BTN:  Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1991            ISSN 1055-4548

November 1991    Volume 4, Issue 10

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

Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
Publisher's Corner.............................Mark Maisel
FALL COMDEX 1991...............................Raymond Hugh
Of Ghoulies, Ghosties..........................Ricky Morgan
In The Beginning...............................Bob Crawford
Party Review...................................Michael Walker
Windows:  Software Update......................Eric Hunt
The Adventures of R.G. Strangemind & Herbert...Jeremy Lewis
Notes From The Trenches........................Dean Costello
ProFile:  Judy Ranelli.........................Scott Hollifield
Special Interest Groups (SIGs).................Barry Bowden
Known BBS Numbers..............................Staff

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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
(205)-956-0176

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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         F R E E B I E :  G E T  I T  W H I L E  I T S  H O T !

The following boards allow BTN to be downloaded freely, that is with no
charge to any existing upload/download ratios.

The Connection          LZ Birmingham           Alter-Ego
Channel 8250            Little Kingdom          Joker's Castle
Crunchy Frog            Myth Drannor            Posys BBS
The Matrix              Abject Poverty          The Bus
The Outer Limits        Bloom County            The Round Table
DC Info Exchange        Radio Free Troad        Owlabama BBS
Amiga Alliance ][       DataLynx                Martyrdom Again?!
Arkham Asylum

If you are a sysop and you allow BTN to be downloaded freely, please let
me know via EZNet so that I can post your board as a free BTN
distributor.  Thanks.  MM

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                           N E W S  F L A S H

        -----------------------------------------------------------
                                CORRECTION
        -----------------------------------------------------------

          In last month's issue, I reported that the national BBS
         message echo of the OTO (Ordo Templi Orientis) was called
        "95Net".  It is actually called "93Net".  This may not seem
        like a big difference to you or me, but I'm told that 93 is
         a heavy number with the OTO and I just wanted to set the
        official record straight.  BTN regrets the error, as do I.

                                                  Scott Hollifield

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

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Publisher's Corner
by Mark Maisel

     It sure has been a busy month.  I've just returned from a trip
covering Atlanta, San Francisco, and Las Vegas.  I started in Atlanta
taking Kathy to the Stone Mountain Scottish Highland Games.  Whoopie!
The people are very nice but I don't get much out of watching men run
around in kilts, throwing things.  From there, I flew to San Francisco
to hook up with some Bytebrothers for a trip across the desert to Las
Vegas and Fall Comdex.

     The trip to San Francisco revealed a very crowded but beautiful
nonetheless, city that I didn't have nearly enough time to see except
from the freeway.  There isn't much to talk about there excepting the
hospitality of my hosts.  I got prompt pick-up service and a good dinner
when I arrived.

     Las Vegas was definitely a different sort of experience.  I've
never seen anything quite like it.  The desert didn't do much for me.
The only really interesting thing I saw in the desert was when we
finally arrived at the Nevada border, and were greeted with a harsh
barrage of light from the border casinos.  We drove on by those and
continued back into the darkness.  At night, there is an awful lot of
that to be found in the desert.  All of a sudden, out of the blackness,
there appeared a HUGE body of light.  It loomed larger and larger, as we
approached.  The light began to take on shapes and we recognized what
appeared to be a substantial city out in the middle of "nowhere".  The
traffic got heavy as we approached, both coming and going.  Finally we
were able to see the famous "Strip" and we drove down it looking for our
hotel, reserved for us by what we thought were the kind people at the
Las Vegas tourist agency, or whatever they call themselves.  We drove on
and our hotel didn't appear, though we'd been told it was conveniently
located to the Strip and thus allowed us easy access to the many Comdex
sites.  This was not the case.  In addition, there were many vacancies
advertised by the major resorts on the Strip, contrary to what we'd been
told by the tourist agency.  We had pre-paid so there was no possibility
of forgetting about this place we couldn't find, and settling in on the
Strip.  At long last, and after two phone calls to the place, we finally
found it.  It was grubby to say the least, and was only convenient to
the city jail which was located on the opposite corner.  We got in there
and settled in.  We cleaned up and went out to see the Strip, eat
dinner, and watch RayHugh try to donate money to the casinos.

The next day, we hit the show.  There will be many articles coming out
of the show, or as a result of contacts made during it.  I highly
recommend it to anyone who has a serious interest in micro-computing
trends.  It is significantly larger and better attended than the Spring
Comdex.  Anyway, we registered and hit our first site.  We met many
folks in the industry, some of whom we'd talked to on bbs'.  Our phone
broke, due to a tangled cable, when I tried to pick it up for a call
home.  It took over a day to get it fixed.  The pool was closed, as we
found out when we went to soak our feet after a day on the show floor.
We made our complaints known, and the next day, the pool, opened, was
about the nastiest body of water in which I've swum.  Things started to
get bad after these events.  We managed to get invited to quite a few of
the private parties that occur through the week.  These are the best way
to make contacts.  The "insider" parties we missed because the hotel
front desk misplaced our messages till a full day after they'd beeen
left.  We became unhappy.  We made up for the hotel by spending lots of
time at parties, casinos, and hanging out with various vendors,
Bytebrothers, and other folks we ran into while in Las Vegas.  There
will be reports, hopefully in this issue, and for certain in upcoming
ones, on the Fall Comdex.  There is lots to talk about so be patient as
we will get there.

Suffice it to say here that when I returned to Atlanta at 1:00 a.m.,
October 26th, I was exhausted.  The total mileage one would have walked
to have seen every exhibit at Fall Comdex is over 93 miles.  I saw all
but one of the smaller halls.  I would have paid a tidy sum for a hot
tub to soak in when I got off that plane.  Valeria and Kathy picked me
at Hellsfield and drove me to Val's condo for some sleep.  We woke up
the next morning for the drive to Birmingham for the annual Halloween
party.  We got home with about two hours to go till party time.  We were
all tired by then and sat around mindlessly.

