BTN: Birmingham Telecommunications News COPYRIGHT 1990 September 1990 Volume 3, Issue 8 Table Of Contents ----------------- Article Title Author Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff Editorial Column...............................Mark Maisel Late BTN Party Review..........................Steven Wheeler MarkMail v1.51.................................Ricky Morgan BASIC Programming: part 2.....................Stephen Davis Music Reviews..................................Tyros A Shareware Review: Intext v1.2...............Henry Barfoot Fractint ver. 10: part 2......................Eric Hunt Profile: Chris Hilliard.......................Chris Mohney 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 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- N E W S F L A S H We are going to have another party!!! This past summer, for the good parties we got to have, it just wasn't enough! We are going to invade Rocky's again for another Halloween Masquarade Party!!! The following is a map to his place from the main streets in downtown Birmingham near UAB. Rocky and I both will gladly offer more directions over the phone for any who need them. Please be advised of Rocky's house rules in the invitation/map before you arrive so you know what to expect. Rocky's Rules 1. Bring your own whatever so long as it is legal. 2. If you are a minor, then stick to soft drinks. 3. Costumes are mandatory. <--- Downtown 20th Street Homewood ---> ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ͸ ÕÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍÍ ³ ³ ³ ³ MAP TO BTN HALLOWEEN PARTY ³ ³ ROCKY'S HOUSE UAB ³ ³11th HOME OF The MATRIX BBS CAMPUS ³ ³Ave. AREA ³ ³ Rocky Rawlins (205) 323-6608 ³ ³ Mark Maisel (205) 956-0176 ÚÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ Business ³ ³ ³ ³ ³³ (Next to the ³ ³ & ³ ³ ³ ³ ³³ last house ³ ³ Engineering³ ³ ³ ³ ³³ on the right) ³ ³16th School ÀÄÄÄÙ ³ ÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙÀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÙ ³Ave (3 story brick) ³ ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ¿ÚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄXÄÄÄÄ¿ ³ ³ ³ 11th ³³ 1426 ÛÛ ÛÛ³ ³ ³ ³ St S. ³³ 11th ³ ³ ³ ³ ³³ St. S ³ ³ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. The Connection LZ Birmingham Alter-Ego Channel 8250 Bus System Joker's Castle Crow's Nest Myth Drannor Posys 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 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Special News: Dark Knight, sysop of Electric Requim, is now the WWIV Network Hub for Alabama ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Editorial by Mark Maisel It has been a looooong summer to be sure. I have never traveled so much in such a short time. It had its good moments but I believe if I had it to do again, I would give it a miss. The travel is the reason that this issue is coming to you somewhat late. I think that this issue is worth the wait, and why shouldn't I? For those of you who have not seen them, the BTN GIFs are out. They are available on The Matrix and Channel 8250 here in Birmingham. I attempted to place them on the Front Porch over in Georgia, which is our Metronet regional hub, and was confronted with an insufficient disk space, at long distance, aaaarrrrgggghhh. I also intend to send them to the D.C. Information Exchange, the Metronet international hub. We're gonna be famous, or is that infamous? Many thanks to Jeff Freeman and his friend at Dalton College with all the great equipment that I covet. I will be attempting to generate more of these beauties but don't rush me, these have only taken 2.5 years. This summer has seen the revival of off-line mail reading, and with a vengeance. This being the case, it is only appropriate that we have a review of the door that makes all this possible from one of the worst bbs junkies in Birmingham. I hope that a review of the mail reader programs for the MS-DOS and Amiga folks will follow in an upcoming issue. It is all dependent upon my cornering the reviewers in question long enough to type out the review instead of running back for more messages. Only two months late, we have a first timer's view of the last BTN party. I hope that it will inspire those of you who have never made the adventure to do so soon. Those of you who have been before, don't scare away the new folks. You were new too... once. Stephen Davis is back again with more of his tutorial on BASIC programming. If you have been scared to try, I am sure that Stephen's advice will be quite helpful in getting you to take those first experimental steps that will soon have you running that computer like an old-timer. Henry Barfoot is back with another review. This time out he has been looking at a word processor that is multilingual. Check it out if you have ever needed to correspond in languages other than English. I do realize that for some of you, English is a foreign language, but that is another matter. Eric Hunt is still playing games with math that most of us slept through and getting some entertaining results. The second part of his review of a fractal generator deserves your attention if you appreciate math and/or pretty images. Both are attended to by him this go round. What is it like to be the wife Lord Sysop Randy? We get to find out as Chris Hilliard is this month's victim in the ProFile. Actually, she does not elaborate too much as is wise. He might have to cut her access if she were to say too much. Just kidding Randy, that level -1 access is just a joke, right??? Uh oh. There is one more thing I would like to bring to your attention before I end this business. I have finally gotten some music reviews, YAY!!! Tyros, who was going to write a companion to Steven's party article, shot a long requested review of some music to me and it will serve as our first dip into a music column. I expect you all to be appalled, offended, agreeable, and everything in between. The result of this is to be articles from you regarding the music you listen to, like, dislike, think should be deified, or burned. Please don't hesitate. Let those little fingers twitch no more. Let them go to that keyboard right now and spit out that review you have always wanted to write. Enjoy the issue and be sure to post your comments PUBLICLY on EzNet or The Matrix so that we can find you, heh heh. