BTN:  Birmingham Telecommunications News
COPYRIGHT 1990

August 1990    Volume 3, Issue 7

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

Policy Statement and Disclaimer................Staff
Editorial Column...............................Randy Hilliard
Terminal Roundup...............................Sid Browning
Shareware Reviews..............................Radio Active
WWIV:  Part 3 of 3.............................Duck Capps
Fractint ver. 10...............................Eric Hunt
Clone Invaders.................................Dean Costello
Profile:  Jet Thomas...........................Chris Mohney
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

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

The Connection          LZ Birmingham           Alter-Ego
Channel 8250            Bus System              Joker's Castle
Crow's Nest             Myth Drannor            Posys BBS

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

MM

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As of July 10, 1990, Role Players Paradise, formerly run by Dungeon
Master, AKA Todd Simmons, will be joining Radio Free Troad run by Kelly
Rosato. All conferences and some of the doors will now be added to Radio
Free Troad. The number for Radio Free Troad is 979-6183. All former
users of Role Players Paradise are encouraged to call and register
themselves to continue their activities on Radio Free Troad.

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Editorial
by Randy Hilliard

Operator Page (Control-K to cancel)............

RH: Hello Mark

MM: I need you to do me a favor.

RH: And that favor is?  (he warily asked)

MM: Do the editorial for this months issue.

RH: S'matter, pix not back from the last party?

MM: Not in time which is just as well.  I want to change the image 
    somewhat... Put in some socially significant commentary.

RH: ??????????

MM: Something supportive of the community, showing a social conscience.

RH: Urk! ...

MM: Thanks!

NO CARRIER


     After very long and careful thought I finally decided that there
was something I could say within these covers to demonstrate my social
consciousness:

                         DON'T READ THIS RAG!!!

     The Surgon General of the United States has determined that reading
BTN is hazardous to your mental health!  It can cause miscelaneous
infestations, hair loss, scurvy, gum rot, pox, boils, and poverty--not
to mention loss of moral fiber.

     With my bit of redeeming social commentary out of the way I will
get down to business.

     Sid Browning had spent an enormous amount of time preparing an
article on various terminal programs.

     Radio Active has written a shareware review covering IDCSHELL,
NARC, and SHEZ.  Since all three programs make our lives a little easier
this article is well worth a look.

     And you thought we forgot... Duck Capps has delivered to us his
final installment covering the world of WWIV.  After finishing this
third of the series, you should ready to feel right at home next time
you call one of our WWIV boards.

     For the graphics crowd we have Eric Hunt's article on FRACTINT.
This program uses mathematical equations to generate unusual (and often
beautiful) screen images with only a few keystrokes.

     Our own Dean Costello graces (?) our pages again; this time with a
review of the Clone Invaders game.

     And our Profile this month is on (drum roll please) (rat-a-tat-tat-
ta-tat).... Jet Thomas!

     Of course, the Profile is followed by the Known BTN listing.

     Oh yes.  One other thing the SG warned was that some people might,
just might mind you, find BTN interesting.  Go figure.

    Editor's Note:  A careful review of the Surgon Generals findings
    revealed that the majority of the claimed damage occurs when the
    reader peruses the editorial.  Wonder why Randy didn't mention
    that?
                                   MM

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Terminal Roundup
by Sid Browning

     This  article begins a short series on the various  terminal
emulation, T.E., programs available via shareware for IBM and compatible
micro-computers.  I will attempt to critique the programs and point out
a few advantages and disadvantages of each one.  Keep in mind that an
advantage to one person may be  a disadvantage  to  another person. Many
things are a  matter  of personal preference, and other things have more
to do with system parameters  such  as available memory, processing
speed  etc.   I will ignore certain T.E. program features.  For example,
the host mode features.   Some T.E. programs have very  rudimentary host
modes, others have almost a full fledged BBS.  If you want to run a BBS,
use BBS software.  Other features are so seldom used  that I will not
deal with them.

PROCOMM PLUS

     Although  there are some similarities, Procomm  and  Procomm Plus
are two separate programs from the same company,  Datastorm
Technologies.   There is a world of difference between  the  two.
Procomm is a no-frills version of an emulation program.  It  does the
job,  but not much else.  I would suggest  to  anyone  using Procomm, to
switch.  Procomm Plus has many more features,  keeps the  user much
better informed about what is happening,  and  has the same command
structure.  Its very simple to switch to Procomm Plus  from  Procomm,
and there is  context  sensitive  help  for terminally confused users.

     Procomm Plus seems to be the most popular T.E. program  used now.
With a $75 registration fee, its also the most  expensive. The  main
advantage of this program is that it is simple to  use, very  straight
forward.
  
