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BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1992 ISSN 1055-4548
May 1992 Volume 5, Issue 5
Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title Author
Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
Publisher's Corner.............................Mark Maisel
Editorial......................................Chris Mohney
Social Etiquette and the Computer User.........Brian Anderson
An Introduction to JPEG Image Compression......Eric Hunt
Notes From The Trenches........................Dean Costello
The Bizarre Crunchy Frog Script Q & A's........Monty & her users
Review: Intel 9600EX Modem.....................Colby Gibson
An "Old" BBS With Some "New" Software..........R.H. Crawford
Another BBS Alternative........................I.M. Heiden
Music Review...................................Michael Davidson
We Are The Champions...........................Jeff Vaughn
A Day in the Life of Ricky Eanes...............Ricky Eanes
Top Ten Things to do at the Maisel Residence...Scott Kelley
Special Interest Groups (SIGs).................Barry Bowden
Known BBS Numbers..............................Staff
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Disclaimer and Statement of Policy for BTN
We at BTN try our best to assure the accuracy of articles and
information in our publication. We assume no responsibility for damage
due to errors, omissions, etc. The liability, if any for BTN, its
editors and writers, for damages relating to any errors or omissions,
etc., shall be limited to the cost of a one year subscription to BTN,
even if BTN, its editors or writers have been advised of the likelihood
of such damages occurring.
With the conclusion of that nasty business, we can get on with our
policy for publication and reproduction of BTN articles. We publish
monthly with a deadline of the fifteenth of the month prior to
publication. If you wish to submit an article, you may do so at any
time but bear in mind the deadline if you wish for your work to appear
in a particular issue. It is not our purpose to slander or otherwise
harm a person or reputation and we accept no responsibility for the
content of the articles prepared by our writers. Our writers own their
work and it is protected by copyright. We allow reprinting of articles
from BTN with only a few restrictions. The author may object to a
reprint, in which case he will specify in the content of his article.
Otherwise, please feel free to reproduce any article from BTN as long as
the source, BTN, is specified, and as long as the author's name and the
article's original title are retained. If you use one of our articles,
please forward a copy of your publication to:
Mark Maisel
Editor, BTN
221 Chestnut St.
BHM, AL 35210-3219
(205)-956-0176
We thank you for taking the time to read our offering and we hope that
you like it. We also reserve the right to have a good time while doing
all of this and not get too serious about it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
F R E E B I E : G E T I T W H I L E I T S H O T !
The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is with no
charge to any existing upload/download ratios.
ADAnet One Alter-Ego Arkham Asylum
Channel 8250 Little Kingdom Joker's Castle
Crunchy Frog Owl's Nest The Bus
The MATRIX Abject Poverty Teasers
The Outer Limits The Round Table Kiriath Arba
DC Info Exchange Owlabama BBS Safe Harbor
Amiga Alliance ][ Martyrdom Again?! DataLynx
Medicine Man F/X BBS
If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
me know via EZNet so that I can post your board as a free BTN
distributor. Thanks. MM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W S F L A S H
There isn't much happening right now, except for
the picnic occurring May 3rd, at Hawkins Park in
Roebuck. I'll see you there!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Publisher's Corner
by Mark Maisel
The party seemed to go awfully well. The crowd was of a good size,
and they seemed well behaved, for the most part. The mess not was not
nearly so imposing as that of previous parties. We did have a couple of
fellows who had a bit too much to drink. They were peaceful enough
though, and actually took naps in the back yard with the whippets
bouncing around them, and getting in their licks. I understand that one
of them feebly attempted to fend off the whippets, but to no avail. The
other just went with it as he was unable to do much else. Eventually,
they were brought in by concerned guests so that they wouldn't freeze,
as it was unseasonably cold that night. I am glad that I am able to say
that the parties will continue, though I'm not certain when the next one
will occur. Kathy and I are preparing for quite a bit of travel and
I'll make no party plans till we are back home for a while.
The bbs list may not be quite as up to date as usual because I am
currently modemless. I manage to snatch a node from Crunchy Frog long
enough to fetch mail with Robocomm, and to send out BTN, but that is
all. I haven't been able to regularly call non-Robocomm compatible
systems since the modem went a month ago. I am awaiting a new modem at
present, and hopefully, it will show up soon. If you spot any
inaccuracies, please report them to me in EZNet or somewhere that I will
find it.
Recently, there has been some discussion about BTN writer feedback
and I was presented with an idea that had not occurred to me previously.
The folks who write for BTN rarely hear anything from the readership,
though I know you're out there, since you make it painfully clear when
I'm late with an issue. I had long thought that given the way the bbs
medium lends itself, that comments directly to contributors would come
freely. This has not come to pass, however, and it has been suggested
that a "letters to the editor" section be established in BTN. I will
give this idea a try to see how it goes. If you wish to comment about
something happening on a local bbs or about something you read in BTN,
please drop me a message and I'll publish it, and possibly a response,
if warranted, from any author about whom your message refers. It is
hard for some to continue to write without ever hearing anything back
from those who read their work, whether it is liked or not. Help me out
here so we can help you to better enjoy BTN.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Editorial
A Day in the Life of...
by Chris Mohney
"Beef jerky?" she asked.
I eyed the piece of shoe leather she held out to me. "Of course,
Claudia." I took the alleged meat and began to chew, my eyes traveling
up and down the luscious curves of her fabulous body.
"Suddenly, the door flew open," said the narrator. "The hulking
figure of Mr. Schiffer burst in. He raised a frozen salmon and
proceeded to beat our hero senseless with it. Oh, the horror!"
Not liking this turn of events, I seized the script and unzipped my
leather harness. I whipped out my large, rigid Citizen pen and
proceeded to alter the script such that I could enjoy a few more moments
undisturbed with Mrs. Schiffer. Just then, a small Polynesian woman
began to insert damp cough lozenges into my left ear.
I awoke to the smell of dung. My incontinent pet stoat had
deposited a fecal love offering on my pillow whilst perched atop my
forehead. "Festus, you bad little quadraped." I snatched the bemused
Festus up by its tail nub and smacked it against the wall until stoat
blood made Rorschach patterns all over my mauve satin sheets.
Well, that's it then, I thought. Have to make another trip to the
stoat store on my way to campus this morning.
I got out of bed and into my tuxedo. It was half black and half
white, such that I could attend either weddings or funerals as long as I
kept the appropriate profile turned. I breakfasted nicely on poached
cobra eggs and then gave the remains of Festus to Paulo, my loyal
Philipino houseboy, for disposal at his family restaurant.
After cruising down the rich boulevards of Tuscaloosa in my jetski
(we call it the Venice of Lower Alabama) I make a quick stopover at
Joab's Stoats n' Stuff. They had quite a nice selection, and I picked
out a nice speckled one to replace the dear departed Festus.
"You shore do buy a lotta stoats, Mister Liddy. Whatchoo do with
them, ennyway?" inquired Joab as he handed back my change.
"Ah, Joab, you inquisitive Southern character you," I said as I
chucked him under his grizzled chin. "I wouldn't ask me any questions,
or you might not get to see your lovely wife again."
"Yer such a kidder, Mr. Liddy," he said, smiling affectionately.