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Late BTN Party Review (or: So That's What You Look Like) by Steven Wheeler This review was to have appeared in the issue of BTN immediately following the party. However, since it took so long for everything to return to normal, mainly my sanity or lack of, it will hopefully make the 28th issue. My apologies to the editor. Anticipation ran rampant at our home as the date for the party drew near. Ever since reading all the messages concerning the previous party, my wife and I had been waiting for the next one. Then it appeared like a bolt from the blue. A message: Party at Maisel's. Be still my beating heart. At long last we would meet some of the people we had been swapping messages with for so long. Would we measure up to these people? I know I'm off the beaten track but some of these people sound plain damned strange. Could it be that at last I had stumbled across a group that I could spout absurdities with and not seem too unusual? We loaded up and followed the map Mark had so painstakingly composed. The neighborhood seemed normal enough, perhaps too normal. Were we lost? No way! Suddenly it loomed before us. A sign from above. Actually it was attached to a post or something, I can't remember now. "Party Here", it read. Was this an omen? It sure was. We were met first by a diminutive person that I swear must be in actuality a 40 year old midget. She introduced herself as Sarah. "No way", I thought, "you can't be Sarah." Then we were greeted by a barefoot man that I instantly knew must be Mark. We had already been told that he never wears shoes, so it was dead give-away. Of course, we didn't realize that Lee and Maggie would be standing there waiting. I finally paid up on my bet as to who would recognize the other first. And there I was looking for a bald-headed female Sumo wrestler. Naughty, naughty. But before I completely forget why I started this perhaps I should get to the meat of the subject, the PARTY. A fine time was had by one and all. Judging from the squeals, some had more fun than others. Someone was in the hall teaching a new dance, the Bathroom Hop, I believe. It consisted of crossing your legs and hopping about on one foot until someone opened the door. Then make a mad dash before you lost your place. Which brings up the matter of Dean's GIF which should be in distribution soon. I was privy to a sneak preview and rate it half a star. We were joined later by visitors from the East. Jeff, Martin and Kevin (8, count'em, 8) came from Georgia for the event. Who drove home, guys? There was a rumor that someone was imbibing in ice-water from an unusual receptacle, but I don't have first-hand knowledge of this event. That would be worse than a refrigerated rubber glove. Of course, the highlight for me was to see Crunchy Frog from the other side. It seemed as if several people migrated to the back room before the evening was over. The best part was finally meeting many of the people that I had only met through their messages. Now if I could only remember. But that will probably come later. Next time I won't have to go through the initial shock and can focus on putting names with faces. But to conclude this ranting, I guess after meeting everyone I can now understand how some messages are left without the local homicide rate increasing. These modem junkies are really a tight-knit group. Maybe it's for the best. Who else would take us? Looking forward to the next party, but not the next article. P.S. I finally dug all the bamboo slivers from under my nails and got this typed, Mark. And no, Qedit wasn't hard to configure and set-up. Now if I can only find time to read the docs and figure out exactly what the hell I'm doing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- M a r k M a i l v1.51 Review By: Ricky Morgan Ever log on to your favorite board only to be greeted with this intimidating sight? Scan Message Base Since 'Last Read' (Enter)=yes? (Ctrl-K) or (Ctrl-X) Aborts, (Ctrl-S) Suspends. Scanning Main (0) ............................. Msgs For You: 10 Msgs From You: 0 # Msgs Found: 178314 Perhaps I exaggerated a bit, but at times logging on to a new board or even accessing a busy conference can be a chore in itself when there is a lot of message traffic. So what is a person to do if they want to 'stay abreast' of the current goings on in and around the local boards? As PCBoard exists you have three options. 1.) Wade through the messages one at a time, attempting to read the messages and reply to the ones you find worthy. 2.) Run with your capture log open, capturing all the messages for reading after you log off. 3.) Or use ZIPMail to zip all the new messages, download them and read them at your leisure. All three of these methods have their draw backs. Method 1 relies on you having enough spare time (not to mention system time) to read all the messages while on-line. Method 2 is okay but again you waste valuable on-line time reading all the messages into the buffer then you must log off, read the messages, frame replies, log back on and reply, either directly or via ASCII uploads. Tedious to say the least. Method 3 is the best as far as getting the messages to you. It's a short procedure to ZIPMail, download it and then log off. You're still faced with the dire task of, once unzipped, reading through the vast quantities of messages, framing replies and then back to ASCII uploads or responding