ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄ· ÚÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ·ÚÄÄ· ÚÄÄ·ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ· ³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ º ³ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º³ º ³ º³ ÄÄÄÄÄ º Ô͸ Éͼ³ ÉÍÍÍͼ³ ÉÍÍÍͼ³ º\³ º³ ÉÍÍÍͼ³ º ³ º³ ÉÍÍͼ ³þþþº ³þþº ³þþÓÄ· ³þþºþ³þþº³þþÓÄ· ³þþº ÚÄÄ· ³þþº³þþþÓÄÄÄ· ³±±±º ³±±º ³±±Éͼ ³±±º\³±±º³±±Éͼ ³±±º ³±±º ³±±ºÔÍ͸±±±±º ÚÄÙ ÓÄ·³ ÓÄÄÄÄ·³ ÓÄÄÄÄ·³ º ³ º³ ÓÄÄÄÄ·³ ÓÄÙ ÓÄÙ ºÚÄÄÙ º ³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛº ³ÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÚÄÄ·ÛÛÛÛº³ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛº ÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍͼ ÔÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍ; ÈÍÍÍͼÔÍÍÍÍÍÍͼ Volume 4, Issue 2 The Journal of IceNET February 1994 ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ The Editor's Desk ³ ³ The State of IceNET Jim (1@1) ³ ³ Notes from the Managing Editor Louie (6@1) ³ ³ Thoughts from Odin Odin (1@7664) ³ ³ IceNEWS Questionnaire Deacon Blues (2@7653) ³ ³ IceNEWS Reader's Poll Apollo (1@2939) ³ ³ ³ ³ Sub Board Spotlight ³ ³ The NFL Pool Dan Garrison (22@3461) ³ ³ The Best of WWIV Russell Morris (208@3085) ³ ³ ³ ³ WWIV Specific ³ ³ How to Install Multi-Instances ³ ³ of WWIV under Windows Piero (1@2351) ³ ³ New WWIV Sysops Helpline Jack Ryan (1@4707) ³ ³ ³ ³ Software/Programming ³ ³ Borland C++ 4.0 Review Will (1@6754) ³ ³ Learning C - Part One Daarkhan (1@7676) ³ ³ ³ ³ Lite Bytes ³ ³ Trials of a Cyber Cop Pale Rider (1@23) ³ ³ Silly Strings Ima Moron (1@9661) ³ ³ The Adventures of ModemMan Jot$ (1@7850) Deacon Blues (2@7653) ³ ³ Untitled Poem Burma Shave, Dark Man (1@6853) ³ ÃÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ IceNEWS is seeking submissions from those who have story ideas. ³ ³ If you have an idea for an IceNEWS story, contact any IceNEWS ³ ³ editor or subscrib4e to IceNEWS Beat, subtype ICENEWS, host @1. ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ T H E E D I T O R ' S D E S K ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ The State of IceNET ³ Jim (1@1) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As we begin 1994, with full steam ahead for the coming year in IceNET, I look forward with excitement on all the upcoming events...the release of WWIV 4.24 and all the fun that will bring, WWIVcon in July (Be there!), and of course keeping all in IceNET informed by way of the many message bases available. I'd like to see IceNET reach 1000 systems this year, and with help from all sysops prompting their friends to join up, I think we can make it. Network growth is important, as it keeps us moving onward with new systems, new subs, new modem friends. Growth will come not only from present systems joining IceNET, but as well the new crop of sysops coming on into our network. It will be a challenge and a lot of fun to meet this goal. We have a new GC in Group 2, and her name is Lorelei. Since last November, she has been filling in on a temporary basis for Rocker, who has now officially gone into the ranks of former GC upon letting me know he felt Wendy was doing such a great job that he wanted her to stay on. Thanks Rocker for the great job you did, and I'm looking forward to your new responsibilities as they become defined. Good luck Lorelei! Now, let's get on with the first edition of IceNEWS for 1994, with Louie as managing editor. I hope you enjoy it! Jim (1@1) IceNEWS Editor-In-Chief ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Notes from the Managing Editor ³ Louie (6@1) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Hi! I'm Louie, this months Managing Editor for IceNEWS. These are some comments from the M/E about the making of this issue. Besides, I didn't write anything this month and I like to be included. So, you have to read this before the other stuff. You might wonder how one gets appointed M/E. Well, with me it was all a mistake. Deacon Blues (2@7653) asked Jim (1@1) about me becoming an editor of IceNEWS. In other words, a member of the staff. Deacon either didn't make himself clear or Jim was tired and answering mail at 3 a.m. Either way, Jim got the idea that Deacon was recommending me to be M/E of the month this time around. Jim acted quickly and appointed me before a clarification could be gotten from Deacon. I started work and was well underway with it all before anybody figured out there was a misunderstanding in the works. And lets just say I'm a big guy. People weren't about to speak out against it all once I got started. I had fun as this months M/E. It was a tough job though. I had to ask a bunch of people for articles. Got a bunch. Lots of nice stuff for this months issue. But I am getting ahead of myself now. I would like to thank Jim and the rest of the IceNEWS Staff on all the help they have been with getting this issue out. Will (1@6754) and Ima Moron (1@9661) were very nice to me. Jack Ryan (1@4707) and Deacon Blues were great help to me. Deacon did a great job supporting me in this position. He really was almost a Co-ME with me. I would now like to ask you, our kind hearted reader, to let us know you exist. There is a nice little IceNEWS Questionnaire in this months issue by Deacon. Please fill it out and let him know what your likes and dislikes and stuff are. Apollo (1@2939) is doing something similar with all of IceNET. We do need people to write stuff for us as well. If you have an idea for an article, let us know about it. The IceNEWS staff will be more than willing to work with you. Just drop me an e-mail and I, or another member of our staff, will work with you. I would list a bunch of ideas, but we really don't have space for that. If you want to write something but don't have an idea, ask me for a few ideas. I got a bunch I would like to see written up. Likewise, if you read something you don't like in IceNEWS. Fire off a letter to the editor. Just drop that to Jim (1@1) and he will forward it to the proper person. If you would like to get involved with IceNEWS, then pick up the IceNEWS Beat Sub (Subtype: IceNEWS, Host: @1). Thanks for reading IceNEWS. Without you readers, we don't have any reason to do this, really. Louie (6@1) IceNEWS Managing Editor ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Thoughts from Odin ³ Odin (1@7664) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ It's one of those days while wondering whatever happened to The Editor and the Funny Pages BBS.......... -=- Do you remember all the sysops who complained about registering WWIV for $50? These are the same guys who now complaining about the $80 registration charge. Do you think that they are going to wake up and smell the coffee or do you think that they will complain when it is $150? -=- Did you ever notice when you (the sysop) have completed the modding of the board that Wayne then announces: "The newest version of WWIV will come out on.." Ooooh that burns me up. Sure you can use the file to convert it over but it will take you days to mod the old version......I think Wayne and Filo talk it over and say, "Well Filo, what do you think? I think they should have modded the hell out of it by now, let's say we make a new version...it will drive them nuts!!" -=- Jim (1@1) recently put up a post about a sysop who appears to be pirating software from his board. Now, not to mention any names, but when will these people learn that this is a crime? I mean, the reason software prices are so high is that people are pirating the software. This crime is similar to shoplifting. Well....that's it. I hope many of you had as happy a holiday as I did and are looking forward to a great year. Odin (1@7664) IceNEWS Contributing Writer ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IceNEWS Readership Questionnaire ³ Deacon Blues (2@7653) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ IceNEWS is supposed to represent what YOU - the sysops and users of IceNET and the readers of IceNEWS - would like to read in your network journal. With this in mind, we ask that all of our readers (as well as our non-readers or others who may not have heard of IceNEWS before, by way of publicly posting this article) please take the time to fill-out and return the questionnaire below so we can better serve your wants and needs. The return mailing address can be found at the end of the questionnaire. If we, the editors, don't know what you, the readers, want to see in IceNEWS, we can't provide it. Please tell us what you like. Remember, without YOUR input, the IceNEWS editors would actually have to think and try to guess just what your tastes are. And we can't have THAT now, can we? :) IceNEWS Readership Questionnaire 1.) Which statement best expresses your personal opinion regarding IceNEWS: A.) I always read it and like it very much. B.) I read it from time-to-time and usually enjoy it. C.) I have no feelings regarding it one way or the other. D.) I have read it and did not like it. E.) I have never heard of IceNEWS before now. 2.) Which statement is true regarding how often you read IceNEWS: A.) I read IceNEWS on a monthly basis. B.) I read IceNEWS only occasionally. C.) I have never read IceNEWS before now. D.) I never bother or don't care to read IceNEWS. 