue
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that must remain a surprise for you to find so happy hunting!
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I would like to close by wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday and
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new year! Don't do anything I wouldn't do. No, scratch that. I might
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do anything. What the heck? Do it anyway and just don't get caught.
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Bye until next year!
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THE EZNET SYSTEM
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A Brief History and Description
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by
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Tim Straughn
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Copyright Nov. 20, 1988
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EzNet. Most of us have seen it, some of us know what it is, and a few
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of us are actually taking full advantage of it. Yet there are still
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those out there that haven't figured out why they see a message on a
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system that they left on another system. Where did this come from, who
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developed it, and what in the author's wildest dreams made them think
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that it would be successful? I hope I can answer all the above questions
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as I was one of the instigators of the system, and played an active role
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in the design and implementation of the system.
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First of all, perhaps I should explain the EzNet system. The EzNet
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system is a set of programs set up to link message bases between several
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of the boards around Birmingham with both private and public mail
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privileges, open to the general public, with selective registration so
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that any user may register for private mail on any system, and the mail
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will go there only, and not all over the place just making the message
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base larger on the other systems. These programs include a pretty
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complicated batch file to take care of the processing of archived blocks
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of messages, both arcing them and unarcing them, (here's the pitch) with
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PKARC utilities, and automatically calling Procomm supplying the script
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for calling the system serving as a host, logging off and then appending
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the incoming mail in the message base of a PCBoard 12.1 system. Believe
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it or not, the whole process only takes about 10 minutes on the remote
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systems, and about 3-5 minutes of connect time to the host. How does
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this affect you the user? Well, let's say that you call several boards
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around town, and are active in the message bases. One of those boards
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is having a peak night when you decide to call and check for a reply to
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a public cry for help with a specific program that you left on that
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system. If you left it in EzNet, then all you have to do is try another
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board which is running the EzNet system if you left the message two
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nights before. If someone replied to it in the EzNet conference, and
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left it public, then the reply will be posted in 5 other places, giving
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you 5 other boards to try to call and find out if the reply exists. Now
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for the fun part. Suppose you want to communicate privately about most
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any topic with someone who has severe problems calling a particular
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board, and you have problems calling the particular board they want to
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use. If you have registered for private mail on the board of your
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choice, and the person has registered for private mail on the board of
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their choice, then the message will go to their chosen board no pain no
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strain. It does slow things down a bit, but, at the same time, it might
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just speed things up a bit as well if there is a peak on all systems
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running EzNet and you are in a hurry to get in touch with the other
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person. At most, it will add 1 day to the process, and this is
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something I am working to solve. The topic of registering for private
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mail on a particular system is discussed in further detail later in this
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article.
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How did the EzNet system originate? Well, quite frankly, it never was
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intended as a public system in the beginning stages. I went to Ed
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O'Neill, Randy Hilliard, (both of which I would like to thank for all
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their help in getting my system off the ground), David Alge, Michele
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Cahoon, and several others and asked them if they would like to spiff up
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the Sysop's conference that all of us seemed to have, and all of which
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seemed to be hurting for activity. Nearly all systems run a sysop's
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conference for visiting sysops, but none of the sysops of busy boards
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seem to have time to call other systems. Yet, we were all in agreement
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that we needed a way to exchange information about board structure,
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users, and general information about telecommunications, but weren't
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quite sure about how to go about it. Well, Ed pipes up and says
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something about a program called PCBECHO, which `only' costs $300. I
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don't know about the rest of the sysops, but I am not interested in
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blowing 300 bucks to chat with 4 or 5 other people. Fred McMaster had
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left an announcement of a party to all of the aforementioned parties,
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and then some, mentioning something about some extracurricular
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activities involving goats, Clydesdales, and various and sundry other
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farm animals at his place in the backwoods of Shelby County. I wound up
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cooking, later to be joined by a somewhat inebriated Ed O'Neill, and
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Randy, and all of us ate and drank until the brisk air of February ran
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us all inside to Fred's living room in his trailer. There were 20+
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people in this crackerbox, so Fred saved a bundle on the heating bill
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that night with all the hot air associated with the sundry mixture of
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sysops, users, and programmers. A discussion was initiated between
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Randy, Ed, and myself, and I almost forgot, the illustrious and funny Ty
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Ros concerning my wishes to network and incorporate several of the local
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bulletin boards. Ty had to leave a little earlier than the rest of us
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due to school or something, so the discussion group concentrated into
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people who knew the structure of PCBoard. Later, the conversation
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reduced to three people including Randy, Ed and myself, and began to
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pick up the pace toward a solution to the networking problems. We all
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got back to the point we could drive again, and headed for home, with me
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anticipating the following weekend being spent with Ed coding the new
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net for sysops.
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Two nights later, a somewhat groggy Ed called me and demanded my
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presence at his place as he had something he wanted to show me. Lo and
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behold the rascal had the program written and debugged to pass public
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messages and it was working like a charm between his AT and his XT using
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Lan software. So, I took a copy of the code home with me and installed
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a new conference on my system which only I could get in and began
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tinkering with batch files for the remote system. I loaded up Procomm
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and started writing the scripts for calling Ed's board and going through
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the process of getting the file from his system. Plugged in a few
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commands in the EVENT.SYS file, and we had a working system. This was
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all well and good until Ed's sliding event ran past the time for my
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event one morning, and I got all my own messages back. Ooops! Can't
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have that. So, Ed came up with a new user account, a batch to run on
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his end on demand, and removed the process from his event. Ahhhhh. Now
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we're cooking with gas. A few modifications on my end, and BINGO!, no
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repeat messages. We ran the thing 3 or 4 weeks passing messages back
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and forth between ourselves, and adding a few chosen ones to help us
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beta test the beast, refining the thing as we went. One day, I found
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messages from other users in Ed's system, and a final note that he was
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making the system public. Hmmmmm. Not a bad idea at that. Another 2 or
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3 weeks of public beta testing couldn't hurt, and it certainly helped. A
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couple of users then came in requesting private mail service, and so Ed
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and I wound up with some more brain storming to do. So, thanks again to
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my wife Lisa, I arranged a dinner for Ed and a general flurry of paper
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and Turbo Basic code and PCBoard message bases ensued. We hashed it
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out, and later that week, here comes the new code with new instructions,
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and all the improvements requested, with the exception of one. At
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present, there's not much way to handle that problem with independent
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message bases running amuck, and the reference message numbers being so
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different. Thanks to the users who inspired the private mail option.