To my complete ignorance, a prank had been scheduled with me as victim,
for the party that night.  For those of you who had a hand in it, I am
very flattered, and amazed that someone would go to all that trouble.
For those of you who missed it, here goes...  Some background is in
order.  I really stress costumes at the party each year, and there are
many who don't want to get into the spirit as much as I'd like.  In
addition, I almost always dress in a t-shirt, sweat pants, and
flip-flops.  I drove over to Rocky's about 7 p.m. for the party, was
ushered onto the porch, and what do you think I saw?  There were about
15 folks dressed just like me, and they all had t-shirts that said "I
came to the BTN party dressed as Mark Maisel".  Not only was I taken
completely by surprise, I was so stunned as to become totally
disoriented.  I swear I heard my jaw hit the porch.  I tried to
recuperate and get some sort of comment out but nothing came, although
if it had, I don't know that my mouth would have cooperated.  There was
silence for a few minutes while I took the sight in, and then the
response that came up was uncontrollable laughter.  It was amusing and
definitely different.  The party was great fun and I lasted till 2 a.m.,
when Kathy called and asked me to come home.  She'd been in Atlanta all
week and was going to have to go back, so she wanted to spend some time
with me prior to her return.  I'm sure that she thoroughly enjoyed
listening to me snore as I became very sleepy the minute I laid down.

I really don't have much else to talk about as the only things I've been
aware of have been these trips and the party.  It has been mostly lots
of fun but it sure has been tiring.  I gotta go now as there is another
party over in Stone Mountain, GA that requires my attention.  Whew, what
a life!

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......and now the long-awaited sequel.....

FALL COMDEX 1991
or, How I Spent My Birthday Week
by Raymond Hugh

     Since I wrote something for the Spring edition of this thingy, and
since Maisel bugged me about it, I s'pose I'll write up a little
something for Fall Comdex in sunny Las Vegas....

     First off, DON'T drive from Daly City, CA, to Las Vegas! Especially
not with the Bun-man and Maisel!  TEN AND A HALF grueling hours....!
The only redeeming thing about the whole drive was seeing the bright
strip of lights from the highway as we're driving in. Reminds me of the
Trashcan Man in Steven King's "The Stand" as he's walking into the city.

     As if the drive wasn't long enough, we took half an hour and *two*
phone calls to the hotel before we found it.  Either the people at the
hotel didn't know where they are located, or Maisel can't write down
directions.  Take your pick...

     And what a lovely room it was:  two queen size beds (Richard Foshee
should be sorry he wasn't there), a pseudo-color TV (good thing we
didn't come to watch any!), an elevator that took forever and a day to
show up, and, to top it off, maids in drag.

     We found out how bad it was when we found Eric Rintell, who shall
be known hereafter as MR. RINTELL.  The reason will become readily
apparent soon.  He booked his room only the week before the show, and he
got a room at Caesar's Palace, at half the price of ours, and with a
jacuzzi in the room!  This is a place where the operator greets him by
name on the FIRST RING.  Can you say MR. RINTELL?

     As for Comdex itself, well, it was like the one in Hotlanta earlier
this year, only bigger...a lot bigger.  It was so big there were several
places where you can register.  MR. RINTELL tells us where to go (can
you blame him?) to register more quickly than going to the main
registration area.  As it was, we would've been out of there in no time
if it hadn't been for the people behind the desk. They couldn't type to
save their lives.

     The most memorable event that day was when Bundy mentioned Wildcat!
to the PCBoard people.  David Terry (the PCBoard author, for those of
you who don't know him) looked like he was going to drop a cow.  It was
an amusing sight.

     By two o'clock, we had hit two of the smaller convention halls, and
my two fellow compatriots were pooped.  They went back to the hotel room
from hell to relax and enjoy the pool.  Little did they know of the
excitement awaiting them.....I went to Caesar's Palace to check out some
more exhibits, and to wait for them, since the US Robotics party was
there. However, there were no exhibits at Caesar's, only one-armed
bandits, blackjack tables, roulette tables, and assorted other
instruments of money-grabbing.

     Having learned my lesson the previous night about the slots, I sat
down at a blackjack table.  There are not too many things you can do for
three hours on $40 that is more enjoyable...well, maybe there are, but
at least at the blackjack table, you don't have to worry about
communicable diseases.

     At the US Robotics party, I found out that our pool was 'closed for
cleaning,' our phone was broken (helped along by Mark), amongst other
fun news.  We talked to MR. RINTELL, who told us how he crashed the
Hewlett Packard party, and the US Robotics party, and about his past
exploits at the Spencer Katt parties.  I think the Bun One popped a vein
when he found out how high (and how utterly misplaced) MR. RINTELL's
ethics were. Be sure to ask MR. RINTELL about it.

     We went to visit MR. RINTELL's room for a while, and listen to him
regale us with tales of how he got this and that from the vendors, and
how he would have to throw out some stuff because he just couldn't fit
any more into his house.  At about this point, Bundy received a
revelation and found religion in MR. RINTELL.  As we left the room, MR.
RINTELL was going over the list of vendors to see what he was going to
scam next.

     From then on, Bundy went around trying to get as much 'stuff' as he
can, and comparing it to what we got.  So what if I got two water
bottles to his one, or two Maynard bags to his one, or a better US
Robotics shirt than he did?  It didn't make a difference to
me.....hehehe...the only reason he got a copy of Wildcat! was because he
knows Rick Heming.

     Anyway, the first day is pretty much a microcosm of the rest of the
week.  We ate at the breakfast buffet (no seconds for Mark!), hit the
booths for a few hours, trying to get to as many places as we can, watch
Bundy grab as much as he can, relax for a little while, go to a few
parties, listen to MR. RINTELL tell some more stories, go to a casino
and have Mark and Bundy watch me win at blackjack.

     There weren't too many exhibits that stood out like the one at
Electrohome for Spring Comdex.  But then again, we didn't hit all the
halls.  The most garish exhibit I saw was the one at Computer
Asscociates (Kathy's favorite computer vendor).  They had a mock
heavyweight bout, complete with George Michael on tape, Fred Travelina
(oops, forgot how to spell his name) doing Howard Cosell impressions,
and Smoking Joe Frazier signing autographs.

     Another thing of note was the pullout by Compaq.  Apparently, the
Interface Group, the ones who runs these shows, knew beforehand that
Compaq was not showing up, but held back the news lest attendees stay
away.  It seems Compaq wants to be a big fish in a smaller show, rather
be 'just another vendor' at a show like Comdex.  There were a few other
no-shows, but none as big as Compaq.

     Speaking of no-shows, Mark Walker, the Marine from California, was
supposed to set up a ByteBrothers dinner.  But, of course, the West
Coast No Show C@#$!*#$)(, did not show up.  We could have had one
anyway, but, alas, by the time we realized it, it was already too late,
and we were having too much fun partying to care.

     All in all, I would say it sure was a fun week, and for those of
you who missed out...it was your choice, so tough cookies!  Next time,
make sure you get there!  Hahahahaha!!!!