3.) Which statement is true regarding your IceNEWS reading habits: A.) I read all of the stories in each issue. B.) I read only articles that look like they might appeal to me. C.) I rarely find articles appealing to me so I don't read it. 4.) "As a Sysop, I pass IceNEWS on to my regular users to read also." A.) True B.) False 5.) Choose your favorite IceNEWS Department(s): A.) The Editor's Desk B.) Feature Articles C.) Hardware D.) Software/Programming E.) WWIV-Specific F.) Light Bytes 6.) Choose the type(s) of articles that you would like to see in IceNEWS: A.) WWIV-Specific B.) Product Reviews C.) Sysop-Oriented D.) User-Oriented E.) Network-Specific F.) Area-Specific G.) Humor H.) General Computing I.) Programming-Related J.) "How-To" Informative K.) Interviews L.) Hardware-Related M.) Software-Related N.) Comprehensive Multi-Part O.) Editorials P.) Opinions Q.) Other (Please Specify) 7.) In what ways do you think IceNEWS can be improved upon? (Be Specific) Please return to: Deacon Blues, 2@7653. Thanks in advance to all who take the time to send in their replies. Remember, YOUR opinion DOES COUNT! Help us make IceNEWS into the publication you want it to be. ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IceNEWS Reader's Poll ³ Apollo (1@2939) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 1: What does IceNET mean to YOU? 2: What is your favorite aspect of IceNET? 3: Which network is your favorite? 4: Why do you think IceNET is Better/Worse than other networks? 5: How long have you been in IceNET? 6: How long have you been running a BBS? 7: How long have you been BBSing? 8: How long have you been a computer user? Please E-Mail your responses to Apollo 1 @2939 IceNET. Apollo (1@2939) IceNEWS Contributing Writer ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ S U B B O A R D S P O T L I G H T ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ The NFL Pool ³ Dan Garrison (22@3461) [Subtype: 43461, Host: @3461] ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ As the Fifth Season of THE NFL POOL, a nationally multi-netted message base, comes to a very successful end, I am amazed (and pleased) on how it has done. Looking back to its beginning, and some of the rough roads it has been over, a person might think it could never have gotten to this place. I work as a mainframe computer programmer in St. Louis. In 1989, the company put a personal computer on my desk. At first I did not want it. But, then my supervisor discovered it had an internal modem and showed me how to use it. Within a few months I had stumbled into the world of electronic bulletin boards and enjoying every minute of them. For years I have been an "NFL NUT". When I moved to the Washington, D.C. area in 1975, it took only one fall season, and I was hooked as a Redskin fan. While in the Washington area, I entered the weekly football Pool run by the newspaper. Later, in 1933, at my previous job here in St. Louis, I helped run the NFL football Pool. Once in a while I even won a little money. After getting into BBSing, I wondered if there might be a way that I could run an NFL Football Pool through a message base. Birdhunter, a local sysop gave me the opportunity on his board, and in 1989, the first season of THE NFL POOL was underway. I began it with a simple process. Players were to pick the winners of each week's games. We would use the Monday night game as a tie breaker, in the same way I had seen it used in the other Pools I had been a part of. Players would submit one set of picks each week. I would set a deadline and the date/time stamp of the post would serve as the validation that the deadline had been met. The first week we had a dozen players or so, including one or two ladies. Within a couple of weeks Birdhunter had hooked up with a board in the triangle area of North Carolina, and we had competition going, not only between users, but between two areas of the country. The posts were more than just picks. There was good banter, friendly 'swipes', and just plain fun. But around Thanksgiving, the company declared we could not use modems to contact bulletin boards, and I lost my access. For about a month the NFL POOL had no host. But, Birdhunter and some friends surprised me at Christmas with an XT as a gift, and I was able to complete the season. The following year the NFL POOL was in its second season, but at Thanksgiving time, Birdhunter had to take his board down and we struggled to find a board to host us through the season. When the season was over, the North Carolina board notified me it also was going down. So during the off-season I looked for a local replacement. Chairman Paley of the Aviary made arrangements for the Pool to be hosted there. And then I looked for some competition. I heard from Pillsbury Dough Boy of BoardWalk in New York. He talked 'big' and since the Buffalo Bills and New York Giants had just competed in a close Superbowl, this seemed like a great opportunity. For the next two seasons, we in St. Louis had a great rivalry with people in Upper State New York, and regretfully the overall title each season went to New Yorkers. As the fourth season came to an end, I was learning more, and discovering multi-networks. I wanted to expand the NFL POOL. But there were new problems emerging in St. Louis. Chairman Paley and the sysop of the Aviary had left St. Louis. While the Aviary was still up, it did not appear real stable to me, and I definitely wanted to go mulit-net. I also knew that if I expanded the NFL POOL, I would have to find some way to keep track of the many picks that would come in. ACE, a guy here in St. Louis, voluntarily took on the challenge of writing a program to help me. We did a little testing of it and worked out some bugs. Meanwhile I looked for a new host board, and found TOAD HALL. This turned out great as the sysop kept me very informed of everything to do with the sub. I put out one 'ad' in the WWIVNet Yellow Pages, and one ad in the WWIVLink Yellow Pages. Somewhere along the line I made contact with IceNET. During the fifth season of THE NFL POOL, we had over 30 boards participating, around 50 posts a week, 71 different users make picks one or more weeks, and some of the best competition we have ever had. And by in large it has gone well. Oh, we had a problem with someone questioning the deadline rule. We have always seemed to have a problem with that. This time it went a little further than it has in the past. But, it eventually blew over. Why do I do it? I enjoy NFL Football. I enjoy good competition. Most of the people who participate, have fun with the competition. Many good-natured 'jabs' are taken. People root for their favorite teams, and make fun of the host's team. Unlike some message bases, the posts stay away from being mean-spirited. I run the NFL POOL, fair and even-handed. It is nice to receive messages that show appreciation for the NFL POOL and how I run it. It was especially gratifying this past season to have players from both coasts, and several states in between part of the NFL POOL. For an old guy, this is really participating in the 'electronic highway'. Dan Garrison (22@3461) IceNEWS Contributing Writer ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ The Best of WWIV ³ Russell Morris (208@3085) [Subtype: BESTOF, Host: @3085] ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ When I fire up my modem these days, I'm a man on a mission. A zealous crusader. A cybernetic knight on a quest for my own version of the Holy Grail. It's about quality. Specifically, I'm looking for great posting. As moderator for the networked discussion sub "The Best of WWIV," I make it my goal to seek out the best in publicly posted messages. When I find them, I copy them to The Best of WWIV, and from there the messages are echoed to an appreciative audience of BBS users on systems stretching from New York to Alaska. Although the sub has only been in existence a short time, it has been very well-received by WWIV sysops. Originally available only through the West Coast InfiNet network, The Best of WWIV is now carried on three additional networks: IceNET, WWIVlink and WWIVnet. Something Different The concept behind The Best of WWIV takes a little getting used to. Normally, WWIV netsubs tend to be very interactive. You see a lot of spontaneity, people firing opinions back and forth. The Best of WWIV, though, is strictly limited to re-posted messages from other discussion areas. (Any discussion of the re-posted messages takes place on a companion sub, The Best of WWIV--Discussion.) The idea is that this is a place where you can read great messages without having to wade through a lot of garbage. Every post on The Best of WWIV is there because someone read it somewhere else, and thought it was worth re-posting. (Although I've done much of the re-posting myself so far, subscribing sysops and users also re-post deserving messages.) But what is it that makes a "great" post? Obviously, it's highly subjective. It's hard to give a laundry list of characteristics, because great posts come in all different shapes and sizes. For myself, I favor posts that tell true stories about users' lives. A good example is a post I came across in a networked discussion on Wayne Bell's BBS, Amber. The post was written by a user named Batgirl who was looking for information on disk-based copies of science fiction books. She explained that she was a big fan of sci fi, but had been having a hard time finding it since going blind as a result of a brain tumor. For me, there was something really special about the post, a positive outlook she had despite what she'd been through, that really affected me. Other messages that have been re-posted on the sub include an account of a user's near-drowning in the Atlantic Ocean, a story of a user's car catching on fire and the story of a user who was raped as a child by her older brother. Not all the messages have such serious content, though. In my own re-posting, I like to mix up the serious stuff with more humorous posts, the kind that make you laugh out loud in front of your monitor. Fulfilling a Dream For me, The Best of WWIV has been a dream come true. As a former WWIV sysop currently without a BBS, I created The Best of WWIV