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 °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û   °°Û °°°°°°Ü         °°Û   °°Û °°Û   °°Û °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Û
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APR         RELAYNET INTERNATIONAL MESSAGE EXCHANGE NEWSLETTER         1991
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                             Table of Contents
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      Article#             Subject                       Author

         1            Editors Corner                  Michael Brunk
                                                       Node ID ->CSPACE
         2            Conference News                 Dan Deady
                                                       Node ID ->PGHS
         3            Sysops Beware!                  Myles Marlow
                                                       Node ID ->CAPCON
         4            Blipverts                       Mike Gunderloy
                                                       Node ID ->ALBANY
         5            Poetry Corner                   Inez Harrison
                                                       Node ID ->MOONDOG
         6            Hell Conference Update          John Dodson
                                                       Node ID ->CANTINA
         7            Admin Announcements

         8            Notices
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 1 - EDITORS CORNER by Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

Welcome back to the April issue of Rime Times!  As you might expect
for the month that plays host to "Fool's Day" we have an extra
helping of humor for you to enjoy.

A quick note here about story submissions, send 'em in!  We'll take
just about anything.  It does not have to be BBS or computer related,
simply something that might interest our readership.  Humerous
articles, gardening tips, recipes, personal anecdotes, technical
information, trivia, you name it!  Send it to Michael Brunk at node
->CSPACE for consideration.

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2 - CONFERENCE NEWS by Dan Deady, Node ID ->PGHS
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Please welcome the new host of the Sysops Conference:

NAME:         SYSOPS
NUMBER:       1
DESCRIPTION:  Discussions centering around the operation of
              bulletin boards including the daily operation from
              a SysOp point of view and the various software
              available for BBS's such as PCBoard, GAP, RBBS,
              Wildcat etc.  Personal experiences are always
              invited and welcomed.
HOST:         Michele Hamilton  Node ID ->SUNSHINE
ACTIVITY:     high+


Also, it is with great pleasure that we announce the following
conference with author support:

NAME:         WGM SOFTWARE
NUMBER:       184
DESCRIPTION:  This conference is for support of all software produced
              by WGM Computer Consulting.  This is a support conference
              by the author.  Support includes the WGM-DMS (PCBoard
              Directory Manipulation System) currently and future
              programs to be released by the author.
HOST:         Wayne Maas ->WGMBBS
ACTIVITY:     * NEW * Date: 03/23/1991

NAME:         ASP SUPPORT
NUMBER:       195
DESCRIPTION:  This conference is for those who use and support ASP
HOST:         (Association Of Shareware Professionals) software, it's
              distribution, and it's authors.  Also, the conference
              is to support any problems that may arise from the use
              of ASP certified software, or problems that may be
              encountered from the authors of ASP software.
HOST:         Clint McBee  Node ID ->STCOMLNK
ACTIVITY:     * NEW * Date: 03/25/1991

NAME:         CANADIAN
NUMBER:       256
DESCRIPTION:  Discussions centering around issues regarding those
              pertinent to the Canadian lifestyle.  Such issues
              as Canadian Politics, the GST, Provincial issues,
              ecology/environmental issues, and Canadian/American
              relationships, French/English and Native issues, and
              also travel information.  American input will also
              be welcomed!
HOST:         Harv Welch ->CBYTES
ACTIVITY:     * NEW * Date: 03/29/91


MODIFICATION!!!  At the request of the Conference Host the following
                 description is now part of RIMECONF.TXT:

NAME:         VIDEO EXCHANGE
NUMBER:       192
DESCRIPTION:  This is a general consumer video conference for discussion
              of all consumer video products and formats, tape and disc.
              Reviews on the quality of new releases and products, and
              the exchange of prerecorded video tapes and discs.
HOST:         Dave Dennett  Node ID ->FERRET


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3 - SYSOPS BEWARE! by Myles Marlow, Node ID ->CAPCON
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Folks, be careful.  Mismanaging your upload/download ratio can kill
your system.  It did mine.