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Of Ghoulies, Ghosties and Hard Drives That Go Bump In The Night.
by Ricky Morgan

     Many moons ago, I promised Mark Maisel an article for BTN. I have
written one or two, in an attempt to convince him that he really didn't
want me writing for him, seemingly to no avail.

     As things go, shortly after I promised him another article, real
life interjected itself and I became forced to spend more and more time
actively working for a living.  The article I promised Mark was
effectively shelved for quite some time.  Which was okay since Mark quit
bothering me and I just didn't have, what I felt was, a good topic
anyway.  Be that as it may, I'm fiercely loyal to promises made and the
fact that I HAD promised meant that, sooner or later, I would have to
sit down and cough out something.

     Strangely enough, when I was least expecting it, a half way decent
topic; of which I'm fixing to get to, literally got dumped in my lap.
So to Mark, here it is, better late than never.

     A month or so ago I purchased a brand spanking new 386 computer
system, under the guise of needing it for work; which in its own way was
true enough.  But then that's probably another story.

     For four weeks I was in computer heaven; a 33Mhz 80386 computer at
my beck and call all the time.  The system ran flawless and I was
beginning to think that life would be worth living.  Then the hard drive
bit the big one.

     Fortunately it gave enough of a warning that I was able to back up
the entire drive before it finally went off into the tall grass; never
to return.  Now, at this point, you may be beginning to think that this
is another of those horror stories about a bad computer system but it's
not.  Stay with me while I set this up.

     When the hard drive started going south, I grabbed my warranty
information and called the tech support number.  I talked my way through
three technicians before I was able to find one knowledgeable enough to
realize that I knew what I was talking about.  After all, when a hard
drive starts making KLUNK -- KLUNK -- SCREECH -- KLUNK -- KLUNK noises
and partitions start to vanish, it's generally NOT a software problem.
In fact I could probably write another story just on the conversations
with these 'so called technicians' but I won't (at least until I'm
forced into it by blackmail GIFs from Maisel).

     So after convincing the tech support people that I did indeed have
a bad drive, they logged a service call and I was informed someone from
the local warranty repair facility would be in contact.  I promptly
prepared to wait.  Much to my amazement, someone called the next morning
and we even managed to schedule a visit that afternoon.  One point for
their side.  I was ecstatic.

     I meet the tech rep. at my house that afternoon and he had the new
drive installed and up in mere minutes.  Here is where it starts getting
good.

     The new drive, apparently refurbished, already had DOS 4.01
installed, so the tech did a quick checkdisk and played with DOS Shell
(gag) then, satisfied that all was well, left.

     Giggling maniacally, I set about restoring all the information from
my back ups to the new hard drive.  All proceeded well right up until I
finished the restoration and rebooted the machine.  Now because of the
type work I do, I have to occasionally run Windows 3.0 and some other
utilities that, were it left up to me, I wouldn't waste space on.
Anyway, everything booted fine and I began checking to make sure that
all was well.

     When I attempted to run Windows, I got promptly kicked back out to
the system.  When I ran Windows in reduced mode it would run okay but in
standard mode.  For those non Windows people; I couldn't get Windows to
take advantage of my 4 meg of RAM, nor would it kick into 386 enhanced
mode.  This equates to something like running VGA programs on a CGA
monitor.  It may work, but you won't get what you really want.

     I played with my memory manager and several other things before I
started noticing other problems.  Primarily, every 3.5" 720 K floppy I
placed in my B: drive reported the same track and sector bad.  Norton
Disk Doctor, as well as PCShell Version 7 Diskfix reported the same.
"Hurumph," I thought to myself, "damn 3.5 drive is croaking out now.
Just my luck."

     I began attempting to isolate whether it was the drive itself or
the controller.  I condemned the controller.  Primarily because every
utility I used seemed to think my 1.4 drive was a 360K drive.  "Back to
the tech support people and another service call," I told my wife.

     I placed another call, and was fortunate enough to get someone
fairly knowledgeable.  I outlined my problems to him and sat waiting.  I
expected him to want me to run a few utilities and give him the results.
Boy was I surprised.  "Any possibility that you have a virus?"  The
voice asked.

     "Virus?" I snorted back.  "No way," I replied. "I run an electronic
bulletin board and every file I bring in this house is scanned for
viruses,"  I promptly informed the silly fellow. Virus indeed.

     "But," he whipped back, "you said the new drive already had DOS on
it right?"

     "Er. . .yea," was my witty reply.

     "Do you have anything that will scan for viruses?"  He asked.

     "Sure thing," I said reaching for a disk that had McAfee's SCANV80
on it.  I shoved the disk in the drive and ran SCAN.

     I couldn't believe it.  SCAN reported a virus.  The Virus Joshi to
be exact.  Strangely enough I was excited.  I explained to the tech that
I knew a lot of people with computers and such but had yet to meet
anyone that had actually gotten hit by a virus.  I was rather proud of
my little virus.  Especially since the DOCS said it was fairly
nondestructive and could be easily cleaned up with McAfee's CLEAN.

     I thanked the tech, who no doubt thinks I'm a bit strange; actually
getting excited to find that my computer had a virus. I hung up and
within 5 minutes had the computer virus free; once again running like a
top.

     What's my point in writing this article?  Well number 1: to fulfill
my promise to Maisel.  Number 2:  To let everyone know that although
they may be few and far between in this area, viruses do exist and, like
the one that I found, can come in from some unexpected directions.
Finally, number 3: it seemed like a good topic for the time of year;
Halloween.

     If you are wondering, a virus is, in it's simplest form, a program
that can write itself to another program and can affect the way your
computer behaves.  Symptoms can be nearly nonexistent to total failure
of the system.  Damage can range from nothing more than silly messages
to a complete low level format of your hard drive.  Contrary to some
stories I've heard, a virus cannot physically damage your system.

     A virus CAN copy itself to another disk and I quickly found out
that just about every diskette that I had put in my B: drive, and tried
to use, was infected with Joshi also.  I Cleaned those as well; save for
two diskettes, one high density and one low density.  I'm keeping those
as souvenirs and conversation pieces.

MSDOS 4.01 Copyright, MicroSoft Corporation
Windows 3.0 Copyright, MicroSoft Corporation
Norton Disk Doctor Copyright, Peter Norton Company
PCShell Version 7 Copyright, Central Point Software
SCANV80 Copyright, McAfee Associates
CLEAN Copyright, McAfee Associates
The Virus Joshi copyright, of some adolescent minded idiot

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In The Beginning.........