     One of this program's advantages is that it only needs  163k of ram
to operate.  Another advantage is that it is capable of emulating more
than twice as many terminal types than any other T.E. program I've run
across.  Besides the normal ANSI terminal, Procomm Plus can emulate 15
other types of terminals.

     A disadvantage to Procomm Plus, on my system, is that it has an
annoying  habit of accessing the B: drive,  for  no  apparent reason. It
does  this at all sorts of strange  times  when  it should not access
any drive at all, such as when I am entering  a message on a BBS.
  
     Procomm  Plus  lacks several features that  the  other  T.E.
programs  have,  and  some may  consider  this  nitpicking.   One
feature  is  that Procomm Plus will not store  passwords  in  its phone
directory.  Recognizing that some people may not want their passwords
electronically  stored,  for most people  that  is  an advantage.   A
person can easily have a different  password  for each BBS, without
having a perfect memory.
  
     This  program does not include a built-in z-modem, but  does have
13 transfer protocols.  Adding a z-modem shell is  not  all that
difficult, however.  Some users prefer an outboard  transfer protocol,
so it can be updated as new releases come out.  I  like the convenience
of a built-in protocol, and you can always use an external  protocol if
the new protocol release is so much  better that you must use it.

     There  exists a program on several of the  Birmingham  BBS's that
claims to remove the opening screen from Procomm  Plus.   I tried  it.
After using it, you will not see the  opening  screen again, but this is
because the program won't run again.  Maybe  I set the patches wrong.

Q-MODEM

     Q-Modem has the slickest presentation format.  The  authors, The
Forbin Project,  have gone to some lengths to utilize  graphics with
this T.E. program.  Users can register Q-modem for  only $30.

     The appearance of the program itself reminds me slightly  of MS
Windows.  There is a line across the top of the  screen  with the
options, and it has pull-down windows behind those  options. The
presentation of the program makes it simple to use and  easy to learn.

     This  graphical orientation extends down to  the  documentation.
Instead of enclosing a simple ASCII text file, the  documentation for
Q-modem is compressed into a printing package.  This is nice, but the
user is unable to browse through and print  only the  necessary
portions.   To get the documentation, you start  a program,  which
presents an attractive blue screen and  asks  you which  pages you would
like to print.  The default is  1  through 255.   The program begins to
print the documentation,  and  keeps you  informed of its progress,
until page 65.  At this point  the program hangs and the printer starts
a session of computer vomit.

     Q-modem does have a few features that are worth  mentioning. One
feature is that, if you have at least 240k of EMS,  it  will
automatically  place its overlay into expanded memory.  The  user is
also able to choose the amount of memory Q-modem uses for such things as
the scroll-back, script variables and  other  buffers. Also, when the
file transfer window is called, Q-modem will display the available disk
space in the download path.  Another  feature  is that the user can
extend the dialing timer  without  restarting  the dial sequence. This
is great if the BBS  you  dial takes a little longer to connect after
answering the line.  There is also a good context sensitive help
feature.

     This  program has a built-in phone file editor  and  sorter. Its
convenient to sort the directory when adding new numbers  at the end of
a list, but it also takes up memory for an infrequently  used function.
The phone file also has a  place  for  notes relating to the numbers.
  
     Q-modem's  main  disadvantage is that it  requires  384k  to
operate.  While this is not the highest memory requirement  among the
programs  reviewed here, Q-modem  doesn't  offer  additional features
for the extra memory.  According to the  documentation, the  program
only needs a 304K overlay file, besides  the  phone directory  and
configuration file, once it begins to run.   These needed  files barely
fit on a 360k floppy.  In practice,  if  you take  its  other files
away, by swapping  another  disk,  Q-modem begins to look for those
files, and will ask for the other  disk. Of course, this would not be a
problem on a hard disk system.

     Another  disadvantage  is that it has  no  built-in  Z-modem
protocol.   The documentation contains simple but detailed  instructions
for installing this protocol externally, the only  problem is that it
doesn't work according to their instructions.   Q- modem has only six
built-in transfer protocols.
     
     The auto-learn script language is easy to use, but  extremely slow.
Unless the scripts are stored on a ramdisk, it isn't worth the  wait.
Another inconvenience with this T.E. program was  the scroll  back key,
which is the curser-up key.  Prodoor uses  this key also to move around
the full-screen editor.  Imagine my  surprise the first time I tried to
move up a few lines in a  message and ended up viewing a screen I had
seen a few moments earlier.