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Currently, the message base incorporated in EzNet is just like any other
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message base on a PCBoard 12.1 system, and the actual operation is
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nearly transparent to the user. (It becomes intuitively obvious to the
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innocent onlooker.) The advantages of being able to send a message from
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one system to four others with a single entry is not without merit, nor
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is the routing of mail to someone who may not even use the board that
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you are currently on. For instance, Ray Willingham may enter a single
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message on any system advertising for Roebuck Typewriter, and not have
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to call each individual board to do it. This is particularly useful if
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Ray needs to do something fast and doesn't have the time to call all the
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boards he wants the message posted on. Or local user groups may post
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announcements of their next meeting so that members may be more likely
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to see the announcement if they only call one system. Or, another use,
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though to the chagrin of some other users, Girl-meets-Boy-meets-Girl
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romances get initiated. The uses of a publicly echoed message base are
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actually boundless, and though perhaps not always the best of messages
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gets echoed, the purpose of the system is to get information across town
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with the least amount of downtime on each associated system.
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Though the system has Private mail capabilities, I am surprised to find
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that few have used the capabilities. Now, there are even complaints
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about the return to sender message generated by the system and the
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accidental entry of public registration requests. The problem is that we
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cannot make the system too complex for the user, nor can we produce a
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door that will reliably register each user who wishes to use the private
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mail feature. Currently, the procedure for registering for private mail
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is quite simple, and the system even provides feedback to the would-be
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registrant if he/she doesn't quite get it right. The whole process of
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getting registered for private mail on a particular system is as simple
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as entering any message. The steps are outlined below:
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1. Enter a message to EZNET CENTRAL. If the system has
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receiver checks turned on and does not have a user record for
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EZNET CENTRAL, then the person will be prompted to continue or
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re-enter the user name. Simply continue.
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2. Make the subject of the message REGISTER ME. This special
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topic will prompt the host system to add the name in the FROM
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field of the message header to the index of private mail users
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if one more condition is met.
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3. The third and final criteria for getting registered is to
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make the message receiver only. This is only to keep other
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users from having to read some silly garbage which may or may
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not be an actual message, and also serves as the second flag to
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set on the host system, telling it to send feedback to the
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registrant that they are now registered.
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If any of the three criteria are not met, then the host system will
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respond with a message to the originator that the addressee is not
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registered for private mail, that EzNet Central is not registered for
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Private mail, or some other message to let the user know that he/she
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didn't do something quite right. The solution is simple. Try again.
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Actually there is one more criteria. The message has to be entered in
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the EzNet conference, but this sort of goes without saying.
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Ed O'Neill spent a good deal of time making this thing work, and I hope
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to enhance it with a few more options at a later date. For those of you
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wanting to exchange long text files which compress so well, I hope to
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even add attachment capabilities to the system. This will not come easy
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though, and will have to have a lot of checks against abuse. I have
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already begun to enhance it for the sysops to make it easier for me to
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implement a door which is both security level and password protected,
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and also make the operation of it quicker because of the added memory
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allowed by unloading the PCBoard code. This also allows me to run my
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system from RAM disk and provide for faster turn around time to the
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normal users, and much less hard disk access for loading the PCBoard
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code when executing doors. Another feature this adds is it allows me to
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strategically place messages in the log file generated by the script
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file used for Procomm which will enhance the troubleshooting procedures
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for newly added nodes.
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The primary contributors to the EzNet system from the users standpoint
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have been Blake Higdon, Blake Miller, Sohail Rabbani, Osman Guner, Ty
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Ros, and Omega Ohm to name a few, and if I missed your name and there is
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an improvement in EzNet which was your idea, then I apologize. With the
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suggestions from the users, EzNet has grown into a very efficient system
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with virtually no restrictions other than the requests of the sysops who
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help run the system. We all have very little stipulation regarding the
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use of the EzNet system, but most of it is common sense regarding
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aspects of social behavior. Due to the fact that EzNet actually works
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with PCBoard messages, other doors which allow archiving the messages
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for download, such as ProDoor, will work just as well. Ed and I tried
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to keep it as close as possible to the message utilities built into the
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PCBoard code in order to not adversely affect any other program which
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works with the PCBoard message bases.
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Hopefully, in the future, there will be a version of the system for any
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and all BBS software. I would love to expand it to include Genesis,
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WildCat, and RBBS to name a few, but this will take some considerable
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work which may require a leave of absence for the Bus System so that I
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can have the programming time necessary to develop the code to allow
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configuration of the program around any BBS system. Adaptation of the
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code for version 14 PCBoard is already under way, and I hope to include
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the various boards which have already upgraded to the Beta version of
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14. Converting back and forth between the various message base formats
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will be a challenge indeed.
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Next time you are on a system using EzNet, register for private mail,
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start a new topic thread that you feel is of importance, or drop a
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friendly hello to someone that you know frequents one of the other
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systems. EzNet was designed to enhance the telecommunications community
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and bring us all together for the common good of sharing ideas and
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opinions. I even like folks that disagree with me about my opinions. It
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gives me something to argue about. Drop your public announcements in
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the mail box, post that for sale ad, that want ad, or that cry for
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desperately needed help. Use EzNet, it will make life easier for getting
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out public messages faster. If you don't know where to get in touch
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with someone on one of the other systems, drop a note in EzNet. Chances
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are they use one of the five systems supporting the net, and will catch
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up with you sooner.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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The Sex Life of Dead Guppies and It's Relationship to
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Telecommunications.