     In the beginning there was the transistor.........Uh, that goes a
little too far back.  Lets fast forward a bit......In MY beginning there
was the TI 99-4a, my introduction to the world of computing.  Of course,
by todays standards, it compares to the stone wheel, but it did allow me
to realize that computing was not as educationally out of my reach as I
had feared.  After all, math was not my best subject and I equated
computing with monstrous mathematical calculation ability. So the good
old TI opened the door and I stepped (fell?) in!

     As it came, the TI was limited and expansion was a costly
proposition, and with a latent fear of the "IBM" logo and all the
massive hardware configurations that were possible, my next computer was
the Commodore 64.  Completely convinced that it had all the memory and
speed I would ever need, I set out to explore the world of computing to
even greater depths.  I just knew that the Commodore's basic language
would allow me to do "everything I would ever need to do"!  Armed with
two hard drives and an Okimate 20 printer, I was sure I reached the
pinnacle of computing power, at least as far as MY needs were concerned!

     Kindly notice that, so far, the above journey has yet to touch on
the issue of "telecomputing"!  Why should it?  After all, I had a great
selection of games, a word processing program that had a decent spell
checker, and everyone knew that telecomputing was an "IBM thing", right?
Sheesh!!  Talk about "living in a cave"!!
   
     Having retired from Photojournalism in order to take up writing
screen plays, I decided, in order to protect what sanity I still
possessed, that the the Okimate 20's slowness had to go!  And while I
was at it, why not look into the dreaded IBM?  After all, there ARE new
worlds to conquer and as long as I was adventurous enough to give up one
career for another, I may as well pay my nickel and take the whole ride!
   
     So my experience in the IBM world began, with a loaded XT and a
handful of manuals, I spent months just getting comfortable with the
damn thing!  Most of the jitters that I experienced were of my own
making, due to the "AWE" with which I viewed the separate components of
the IBM compatible, and telecomputing was still a foreign subject.

     Two years of game playing and software buying later, I discovered
the PC Sig service offered at the main branch if the Birmingham Library.
All the programs I wanted and it was a "free" service?  This was too
good to be true!  After Weeks of sitting in front of the Monitor there,
I "found" a program called "Procomm"!  Hmmmmm, a tele- communications
program.  Well, as long as it doesn't cost me anything to look!  Now the
REAL ride began!!!

     With my curiosity piqued and armed with this shareware program, a
quick trip to Sam's Wholesale Warehouse was in order.  $70.00 + tax and
a few hours later, I found myself on the verge of a whole new universe!
Little was I aware that it would change forever my views of computing
and the power of the silicon chip!  Here, before me, was access to
everything and anything I might want or dream of!  Being a fan of the
Howard Hughes Social Life, I now had the opportunity to actually
communicate with other human beings, inter-relate with them, and never
have to leave the sanctuary of my home!  THIS was a dream come true!!

     But alas, it would seem that every new experience is fraught with
the dangers of inexperience.  I found that the boards which I
encountered were anything but equal, the differences in logging on alone
were mind bending!  NOTES!!!  I had to take notes!  Arming myself with a
legal pad and plenty of new ink pens, I set about to learn every board I
encountered!  Literally copying the entire log on procedure for each
board, along with the names of the "Sysops" (on top of everything else,
I now had to learn a new language also!), I soon had a "beginners
handbook" to the Birmingham, Alabama BBS Scene!

     The next few weeks were actually frightening!  At one point I made
the mistake of posting a message "To All" that I had a copy of a
commercial flight simulator program that I would be willing to share
with anyone who was interested!  Being a flight sim fanatic, I merely
wanted to give others the opportunity to get in on  the fun!  Hell!! I
had no idea that what I had done was a major No No!!  I suddenly found
myself the object of LOTS and LOTS of E-mail  (more new language!) and
the majority of it was NOT from fans!  In a matter of minutes, on line
mind you (didn't know about slmr yet!), I was called everything one
might imagine! The language ranged from mild to out & out abusive!
These people were the first to respond to my act of ignorance.  My first
reaction was to tell these "fine folks" where to pack it and to loose
that modem thing in favor of a new game controller card!  I didn't need
this crap from people I didn't even know!!  After a few days of fuming,
and no contact with the boards in any way, I decided to post a public
apology and let it go at that!  I had decided I could find a new hobby
that would be less touchy!

     Imagine my surprise when I found an entirely new batch of E-mail
that was much more understanding!!  People who were actually offering
advice and letting me know that they too remembered how it was "in the
beginning"!  There were even a few remarks from some of the abusive
ones, apologies for their abruptness and harshness!  Now THESE were the
people I had hoped to encounter in the first place, people who had a
certain sympathy for the "new kid on the block".  I only wish those
messages were the first I had received, after all, I almost gave up this
world communication, I could have wound up taking up knitting or
something!
   
     In the aftermath of all that, I have met some truly great people
and even (shudder) left my home on occasion to attend a few BTN
gatherings!  I have found that the Sysops, for the most part, are a
caring group of people who are interested in making it as comfortable as
possible for the new users. I "bumped" into Doug Griffin (Colonel) on
Willie's BBS one afternoon and found a guy who was willing to take his
time to give me a few hints and "show" me around the board!  Here was a
stranger making an effort to help me understand!  This, I thought to
myself, is what it should be all about!  Not long after our first
encounter on Willies, Doug noticed that I was replying to my e- mail on
Alter Ego and a few others, "on-line".  Again he used his time to
enlighten me to the existence of the Slmr20.zip program! There are many
others who have "taken me by the hand" and made my BBSing a far easier
journey; Mark & Kathy Maisel, Maggie Harden, Rayman (from Willie's),
Willie Moore, Steve Wheeler and more. These are the folks that remember
when they too looked at the monitor and wondered what the hell was going
on?  Thank you all.

     Today, long after the beginning, I am Co-Sysop of Baudville,
Alabama BBS.  The person most responsible for my being involved in
BBSing is the SYSOP, Doug Griffin (yep, you can blame him for it all!)
To those of you who initially cussed me out and basically jumped all
over me, LIGHTEN UP!  You were not born with that keyboard in your hand!
I make a personal effort to let all of our new users know that any help
they may need is only a message away.  Doug is usually around the board
during the daytime hours and has spent a lot of his time leading new
users around the board, getting them comfortable with the Oracomm
software.  Perhaps if more of us made the same effort, our hobby would
loose fewer participants.  I have learned from some of the best in
BBSdom, it's not the software or the Sysops that make a board, it's the
Users, without them, you have only a monthly phone bill!