on-line. "Gosh," you may ask yourself, "how can I ever compete for the 'Dean Costello Lifetime Message Award'?" Well friends and neighbors, gather 'round. There IS a better way!" It's called MarkMail and I'm going to attempt to tell you a little about its features. Features that, should you desire, will help you leave the likes of Dean Costello covered in dust, far behind you, in the message bases. All you need to know about MarkMail is this. It collects new messages for you, zips them up into a file for downloading. You will need an off-line reader, such as EZReader to manipulate the message file once you receive it. I'll discuss that later. Mainly, MarkMail is the system that lets you send and recieve mail for off-line reading. This type of automated mail system is great for getting your messages to you and from you, ZIPMail does that also. So what is so special about that. You still have to read the darn things and then reply to them and MarkMail won't help there. Enter EZReader, an off-line mail reader that will make your mouth water. But I'm getting ahead of myself. MarkMail: This is the primary data gathering portion of the system. It is accessed, generally, via a DOOR on the host BBS. Once entering the MarkMail DOOR you will need to configure it to meet your individual needs. Let's look at the configuration setup. After the DOOR loads you will be greeted with the opening screen and then the Main prompt. (68 min. left) MarkMail Command? Enter C at the prompt to pull up the configuration menu, which will look something like this: Configuration Menu 1. Select Transfer Protocol. Currently: Zmodem (DSZ Forsberg) 2. Toggle Receiving Bulletins. Currently: On 3. Toggle Receiving Your Own Messages. Currently: On 4. Include Mail to ALL in [Y]our Scan Currently: On 5. Toggle New Files Scan. Currently: On 6. Toggle QMail Deluxe Reader Menu. Currently: On 7. Set Maximum Size of MESSAGES.DAT. Currently: Unlimited 8. Set Conferences, Message Pointers. 9. Set All Pointers to the High Message. Enter your Selection or [Enter] to Return: You won't have to answer each option, the defaults will be all you need. The important ones that you must customize are number 1. Transfer Protocol AND number 8. Set Conferences, Message pointers. Setting these two to match your needs will, generally, be enough to get you started receiving mail. Let's look at the choices one at a time. Beginning with the first. Your protocol. The available choices are as follows: 1. Zmodem (DSZ Forsberg) 2. 1K-Xmodem-G (Full Flow) <--- requires an MNP modem on each end 3. Ymodem Batch 4. 1K-Xmodem (Old Ymodem) 5. Xmodem-CRC Make sure at this point that your terminal protocol matches what you choose; otherwise it won't work. Options 2 through 6 are simple on - off type setups. 2. Toggle Receiving Bulletins. Currently: On This allows you to receive updated bulletins in with the mail packet. You may enable or disable it as you see fit. 3. Toggle Receiving Your Own Messages. Currently: On This will allow you to receive copies of messages you leave on the system in the packet you download. It's sort of redundant if you ask me but it's there and it does come in handy at times. 4. Include Mail to ALL in [Y]our Scan This allows you to include messages addressed to ALL in with Your messages. This is for conferences that you select to only scan for your mail. 5. Toggle New Files Scan. Currently: On This is supposed to do a search for new files that have been uploaded since your last log-on. It may or may not be enabled depending on the SysOp. 6. Toggle QMail Deluxe Reader Menu. Currently: On This option is only valid if you are using the Qmail Deluxe reader; another off-line style reader. Now we start getting into the heart of this operation. 7. Set Maximum Size of MESSAGES.DAT. Currently: Unlimited This tells MarkMail how big the packet should be. In other words, if you were new on the system you wouldn't want to have to zip up, and then attempt to download 100,000 messages. Note: this "Unlimited" is still limited by how the SysOp has his system configured. On Channel 8250 the size of the messages per conference, per packet, is limited by the baud rate of your modem. Baud rate: Max Messages per Conference: Max. Messages per Pack: ---------- ---------------------------- ----------------------- 1200 200 400 2400 200 800 9600 200 1000 19200 200 1000 38400 200 1000 8. Set Conferences, Message Pointers. This option allows you to set the message pointers for each conference that you want to scan. Picking this option will get you a conference listing. Channel 8250 Conference Listing * = All Mail # = Your Mail Sort: Numerical 0 *Main Board 10 *TELIX 20 *NETCHAT 1 *EZNET 11 *AMIGA 2 BREEZIN 12 *CURRENT 3 IBM 13 *ATARI-ST 4 #PROGRAMM 14 FEDUP 5 *AGNOSTIC 15 MEDICAL 6 *SPORTS 16 #HARDWARE 7 *STUDENTS 17 *C-ASM 8 REVIEWS 18 DATABASE 9 *SCI-TECH 19 *FIREARMS Enter Your Choice or [L]ist, [S]ort? Choose the number of the Conference you wish to receive mail from. You will then be asked if you wish to receive A)ll, Y)ours or N)one. Remember the Y)our can include messages addressed to ALL as well as Yours via option number 4. If you make a conference selection you will be asked if you wish to reset the conference pointer. The system will list, Last message read and High message for your approval; you may accept the current selection or enter a new pointer number. If you make a mistake, simply select the conference again and then answer the question again. Finally you have the option of, 9. Set All Pointers to the High Message. This scans through ALL the selected conferences and resets the pointers to the high message value. Convenient if you are new on the system and wish to start fresh. Once the configuration is complete, you can return to the main prompt by hitting . To recieve a mail packet just enter 'D' for Download. The system will scan the message bases and collect the data. (66 min. left) MarkMail