TELEMATE

     Telemate  has  more features than the others.  Most  of  its
functions are built-in, including the editor.  The main advantage of
this T.E. program is that it will multi-task.  The  user  can begin to
edit a message or some other task while a file is transferring, and
Telemate will interrupt once in a while with information  about the file
transfer progress.  This feature is a  real time  saver,  but the
program will pause a file transfer  if  the user shells out to DOS.
  
     When dialing a BBS, Telemate gives you the ability to add to or
subtract from the dial time, without restarting the dial queu. On line,
Telemate also displays the amount of time you have  been logged on.   I
find this to be useful information.   Most  BBS's display  the  amount
of time you have left, but there  are  times when they don't, such as
when entering a message on PC Board.
  
     Hu  seems to have thought of almost everything that  a  user would
want from a T.E. program; The user can toggle many of Telemate's
features off or on to specifically configure it.  If  the user  doesn't
understand something, there is a context  sensitive on line  help
feature.  Another interesting ability Telemate  has is quoting from the
scroll back buffer.
  
     Telemate also has a local support conference on "The Matrix" BBS.
The user can find plenty of help here from other users,  or even the
program's author, Winfred Hu.  Registration for Telemate is $40.

     The  transfer section contains 15 built in protocols.   That window
also displays the amount of available space in the  download path.
  
     Another  of Telemate's advantages is that the user can  pick from
18 songs for the alarm.  Why have just an  obnoxious  beep, when "The
Adam's Family" can inform you of a connection?
  
     Telemate's main disadvantage is that it takes 500k of RAM to
operate (400K with the registered version).  Are the extra features
worth that?  That question falls to personal preference  and depends  on
the amount of free RAM you have to spare.  My  system didn't  seem to
like Telemate.  Twice while I had more  than  one window  open I would
get a message that stated,  "divide  error," and  it would spit me out
to DOS, while maintaining the  carrier. This  problem never happened
while I ran the program on  Maisel's system, which leads me to believe
that Telemate needs to  operate faster than my XT will allow.

     Another  problem I had with Telemate on my system, that  did not
occur on Maisel's system, was screen speed.  I would get each line of
information in a short burst, with a slight pause between lines.   This
is not a problem, but it is  annoying.   Apparently this is not an
uncommon problem on slower systems, because  Telemate  is constantly
swapping text between its swap file  and  the scroll back buffer.  Some
users have solved that problem by  setting the scroll back buffer to 0,
but that trick did not work  on my system.

     Telemate's terminal emulation capabilities were a disappointment.
It can only emulate 4 types of terminals.

TELIX 

     Another good program is Telix, which users can register  for $35.
The file transfer section of Telix is very useful.  It keeps you fully
informed during a file transfer of everything.  Z-modem is  built in,
and Telix can automatically detect a Z-modem  download, read the header,
and initiate the download.
 
     One  of  the advantages of Telix is that it  supports  SALT, which
is a good scripting language.  With SALT, Telix can   look into the
dialing directory for the password for that BBS, and log on  faster than
a person could type answers to log on  questions. The  more  complex a
log on sequence is, the more  valuable  this becomes.  Another value of
this, other than convenience, is  that a user can have a password for
each board, without the bother  of remembering  each  password.  This
feature is a  very  worthwhile advantage of this T.E. program.
 
     One  advantage  is this program is that "Channel  8250"  BBS
carries an active Telix support conference that is echoed to  the
program support BBS.  Jeff Woods, SYSOP of the Telix support BBS, will
provide help and answer any questions from  confused  Telix users. While
logged onto a BBS, Telix displays the  length  of time you have been
connected.
  
     The user can configure the scroll-back buffer of Telix  from 1,000
to  64,000 characters.  This allows the user to  set  this feature to
only use up as much memory as it is worth.
   
     Like  most T.E. programs, Telix has an  advertising  opening
screen.   I understand the reason for these screens, if I  was  a
program  developer  who wrote shareware software,  I  would  also
include  an opening screen that the user will have to  view.   At least
the users know how to send money for the  registered  version.  My gripe
here is that the registered version also contains this screen.  I have
seen some utilities that remove this  inconvenience, but have never
tried one to test it.

     Another  gripe I have with Telix is that when you  initially call
the dialing directory, it simply asks which number you  want to  dial;
the user has to hit enter a second time to pull up  the directory. This,
again, is one of those features that may be  an advantage to some
people.  The logic behind this is to streamline operations.  If you are
about to dial "The Crunchy Frog" BBS, and you know it is number six in
your directory, then you don't  have to look at the directory with
Telix.  When I call the  directory, that is what I want to see.
  
