BTN:  Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1989

December 1989    Volume 2, Issue 12

Table Of Contents
-----------------
Article Title                                  Author

Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Mark Maisel
Editorial Column...............................Mark Maisel
An Early Christmas Present.....................Dean Costello
2nd Annual Unofficial Birmingham BBS Poll......Tyros
ProDoor 3.1:  An Overview......................Ricky Morgan
Insights.......................................Ron Albright
Multitasking In Brief..........................Kelly Rosato
Profile:  Dean Costello........................Chris Mohney
The Windows Column:  Command Post ver 6.2K.....Eric Hunt
Backup Heaven..................................Dr. Ebcdic
Book Review With...............................Karsten Propper
Message Board..................................Barry Bowden
Known BBS Numbers..............................Mark Maisel
EzNet Multiple Echo List.......................Randy Hilliard

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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.

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                          N E W S  F L A S H!

                               The Matrix

Since the system is on a rotary dial, when you dial the main 323-2016
number, it rolls to the first node that is available. If for some
reason, one of the nodes locks up or does not answer the phone, the
rotary will not continue on to the other numbers. Though this happens
seldom, it can be very frustrating if it happens the one time that YOU
really need to get on and get a program.

Therefore, just in case it does happen or for some reason, you want to
get on a specific node, here are the direct dial numbers for each node;


               Node 1  -  323-2016 (Rotarys to Node 2-4 if 1 is busy)
               Node 2  -  323-1828     (Nodes 1-4 300-2400 baud)
               Node 3  -  323-2031
               Node 4  -  323-2032

               Node 5  -  251-2344 (not on rotary  300-9600 USR HST)

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Editorial
by Mark Maisel

     What a year it has been! Things have really been stirring on boards
and in BTN.  We have had, with this one, 12 successful issues of BTN out
MOSTLY on time, several very enjoyable parties, and a whole lot of
communicating in general.  America Online became The Matrix and a whole
lot more bulletin board, all in one fell swoop.  Several boards have
come and gone with at least one notable return.  Scott Ferguson's Penny
Arcade came back with a new look after being absent for far too long.  A
bizarre thing called Crunchy Frog came into being early this year and
its effects are still being enjoyed by the more bizarre among us.  Many
more events, persons, and what we will call "others" have entertained,
angered, amused, and enlightened us over the year than there is room or
inclination to mention here.

     With this in mind, lets have a look at the what awaits us in this
"special, super-duper, wowee-zowee, Christmasy?" issue of BTN.  I have,
much to the disappointment of certain parties who shall identify
themselves later, taken over, at least for this month, the editor's much
coveted spot.  According to the poll, more of you were able to agree on
this person as your favorite user.  After you have read his special
present to each and every one of you, we shall see if your opinion
remains the same.  The big star of this issue is, of course, the 2nd
poll.  I have deliberately understated it here since I know you will be
or will have already jumped ahead to it to see what it might say about
you.  Using my typical charm; regular contributors can tell you all
about it; I have convinced Ricky Morgan of the merits of a series of
articles describing and critiquing ProDoor 3.1.  If you use ProDoor and
or have been intimidated by it, please follow Ricky as he guides you
through it as he intends to cover it all by the time he is through.  Ron
Albright is amazingly enough, still with us and has this month got some
information on a book that looks like it is a "must have" for anyone who
is an avid user of bulletin boards and/or information services via
modem.  Kelly Rosato faces off two of the most popular multitasking
options available for IBM & compatible computers, Desqview 386 and
Windows 386.  If you have need or desire of multitasking on your
machine, don't make a move until you have read this article.  When we
zing it to someone here at BTN HQ, we don't fool around.  This being the
case, it just so happened that Dean Costello's name was chosen for this
month's ProFile.  It really was a random drawing from the famous hat,
honest! All will become clear as you read on so get to it.  In the event
that you don't know of a Dean Costello, he is also known as Elvis, Lord
Dean, Cardinal Dean, and sometimes God (his own personal sort of joke).
Speaking of jokes, I must wonder if this person, whoever he really is,
is sane? Eric Hunt takes a look at Command Post for MicroSoft Windows in
his Windows column.  This shareware makes Windows a much easier to use
environment. If you have ever had backup trouble with your hard disk or
have been inhibited by the costs of same, then Doc might just have some
help.  Doc has had these problems and has solved them with VIDEOTRAX. We
finally, thank God, are closing the issue with our usual, Barry Bowden's
Message Board, the Known BBS List, and the EzNet Echo List.

     I hope that you enjoy this king-sized issue and have the best of
holidays! If you have any comments or articles of your own, please leave
me messages on EzNet.  In closing, I would like to thank the many, who
shall remain nameless (read their names in BTN), who over the last two
years have turned a small idea into a big reality for all of us.

                         Keep up the good work!

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An Early Christmas Present
by Dean "Bubba" Costello

                                Preface

     Before you guys read this, let me explain something to you first.
This was first written when I was bumming pretty hard about a year ago
after I first got to Birmingham, and was experiencing serious culture
shock.  I thought that Mark would be amused by it so I brought it over
for him to read. In the meantime, he was bugging me to write something
for BTN. You figure out the rest. Remember, this was not meant for human
consumption. With that in mind, I hope you enjoy the following article.


                               Here We Go

     Similar to The Apology by Plato I have decided to put down some
things that bother me about Alabama, and the South, in general.  I think
for lack of a better name, I will call this:


                A MARYLAND YANKEE IN KING GEORGE'S STATE


I.   STOP CALLING ME HONEY.
     All right, so I am from the impersonal North.  I am a standoffish
     kind of guy, I suppose, as a result of growing up there.  I don't
     mind being friendly, and have made a few pretty close friends since
     I have been down here.  In fact, I am in great debt to the people
     in the Student Affairs office at my school for their help over the
     past year or so.  But come on now, too much of anything is not a
     good thing.  And this leads to:

II.  FRIENDLY, OR WHAT?
     If you guys are so damn friendly all the time (or at least you
     are on the surface), how do I know whether or not you are being
     just personable or genuinely friendly? Do something out of the
     ordinary if you wish, but don't call me "Honey" unless you mean it.

III. GET A LIFE!
     Who gives a damn who wins between the fighting Hoover Gophers and
     the bad-ass Vestavia Hills Muskrats? Football is not the end-all
     be-all of existence, people.  I am sorry to point this out.  What
     do you do during the spring and summer, just dream about football?
     I have come to believe that this insatiable mania about football
     must have been a reason the South got beaten in a little tiff 130
     years ago.

IV.  TALK NORMAL.
     Either have the accent, or don't have the accent.  Don't get me
     wrong, it is nice in and of itself, and when females speak to me
     with it, I have the strange compulsion to do whatever they ask of
     me (ie. open doors for them, give them flowers and such, make large
     deposits in their checking account, etc.).  But some of you have
     it, and some don't, and I am taking into account the "Damn
     Yankees": The people such as myself who have come down here from
     the North.  Make up your minds and stick to it.

V.   LET'S TALK ABOUT GOD FOR A MOMENT.
     Yes, I couldn't let this get by.  Who's kidding who here, folks?
     This is an unusual topic, in that usually normal people all of the
     sudden lose all semblance of critical thought and any analytical
     skills.  Take a research biologist, for example.  If he were to do
     some research, and tell everyone that they should take his results
     on faith, he would be laughed out of the lab.  Any body of
     knowledge, that has only one supposedly infallible source of data,
     and you have to take everything on faith, is not very consistent
     with the scientific process of proving/disproving hypothesis.  As I
     think of this, CNN just had a thing today on the data of the Shroud
     of Turin being from about 1260 AD (thus destroying the credibility
     of a number of 'religious scientists' who felt that the Shroud
     would prove that something curious happened to a carpenter 2000
     years ago).  By now, you have probably labeled me a heretic or
     something, but before you think I am God-bashing for lack of
     anything better to do, I have actually put some critical thought
     behind these ideas of mine.  The Roman historian Josephus recorded
     that at about 40 A.D., a Zealot (Palestinian Liberation terrorist
     group) was put to death for starting a riot (I believe it was the
     business in the Temple); and that is pretty much the only direct
     historical evidence of the existence of Jesus that I have come
     across.  And without further evidence (more than the p and q
     documents, for instance) I quite honestly cannot see how anybody
     with a critical mind can accept this at face value.  I made the
     mistake once of telling someone from this region that I was, please
     prepare yourself, an atheist (My definition being one who doesn't
     believe in a higher intelligence that created the universe, eg.
     God).  Lets just say I won't be making that same mistake twice.  I
     am sure that many of the practitioners of this are sincere, but the
     actions of the televangelists make me doubt the validity of at
     least the evangelical branch.  And I know from personal experience
     that some religious branches do good (many of the people in my
     School have gone overseas with a church group to do stuff).  But it
     seems to me that it is unhealthy that so many people devote
     themselves to religion without giving it the same critical thoughts
     that they give buying a new Buick.  Then again, what do I know,
     being a goddamn, secular humanistic, socialistic, gay, democratic,
     gun-control favoring Yankee carpetbagger?