Command? D User Name: RICKY MORGAN Last Date on: 08/12/90 Messages per Conference: 200 Last Time on: 05:16 Maximum this Session: 800 Collecting New Bulletins... Scanning New Files... Scanning Messages, Ctrl-K to Abort... High Last Your Total Conf Name Msg Read Msgs Msgs ----------------------------------------------------------------- 0 Main Board 3420 3413 0 7 1 EZNET 4465 4464 0 1 2 BREEZIN 2163 2163 N/A N/A 3 IBM 2943 2942 N/A N/A 4 PROGRAMM 1782 1782 0 13 5 AGNOSTIC 3933 3933 4 4 6 SPORTS 233 231 0 2 7 STUDENTS 1598 1598 0 0 8 REVIEWS 690 690 N/A N/A 9 SCI-TECH 562 562 0 24 10 TELIX 1358 1358 1 10 11 AMIGA 5622 5621 0 1 12 CURRENT 11490 11480 0 10 13 ATARI-ST 1055 1054 0 1 14 FEDUP 1340 1340 N/A N/A 15 MEDICAL 1837 1837 N/A N/A 16 HARDWARE 3634 3634 3 8 17 C-ASM 1182 1182 0 0 18 DATABASE 113 113 N/A N/A 19 FIREARMS 559 559 0 1 20 NETCHAT 3999 3996 2 3 Total Messages: 85 Personal Messages: 10 Bulletins Found: 0 New Files Found: 0 Do You Want to Receive this Packet, [Y]es, [N]o, [G]oodbye When Done? If you answer with 'Y' the system will ZIP the messages up and begin the download sequence. You will, in turn, initiate your download sequence from your terminal program. Viola! You now have a Mail packet. Later, once you've read and replied as you saw fit, you will want to upload your replies to the system. Again, after opening the Mail DOOR, enter 'U' at the Main prompt. The system will wait for you to begin your upload sequence and the upload begins. After completion you will see the system post your messages. All messages will be seperated and posted in the proper conference with the security you selected for each, intact. (64 min. left) MarkMail Command? u Protocol Type: Zmodem (DSZ Forsberg) Packet Name: 8250.REP (Ctrl-X) Aborts Transfer Packet Received Successfully... Processing, Please Wait... Un-Zip'ing Packet... Conf To Subject Main Board CHRIS HILLIARD Just a question Main Board SYSOP My Head! Main Board SYSOP SURVEY STUFF Main Board AARON DEES Greased lightning EZNET DEAN COSTELLO MY PARTY IBM MIKE TYNER PROBLEMS Total of 6 Messages Uploaded (62 min. left) MarkMail Command? Quit Q or Quit returns you to the Main Board. And that boys and girls is how simple it is to enter the world of off-line mail reading. "Wait a minute," you may say. "Now that I've got the mail packet, what the Hell do I do with it?" A very good question. In it's zipped format there is not much you can do with it. That is where a good off-line reader such as EZReader comes in. And I'll tell you all about it . . . next month. At this publication, only two boards in the Birmingham area support MarkMail. They are Channel 8250 and Alter-Ego. Bulletin number 5 on Channel 8250 can give you even more information on MarkMail. If you frequent other boards and see the need for a mail DOOR, contact the SysOp and let them know. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- BASIC Programming Part 2 by Stephen Davis Part 1 of 2 Have you ever wanted someone to talk to but no one wanted to listen? The computer will. In this lesson if you ever get tired of BASIC programming because you have trouble with something, run this program. By the way, in this program there are some variables that we learned last week to use. Type this in. 10 CLS 20 PRINT"Hi. I am your computer therapist!!" 30 PRINT"What is your name?" 40 INPUT N$ 50 PRINT"What is on your mind, ";n$;"?" 60 INPUT n$ 70 PRINT"Very Interesting. . . Tell me more." 80 goto 60 Now type RUN. Go ahead and tell the computer what is on your mind. When you are finished, hit the BREAK key to end the program. Using this program, lets learn something. It is annoying to have to hit the BREAK key to end the program. There should be a better way. Take a look at the following line. IF N$="Thats all" THEN END What do you think this line will do? Well let's find out. Line 10 clears the computer screen. If you are using an Apple, then you need to use HOME. Line 20 is just an easy PRINT statement that we learned last month. If you need to review, you may. Line 30 Is also an easy PRINT statement. Line 40 is an variable. Last month we learned about variables and how they work. Let me go over it again. The INPUT tells the computer to remember someting. The N$ tells the computer what to remember. You do not have to use N. You can use any letter. Line 50 is also an easy PRINT statement until you get to the end of the line. First there is the question, "What is on your mind?". We should already know how to do that. Then (") show up. They tell the computer that that is the end of the line. The next thing is the (;). They tell the computer that something else needs to be printted out on the same line. The N$ gets the information that you stored in memory and displays it. The other (;) tells the computer that is all you need from memory and the (") tell the computer that you are about to print something else out. That is followed by another (") to end the line. The next line is the same as line 40. Line 70 is another PRINT statement and line 80 is the GOTO statement that tells the computer to goto whatever line you want, in this case line 60. The last line is a big problem. As you can see the program will keep going over and over. If we look at the line, it says GOTO line 60. Line 60 is INPUT N$ which is the line before is your name. Line 70 asks the question "Very Interesting. . . Tell me more?". What if you told the computer all you had to say? That is were the If N$="That's all" Then END comes end. First let me tell you where we put it in the program. Since we are going back to line 60 you do not want to put it anywhere in front of line 60. And you also do not want to put it after line 80 because it would not ever make it to that line because line 80 says GOTO line 60. You really do not want to put it between line 60 and 70 because it wouldn't ask the question in line 70. So the only place it would make since it line 75. But there is no line 75. Right! You have to make one. So put line 75 and type: 75 IF N$="That's All" THEN END I do need to tell you how it works. But first I must tell you why line 80 says GOTO 60 and not 70. The reason for that is because if it went to line 70 the program would not stop and it would keep printing out line 70. Now let me tell you about line 75. First the IF N$ just tells that If N$ equaled "That's All", then the program would end. Part 2 of 2 "< " and ">" The greater than and less than signs are really very easy to use once you learn. Let's get right to learning this. In the program above we said If N$="That's All" Then end. The greater than and less than signs are used in the same way. Look at this program: 10 CLS (HOME for Apple) 20 PRINT"Let's play a math game." 30 PRINT"You type in a number I will tell you if it is less or greater than 50." 