     Telix  needs 181K of free ram to operate.  This isn't a  lot to
ask, considering all its features.  It is suggested that  you set
BUFFERS=20  in  your config.sys file,  which  will  take  up slightly
more RAM.  All the files it needs to operate can fit  on one 360k floppy
diskette.  This makes Telix a good program for  a two floppy system,
such as mine.
 

SUMMARY

     Generally,  all the programs mentioned here have  advantages and
disadvantages.  Asking which T.E. program you should use  is like asking
someone what type of computer you should buy.   There is  no  one
correct answer; it depends on what you intend  to  do with  it. Author's
choice:  if you have a system to support  it, Telemate  is the best
choice all around.  It takes a lot of  memory, but its features are
worth it; in the future, as more people have  better  systems,  I
believe that more  T.E.  programs  will resemble  Telemate  .  The
second place winner  is  Telix,  which would be the top choice if your
system will not support Telemate. Q-modem is a close runner up, but its
features just aren't  worth the amount of memory it uses.  This is
especially true when considering  other  programs can match its
advantages, and  use  less memory.

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Shareware Reviews
by Henry Barfoot

IDCSHELL:DOS/ZIP "shell" Stand alone ZIP utility
(IDC40.ZIP   133,980);IDC40.ZIP also contains NARC.* files
04-27-90

Purpose:DOS command menu and ZIPfile processor/menu

System requirements: DOS 2.00 or above
                     Floppy or hard drive
                     CGA/EGA/VGA or Mono monitor
 
 Features:
 On-line help                             File Finding
 Edit files with your editor             Change file attributes
 Multiple menus                          ANSI file view
 Printer commands  (Epson *)             EGA/VGA 43 or 50 line modes toggle
 Make/Remove directories                 Extensive ZIPfile handling
 Change/Log a new drive                  Tag files for batch processing
 Mouse support                           Builds/creates ZIPfiles
 Move files from one dir to another      Zipfile preview
 Run highlighted program                 NARC(unZIP/archive program)
 Directory tree (graphic)                
 
*can be changed to any with config program supplied with registered 
 version.

  There is good documentation with IDCSHELL explaining this but, 
Infinity Design Concepts Inc. and PKWARE Inc. collaborated in 
designing a new (02-14-89) file format called ZIP.  IDCSHELL and NARC 
are compatible with this (ZIP) format.  IDCSHELL ver 4.0 and NARC ver 
4.0 are compatible with PKZIP/PKUNZIP ver. 1.10.

  A "shell" program (DOS in this case) is written to make commands 
easier to execute, or, more user friendly.  IDCSHELL is a powerful 
program with all the standard features of a DOS shell such as "copy, 
rename, change directory" plus much more.  The extensive ZIPfile 
processing features, including calling NARC (a compressed/uncompress 
file handling utility) from the menu are what sets this shell apart 
from the many other shells out there.

  The ZIPfile PREVIEW command opens a screen for tagging files (from 
any directory) to be added or moved to a new ZIPfile.  Or updating or 
freshening an existing ZIPfile.  You can move back and forth through 
different directories tagging and/or untagging files until you have 
all the files wanted in the finished ZIPfile tagged before executing 
the ZIP command.  Then when you do give the program the go ahead, it 
searches out all the tagged files and processes them according to your 
selection (update, freshen, move, add).  The learning curve for 
archiving and unarchiving ZIP files is greatly reduced with the help 
of these two (IDCSHELL and NARC) programs.  And ease of handling ZIP 
files with these programs will be appreciated by the beginner or 
advanced user.  Though the compression process did seem excessively 
slow on the files I tested in both the fast speed and most compression 
modes.

******

NARC ver. 4.0:(found in IDC40.ZIP)  (04-27-90)
from, Infinity Design Concepts, Inc.
 
Purpose:Stand alone de-archive utility

System requirements:
 CGA, EGA, VGA, or MONO graphics
 Floppy or Hard drive
 Requires about 220k of RAM
 
Features:
 Random access to ZIPfiles              Change Directories/Drives 
 (FULL Function file viewing)           Menu driven de-arcing
 View DOC files without extracting      Scroll through files inside a
 View binary files in HEX format         ZIPfile
 Print files without extracting         Supports ZIP(1.10), ARC and ARK
 Mouse support                          NETWORK compatible 
 Supports password decryption 

NARC is a stand alone, menu driven,  de-archive program that allows 
you to easily move from archive to archive (ZIP, ARC, ARK) with the 
options of extracting, viewing or printing sub-files within an 
archive.  Since all the decompression routines are built into NARC 
there is no need to have PKXARC, PKUNZIP or PKPAK in its path.  The 
full functional viewing capabilities are built in too, so there is no 
need for a separate "viewing" utility.  PGUP, PGDN and arrow keys are 
supported for scrolling through sub-files and directories.  NARC 
together with the IDCSHELL program round out your archive/de-archive 
needs in one complete ZIP/ARC/ARK package.  This package (IDC40.ZIP) 
would also be an excellent choice for someone new to archived files or 
new to archiving files since everything you need to get started is 
contained in these files.