VI.  WHY ARE THERE SO MANY HOTDOG STANDS?
     Do you people really eat that many of them?  Or is it all a tourist
     trap of sorts.

VII. THE GALLERIA.
     The flowers in the median strip of 20th St. downtown are a nice
     touch.  The Galleria is kind of nice, also, but there should be an
     easier means of access, especially as we enter the cold and flu
     season.

IIX. STREET NAMES.
     Which reminds me, who's clever idea was it that the streets here
     should change names all of the time? Example, the street I live on
     starts life as 24th, changes to 26th, Niazuma, Pawnee, Country
     Club, and then Montclair.  That took a lot of sense.

IX.  BLACKS ARE PEOPLE TOO.
     After wandering around town for a while, I understand now why most
     of the Civil Rights protest marches occurred down in this part of
     the U.S.  You people are big-time prejudiced.  I was talking with
     an acquaintance of mine who moved here from the West.  She cannot
     believe the way people react to her at work (customers, not
     employees); they don't think that she knows what she is doing, they
     don't treat her like the other employees there, etc.  Kids, the
     Emancipation Proclamation was made in 1862 (plus or minus 2 years).
     Chill out a little, people.  You shouldn't carry a grudge quite
     this long.

X.   TAKE A LUDE, WHY DON'T YOU?
     In relationship to the epistle on football, there are sporting
     events outside of the South.  I don't give a frog's fat ass about
     college football, well maybe how bad Maryland got beat on a given
     week, but I do like college basketball.  But only Big East and ACC
     divisions.  But my point is I enjoy them, but I don't get carried
     away about it.  Have you ever watched the crowd at the Alabama and
     Auburn games (which is all that one ever sees down here)? These
     people are jerks.  What's this bovine feces "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
     AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR EAGLE!" that prefaces Auburn
     kickoffs? Jesus Christ, that is ignorant.  Watch a Penn State game.
     Now that is a relatively class act.  Joe Paterno is an incredible
     coach, and they have some ungodly rate of player graduation there.
     The fans are enthusiastic, and generally not penises, unless the
     frat boys are there.  But as I said before, IT'S JUST NOT THAT
     IMPORTANT, DAMMIT!

XI.  TAKE SOME SPEED, WHY DON'T YOU?
     A person from the Midwest of my acquaintance says it best, "These
     people talk so slow I lose their train of thought in the middle of
     what they're trying to say," or words to that effect.  Dammit, pick
     up the pace a little, at least to a slow crawl.  Well, at least
     there cannot be that many ulcers here.  But when I need some speed
     from you people, I can't get it, especially at Financial Aid and
     the Registrar's Office.

XII. DRIVING ABILITY.
     Uh.  I am not going to get into this too much.  I just want to
     comment quickly on the people that when their car dies, they just
     abandon it in the middle of the road; wherever that may be.  I
     almost died one fine day on the Red Mountain Expressway.  And
     another thing, why do people like to go through red lights, for no
     apparent reason?  And I would like to point out for the record,
     that the little stick on the side of your steering wheel controls
     not only the high beam switch, but also the turn signals.

XIII.REGIONALISTIC THINKING.
     I don't know if you guys realize it or not, but there is life
     outside of the South.  Face it people, the South ain't going to
     rise again.  I am sorry to point this little fact out.  Also, as a
     general group, the average Southern person is a very intolerant
     sort.  Case in point:  The Last Temptation of Christ.  Why was
     there such a outcry to ban the film from being shown in this
     state? God help you if you have the audacity to think, believe,
     act, talk, walk, or look different from anyone else down here.  No
     drinking on Sundays? The idea to put pants on Vulcan? Sweet tea,
     anyone?

     Well, that's about it for the time being.  I figure I have upset
enough people by this stage of the article.  Don't blame the nice people
at BTN too much for this, since I did this of my own volition, and it
was in essence serialized by someone who will remain unnamed on the BTN
staff, (but he is someone who was very instrumental in its creation, and
it is for the most part composed at his house).  Nice enough people,
they allow me to parasitize their food a lot, but I don't think that
they realized how far I would go when I vented my spleen.  I think I may
have gone to far when Mark refused to allow me to introduce the articles
in this issue of BTN, which is what every other guest editor was allowed
to do.  I swear, even Mark is pissing me off.


     Editor's Note:  Dean did want to wish you all "Happy Holidays" but
     considering his content, I did not think it was appropriate.  MM

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=======================================================================

             THE 2nd ANNUAL UNOFFICIAL BIRMINGHAM BBS POLL

=======================================================================

                Results modestly compiled by -* TYROS *-



     ***** "Why do we yearly go through this inane survey?" *****
                          - Fred Hambrecht -



Here it is!  The article everyone's been waiting for!  Especially me!

Before we begin, a brief aside:

====================
THE NAME OF THE GAME
====================

     For those of you wondering about the name, yes, we called it a
     "survey" last year.  The reason it says "poll" is because a while
     back someone told me that from a technical statistical sense what
     we're doing isn't really a survey.  (For all I know he may have
     been wrong.  Don't ask me.) Hence the name.  This hasn't stopped
     ANYONE from calling it "the survey", though, not even me, so it
     doesn't really matter.  Go ahead, call it a survey.  Live a little.

     Oh, the "unofficial" part... Well, a lot of the criticism we got
     last year was due to the fact that the survey was presented with
     some kind of air of authority.  In an effort to avoid that I'm
     trying to smother the whole thing with a sort of informal modesty.
     Maybe it will work.

        *****  "I don't care to hear it all over again." *****
                           -  Bill Moxim -


===============================
HOPEFULLY MEANINGFUL DISCLAIMER
===============================

     I dunno how much good this will do but I want to stress one final
     time to NOT take these results seriously.  This is just a little
     fun undertaking that's been done for no other reason than
     entertainment value.  If you're offended by anything here you see,
     don't blame me.



    ***** "C'mon, admit it - you love the abuse, don't you?" *****
                            - John Hayes -



=====================
METHOD TO THE MADNESS
=====================
     Here's how we did it.  I took last year's questions and posted them
     publicly, asking for comments on what should be changed.  For the
     next few months, there was a virtual torrent of messages, and we
     went round and around on the whole subject... You know, the whole
     debate bit.  Big controversy.  Anyhow, when all that died down, I
     made a list of all the viable suggestions and tried to integrate
     the best ones into this year's questionnaire.

     The following BBS's hosted the survey this year:


PC Boards:  CHANNEL 8250             WWIV Boards:  BYTE ME!
            CRUNCHY FROG                           LANDS OF BRITTANIA
            JOKER'S CASTLE                         TOP BBS
            MAGNOLIA
            RADIO FREE TROAD
            THE CONNECTION


     Due to the whiz-bang programming of Omega Ohm, boards that are run
     on WWIV software were also allowed to carry the survey. Truly a
     first...but then having the survey on more than one board is a
     first as well.

     The survey ran...mmm..about a month.  A couple of boards got to
     carry it late because of assorted problems... And over the past
     weeks, we've been compiling our little hearts out.  The whole thing
     was done ethically, if not professionally.  Trust me.