as a sort of "mini-BBS," a place where I can offer users something unique without investing the time a full-fledged BBS would require. Much of the credit for making that dream a reality must go to Sleepy, the sysop of The Slowsleep BBS, which hosts The Best of WWIV. Sleepy is tops in my book. She is, hands down, the most caring, compassionate sysop I've ever come across. She knew I was dying to do something like this, and made her BBS available as a host-site. She's helped out in other ways, too, setting up and maintaining the network connections and performing sub-maintenance chores that I can't handle remotely. Ethical Issues As it turns out, creating The Best of WWIV was not as straightforward as I originally expected. One of the toughest issues that came up along the way involved intellectual property rights. I wanted this to be very legal and aboveboard. As a professional editor, I know that copyright law can be very strict about re-using other people's work. Even though re-posting of messages is common practice on computer networks, I wanted to be very careful about it in a sub dedicated solely to the practice. As I gathered legal advice from online experts, a complex picture emerged. Technically, a post is the property of its original author. The act of publicly posting a message MIGHT constitute an "implied permission" for someone to spread that message far and wide, but that theory apparently has not been tested in court. Most of the time, I knew, a person posting a message would be pleased at the thought of it being re-posted on The Best of WWIV. Because the sub is networked, though, I worried that there would be times when a person who had posted in a local, non-networked discussion would object to having the message broadcast network-wide. People might say one thing on a local sub, and something completely different on a networked sub. And what about a women-only sub, or an adults-only sub? It just didn't seem fair to yank a message out of a context like that and broadcast it on The Best of WWIV without getting the author's prior permission. In practice, I've adopted a flexible approach. For myself, I almost always try to secure the author's permission before re-posting. If I can't reach the author, I sometimes go ahead and re-post the message anyway, if I'm convinced that the author wouldn't have minded. In practice, I've had a good success rate in gaining permission to re-post. Only one person has refused permission; for the most part, people are thrilled. I encourage others who re-post messages on The Best of WWIV to give careful consideration to the permissions issue, but the sub has no explicit rules on the subject. Because this is a gray area, both legally and ethically, I want users to have the freedom to explore different approaches. If someone re-posts a message that deals with personal or sensitive subject matter, I may withhold network validation while I confirm that the original author has granted permission, but otherwise I leave the permissions thing up to the person doing the re-posting. Future Directions When new messages get added to a BBS discussion and old messages get purged, those old messages are gone forever; there's no way to get them back. Most of the time that's no great loss, but there are some messages, including those that get re-posted on The Best of WWIV, that I think deserve something better. Because of that belief, I maintain a separate archive of the messages that are re-posted on The Best of WWIV. My current plan is to distribute the archived messages from The Best of WWIV in a series of files named BOF1.ZIP, BOF2.ZIP, etc., with each file containing 100 messages. The first file is ready now, and by the time you read this it will be available on Amber (310/798-9993) and the Slowsleep (310/790-8560). It's my hope it will end up being distributed widely on other bulletin boards. I would like for The Best of WWIV to continue to grow in popularity, eventually reaching a point where most of the re-posted messages will be supplied by subscribing sysops and users, rather than myself. In the meantime, I continue my quest for high-quality posting, searching throughout cyberspace for worthy messages. (Despite its name, the sub is not limited to messages that appeared originally on WWIV-based systems, but also includes material from such places as Usenet and Fidonet. My basic take on this is, "Well, once it's on The Best of WWIV, then it IS part of WWIV, right?") Seeking out great messages is a lot of fun. It really brings a sense of purpose to my modeming sessions. I'm not just poking around online; I'm a hunter tracking down big game, bringing it back to The Best of WWIV so it can get the recognition it deserves. If this sort of thing sounds interesting to you, I strongly encourage you to subscribe to the sub and join in the fun! The Best of WWIV (subtype BESTOF) The Best of WWIV--Discussion (subtype BESTED) Both subs are auto-requestable. Host: The Slowsleep BBS (310) 790-8560 WWIVnet @3085 WWIVlink @13064 IceNET @3085 InfiNet @3 I can be contacted at the following accounts: Russell Morris WWIVnet: #208 @3085 WWIVlink: #208 @13064 IceNET: #208 @3085 InfiNet: #208 @3 Internet: rmorris@wndrsvr.la.ca.us [Selected posts from The Best of WWIV] =========================================================================== BBS: AMBER Date: 08-04-93 (19:22) Number: 97 From: BATGIRL #54 @6214 Refer#: 97 To: PUBLIC POST Recvd: NO Subj: Ah... the memories! Conf: (6) SF & F --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 years ago I was an avid sci fi reader, I loved it all. Alas for some reason only the Gods might know I managed to acquire a brain tumor that biffed the optic nerves (drats!) This has put a crook in the reading of my stories! Braille can rather suck in the respect that Scifi doesn't end up in braille and recordings for the blind seem to just ignore it. I suppose this may seem quite a stupid question, but I get many law texts on disk, has anyone ever heard of scifi on disk?? I have a speech system and Chronos reads rather well.. I can feel that pulling away from reality into other realms and worlds in your words.. How I miss it. Blind woman feel it better! Batgirl =========================================================================== 50/50: Ancestor's Remains Name: Grayfox #107 @8440 Date: Mon Oct 18 21:57:54 1993 From: WWIVlink - Unknown System Reminds me of a story; a friend of mine had spent many years in Alaska, in the field,studying the foxes. One day, a group of the people went to Anchorage, and took one of the Grandfathers, who had never been to a city with them. When he got there, they asked him what he wanted to see, he replied " Take me to a cemetery, I want to desecrate some white people's graves" Has to do with empathy, if I feel as kin to ALL peoples; I will respect,and even cherish their traditions and customs, if I feel no kin- ship, I will not respect them,or their customs. Thing is, if I have no kin, I am as a tree without roots, or leaves, or branches; with kin,all being is one with me. Grayfox =========================================================================== 100/100: I am pessimistic today Name: >ANONYMOUS< Date: >ANONYMOUS< maybe it is hormones or something, but today am feeling pessimistic. I don't spend a lot of time worrying out loud or overtly concerning myself with the future. I figure, take care of the present and the future will take care of itself. However, I have been worrying about my children, grandchildren, great grandchildren. . . I can't see what will happen. The only thing on this earth that I can think of that I am actually afraid of is our own government. We have never cheated on our taxes, ever, but I have seen people, honest people, get into dire straits and not be able to pull themselves out. Suddenly the IRS is down their throats like pit bulls and they can ruin honest hard working people who are being persecuted for hitting hard times. When I was younger I thought those laws were to collar tax evaders and tax cheaters, but since then I have seen them go after decent folk who through no fault of their own hit hard times. It scares the hell out of me. =========================================================================== Russell Morris (208 @3085) IceNEWS Contributing Writer ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ W W I V S P E C I F I C ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ How To Install Multiple Instances On One ³ ³ One Computer Using MicroSoft Windows v3.1 ³ Piero (1@2351) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Introduction ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I originally created this text file due to the fact that in the original WWIV Documentation for Version 4.23 (released December 3rd, 1993 @ 6pm), it had nowhere in it any way to install WWIV with Windows. This text file is only for the purpose of telling you how to run WWIV with Windows on only one (1) computer and optionally two (2) modems. If you wish to have a Local SysOp Terminal and an On-Line Instance, it is only necessary to have and configure one modem. Disclaimer ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ It is assumed you have already read the WWIV v4.23 documentation and have installed WWIV v4.23, customized and familiarized yourself with the software so I may not need to go into detail about where to place the paths and such as of you're already aware of how to do these things; furthermore: SysOp's new to WWIV should not attempt this because something may go wrong. I, the author of this text file am not responsible for anything your Personal Computer (PC) does that it was not supposed to do based on this documentation, however; you may contact me at any of the following