******

SHEZ:Archive shell
SHEZ55.ZIP .....114,944       05-15-90

Purpose:Make handling archived files easier/user friendly.

System Requirements:Hard drive strongly recommended
                    but no requirements were given.

Features:
 Directory (selectable) menu            SCAN sub-files for viruses
 View sub-files inside archive          Test archive integrity
 Convert from/to many formats           Create new archived files
 Handles ZIP, ZOO, ARC, PAK, LZH        Freshen existing archives
 Execute dos commands                   Update existing archives
 Run .EXE / .COM sub-files              Pull down menus and help
 Mouse support                           screens
 Extract 1 file, a group of files or entire archive
 Set extraction path once or every time
 Save directory information when creating a new ZIP file

  Shez is an archive shell that handles most of the popular archive 
formats including: ZIP, ARC, PAK, LZH and ZOO. You have the choice of 
using any of these archive programs that you currently have installed 
when archiving/unarcing a file.  To unarchive a file, all you need to 
do is, select the file to process from the directory list shown (or 
change to list another directory) and tell SHEZ where you want the 
extracted files to be put.  SHEZ will determine the type file it is 
(ZOO,ZIP,LZH, etc.) and use that program to process it.  This is a 
hassle free solution to learning all the commands associated with the 
different archiving programs.  And would be great for a person 
beginning, or not familiar with archived files, because there are help 
menus all throughout SHEZ.  In addition, SHEZ will use V. Buerg's 
LIST.COM for viewing of individual files inside an archive without 
having to unarchive the file.  It sets up a temporary directory for 
this and clears the directory when you finish a file and/or exit SHEZ.

  You may run an .EXE or .COM file from inside an archive without 
unarcing the compressed file.  This works on most files because SHEZ 
will swap 90% or as much as possible of itself out of RAM to either 
EMS memory or your hard drive.  SHEZ55 has mouse support.  SHEZ works 
like a DOS shell in that you may copy, move, delete, or rename files 
from the SHEZ menu.  You can update archived files time and date to 
that of the newest file in the archive file.  Convert archived files 
from one format to another (.ZIP to LHZ  etc..)  And finally, you can 
configure SHEZ to use SCAN.EXE (ver. 39 or greater) to scan for viruses 
inside compressed files.  This is my choice for archive applications, 
it's simple to use and you don't lose any speed or compression from 
the original archivers.  The only difference in SHEZ and the original 
compression programs by themselves is, with SHEZ you are gaining a menu 
the individual archivers/de-arcers left out.

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WWIV: Part 3 of 3
by Duck the Everpresent
Co-Sysop of The Cathouse BBS

     Since this is my last article on the workings of the WWIV, I saved
the best for last, online games. When most people log onto a BBS, they
are looking for one of 3 things: files, message bases, or online games.
With WWIV, you can use any kind of online game, even those for PC-Board
and Pheonix systems. A little modification and the addition of a batch
file, and the BBS is ready to run your game. Accessing the games section
is as easy as the pressing of the "." key. Some games can't be entered
without a ANSI terminal, or the right security level. All of this is
determined by the sysop. Online games on any system are usually dictated
by the tastes of it's users, so, if a system doesn't have a game you
like, make a request.

     And, finally, the best thing that a WWIV has in it's setup, it's
easy to use network software. When Wayne Bell concieved of the WWIV
Bulletin Board System, he saw a national chain of BBS's linked together
sharing views on a wide range of topics, which has evolved into the WWIV
system of today. To get on the net, all you have to do is call your WWIV
AC (area coordinator), and convince him you have a board with enough
variety of users and regularity to join the net. I am Co-Sysop of the
Alabama AC board, the Cathouse, as well as a node BBS, The Electric
Reqium, so I can see both points of view.

     After the AC is convinced, then he must send mail asking for that
node to be admitted to the net. In about two weeks, confirmation is
recieved and you have to pick the subs (conferences) you wish to receive
and send mail to each appropriate sub-coordinator. After this second
confirmation is received, you are ready to begin getting the net mail
from all the boards across the country whose subs you wish to carry.