A few months ago, I was running a BBS with 200 megs of files and a 4
phone rotary line.

Initially I had 1:5 upload download ratio.  People complained.  They
said I already had every file around.  They couldn't find any new
ones.  You've heard it, I'm sure.  Some people uploaded junk.  So I
relaxed the rules.  I went to a 1:20 ratio.  I stopped getting the
junk files;  but I still wasn't getting much new stuff.

Then I tried an experiment.  I removed ALL ratios. I heard where
another sysop did this and his uploads actually grew.

What the heck, it couldn't hurt to try, right?  Wrong.  Folks became
downloading fools.  My 200 megs of files went down to 175 megs as
people pulled file after file off my board.  160 megs.  150 megs.  125
meg!   They were sucking the files right off my hard disk.

Folks were pulling and clawing at each other for this week's version
of DSZ.  90 megs.  My system was now less than half the size it was
when I started.  And still the pillage continued as files were sucked
through all four phone lines.

My hard disk had to spin faster to keep up with the activity.  It
began growling under the intense strain of downloading.  My 9600 bps
modems ground down to about 1200 bps.  And even this didn't slow folks
down.

They began cracking open the zipped files and wantonly pulling out the
executables.  Shareware registration docs were just left hanging out
of the lifeless husks.

I was at work.  Had my printer not been turned on, I'd have never
known what struck.  Just reading the hardcopy was painful.  A user
feeding-frenzy is not for weak stomachs.

When I did get home, my bulletin board was down to its last 10 megs of
files -- just some old .ARC and .LBR files that nobody seemed to want.
When some old geezer got those, the system gave a final shudder and
lost carrier.

I don't have the energy to rebuild my system, but maybe I've helped in
some small way prevent a similar tragedy.

Keep those ratios high!  Don't let your users ever forget, that when
they take a file, they should PUT THE DARNED THING BACK when they're
finished!

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4 - BLIPVERTS by Mike Gunderloy, Node ID ->ALBANY
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

[Editor's Note:  These reviews are reprinted from FACTSHEET FIVE #42
and are courtesy of Mike Gunderloy.]

C.A.R.S. v.2.2 (registration $40 from Cybernetic Software, PO Box
3594, Skokie, IL 60076): The acronym is for "Complete Automobile
Reporting System", and this is a program designed to track to
expenses of owning your cars, whether it be one auto for personal
use or a corporate fleet. It's a specialized database with a few
extra functions, such as calculating mileage, built in, that can
help you with planning, taxes, and so on. Not a great thrill
graphically, but fast and functional. (IBM)[ASP]

Daniels Poetry ($2 from Dan Adams, PO Box 376, Cameron, WI
54822): This is actually a collection of poems on disk, together
with a simple batch-file driven interface to view them with. Dan
writes about everything from young love to "The Vagina" to the
horrors of war. The idea of packaging this on disk is
interesting, and doesn't seem to hurt the readability of the
material any. He also includes a few public-domain graphics demos
on the diskette. Add $1 for 3 1/2" diskette. (IBM)

FPLAN 2.0 (registration $30 from First Financial Software, PO Box
592957, Orlando, FL 32859-2967): This is a program designed to
help you plan your personal finances, even if your life is pretty
complex. It's set up for people who are on a standard, more or
less middle class track through life: working at a decent job,
owning insurance, saving for the future and so on. It can help
you budget for everyday expenses, determine how much life
insurance you should carry, investigate the impact of taxes and
inflation on your future, and so on. It also has a spot to hold
your insurance information so that it can be easily found if it's
needed. (IBM)[ASP]

GRAB Plus Version 6.0 (registration $54.95 from ZPAY Payroll
Systems, 2526 69th Ave. S, St. Petersburg, FL 33712): This is the
latest incarnation of this memory-resident envelope printing
program, designed to get its addresses right off the screen of
your word processor. Paul Mayer has been busy, and this is a
major upgrade. It now supports style sheets for multiple
printers, and includes TSR, command-line and Windows versions,
including the GRABDB database program to hold your
frequently-used addresses. It also has code built in to handle
the standard PostNet barcodes that the Post Office is using, and
to do graphics logos, as well as address labels. A fine package
that works smoothly and easily. (IBM)[ASP]