40 PRINT"Type in a number" 50 INPUT N 60 IF N > 50 THEN PRINT"That is more than 50" 70 IF N < 50 THEN PRINT"That is less than 50" 80 END First let me tell you why there is just N and not N$. Because when you are using numbers you just use plain letters. If you are using letters or words you use a letter and then $. Let's get to the program. The first 5 lines you should know. Line 60 is just like the other program. Line 60 tells if N (or the number that line 50 remembered from line 40)Is greater than print it is more. For line 70, it is just the opposite. If it is less than 50 then print that is is less. And line 80 ends the program That will be all for this issue. I think this is a little harder than the last time and I do not want to teach you hard stuff all at once. See you next issue. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Music Reviews by Tyros Alphaville *** The Singles Collection A "best of" collection from one of England's original '80s synth pop bands. Hint - there's only four real songs here. It's more of a maxi-maxi-single, with remixes and extended versions rounding out the B-side. Pretty good stuff among its own breed. Asia *** Asia Asia ** 1/2 Alpha Asia ** Astra Very pompous-sounding synthesizer rock. Like you'd expect, the earlier stuff sounds better than the latter. The good stuff is catchy, the bad stuff just sort of sits there. I used to love these guys because I thought Asia typified the quality of music that came out in the early 1980s. Now I don't like it so much because I realize that Asia typified the quality of music that came out in the early 1980s. B-52's **** Wild Planet Warning! You probably won't enjoy this one unless you play it really loud. It's an excellent collection of dance tunes that still manage to sound somewhat eclectic - not to say zany and just all-around fun. It's from 1980, so be prepared to look around a bit for it. Bangles *** 1/2 Bangles Bangles **** All Over The Place Bangles *** 1/2 Different Light Bangles *** Everything No kidding! This stuff is actually good! And I'll tell you why the Bangles have such a silly press image - it's because of that ditsy Susanna Hoffs. Not only did she embarass the band, and was probably the cause of the break-up, but she also writes some of the group's lamest material, i.e. the stuff that you hear on the radio. Ignore the "Eternal Flame"s, and listen hard to the rest - well-written punchy California pop-rock that was meant for better things than "Walk Like An Egyptian". Benatar, Pat ** 1/2 Tropico Benatar, Pat *** Seven The Hard Way More misses than hits here. When she tries to be catchy and engaging, it works, but the forays into "serious rock and roll" end up sounding silly and/or dull. Joan Jett she ain't. Blondie *** 1/2 The Best of Blondie Okay, so some early-80's music is okay. Blondie, the band, shines best when it's being guitar-heavy and lyric-strange, as in the earlier songs. This being a best-of collection, you get most of the good stuff. Blow Monkeys ** Animal Magic I remember seeing these guys in MTV. Their lead singer is about the most unattractive human being I've ever seen, and he manages to preen and make jazz-faces along with the worst of them. The horns and cocktail-arrangements notwithstanding, this is just another one of Those British Groups, circa 1984 or so. This happens to be a best-of compilation, for what it's worth. BoDeans, The *** 1/2 Outside Looking In I don't care where these guys grew up or went to school, it still sounds bluesy to me, at least in places. About 35% gritty bar rock, courtesy of Sammy BoDean's gravely vocals, the rest is standard college rootsy-sounding fare. That 35% makes it worth it, though, and the rest isn't so bad. Boston **** Boston Boston *** 1/2 Don't Look Back Boston **** Third Stage Boston's studio-polished redefinition of guitar rock doesn't age as well as it ought to, but it's still the penultimate of anything in its class. Third Stage, despite what the critics said, was as good as anything Boston ever did - the added 1980s sheen makes it sparkle in ways earlier albums never did or could. Bourgeous Tagg ** Yoyo Pretty much a Squeeze clone with some Beatles sprinkled in for good measure, courtesy of producer Todd Rundgren. There are a couple of nice tracks, but the rest is emminently forgettable. Bowie, David *** Never Let Me Down Held up to overly high expectations, this album - Bowie's last solo effort - didn't please critics at all. Nonetheless, it's got some good stuff, and while dieheard Bowie fans may curl their lips, the rest of you should pick it up if you see it in the bargain bin. Brickell, Edie & New Bohemians Shooting Rubberbands at the Stars **** This one has gotten some undeservedly bad press for being so gosh-darn trendy, and is exactly the sort of music that Dean Costello loves to hate. What it really is is a collection of finely written, finely produced guitar-pop tunes with hints of Rickie Lee Jones. Nary a miss in the bunch. Bush, Kate *** 1/2 The Whole Story Bush, Kate *** The Sensual