     And the journey continues.................

     Bob Crawford
         (Sysop2, Raff, Priest, matters not what you call me,
          as long as you call me! <G>)

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

Party Review
by Michael Walker

     Hello.  You may not know me.  My name is Michael Walker, and I am
pretty new at the bulletin board game.  Mark Maisel got a hold of me at
the party at Rocky Rawlins' house and asked me to write a review of the
party.  I figured why not, and went ahead and wrote this.

     I got to the party about 7:00.  A lot of people were wearing
T-shirts with "I came as Mark Maisel" on them.  Mark got their at about
7:30 or so.  He seemed kind of surprised by it, I think.  Some person I
had never heard of named Dean something warned me to watch his
expression since he isn't amused by jokes like that.  He looked amused
to me, so I guess that Dean was wrong.

     There were an awful lot of people wearing costumes, more so then at
many Halloween parties I've been at over the last couple of years.
There was the usual selection of vampires, witches, two werewolves, and
other traditional costumes.  One of these, I believe his name was Chris,
was a skull with a cape, cane, and top hat.  He was singing show tunes
in the front yard around 3am. There was someone dressed up as a
radiation worker (it was Dean and it looked authentic).  Someone, I
think her name was Jan, who was in an innapropriate harem girl outfit.
And, of course, the Pakistani Samurai warrior.

     One thing that suprised me was that there was an awful lot of
people that came dressed solely in attitude.  Or so it looked to me. I
thought that those without costumes were much more revealing.  Granted
that I haven't been to many, well, any, of these BTM parties, it sure
looked to me that a lot of people had chips on their shoulders the size
of all outdoors.  One older woman who chose not to dress up (I think)
was angry with anyone that didn't pay attention to her.  There was a
very weird little person who was trying desperately to be clever by just
having some silly message taped to his shirt.  And a whole lot of people
just clustered around Mark Maisel, didn't say much, just clustered
around him.

     I took a couple of sociology classes in school, so it was
interesting to watch such naked group dynamics in action.  Mark Maisel
struck me as a feudal lord who was holding court, and an awful lot of
people were paying him homage.  Kind of like this:

<Man kneels in front of Mark.  His name is Ralph Bolen>

Ralph Bolen:  My lord, I kneel before thee.
Mark Maisel:  And a good job you did.  Rise, my worthy companion, and
              be seated at my table.
RB:  I am unworthy of your honor, my liege.
MM:  I know.

     I can't figure out what it is that Mark has done to deserve such
adoration, but he must have done something that the people perceive as
being worth it.

     There were a couple other interactions that struck my fancy.  Two
people that arrived dressed as Rev. Jimmy Swaggart and a fetching young
girl were interesting.  When the fetching girl (who was by far the most
attractive female in the bunch) arrived on the porch, the porch was
immediately swamped by many less-than-attractive males who were staring
at the fetching girl's very fetching thighs (she had on an extremely
short little girl dress, and she was no little girl, either).  But that
was sex, not sociology.  As I think of it, there was a lot of sex, or at
least the pursuit of sex.  One person, Scott Holyfield, was following
around a fairly butch little girl for a lot of the party.  A couple of
older females got some drink in them and started acting like they were
in heat.  In fact, there was an arguement on the porch when an older
female dressed in a flapper's costume went off with someone for 45
minutes.  Kind of neat when the entire family went at each other.  And
the youngest boy had to be the 'mature' one of the bunch.

     There seems to be a series of individuals who act as attractors and
who act as disruptors.  The attractor is someone who gathers a crowd
around her/him.  Mark Maisel strikes me as someone who is an attractor,
in that he didn't have to move, and people would come and pay homage to
him.  Others were also, to a lesser extent.  Rocky Rawlins was one, but
mostly from people who wanted something from him, usually more time on
his bulletin board.  I believe that Dean was one, but he usually only
had a couple of people around him, and he seemed somewhat standoffish
and surly.  It seems that the Bolens (Ralph and his wife who didn't
speak to many people, and when she did she talked about Star Trek) were
also attractors, but the same three or four people were those that were
attracted, and they talked about Star Trek except for the angry older
female.

     And there are also disruptors. Some guy with a scraggly beard who
dressed in black just stood around and pretended to be cool.  I noticed
that when he approached a group of people, the group almost always
disintegrated in a couple of minutes.  Someone else, dressed in some
kind of quasi-fatigue outfit, worked faster in disintegrating groups.
And I can't figure out why he comes since everyone I talked with seems
to either despise him or hate him.  If it is of any indication of the
antipathy of the crowd, when he passed out he was covered with Jan's
sanitary napkins.  And I don't think that it was done out of 'love'
either.

     I imagine that I am being unfair, but I just called it as I saw it.
Mark asked me to do that, and so I did.  Given the number of
techno-geeks that were at the party, I was somewhat suprised at the
number of drunken females that were there.  One girl, Tiffany I believe,
should be more careful about her drinking in the future or else the
nerds who were staring so intently at her breasts are going to loose
control and attempt to run a train on her.

     It was kind of a blah party from the interaction point of view
since those that I spoke with only wanted to talk about the kind of
computer I had and would I be inclined to trade copyrighted software
with them.  Tacky, tacky, tacky.  Are people ranked by the speed of
her/his microprocessor?  I got that feeling.  Its no wonder that they
all stared at the drunken Tiffany's breasts if that is their level of
social interaction.  I think that I was missing something, but I
attribute a lot of that to being new.  As time goes on I imagine that I
will become more aware of the social cliques and can watch things a
little closer. I guess I was missing something by not being more active
in the bulletin boards.  But I just don't understand it. Maybe soon, but
not yet.

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

Windows:  Softare Update
by Eric Hunt

     Windows 3.0 is entering it's "second generation" of life, in terms
of both applications available, and current applications. Microsoft is
busily working on a new update to the wildly popular operating system
extension/GUI, and vendors are either poised to release major new
applications for the environment, or are in the process of doing major
overhauls of current favorites. And finally, some companies have flung
new releases out the door, into the waiting hands of Windows fiends
everywhere, many with mixed results. This article is intended to be a
casual guide through this software sea, a guide that will possibly
explain and inform you as to the status of your favorite application.