   ***** "Face it, Tyros, you just aren't any good at this!" *****
                         -  Joseph McDonald -


==========================
AND WITHOUT FURTHER ADO...
==========================
     The results themselves!  Hooray!


             ***** "Do it again and make us proud!" *****
                            -  Omega Ohm -



===========
AGES OF YOU
===========
     The first thing on the agenda is AGES.  What you're about to see is
     a table that details statistics about the ages of the various BBS's
     users.

     An explanation, first, for the statistical neophyte:

              The MEAN is an average.  This is, of course, adding all
            the ages together and dividing the total by the number
            of ages.
              The MEDIAN is the number you get when you put all the
            numbers in order from smallest to largest and take the one
            in the very middle of the list.  When you have an even
            number of them listed, you get the average of the middle
            two.
              The MODE is the number that's most often repeated in the
            list.

     This table is made out in 80 columns.  People who don't have 80
     columns, sorry, but that's the way it goes.  Print it out, or give
     me a call, and I'll tell you what it says.


     Board Name           Mean     Median    Hi / Lo    Mode(s)
     --------------------------------------------------------------
     Channel 8250         34.6       35      18 / 56    27,30,34,37
     Byte Me!             23.3       21      15 / 33    21
     Radio Free Troad     24.2       18.5    13 / 50    13
     Magnolia             31         31      14 / 48    -
     Joker's Castle       19.2       17      14 / 30    17
     Lands Of Brittania   15         16      13 / 16    16
     Crunchy Frog         24.2       22      13 / 52    14
     The Connection       30.2       28      15 / 51    20,37
     Top BBS              22.5       23      11 / 39    19,28

     ALL OF THEM
     PUT TOGETHER!        25.9       23      11 / 56    16,17,18,19



=========
HOW FAST?
=========

     People were asked to put their maximum baud rate.  Here's how that
     turned out:

MAXIMUM BAUD RATE: ==> 1. 2400 BAUD (65 participants) <==
                       2. 1200 baud (21 participants)
                       3. 9600 baud (7 participants)
                       4.  300 baud (6 participants)

     There were a few who could do 19,200 baud...And one guy put down
     38,400! Whew!


     The rest of the results are going to be done in "list" fashion,
     like the baud thing above.  The first few categories are afforded a
     "top 10", so to speak, and the rest, the less important ones, have
     a top 5.


=============
THE GOOD PART
=============

FAVORITE BBS: ==> 1. THE MATRIX <==
                  2. Crunchy Frog
                  3. Channel 8250
                  4. The Connection
                  5. Top BBS
                  6. ST BBS
                  7. Willie's Dial-Your-Match
                  8. Club Phoenix
                  9. Outer Limits
                 10. Joker's Castle

     In case you've been sitting under a rock or hiding from the law,
     The Matrix is the new name for America Online.  It came in 2nd
     place last year, so this is something of a small triumph. Crunchy
     Frog, which wasn't even up when last year's survey ran, made a very
     impressive showing as well.

     As for the why, the most frequent reason given was "messages".
     Other interesting reasons were "Not a PC-Board", "Great taste" and
     "Crazy people."


LEAST FAVORITE BBS: ==> 1. THE CONNECTION <==
                        2. Byte Me!
                        3. The Sphere
                        4. Eazy's Playhouse
                        5. LZ Birmingham
                        6. Professional's Board
                        7. Radio Free Troad
                        8. TeleTech
                        9. Ziggy

     I suppose the argument could be made that by listing out so many in
     categories like this, we are potentially offending more people.  Oh
     well, anyone who was offended, please take note that the last few
     boards in this list only got a few votes. That's why there's only
     nine listed; the rest all just got one vote apiece.  One user voted
     CompuServe.

     Most of the "why"s in this category were pointed personally at the
     sysops.  "Sysop is jerk" was the most popular response; another BBS
     "presumes too much".  One user disdainfully stated that his vote
     was "obvious".

FAVORITE SYSOP: ==> 1. MONTY <==
                    2. Rocky Rawlins
                    3. Alice
                    4. Bill Freeman
                    5. Kelly Rosato
                    6. Steve Turner
                    7. Randy Hilliard
                    8. Joe Kearley
                    9. Landy Manderson
                   10. Lord British

     Monty and Rocky fought this one out till the bitter bitter end - it
     was VERY close.  Some surprises here - two sysops made the list
     here but their boards got in "least favorite"!  Alas.

     Sysops were most cited as being "helpful".  That's nice to know.
     Other people said their choices were "non-pretending" (whatever
     THAT means), "crazy", "non-irritating" and "Coooooollllll...."

LEAST FAVORITE SYSOP: ==> 1. OMEGA OHM <==
                          2. Bill Freeman
                          3. Joe Hardwick
                          4. Willie Moore
                          5. Eazy E
                          6. Joseph McDonald
                          7. Tim Straughn

     This was a pretty slack vote.  Anyone who got voted here, it
     probably wasn't with a whole lot of votes.  In fact, this one lists
     EVERY sysop who got more than one vote.

     Lots of fun adjectives on this one: "Immature", "obnoxious",
     "arrogant", "insane", "evangelist-like" and "unfriendly".  Some
     other responses were "troublemaker", "endless sermons", "refuses to
     mind his own business" and "takes things too personal".  Plenty of
     amusing but unfortunately unprintable epithets, too.

HARDEST BBS TO GET THROUGH TO: ==> 1. MAGNOLIA <==
                                   2. Top BBS
                                   3. Sperry
                                   4. Crunchy Frog
                                   5. Willie's Dial-Your Match

     Magnolia wins this one for the second year in a row! Rah rah!

EASIEST BBS TO GET THROUGH TO: ==> 1. THE MATRIX <==
                                   2. The Connection
                                   3. Channel 8250
                                   4. Ziggy
                                   5. Outer Limits

     Naturally, Rocky's board pulls this one in again.  It happens to
     have five telephone nodes.

BBS DOWN THE MOST: ==> 1. RADIO FREE TROAD <==
                       2. The Sphere
                       3. Top BBS
                       4. The Connection
                       5. Modem Mission

     Last year's winner, The Connection, shoots down to #4.  Sorry,
     Bill. I guess you'll have to leave it down more often.

BBS HARDEST TO GET MEMBERSHIP ON: ==> 1. BYTE ME! <==
                                      2. The Connection
                                      3. The Matrix
                                      4. Club Phoenix
                                      5. The Sphere

     This question kind of falls into the category of 'I Left It In
     Because No One Said To Leave It Out.'  It's not really a biggie, but
     it is kind of revealing.  Omega's board, called Misty Mountain when
     the last survey was run, jumped from second place to first,
     knocking last year's winner down to second.  Fight it out, guys.

FAVORITE BBS SOFTWARE: ==> 1. PC-BOARD <==
                           2. WWIV
                           3. New Image  (tie)
                           3. Teleguard  (tie)
                           5. Genesis

     Last year's winner pulled it off again - so well, in fact, that
     this question might be kind of useless in the future.  WWIV,
     unheard of in last year's survey, assumed the second place slot.
     An amazing number of people misunderstood this question (and the
     next two).  They thought it meant like just any kind of software
     and happily voted stuff like games and utilities.  I won't name
     any names to save a few folks from embarrassment.

LEAST FAVORITE BBS SOFTWARE: ==> 1. WWIV <==
                                 2. PC-Board
                                 3. RBBS-PC
                                 4. Minihost
                                 5. Phoenix   (tie)
                                 5. Wildcat   (tie)

     Predictably, the two most prominent picks in the Best category
     switch places in the Worst category.

FAVORITE TERMINAL SOFTWARE: ==> 1. PROCOMM PLUS <==
                                2. Telix
                                3. ProTerm
                                4. QModem
                                5. CommTerm

     Procomm Plus was FAR AND AWAY the winner here.  Another question we
     might have to do away with next year.