routes if you do have trouble: E-Mail: 1@2351 IceNET or TerraNET E-Mail "Piero" on: Amber [310-798-9993], King Lerxt's Computer Castle [818-240-9915], The Golden Chariot, The Outter Rim BBS or The Pod Bay Door BBS. Or U.S. Send mail to: Dairenn Lombard c/o The InfoLink Cosmos P.O. Box 621133 Los Angeles, Calif 90062-1876 Initialization/Configuration SetUp ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ To set up The Second Instance you must first do the following steps: 1. Create a Directory called TEMP2 like this: C:\WWIV>MD TEMP2 [Enter] C:\WWIV> 2. Now Create the following 2 (or more, depending on how many Instances you registered for) .BAT files and place them in your main WWIV directory, for this example (such as above) we will use the standard directory: WWIV, you may have configured your BBS differently. I1.BAT: @echo off cls echo Running Instance 1. SET WWIV_INSTANCE=1 SET INSTANCE=1 bbs.com /1 I2.BAT: @echo off cls echo Running Instance 2. SET WWIV_INSTANCE=2 SET INSTANCE=2 bbs.com -m /2 3. Run INIT, but not in the usual manner. Instead type the following: C:\WWIV>INIT ,2 You will see: WWIV v4.23 Initialization/Configuration program. Copyright (c) 1988-1993 by Wayne Bell SY: The 2 obviously means which instance you're going to configure. The reason why we didn't start out with instance 1 (or node 1) because it has already been configured. So, if you want Instance two to be a local terminal and not use a modem. To do that, type in your System Password like you always do (you will see: WWIV v4.23 Initialization/Configuration program. Copyright (c) 1988-1993 by Wayne Bell 1. System info (name, passwords, newuser info, etc) 2. More system info (net, status, etc) 3. Paths (messages, gfiles, data, etc) 4. Com port info (port, IRQ, base address, etc) 5. Select modem type (now H2400) 6. External programs (zip, terminal, etc) 7. External protocols 8. External editors (full screen) 9. SecLev data change 0. Auto-Validation data change A. Auto-detect modem type (if possible) N. Update network info U. Change max # subs/dirs L. Update language support R. Enter registration information Q. Quit Instance 2: Which (1-0,Q) ? And select option number four (4). This will ask you which com port to use. When you change any information in instance 2 INIT, it will not alter any information you placed in INIT with out the ,2 or ,1; it will just simply change the data for instance 2. So to make Instance 2 a local terminal and to not use the modem, just type 0 in the com port field. That will disable modem usage for WWIV. If you have another modem connected to a free com port (meaning your mouse or something is not connected to the same com port), type in the number for that com port (for the other modem) and then select option number 5 (Select Modem Type), this is so you can compile the correct modem info for the modem you have connected to the other com port selected in Option #4. This is all you'll need to do in INIT.EXE as far as the second instance goes. Windows SetUp ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Introduction: In order to run two instances at once, it is required to have a multi- tasker; obviously. And that includes having to configure a .PIF or Program Information File. Program Information Editing: First; load up Windows and move the mouse over to PIF Editor and double-click or press [Enter]. In the Program FileName: field type: C:\WWIV\I1.BAT. In the Window Title Field, do not place anything there. In the Optional Parameters: field, do not place anything there either. Reduce KB Required down to -1 and the same for KB Desired. Execution should be Background and Display Usage should be Windowed. Move the Mouse over to File and click. Select Save As and type in the filename area: C:\WWIV\WWIV1.PIF Go back to the Program FileName field and type C:\WWIV\I2.BAT. Then move the mouse back up the File box and click Save As and type in the FileName area: C:\WWIV\WWIV2.PIF Note: For convenience, I have supplied two sample .PIF files for your personal examination. Exit From PIF Edit. Installing the BBS in Windows: Create the Group with the Title of your BBS name. Here's how to do that: 1. From the File menu, choose New. The New Program Object dialog box appears. 2. Select the Program Group option and then choose OK. The Program Group Properties dialog box appears. 3. In the Description box, type in your BBS Name. This description will appear in the title bar of the group window and below the group icon. Choose OK. 4. Type in the Group File Box: C:\WWIV\BBS.GRP Installing each instance in the BBS Group: 1. Open the group that you want to add an instance to. 2. From the Program Manager File menu, choose New. The New Program Object dialog box appears. Select the Program Item Option and then choose OK. The Program Item PRoperties Dialog box appears. 3. In the Description Box, type in Instance 1. 4. In the Command Line box, type in C:\WWIV\WWIV1.PIF 5. In the Working Directory box, type in C:\WWIV or whatever directory your BBS is in. 6. No need for shortcut key. 7. Move the mouse over to the Box with the words 'Run Minimized' and click. 8. Choose your Icon. 9. Press OK. To add another instance follow these steps: 2. From the Program Manager File menu, choose New. The New Program Object dialog box appears. Select the Program Item Option and then choose OK. The Program Item Properties Dialog box appears. 3. In the Description Box, type in Instance 2. 4. In the Command Line box, type in C:\WWIV\WWIV2.PIF 5. In the Working Directory box, type in C:\WWIV or whatever directory your BBS is in. 6. No need for shortcut key. 7. Move the mouse over to the Box with the words 'Run Minimized' and click. 8. Choose your Icon. 9. Press OK. Running WWIV multi-tasked ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Select Instance 1 within the BBS Group and press [Enter]. Then move the mouse to the little Instance 1 Icon that is outside the Program Manager Box, click and press return. The move the Mouse Back to the BBS Group and click Instance 2 and press return. Move the mouse outside the Program Manger box to the Instance 2 Icon and click it and then press Enter. You now have successfully ran two instances. To move between the two instances, move the mouse inside the window of each instance and click the mouse. If you need more help, contact me at the above routes given in the Disclaimer section. Piero (1@2351) IceNEWS Contributing Writer ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ New WWIV Sysops Helpline ³ Jack Ryan (1@4707) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ In this column I'm going to go over the file transfer area. From the e-mail that I have received so far, this appears to be a confusing area for many new sysops as well as a few that have been around the block a couple of times. I didn't even have a transfer section for the first eight months that I ran my board. There were a few reasons for that: First, I didn't have any space on my hard drive, and second, I didn't know how to set up any other protocols for WWIV. Things have changed since then. Now I have about 800 meg dedicated to my file section, with the majority of it on CD-ROM. Most of my knowledge on setting up protocols for WWIV has been "stolen" from Jim (1@1), and I will attempt to pass it on to you in this column. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- //DIREDIT WWIV has been deigned to allow the sysop to setup his/her transfer area into separate, logical directories. The procedure for doing this is outlined below. A.) Name: Each directory requires a unique name that designates which files are available for downloading (or what type should be uploaded) for that particular directory. I have included samples of some of the names that I use. WWIV Network Files, On-Line Games, DOS Utilities, etc. B.) Filename: This should be a distinct, different name for each directory within the file transfer area. It should be eight characters (or less) in length. C.) Path: This is where you tell the BBS how to get to that particular transfer area. Be sure not to put a \ on the end, WWIV will do this for you automatically, and you will receive an error message if you do put a \ on. My path for the 'On-Line Games' looks like this: D:\DLOADS\ONGAME. D.) DSL: The Down-Load Security Level (DSL) restricts access to those file areas to callers who meet the DSL requirement. Users that do not have the appropriate DSL will not even be aware of that particular file area. E.) Min age: This feature allows you to set a minimum age that has access to that particular file section. Useful for limiting access to 'adult' areas. F.) Max files: This specifies the maximum number of files in the directory. It may be anything up to 499. Once the maximum number is reached, no more uploads will be allowed to the directory. G.) DAR: Similar to the AR (in //BOARDEDIT), this allows you to restrict access only to certain callers. H.) Require PD: This is used when a caller wants to upload a file. Setting this to 'yes' will cause the BBS to ask the user if the file is public domain. If the user says no to the question, the BBS software will abort the upload and will assign "Ass. Pts." I.) Dir type: Not currently used by WWIV. J.) Uploads: You can either allow, or disallow uploads to a directory by using this option. In addition, if you select 'all uploads to sysop' in INIT, that will override this option. K.) Arch. Only: This option enables you to ensure that all uploads for that directory will be in the form of your first selection in INIT for archivers. I set this to 'no' and have found that to work best (for me). L.) Drive Type: This option can be set to either Hard Drive or CD-ROM. WWIV will optimize the system for CDs if you have selected that option, otherwise there is no difference. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CD-ROMS and WWIV CD-ROMS are starting to become very common-place in the personal computer arena now. Setting up the CD-ROM to work with WWIV is not a very difficult task to accomplish. Since there is no way I can possibly cover all the various hard- ware configurations that sysops may have, I'll just tell you how I set mine up. I certainly do not have a "power system" so if it can be done on mine, you should be able to get it to run on yours. My system is one I have put together, and consists of a 286/12mhz (yes, you read that correctly), 1mb of RAM, a Boca 14.4 modem, 130mb hard drive, 120mb tape drive, and worse of all, a monochrome monitor. The pride of my system would therefore have to me my CD-ROM, which I've had for about a year. Your first step will be to go into your file transfer area and run //DIREDIT. At this point you will create your different transfer areas just like you would if the files were on your hard disk. When you get down to the "Path:" all you do is select the drive that your CD-ROM is set to. (Mine happens to be E:) the rest of the information remains the same. Below is a copy of how I set up my //DIREDIT for the 'GAMES' section of my CD. A. Name :Games B. Filename :Games C. Path :E:\MISC\GAMES D. DSL :10 E. Min Age :0 F. Max Files :200 (depends on number of files in dir) G. DAR :None H. Require PD :No I. Dir Type :0 J. Uploads :Not Allowed (no-one else can upload, it's a CD) K. Arch. Only :No L. Drive Type :CD-ROM Almost all CDs that you purchase come equipped with a 'FILES.BBS' file which contains the descriptions of the files within the individual subdirectories on the CD-ROM. Within WWIV, go to the directory that you created for your files and type "//UPLOADFILE." This will prompt you in the following way: 1. PCB, RBBS - 2. QBBS format - If you are using a CD with the 'FILES.BBS' on it (as most do) then you would select option number one at this time, and the bbs will read in the file descriptions for you. One quick note here, turn the 'pause' off in your 'Defaults' section while doing this, otherwise it will take for ever, and you will have to stay at the machine it prompts you. Repeat the above steps for each directory that you have to set up, and you're ready to go. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Protocol Setup While WWIV has several built-in protocols, you will find that there are others out there that have some desirable advantages, and will therefore want to run external protocols. Some of the more popular external protocols are Z-modem, Super Z-Modem and HS-Link. The following will assist you in setting up your external protocols. Adding additional protocols is very easily done. Go into INIT and select the option that says External Protocols. Choose (I)nsert, and add your new protocol in. Description : Z-Modem Receive command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 rz %3 Send command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 sz -z %3 Receive batch command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 restrict rz Send batch command line : dsz port %2 speed %1 estimate 0 %4 sz @%3 Xfer OK code : 0 Description : Super Z-Modem Receive command line : szmodem port %2 speed %1 rz %3 Send command line : szmodem port %2 speed %1 sz %3 Xfer OK code : 0 Description : HS/Link Xfer OK code : 0 Require MNP/LAPM : N Receive batch command line : HSLINK -P%2 -E%4 -U%3 Send batch command line : HSLINK -P%2 -E%4 -NU @%3 Bi-directional transfer command line : HSLINK -P%2 -E%4 -@ @%3 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- That concludes this month's help-line. I hope that the file transfer area, including CDs and protocols are a little clearer to you now. As always I encourage your feedback so I'll know what to write on in the future. You may contact me through IceNEWS or through my e-mail address (1@4707). Jack Ryan (1@4707) IceNEWS Contributing WWIV-Specific Editor ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ S O F T W A R E / P R O G R A M M I N G ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Borland C++ 4.0 Review ³ Will (1@6754) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Borland has recently introduced the latest incarnation of it's line of C and C++ compiler/development tools - Borland C++ 4.0, an integrated, visual, Windows-based development environment for DOS, Windows, and Win32S programming. The package includes a Windows IDE, a command line compiler, DOS and Windows based debuggers, the Windows based "Resource Workshop" bitmap and resource editor, a series of Windows help files, and other tools. Turbo Assembler and the DOS based Integrated Development Environment are absent from this release - all development is done either in Windows or from DOS (with the command line compiler). A full installation takes up eighty megabytes of hard disk space, which can be pared down to 30 with a minimum install. Selective install allows you to deselect portions of the program such as Win32s support, DOS support (or portions), ObjectWindows (OWL), or help files. If you purchase the CD-ROM edition, you can install a set of control files on the hard disk (around two megabytes), and run the program from the CD-ROM. While it does work, running from a slow CD-ROM is just about intolerable. With the newer double, triple, and quad-speed drives, the wait should diminish considerably. The CD-ROM edition also contains runtime library source code, and several additional utilities, including the Creative VoiceAssist development kit, editors, and much more. You also get the full documentation in electronic Adobe Acrobat(TM) form, with the reader included. Using BC++ 4.0 to create Windows 3.x/NT applications is a snap. To start out, click on the AppExpert device (similar to "Wizards" in Microsoft products). A series of dialog boxes pop up and query you about the application, which seems geared to be a text editor. I, who have never programmed Windows in my life, was able to put together an advanced multi- file editor without writing a line of code. And it works so well that I'm using it to generate this review (the editor, that is). For more customized and advanced programming, you need to write code yourself. Borland's ObjectWindows libraries (OWL) make this considerably easier than tradition al Windows coding. Programmers and Reference guides are included along with a 12 step tutorial to teach you the basics of the product, bringing you through the development of a paint program with a Multiple Document Interface. I did notice some problems with the tutorial, namely steps 5 and beyond giving me General Protection Faults on my main machine. DOS programming with BC 4.0 is also easy, and benefits from the graphical environment. You need to use the TargetExpert device to change the compiler mode to DOS (overlaid or non-overlaid), but otherwise nothing works differently. I was able to compile my copy of the WWIV source code by simply loading an older project file and clicking once. The end product wasn't as optimized as my tweaked Turbo C++ 3.0 BBS.EXE, but it did work, and ran faster, despite the additional size. BC4 will even generate a MAKEFILE for you. Despite the few problems (GPF's in the tutorial, slow access from the CD-ROM, long wait for loading, even on a dx2-66 machine with 16mb RAM), Borland C++ 4.0 is an excellent value at $199, the price for the Special Upgrade for Turbo, Borland, Microsoft, and Symantec C++ owners. People who already own earlier versions of Borland C/C++ can get an additional $50 rebate for a limited time. The CD-ROM version adds additional value to the package and speeds installation greatly, in addition to freeing you from constant disk tending. I've become quite enamored with the product myself. Now, if only Wayne Bell would use this to port WWIV to a Windows platform. With the EasyWin feature, it shouldn't be too hard... Will (1@6754) IceNEWS Contributing Hardware Editor ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Learning C (First of a four part series) ³ Daarkhan (1@7676) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Chapter One: The History of C EARLY BEGINNINGS The language of C was invented by Dennis Ritchie in the 1970s. It was influenced by an earlier language named B, developed by Ken Thompson in 1970, which was itself the successor to a language called BCPL, written my Martin Richards (Holzner 2). Because of the restrictions in B, Ritchie and Thompson created the C language. It did not gain popularity, however, until the publishing of their famous book - The C Programming Language (Prentice Hall, 1978). This book would describe the standard for programming in C for the next few years (Schildt, Complete Reference 5). As the PC revolution began with the release of the IBM PC in 1981, the growing number of microcomputers increased the number of diverse C implemen- tations (Holzner 2). In 1983, a committee was organized to create an ANSI standard for C. This standard was finally adopted in 1990 (Schildt, Complete Reference 5). A MIDDLE-LEVEL LANGUAGE C is called a "middle level language." This implies that is has the functionality and ease of use as high-level languages, such as Pascal and Modula-2, but also the power of low-level languages, such as Assembly (Schildt, Complete Reference 6). Highest level Ada Modula-2 Pascal COBOL FORTRAN BASIC Middle level C Macro-assembly Lowest level Assembly Being a middle-level language, C allows for the direct manipulation of bits, bytes and addresses - the very basic elements of computer processes. Another important feature of C is that it has only 32 keywords (11 more added by Turbo C). This greatly reduces the amount of code that has to be compiled within