I waved goodbye. "Call me Gordon."
Back on the jetski, I frothed my way to school after stuffing my
new stoat into the glove compartment. "You'll be safe there, Caligula,"
I soothed as it began to screech. "Just don't let the heat get to you."
After I rolled up the cuffs of my slacks I laced up my jackboots.
It would be a difficult ascent to Morgan Hall, site of my first class.
The beaten path was easier but infested with yetis.
I drove piton after piton into the unyielding asphalt. The biting
summer winds made me sneeze blood uncontrollably, but I found a moment
to leer at passing coeds. I think the blood on the white half of my tux
was a turn-on.
Finally, after hours of long agony, I made it to the steps of
Morgan. Mere yards now lay between myself and my destination, Poetry
Writing 301. I discarded my climbing harness and pulled my notebook
from my vest pocket. I took time to quickly scribble "eat more rice
cakes" on the cover before I proceeded further, just in case.
Class was already in session. My poetry instructor was a Irish war
criminal named Shawn o'Sphincter. He was an excellent poet. "Why are
ye late, ye repulsive fragment of whale spew?" he inquired delicately.
"Sorry, sir. I spent the weekend drunk as a lord." I smiled
politely. "Asshole."
"Right then!" he said, pleased. "Whose poem is up naow? Richard?
Read yuir poem, ya pathetic turd."
Richard wiped the spittle off his glasses and proceeded to read.
"If You Could See Me Now, by RIchard Gallbiter.
"If you could see what I have seen,
"If you could be what I have been,
"If you could read what I have read,
"If you could felch what I have felched,
"You would have difficulty avoiding suicide.
"Thank you." Richard bowed his head.
"Weelllll," said o'Sphincter, "while the last line contains an
admirable sentiment, I find myself disappointed that ye haven't followed
through with it."
"Sir?" inquired RIchard.
"I'm sorry, RIchard," said the grinning Irishman, "but the poem
jest don't work for me unless ye've actually committed suicide, ye see?
Here, let me help."
O'Sphincter reached under the table and pulled out a double bladed
war ax and brought it squarely down on Richard Gallbiter's head. The
poor boy blinked as blood sprayed the classroom. "Oh, poetry," he
gasped and fell to the table face-first.
"Naow THAT's the way to do it, kids!" shouted o'Sphincter,
gleefully licking his lips. "ART! ART! Who's next?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Social Etiquette and the Computer User
by Brian Anderson
Do you ever get that funny look from people when you mention a BBS
name, or the words "bulletin board"? Have you been at a social event,
and when you mention anything computer related, the people you are
talking with simply "lock up" (and you must reboot the conversation, of
course)? Or maybe you're at work, and no one understands that it was an
important event for you last night to finally get the BBS software to
cooperate on the "Nuts 'n Bolts" conference?
What are we to going to DO with these people? Things that are
happening in the computer world are just so incredible, it defies the
imagination. I can't believe that we are in the '90s and we can't
converse with just about anyone about computers and their function in
our society! For that matter, how in the world do they get anything done
at all without knowing about these things? Lower form of humans,
apparently.
I could go on profiling this type of attitude, but you probably get
the idea. A person who is knowledgeable about computing, in a situation
involving people who are not. And the thing that makes our person in
this scenario distinct is that he looks on the others with disdain. The
reason he might feel this way is certainly varied, but all too often
comes down to " I'm better or smarter than you, and you'd better get
with it, otherwise I can't talk to you." Indeed, some of these people
bring up tech stuff in a conversation for the sole purpose of impressing
the uninitiated, which could have some success with the right people, I
suppose. But more often then not, the people listening will change the
subject rather than listen to someone expound on a subject they know
nothing about. Unfortunately, this only enforces the comp-u-person's
belief that his rather low opinion of these people is a correct one.
It's true that many of us feel we are simply bursting with
knowledge of computer type stuff, and we want to share it with others.
There's nothing wrong with that. In the past, I have overcome some
computer problems that gave me such a sense of accomplishment, I wanted
to go on the five o'clock news and tell everyone. Even though I did it
for my own reasons, it seems worthwhile and rewarding to relate it to
someone else. You could even help a likewise struggling person in the
process, you never know.
Our person above may be in this position, or may be just trying to
impress. But often, the reaction from people not "in the know",
computer-wise, is the same either way: lock up. So, do we just clam up
and not speak of computer related things in a crowd?
Let me give you a perspective on this matter(antimatter). I have
seen so many people expound in an unsuspecting crowd, not really caring
about who they are talking to. This is for selfish reasons, obviously,
or they would have assessed the mentality of these people before they
opened their mouth. This can be important, and here's why. I feel there
are multitudes of potential users out there. Potential because they are
certainly capable of operating a computer, but for one reason or another
haven't gotten started yet. Maybe they don't have the money for a
computer. Maybe they didn't know about them (unlikely, but possible).
Maybe they have other things going on in their lives that make them
believe computers are a low priority, or unnecessary. Or whatever. But I
don't think we should alienate them right off the bat simply because we
want to show our technical prowess for personal gain.
A certain percentage of these offenders are even worse then I have
described so far. In a group of actual computer buffs, these same people
will try to out-do, or one-up, whoever they might be talking to. This is
not a contest, for Pete's sake. You can't really better yourself by
doing this. And if it does give you some kind of satisfaction, you may
need to rethink your priorities. If I find myself in this position, I
try to make a stab at being in the conversation, not overpowering it. In
an exchange with other users, it's nice to learn more and exchange
useful tidbits, maybe. But these people thrive on merely being the
smartest (supposedly) one at that moment in that situation. Kinda makes
you wonder how (or if) they got as far as they claim.
You know, it's amazing what can happen in a conversation if you
only let it. Lots of people will willingly talk about computing, if you
don't scare the hell out of them right off the bat. Let's face it, you
can hardly get away from the subject nowadays. Between the television,
newspaper, and all other media, your pet pig must know something about
it. All you have to do is not overpower them with your "superior
knowledge", and you are well on your way. Put yourself in the time when
you were new to all this. Wasn't it a bit spooky calling your first BBS?
Or how about firing up your computer for the first time, waiting for
SOMETHING to show up on the screen to let you know everything would be
all right? These folks who don't about computing yet may have
apprehension about the subject simply because they have a sincere desire
to participate, but don't feel comfortable talking with a supposed "true
computer genius". We were all nervous at some point, in our own way.
So when you find yourself in the position of our friend, stop and
think before you go off on a tangent only assembly language gurus would
comprehend. Don't alienate potential users simply because you want to
show off. No, we are not obligated to help anyone. You don't HAVE to
help anyone if you don't want. On the other hand, do you know how
refreshing it is to talk to someone eager to learn? Start spilling your
guts about your "perfected config.sys", and you may never know. Start
them out on the subject, and let them take the wheel, and you may be
talking to a future Peter Norton. The nice part is that once you get
them going, they WILL listen to your horror story of the drive with a
bad FAT, or the strange thing QEMM did when you first used it.
