        *************************************************************
                                 STARK NAKED
                                
                    The Journal of Stark County Telecom
                   Brought to you by: The Necropolis BBS
                  (216)/966-8970 (3/12/2400  8N1  24 hrs)
                            Running Renegade Beta
                       Located in North Canton, Ohio
                    Sept 20, 1992  : Volume #1, Issue #5
               >> Now Serving Stark County & Summit County <<
         *************************************************************
        
         [ Mandatory Participation: Growing Trend or Ancient Relic? ]
                    
           Just recently, Tim Stedman announced that his BBS,  the  
           Amiga   Asylum,  will   begin   enforcing  a  mandatory 
           participation rule.  Thus, the Amiga Asylum becomes the
           third local bulletin board to enforce such a rule.

           While many sysops feel that mandatory participation  is
           a great idea, there are others who feel that  it is not
           something that is necessary. This  ideology is far from
           how things used to be: expressions like "post or roast"
           could be seen on just  about every bulletin board.  But
           today,  many  sysops  don't  like the idea of using BBS 
           priveleges as an incentive to participate.

           Mandatory  participation  goes  beyond the mere upload-
           download ratio. Mandatory participation often means the
           use of PCRs  --  Post/Call Ratios.  For every call, the
           user  must  post  so  many  times or BBS rights will be 
           taken away.  Often,  the BBS program will automatically
           do this for the sysop.

           Mandatory Participation Stances in Stark County
           ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

           The Necropolis   -   A post/call ratio is in  effect for
                                online games. Long-time lurkers are
                                deleted.
           Arrakis          -   Selective rights:  if a user posts,
                                he has access to the subs.  If not,
                                his access there is revoked.
           Amiga Asylum     -   New anti-lurker attitude.
           Rising Power     -   None.
           Canton Conn      -   None.
           Walkman's Ware   -   Unknown.
           
           The question that must arise is: do programs like these
           work? Does  mandatory participation help out a bulletin
           board?  The  first  few days after the Asylum began the
           mandatory  participation  rule, people who never posted
           began to post.  Reports  of success from the Necropolis
           have also supported the theory.

           It is the opinion of STARK NAKED that  post-call ratios
           and mandatory participation  is in the best interest of
           Stark County telecommunications.



         [  The Shareware Update: Continuing News on New Releases!  ]

           STARK NAKED will attempt to offer readers current  news
           on Shareware programs in each issue. 

           PKWare :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
            PKZip v2.x will be out soon, according to Phil Katz.
            Remember that v2.01 and v2.2  are HACKS and you will
            not want to use them.
            PKWare has also signed a business agreement with ASi
            (a multi-platform development company out of Dayton)
            that  will,  among  other things,  allow PKWare Data
            Compression libraries to be ported to other computer
            platforms.  In the plans right now are ports through
            Unix, MacIntosh, MVS, Amiga, and Ultrix.  A rep from
            ASi  hopes  that PKWare/ASi will  become an industry
            standard for data compression.

           TradeWars 2002 :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
            Gary Martin is planning a  release of TradeWars 2112
            within the next two years. Current registered sysops
            will have to re-register.  Little other  information 
            is available on TradeWars 2112.



         [  Bob Larson Comes to Akron: Necropolis Users Set to Go!  ]

           Radio talk-show host and Christian fundamentalist,  Bob
           Larson, is coming to the Akron Civic Center to speak on
           issues relating to occultism October 23. The Necropolis
           BBS, which is known for  "Bob-bashing,"  is planning on 
           organizing  a  Necropolis  Caravan to see Bob speak. If
           interested in going, users should contact the Sorcerer,
           Elminster,   or   just  leave  sysop  feedback  on  the 
           Necropolis.  Information will be posted publicly at the
           Necropolis BBS on the Theology Sub. 