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By Cosysop One
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Channel 8250
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The last reasonably full meeting of the infamous BTN writers
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occurred at the home of our editor-in-chief, Mark Maisel. About a dozen
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of us showed up and we managed to get a lot of writer-type business
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accomplished: we consumed great quantities of beer, we BSed about
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everything, we even invited one of the writers to dance on the coffee
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table. I might also mention that even though some of the BSing was
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political, Ed and I managed to restrain ourselves and not stand in the
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chairs screaming at each other; the other writers were disappointed.
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Mark prefaced the meeting by saying that he would be handing out
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assignments to various authors for articles for the BTN but declined to
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discuss it further at the moment. Later in the meeting I discovered
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that I had ran out of cigarettes and went out to the truck for another
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pack. Upon re-entering the room Mark gleefully informed me that they
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had voted while I was outside and that the article I was to write was:
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The Sex Life of Dead Guppies And It's Effects on Telecommunications. A
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survey of the room at this time netted about 11 gleefully, smirking
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faces, the one abstention was mine. Somewhat befuzzled (read potted) I
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sat down and pondered the situation; both the pondering and the
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situation seemed to be a hopeless cause.
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When we left Mark's house that night there was enough aluminum in
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the vicinity of the garbage cans to have built a Cadillac (would you
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believe a Subaru?); Mark either has a very understanding wife or he
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cleans up well before she gets home. I wonder how he explained the
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broken furniture?
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The next day gifted me with a nearly terminal hangover so I
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temporarily shelved the topic. The day after, I researched the topic
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somewhat morosely without success, (even IQUEST on COMPUSERVE couldn't
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offer any help) so I tabled the article for it to mature (read
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fossilize) while keeping my eyes open for any material that might relate
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to it. A month passed without a glimmer of hope. I became desperate.
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In my brief forays into the telecommunications world I'd noticed
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that Mark, our beloved editor, had been noticeably absent since the
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meeting so I asked another writer about it. I was told that one of
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Mark's two guppies had died and that Mark was so down in the dumps he
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hardly turned his system on nowadays. This set me to thinking ...
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In the somewhat distant past I had taken a Philosophy course
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(Philosophy, the study of that great Irishman, Phil O'Sophy) in Symbolic
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Logic. The course boiled down to taking a set of arguments and
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developing a conclusion from them. I developed a set of arguments and
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worked on them till I came to a conclusion:
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1: Mark was enamored of his two guppies.
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2: Anyone who has had guppies knows that they do only two things:
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swim and have sex (otherwise why would they be so prolific?).
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3: One of Mark's guppies died so the other refused to have sex with
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it.
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4: This upset Mark so much that he temporarily lost interest not
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only in his computer but in telecommunications.
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Conclusion: For some individuals (such as Mark) there is a
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correlation between the sex lives of their guppies and their
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telecommunications activities. Mark has since replaced the dead guppy
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with a live one and has rejoined the telecommunications community.
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While in the conclusion category I would like to mention a few
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others I surmised from the last BTN meeting...
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38 cents is not enough money to get a writer to dance on the
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tabletop.
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Never... and I mean never, leave the room when you are about to be
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assigned an article. Especially if the room is filled with inebriated
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writers (and editors).
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And last but not least:
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Don't ever get drunk at a friends house an pour your warm beer into
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his guppy tank. I did and look what it got me.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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File: BASTOC01.TXT
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Creator: COPYRIGHT 1988 Blake Miller
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ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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Version 1.00 November 1988
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Purpose: Article explaining some C string handling routines.
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This is the first article in a tutorial series of unknown,
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unpredictable length.
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DISCLAIMER
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----------
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The suggestions and source code provided in this series of articles
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is not guaranteed to do a darn thing or be of any practical utility at all!
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You might want to read these articles while you are in a good mood,
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especially if you are a BASIC programmer. Moreover, I have tried
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this code out and have found it to work on the system I use, but remember
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that not all C compilers are alike. The code is written to work with
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QuickC from Microsoft. You might have to make some slight
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adjustments to the names of some functions. Without further do-while
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let us begin!
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I apologize for the lighthearted attitude taken here,
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but I would not be doing this if I wasn't having fun. After all,
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there is plenty of time to get serious, once I am being paid...
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And for those of you who love technical writing, don't bitch at me for
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changing person in this article. One must always realize that I am
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writing this for all of us so that we can learn something from it.
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One more thing. I do not claim that these routines use the fastest,
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gee whiz, algorithms around. My reasoning in optimization goes something
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like this. Writing in C instead of BASIC is optimization. Writing in
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Assembly Language instead of in C is insane! But sometimes, a little
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careful thought will speed up even your C code, so some consideration
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will be made.
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SERIES INTRODUCTION
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-------------------
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There are those out there in La La Land who would argue that
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the string handling routines in BASIC are more powerful than
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those available in C. Well, this is partially true, since there
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are only a few routines available in C. The ones C doesn't provide
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you must write yourself!
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It will be the purpose of this series of articles to
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explain how you write string handling routines in C.
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DEFINITIONS IN C
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-------------------
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The first thing to do is to define some constants that will be
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used throughout these functions. The use of the #define command equates
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a value to a symbol within the file in which it is included. Generally,
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these definitions are known throughout the entire source file in which they
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are included, but anything you define you can undefine. Here, we
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will leave the definitions defined throughout the entire file, so they
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will be placed near the beginning of the source code. These are similar
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in utility to the CONST statement in the QuickBASIC language.