FAVORITE USER: ==> 1. DEAN COSTELLO <==  (tie)
                   1. Tyros              (tie)
                   3. Mark Maisel
                   4. Brett Thorn
                   5. Melanie

     I don't want to hear about it.  I swear up and down that this is
     how the people voted.  If it's any consolation, the people who got
     voted only got a few votes apiece.

     This was a fun one, in ways.... People praised their fellow users
     as "knowledgeable", "intelligent", "chatty", "weird", "nutty",
     "helpful" and - my favorite - "He has a good computer."

LEAST FAVORITE USER: ==> 1. OMEGA OHM <==
                         2. The Lover
                         3. Joe Hardwick  (tie)
                         3. Joel          (tie)

     These guys attracted even less votes.  A lot of people just
     couldn't answer the question.

     The ones who did, though, were plenty amusing.  "Complete jerk"
     was the most popular reason, and "immature" was a frequent one too.
     One user "has no redeeming qualities", and two different people
     voted someone "leech of the universe".  Boy, word gets around.
     Someone voted for Omega Ohm, noting "I hate it when he says 'byte
     me'."

BEST TRANSFER LIBRARIES: ==> 1. THE MATRIX <==
                             2. The Connection
                             3. Top BBS
                             4. Sperry
                             5. Magnolia

     Rocky's board flew away with the number-one spot, just like last
     year.  Everyone else was WAY behind.

WORST TRANSFER LIBRARIES: ==> 1. RADIO FREE TROAD <==  (tie)
                              1. Channel 8250          (tie)
                              3. Islands
                              4. Role-Player's Paradise

     Here's another question that didn't get many votes...A lot of
     people just don't pay a lot of attention, I guess.  I'm one of
     them.

MOST INTERESTING MESSAGES: ==> 1. CRUNCHY FROG <==
                               2. Top BBS
                               3. Channel 8250
                               4. The Connection
                               5. Club Phoenix

     The good ol' Frog exercised a sizable margin over its competition
     here.  One person said "all of them".  Hee hee.

LEAST INTERESTING MESSAGES: ==> 1. SPERRY <==
                                2. The Matrix
                                3. Byte Me!       (4-way tie)
                                3. Crunchy Frog   (4-way tie)
                                3. Magnolia       (4-way tie)
                                3. Outer Limits   (4-way tie)

     The funny part of this one is Crunchy Frog.  Nearly everyone who
     voted it for this category had some little snide comment to make
     about how loony the users were.  Yeah, they know, they know.

BEST BBS FEATURE: ==> 1. MESSAGES <==
                      2. Files
                      3. On-Line Chat
                      4. On-Line Games

     The ONLY multiple-choice question in the entire survey.  A few
     people insisted on putting "conferences".  That wasn't one of the
     options, darnit!

SUGGESTED CONFERENCES: ==> 1. X-RATED/SEX <==
                           2. Discussion
                           3. IBM    (tie)
                           3. Music  (tie)
                           5. Apple

     And now for a public service message.  I kind of hoped that this
     question might be a LITTLE helpful to local sysops in deciding
     what kind of conferences to put in.  All it told me is that
     Birmingham's BBS users are nothing but a bunch of sex-crazed people
     who occasionally use computers, talk politics and listen to music.

FAIREST TRANSFER RATIO: ==> 1. 10:1 <==
                            2.  5:1
                            3. unlimited
                            4.  1:1
                            5.  3:1

     Okay, I goofed this one up personally.  In the question, I
     specified that the answer be Uploads to Downloads.  Fortunately,
     most people ignored that and went with the more typical order.  A
     couple of people voted for a point system, and a few crackpots
     typed in some outrageous ratio like 4.9 quintillion to 1.  why, I
     oughta...

FAVORITE ONLINE GAME: ==> 1. TRADEWARS <==
                          2. Masters of the Universe  (3 way tie)
                          2. Top Gun Trivia           (3 way tie)
                          2. Planet Busters           (3 way tie)
                          5. Backgammon

     I wouldn't know anything about this category, so don't ask me.
     Yawn...

WHAT WOULD YOU PAY FOR 9600 BAUD?:

     One suggestion that I thought had merit was to find out what was
     the highest price is that people would pay for 9600 baud if they
     didn't already have it.  The average price we got was: $311.81
     although they ranged from $1000 to one cent.  Hmph.

FAVORITE TV SHOW: ==> 1. STAR TREK <==
                      2. Star Trek: The Next Generation
                      3. Night Court
                      4. The Cosby Show
                      5. News

     I think,a lot of people put Star Trek down when they meant Star
     Trek: The Next Generation.  Nonetheless, there you have it.  Other
     shows that also got votes were Doctor Who, Married...With Children
     and Quantum Leap.

FAVORITE MUSICAL ARTIST: ==> 1. PINK FLOYD <==
                             2. Billy Joel
                             3. Beatles
                             4. Willie Nelson

     Pretty diverse, eh? Personally, I wanted to hunt down anyone who
     voted for Willie Nelson, but this is a democracy, after all.

THE #1 PROBLEM IN AMERICA: ==> 1. DRUGS <==
                               2. AIDS/sexually transmitted diseases (tie)
                               2. Apathy                             (tie)
                               4. Crime
                               5. Education        (3 way tie)
                               5. Homelessness     (3 way tie)
                               5. Nuclear weapons  (3 way tie)

     I'm afraid that the evil scourge DRUGS ran away with the number one
     spot by a huge margin.  I was surprised that no one put Satanism.

POLITICAL BELIEFS: ==> 1. CONSERVATIVE <==
                       2. Republican
                       3. Liberal
                       4. Democrat
                       5. Moderate

     It's a one-word question.  Answer it with one word, next time,
     please.  Some other amusing ones were "mine, okay, loose, stinks,
     silly, what?, confused, skewed, and cogent."

DO YOU WANT A SURVEY NEXT YEAR?: ==> 1. YES  90.52 %  <==
                                     2. NO    7.85 %

     There you have it.  I guess I have to go through this again next
     year, then?  Thanks a lot.

SUGGESTIONS FOR THE NEXT SURVEY: ==> 1. MORE QUESTIONS <==
                                     2. Less questions             (tie)
                                     2. More space for answers     (tie)
                                     2. More sex-related questions (tie)
                                     2. More personal questions    (tie)

     Just for the record, I assumed that everyone who didn't answer this
     question like the survey the way it is.  "More questions"?  Yeah,
     RIGHT!



Well, looks like that's it.



=====================
CREDIT WHERE IT'S DUE
=====================

My thanks first and foremost to Mark Maisel and Dean Costello, who sat
around me offering moral support while I scribbled survey results down.
Mark also contributed a huge part of the technical support, and Dean,
after all, did write down some of the stuff for me when I went away for
a soft drink.

Also, thanks to all the sysops who put up with this craziness on their
board.  This includes Omega Ohm, Randy Hilliard, Kelly Rosato, Vikki
Highfield, Joe Kearley, Lord British, Monty, Bill Freeman and Alice. A
tip of the hat to these people's subordinates as well.

Thanks to everyone who offered suggestions: Richard Foshee, Ralph Bolen,
Bill Moxim, Fred Hambrecht, James Parson, Maggie Harden, Sliver Streak,
John Hayes, Geoff Taylor, Jet Thomas, Chris Mohney, Brett Thorn, Ace
Cannon, Tim Straughn, and many others.

Plus, a big final thanks to all the users who supported this survey and
those who support BTN.  It's been a lot of fun, and this whole mess has
probably distracted me from things that otherwise just would have
depressed me. I hesitate saying this on the record, but it looks like
there'll be a Third Annual Unofficial Birmingham BBS Poll as well.
Just give me some time to rest.


   ***** "I, for one, have better ways of getting my kicks." *****
                           - Joe McDonald -

========================================================================

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

ProDoor 3.1 of 10-08-89;
Copyright (C) 1987, 1989 Samuel H. Smith
by Ricky Morgan

                                Overview

     As I sit here, trying to get this review started, I keep thinking
about my first experience with ProDoor. It was about eight months ago
when I began getting on-line with the BBS community and while I
understood the basic operations of a computer, I was totally ignorant as
to exactly what a BBS was and what it was all about.