So a little patience goes a long way. But this is basic to ordinary
conversation skills, isn't it? Listen, and you will be the greatest
speaker. (I stole that, but I don't remember who from, so sue me.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
An Introduction to JPEG Image Compression
by Eric Hunt
Images. Pictures. Graphics. Part of the revolution computers have
brought into daily life is the ability to create, manipulate, and
display true color images. However, this ability comes at some cost,
most noticeably that being the immense storage requirements these true
color images have. As technology moves along, varying attempts are made
at reducing these storage requirements. Traditionally, these efforts
have concentrated on retaining all of the image data in the compressed
form. But now, a new method of compressing image data is gaining
popularity, one that is 'lossy' -- in that the compressing of the image
actually eliminates some of the data that comprises the image. It's not
as bad as it sounds, believe me. True color images can contain upwards
of 16.7 million colors. The human eye has a color detection threshold
much much lower than that. This quirk in human color perception is what
allows these new compression algorithms to eliminate data that the human
eye could not see anyway!
One of the first popularly implemented algorithms for the lossy
compression of true color images is the JPEG algorithm. JPEG stands for
Joint Photographic Experts Group, the original drafting committe of the
JPEG standard. Now in it's third release, this piece of free software is
one of the quickest ways to get started using the JPEG file compression
format. JPEG software has been written for almost every computer
platform in use today, and the Independent JPEG Group's software is
written entirely in ANSI C, making it extremely portable across hardware
platforms. True color images compressed with JPEG routinely achieve
absolutely phenomenal compression ratios. I routinely compress 960k true
color Targa files into 20-30k JPEG files. When decompressed, a human
cannot tell the JPEG decompressed image is any different than the
original.
One of the caveats with JPEG oddly enough is the proliferation of 8
bit display hardware today. 8 bits of color translates to the familiar
256 colors that we've had available for years under VGA and SVGA. My
earlier statements about not being able to tell that an image has been
compressed and decompressed using JPEG apply only when you are using
24bit display hardware, and are viewing the 24 bit images side by side.
When a true color (24bit) image is compressed with JPEG, decompressed
back to 24bits, and then converted (quantized) to an 8 bit image,
noticeable defects do creep into the image. However, these defects are
very very small, and in most cases do not distract from the viewability
of the picture in question. Most of the time, they add only a little
fuzzyness to the final image. 8bit hardware also gives JPEG trouble when
people attempt to compress an existing 8 bit image with JPEG. The
results are generally terrible. This is due to the fact that JPEG was
written to compress images with 16.7 million colors, and not 256. So,
when an 8bit (256 color) image is compressed, much image detail is lost.
Finally, when you are working with the Independent JPEG Group's
free JPEG software, make sure that any JPEG images you try to decompress
conform to the JFIF method of encoding a JPEG file. This generally only
presents a problem with commercial software that was written before the
JFIF standard was approved. Also, the shareware program GIFTOJPG
produces JPEG files that are incompatible with the Independent Group's
software.
The JPEG software, in full source, and IBM PC binary form, may be
downloaded from The MATRIX BBS in Birmingham, Alabama. Additionally, it
is available for anonymous FTP on the Internet on the UUNET archives
(ftp.uu.net.)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Notes from the Trenches
by Dean Costello
"Death and Taxes"
I was sitting here, watching a favorite movie of mine called
"Amadeus", about the life of Mozart and Soliere. The ending shows the
burial of Mozart, in a common pauper's grave, in a the middle of a nasty
rain storm. It occured to me that in many movies the funeral of a lead
character almost always occurs on a rainy day.
I remember back to 1981, when my grandfather died. It was a
beautiful day in mid to late spring: April I want to say. No clouds
out, some birds in the background; just a real pretty day. And my
grandfather was dead.
He died when I was 15. He was my mother's father, and I had known
him for most of my life, at the time. He died about five years after he
retired from the carpentry business. (I have never tried a 'I remember
back when...' article before, so you will have to bear with it. It is
an extremely awkward way of writing since very few people really give a
damn about who my grandfather was or why I feel the way I do, but we
shall see how it turns out. I have a bad feeling that it will probably
be more suitible to a "Reader's Digest" article, maybe entitled
"Grandpa". You want maudlin? I'll give you so much maudlin that you'll
gag.)
I can't really say that I remember an awful lot of factual data
about him. Most of what I recall is more along the lines of images and
impressions. For instance, the house that he and Grandma lived in was
in southern Dorchester county, right on a salt water marsh. When my
brother and/or I would go to visit, the mosquitos at the house were
horrible, but I cannot rightly remember my grandfather ever killing a
mosquito. More times than not he merely brushed them, or flies, or
whatever out the door.
He was the one that taught me how to fish, by using a soft crab
that was all cut up, and you can get those perch by just letting your
line out, straight down with a little weight to keep them perch honest,
then when you feel something quickly jerk back on the rod to hook 'em.
Many, many summer days were spent that way, me and Grandpa, sometimes
Scott, sitting in the skiff that Grandpa built, old outboard engine on
the boat to take us way back in the creeks around his place, catching
perch with softcrabs.
There really isn't a whole lot to say about the man. As I think
about him, he strikes me as being the prototypical grandfather- person.
He struck me as being real tall. When he died, I think that I was only
about 5'5" or so, and he was still a good 6-8" taller than me, still.
He had a great way of talking. His accent was slightly Welsh, and every
sentence had to have "Goddamn" in it somewhere. For instance, "Marge
[that's Grandma], I'm taking Dean down to Clarence's to get the goddamn
mail and a Pepsi". Pretty heady stuff for a nine year-old. And when he
forgot, he would go back and repeat the sentence with the correct
invecitive. You have to admire that kind of purism. "By God" was also
high on his list of phrases, e.g., "Whoa, by God, look at the size of
that boat!" Whether or not that was the pregeniter of my phrases like,
"What a time", or "Whatever, I guess" I cannot say.
He seemed to be a good person, given what I remember of him. I
recall spending a couple of Saturday afternoons watching and helping him
cut grass at the local church (that his father or grandfather built, I
get messed up on some of the relative positions) that I don't remember
him attending. I remember that his features were fairly leathery and
dark from working on the water for many years. I remember he was fairly
handsome, in a grandfather kind of way.
I would like to say that he was like Garrison Keillor's
grandfather, who "so loved children and being with children, that when
he had to go into town and run some errands, and no children were
around, he would go over to the school and borrow one or two for a
couple of hours." I don't know if Grandpa ever did that, though you
have to admit that it makes a dandy story. But he was just Grandpa, the
person who taught me how to do remedial carpentry, how to make a boat
out of a 2x4 and some scrap wood, how to convince a lawnmower that it
wanted to keep running another summer, and how to steer a boat in
shallow, twisty rivers so that you don't run your the goddamned boat
aground on a shoal.
You made a difference to me. This Wild Turkey is for you, Dryden
Woodland.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Bizarre Crunchy Frog Script Questionaire &
The Even More Bizarre Answers
by users of Crunchy Frog
compiled by Monty (Kathy Maisel)
This is my first article for BTN coming to you live from the
Crunchy Frog. You know those annoying script questionaires that every
board has, and some of them even insist that you fill them out. Well,
on the Frog, we have fun with them! When you ask for the scripts, you
will get a list of which one. We started out with "what is your
name?"...a fairly innocuous question which ALMOST everyone gets,
although we do find the occassional deluded user who thinks they are
Napoleon. The next question asks "what is your quest?" I like to watch
the pauses when this one comes up on the screen.