the file (Schildt, Complete Reference 6). C produces tighter and faster object code than most other languages. ANSI C's 32 keywords auto break case char const continue default do double else enum extern float for goto if int long register return short signed sizeof static struct switch typedef union unsigned void volatile while Turbo C extended keywords asm _ss interrupt _cs cdecl near _ds far pascal _es huge C HAS WIDE APPLICATIONS C is also a very portable language. "Portability" means that you can take C code written for one machine (an IBM, for example) and compile that code on another machine (such as an Apple) with little or no modification (Schildt, Complete Reference 6). C gives more power to the programmer than do most other languages. For example, character and integer data types may be freely intermixed, and run-time error checking (such as array-boundary or argument-type checking) is not performed. These checks are the responsibility of the programmer (Schildt, Complete Reference 7). C is a programmer's language. "It is not the contrived product of a committee, but rather the outcome of programmers looking for a better language" (Schildt, Teach Yourself xv). With the added power at the disposal of the programmer, however, comes added responsibilities. It is quite easy to crash your computer with only the simplest of errors in your code. "You have the power to do things in C that other languages would never allow you to do" (Holzner 3). This however, as you will find, is a greater benefit than it is a curse. "Initially, C was used primarily for creating systems software. Systems software consists of those programs that help run the computer. This includes such programs as operating systems, compilers, and editors" (Schildt, Teach Yourself xvi). Because of the increasing popularity of C, today the language is used by all sorts of programmers for almost any purpose. It is a powerful, yet multifaceted language. Until C, the only way to get complete control over the inner workings of your machine, and hence to create systems software, was to program with Assembly. Assembly, however is a very difficult language to write long or user friendly programs with. "In fact, it may take you dozens of pages of frus- tration to get where you want to go" (Holzner 3). The C instructions are designed very closely to their assembly language equivalents, however many more advanced functions have been added to give C much more power. C is the "perfect combination control and power" (Holzner 3). NEXT ISSUE That concludes an overview of the history and development of the C programming language. Next month we will continue this four part series by examining the fundamentals of C. We will discuss the components of a C program, create and compile our first program, look at variables and the five basic data types. WORKS CITED Holzner, Steven. C Programming: The Accessible Guide to Professional Programming. New York: Brady, 1991. Schildt, Herbert. Teach Yourself C. Berkeley: Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1990. ---. Turbo C/C++: The Complete Reference. Berkeley: Osborne McGraw-Hill, 1990. Daarkhan (1@7676) IceNEWS Contributing Writer ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ L I T E B Y T E S ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Trials of a CyberCop ³ Pale Rider (1@23) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Real BBS names are left out for legal reasons. What is a CyberCop? The cop of the lines, the BBS police, the SPA (Software Publishers Association) and those affiliated with them. There was a time, years ago, where piracy ran rampant, uncontrollable, infesting the very fiber of what is known as the "CyberSpace." That's where I come in. My name is Pale Rider... I'm a CyberCop. The wind howled, rain beat off the window like small pebbles bouncing in a tin pan. The "clickety-click" of my fingers tapping into the Focus 5000 could be heard throughout the house like an eager secretary on Friday afternoon. The phone rang. I answered in a small voice, trying too hard to sound like a 15 year old. It was Him, the call I was expecting. "Uhhhh, is Pale Rider there," the person on the other side asked. "Uhhh, yeah that's me. Who's this," I asked with a childlike voice. "Uhhh, I validated you, and gave you 'Elite' access." "Uhhh, cool! I got megs of files I can upload," I exclaimed, with a dog-like pant. "Uhhh, you're not a cop or anything are you?" "Uhhh, no, I'm not old enough," I half-yelled, knowing full well that I could be a cop tomorrow if I wanted to. "Uhhh, ok, well, see ya later!" . "Latah!" I said as I slammed the phone down into its cradle. My blue light reflected off my monitor like a small pearl in a sea of black. I fired-up my trusty term program and keyed in the number that I wanted to dial. "EtErNaL dArKnEsS." The name said it all. "Beep! Beep! Beep!" signaled the computer, telling me that I was now online. "Enter Name: Pale Rider" "Enter Password: XXXXXX" "Enter System Password: XXXXXXXXX" "Enter Second System Password: XXXXXXXXXXXXX" "Enter Password that means you can't get on if you don't know it: XXXXX" The poor boy. Little does he know that you can't protect yourself when you have a crime in your hands and a cop on your back. I sit back, waiting five minutes while the multitude of c00l ANSI screens wizz by. A sip of black coffee, a Pall Mall, and a blood clot later I get to the main prompt. "F" sends me to the files section, I quickly look around my room, for some reason I'm paranoid that I'm being watched. I'll take advantage of it. I hit "C" so that i can chat with the unsuspecting sysop. "Yeah?" I see slowly typed across the screen. I position one hand behind my back so that I can type slightly slower than the sysop. I don't want "Typing Envy" to get in the way of my bust. "I got a new game called 'Syndicate,' it's put out by 'Electronic Arts' but I don't have a crack for it. Do you want it?" I already know the answer, but you can't catch a fish without the hook. "Sure, go ahead and upload it, I'll hex it later and fix the CP!" he types shortly before breaking out of chat. I nail keys before it's to late, GOT IT! Now on disk, I have the SysOp's agreement to accept a copyrighted game. I shell out and go into my Syndicate directory, I zip up Syndicate and look at the file size then write it down. I then go into my DOS directory and "ARC" everything in there. The file size is close enough, I rename DOS.ARC to SYNDICA.ZIP. The chances of him having a dinosaur like ARC around is about the same chance as Clinton being faithful to his wife. I exit the shell and tap "U," then enter the description. After a Roast Beef on Whole Wheat and a Pall Mall, the computer yells, "Beep! Beep!" to tell me that the file was uploaded. I'm playing everything right, the SysOp doesn't have a clue, and now it's time to get the rest of my evidence and then jack out. I hit the "F" key to get a list of all files on-line. About 300 megs worth of copyrighted material is found. If everything works out, he's going to have a hefty fine to pay. With that done, I download about a meg worth of what is obviously copyrighted software. Then, I'm history. I logoff and drop to DOS to assemble my report: User name I logged on with: Pale Rider Passwords used respectively: ... ... ... Files downloaded: XXXXXXX, verified copyrighted and working. XXXXX, verified copyrighted and working. I put everything together into one text file and type "print BUSTED.TXT." Almost done, I call up the SPA: "Software Publishers," the soft female voice says. "This is SPECTRUM. I've got some goodies." I say in a cool voice, trying to get the sweet sounding voice to respond. "Great! Just fax them in!" She replies, not a hint of interest in my persona anywhere in there. Oh well. I slam the phone down and load up the fax program. Here we go! 25 pages of information and evidence is sent over to the SPA. Soon, Eternal Darkness will be shut down forever. The damage I did to the piracy front is only a pebble nicked out of a boulder, but I know that I did something. I sit back in my old office chair and kick my feet up on the table, puffing on my smoke and grinning. Appreciating myself because I know, that for at least one time in my life, I did something right. * * * * What I am doing cannot be considered entrapment. It's easy really, I'm a non company, non legal affiliated person. By being a normal person, I can get evidence against someone any way I want to. When I am asked if I am a cop or if I am affiliated with any software company, I simply say no. It's the truth. I am not getting paid for this. I am on no one's payroll. What pirates don't know is that there are a lot of people like me all over the place. In every village, in every metropolis, there are people that are tired of seeing good software companies go down the tubes because they can't afford to pay their programmers. I'm sure you think they are making a lot of money, but here is a little tidbit of information for you: The amount of profits lost due to pirating in 1992 was equal to or more than the annual profits from 85 of the top 100 software companies based in the United States. Some people have asked me about my morals. They think it is morally wrong to do what I'm doing. However, if someone was to break into your house and steal your computer, you would be a little upset, no? "It's not the same thing," you cry, but it is. Theft, stealing a car, a bike, a computer, or software is still theft. And being theft, it is punishable by law. The penalties for piracy have steadily risen in the past 4 years. In 1989, the fines were $10,000 per count of copyright infringement. In 1993 the fines were up to $100,000 per infringement, and up to 5 years in the federal pen. I am