     The topics that come in on the Net are diverse, like music, video,
gaming, IBM info, and the WWIV mod net, just to name a few. There is
even a sub to argue about which brand of computer is best (My Computer
Rips All!!). In all, over 300 subs can be chosen from to add to the
depth of your WWIV BBS.

     In just a few short years, WWIV has grown and multiplied into one
of the most popular BBS's around. It is an easy to use BBS with a
national net supporting it. It's intro to Birmingham in 1988 has spurned
over 10 WWIV's in our area, and growing each day. Thanks for your time,
and I hope you learned something new about the WWIV BBS system...

Hasta.. for now..

WWIV Bulletin Board System is Copyrighted by Wayne Bell 1987, 1990

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

Fractint ver. 10.0
a review by:  Eric Hunt

     A breathtaking mountain view. Pop Art. Wondrous colors. Startling
shapes. What do these terms bring to mind? A fractal? What, you ask, is
a fractal? Look at a tree. Observe its trunk, it branches and the twigs.
A tree is a fractal. When the same unit is repeated at different sizes,
textures and shapes throughout an object, you have a fractal. A twig is
similiar to a branch on a smaller scale, just as a branch is similiar to
a trunk. Fractals were first seriously investigated by Benoit B.
Mandelbrot M. in the mid 1970's. He coined the word fractal from the
Latin FRACTUS - "to break." Powerful supercomputers and complex
mathematics were used to obtain his first crude printed images. Now you
can discover that same sense of awe and wonder in your own home, thanks
to Fractint.

     Fractint is a fractal generator for IBM compatible computers. The
latest release of the program encompases more than 30 fractal types and
is compatible with 16 different graphics adapters, including plain CGA
and Hercules.

     Because fractals involve ENORMOUS amounts of mathematical
computations, most fractal programs take hours, even days to complete an
image. Not so with Fractint. The programmers behind Fractint have
circumvented the speed problem by changing the method by which their
fractals are generated. Most fractal programs use Floating Point Math
(Decimal Math.) This math is EXTREMELY slow on a PC and really REQUIRES
a FPU coprocessor. (An 8087 or 80287, etc. chip) With the advent of the
32 bit 80386 processor, it can be emulated with MUCH faster integer math.
This is how Fractint produces over half of its fractals. The 80386
specific math can even be emulated on non-386 processors by Fractint,
making fractal generation fairly speedy on even the lesser processors.

     Once you run the program, an extensive on-line help system is
available to you by pressing the 'h' or '?' keys. I made EXTENSIVE use
of this when I generated my first few fractals.

     The initial fractal I generated was the simple Mandelbrot set, or
Mandelbrot "universe." But first, I had to find out what keypress I
needed to use that would start my fractal generating. The help system
lists 5 or 6 screens of keypresses that correspond to different video
modes and adapters. I found the keypress that would activate my Paradise
VGA 1024 card in 640x400x256 resolution and pressed it. WOW! The
Mandelbrot set appeared in about 30 seconds! I was impressed! Once I was
through admiring th iful image, I found through the help screens that
's' was used to save my fractal to disk in GIF format with the filename
"Fract001.fra." I saved my first image and then wondered: "What next?"
Well, I also read the manual (!) and found that there was a command line
switch (Warn=Yes) that will prevent Fractint from automatically saving
an image under Fract001.fra. It looks for the next available filename
and saves it there. For example, if Fract001.fra and Fract002.fra
existed, the program would save the next fractal under Fract003.fra.

     The next thing I did was to try color-cycling. I had seen color
cycling before on an Apple IIe, but I was not prepared for this! (Note:
Only EGA and VGA adapters are capable of Color-Cycling) When an image
appears on the screen, press 'c.' The overscan area of the sreen turns
white, indicating color-cycling mode. Next, press the spacebar. I cannot
say what impressed me more, the image itself, or the color-cycling! It
was BEAUTIFUL! If you liked the original colors better, they can be
restored with t key while in color-cycling mode. To change and image to
b/w, press 'a' while in CC mode. (I press 'a' for my Julia sets - more
on that later in the article) For a really neat effect, press 'enter'
while in CC mode. This randomly selects a color palette and animates it.
There are also 30 predefined color palettes found by pressing the
SFTF1-F10 keys, the CTLF1-F10 keys and the ALTF1-F10 keys. After playing
for a while, I found a color combination that I really liked - so I
saved the fractal w ith that color c ombination by pressing 'esc' to
leave CC mode and then pressed 's' to save the image.