World Music that is sorta good, but you can't really put your finger on why. A lot of the later stuff is ethereal and whispery, but on The Whole Story, a lot more eclecticity (is that a word?) shines, stuff that you can play and have mom walk in and ask who the hell it is. Camper Van Beethoven **** Our Beloved Revolutionary Sweetheart Camper Van Beethoven *** Key Lime Pie Quirky catchy pop around which revolves nearly anything American and progressive. The former's title (and song "Tania") is a cute tribute to Patty Hearst; the latter, a little mopier, features an engaging cover of Status Quo's "Pictures of Matchstick Men." Cervenka, Exene *** Old Wives' Tales After listening to this one, it's a wonder that Exene didn't turn into that month's Alternative Female Icon - this album is full of folksy, introspective tunes that speak a far cry from her days with the LA post-punk band X. Not bad for what it is. Church, The *** Starfish U2 with their chins in the gutter, Simple Minds with a different pop sensibility. Some of the songs are neat until the fourth or fifth listen; I still like the minor radio-hit "Under The Milky Way". Chicago ** Chicago IX Chicago ** If You Leave Me Now Chicago * 1/2 Chicago 16 Ten years ago, I thought they were gods. Not only have I wised up, but I've also successfully passed through that stage where you disown the new stuff but still try to claim that they were "progressive pop" in the early 70s. "25 or 6 to 4" doesn't sound nearly as good as it did in junior high, and everyone had long hair until 1975. Cockburn, Bruce *** Stealing Fire It took me forever to realize this guy was a Jackson Browne clone. Nonetheless, it's worth picking up for a couple of bucks if you still remember "If I Had A Rocket Launcher". Sparse Canadian AOR from the trendier side of the tracks. Costello, Elvis *** 1/2 The Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions My first introduction to the King. On the whole, what I expected, pretty much; sophisticated sofa pop tunes from a guy who coulda used a different voice a long time ago, but it doesn't matter now. Crowded House **** Crowded House Crowded House **** Temple of Low Men ... It seems I use the term "pop" too much, and in too pleasant an inflection. No matter - despite all the intelligent, well-written, exquisitely produced, non- commercial, non-comformist er, "pop" music out there, this is the cream of the crop. Neil Finn used to be in Splint Enz - now he's writing some of the best music of the last ten years. Catchy sustenance from a barely tortured soul. Cult, The *** 1/2 Electric This is the pre-MTV Cult. It's likely to sound all the same to you if you haven't kept up, but Electric presents some choice meaty slices of hard rock that you won't be ashamed to listen to. Cure, The *** 1/2 Staring at the Sea: The Singles A decade's worth of selections from England's most depressed-but-not-really outfit. This is the sort of stuff taken from albums that all made it big in the UK, but went nowhere here except the floorboard behind the back seat of the rusty Impala owned by that strange skateboarding kid friend of your brother's. The catchy stuff is fine; the mopey stuff is, well, okay if you go in for that kind of thing. Danny Wilson *** 1/2 Meet Danny Wilson Give me another month or so and I'll have this one pegged with four stars. Danny Wilson is not a person, it's a band, and one quite adept at lifting the more jazzy inflections of Katy Lied era Steely Dan. Leader Gary Clark always seems to sound a little happier than Donald Fagan, though, and the music shows it. David + David **** Boomtown Heartfelt but intense tales from the wrong side of the street in southern California. The first David, David Baerwald, has just released a solo album that may be even better. One the most underrated albums of the '80s. Depeche Mode *** Music for the Masses Depeche Mode ** 1/2 Violator Another one in the category of "it's great if you like that kind of thing." Most radio listeners are more apt to remember Alan Wilder's melancholy vocals over Martin Gore's mire-goop-synth songwriting, but there IS something here, I know there is. I'll be damned if I know WHAT, though. Dream Academy *** 1/2 Dream Academy Dream Academy *** Remembrance Days Beware of British bands with the word "Dream" in their names and the sound of crashing waves superimposed in the music. A minor chapter in Great Reagan/Thatcher Era Music, of course, but still potent guitar pop with leanings toward what I consider the British equivalent of "folk" but still haven't come up with a name for. The former LP is produced by Dave Gilmour; the latter by Lindsay Buckingham. Echo & The Bunnymen *** Porcupine There is ONE song on here, one song that I like a lot - it's called "The Cutter", and it's a wild brash arnarchic pop song that you can dance to while cleaning house. The rest is regrettably pale imitations of "The Cutter". Frankly, if you really WANT an Echo & The Bunnymen album (and I know you do), I recommend either the experimental Ocean Rain or the compilation Songs To Learn and Sing. I just picked the wrong one. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A Shareware Review by Henry Barfoot INTEXT12.ZIP . . . . . .178,254 05-01-90 Name: INTEXT Multilingual Word Processor Purpose: Multilingual Word Processing System requirements: Although not much was said about requirements INTEXT can be run on a single floppy (360K) system, dual floppies or hard drive. INTEXT supports CGA or Hercules displays. A variety of printers are supported. Features: Editing; Printing; File Utilities(copy, merge, delete, rename) Many W/P functions such as: search/replace string, find string, global string replace, justify, etc.. Editing in English, and at least one other language at the same time. Enhanced printing codes (underline/bold). SOME of the languages supported are: Arabic Russian Spanish Greek Turkish Polish Hebrew Urdu European (British, French, Italian...) Farsi Yugoslavian Gaelic German Intext uses many of the ASCII characters in the editor. Of course for some languages like Arabic it has to create a whole new set of fonts for the screen and printer. You can toggle between English and another language to edit a single document and have both languages in the same document. The other languages (English is always a base lang.) are loaded as modules and you can only have one module loaded at a time. When you load a new language module some of its files will overwrite the previous module's files. *Text files created with INTEXT may only be viewed while you are using INTEXT or if you print them while inside the INTEXT editor. Also, there is information available through INTEXT about many other "third-party" software applications. I.e.: MS-DOS in Arabic, Chinese, etc. Multilingual Spelling Checkers/Dictionaries """""""""""" Thesauruses """""""""""" Desktop Publishing """""""""""" Translation Software ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Fractint: Part 2 a review by Eric Hunt This month, I delved deeper into the features of Fractint and found several interesting things. First, there are LOTS more fractal types to choose from other than the Mandelbrot and Julia sets. One of the most interesting fractal types is the Barnsley IFS "fern." This is a fractal that is quite different from the rest: it looks just like a fern, a very beautiful rendition of one, also. Another fractal type available that is more widely heard of is the Newton's domain of attraction, which visualizes the Newton method for solving equations higher than the second power. One of the most interesting fractal types is the Plasma cloud. Quoted from the manual (I couldn't do any better): "'Plasma Clouds' are generated by a recursive algorithm that randomly picks colors of the corner of a rectangle, and then continues recursively quartering previous rectangles. Random colors are averaged with those of the outer rectangles in such a way that small neighborhoods do not show much change, resulting in th e effect of clouds." The image itself is rather uninteresting until it is color cycled! The color cycling will totally mesmerize you! It also makes wonderful 3-D transformations, but more on that later. There are many more fractal types available, but I have not had the time, nor inclination to generate them, for the Mandelbrot and Julia sets are enough to keep me busy for a while. Another exciting feature of Fractint is the ability to take plain 2-D fractal images and turn them into exciting 3-D plots. When I selected the 3-D transformation option by pressing '3,' it asked me for a startup filename. I used the filename for one of the plasma clouds. Many MANY questions are asked, and all of them control a certain aspect of the 3-D transformation. Questions range from the X, Y, and Z rotation in space of the fractal, to mapping it on a globe, to how high the "water" should be. the responses are better off being left with the default values. A note on the sphere option: don't select it unless you plan to take a good long trip and are leaving the computer on. When the plasma cloud transformation was complete, I was overwhelmed again! It looked like an alien landscape done in 256 glorious shades of Red, Green, and Blue. The colors can be changed back in the Fractint program to suit your taste. Fractint also supports generating fractals in a 16bit TARGA format. It will also take the TARGA file and make a very good 3-D transformation from it. Watch out, though, using the TARGA option, you need AT LEAST 1/2 a meg of disk space for the file that will be generated. This part of the review was short - many of the advanced functions I have not fully explored, due to the fact that they can take DAYS to finish - DAYS I couldn't be modeming around - my favorite hobby, besides watching fractals "grow." For more reading on Fractals, and the parent subject to Fractals, Chaos theory, here are a few books available: CHAOS: MAKING A NEW SCIENCE by James Gleick. ISBN 0-14-009250-1. Paperback $11.95 THE FRACTAL GEOMETRY OF NATURE by Benoit Mandelbrot Bristol: Adam Hilger 1984 THE BEAUTY OF FRACTALS by Heinz-Otto Peitgen and Peter H. Richter Berlin: Springer - Verlag 1986 NONLINEAR DYNAMICS AND CHAOS by H. Bruce Stewart and J. M. Thompson Chichester: Weiley 1986 And finally, the August 1990 issue of SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN has a good article on Fractals. It might still be on the newsstand, but I doubt it. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ProFile by Chris Mohney ProFile is a short, half-serious biographical sketch given to various computer telecommunications personalities around Birmingham. Victims are selected randomly from a group of names put into the notorious Hat. Anyone who thinks himself brave or witty enough may petition for admittance to the Hat by leaving E-Mail to me (Chris Mohney, most boards around town) to that effect. Anyone who wishes to suggest more questions or sneakily nominate someone without their knowledge may take the same route.... --------- Pro File on CHRIS HILLIARD --------- Age: 40 Birthplace: Franklin, Virginia Occupation: Secretary My hobbies include: Randy, Reading, Cross Stitch, Genealogy, BBSing Years telecomputing: 2 Sysop, past/present/future of: Hopefully, I'm immune to this virus. My oddest habit is: None of them seem odd to me. My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: to be unknown and wealthy (gotten half way there) The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is: to remain unchanged in spite of the company I have been keeping lately My favorite performers are: Traveling Wilburys, Jackson Browne, Harrison Ford The last good movie I saw was: Steel Magnolias The last good book I read was: Presumed Innocent, Pillars of the Earth If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played by: Whoopie Goldberg My pet peeves are: Cruelty When nobody's looking, I like to: None of your business. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area NAME NUMBER BAUD RATES MODEM BBS SOFTWARE SUPPORTED TYPE * Alter-Ego BBS 925-0707 300-2400 ProBBS/ProDoor * American BBS 674-1851 300-2400 PC Board 14.5 * Bus System BBS 595-1627 300-2400 PC Board 14.2 * Byte Me! ???-???? 9600 HST/V.42 WWIV 4.07 Camelot BBS 856-0679 300-2400 Teleguard 2.5 -* Channel 8250 Node 1 744-8546 300-9600 HST/V.32 PC Board 14.5 -* Channel 8250 Node 2 744-5166 300-9600 HST PC Board 14.5 * Crunchy Frog 956-1755 300-2400 PC Board 14.0 D3 Systems BBS 663-2759 300-9600 HST/V.32 Quick BBS 2.04 + Duck Pond BBS 822-0956 300-9600 HST/V.32 Opus-CBCS 1.03c ^ Eazy's Playhouse 870-0434 1200-4800 MNP4 WWIV 4.11 ^ Electric Reqium 680-9753 1200-2400 WWIV 4.11 EzNet Central 785-7417 1200-9600 HST PC Board 14.2 Graphics Zone Node 1 870-5306 300-9600 V.42 TBBS 2.1(16) Graphics Zone Node 2 870-5329 300-9600 V.42 TBBS 2.1(16) Hacker's Corner 674-5449 300-2400 MNP4 PC Board 14.5 + I.S.A. BBS 995-6590 300-9600 HST TCOMM * Joker's Castle 744-6120 300-2400 PC Board 14.0 ^* Lands Of Brittania 791-0421 1200-2400 WWIV 4.11 * Little Kingdom Node 1 969-0007 300-9600 HST/V.42 PC Board 14.5 * Little Kingdom Node 2 969-0008 300-2400 MNP4 PC Board 14.5 LZ Birmingham 870-7770 300-2400 PC Board 14.5 * Magnolia BBS 854-6407 300-9600 HST PC Board 14.2 @ Missing Link 853-1257 300-2400 Image 1.2 ^ Myth Drannor 699-5811 1200-2400 MNP4 WWIV 4.11 Owl's Nest 680-0851 300-2400 PC Board 14.2 @ Pirate's Cove 942-7429 300-1200 Image 1.2 Posys BBS 854-5131 1200-2400 RBBS CPC17.3 * Radio Free Troad 979-6183 300-9600 HST/V.42 PC Board 14.2 Safe Harbor 665-4355 300-2400 GT Power 15.00 Shadetree BBS 787-6723 300-2400 Phoenix 1.36 Sperry BBS 853-6144 300-9600 Hayes PC Board 14.5 * ST BBS 836-9311 300-2400 PC Board 14.2 @ The Commodore Zone 856-3783 300-2400 Image 1.2 The Connection 854-9074 1200-2400 PC Board 14.1 The Dog House 425-9255 300-1200 Image 1.2 The Islands BBS 870-7776 300-2400 PC Board 14.0 The Kingdom Of Teletech 674-0852 300-2400 WWIV 4.11 - The Matrix Nodes 1-4 323-2016 300-2400 PC Board 14.5 - The Matrix Node 5 251-2344 300-9600 HST PC Board 14.5 VCM(ee) BBS Node 1 655-4059 300-2400 Oracomm Plus VCM(ee) BBS Node 2 655-4065 300-1200 Oracomm Plus Victory Express 425-0821 300-1200 Image 1.2 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 Boards with a "*" before their name are members of our local network, EzNet, and public messages left in the EzNet Conferences of any of these boards will be echoed to all members. Boards with a "@" before their name are members of our local Commodore network, Image Network, and e-mail left on any member board may be directed to any other member board. Boards with a "+" before their name are members of FidoNet, an international network that provides a variety of public forums as well as private mail services all over the world. Boards with a "-" before their name are members of MetroNet, an international network that provides a variety of public forums as well as private mail services all over the world. Boards with a "^" before their name are members of WWIV-Net, an international network that provides a variety of public forums as well as private mail services all over the world. If you have any corrections, additions, deletions, etc., please let us know via EzNet. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- EzNet Multiple Echo List EzNet now supports multiple conference echoing but there are a few things you should be aware of regarding private mail. A. You have one 'address' for private mail. If you are registered for private mail on Channel 8250 and someone sends you a private message in the MS-DOS conference from Crunchy Frog it will wind up in the Hardware conference on Channel 8250 as it should. However, if you were registered for private mail on Magnolia and someone sends you a private message in a conference that Magnolia does not support (echo) then the message will wind up in the twilight zone. B. If you go by a handle on one BBS and your real name on another even if the private message goes where it is supposed to, you will not be able to read it because it is addressed to someone else as far as PC Board is concerned. PC Board has no way of knowing that Red Foxx and John Doe are the same person. No tickee, no washee. Advice on sending private mail: If you don't know if the person you are sending private mail to is registered for private mail then keep a copy of the message in case you have to find an alternate route. EzNet Central will delete your private, undelivered message and inform you that the user you attempted to reach is not registered for private mail on any EzNet Node. This is a list of the current echoes that I am aware of. More are in the making and will be posted in future issues. If you are a sysop and are running an echo not listed for your board, please make us aware of it so we may correct it next issue. Eznet Program IBM Adult Scitech BTNWA Alter-Ego ........... * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. American BBS ........ * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. Bus System BBS ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * ..... * .. Byte Me! ............ * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... .. Channel 8250 ........ * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * ..... .. Crunchy Frog ........ * ..... ..... * ..... * ..... ..... * .. Joker's Castle ...... * ..... ..... * ..... ..... ..... .. Lands Of Brittania .. * ..... * ..... * ..... ..... ..... .. Little Kingdom ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... .. Magnolia BBS ........ * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. Radio Free Troad .... * ..... ..... ..... ..... ..... .. ST BBS .............. * ..... ..... ..... * ..... ..... ..