Founder and President of the BAPA, BBS Anti-Piracy Association. Endorsed by the SPA, Borland Software Inc., Cougar Mountain Software, Autodesk Inc., Travelling Software, WordPerfect, and many more software companies in and outside of the United States. We're looking for a few good SysOps and users. If you would like to help us in our fight against Piracy and Hacking, please contact me via IceNET, Pale Rider, 1@23, for more information. Everything you do, or anything you send to us is kept strictly confidential and will only be known to certain members of the council. Pale Rider (1@23) IceNEWS Contributing Writer ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ Silly Strings ³ ³ From IceNET Sysops Everywhere ³ Ima Moron (1@9661) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Daddy what does FORMAT C: do? Tagline from - Grey Wanderer #1 @3358 Shadow Canyon BBS (A)bort, (R)etry, (F)ail, (G)rab_Hammer Tagline from - Will #1 @6754 Data Express BBS This message will self-destruct in 5 seconds...1...2..3..4... Tagline from - E.S. Weiss #1 @7850 - JTSCom BBS ...A penny saved is a Congressional oversight. Tagline from - Will #1 @6754 Data Express BBS Those of you that think you know everything, are annoying those of us that do! Tagline from - Gypsy Bandit 1@9728 WWIVNet I've never seen a tagline I wouldn't swipe.... Tagline from - Ima Moron 1@9661 Das' Tube BBS! This tagline space is for lease.... Tagline from - 1@9600 Raddnet Hanger 18 We would all love to see your humorous taglines, miniesm editings, or hard code changes. If you have anything humorous to contribute please E-mail those to 1@9661 Ima Moron, editor of Silly Strings. Ima Moron (1@9661) IceNEWS Light Bytes Editor ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ The Adventures of ModemMan! ³ Jots (1@7850) & Deacon Blues (2@7653) ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Editor's note : "The Adventures Of ModemMan" is a multi-part adventure that will be continued in a serialized format. "In the not-so-distant future, a Top-Secret government experiment goes awry. A computer-geek with the intelligence of a doorknob is accidentally transformed mentally and physically by a combination of science, medicine, technology, and dumb luck. The result: the world's first LIVING COMPUTER... ModemMan! Disguised as Joe Modem, a mild-mannered sysop of a small electronic bulletin board service in a large metropolitan city, ModemMan fights a neverending battle with the sinister forces of evil to protect the world, bringing truth, justice, and a higher transfer rate to all..." The Adventures of M o d e m M a n ! "Insufficient Memory" Chapter One: "Press ESC To Exit" Joe Modem was sitting at his computer one day, dreaming about WWIV v5.24 and waiting for a call. The phone rang. Joe snapped out of his daydream and watched the terminal. "Darn," he exclaimed, "just another 'hanger-upper.'" Yes, it was one of those calls that all sysops despise, someone calling random numbers and hanging up. Of course, the system froze. Undaunted, Joe gathered all of his might and pushed the reset button. Simultaneously, the BBS phone rang. Nervously, Joe did a 'bare boot' and quickly loaded the BBS software. Whew, he thought as the caller connected, I didn't think I would make it on time. Joe sat back and relaxed as the caller logged on. Welcome to The Brooklyn Blues BBS! Name,number,or new: NN: NEW Welcome again to the Brooklyn Blues BBS! Bla blah bla blah bla blah... ANSI? :N bla bla bla bla... It turned out this guy's name was Egg's Head and he claimed to be the owner of a local software superstore. The newbie then requested to chat with Joe. Being a nice guy and a friendly sysop - and thinking that if this guy really did own a software store that it would be in his best interests to suck-up to the guy - Joe pressed F10 to chat: "Hi! Wassup," typed Joe from his keyboard. "Hello," replied the caller. "Yer Joe Modem, right?" "Yep... That's me... What can I do for ya?" "Well... You saw my validation feedback, right? Right. I'm the owner of Egg's Head Software." Joe was non-plussed. He'd seen software stores come and go before. "Yeah? So?" "Well," continued the caller, "I'd like to invite you tonight to... uhh... take a free shopping spree in my store." Joe was taken aback. He'd never been the recipient of such an invitation before. Most software store owners rarely gave away free advice, let alone free product. "Yeah? You mean it?" "Yup..." replied the caller. "It's down on Pier 12 and 1/2. Just make sure to say the password 'Turbo' to one of the salesmen and he'll dispo... I mean show you around." Joe was quite enthused by the prospect. He'd been waiting for a chance to get his Windowless DDT upgrade and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. "Thanx! I'll be there ASAYLO!!" "ASAYLO?" Joe smiled. "As soon as you log off..." "Oh..." responded the caller, seemingly less-than-impressed by Joe's ability to come up with a witty computer acronym. "Well, l8r c-ya." Egg's Head logged off and Joe went back to his usual routine, which consisted of sitting at his computer, waiting for calls... 8:15 that night, Pier 12 and 1/2... Joe got into his car and drove to the address given. Pier 12 and 1/2 was, as one might expect, in the dockyard area of The Big Apple, the city that Joe affectionately called home. As the passing breeze wafted through the open windows in Joe's car, he could tell that it was low-tide. The sound of seagulls and the occasional clanging of a buoy warning bell drifted through the silence and a slight mist covered the area, lowering visibility and adding to the overall level of eerieness. Joe peered out of his window at the store as he pulled into the parking area, failing to notice the restricted parking sign there. The "store" appeared to be a converted small warehouse, not unlike the majority of other buildings that populated the wharf. The major difference that set this building apart from the others was the sign above the door designating it as "Egg Head's Software Supermarket." The sign was no more than an ordinary computer-made printout on standard computer paper, complete with tractor feet holes intact, tacked onto a piece of plywood that appeared to have been rather hastily placed above the door. Joe could see a light coming from the door. As he ventured into the store, he noticed that the place was a mess - not unlike his apartment. There were a couple of old racks hanging about with various computer-related items stacked haphazardly on them. A glass case was located near the rear of the store. Behind it stood a tall man, perhaps in his late 20's and wearing a button-down plaid flannel shirt. The man alternated between watching Joe as he moved through the store and apparently inputting data into a computer located behind the counter. Joe also noticed that there were no customers inside. Strange, thought Joe, any computer store, even a ramshackle rinky-dink store like this, should be busy. Hmm... Joe shook it off, remembering his real reason for coming to the store. Even though the place looked pretty sparse, Joe had been chosen - by the owner himself, no less - to be the recipient of free software. An offer that he, or any other computer user, the thought, could not pass-up. He proudly walked over to the salesman behind the glass display case. The tag on the person claimed that he was named 'Blue Ray.' "How can I help you, sir," asked Blue Ray. Joe leaned up against the counter, looking shiftily from left to right, squinting his eyes as he did so. Joe motioned the salesman to come closer. The man leaned slightly over the counter and Joe whispered into the man's ears: "Turbo..." The salesman replied, "Sorry bud, we're all out of v.terbo modems. We only have v.fast left." "No, not terbo," said Joe, rolling his eyes skyward. "TURBO!!" "Oh," replied Blue Ray, smiling slyly and giving Joe a knowing nod. "Why didn't you say so in the first place?" Blue Ray gestured to a door behind him. "Come with me..." Joe followed Blue Ray into the back room. A lone swing-lamp cast a pool of light in the center of the room. Two men were standing there with an empty chair. One was a short, stout man who was completely bald. The other was a gargantuan of a man, standing at least 6' 6" and easily weighing 350 pounds. Both men wore dark blue three-piece suits and were adorned with much gold jewelry. Blue Ray locked the door behind him. Joe walked over to the short bald one. "Are you Egg's Head?" "Yes, that's me," replied the man. "I assume you are Joe Modem, correct?" "Uhh... Yeah, that's me. What am I doing back here anyway?" "Well," explained Egg's, "there's been a slight change of plans." The short man walked over to the side of the taller companion, gesturing to him. "Let me introduce you to my boss, V.T. Killer. Y'see, he's always wanted to meet you." V.T. nodded as the other man continued. "And now he finally has the chance." Egg's grabbed the back of the chair and pointed the seat towards Joe. "Have a seat Joe." "Uhh... Okay..." Joe wasn't very comfortable by the idea, but he saw that he'd probably have little choice in the matter. The two started grilling Joe, asking him all sorts of questions while Blue Ray took notes on Joe's answers. "Where were you on the night of the 24th," demanded Egg's. "Sitting at my computer." "Where were you last night at 8:00 P.M.," commanded V.T. "Sitting at my computer." "Where do you buy your suits," asked Egg's as he looked at Joe's nappy attire. "Over the modem." "Where were you during the famous ACCESS network scam," asked V.T. as he roughly twisted the chair to directly face him. The ACCESS network scam? Good lord, thought Joe, how do these characters know about that? The ACCESS incident was classified Top-Secret by the government