         [  Akron Sysop Organization Cancelled:  Pegasus Goes Down  ]

           The proposed Akron Area Sysop's Organization (AASO) was
           recently cancelled along with the Pegasus BBS, an Akron
           bulletin  board  running on  Maximus.  According to Dan 
           Steill, the ex-sysop of Pegasus, the bulletin board had
           to be taken down because of personal reasons.  With the 
           the Pegasus BBS went the sysop group. Steill does think
           that a sysop organization would be helpful for all area
           sysops.  An FBI agent  was scheduled for the first meet
           to discuss pirated software and copyright laws.



         [  Random Scribblings:  Various Notes from Various BBS'es  ]

            ... Still no word on the future of Seraglio BBS. Attempts
                to contact the sysop have resulted in busy signals!
                Stay tuned to Stark Naked for further developments.

            ... Power Man's BBS (the name of which is unconfirmed) 
                is allegedly going to be carrying the Boondock nets.
                In response, the Necropolis BBS will be dropping the
                Boondock nets in favor of an international network
                which has yet to be named. One echo that will be
                definitely pulled will be a Christian echo, which
                will balance the Pagan/New Age selection currently
                on-line. The Boondock/MSI/Wildnet nets are also
                being carried by the Confederate BBS and the Pentagon
                BBS.

            ... Several issues of Stark Naked were recently sighted
                on a bulletin board in South Carolina! The editors
                of Stark Naked would like to know who uploaded them
                there ... to thank them! Stark Naked has also been
                making rounds on packet radio boards! The message
                of Stark Naked (aside from the news of local events)
                is for freedom of telecommunication ... hopefully
                that message is being spread!

            ... A new conference at the Necropolis ... the Star 
                Trek / Science Fiction conference has been put up
                not only for ST/TNG fans ... but also for political
                reasons. Apparently, after a small war on the USS
                Paramount BBS, the Sorcerer decided to put up a
                "conference that would teach the Paramount how to
                run a Star Trek theme."  The conference features a
                Star Trek echo, Science Fiction echo, TradeWars
                2002 Echo, as well as a number of sci-fi related
                files. The sysops of USS Paramount refused to 
                comment.

            ... Several changes have occured at Stark's first
                commercial BBS ... Canton Communications. The 
                most apparent is the addition of a high speed modem.
                Other changes include a more efficient logon method,
                addition of the Fred Fish library for Amiga, and
                the entire CD-Rom collection for IBM and Amiga. A
                new SIG, the Debate Sig, headed by Andy Curlutu,
                was also added. The high-speed modem line number
                is 478-0548.


            ... With the recent events in campaign politics, the
                Perot for President ECHO has been re-activated. 
                The echo, which is part of the Searchlight net,
                was running in an effort to spread information
                about Ross Perot, the Texas billionaire whose name
                is now on the ballot of every state. 

            ... In the next issue of STARK NAKED, we'll be taking 
                an in-depth look at the world of x-rated BBS'ing!
                Features will include an update on Akron Anomoly
                (hopefully), a special section on Chat Sex, as well
                as legal implications of running an adult board.
                Also, a new feature that will hopefully be added to
                STARK NAKED is a New BBS Spotlight. If you know of
                a new bulletin board system in the Stark/Summit 
                area, let us know and we'll do a feature article on
                them. The world needs more good boards!


         [   NEW BBS Software on the Market: Spec Sheet Available   ]