     Perhaps the biggest news of all is the "imminent" update for
Windows 3.0: Windows 3.1. There has been more ink consumed, more bytes
written about this upgrade than most everything out there, possibly
including the new release of OS/2. For you bottom liners out there,
here's the big fact: Windows 3.1 has been delayed until sometime in the
first quarter of 1992. That means it might not be in your hands until
March. Personally, I feel this is the better thing to do. Delaying a
release until it has been adequately tested and debugged is a service
more software companies should look into. Now, expected new features and
perks in Windows 3.1. The biggest item is the addition of TrueType font
rendering technology into the Windows kernal. TrueType is Microsoft's
answer to PostScript Type 1 fonts. They are, for the most part,
identical. Both allow for fully scalable typefaces, both allow you to
print type at any size on *any* Windows 3.x supported printer, and both
are amassing collections of publicly downloadable outline fonts!! The
next major difference Windows 3.1 will introduce is a completely
revamped File Manager. Needless to say, it's light years ahead of the
current File Manager.  Speed has been increased overall. A new direct
method that bypasses the ROM BIOS completely to address your hard disk
drive is said to constitute a large part of that overall speedup. Setup
has been revamped, making it easier for novices and expert users alike
to initially setup, or later change, Windows 3.1. The Program Manager
has been given a cleanup, mostly cosmetic. The recurring problem with
running out of resources has been addressed, although we won't know
exactly in what manner until 3.1 is in our hands. Testers have indicated
that resources for the most part are not a concern in 3.1, however.
Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) is a new feature, allowing programs
to more easily integrate among themselves, sharing data. Much much
easier than the current DDE now. Several of the stock Windows 3.x
utilities have been rewritten to make them OLE aware, including
Paintbrush and Cardfile. Finally, aggressive changes largely invisible
to the user have been taken to lessen or eliminate the infamous UAE.
Instead of the cold dialog box simply telling you a UAE occurred, the
box will pinpoint what program UAE'd and what instruction did the nasty
deed. Additionally, DOS BOXES can be "rebooted" when they hang without
rebooting your Windows session. A simple Ctrl-Alt-Del in the active DOS
BOX window reboots it! Those are some of the mentionable highlights you
can expect in Windows 3.1.

     Now, applications. Seems nowadays all anyone can talk about is
either WordPerfect for Windows, or Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows.
Additionally, Am¡ Pro 2.0 has been released, and Word for Windows 2.0 is
expected to be released about two weeks after Comdex.

     WordPerfect for Windows. There's an interesting little tale. If
you've got a sharp memory, you'll remember that WordPerfect demostrated
this program at LAST FALL'S Comdex (COMDEX '90) and promised a shipping
version by the next spring. Didn't work out. This past week at Comdex,
WordPerfect demoed the program AGAIN, but had to announce another
release date setback, this time to somewhere around the middle to latter
part of November. Vaporware at it's finest, folks. (To be fair, it's not
really vaporware, the second Beta of WordPerfect has gone out, to some
critical acclaim by the testers. Seems Beta II didn't come with a
Non-Disclosure Agreement! [really!])

     Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows *has* been released, and the reports are
not good. General consensus seems to be that it's slower than Excel 3.0,
and that it is not a good Windows app. In fact, Lotus recently announced
plans to "slipstream" a bug-fix version, but decided to put out an
official maintenance release, 1.0a, that fixed several annoying bugs
with the program. Lotus 1-2-3/W appears to be a program aimed squarely
at users of the DOS 1-2-3, because it definately hasn't impressed
current Excel 3.0 users at all.

     Am¡ Pro 2.0 is out as well, and this program is the other side of
the coin for Lotus. Am¡ has been phenomenally successful! Let's just
leave it at this: If you need heavy duty wordprocessing, or light page
layout, or both, get Am¡ Pro. It is currently the best available Windows
3.x word processor. That might change, though. Read the next paragraph!

     Word for Windows 2.0 has been quietly sneaking up on us. For
months, the buzz has been about WordPerfect/W and Am¡ Pro 2.0. Then
someone asked if Word for Windows was being updated. No one knew! Seemed
like that week, the news broke in the trade rags. Microsoft had been
working on a new release for quite a while, and noone knew! In fact, the
program is slated for release about two weeks after fall Comdex!
Features are rumoured to be on par, or slightly below those of Am¡ Pro
2.0, but the overall user interface is much nicer. The traditional
button bar is there, but it can be customized now. Additionally,
powerful GUI tools for managing mail merges have been added, making a
mail merge letter, or form letter, a breeze. Lots of other goodies are
present. I predict Word for Windows 2.0 to take the Windows
WordProcessing arena by storm.

     Finally, two more programs to discuss. Borland has finally publicly
demonstrated their Windows version of Quattro Pro. It has a release date
of the first quarter set as well. And lastly, the rumour mill has been
actively reporting that Microsoft is working on a new release of Excel,
due this spring as well. No word on a version number, however, it's
still too early.

     I hope this little article has cleared up some questions regarding
the most popular of Windows productivity tools. As always, feel free to
drop me a note anywhere. I can be found on most local BBSs as Eric Hunt.
I actively monitor the ILink, U'NI, Rime/MetroLink, USNetMail, and
UseNet Windows conferences. My internet email address is
'bsc835!ehunt@uunet.uu.net' for those of you out there who are true
net.junkies.

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

The Adventures of R.G. Strangemind and Herbert
by Jeremy Lewis
Copyright 1991 by Jeremy Lewis
no reprints without the permission of the author

Part VIII

     The glistening nose cone of the Imperial flagship "Split-Splat"
became visible to the crowd that surrounded the Emperor's docking bay.
The crowd cheered as the massive, fist-like, silver ship burst forth
from the docking bay, glistening in the light of Slag's one and a half
(It's a long story) suns.  As the ship finally left the view-screen
range the crowds cheered even louder. Emperor Splort was on his way,
hopefully they thought, to his death.

     Back on the large gray spaceship, a claxon sounded. "Excuse me",
said a pleasant but artificial male voice (The Ship's Computer),"but due
to the lack of human direction, we are now heading towards an unknown
star system.  Strange...computer control has been overidden.  I am now
shutting down until called for.  Thank you."

     Slob was worried about the announcement, but he was worried even
more about the Purple Thing with a lot teeth that much to his dismay was
all too real AND about the idiot who was standing in front of him.
Fortunately the human turned and began to run.  Slob being the
intellectual alien that he was, grabbed Herbert's belt and held on for
dear life.

     Herbert was running randomly down corridors trying to escape the
purple thing.  He had worried about the blue alien until he noticed the
extra weight on his belt and looked back.  "Good," thought Herbert,
quite ignoring the aliens frantic warnings as herbert ran full speed
into a wall.