"So, what does she do with all those answers?", you might ask. "Am
I just pissing in the wind?", do you really care? Well, here is the
long sought after answer to your burning questions! Yes! I compile
them and post them! Normally on my board, but this time I'M GONNA SHARE
MY USERS WITH THE WHOLE OF BTN READERS! You lucky devils, you.
Here are some of the more entertaining answers to the
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ +
+ Release The Tiger Questionaire +
+ +
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
from the Crunchy Frog...I know
you're excited.
=======================================================================
Question # 1 : Are you a poofda?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This seemed to be fairly easy for everyone. They drew the lines
well...ok, so the lines were a little crooked...but they drew them
anyway. Aside from the masses of "NO!" "NEVER!" ... rather boring
people log on to my board, you know...we had a few winners.
Here is the generally confused crowd:
a) Maybe
b) not since 1963
c) What?
d) No! Yes! I mean - well, I don't know. I think so.
e) Occasionally
r) Am I?
g) Is this the North or South American variety?
Then we had the ones who were quite confident about it:
a) but, of course!
b) Absolutely. I pride myself on my poofda qualities.
c) Yes, but only on weekends.
d) Well, after many years of counceling, I admit...but now...
e) sometimes, when my mother isn't watching.
f) only on tuesday and somtimes on monday
g) When I'm not a psychiatrist
And those that said no in a more colorful way:
a) No, I'm a protestant
b) not last time i checked
c) I should say not! (swish)
d) No way! I'm more butch than Mr. Rogers.
Then, the group from Bryce Institute in their new program
"Maniacs on Modems":
a) No, I am an adfoop.
b) Used ta be, I'm now a Whomdertek!
c) No, I'm snoffda!
and our finalist for the week said:
d) No Poofdas! <- this user wins the coveted
Drool Bucket Award.
Now, for our next brain teaser!
=======================================================================
# 2 : What are the two...no, three weapons used by the Spanish
Inquisition?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Our first group had a little problem with the question:
a) yes
b) no
c) ask Mark
d) I don't know I slept through that class
e) Hm. Is this a rhetorical question?
Then, the pythoneers came out in force on this one! There were many
answers which said "Fear, Fear and Surprise! Fear, Surprise and
Ruthless Efficiency!" Then a few extra...
a) Surprise, ?, ?
b) Fear and Suprise, and a bad song.
c) suprise danger and i forgot
d) the comfy chair, the comfy chair and SURPRISE
^-pillows, you fool! poke her with the
fluffy pillows!
e) Fear and Surprise and ruthless efficiency and nice red...
f) It doesn't matter, they can't remember them themselves.
Then we have some script revisionists here! check it out!
a) catapult, the air jammer road rammer, pro football <- i always
knew it was a
conspiracy.
b) the rack, hot metal tongs, a picture of a bloated Liz Taylor <- yeek!
c) Water, fire, and testical clamps
d) Sex, Lies, and branding irons <- you've been invited to a party
e) Fear, sodomy, and questionares
f) feathers, Ducks, and wild foxe's with bad attitudes!
g) A shrubbery, a stick, and a can of Spam
h) Jelly, breadsticks, and Maple Syrup
i) boogers, pert shampoo and twinkies
j) Sheep legs, masectomys, and Goat milk cheese.
k) Feathers, aardvarks, and something I can't say in public.
l) offline mail readers, illegal copies of 'bambi', and Dean C.
Now, here's one that stumped almost everyone.
=======================================================================
# 3 : Do you like traffic lights?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
aside from singing the ENTIRE song between several users' answers, we
did get some new ones:
a) No, the damned bastards..great, there goes 20yrs of therapy!
b) only when they are out
c) after we get to know each other... intimately
d) Only the ones that respect me.
e) don't be silly
f) Only when I can share them with friends!
g) Hey! Don't get into my personal life!
h) with a good amber sause yes.
NEXT! our tunes crowd got together and showed us the wide variety of
musical taste we have in the bbs community...
=======================================================================
Question # 4 : What is your favorite Dead Monkey's Song?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
a) Damn
b) "Truckin'".
c) Kum Bay Yah
d) Milk (Avaliable in remix form on Anthrax's new album)
e) Why are my coconuts smaller than yours?
f) I'm so tired I'm drinking bleach.
g) We're Just In It for the Money
h) remove your toenails, they're lovely
i) I thought it was Dead Halibut.
j) Maggots make me scream.
k) Olaf, Olaf, with the stains in his beard.
l) alive and well in buckingham palace
m) manfred manns version of mighty quinn the fishmarketeer
n) Last train to Clarksville
o) AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
=======================================================================
# 5 : How do you feel about the baggage retrieval system at Heath Row?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
we had many users who had some concerns in this area:
a) It's not TOO bad, although I'm kinda worried about it...
b) It's worring me.
c) It worries me.
d) I'm so worried about it.
e) No sir, I don't like it
Then there were a few who gave some suggestions:
a) It's a great ride.
b) I liked the monkey.
c) <look of disgust>
d) It's quite silly.
e) They gave me a dollar once... <- I'll bet they turned you
into a newt too!
f) it needs more dancing girls
g) It's best when savored.
h) got a good beat, easy to dance to
i) Did you say rotating knives?
j) RELEASE THE TIGER.....
Now, for a really popular question...
=======================================================================
# 6 : What sauce is most tempting to a crocodile?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
There were many people who felt that crocodiles were partial to hot
sauces, but then some felt a nice bernaise would do. A few people
thought that crocs would love raspberry, but then there's no accounting
for the taste of crocodiles...
Here are a few extras:
a) they like...aaaagh!
b) I don't subscribe to that. I'm for an Olympic-spec mayo.
c) Mornay
d) Are these all Python questions? <- it took you this long to figure
it out?
e) SMALL MALE CHILD IN YOGURT
f) Moa Moa
g) A1, for African crocodiles, but Hines 57 for American ones.
h) Jeri Curl
The burning question from the Weekly World News!
=======================================================================
Question # 7 : Can Marilyn Monroe still act?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Now, we have deployed the kill-o-matic robots to find these punsters so
that we won't see any more answers like:
a) she knocks 'em dead
b) Whaddya mean, still, ?
c) If she can, it'll be a little stiff...
d) You could most likely worm something out of her.
Then the theater critics stepped up and said...
a) She could act??
b) yes, as long as it's a a bed scene
c) Of course. She did a surprise cameo as a skeleton in T2
d) She's dead! <- another mental giant answers my questionaires!
e) If she's acting as a mattress or a phone pole, she's FAB!
f) yes, she is doing a great job as a pile of dust
g) Better than ever.
h) She scares small children quite well.
Then we come to the hard-core question that just everyone was dying to
know the answer to...
=======================================================================
# 8 : What happened to Eric the half-a-bee?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
as you will see, some very gruesome things happened to him:
a) Who cares? <- good answer!
b) Well, it goes like this. We'll never see Eric again, dear...
c) Cyril Connelly?
d) I'm not sure if half a bee could be, could he?
e) he went and fell into a glass of champagne
f) He made it big in the MPFC computer game.
g) He retired from bee keeping
h) I believe he died most carnally
i) What are you talking about?
j) He became a weather-vain? sorry, wrong story.
k) I guess he's still a bisexual..
l) He was bisected accidentally
m) There was this Bird, and, well, that IS an adult story...
n) he was murdered
o) he got eaten by eric the halibut
p) got AIDS!
q) he exploded with the penguin on the tellie
Then, for the finale, we had to add some sex into the picture...