     I sat there at the computer and diligently read all the new user
messages, rules and regulations of the system, as well as the infamous
FCC warning that most boards hide in their bulletins somewhere. By the
time I had digested all this I was so scared of doing something wrong
that I rarely tried anything new; fearful of bringing down the wraith of
the dreaded SySop, or even worse, awakened in the middle of the night by
a knock on the door, being cuffed and drug off into the dark night by
agents of the FCC, never to be seen again, for violating some arcane
rule.

     Well, curiosity, as well as help from several of those SySops, who
turned out not to be so dreaded after all, soon had me trying just about
every choice on the main menu; except for the Operator page, which is
still delicate territory.

     The most enticing of those commands was of course OPEN. Open what?
A door. A door into what? There are game doors which obviously allow you
to play games, but there was also the enigmatic "ProDoor". It espoused
extended file transfer and a full screen text editor. To be quite
honest, until I was asked to write this review I knew little more than
that about it. Oh, sure I could use it to download and upload files
faster as well as compose messages off-line then upload them through the
full screen text editor; leaving that cute little tag line at the bottom
that reminds everyone that your message was left "Via ProDoor 3.1" but
aside from that, I just didn't see many other uses for ProDoor.

     It appears that my curiosity waned a bit too soon. At first glance,
ProDoor is nothing more than an enhancement of the Main menu commands
that are available under the regular BBS software. It is. It is also a
whole lot more. Let's find out just what ProDoor is.

     According to the documentation that Samuel H. Smith, the creator of
ProDoor, includes with the program it is a "Multi-Protocol Batch file
Transfer DOOR with Extended Archive Manipulation and Message Base
Access." Gosh, that clears things up for me is there anything else you
want to know?

     Seriously, there have been a lot of questions about just what
ProDoor is, what it does and what is it good for. I hope in the
following months that I can put into layman terms, (translation of
layman terms: someone who doesn't have a P.H.D. in Computer Programming)
just how useful ProDoor can be to the average user. With that in mind,
let's look at Rick's simplified definition of ProDoor.

     ProDoor is, put simply, a utility that runs outside of PCBoard
software and provides enhancements to the commands offered under
PCBoard. So what you are doing when you enter ProDoor, is basically
leaving PCBoard and entering ProDoor. Once inside ProDoor you will find
that most of the commands that are available under PCBoard are offered
under ProDoor, but where, under PCBoard the commands are generally
listed in alphabetical order, with apparent disregard as to which
commands are related to what. ProDoor divides the commands into groups
that are directly related, i.e, File Transfer, Conferences, Messages,
Zip or Archive functions, Elsewhere or PCBoard commands and Utilities
commands. Virtually anything that can be done under the PCBoard Main
Menu can be accomplished with ProDoor faster and, with a little
practice, easier.

     Because of the sheer number of commands and functions available
under both PCBoard and ProDoor; and to keep from boring everyone silly
with a long list of command comparisons, I am going to break this up
into several monthly articles. Each month I will attempt to review a
specific section dealing with each sub-menu separately; this will also
give me a little extra time to learn about all these great features that
I'm supposed to be telling you about.

     So with that in mind, next month I will attempt to review the
commands so near and dear to most everyone out there...File Transfer!



ProDoor 3.1 Copyright (C) 1987,1989 Samuel H. Smith.

PCBoard is a registered trademark of Clark Development Company.
---
 * Via ProDoor 3.1R

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Insights
by Ron Albright

     By the time you read this, an incredible achievement in the world
of computer books should be on the shelves of your local Waldenbooks and
Dalton's.  It is a tribute to our world of computer communications that
such a book was written at all.  Because of its nature, it is a tribute
to us all that it went from a "pipe dream" to being a monumental
reality.  Let me tell you a little about it.

     About 10 months ago, Nick Anis (a computer consultant in
California) and John Dvorak (the controversial columnist for PC Magazine
and elsewhere) came up with an idea for a book.  They posted a notice on
BBS's around the country about their proposed work, soliciting
contributions for its pages.  The book was visualized as the "be all, end
all" of books on computer communications.  Knowing that so single author,
or even two authors, could handle such a Herculean task, Anis and Dvorak
recruited 30 or so experts in various aspects of bits, bytes, and
BBS'ing.  What came to pass was so typical of our modem community.  Anis
and Dvorak's BBS (714-396-0014) was inundated - 10,000 or so calls -
with offers to help, ideas, and suggestions.  The resulting book is a
unique collection of essays by some of the real experts in computers and
modems.  The list of acknowledgements, alone, runs 12 pages and lists 350
people that contributed in large and small ways.  It took a special team
of 25 people at the publishing house just to put together and an
initial run of 35,000 copies - unheard of for a first-run computer book.
Obviously, someone there is convinced it will be the all-time smash in
the genre of computer books.

     I have to agree.  "Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications"
is something to behold.  Counting out at 1200 pages, costing $49.95, and
weighing in at almost 4 pounds (let me see here, that's $12 per pound - not
bad!), "The Guide" will quickly become the authoritative encyclopedia of
modem communications.  It is divided into three sections.  There is a
"Layman's Side" to get the uninitiated up to speed quickly.  It starts
at square one and paces the prospective modem jockey through the technology
- what is a modem, why is it needed, how does it work and what it does.
The next section, "The Technical Side," carries you forward into the
intricate world of bits, bytes, parity, RS232's, terminal emulators,
and cables.  As you would expect from a book this large, no stone is
left unturned - sending a fax by modem, international connections,
telecomputing, ISDN, modem modulation techniques, and laptops are all
covered.  There is even a section on Macintosh communications that
was partially written by the author of the popular "Red Rhyder" emulator
for the Mac, Scott Watkins.  There are chapters dealing with each of the
large commercial systems (CompuServe, GEnie, Delphi, Prodigy, BRS/After
Dark) as well as the entire spectrum of public BBS systems.  Over 300
screen images and illustrations are provided in the text.

     The final chapter deals with the "User's Guides" for the array of
software included with the book.  That's right - software.  The book is
bound with two 360K IBM-compatible disks.  On these two disks, Anis and
Dvorak have managed to ZIP nearly 1.4 megabytes of software.  Included is
the "Telix SE" that will get your computer online quickly and easily.
Once connected, you will use other programs (like Vern Buerg's famous
"List" utility to view text files, QEdit by Sammy Mitchell for word
processing, and PKZIP/PKUNZIP from Phil Katz for file
compacting/unpacking) for immediate productivity.  A set of diagnostic
programs is included should you run into trouble with your COM ports or
modem.  You even get a "point and shoot" menu program to facilitate your
access to these new packages.

     There is also "The Modem Tutor," a menu-driven disk tutorial of
telecommunications.  This software, by itself, would be worth the $49.95
price tag.  It offers text files explaining modems and how to chose one.
A section on how to deal with an illness most of our readers are
afflicted by called "modem addiction," and BBS's and their users from a
sysop's perspective.  There are hundreds of screens captured from some of
the most popular BBS's in the country to give you a feel for their
offerings.  Finally, there are actual sessions for seeing what it is
really like when you connect with these hosts.  Once you have stepped
through the tutorial, there will be few surprises when you connect to
the PC Board, Wildcat, Opus, or other BBS's for real.

     The appendices finalize the coverage.  There are lists of
manufacturers, every Telenet, Tymnet, and CompuServe node in the world,
and more.  There are also coupons for over $1500 worth of merchandise
with some serious discounts and freebies.

     The dedication for the book, I think, says it all.  It is dedicated
to "All Mankind."  It sort of tells the story of the book right there.
The book is a collection from a group of unselfish, knowledgeable modem
junkies that reflect the basic nature of the people you will meet
online.  I don't think one can find a singularly more friendly, giving,
and helpful group anywhere than the world of modem users.  If the United
Nations and their delegates were a fraction as unassuming and willing to
help others as are the people I have run into on BBS's and other
electronic systems across the country, I think wars and rumors of war
would become a forgotten fabrication.