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#define TRUE 1
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#define FALSE 0
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#define NUL 0
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#define EOS 0
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STRINGS IN C: A Definition
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--------------------------
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By definition, a C string is a sequence of bytes terminated by a
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byte with the value zero (0). From Kernighan and Ritchie we learn that
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"a string is an array whose elements are single characters. The compiler
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automatically places the null character \0 at the end of each such string
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so programs can conveniently find the end. This representation means
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that there is no real limit to how long a string can be, but programs have
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to scan one completely to determine its length."
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GOALS
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-----
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Several useful string utilities can be written to deal with different
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operations upon strings. Some of these call the built in C string handling
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functions in order to perform their work. Others are independent of
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the built in C functions. By building small functions that do only
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a simple string operation, debugging is facilitated. This also makes it
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easy to write other more powerful functions by merely combining
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the simpler string functions.
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When working with strings, there are several things we might want to
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do to them. Text editing functions come to mind. For example, we might
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want to insert, overwrite, or delete the character at the current
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'cursor' position. Other possibilities are to delete to beginning,
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the end, or the entire string.
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A list of C string handling routines follows:
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int sedit_creplce(int, int, char *, int); /* replace character */
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int sedit_cinsert(int, char *, int, int); /* insert character */
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int sedit_cdelete(int, char *, int); /* delete character */
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int sedit_cowrite(int, char *, int, int); /* overwrite character */
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int sedit_cdeleos(int, char *, int); /* delete end of string */
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int sedit_cdelbos(int, char *, int); /* delete beginning of string */
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int sedit_cltrim(int, char *, int, int); /* left trim string */
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int sedit_crtrim(int, char *, int); /* right trim string */
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int sedit_sltrim(int, char *); /* space left trim string */
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int sedit_srtrim(int, char *); /* space right trim string */
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void sedit_stoupper(char *); /* convert to upper case */
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void sedit_stolower(char *); /* convert to lower case */
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DECLARING STRING VARIABLES
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--------------------------
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Well, you might now be asking yourself what is the difference
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between a BASIC string and a C string. A C string is a sequential set
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of bytes terminated by a 'zero' valued byte. We usually refer to this
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as the NULL byte, or NUL, as it is defined above, or as '\0' as it
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is referenced as a 'character' within a C program.
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When declaring a BASIC string, you do something like:
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NAME$
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and Voila! There you have a string variable capable of holding
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something like 32K of characters, which is referenced by NAME$. In C,
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on the other hand, you must declare all variables before their use in
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a program. A C string variable is an array of bytes with a defined size.
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If you wanted the equivalent of NAME$ as a C string, you
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would declare the variable as a character array with a
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specified length, such as:
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char name[8];
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which would allow a 'name' string to hold 7 characters plus the
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trailing '\0' which is required for C to locate the end of string.
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Okay. So now I would think you know that a C string is an array
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of characters ending with a zero byte. It is important to remember
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this zero byte is required when writing programs. For example, if
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you want last_name to hold 16 letters, then you must declare it with 17
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bytes, so that there is room to hold the trailing zero byte:
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char last_name[17];
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To reference a string variable in C, you merely use the name,
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just like you would in a BASIC program! For example, to
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put a capital 'L' in the first position of last_name you can use the
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array form of referencing the position:
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last_name[0] = 'L';
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Notice that C arrays begin with a zero as the first position? Just
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think of ALL C arrays as BASIC arrays with an OPTION BASE of 0!
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So, the last position of last_name is position 16! And there had
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better be a zero byte somewhere between the first byte and
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the last one or else most C string routines will go zipping through
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memory until they find the first zero byte. Many strings operate this
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way by default. No small wonder, since C strings are defined to end
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in a zero byte.
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Now, the name of a C array, including a char array, actually translates
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to the address of the array. So the variable last_name actually represents
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the address at which the variable resides. That is, it is the address
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of the first byte in the character array last_name.
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OUR FIRST EXAMPLE
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-----------------
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Right.... Well, let us now look at an example. For our first
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example, we will try to convert a string into all upper case characters.
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The pseudocode, which will be in Sort-Of-English, is:
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While not at end of string
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If character is lower case
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Upper Case It
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Else
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Do nothing
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Increment string pointer
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End
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There are two ways to do this. One of them uses array referencing,
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and is perhaps the easiest one to understand at first. The other method
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uses pointers, and is faster, but is more confusing to the novice.
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I will show the array method, and the ambitious amongst you can write a
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pointer routine to be checked against my answer for next time.
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Okay, so we need to get the string to the routine in the first place!
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Easy enough, we pass the address! So the function is declared as:
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void sedit_stoupper(char s[]);
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Please note that I have a preponderance for adding a LOT of comments.
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The more the merrier! That is, the more comments I add in the first place,
|
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the merrier I am when I have to read the code five months later and
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figure out what I did!
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So the function is defined as below:
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/* -- String To Uppercase --------------------**
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* Convert a string to upper case letters.
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* Uses array-referencing methods.
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* Passed:
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* Address: string
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* Returns:
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* Nothing
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* Side Effects:
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* The string is modified in place.
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*/
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void sedit_stoupper(char s[])
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{
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int i = 0;
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while (s[i] != EOS) /* while not end of string */
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{
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if (s[i] >= 0x61 && s[i] <= 0x7A) /* if lower case character */
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s[i] = s[i] - 0x20; /* subtract off 20 hex */
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i++; /* increment index */
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}
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}
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CONCLUSION and HOMEWORK
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-----------------------
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For next time, try to rewrite sedit_toupper using pointers. You
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may have to read your C book, especially since I have not talked about
|
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pointers yet! Also, try to write a routine to convert a C string to
|
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all lowercase letters:
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void sedit_stolower(char *); /* convert to lower case */
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Next time, I will try to explain C string pointers and list source code
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to the routines to convert C strings to upper case and lower
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case using pointers.