MAH JONGG v. 3.4 (registration $15 from Nels Anderson, 92 Bishop
Dr., Framingham, MA 01701): This is a colorful solitaire EGA/VGA
implementation of the Chinese game. It involves a good deal of
strategy to get all those little tiles off the screen; meanwhile,
they sure do dress up the monitor. The rules are simple, but
their application can keep you busy for a long time.
Unfortunately, there were a handful of annoying hardware problems
that kept me from really enjoying this one: the mouse sensitivity
was set too low, with no way to change it; the opening screen
produced a nasty flicker on my VGA (which fortunately went away
when that screen did); worst of all, winning the game locked my
whole system up. Still, that's the virtue of shareware, and if it
works better on your computer this is one well worth looking at.
(IBM)[ASP]
 
RECAP (shareware for 1 disk and 85cents postage or registration
$15 from RK West Consulting, PO Box 8059, Mission Hills, CA
91346): This program does one thing, and it does it well. That
thing is to change the capitalization in DBase files. It can take
any DBase file and change the data fields to all caps, all
smalls, or just first letter capitals. It's quick, it does the
job, and it sure can clean up after sloppy data entry. (IBM)[ASP]

RECURSIVE REALM 2.5 (registration $20 from Austin Software
Design, PO Box 30133, Grand Junction, CO 81503): This is the new
release of this shareware fractal program which we previously
reviewed. It still features flashy color, Julia set, Newton's
method and magnetism simulations as well as the original
Mandelbrot. New in this version are mappings for the final sets
onto spherical surfaces and 3-d plates, as well as various other
methods for transforming your images, including one that makes
jigsaw puzzles of them. Registered users also get a free copy of
MILLER, which displays dancing parametric equation plots on your
screen. (IBM)[ASP]

RTM (registered version $30 from WetZoft Applications, 788 Martin
Ct. W, Severn, MD 21144-2213): RTM stands for Resident Task
Manager, and this is a cross between a calendar program and a
project planner. RTM can hold up to 150 tasks and sort them by
date, priority, and project -- the latter field can be changed by
the user to something else as well. It's got a pop-up calendar,
an intuitive interface with full on-line help, and will swap to
disk or EMS if made memory-resident. There are also two companion
programs, CALRPT and CALTRV, which will make formatted calendar
printouts from either RTM or Sidekick Plus. (IBM)[AS]

SEARCHLIGHT 2.0 is out. This is an upgrade to the BBS software we
reviewed in the last issue. It now features unlimited message and
file areas, increased speed, decreased size, better FidoNet
support and multiline file descriptions. THe full single user
version is now $89 from PO Box 640, Stony Brook, NY 11790.

SUPERFLY v 1.1 (registration $15 from Nels Anderson, 92 Bishop
Dr., Framingham, MA 01701): Another beautiful EGA/VGA game from
Nels Anderson. This one features the player as a fly swatter up
against a horde of flies (and occasional other bugs), but it's
more than an action game. You also have to think about what
you're doing, because the fly carcasses get in the way of winning
as you go along. Beautiful graphics, fast action, three levels of
play, and support for mouse, joystick and keyboard make this a
definite winner. (IBM)[ASP]

TOTAL INVESTOR (registered version $45 for 1-2-3 or $50 for
Symphony): I can't actually review this one, since I lack the
specialized knowledge and software to try it out, but I can at
least let you know about it. Total Investor is designed for
people interested in seriously managing their portfolio of
securities. There are two different versions, one for use with
Lotus 1-2-3 and the other for Symphony. Either one will chart
your stocks and help you make decisions based on technical
indicators such as momentum or relative strength. Total Investor
will keep track of historical prices, and can also be ordered
with an add-in to retrieve prices automatically from Compuerve or
Dow Jones News Retrieval. (IBM)[ASP]


=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
5 - POETRY CORNER by Inez Harrison, Node ID ->MOONDOG
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

We've written about Howard and Bonnie
Quite frankly most times it was funny
They take it in stride
They run but can't hide
Information smack dab on the money!