     I heartily recommend "The Guide" to anyone - novice of expert.  Once
you have gone through its pages and (even partially) assimilated the
book's wealth of information, you will become yet another disciple of
the technology.  Check it over and I am sure you will agree.

"Dvorak's Guide to PC Telecommunications"
Osborne McGraw-Hill
 800-227-0900   <<<=======  is this the ISBN number? ******************
 $49.95
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Multitasking in Brief
Windows vs. DesqView

by Kelly Rosato

     In my last article I discussed OS/2 and its pros and cons.  Now we
will look at the multitasking alternatives that are here today and use
existing software. To clarify what I mean when I say multitasking, I
will first take a quick overview of what it means and how it is
accomplished.

    Multitasking means to be able to have your computer doing more than
one task at a time, such as working on this article while in another
task (often referred to as a "window") I am downloading a file.
Accomplishing this is fairly easy as there are several ways of doing it
for computer users.  For the IBM, there are several different programs
that support multitasking, such as DoubleDos, TaskSwitch, DesqView 286
and 386, Windows 386, Concurrent DOS, and OS/2.  I have reviewed OS/2
already, and was unable to obtain a copy of Concurrent DOS to evaluate.

     So I will give you overview of the systems available.  To clear a
point up, there are several different methods of multitasking, some are
programs that are used to keep several programs in a memory segment, not
shutting them down, but not letting them continue to run in the
background either, this is called 'carouseling' and is not 'true'
multitasking.  Then there are operating systems that support
multitasking such as Amiga Dos, Unix, and OS/2.  While it is true that
these are multitasking remember that they are either expensive or are
hardware specific.  Finally, there are programs that give a 'normal'
single tasking system the capability of running several programs at
once.  This review will cover the two most common ones, Windows 386 and
DesqView 386. (Note although these are configured for the 386, they
remain fairly the same for the 8088, 8086, and 80286 versions.)

     First I will look at Windows 386, from MicroSoft, developers of
MS-DOS. Some of the features of this program are very notable, first
being that it is developed for graphics applications like desktop
publishing, painting and to a limited extent games, providing a good
atmosphere for programs that rely heavily on graphics.  Windows provides
a somewhat consistent user interface via pull down menus available by
pressing hot keys or using a mouse. (I would not recommend running this
without a mouse.) One thing that I particularly liked was the fact
programs running in the background can be represented by little icons
that can be accessed with a simple click of the mouse, a drawback to
this being if you want to watch two windows at once you have to manually
resize it with the mouse.  This is not a major drawback, but annoying
all the same. The best feature for Windows is that by switching
directories and clicking on the program you want, Windows will try to
run it, not always succeeding and having special trouble with batch
files. With a little tinkering, most things can be made to run. The
drawbacks are many.  You MUST have 2 megabytes of Expanded RAM available
for Windows 386, otherwise you'll be stuck with only what little
programs you can fit. Windows will take about 400 K for it's own use
with it's memory manager taking another 60 K. It also uses a system of
16K memory segments for forcing programs to mirror themselves into,
instead of utilizing the full capabilities of the 386 to make virtual
8086 machines with each having its own 640 K environment. Windows will
not run in in the 32 bit protected mode unless the program being run
forces it to operate in the 32 bit protected mode. Because of the
graphics interface it uses it is slow as Christmas. Finally, for
$240.00, it was one of the most expensive Multitasking programs I have
worked with.

     The other one I tested and continue to use is DesqView 386 by
QuarterDeck Software. DesqView uses what is called a "text-based"
interface meaning that it's best performance is with text or ANSI based
programs. Although graphics programs used to lock DesqView up, and send
it into all sorts of fits, the new BIOS management for graphics are much
improved. DesqView does not provide as much mouse interfacing as does
Windows 386 and can often cause problems with programs that don't
support a mouse interface. However, with a single hot key or cursor
selection this does not cause much of a problem.  One thing that stands
out about DesqView is speed, and with but two keys I can switch between
tasks as fast as I can push buttons. Desqview needs little special
hardware and half as much memory as Windows. Desqview also comes with 75
program selections already configured to run under it. In order to run
any of these 75 preconfigured selections, all you need to do is add the
most frequently used ones to your permanent menu.  If you wish to use
software not among the 75 already set up for Desqview, then you must
configure a new menu selection so that your program will run under
Desqview although you can get around this by running a program and then
exiting from it to DOS and running another program in that memory
segment. Also a good point with having to insert each program manually,
you can specify the window size when it opens, doing away with resizing
(you can change it quickly though) and also specify the color palette as
well, a nice change from plain black and white text all the time. The
drawbacks in DesqView are minor and more irritating than bad. The first
problem I had is little mouse support as mice seem to cause conflicts
between DesqView and programs that don't even support a mouse, even with
them in separate segments. Second, the graphics are still a problem for
DesqView as graphics intensive games often lock up other windows. This
is due to DesqView being unable to control direct screen writes, and
leaving programs open to conflict. In all though with the speed, ease of
use, and price of $138.00, Desqview makes a fine environment for
multitasking.

     In summary, the program that is best for you depends on your
application. If you intend to do desktop publishing or some other
graphics intensive work, then Windows 386 is a good, reliable program.
Its user friendly point and shoot interface makes it easy to use. On the
other hand if you intend to do work that requires more processing
devoted to the application, such as spreadsheets, data entry or word
processing, the text based DesqView 386 is a good choice.

DesqView by Quarterdeck Software
$138.00

Windows 386 by Microsoft
$240.00

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

PRO FILE
by Chris Mohney

The Pro File 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  DEAN COSTELLO

---------

Age:  24

Birthplace:  Cambridge, Maryland

Occupation:  Economic Parasite on my Parents, until I get out of
             Graduate School

My hobbies include:  Buying CDs, trying to get rid of a Fiero, keeping
                     my fish alive, busting on Southern people, beating
                     on my computer, and biting the heads off of
                     whippets.

Years telecomputing:  Well, it all started about 8 years ago, when I
                      first connected with CompuServe on my TI 99.  I
                      started in Birmingham I think in about November
                      (check with Bill Freeman, and to give you an
                      idea, I was registered on Point of No Return).  I
                      started getting into local boards in a big way in
                      April or May, and it has become a kind of
                      obsession with me ever since. Which may explain
                      why I am doing this accursed survey at 3am, and I
                      have an 8 a.m. class.

My oddest habit is:  Hmm.  Where to start.  Probably the curious
                     compulsion to be God, and then make people play
                     along with me.

My greatest unfulfilled ambition is:  See Oddest Habit.  Well, that and
                                      I haven't won a Nobel Prize yet.
                                      I noticed I got passed over again
                                      this year.  Alas ...

The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is:
     This will sound stupid, but probably getting into graduate school.
     Judging by my less-than-stellar undergraduate record, that says
     something about how desperate southern schools were for real
     academic talent.

My favorite performers are:  A couple in Highland Park a couple of
                             nights ago. No, probably Tony Banks, Frank
                             Zappa, Keith Emerson, and my Brother,
                             Scott, a bass player in a band in
                             Baltimore.

The last good movie I saw was:  I never see movies, since as my friends
                                here say, I live in a cave, therefore I
                                don't do anything, let alone see a
                                movie.

The last good book I read was:  This may sound more stupid than my
                                single accomplishment, but my
                                Toxicology Book.  Ask Mark's wife Kathy
                                some- time ...

If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played
by:
     If there were to be a movie made about my life, it would surely be
     a sign of the apocalypse, and therefore it is a moot point, since
     it would never get out of pre-production.

My pet peeves are:  All the drivers in the South. I have driven all up
and down the east coast, and I have never seen such a population like
Birmingham that is so consistently piss-poor in their driving habits.

When nobody's looking, I like to:  Show on my face what I really think
                                   of people I am talking to, or mock
                                   them (which more times than not is
                                   the same thing anyway).