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/*
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* -----------------------------------------------------------------
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* END BASTOC01.C File
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* -----------------------------------------------------------------
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*/
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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E-MAIL
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|
by Barry Bowden
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What Ever Happened to...
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|
------------------------
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|
I disagree with your opinion. There are several boards in Birmingham I
|
|
would gladly donate money to because they have built themselves a great
|
|
BBS. My check will be in the mail tomorrow ...(QED)
|
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|
|
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Message Board
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|
-------------
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|
I am glad to see at least a partial list of user groups in the
|
|
Birmingham area! Keep up the good work!
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NOTE: If you would like to comment on any article in BTN, please forward
|
|
your replies to Barry Bowden on The Bus System BBS or forward your
|
|
letters to E-MAIL c/o Mark Maisel,221 Chestnut St., Bhm, Al 35210-3219.
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|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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|
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The New Look ..... Graphics Interchange Format
|
|
by Gary Steven Godsey
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|
Graphics Interchange Format, GIF,(pronounced JIF - like the peanut
|
|
butter). This graphics format was developed by CompuServe to serve a
|
|
wide variety of graphics needs both in their product environment as well
|
|
as a universal standard by which graphics can be exchanged between any
|
|
parties through a network. It has two basic design features. First, it
|
|
is an attempt to arrive at a independent graphics exchange format. It is
|
|
to graphics images what the PC bus was to hardware. The idea is that the
|
|
GIF display program on the target machine takes care of rendering the
|
|
image visible in the best way available on the target hardware. There is
|
|
no conversion of the picture file between machines. The picture files
|
|
would be exactly the same byte for byte across machines. Almost every
|
|
hardware platform is represented in the PICS forum on CIS. From Atari's
|
|
to Zenith's. The second feature of GIF is the use of the
|
|
Lempel-Ziv-Welch (LZW) data compression scheme to pack the picture
|
|
information in order to reduce transmission times. This version of LZW
|
|
is essentially the same as the one used in popular archiving programs
|
|
with the added twist of variable code size.
|
|
|
|
What type of images can GIF be used for ?
|
|
|
|
- Full color associate photo board
|
|
- Business charts and graphics
|
|
- On-line merchandise catalogs
|
|
- Technical documentation
|
|
- Schematic diagrams for field service personnel
|
|
- Color radar maps
|
|
- Medical illustrations
|
|
- Art gallery
|
|
|
|
And the list goes on and on, limited only by your creativity.
|
|
|
|
How much resolution can an image have ?
|
|
|
|
In terms of pixels GIF is capable of defining over 16,000 by
|
|
16,000. This compares to the average machines screen being 320 by 200
|
|
pixels. Even laser printers are generally limited to 2000 by 3000
|
|
pixels. The advanced state of the GIF technology should be adequate for
|
|
graphics applications for years to come.
|
|
|
|
How many colors can a GIF image have ?
|
|
|
|
Any GIF image can have up to 256 simultaneous colors contained
|
|
within it. Each individual color can be defined out of a possible set of
|
|
16,000,000 colors. This capability makes photographic quality images
|
|
possible. All GIF images can be processed by all GIF software. The
|
|
software is designed to make the best use of a specific hardware's
|
|
capabilities with regard to color.
|
|
|
|
How large are GIF image files ?
|
|
|
|
This will vary a great deal depending on the number of colors
|
|
present, the size of the image and the amount of detail present. The
|
|
LZW used by GIF reduces the file size to between 1/2 and 1/8 of the
|
|
original file size. This allows for even complex images to be
|
|
economically downloaded.
|
|
|
|
CompuServe has made the tech specs for GIF available to the public
|
|
for use in their own software. These can be found in in the PICS forum
|
|
on CIS. They have also made the technical description of the LZW
|
|
algorithm available as well. They also have the code and a form which
|
|
will allow you to register as a software developer so you can
|
|
incorporate GIF into your product software. If you want the files they
|
|
are on CIS in the PICS forum as GIFSTD.TXT and GIFSTD.ARC. If you don't
|
|
have access to CompuServe then leave me mail on one of the local boards,
|
|
preferably on EZNET, and I'll go get them and bring them back for you.
|
|
|
|
I would like to acknowledge the help and support of the Sysops on
|
|
CompuServe's PICS forum. They are responsible for the documents from
|
|
which this article was gleaned. I would like to point out Don Babcock as
|
|
the primary source for most of this information. The man is a true
|
|
genius and a gentleman.
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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|
|
The Realm of Tarot BBS System : An Overview
|
|
by
|
|
Dean R. Adams, Sysop
|
|
A.K.A. Captain Jack
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|
|
BACKGROUND
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|
|
On October 3, 1988 another BBS went on-line in Birmingham, Not a
|
|
particularly unusual event in a city that has numerous BBS's already
|
|
running. What is unusual is that this particular board is not another
|
|
PCBoard, nor is it RBBS, No-Change, WWIV, or any other system currently
|
|
available. Nor for that matter is it a "BBS" in the general sense of the
|
|
phrase, except that it runs on a computer and one accesses it via a
|
|
modem. In one sentence, it is a dedicated, on-line, multi-user fantasy
|
|
wargame.
|
|
|
|
This article will attempt to give a brief overview of the Realm of
|
|
Tarot system, including some details of its history and development. The
|
|
story begins just over a year ago with two fairly well-known on-line
|
|
games available as doors. The Realm's author and myself were active
|
|
on-line gamers in Lexington Ky., and both of us agreed that the doors'
|
|
offerings then (and now) were not particularly satisfying as games, and
|
|
wondered why nobody had written a game that would approximate the
|
|
difficulty and complexity of a board game, such as Squad Leader, Western
|
|
Front, etc. to be played on-line. At the same time, we were rather
|
|
disappointed in the fantasy board games we had played. So one long
|
|
evening in November of '87 (I think it was Nov.) Scott Hackworth and I
|
|
sat down and hashed out some ideas, mostly about how to implement a
|
|
computer game he had started to design sometime before as a BBS game.