=======================================================================
Question # 9 : Who all came to the Gumby Orgy?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Many people were terribly upset, shocked and disappointed that they were
not invited! Amid the yammering for a second orgy with gratuitous
spankings and barnyard animals, we found a few guesses:
a) Gumby, his wife Martha, and their two sons.
b) EVERYBODY DAMN'IT
c) [snicker]
d) HIS HAND,
e) Gumberts
f) who all came TO or AT?
g) Hell, it was the whole ramphead family conspirators party.
h) Eddie Murphy
i) No one. They all got stuck in the revolving door.
j) jfk, donald duck and john holmes
k) ike and tina, little ants, a bowl of mush, john paul II
l) I took shock treatments to forget, don't remind me.
m) Gumby and his little male friend Gusseppi
n) I refuse to answer that question.
o) That's an amazing image. What was the question?
p) Me and my necro beastio homo friends
Well, that about wraps up the fun! If you are feeling simply left
out, or so terribly sorry you missed out on such intellectual
stimulation, you are quite welcome to pop by the board and fill out a
script. I am quite happy to make up foolish questions to be answered in
your most creative ways. DOS Tip...it helps to be well sauced when you
fill them out.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Review: Intel 9600EX modem
by Colby Gibson
This month, I am reviewing a high speed modem that is produced by
the Intel Corporation, the Intel 9600EX modem.
The 9600EX modem supports MNP Error Control Versions 1-4, and MNP
Class 5 Data Compression. It supports V.32 and V.42bis, and the LAPM
error controlling/data compressing systems.
The modem itself comes with the necessary techinical jargon that
concerns the installation, various odds and ends, and the specific
command set that this modem will recognize. Power supply and 25-9 pin
cord is also included with the package.
When using this modem, the user should open the comm port at 38,400
bps, and the modem will transfer at 9600 baud between other systems. The
various comm programs availiable have different protocols availiable,
but here are some tested and the rates produced:
DSZ (Omen Technology's Enternal Zmodem) - between 1050-1150 cps
Telix's Zmodem (Internal Protocol) - 1024 cps
Ymodem (Hmmm.) - 1024 cps
Xmodem (Yeah, right!) - 540 cps
(For those that don't wanna get out the calculator, a 100k file
will take about a minute and a half, etc.)
The modem itself is quite small, not as big as the US Robotics
Courier or Dual Standard modems. It does generate heat, but not so much
as to be a problem for other instruments such as phones (You wouldn't
want to heat one up) or other modems.
The modem sells for about $450 to $500 in Computer Shopper, and has
received rave reviews from other publications in recent months.
I have had no problems out of this modem, and it has worked quite
dandy compared to the 2400 I have. Although this modem is a loaner and
is way out of my price range (Probably will be for about as long as I am
still working you-know-where) I would recommend it to those who would
seek multi-standard support and something relatively inexpensive
compared to other modems. The setup for this modem is relatively simple,
except for maybe far and few between systems that have some strange bios
that runs on a 70's chip array, so little trouble will be involved with
it.
To those that do not know the advantages of high speed modems and
are interested in purchasing one, they provide excellent access to the
many message networks that generate tumults of mail that would be
inaccessable to users with lower speed modems (To pull down conference
after conference of mail), line noise and other problems are eliminated,
and online time is greatly reduced.
Thanks go to Mark Maisel for spending his time explaining the
standards of these monster devices to me and holding his patience.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
An "Old" BBS With Some "New" Software
by R.H. Crawford
This one is going to be rather short and sweet, as compared to some
of my other ranting and raving, so bear with me.....
Baudville BBS was born out of a desire, on the part of Doug Griffin
and, to a small extent, myself, to have a board with a specific theme.
The one we choose was to have a board that emulated a small Alabama
town, complete with a Post Office, General Store, and, of course, a
House of Ill Repute. In a scant few months we found ourselves with an
abundance of users with a nice mix between female and male users, much
to our surprise. We chose to use Oracomm software for a variety of
reasons. First of all we both found the Oracomm chat feature to be one
of the easiest to use. Unlike many BBSers here in town, we liked
message bases, mainly because the Oracomm software allows you to follow
the entire message thread from beginning to end, and often that in
itself was entertaining.
It's happened lately that many of the Oracomm boards have been
living up to their reputations as meat markets and battle grounds. This
was/is distressing to many users and lurkers alike. I have gone from
posting like a maniac to lurking more and more. To tell the truth, I
find zero pleasure in petty verbal bashings and the thought of actually
using a BBS as a place to locate a sexual partner, especially in this
day and age, is far too frightening to me. The messages used to be fun,
full of humor and incessant ravings with just enough sexual innuendo (
and in the case of the adult boards, out and out nasty fun) to make the
reading fun. Hell, it HAD to be fun, you HAVE to do it online, a fact
that keeps many potential users from ever trying Oracomm boards. Once
you get the offline reader fever, you're pretty much hooked.
So, with the passage of enough time, we became less and less
enchanted with the Oracomm software. Now BEFORE any of you out there
start posting to me about "bad mouthing" board software, give me a
break! I am IN NO WAY bad mouthing the Oracomm boards or the software.
Hell, I still call them and I still have a subscription to one, and I'll
renew it when the time comes. I'm merely trying to show how BaudVille
came to change software and share with potential SYSOPs the things we've
experienced. There is NOTHING wrong with the Oracomm software, unless
you find something that you think works better and provides a better
value for your purpose........and we think we have.
Enter the Major BBS Software. Doug gets the credit for discovering
Major BBS software. Hell, I don't even remember where he said he found
it. But I AM glad he did, and so are a lot of people who are
discovering a new board software in town that is actually FUN to be
ONLINE with!
I have often stated that BBSing is supposed to be fun, and when it
ceases to be fun, I'd rather be off somewhere sticking knitting needles
in my feet. Now, as many of the local readers will know, I DO use the
offline readers, often far more than is reasonable, but what the hell,
I'm having a ball! This software, for me, has put the "FUN" back into
getting online. It's actually a drag to have to log off! The chat
feature if filled with variety and laughs. There is an "action" command
set that is activated by entering...../a on.......after which you can
access a list of designated "action" words, to get this you
enter........../a list.......after this you enter may enter something
like....Kiss SYSOP.........and the SYSOP will se a message
saying...........Mary is kissing you softly..........everyone else sees
this.........Mary is Kissing SYSOP softly.............to do the same
thing in private, you append a......secretly........to the end and it
will go ONLY to the SYSOP. Now the list is quite extensive and
configurable by the SYSOP.
When you enter MAIN CHAT, you're announced by the
system.......SYSOP has entered the channel........BUT, this announcement
can be altered by the SYSOP to anything you'd like, such as..........A
Flash Of Light And The SYSOP Appears!............There is far to much to
be discussed in what was supposed to be a short article, but there are
things such as "invitation only private chat", where you can open a chat
channel to as many users as you'd like but they HAVE to be invited in,
like having a Private group chat. Files can be appended to messages for
easy downloading, online interactive games (real time adventure games
where you and the other users online take on the challenges together),
and so much more that makes this software really fun.