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

The Windows Column:  Command Post ver 6.2K
by Eric Hunt

     Whenever the subject of Windows comes up, the conversation always
turns to the barren MS-DOS Executive screen that appears when Windows is
loaded. Critics argue that the Executive screen defeats the purpose of
having an intuitive graphical interface, and that new computer users
have no idea what to do or how to do anything. I have a friend who has
an Apple IIGS and has used Macintoshes (considered THE intuitive
graphical interface by some) extensively and wondered aloud the first
time he ran Windows: "What is THIS garbage?" Command Post was written to
solve this. A shareware program, Command Post eliminates the searching
and then double-clicking of favorite programs by placing them in main
menu selections. Command Post also solves the problem of file
maintenance by allowing two concurrent CmdPost windows to be open
simultaneously with the ability to move or transfer files between them.

     Command Post's main strength lies in its ability to add a second
menu line below the original Windows menu bar. In this menu line, you
can define any menu selection and add programs or actions within it. You
also have the ability to use dialogue boxes with prompts. For instance,
you can have the main menu selection of Letters with Mom and Dad under
it. When you select Mom, Command Post asks you for a filename and then
passes that filename to whatever word processor you have installed in
the user-defined menu selection. This ease of use comes at a price,
however. You must have considerable patience in order to read through
the sample Command Post Menu file and learn the syntax for creating your
own menu file. Most users will find that modifying the existing one will
be much simpler than creating a new one from scratch. This allows for a
menu system allowing the user to totally bypass and ignore the MS-DOS
Executive screen and focus on the menu selections that he has defined.
In addition to adding the second menu line, Command Post expands the
existing menus by adding the Windows and CmdPost selections. Windows
allows structured stacking of the programs and their windows and CmdPost
contains all of the information selections (such as entering your
license number, information about Command Post, and system information)
in addition to hotselect items that take you straight to the Control
Panel, Dos C:> prompt, the Clipboard and to load another Command Post
for file handling.

     There are also a few other little goodies that come with Command
Post -- the visual directory tree (which works on Windows without
Command Post, also) that allows you to double-click on a desired
directory and the Executive display will be changed to reflect that.
Also, a movable status bar that can display the time and date or the
title "Command Post Ver 6.2K" is constantly on the screen and will
always rise to the top layer of windows to be visible. I find this to be
a neat trick. While playing Taipei!, the status bar disappears while the
program is loading and Windows is swapping to disk, but it reappears in
the exact same spot as soon as the program runs, often obscuring
important features below it. It can, however, be moved to any location
that suits you. I did find that it presented problems for the display
algorithms in Balance of Power: 1990 and slowed that program down
considerably. The last little goodie is the ability (upon registration)
to change the Command Post title bar from "Command Post" to whatever you
choose -- "Ed's Waxworks", "Hewitt High Lab computer", etc, etc.

     Command Post ver 6.2K is a useful piece of Windows software, and it
is shareware to boot! At $20 to register, it also has a very appealing
price. The small disadvantage of having to learn how to write your own
menu bar is far outweighed by the advantages in file handling and
ease-of-use offered by the custom menu bars.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Backup Heaven
By Dr. Ebcdic

     The DOC's back, only this time he isn't talking about Cybernetics.
I can hear you now saying, "Hey it's that DOC fellow, you know the one
that always starts his articles with a question?".  Even if you didn't
say that I will still ask you a question.  Do you dread backing up your
hard drive? I know I do, as all that disk swapping gets boring. It's
VIDEOTRAX to the rescue.  Let's step backward through time into
1982.  In 1982 most people could back up their entire hard disk on 25 or
30 floppies or even fewer disks using programs like Fifth Generation's
FastBack Plus that provide backup Automation and file Compression
simultaneously.

     What was feasible with a 10 or 20MB Hard Disk may not be all that
great an idea these days when some Computers come with 70 or 120MB Hard
Disks as standard and offer 300 + MB Hard Disk options.  It takes about
195 360K floppy disks to make an uncompressed backup of a 70MB Hard Disk.
It would take 2 hours of Formating and several more hours of BORING Disk
swapping to perform the backup. One option would be to purchase a tape
drive that cost more than $1000.00 and only stores 60MB or so per tape at
a cost of around $25.00 each tape.

     Why 1982 you may be wondering?  Well, in 1982 Alpha Micro Corporation
started marketing the VIDEOTRAX Hardware and Software in a PC version.
Imagine walking into your local drug store and purchasing a VCR tape
costing about $5.00 or $6.00, and putting it in your own VCR, pushing a few
buttons, and backing up nearly 200MB on that VHS or Beta tape.  Sure it will
take a few (up to six) hours to fill that tape, but, so what, you don't
have to stick around, and think of all that money you will save!
You can store vast amounts of data on your standard VCR tape for a fraction
of the cost of a floppy disk backup, and even make duplicates of your files
using two VCR's.

     What about other possibilities you may be asking?  Well, actually
VIDEOTRAX is a "VIDEO" modem, converting any computer data into standard
video broadcast signals.  The BBC was the first to recognize the potential
of VIDEOTRAX when they broadcast the text of ALICE IN WONDERLAND, in May
of 1985, at a rate of about 40,000 Characters per second.  A maximum
transmission rate of 80Kbps is possible with VIDEOTRAX (by way of
comparison, a fast audio modem is 2.4Kbps or 9.6Kbps) which makes it very
attractive to companies wishing to send data via expensive satellite
transponders.

     NASA's Science Fiction Science Fact program (showing on many PBS
stations) included a test of VIDEOTRAX data transmission, and programs
from NASA's Lewis Research Center having VIDEOTRAX encoded data are
broadcast through the Southern Educational Communication Association
(SECA) every Sunday at 12 noon Eastern time using the Westar 4 Satellite
transmitter 11 direct (Channel 21) with audio on 6.8MHz.  Home Satellite
dish owners can pick up the transmission, and it is carried by a number
of cable companies.

     Although you can use your own VCR (or any other type of Video
Recorder, even a reel-to-reel machine) with the VIDEOTRAX board, Alpha
Micro also sells specially modified VHS VCRs (the current one is a
Zenith) that can be connected to the board for totally automatic pre-set
backup, verify, and restore operations.  The VCR will serve its original
function of recording the Super Bowl for Dad as well.  It can take about
an hour to store and verify about 20MB of data completely.  It will take
about 24 minutes to backup 20MB of data without verification.

     You can greatly speed backups choosing to copy only certain
directories, or just files modified since the last backup.  Both options
are simple menu driven choices.  Image mode backups are even faster, but
you must store the entire logical disk partition and can't restore individual files when using the image mode as you can with the file mode
backup.  For file mode restore you set the directories or files (using
wild cards * and ?) then just start the tape playing and walk away for
lunch and the files will be automatically restored, no matter where they
are located on the tape.

     Installation is as simple as copying the driver from the supplied
disk to the IBM configuration disk, plugging in the board, and running
the auto-configuration program.  Hooking up to a VCR is also simple,
with just two (video in/out) RCA jacks that you connect to your VCR
using standard dubbing cables.  Just think if you had one of those
streamer tape backup units and it broke down, it could take a few days
or weeks to get the unit repaired.  With VIDEOTRAX if your VCR breaks
down you could borrow one from you friend or in the worst instance buy
or rent another at your local VCR store.

     Nice features include the preset backup where you can set a specified
backup (and optional verify) to take place at a later time.  When the pre-set time comes and the computer next returns to a DOS prompt, VIDEOTRAX
takes over and completes the backup procedure without any interference
by the operator who may be a data entry clerk and know little or nothing
about computers.  Enough talk you say!  How about some prices?

                Alpha Micro, 3501 Sunflower,
                Santa Ana, CA  92799.
                800-253-3434  or 714-957-8500
     VCR with controller board and software $1299
     Controller and software for use with other VCR $499.
     The specially modified VCR alone is $800.

CIAO.             ========== THE DOC ==========
                  A.K.A. Ferlin H. Scarborough.