|
|
With that discussion Realm of Tarot was born.
|
|
|
|
Over the past year, Scott has spent many hours designing, writing,
|
|
testing, and rewriting the code for Realm of Tarot. Even as I write this
|
|
article, yet another revision of code, with a few new features is on its
|
|
way. The result of his efforts is an on-line game that to my knowledge
|
|
is un-rivaled in complexity and difficulty.
|
|
|
|
OVERVIEW
|
|
|
|
Realm of Tarot is a fantasy game played on a 300 X 300 sector map.
|
|
The scenario is simple: each player is either a Lord, and starts with
|
|
one city, one group of armies, and a small sum of money, or a Rogue, and
|
|
starts with no city, but more armies and more money, and tries to rise
|
|
in power and become the Emperor. The play of the game, however, is
|
|
difficult. One must carefully consider the consumption of goods by
|
|
cities and armies, and keep both supplied by either producing the needed
|
|
goods or by trading for them. In the Realm, goods are not arbitrary
|
|
commodities, for specific goods are needed in order to build armies, and
|
|
to heal city militias. Nor are they readily available. The only sources
|
|
of goods are from other players, or from the Empire, but the latter
|
|
while limitless in supply, takes its toll on players in the form of
|
|
taxes and tariffs, and its prices are predicated on a supply/demand
|
|
curve.
|
|
|
|
MAGIC
|
|
|
|
Not all battles in the Realm are of armies. Via diplomacy, one can
|
|
bring such elements as terrorism, insurgency, and diplomatic pressure to
|
|
bear on opponents, as well as spying on them to learn their weaknesses.
|
|
One can also attempt diplomatic relations with any of the three
|
|
mercenary groups that are available, and if successful, the mercenaries
|
|
will join one's armies or navies in combat. In addition to diplomacy,
|
|
magic is a vital element of the game. First one can acquire magicians
|
|
who will join one's armies in battle. Especially when confronting an
|
|
opponent who has magicians, the correct choice of a spell can mean the
|
|
difference between victory and defeat. One can also acquire the use of
|
|
magic via the Tarotmages. There are eleven Tarotmages, five good, one
|
|
neutral, and five evil. Each has a different spell and a different
|
|
power. One can attempt diplomacy (if one has sufficient money to pay
|
|
their ambassador for the risk) with any Tarotmage, and if successful,
|
|
will acquire the spell of that mage. If one is particularly lucky, one
|
|
can encounter a mage in one of the many shrines to be found throughout
|
|
the realm, and thereby acquire money, improve one's gladiator, or acquire
|
|
either the spell or the power of that mage.
|
|
|
|
The shrines in the Realm are perhaps the most unique aspect of the
|
|
game. They are text based dungeoneering facilities, similar in vein to
|
|
the "solo" modules in Dungeons & Dragons. Across the Realm there are 99
|
|
shrines, but only 22 of them are "active". When a player encounters an
|
|
active shrine, assuming their gladiator is alive and well, they are able
|
|
to explore it much as one would explore a dungeon in a role-playing
|
|
game. In essence, they are sort of a game within a game. In shrines a
|
|
player can acquire money and magic to aid one's cause in the game. But
|
|
beware, for a wrong choice could bring destruction upon one's forces!
|
|
|
|
Finally there is the gladiator mentioned above, which is yet
|
|
another unique feature of Realm of Tarot. A player's gladiator is his
|
|
personal champion, his representative in the arena where other players'
|
|
gladiators or the Empire's gladiators can be battled. Naturally one can
|
|
wager on the outcome of such a battle. Also, the gladiator does the
|
|
exploring when one enters a shrine or ruin, and considering the nasty
|
|
beasties one can encounter in those areas, having a strong, seasoned
|
|
gladiator is vitally important. Along this line, a player can pit their
|
|
magicians against those of another player in an arcane duel in the
|
|
arena, the loser either submitting and joining the winner, or dying.
|
|
|
|
THE REALM IN BIRMINGHAM
|
|
|
|
Birmingham's Realm of Tarot BBS is only the second Tarot BBS to go
|
|
on-line. The first is sysoped by Mr. Hackworth himself and runs in
|
|
Lexington, Ky. The board currently supports 300/1200 baud and is on-line
|
|
24 hours a day at 205-870-7776 (N,8,1 only). The system also supports
|
|
ANSI graphics for machines that can use that protocol.
|
|
|
|
Currently there is a Tarot discussion group of sorts on the BUS
|
|
System BBS at 205-595-1627, and there are plans for a conference on that
|
|
system devoted to the Tarot game. For anyone interested in the game,
|
|
that is probably a good way to get more detailed info without logging
|
|
onto to Tarot BBS.
|
|
|
|
PRESENT
|
|
|
|
I have tried to avoid "editorializing" in this article and so it is
|
|
of necessity an incomplete picture of my own system and future plans
|
|
thereof. However I encourage all BBS gamers and particularly wargamers
|
|
to take a look at the Realm of Tarot. It's my belief that you will not
|
|
find a more challenging and complex game anywhere in the BBS world.
|
|
|
|
POSTSCRIPT
|
|
|
|
For more information, I can be reached via my system at 205-870-
|
|
7776 (300/1200 N,8,1), or for information on acquiring a copy of Realm
|
|
of Tarot BBS, call Scott Hackworth at 606-231-0417 (days) or
|
|
606-870-6120 (nites).
|
|
|
|
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
PRO FILE
|
|
by Chris Mohney
|
|
|
|
The Pro File is a short, half-serious biographical sketch given to
|
|
various computer telecommunications personalities around Birmingham.
|
|
Victims are selected randomly from a group of names put into the
|
|
notorious Hat. Anyone who thinks himself brave or witty enough may
|
|
petition for admittance to the Hat by leaving E-Mail to me (Chris
|
|
Mohney, most boards around town) to that effect. Anyone who wishes to
|
|
suggest more questions or sneakingly nominate someone without their
|
|
knowledge may take the same route ....
|
|
|
|
---------
|
|
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Pro File on TIM STRAUGHN
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---------
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Age: 30 b/d 06/28/58
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Birthplace: Andalusia, AL
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Occupation: Field Engineer, Industry Services Division, General
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Electric Company
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My hobbies include: VW Baja, CB Radio, Programming, and bustin' Omega
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Ohm's chops
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Years telecomputing: Roughly 2
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Sysop, past/present/future of: The Bus System, 205/595-1627, 24 hrs.