There's a fellow that hails from Cantina
An editor with a wonderful demeanor
He's helpful and kind
Don't test him you'll find
Nice people can sometimes cream ya!

We now move on to the Ross
I've heard he's a hell-of-a boss
Keeps his files up to date
But please don't mistake
Skip Ross can sometimes be crossed!

Others keep a low profile
This Host can tell you child
Don't blame them a bit
Admin. get's some $hit
Situations can sometimes be wild!

My home is on the MoonDog
Wonderful Sysop I do tend to hog
The name is Inez Harrison
To the Harrison's no comparison
Don Barba is great so I on log

Popularity certainly spells RIME
Each user can certainly find
A conference to go
They'll like it you know
Posting time after time after time!


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6 - HELL CONFERENCE UPDATE by John Dodson, Node ID ->CANTINA
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It seems Hell conference participants are getting just what they
deserve this month:

>All off-line readers are configured for 81 characters per line, so ever
>y
>message and quote now looks like this.

All conference members are now using triple-boxed quotes and 5 line
signatures complete with beeps.

Every day members receive a get rich quick pyramid-scheme chain
letter.... and must send a dollar to each one.

Every other day members receive a message from Al Szoldatits informing
them that he is STILL tracking down lost messages.

Every week all regional conferences are now renumbered. Consequently,
1 out of 3 messages is discussion about the current and/or future
number for the Florida Regional conference.

Chuck Gilmore places a Network Sysop message in the conference;
asking, "Who is stepping on my timeslot at NETNODE?"  ALL 700 sysops
in the network respond by saying "Uh? ..I don't relay with NETNODE!"

Every day members receive a 4 page message from JM Dolan explaining
the difference between Bps & Baud and "Real" & "Fake" modems.

Someone in the conference tells Dave Shubert that version 4.2 of
PCRelay was released two months ago and no one has upgraded.


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7 - ADMIN ANNOUNCEMENTS
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Dan Deady of node PGHS 
has accepted the job of Conference Coordinator!!!!

Dan brings a great deal of experience and hard work to this position as
he has been Skip's assistant and is quite familiar with the various ins
and outs of the needs of this network. (wonder why he took it then 
right?  <grin>)

Welcome Dan to his new position!


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8 - NOTICES
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The RIME Times staff is now maintaining the newsletter AUTOSEND list.
If you are a RelayNet node and would like the newsletter sent to your
board automatically each month send a message to Michael Brunk, Node
ID ->CSPACE or John Dodson, Node ID ->CANTINA.  Please check to see
if your hub will AUTOSEND it to avoid duplication.

Current listing of Bulletin Board software participating in RelayNet:

    SpitFire            GAP
    QuickBBS            GT Power
    Remote Access       MajorBBS
    PCBoard/ProDoor     dBBS
    RBBS                EIS
    Wildcat!

To make life easier for the editors, the following submission guidelines
are suggested:

1) To be included in the current month newsletter all articles must be
submitted by the 5th of the month.

2) A routed private message in either the COMMON is acceptable.  Please
address and route to: Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE or John Dodson
Node ID ->CANTINA.

3) Your name as used on RIME.

4) Your node id if you are a RIME sysop or your "home" board id if you
are a RIME user.

5) Any special instructions.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
The RIME Times is published monthly by the membership of RelayNet
International Message Exchange as its official newsletter.  Users and
Sysops are encouraged to contribute. Submissions and questions may be
directed to the editor Michael Brunk, Node ID ->CSPACE.

(c)Copyright 1991, The RelayNet International Message Exchange.  Permission
is hereby granted for unlimited distribution and duplication,  provided
such distribution and duplication are strictly for non-commercial purposes
only.  All other rights reserved.  RelayNet and RIME are registered
trademarks.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