     Ginger was chasing the two aliens when he saw the funniest thing he
had ever seen.  The taller pink skinned alien ran into a wall.  He
didn't laugh long, however, as a large rubber mallet came flying off of
a nearby shelf and angrily hit him on the head.  There was a strangely
familiar blue flash and then everything went black.

     R.G. body glared at him.  "You are the disciple and YOU SHALL NOT
interrupt ME!"

     "I am R.G. Strangemind, the most intelligent being on the third
planet from the dominant star in the Milky Way Galaxy!  I have recently
been kidnapped by aliens and chased down my body only to find that you
have seized control of it to get my attention.  I will not..."

     "Do you say MOST intelligent being?" interrupted Toastus.

     "Yes," replied R.G..

     "Oh, well in that case, here's your' body.  I must have gotten you
confused with your' master Herbert.  Carry on."

     It was then that R.G. finally found himself back in his body,
dumbfounded and outraged.  He stood there long enough to shut the large
metal door before he became angry and set off in search of Herbert.

     Somewhere at this moment, a toaster exploded quite surprising the
table upon which it had been sitting.  This time, however, certain
forces were stirred, angered... The Toastans of Melba were on their way!

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

Notes From the Trenches
by Dean Costello

"Have a Nice Life"

     Well, I write this a couple of days after the Halloween Party.  I
am not quite sure what to make of things, but I do know this:

     I won't be going to any more of them.

     Well, at least the ones open to the entire known population.  It
isn't so much that I don't like the people.  Well, that's not completely
true, since I really don't like most of the people.  The simple fact is
that I don't really like many of the people that I met. When I bothered
to meet new people, that is.

     For better or for worse, I have a following at BTN gatherings.  I
really didn't notice it, since I was usually half- to full-out blasted,
but Brett Thorn pointed out that there were a series of people that hung
around me and followed me around at parties.  And that's cool, since
those are people that I would drive and have driven many miles to see.

     But the simple fact is that at the last party, many of the people
that I came to the party to see were either not there, or were there for
such a short period of time that it wasn't worth the drive.  I had to
drive about 7 hours after a day at work:  for this?  Not twice.

     Then again, I have a lot of problems with the BTN 'scene' these
days.  Some are understandable.  Since I am forced to call long distance
to make contact with Birmingham, and as a result I am not in 'the loop'.
But I am not impressed with the changes that I see.  Maybe it would be
different if I were making daily contact, but given what I have seen, I
don't think so.

     Oh well, these things happen.  It occured to me that I am quickly
becoming just a footnote on the BTN time line, and I am not going gently
or gracefully into my just reward.  I am of the Old School, and this is
a new generation of users, who feel it is their divine right and duty to
answer each and every piece of mail on the networks.  But this is an old
gripe.

     I also found out that I am on supposed to stay on this mission
until the end of November.  Kathy Maisel was bitching and moaning about
being on the road for all of ten days.  Try nine weeks (currently, and
growing) and see how you like it.  Holiday Inn was neat the first couple
of weeks, but this is the third month, and the novelty is wearing off at
a quick pace.  And this isn't improving my corrosive disposition.

     I came across an interesting relationship at the Halloween party.
Patricia Sullivan, for whatever reason, doesn't like me much.  I can dig
that, hell, I can appreciate that.  But I didn't even do anything to her
for a change. Anyway, she doesn't like me for whatever reason.  She
apparently spoke to Deborah Bolen, who also ignores me.  And she (I
think Deborah) then told Judy Ranelli.

     At least thats the way it seems to me.  You see, I have exchanged a
message or two with Judy in the last couple of weeks, and was curious to
meet her, see what she's like, etc., etc.  I walked up to her,
introduced myself, she looked at me, said, "That's nice" (or words to
that effect), and promptly ignored me.

     Aah.  I haven't been rejected like that since an evil night at
"Hoppers" at 5-Points.  And for no reason, from what I can tell.  After
that, there really wasn't a lot for me to do than to slink away into the
grass and gut myself.  I checked into the interpersonal relationships,
and I can see my premise as that which actually occured.

     These things happen, I guess...

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

ProFile
by Scott Hollifield

     This will be the last ProFile with the original questions that
Chris made up.  Beginning next month, I will try a little
experimentation to spice the old thing up a bit.  If you've already
turned a ProFile in, I'll be contacting you to get new answers.  I'm
sure it'll be well worth it in the end.

     If you would like a ProFile of your own (or know someone for whom
it would make a lovely gift), leave me a message on Crunchy Frog or any
other prominent local BBS.  I've left off using a handle, so all you
need to know is my name.  Please be aware that I've been swamped with
names in the illustrious Hat since Chris' abdication, and so there might
be a bit of a backlog.  Don't worry about it much, though; just sit
back, relax, have someone bring you a piping mug of hot chocolate,
inhale that wonderful November air, and read this month's ProFile, which
throws the local spotlight on a hip guitar-playing kid we like to call
Judy Ranelli.

---------

       ProFile on JUDY RANELLI

---------


Age:    25

Birthplace:  Birmingham

Occupation:  Musician and student

My hobbies include: watching ST:TNG; collecting Phillip K. Dick
                    novels, playing softball, looking up funny names
                    in the phone book, and fishing.

Years telecomputing: half a year, actually

Sysop, past/present/future of: I don't understand the question.

My oddest habit is:  Well, there are several: mentally "dotting the
    I's" on traffic signs, cutting out the ads for weird food items and
    pasting them on the wall amidst posters, making up little songs
    with my friends (that have titles like "Love Bucket; Bucket of
    Love"), painting my toenails red, white, and blue for the 4th of
    July, collecting stories about rats (may put a few of them on
    computer so you-all can read them), and eating chocolate and potato
    chips together.

My greatest unfulfilled ambition is: To be a truly great guitarist.

The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is:
    Well, lessee, it could be getting a college degree, but I think I
    would say playing a concert at the Alabama theater, a place I love.

My favorite performers are: Pete Townshend, Henry Rollins, Mike Watt,
                            and John Lennon

The last good movie I saw was:  Well, the last good OLD movie I saw
    was Citizen Kane. The last good NEW movie I saw, well, I guess it
    was Henry and June.

The last good book I read was: "The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With
    The Sea" by Mishima.

If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played
    by:
    Phillis Diller. Other actors in the movie must include Soupy Sales,
    Nipsy Russell, and Kenneth Branaugh.

My pet peeves are: condescension, ear infections, and people who don't
    understand why adults would watch Star Trek: The Next Generation.