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My oddest habit is: Signing all messages with "Later, Tim" or
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perhaps arguing with someone who has already lost the argument,
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but refuses to believe it because of his pride.
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My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: Better the BBS community to
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the point that Sysops won't have to put up with the garbage
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from people who would crash their system if given half a
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chance. There are some very mature youngsters out there, so I
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am not pointing at the people under 15 years of age. There
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are also some very immature people out there that are close to
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or above the age of 20. How can we expect the younger
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generations to learn to use a public service if we don't set a
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decent example?
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The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is: Though it
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is work related, and has nothing to do with telecommunications,
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I guess my most significant contribution has been to the
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development of and design of Military Vehicle Transmission
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testing facilities. Currently, I am the only Field Engineer in
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the General Electric Company who has any experience with the
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development of the software and control systems for these
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systems, which at times, also has some very serious drawbacks.
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I have installed 3 systems at the Anniston Army Depot, and will
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be going to Barstow, California sometime next year to start up a
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much more advanced system for the Marine Corps Logistic Base in
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Barstow.
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My favorite performers are: I have many, as my music tastes vary
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from country to heavy metal rock and even some jazz. I guess
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perhaps my most favorite at the moment though are Hank Williams,
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Jr., Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Thirty-Eight
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Special, and a host of others. My favorite actors at the moment
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are Jim Belushi, Arnold Schwartzeneggar, and yes, Clint
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Eastwood.
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The last good movie I saw was: Real Men, or Raising Arizona
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The last good book I read was: Don't have much time for pleasure
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reading, as I always seem to have my nose stuck in a tech manual or
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programming manual lately.
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If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played by:
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I don't know who could play my part. Whoever it is would have to
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be extremely skinny.
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My pet peeves are: I guess the one that is most prominent at the
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moment is someone who would try to move into a conference which
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is echoed between several boards, and then try to dictate what
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can and cannot be posted in it. Not only is this wrong, but
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when the mail is directed to someone else, public or private,
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if it has nothing to do with that person, then they should
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definitely refrain from responding. When all the sysops of the
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other boards have agreed that there is no real problem with the
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posting of a user's name in that conference for abusive use of
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a system, then the person doing all the complaining should just
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learn to skip over messages that are not to his liking, and not
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continue to try to aggravate one of the sysops into abusive
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language. Another also comes to mind at the moment as well.
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That is to go through the new uploads to a BBS, and find that 4
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out of 5 uploaded files are either undocumented games, or
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perhaps have PKARC arced up in them for padding. I despise a
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garbage game with no documents.
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When nobody's looking, I like to: See how fast I can get an 8088
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microprocessor to get totally confused, or sleep.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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READER SURVEY
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by Barry Bowden
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Last month TYROS gave us an update on the Birmingham BBS Survey and
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while reading the article, I decided that BTN was about due for one of
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its own, so here it is. You may forward your replies to me thru The Bus
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System BBS or by regular mail to READER SURVEY c/o MARK MAISEL (his
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address is on page one of this newsletter). I hope to have all the
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results counted and ready by February, so don't be late! Send your
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replies today!
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1. How old are you?
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2. What is your sex?
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3. City and state of residence?
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4. Zip code?
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5. Number of people in your household who uses your computer?
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6. Is your computer used for business, pleasure or both?
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7. At what percentage (refer to question 6)?
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8. Is your job computer related? If so, what is your job?
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9. What brand/type of computer do you own/use?
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10. What peripherals are used on your computer?
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11. Where/how did you hear about BTN?
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12. What do you like about BTN?
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13. What do you dislike about BTN?
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14. What changes would you like to see in BTN?
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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MY BBS
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by Joe Kearley
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Sysop of the Joker's Castle
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It all started a few years ago when I bought an ADAM for the family
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for Christmas. It was the first computer that I had even laid hands on.
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I brought it home about two months before Christmas and would seclude
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myself in my bedroom to read the manual and experiment with how to work
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it. I told myself that I was doing it so I could show the kids how to
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use it when Santa brought it to them. I got hooked on it. When Santa
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left it I was the one that was using it the most. I had a hard time
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finding any software or hardware to expand it because at that time
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Coleco had pulled it out of production. I did luck up and find a modem
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for it though. It came with a CompuServe introduction. Now I thought I
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had something. I went out and bought a subscription to CompuServe and
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started modeming. I found an ADAM conference on there and was in hog
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heaven. That is until I got the first bill from the credit card company,
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"OUCH!". I quickly found out how expensive CompuServe was to use. For a
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while after that I was a little disappointed that I would not be able to
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use my modem much. Then one day a friend at work told me about a local
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BBS that did not charge for logging on to it. I got the number from him
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and gave it a call. The name of the BBS was Protective Life. I got a lot
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more numbers from it when I learned how to navigate around on it and
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again I was in hog heaven. I soon learned that the 300 baud modem and
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software I was using was very limiting. The software would not even
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allow up or downloading. By that time I had found several ADAM user
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groups and had subscribed to them. I found my coSysop, Ricky, through
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one of them. I learned that there was a fellow ADAM user right here in
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Birmingham. I contacted him and learned that he had a full blown ADAM
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system. We tried to set up an ADAM users group in Birmingham but did not
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find enough interested users to get it off the ground.