Add to that the possibility of having a qwk compatible door (which
we don't have as YET) and I think this is one of the most entertaining
pieces of board software around. Now before you start posting to me
telling me I haven't been around long enough, I'll say that I've seen
enough of the boards to pretty much put them all into proper
perspective. I'm not putting any one of them down, just showing the
finer points of a new discovery.
It does have a few kinks in it, such as the high price of adding
certain things to it, like the mail door ($200.00), but these are small
when compared to the really entertaining things that this software
affords it's users.
So there you have it, an advertisement for the "new" Baudville BBS
and a review of a piece of software that this writer finds both
entertaining, useful and a true value at the same time. Give us a call
at 205-640-7243 or 7286. We're still configuring and setting up, so be
patient with us. And by all means, I'll look forward to getting together
with you in chat!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Another BBS Alternative
by I. M. Heiden
"User Friendly" is a phrase you hear often but seldom actually
encounter. For example, the different types of BBS software in use
today. Most of them tend to make me run in circles. PCBoard and
ProDoor were the only user friendly ones I had found. That was until I
called a new system a few months ago. The Night Watch BBS, 841-2790
(blatant plug), running TriBBS 2.0. At last I had found something else
with menus and prompts that were easy to use and remember.
Now a little about the software itself.
TriBBS 2.0 fully supports multinode operation at no additional
cost.
Internal Zmodem - no need to set it up as an external protocol.
Net Mail converters are available for Fido, PCRelay and QWK to
TriBBS. These converters are optional, but are available for download
on any TriBBS support board and are free to all TriBBS sysops.
TriBBS can internally generate the door data files to run most
PCBoard, GAP (DOOR.SYS), Spitfire, Wildcat and RBBS doors.
TriBBS allows optional testing of all uploaded archives, EXE's and
COM's for errors and viruses.
There is also a mail door for TriBBS (TriMail) which is optional
but free to TriBBS sysops.
One of the beauties of TriBBS is the ease of installation and
maintenance. Other features include the ability to generate security
level specific menu screens on the fly and run an almost unlimited
number of sliding and nonsliding events.
TriBBS BBS is copyrighted by Mark D. Goodwin and is distributed
under the shareware concept. The shareware version is NOT crippled in
any way. Registration for TriBBS is $75.00 (US) which includes postage
and handling. For this registration fee you will receive the latest
version on disk, a printed manual and an encrypted key file to instantly
register the present and all future versions of TriBBS. Upgrades are
not sent to individual users but instead are available on TriBBS support
boards and at times on other TriBBS boards. Technical support is
excellent. Usually a message left one morning will have a reply by that
evening.
If you're interested in seeing TriBBS from the user's viewpoint,
call either: Night Watch BBS (841-2790) or Party Line BBS (856-1336).
And that's the last free plug.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Music Review
by Michael Davidson
It is now the beginning of April. Do we have some new goodies
coming up in the next few months! First of all, Def Leppard released
there first new album in a few years: the anxiously awaited Adrenalize.
Bruce Springsteen released two at once, ala Guns N' Roses, although the
names were different. The Wayne's World soundtrack is out, with some
lovely artists playing, and for those of you who are into that sort of
thing, Wynnona Judd released her first solo album. Also, coming up in
April or May, Faith No More should be releasing Angel Dust; I can't wait
for that one. But perhaps the greatest release in the month of March (or
at least the greatest that happened to make it to my CD player) is the
subject of this month's review: They Might Be Giants newest: Apollo 18.
They Might Be Giants is one of my favorite bands, and their new one
follows in their tradition of greatness. It is, however, a very
different sound for the band, and most of the songs are not what I'd
call classic TMBG, like Ana Ng or Lucky Ball & Chain. That in no way
makes the quality less, in my opinion. This album continues in the
tradition that there are lots of songs (18) in a little time (under 45
minutes).
One of the best features of the CD (if you buy it on CD) is its
unique indexing. It is designed to make full use of the shuffle feature.
It does this by making the song Fingertips into 21 little songs, with
different words to each. When you press the random button, it will treat
each part of Fingertips like a different song, making for a total of 38
possibilities.
Once again, TMBG comes through with great lyrics. Especially in the
21 refrains of Fingertips. (All of them have different lyrics, and
feature many guest vocalists.) I Palindrome I is also very original,
with some verses being palindromes, as the title would imply. Another
high point is The Guitar (The Lion Sleeps Tonight). TMBG takes the
refrain from the popular song, and changes it around a little to more
fit the theme "Apollo 18".
This is a highly recommended album, especially for fans of the
band. Even if you've never heard them, try it out. Most people like
them, even if it takes a time or two of listening to the album. <g>
Overall, I'd say it's not as good as most of their earlier work, but
it's still better than your average album.
Addition to last month's article: I recently purchased Teenage
Fanclub's first CD, A Catholic Education. It's not as good as
Bandwagonesque, but still worth a listen.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
We Are The Champions
by Jeff Vaughn
Saturday, April 25th was an excellent day to be watching MTV. I
happened to click over to the channel and I noticed that a documentary
was starting. To my surprise, it was about Queen. Being a long-time fan
of Queen I was delighted. Seeing it was hosted by Axl Rose, I was a bit
amused. This was going to be a show I would enjoy.
It was somewhat of a shock to me back when I had heard that Freddy
Mercury had died. Hearing that he had died of AIDS was less a shock
because I had heard rumors & I anticipated that was what it was when I
heard the news. I also noticed that the CD 'Queen's Greatest Hits' had
all but disappeared off the shelves. I had a taped, but decided to get a
CD of it. I picked up 'Classic Queen' & was disgusted. It didn't have
hardly any of the songs that "QGH" had, so I figured I'd wait. I was
introduced to Queen's music right about 1981. The song was 'Bohemian
Rhapsody', I knew right then I would like this group. Afterwards, during
several trips to my friend's place, I had got quite a appetite for
Queen. Songs like 'Killer Queen', 'Another One Bites the Dust', 'We Are
the Champions', 'We Will Rock You', & 'Somebody to Love' were great. For
some reason though, I never went out and bought the CDs. After a time
though, the radio stations had went down hill & completely lost the
grasp of what 'Classic Rock' really was. So, in about 1989 I bought
"QGH". I think I wore the tape out in about two months along with Led
Zeppelin II.
Saturday was a refreshing look at a band I'd thought I'd known very
well. I think I saw more footage in 90 mins. than in my whole life. The
last time I had seen a performance from Queen was the 'Live Aid'
concert. Of course there were videos from 'Inuendo', but that was
scarcely enough. It was news to me that Axl Rose was such a big fan of
Queen. But, then again, these boys tend to surprise me again & again.
So, if the documentary comes on again (which MTV has a habit of
doing), I strongly suggest you Queen fans to take a look inside. As for
myself, I think I'll make myself a boot-leg copy. I gotta find a copy of
that greatest hits CD too.