     Once I created my initial Mandelbrot image, I wondered... "that
place right.....THERE! looks to be interesting. I wonder if I could blow
that little section up?" Well, I could. Fractint enables you to zoom in
on little sections of an image and BLOW it up full screen. This is where
the fun and beauty of the Mandelbrot set begins. To activate the zoom
box, press the "PgUp" key. A big dotted box appears. Each time you hit
the "PgUp" key, the box gets a little smaller. Once I found the box size
that I l moved the entire box around the screen with the direction keys.
That was too slow for me, so hitting CRL-dir. keys enabled me to move
the box around in ten pixel increments and hitting the plain direction
keys enabled me to position the box exactly where I wanted it. When I
arrived at the spot, I pressed 'enter' to blow the selected image up
full screen in the current video mode. Using the 'Zoom and Pan' (as it
is called by Fractint,) I played around in the Mandelbrot set for hours
and generated m ore than 1 meg of pictures to keep for posterity. A big
NOTE is that you do not have to wait for a screen to finish generating,
you can press the zoom key whenever you see an interesting area that you
would like to zoom in on. This feature saves a lot of time!

     The last thing that I will cover this month are Julia sets.
Mathematically speaking, there is only one Mandelbrot set, but there are
an infinite number of Julia sets. Guess what? Each point on the
Mandelbrot corresponds mathematically to an entirely different Julia
set! To exploit this interesting feature, press the 'spacebar' whenever
you have a Mandelbrot image on the screen. The corresponding Julia set
is then generated and you can zoom and pan around in it just like the
Mandelbrot set! Now you'l for DAYS playing with BOTH sets!

     Next month I will detail some of the more advanced functions of
Fractint, including the other fractal types, 3-D transformation, and
others.
 
STAY TUNED!

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

Clone Invaders
by Dean Costello

     "Clone Invaders" is an intriguing little game combining advanced
IBM graphics with the detail, color, and sound that we all appreciate
from coin-fed video games from 1975.

     If you have ever played "Space Invaders", you have hit on the basic
premise of this intriguing little program.  It plays just like the Atari
2600 version.  You have a smallish fire castle from which you shoot at 5
rows of evil approaching invaders from space.  Your job at this lonely
outpost is to kill all of the evil invaders before they touch down and
kill you, your wife and kids, your dog, and the rest of your species.

     It's not all bad, however.  You do get 4 blocking things behind
which you can hide for a bit and catch your breathe.  And you do get
some devastating firepower from your fire castle, in that each shot has
the ability to destroy one of the oncoming evil invaders.

     When you destroy the ENTIRE screen of evil invaders, you think you
are done?  Not hardly.  You then begin a SECOND wave of evil invaders.
And if you think that is all, again not hardly, since quickly thereafter
a THIRD, than a FOURTH, FIFTH, SIXTH, and even a SEVENTH!  In fact,
there doesn't seem to be any end to the evil invaders.

     During play, the sound can be turned off or on using the 'S' key.
The game can be aborted with the 'ESC' key.  The space bar is your fire
key and the arrows on the numeric pad move your base.  And if that's not
all, you can even use a MOUSE!  Either mouse button will act as the fire
key.  You can then move the fire castle back and forth by moving the
mouse back and forth, also.

     The bottom two rows of evil invaders count for 10 points each.  The
middle two rows count for 20 points each, and the top row counts for 30
points.  There is also, at odd intervals, a spaceship that zips across
the top of the screen.  If you are lucky or skillful enough to hit the
spaceship, you get anywhere between 100 and 300 points for your
erstwhile effort.

     Also, if you think that the action is too slow for you, you can
change the speed of the game at the command line.  What you do is type
CLONINV xxx, where 'x' is a number.  The larger the number the slower
the game will play.

     All told, this is again a very impressive use of advanced IBM
graphics and sound (Did I mention sound?  The sound is just a good as
the Atari 2600 version!).  A very good way to show off your expensive
computer to people that won't know any better.

     Oh yes, this incredible program was written by Gary Quirling.  And
he asks that you send him $20 for his masterpiece.

Ed. note:  This game will run in CGA, EGA, or VGA mode.  MM

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

ProFile
by Chris Mohney

     The ProFile is a short, half-serious biographical sketch given to
various computer telecommunications personalities around Birmingham.
Victims are selected randomly from a group of names put into the
notorious Hat.  Anyone who thinks himself brave or witty enough may
petition for admittance to the Hat by leaving E-Mail to me (Chris
Mohney, most boards around town) to that effect.  Anyone who wishes to
suggest more questions or sneakily nominate someone without their
knowledge may take the same route....

---------

       Pro File on  Jet Thomas

---------


 
Age:  That awkward age:  Old enough to know better but not at all tired.
 