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A few months later I found a CP/M software package for the ADAM and
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learned that I could do a lot more with the computer than I previously
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thought. It had a much better modem program called Modem7 that would
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upload and download. Still I was hampered with 300 baud but at least I
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COULD do a little more with it. I was about to expand it with extended
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memory and a disk drive, yes it only had slow, slow tape drives, when I
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had the house fire. The two ADAMs (I had two by then) got fried. The
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insurance I had was replacement cost type. So by putting a little money
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with the replacement cost I was able to get this IBM clone. BOY what a
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difference! I decided that since I had this wonderful new computer I
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would try to run a BBS on it. Since I had been BBSing for a while now I
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wanted to share my experience (such as it is) with other BBSers. I found
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the PCBOARD VER 10 on AMERICA ONLINE, thanks Rocky, and off I went. I
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got the idea for one of my conferences from the Point of no RETURN,
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thanks Michele. Now I have decided to upgrade VER 10 to VER 12. It has
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been a long struggle reading manuals and docs and figuring out how to
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make it work, but it has been worth every bit of effort I have put into
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it. I have gotten a lot of complements on the way I have it set up, I
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have to brag a little bit, and a few regular users. I think maybe when I
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get the new version up it will become more popular.
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I extend an open invitation to all users for suggestions on what
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type of doors and conferences they would like to see on the board. By
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the way, I got the idea for the name of the board from my first and last
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names, JOe KEaRley.
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Here's wishing you all a good time BBSing, and come by for a visit
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some time.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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MESSAGE BOARD
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by Barry Bowden
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D E C E M B E R
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1 9 8 8
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S M T W T F S
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+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+
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! ! ! ! !1 !2 !3 !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+
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!4 !5 !6 !7 !8 !9 !10 !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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!Hanukkah ! !CCS ! ! ! ! !
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!Begins ! !(C64) ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+
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!11 !12 !13 !14 !15 !16 !17 !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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!BCCC !CCS ! ! ! ! ! !
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! !(Amiga) ! ! ! ! ! !
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!Hanukkah ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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!Ends ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+
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!18 !19 !20 !21 !22 !23 !24 !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! !CCS ! ! !BEPCUG ! !
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! ! !(C64) ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+
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!25 !26 !27 !28 !29 !30 !31 !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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!BCCC ! ! ! ! ! !New !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! Year's !
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!Christmas ! ! ! ! ! ! Eve !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
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+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+----------+---------+
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BEPCUG
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Birmingham East PC Users Group
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Jefferson State Jr. College
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RUBY Carson Bldg., First Floor-Computer Lab
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Third Friday of Every Month
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5:30PM to 9:00PM
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Paula Ballard 853-1200, ext 1463 (Days)
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BCCC
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Birmingham Commodore Computer Club
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P. O. Box 59564
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Birmingham, Alabama 35259
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UAB School of Education Bldg., Room 153
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Second and Fourth Sundays
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Starts at 2:00 PM
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Emmett Ferretti 823-3987 or Rusty Hargett 854-5172
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CCS
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Commodore Club South
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Springville Road Library
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Huffman, Alabama
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Second and Fourth Tuesday (C64 Meeting)
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Third Monday (Amiga Meeting)
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7:30PM to 10:00 PM
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Maurice Lovelady 684-6843
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NOTE: Because some meetings fall close to or on holidays this month,
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please call the contact person for the user group you plan to attend to
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confirm their meeting date and time.
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If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed, please let
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us know by sending E-Mail to me, Barry Bowden, on The Bus System BBS.
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Please leave the following information :
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User Group Name
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Meeting Place
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Meeting Time(Day/date,Time)
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Contact Person
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Any Other Important Information
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area
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NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES SUPPORTED
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68FREE 933-7518 300, 1200
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America Online Nodes 1-3 324-0193 300, 1200, 2400
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America Online Node 4 251-2344 300, 1200, 2400
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American BBS 674-1851 300, 1200, 2400
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Birmingham Business BBS 856-0679 300, 1200, 2400
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Bus System BBS 595-1627 300, 1200, 2400
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Channel 8250 785-7417 300, 1200, 2400
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Club Phoenix 942-0252 300, 1200, 2400
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ProSoft Systems BBS 853-8718 300, 1200, 2400
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D3 Systems BBS 663-2759 300, 1200, 2400
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Duck Pond BBS 822-0956 300, 1200, 2400
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Elite Empire 967-8479 300, 1200, 2400
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Fortress BBS 664-9040 300, 1200
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Joker's Castle 744-6120 300, 1200, 2400
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LZ Birmingham 870-7770 300, 1200, 2400
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Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300, 1200, 2400
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Nouveaux BBS 871-5551 300, 1200, 2400
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Pinson Valley Node 1 854-9661 300, 1200, 2400
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Pinson Valley Node 2 854-9662 300, 1200, 2400, 9600
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Primary One 853-1175 300, 1200
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Role Player's Paradise 631-7654 300, 1200, 2400
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ST BBS 836-9311 300, 1200, 2400
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Smitty's BBS 849-7349 300, 1200
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Sperry BBS 853-6144 300, 1200, 2400
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The Connection Node 1 854-9074 1200, 2400
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The Connection Node 2 854-2308 1200, 2400
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The Outer Limits 969-3262 300, 1200, 2400
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The Realm Of Tarot BBS 870-7776 300, 1200
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Twilight Zone 856-3783 300, 1200
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Willie's DYM Node 1 979-1629 300, 1200, 2400
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Willie's DYM Node 2 979-7739 300, 1200, 2400
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Willie's RBBS 979-7743 300, 1200, 2400
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Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696 300, 1200
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