and it certainly wasn't "famous" in any sense of the word. If they know about ACCESS... "Sitting at my computer," Joe lied. This went on for some time. After Joe had answered the questions, Ray entered the data into his sub-notebook and whispered something to V.T. They had a quiet conversation and Ray showed him some data on the sub and then pointed to Joe. After thinking for a moment, V.T. returned his attention to Joe. "OK, Joe, we've confirmed it. Using the information you've given us, we have determined that you are the famous, secretive, brave, daring, amazing superhero ModemMan!" Bagged. "I don't know what you're talking about! Lies! Lies! Who is this `ModemMan,' anyway?" "See? You're denying it," persisted V.T., more satisfied than ever before about his decision. "A sure sign that you're hiding the fact that Joe Modem and ModemMan are the same!" V.T. turned to his accomplices. "OK boys, dispose of him!" Blue Ray called in two other previously unseen "salesmen" and they dragged Joe into an adjoining room. "No, wait! You've got the wrong guy!" Joe screamed at V.T. as the others forcibly dragged him away. "I keep on telling you, I'm not ModemMan!! !!Help!!... HELP!!! HELP!!!!!!!..." Joe's voice faded out as they forced him into the room. The room in which Joe was forced into was rather small, about the size of a bathroom. Joe tried the door, but there was no handle on his side - it was shackled and padlocked on the outside. The room was too small for Joe to try taking a running shoulder-smash to try and force it. There was a very small window that, while having its glass broken, was unusable for Joe to escape from due to its size - about one foot square - and a rather imposing set of steel bars that blocked the opening. The only illumination in the room was provided by the exterior security lights from the neighboring building. The light shone through the bars onto the floor of the room, giving the apt appearance of a prison isolation cell. Well, thought Joe, they've got me. How can I get them to believe I'm not ModemMan? As he was pondering the thought, a shadow blocked the light into the room and he heard a whisper. "Joe! Are you alright?" "What? Who's there?" "It's me, Pronto," came the voice of Joe's co-sysop and ModemMan's helpful sidekick. "Pronto! How did you know I was here?" "They came to get me too. But I didn't fall for it, though. I went by your place and checked-out the chat log for the board. That's how I figured you were here and thought you might need some help. I guess you couldn't convince them that you're not ModemMan, eh?" "Yeah. Well, now what," Joe queried. "I can get you out of there!" "Yeah, How?" "Look at the vent directly above you." Joe looked up. "I can't see a thing! You're blocking the light, Pronto." "Sorry, MM," replied Pronto as he shifted out of the way, allowing Joe to see again. He quickly spotted the ceiling grate hanging loosely by only one screw. "It leads to the store. All you have to do is get up there somehow and climb through!" Joe was stymied. There was nothing he could use as a step in the room and the ceiling was too high to reach by merely jumping. "Somehow? Do you have a way in mind?" "Yeah," shot back Pronto, "I brought this handy, unbreakable grappling hook." "Great! Now how do I get it from you?" "Easy, here..." Pronto slips it through the window bars. "Kewl! Thanks." Joe grabbed the hook from Pronto. "Get back to my apartment and wait for me to get there." "You sure you don't need any more help here?" "No, Pronto. I think I can handle it from here on out. See you later!" "OK, ModemMan," replied Pronto. "Oh, here..." Pronto tossed Joe another small package. "It's your Tool Kit, boss. Good luck!" The Tool Kit! Joe smiled. Now, he thought, I might be able to get some- where. "Thanks a lot, Pronto. Now get outta here before anyone spots you." "You got it, MM," said Pronto. He quickly left. Joe shot the grappling hook in the direction of the vent. It caught it on the first shot. He pulled himself up to the vent and opened it up. Hmmm, thought Joe, this is going to be a tight fit... I don't know if I can make it... He made it. Joe stealthily climbed through the vent (at least, as stealthily as one could expect travel through a narrow galvanized steel duct, anyway), not knowing where in the store it would lead to. Finally, he saw the light. A bright, fluorescent light. He climbed out of the vent and dropped - head-first - to the floor. Fortunately, the glass display case was there to break the fall. Joe quickly righted himself and shook the broken shards of glass from his clothing. Joe quickly noticed that he was alone, the store apparently deserted. He also saw that the computer he'd noticed behind the counter earlier was still turned on. Joe walked over to the old 486 behind the desk and looked at the monitor. Although it was off, he could clearly see symptoms of burn-in. How careless, thought Joe. They could at least use a screen saver like "Before Light." Joe opened up his Tool Kit, extracting a DIN-style jumper cord from the pouch. It was time for ModemMan to go to work. Mentally switching into ModemMan Mode, he issued the commands to his brain to fire-up the microcomputer chip that was surgically implanted there and which was the heart of ModemMan's special powers. He quickly unplugged the keyboard from the system case and inserted one end of his special DIN cable into the receptacle on the machine. He then inserted the other end of the cable into the DIN interface surgically implanted into his right ear, first removing the flesh-colored safety plug that covertly hid the receptacle from view. This would allow ModemMan to access the system simply by using his technologically-altered cerebral cortex, thinking his commands instead of typing them and flowing freely through the system. Using only the powers of his mind, ModemMan's consciousness flowed freely through the system, riding through the circuit pathways inside the machine. After quickly familiarizing himself with the internal structure of the device, ModemMan started tinkering with the computer, deleting a few files and changing the CONFIG.SYS file. He then loaded up the terminal program, TearTerm. Looking through the phone directory he noticed many familiar BBSs. They all seemed to be checked off except for his. By the BBS listing of The Brooklyn Blues there was one of those smiley face characters. After doing a fairly efficient job of messing up the computer, ModemMan removed the interface and returned the cable to his Tool Kit, mentally exiting his ModemMan Mode and replacing his ear plug as he went over to the desk to examine the papers lying there. Hmm... thought Joe, this is most disturbing. It seems that they want to totally eradicate the whole existence of ModemMan. I wonder why? Joe decided to go home, but before he left he added a little note to the scheduling program: 9:27 PM - ModemMan Destroyed - Body dumped in East River This'll throw them off the track for awhile, thought Joe as he went outside, only to find that his car had been 'politely removed' by the police. He decided walk home. He was so deep in thought about the papers and just who this V.T. Killer guy was that he failed to notice a long black limo following him. Gingerly walking up the steps to his house he noticed a note on the door: Joe - Meet me at Quakey's Bar at 10:00 PM. -Pronto Joe glanced at his watch. 9:45. I s'pose I'd better get there on time, he thought. Unbeknownst to Joe, the limo had pulled up in front of his house and seemed to be waiting for something. As he walked past the limo, the door opened and a masked man stepped out. The man grabbed Joe and quickly applied a chloroform-soaked rag to his mouth. He then threw the unconscious Joe into the back seat and climbed in. The limo sped away to an unknown destination... To Be Continued... In the next chapter: Is V.T. Killer still after Joe? Who is this mysterious masked man? Why is Joe being abducted? Will he ever see his BBS again? Find out next month in the next riveting installment of "The Adventures Of ModemMan!" Jots (1@23) IceNEWS Contributing Writer Deacon Blues (2@7653) IceNEWS Contributing Light Bytes Editor ÄÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÄ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ An Untitled Poem ³ Burma Shave, Contributor Dark Man 1@6853 ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÁÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I never thought I'd see the day Two weeks later here I sit when I would park myself and play I'm hooked -- addicted -- I can't quit. game after game, hour after hour My wrist is stiff, my thumb is sore collecting jewels and wielding power from building up a record score. The Sysop said the thing was great My nerves are shot, my eyes are crossed, most certainly not second rate. my keys are loose, my mouse is lost. I took his word and went on line I think my fighting days are done, downloading it, this game so fine. in ninety games I've never won. To venture forth I couldn't wait Perhaps I'll download something new - so I keyed in a fast baud rate. my Sysop says he's got a few. Then I unzipped it straightaway This time I'll stick to golf or chess for I could scarcely wait to play. I just can't handle all this stress. In summer, winter, spring and fall we modem addicts place the call. So please beware, I tell you true it just might happen once to you. ...Burma Shave ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ IceNEWS is an independent journal published monthly as a service to ³ ³ IceNET, its Sysops and users. The opinions & reviews expressed herein ³ ³ are the expressed views of the respective writers. All Rights Reserved.³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