                            Synchronet Version 1a
                                  Features

         * Designed from the ground up as a reliable and feature rich 
           multinode BBS
         * Up to 250 simultaneous nodes with multinode chat and online 
           program support 
         * Enhanced DESQview operation mode
         * Runs under DOS 3.0 or higher on any 80x86 compatible computer 
           with 500k free RAM - BBS can shrink to 16k to execute external 
           programs 
         * Pay BBS features:
             Time credits, user expiration dates, credits, and 900/976 
             billing.
         * Interrupt driven COM I/O for the fastest through-put possible
           - even with multiple nodes per CPU via DOS multitasker
         * Any COM port configuration supported (one IRQ line per COM port)
         * Blazing fast even on a 10mhz XT
         * Familiar hotkey user interface with '?' activated menus at every 
           prompt
         * The most advanced BBS security ever: Impenetrable to remote 
           hackers, 100 security levels with 52 sysop configurable flags 
           per user, Sysop can allow or disallow users to choose their own 
           passwords, Sysop can force periodic password changes (uniqueness 
           is also forced), External programs cannot access the command 
           processor
         * QWK mail packet support built-in
         * Up to 10,000 message groups, up to 20,000 total message 
           sub-boards with up to 5,000 messages per sub-board.
         * Up to 10,000 file libraries, up to 20,000 total file directories 
           with up to 5,000 files per directory.
         * Extensive File Transfer Section:
           Up to 500 transfer protocols with optional DSZLOG support
           Batch uploads, downloads, and bidirectional file transfers
           Transfer credit system is completely configurable
           File viewing, extraction, and partial downloading of archives
           File descriptions can contain content rating and multidisk 
                numberings
           Personal user to user(s) file transfers
           Optional batch download file flagging for user convenience
           Internal support for offline directories
           Multiple sysop file removal/move/edit search criteria
           Directories can be sorted by filename or date, ascending or 
                descending
           Advanced extended descriptions
           Complete CDROM and other slow media support
         * Professional error handling and logging
         * Sysop inter-node control (remote or local):
              Interrupting - hang-up on any node
              Locking - only sysops can logon a locked node till lock 
                        is removed
              Rerunning - reexecutes BBS, reinitializing configuration, 
                          etc.
         * Inter-node message services:
           Current node status - user online, action, connect rate, 
           and more, User activity - credited downloads, mail activity, 
           logons, and logoffs, User communications - paging, one-line 
           messages, and multinode chat
         * 48 Local macros and sysop function hotkeys
         * Real-time user database:
           Amazingly complete user edit function
           Remote changes to online-user data are immediately effective
           Disk image is always current for enhanced system fault tolerance
           Linked free-form data file for every user
         * Online, sysop configurable, chatting artificial intelligence 
           engine
         * Up to 500 online external programs:
           Multiuser or single user programs
           Programs that use DOS I/O (don't use COM port directly) 
              supported
           Multiple door file formats created
           Supports native WWIV color code expansion
           Free Software Development Kit (SDK) avaiable for program 
              development
         * Multiple Events
           Logon and logoff events
           New user events
           Upload events (integrity testing, adding of comments, 
              virii scan, etc.)
           Node and system daily events
           Timed event that supports forced exclusive execution
         * The most configurable BBS available today:
              Powerful object oriented menu driven configuration program
              All menus, text, and colors are sysop configurable without 
                source code
              The use of aliases can be allowed or disallowed
              New User Questionaire is available and customizable
              Source code available for nearly unlimited customization 
                (extra cost)

   To download the DEMO version of Synchronet (and purchasing information),
   call Vertrauen (Synchronet development site) at 714-529-9525 (2400bps)
                                                or 714-529-9547 (V.32bis/HST)



     +-----------------------------------------------------------------+
       STARK NAKED            ::::  The Journal of Stark County Telecom 
       Editor: The Sorcerer   ::::  Support BBS: The Necropolis BBS
       Published Periodically ::::             (216) 966-8970
       September 20, 1992     ::::    Sysops interested in becoming a
       "If your sysop doesn't ::::    Stark Naked Support BBS, please
        carry Stark Naked on  ::::    contact the Sorcerer. Users who
        a regular basis  ...  ::::    are interested in reporting can
        find out why!"        ::::    also contact the Sorcerer.

       ::: Stark Naked appreciates _any_ feedback that readers might
       ::: have. Stark Naked also accepts any letters to the editor
       ::: concerning issues raised in Stark Naked.
     
     +-----------------------------------------------------------------+

  


       
                                   
 

                                   
                             
                   
















 















 

                                                          