     References:
         Computer Shopper Vol. 9 No. 1  Isuue 108.
         Videotrax article Jan 1989 by. John McCormick.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message Board
by Barry Bowden


                            DECEMBER 1989

                         S  M  T  W  T  F  S
                                        1  2
                         3  4  5  6  7  8  9
                        10 11 12 13 14 15 16
                        17 18 19 20 21 22 23
                        24 25 26 27 28 29 30
                        31

December 2  FAOUG
December 3  BIPUG
December 7  Pearl Harbor Day, 1941
December 10 BCCC
            BAC
December 11 BACE
December 12 CCS (C64/C128)
December 15 BEPCUG
December 18 CCS (Amiga)
December 19 CADUB
December 21 Winter Begins
December 24 BCCC
December 25 Christmas
December 26 CCS (C64/C128)
December 31 New Years Eve

BEPCUG                              CCS
Birmingham East PC Users Group      Commodore Club South
Jefferson Sate Jr. College          Springville Road Library
Ruby Carson Hall, Rm 114            2nd & 4th Tuesday (C64/C128)
3rd Friday, 7-9 PM                  3rd Monday (Amiga)
Paula Ballard 251-6058 (after 5PM)  7:30-10 PM
                                    Maurice Lovelady 684-6843

BCCC                                BIPUG
Birmingham Commodore Computer Club  Birmingham IBM-PC Users Group
POB 59564                           UAB Nutrition Science Blg
Birmingham, Al 35259                RM 535/541
UAB School of Education, Rm 153     1st Sunday (delayed one week
2nd and 4th Sundays, 2 PM              if meeting is a holiday)
Rusty Hargett 854-5172              Marty Schulman 967-5883

BACE                                FAOUG
Birmingham Atari Computer           First Alabama Osborne Users
Enthusiast                          Group
Vestavia Library, downstairs        Homewood Library
2nd Monday, 7 PM                    1st Saturday, 1PM
Benny Brown 822-5059                Ed Purquez 669-5200

CADUB                               BAC
CAD Users of Birmingham             Birmingham Apple Corps
3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM          Homewood Library
Bobby Benson 791-0426               10 Office Park
                                    Mountain Brook
                                    2nd Saturday, 10:30 AM
                                    Informal get together every
                                       Saturday, Kopper Kettle,
                                       Brookwood Village at 9 AM
                                    J. Jenkins 823-1968

If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed, please let
me know by sending E-Mail to me thru EzNet. Please leave the group name
and a contact person/phone number.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Book Review with
Karsten Propper

     Usually, I pick out a book using the following steps given to me
from various friends who are also reading fanatics.  I look at the
cover, read the back summary, and then take a look at the story's
structure. I usually look for mindless sidetracks that the author has
taken. That step has allowed me to bypass the series Douglas Adams wrote
starting with the book "Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy"

     Many people say that you can't judge a book by its cover. I've
found that cliche to be both true and false. I looked at the cover of
"Nul's Quest", by Brad Strickland. It has a very good cover. Incredible
art work. I read half the book and totally lost interest. "The Third
Book of Lost Swords" by Fred Saberhagan has a fairly dull cover, but was
a very good book.

     Well, anyway, without further ado, my book ...

     The book I'll be reviewing is "The Incorporated Knight" by L.
Sprague and Catherine Crook de Camp. The cover is quite interesting,
with a picture of an ogre facing a knight. The back summary was very
simple, but also very catching, and here's what it said:

     "It's never easy being a knight, especially for practical Eudoric
Dambertson, whose mind and temperament are better suited to trade than
to the highly impractical demands of chivalry. Take the simple matter of
courting a wife. To please his potential father-in-law, the enchanter
Baldonious, the young man must bring back two square yards of dragon
hide. Only then can he earn his knightly spurs and the hand of the
beauteous Lusina. But battles with dragons always seem to go better in
the ballads ....."

     The book was very well written. No jokes or wisecracks by the
characters, it was just a good book. It did have a few amusing parts
that were very well handled by the author. For example, a task that was
assigned to the knight, Eudoric, was to get a unicorn. It is known that
a unicorn will only sit next to a virgin, and finding one proved no easy
task. The one that they had found turned out to be the dirtiest woman in
the city. A curse had been placed on her father that provided for his
death, should he bathe. As a result of this, he forbade his family from
bathing. Therefore, his daughter was a virgin, and a filthy one at that.

     Eudoric and his companion, Emmerhard, set the trap for the unicorn.
But first, the virgin had to take a bath. After bathing her, they set
her down next to a tree and placed a net above her and to the left. The
unicorn was to sit down and then Eudoric was to let the net go and trap
the unicorn.

     All went to plan except at the last moment, before the unicorn sat
down, it looked at the "virgin" and ran off. It later turned out that
she was very beautiful when clean, and the young Emmerhard had made her
a virgin no longer.

     The book is broken up into adventures. A chapter is dedicated to an
adventure that Eudoric had taken.

     And now, my recommendation. It is science fiction/fantasy. I would
recommend the book to most avid fans. If you like a book that has fairly
little humor, and a semi-fair plot, this book is certainly for you.

     The authors, L. Sprague and Catherine Crook de Camp, both write
novels about Eudoric Dambertson and also a character named Esquire:
slayer of dragons, killer of majestic spiders, pursuer of unicorns.

     And that is it for this segment of my review. The next review will
be "Prison Ship"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area

NAME                       NUMBER     BAUD RATES SUPPORTED   MODEM TYPE

*American BBS              674-1851   300, 1200, 2400
*Bus System BBS            595-1627   300, 1200, 2400
*Byte Me                   979-2983        1200, 2400
Cat House                  854-5907   300, 1200, 2400
*Channel 8250              744-8546   300, 1200, 2400, 9600  HST, V.32
Club Phoenix               942-0252   300, 1200, 2400
*Crunchy Frog              956-1755   300, 1200, 2400
D3 Systems BBS             663-2759   300, 1200, 2400, 9600  HST, V.32
+Duck Pond BBS             822-0956   300, 1200, 2400, 9600  HST, V.32
Elite Fleet                853-1257   300, 1200, 2400
Gizmo's Atari BBS          854-0698   300, 1200, 2400
+I.S.A. BBS                995-6590   300, 1200, 2400
*Joker's Castle            744-6120   300, 1200, 2400
*Little Kingdom            823-9175   300, 1200, 2400
LZ Birmingham              870-7770   300, 1200, 2400
*Magnolia BBS              854-6407   300, 1200, 2400, 9600  HST
Penny Arcade               226-1841   300, 1200, 2400
Posys BBS                  854-5131   300, 1200, 2400
ProSoft Systems BBS        853-8718   300, 1200, 2400
Role Player's Paradise     631-7654   300, 1200, 2400
Shadetree BBS              787-6723   300, 1200, 2400
Sperry BBS                 853-6144   300, 1200, 2400, 9600  Hayes
*ST BBS                    836-9311   300, 1200, 2400
The Connection Node 1      854-9074        1200, 2400
The Connection Node 2      854-2308        1200, 2400
The Islands BBS            870-7776   300, 1200, 2400
The Matrix Nodes 1-4       323-2016   300, 1200, 2400
The Matrix Node 5          251-2344   300, 1200, 2400, 9600  HST
The Outer Limits           969-3262        1200, 2400, 9600  HST
*The Professional's Board  856-0679   300, 1200, 2400
Twilight Zone              856-3783   300, 1200
Willie's DYM Node 1        979-1629   300, 1200, 2400
Willie's DYM Node 2        979-7739   300, 1200, 2400
Willie's RBBS              979-7743   300, 1200, 2400
Ziggy Unaxess              991-5696   300, 1200

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 FidoNet, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

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 Writers conference from Crunchy Frog it will wind
     up in the Writers 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

American BBS ........ * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..
Bus System BBS ...... * ..... * ..... * .....   ..... * ..... * ..
Byte Me ............. * ..... * ..... * ..... * .....   .....   ..
Channel 8250 ........ * ..... * ..... * .....   ..... * .....   ..
Crunchy Frog ........ * .....   ..... * ..... * .....   ..... * ..
Joker's Castle ...... * .....   .....   ..... * .....   .....   ..
Little Kingdom ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... * .....   ..
Magnolia BBS ........ * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..
Professional's Board  * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..
ST BBS .............. * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..