When nobody's looking, I like to: put "kick me" signs on their backs.
    I admit to a cruel sense of humor.

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

SIG's (Special Interest Groups), Computer Related
-------------------------------------------------

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

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
CAD Users of Birmingham
Homewood Library
3rd Tuesday, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Bobby Benson 791-0426

SIG's, Non-Computer Related
---------------------------

BBC                                 Birmingham Astronomy Club
Blue Box Companions                 Subject: Astronomy
Subject: Dr. Who                    Red Mountain Museum Annex
Hoover Library                      4th Tuesday, 7:30PM
1st Saturday, 2PM-5PM

If you belong to or know of a user group that is not listed,
please let us know by sending E-Mail to Barry Bowden on
The Matrix BBS.

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

Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area

    NAME                    NUMBER     BAUD RATES  MODEM    BBS SOFTWARE
                                       SUPPORTED   TYPE

*   Alter-Ego BBS           744-7733   300-9600    USR HST  ProLogon/ProDoor
*   American BBS            674-1851   300-2400             PCBoard 14.5
*   Amiga Alliance ][       631-0262   300-2400             PCBoard 14.5
^   Arkham Asylum           853-7422   300-2400             WWIV 4.12
    Baudville Node 1        640-4593   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
    Baudville Node 2        640-4639   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
&)* Bloom County            856-0587   300-9600    USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
-*  Bus System              595-1627   300-2400             PCBoard 14.2
*%  Byte Me!                979-BYTE!  2400-9600   USR HST  WWIV 4.12
    CM(ee) BBS Node 1       655-4059   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
    CM(ee) BBS Node 2       655-4065   300-1200             Oracomm Plus
    Camelot BBS             856-0679   300-2400             Telegard 2.5
-*# Channel 8250 Node 1     744-8546   300-9600    USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
-*# Channel 8250 Node 2     744-5166   300-9600    USR HST  PCBoard 14.5
{   Connection Node 1       854-9074   1200-2400            PCBoard 14.5
{   Connection Node 2       854-2308   1200-2400            PCBoard 14.5
{   Connection Node 3       854-0698   1200-2400            PCBoard 14.5
{   Connection Node 4       854-5863   9600        USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
*   Crunchy Frog Node 1     956-1755   300-9600    USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
*   Crunchy Frog Node 2     956-0073   300-9600    USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
    DataLynx                322-3425   300-2400             Oracomm5.L.30
    Disktop Publishing BBS  854-1660   300-2400    MNP4     Wildcat! 2.55s
    Downgrade Evolution     823-4858   1200-2400            Vortek 1.49
    Flip Side               798-3961   300-2400             Telegard 2.5i
    Graphics Zone Node 1    870-5306   300-9600    MNP4     TBBS 2.1(16)
    Graphics Zone Node 2    870-5329   300-9600    MNP4     TBBS 2.1(16)
    Hacker's Corner         674-5449   1200-2400            PCBoard 14.5
    Hardeman's BBS          640-6436   1200-2400            Wildcat! 2.55s
    I.S.A. BBS              995-6590   300-9600    HST      Remote Access
-*  Joker's Castle          664-5589   300-2400    MNP4     PC Board 14.5
*&  Little Kingdom Node 1   969-0007   300-9600    USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
*&  Little Kingdom Node 2   969-0008   300-2400    MNP4     PCBoard 14.5
    Liverpool Connection    856-0267   300-1200             WWIV 4.12
*   Magnolia BBS            854-6407   300-9600    USR HST  PCBoard 14.2
@   Missing Link            853-1257   300-2400             C-Net
^   Myth Drannor            699-5811   1200-2400   MNP4     WWIV 4.11
    Night Watch             841-2790   300-2400
    Optical Illusion        853-8062   300-1200             C-Net
    Outside It's America    951-2473   1200-2400   MNP4     Vortek 1.48
    Owlabama BBS            833-7176   300-2400             GTPower 15.00
    Owl's Nest              680-0851   300-2400             PCBoard 14.5
    Paradise City           853-1439   1200-2400            PCBoard 14.5
    Pooh's Korner           980-8710   300-2400
    Road Kill               987-0794   300-2400
    Safe Harbor             665-4355   300-9600    USR DS   GTPower 15.00
    Sperry BBS              853-6144   300-9600    Hayes    PCBoard 14.5
*   ST BBS                  836-9311   300-2400             PCBoard 14.2
+   The Bone Yard           631-6023   300-2400             PCBoard 14.5
    The Commodore Zone      856-3783   300-2400             Image1.2
^   The Dragon's Hoard      833-3790   300-2400             WWIV 4.12
^   The Edge of Oblivion    520-0230   300-2400             WWIV 4.11
    The Madhouse!           428-3061   300-9600    USR V.32 Telegard 2.5i
-*$(The Matrix Nodes 1-4    323-2016   300-2400             PCBoard 14.5
-*$(The Matrix Node 5       251-2344   2400-9600   USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
-*$(The Matrix Node 6       323-0799   2400-9600   USR DS   PCBoard 14.5
    The Monster             967-4839   300-2400             Telegard 2.5i
+   The Outer Limits        985-1725   1200-9600   USR HST  Ultra BBS ?.??
    The Quiet Zone          833-2066   300-2400             ExpressNET
+   The Round Table         938-2145   300-2400             Telegard 2.5i
    The Safety BBS          581-2866   300-2400             RBBS-PC
    Willie's DYM Node 1     979-1629   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
    Willie's DYM Node 2     979-7739   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
    Willie's DYM Node 3     979-7743   300-1200             Oracomm Plus
    Willie's DYM Node 4     979-8156   300-1200             Oracomm Plus
    Ziggy Unaxess           991-5696   300-1200             Unaxess

The many symbols you see prior to the names of many of the bbs' in the
list signify that they are members of one or more networks that exchange
or echo mail to each other in some organized fashion.

* = EzNet, a local IBM compatible network

@ = Image network, a national Commodore network

+ = FidoNet, an international IBM compatible network

- = Metrolink, an international IBM compatible network

^ = WWIV-Net, an international IBM compatible network

& = Intellec, an international IBM compatible network

# = Uni'Net, an international IBM compatible network

% = ThrobNet, an international IBM compatible network

$ = ILink, an international IBM compatible network

( = TheoNet, a national IBM compatible network

{ = ADAnet, an international network dedicated to the handicapped

) = USNetMail, a national IBM compatible network

If you have any corrections, additions, deletions, etc., please let us
know via EzNet.