A toast to Queen, long may they reign.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
A Day in the Life of Ricky Eanes
by Ricky Eanes (duuhhhh)
I want all of you to know that I am not writing this article of my
own free will. I have several reasons for writing it. One, I want to
write an article and can't think of anything else to write on. Two,
Michael Davidson is very far ahead of me in number of BTN articles
written, and while this will not change that fact, it may lessen it to
some degree. Next, it's the only way that Mark will even think about
letting me into BTNWA. Finally, I want to get back at Colby and Dean
for writing boring articles. Don't expect this to be exciting or
anything. If it is, I need to return that call from the New York Times.
My getting-ready-for-school-on-a-very-dreary-morning routine is not
very exciting or eventful, so there is not anything to say about it.
However, once at school, I meander into the gym, our school's pig pen
for early people. I always sit in the same place with the same friends.
Once they open the gate, we all flow out to the 8th grade hall and our
respective lockers to grab our instruments for our first couple of
classes.
Homeroom is one of my favorite classes in the day. This is where
we talk and do our homework, hence the name. On occasional days they
rev up the TV's that we have in every classroom and we watch some stupid
news program and make fun of the reporters. I very rarely have more
homework than I can handle in homeroom, so this is where most of my
homework gets done.
After 30 beautiful minutes, the bell rings. For most people this
bell means absolutely nothing, as the majority of the school has the
same teacher for homeroom and 1st period. Social Studies consists of
either coloring our maps for our Kindergarten teacher, or copying the
book for our student teacher. Seriously now, our teacher treats us like
Kindergarteners. She thinks that we enjoy coloring maps. Her soul goal
as being a teacher is to "make us learn manners". I can't tell you how
many times she has said this. Her substitute teacher is even worse. As
a teacher, he is great as far as his lectures go. As a person, he lacks
much. His pants are pulled up to his armpits, his hair has several
coats of Criso or compatible, and he dresses the most conservative of
any person I've seen. I have had nightmares about meeting his tie rack.
Forty-five minutes and 800 sheets of paper later, the bell rings
and I am herded into Advanced Math. I still wonder about the idiot who
claims this class is "advanced". I am no math genius, yet this class is
child's play for your 2-6 year old. We generally talk the majority of
this period. I am fortunate that I am one of the few people I know that
can do math and talk at the same time. If I didn't, I would have lots
of homework in this class.
Third period brings about Industrial Arts. Near the beginning of
the year, this was my favorite class. Recently, it has been my
least-favorite class. In the beginning we made things out of wood while
we talked, and it was fun. Then we had a ten-year unit on drafting, the
most boring experience of my life. Our teacher, errr, "instructor",
appears to be some middle-aged guy who flunked out of dental school.
Ahhh. Next comes English, no doubt my favorite class of the day.
It brings in a teacher who has about as much control over our class as
Crunchy Frog has over its hard drive. I spend the hour talking to
Michael Davidson and company, and pretending to listen to the teacher.
Lunch brings about gross smells and great home-packed lunches. I
don't have room in this article to complain about the school's "food",
so I won't. Anyway, it's amazing how teenagers can eat and talk at the
same time without ever having any food in their mouth. I never see
anyone chewing or anything. I spend my time eating my huge lunch and
begging Michael to quit ignoring me. On a good day we'll talk about the
latest Esterian Conquest and local message base happenings.
A short walk later, I'm in P.E. After complaining to my friends
about how bad the locker room smells, I push smelly bodies out of the
way and fight to stand in place long enough to put in my combination.
After dressing out, we usually end up going to the tennis courts to play
basketball, four-square, net-ball, or anything else we can do to
entertain ourselves.
Sixth and seventh period are always very uneventful. These are
Science and whatever exploratory I get stuck in. I've only had one good
exploratory this whole year. My latest trek was in the ever-popular
"Map Skills for Fun". I'll let you draw your own conclusions.
Once home, I curl up in the Lazy-Boy with a Dr. Pepper to watch
some good old Yogi Bear and entertain my niece-who-stays-with-us-during-
the-day-while-her-parents-work. When that's done, I usually go outside
to play basketball for half an hour. I then come inside for the part
you've been waiting for.
When I turn on the computer, I usually go straight to Speed Read to
go over my mail from last night. Every night, Robocomm grabs my mail
and any files I want from the local boards, and then SPEED imports it
for me. I go through the boards in order. This tends to be my favorite
part of the day. I get to serve my position as Poster Child on Crunchy
Frog, flirt with the network girls on Family Smorgas-board, and chat
with the posse on Hardeman's.
Next comes the daily ritual of Esterian Conquest. Depending on
which games are ongoing, I call up those boards and do my thing. I am
"Lost in Space" on every game I'm in, and as of late have a very good
track record, winning the majority of the games I'm playing in. I can't
take all or even most of the credit though; a lot of my success comes
from my various allies.
After supper, the rest of the night is, shall we say, "undefined".
I somehow find something to watch on T.V. or something to do on the
computer.
Just before I go to bed, I load up Robocomm to tell it what files
to leech that night. I then fire up the batch file, and happily go to
bed, dreaming of what files Robo is downloading while I sleep. And such
is a day in the life of me, Ricky Eanes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Top Ten Things to do at the Maisel Residence
by Scott Kelley
10. 'Gang chat' the BBS callers
9. Bring snapshots of your friends to scan for BRU
8. Listen to piano and violin solos performed by Sarah
7. Watch the construction people install a new bathroom (one show only)
6. Tease the whippets into a frothy boil
5. Watch Ren and Stimpy cartoons until you can sing the Log song
4. Bring over new CDs with which to annoy the neighbors
3. Catch up on any computer magazine reading you've missed recently
(I've never seen that many magazines in one pile...)
2. Melt into the background (pretty easy to do, actually...)
1. Play Lemmings on Mark's 386/SVGA/AdLib with Sarah
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
SIG's (Special Interest Groups), Computer Related
-------------------------------------------------
BEPCUG CCS
Birmingham East PC Users Group Commodore Club South
Jefferson Sate Jr. College Springville Road Library
Ruby Carson Hall, Rm 114 2nd & 4th Tuesday (C64/C128)
3rd Friday, 7-9 PM 3rd Monday (Amiga)
Paula Ballard 251-6058 (after 5PM) 7:30-10 PM
BCCC BIPUG
Birmingham Commodore Computer Club Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group
POB 59564 UAB Nutrition Science Blg
Birmingham, Al 35259 RM 535/541
UAB School of Education, Rm 153 1st Sunday (delayed one week
2nd and 4th Sundays, 2 PM if meeting is a holiday)
Rusty Hargett 854-5172 Marty Schulman 967-5883
BACE FAOUG
Birmingham Atari Computer First Alabama Osborne Users
Enthusiast Group
Vestavia Library, downstairs Homewood Library
2nd Monday, 7 PM 1st Saturday, 1PM
Benny Brown 822-5059 Ed Purquez 669-5200
CADUB
CAD Users of Birmingham
Homewood Library
3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Bobby Benson 791-0426
SIG's, Non-Computer Related
---------------------------
BBC Birmingham Astronomy Club
Blue Box Companions Subject: Astronomy
Subject: Dr. Who Red Mountain Museum Annex
Hoover Library 4th Tuesday, 7:30PM
1st Saturday, 2PM-5PM
If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed,
please let us know by sending E-Mail to Barry Bowden on
The Matrix BBS.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area
NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES MODEM BBS SOFTWARE
SUPPORTED TYPE
129 ADAnet One Nodes 1-3 854-9074 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
129 ADAnet One Node 4 854-5863 9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
1 Alter-Ego BBS 925-5099 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
1_ Amiga Alliance ][ 631-0262 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
4( Arkham Asylum 853-7422 300-9600 USR DS WWIV 4.12
( Asgard 663-9171 300-2400 WWIV 4.11
Baudville Node 1 640-4593 300-2400 Major BBS 5.3
Baudville Node 2 640-4639 300-2400 Major BBS 5.3
Baudville Node 3 640-7243 300-2400 Major BBS 5.3
Baudville Node 4 640-7286 300-2400 Major BBS 5.3
Birmingham BBS 854-5131 300-2400 Mind-Pawn
13 Bus System 595-1627 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
17 Byte Me! 979-BYTE! 2400-9600 USR HST WWIV 4.12
CM(ee) BBS Node 1 655-4059 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
CM(ee) BBS Node 2 655-4065 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
Camelot 856-679 300-2400 Telegard 2.5
16 Channel 8250 Node 1 744-8546 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
16 Channel 8250 Node 2 744-5166 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
$ Christian Apologetic 808-0763 300-2400 Wildcat! 3.00
13_ Crunchy Frog Node 1 956-1755 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
13_ Crunchy Frog Node 2 956-0073 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
DataLynx Node 1 933-6784 300-2400 Oracomm Plus 5.3
DataLynx Node 2 933-7032 300-2400 Oracomm Plus 5.3
) Disktop Publishing BBS 854-1660 300-9600 V.32 Wildcat! 3.01
Empire 428-6074 300-2400 Image 1.2
- F/X BBS Node 1 823-5777 300-9600 V.32 PC Board 14.5
- F/X BBS Node 2 822-4570 300-9600 V.32 PC Board 14.5
- F/X BBS Node 3 822-4526 300-2400 V.32 PC Board 14.5
12{ Family Smorgas-Board 744-0943 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
Graphics Zone Node 1 870-5306 300-9600 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16)
Graphics Zone Node 2 870-5329 300-9600 MNP4 TBBS 2.1(16)
Hacker's Corner 674-5449 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
$ Hardeman's BBS 640-6436 1200-2400 Wildcat! 3.02
2 I.S.A. BBS 995-6590 300-9600 USR HST Remote Access
( Infinite Probability 791-0421 2400 VBBS
13 Joker's Castle 664-5589 300-2400 USR HST PC Board 14.5
4( Kiriath Arba 681-8374 300-2400 WWIV 4.21
Lemon Grove 836-1184 300-2400 Searchlight
15 Little Kingdom Node 1 969-0007 300-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
15 Little Kingdom Node 2 969-0008 300-2400 MNP4 PCBoard 14.5
1- Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.2
# Medicine Man BBS 664-5662 300-2400 GTPower 17.00
29 MetaBoard 254-3344 300-2400 Opus
Missing Link 853-1257 300-2400 C-Net
Morbid Curiosity 592-4161 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
^&* Night Watch 841-2790 1200-2400 TriBBS 2.11
Nirvana 942-6702 300-2400 WWIV 4.21
Optical Illusion 853-8062 300-1200 C-Net
Ouija Board 669-0623 300-1200
# Owlabama BBS 833-7176 300-2400 GTPower 17.00
13_ Owl's Nest 680-0851 300-9600 PCBoard 14.5
Paradise City 853-1439 1200-2400 PCBoard 14.5
^&* Party Line 856-1336 300-2400 TriBBS 2.11
Pooh's Korner 980-8710 300-9600 USR DS Remote Access
Ravens Bluff 681-4096 300-2400 Telegard 2.7
# Safe Harbor Node 1 665-4332 300-2400 GTPower 17.00
# Safe Harbor Node 2 665-4355 300-9600 USR DS GTPower 17.00
Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
1 ST BBS 836-9311 300-2400 PCBoard 14.2
Teasers 987-0122 300-2400 WWIV 4.20
2 The Bone Yard 631-6023 300-9600 USR HST PCBoard 14.5
The Castle 841-7618 300-2400 C-Base 2.0
The Commodore Zone 856-3783 300-2400 Image1.2
The Den 933-8744 300-9600 USR HST ProLogon/ProDoor
4 The Dragon's Hoard 833-3790 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
1378% The MATRIX Nodes 1-4 323-2016 300-2400 PCBoard 14.5
1378% The MATRIX Nodes 5-7 323-6016 2400-9600 USR DS PCBoard 14.5
The Monster 967-4839 300-2400 Telegard 2.7
The Other Side 520-0230 2400-9600 USR DS PC Board 14.5
2 The Outer Limits 425-5784 1200-9600 USR HST Wildcat! 3.01
The Quiet Zone 833-2066 300-2400 ExpressNET
The Safety BBS 581-2866 300-2400 RBBS-PC
( The Word 833-2831 300-2400 WWIV 4.12
Triangle 933-8227 300-2400 Hermes 1.8
Warrior River BBS 520-9540 300-2400 Wildcat! 3.02
Wildfire 1 942-9576 300-2400 Telegard 2.7
Wild Side 631-0184 300-1200 WWIV 4.20
Willie's DYM Node 1 979-1629 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
Willie's DYM Node 2 979-7739 300-2400 Oracomm Plus
Willie's DYM Node 3 979-7743 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
Willie's DYM Node 4 979-8156 300-1200 Oracomm Plus
Wonderland Avenue 699-5811 1200-2400 MNP4 PCBoard 14.5
Ziggy Unaxess 991-5696 300-1200 Unaxess
The many symbols you see prior to the names of many of the bbs' in the
list signify that they are members of one or more networks that exchange
or echo mail to each other in some organized fashion.
1 = EzNet, a local IBM compatible network
2 = FidoNet, an international network, multi-topic
3 = Metrolink, an international network, multi-topic
4 = WWIV-Net, an international network, multi-topic
5 = Intellec, an international network, multi-topic
6 = Uni'Net, an international network, multi-topic
7 = ThrobNet, an international network, adult oriented
8 = ILink, an international network, multi-topic
9 = ADAnet, an international network dedicated to the handicapped
0 = USNetMail, a national network, multi-topic
- = RIME, an international network, multi-topic
= = TcNet, not certain at publication time
! = RF-Net, a national network, dedicated to amateur radio
@ = 93Net, a national network, dedicated to the occult
# = GTNet, an international network, multi-topic
$ = WildNet, a national network, multi-topic
% = InterNet, an international network, linking businesses,
universities, and bbs', multi-topic
^ = City2City, a national network, multi-topic
& = TriBBS Net, a national network, multi-topic
* = Dixie Net, a regional network, multi-topic geared toward the south
eastern United States
( = MAXnet, a local network, connecting WWIV and VBBS systems
) = PlanoNet, a national network, multi-topic
_ = LuciferNet, an international network, adult oriented
If you have any corrections, additions, deletions, etc., please let us
know via EzNet.
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