Birthplace:  Charlottesville, VA
 
Occupation:  pending

My hobbies include:  caving, computers, evolutionary systems, Forth,
                     music composition, social psychology
 
Years telecomputing:  I don't know.  5?
 
Sysop, past/present/future of:  None yet.  No present plans.
 
My oddest habit is: I don't have any odd habits.  Maybe my evenest habit
                    is getting my sideburns the same length.

My greatest unfulfilled ambition is:  to raise a family.
 
The single accomplishment of which I am most proud is:
     Keeping an important secret.  I don't want to be any more explicit
     about this.

My favorite performers are:  RA Fisher, RA Lafferty, Chuck Moore
 
The last good movie I saw was:  Sex, Lies & Videotape?  I don't watch
                                many movies.
 
The last good book I read was:  EXPLOITING CONTINUITY by Henri Theil &
                                Denzil Fiebig

If they were making a movie of my life, I'd like to see my part played by:
     I don't know many actors.  Dustin Hoffman does a good job, but he's
     probably too old now.
 
My pet peeves are:  "Business ethics."  EST-Forum graduates.  ACOA's.
                    People who lie to be polite.
 
When nobody's looking, I like to:  stretch.

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

Known BBS Numbers For The Birmingham Area

    NAME                    NUMBER     BAUD RATES  MODEM    BBS SOFTWARE
                                       SUPPORTED   TYPE

*   Alter-Ego BBS           925-0707   300-2400             ProBBS/ProDoor
*   American BBS            674-1851   300-2400             PC Board 14.5
*   Bus System BBS          595-1627   300-2400             PC Board 14.2
*   Byte Me!                979-BYTE   9600        HST      WWIV 4.07
    Camelot BBS             856-0679   300-2400             Teleguard 2.5
^   Cat House               941-1879   300-9600    V.32     WWIV 4.11
-*  Channel 8250 Node 1     744-8546   300-9600    HST/V.32 PC Board 14.5
-*  Channel 8250 Node 2     744-5166   300-9600    HST      PC Board 14.5
*   Crunchy Frog            956-1755   300-2400             PC Board 14.0
    D3 Systems BBS          663-2759   300-9600    HST/V.32 Quick BBS 2.04
+   Duck Pond BBS           822-0956   300-9600    HST/V.32 Opus-CBCS 1.03c
^   Eazy's Playhouse        870-0434   1200-4800   MNP4     WWIV 4.11
    Electric Reqium         680-9753   1200-2400            WWIV 4.11
    Emerald Castle          871-6510   300-2400             Image 1.2
    EzNet Central           785-7417   1200-9600   HST      PC Board 14.2
    Hacker's Corner         674-5449   300-2400    MNP4     PC Board 14.5
+   I.S.A. BBS              995-6590   300-9600    HST      TCOMM
*   Joker's Castle          744-6120   300-2400             PC Board 14.0
^*  Lands Of Brittania      791-0421   1200-2400            WWIV 4.11
*   Little Kingdom Node 1   823-9175   300-9600    HST/V.32 PC Board 14.5
*   Little Kingdom Node 2   823-9192   300-2400    MNP4     PC Board 14.5
    LZ Birmingham           870-7770   300-2400             PC Board 14.5
*   Magnolia BBS            854-6407   300-9600    HST      PC Board 14.2
    Missing Link            853-1257   300-2400             Image 1.2
    Pirate's Cove           942-7429   300-1200             Image 1.2
    Posys BBS               854-5131   1200-2400            RBBS CPC17.3
*   Radio Free Troad        979-6183   300-9600    HST      PC Board 14.?
    Safe Harbor             665-4355   300-2400             GT Power 15.00
    Shadetree BBS           787-6723   300-2400             Phoenix 1.36
    Sperry BBS              853-6144   300-9600    Hayes    PC Board 14.5
*   ST BBS                  836-9311   300-2400             PC Board 14.2
    The Commodore Zone      856-3783   300-2400             Image 1.2
    The Connection          854-9074   1200-2400            PC Board 14.1
    The Dog House           425-9255   300-1200             Image 1.2
    The Islands BBS         870-7776   300-2400             PC Board 14.0
    The Kingdom Of Teletech 674-0852   300-2400             WWIV 4.11
-   The Matrix Nodes 1-4    323-2016   300-2400             PC Board 14.5
-   The Matrix Node 5       251-2344   300-9600    HST      PC Board 14.5
    VCM(ee) BBS Node 1      655-4059   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
    VCM(ee) BBS Node 2      655-4065   300-1200             Oracomm Plus
    Willie's DYM Node 1     979-1629   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
    Willie's DYM Node 2     979-7739   300-2400             Oracomm Plus
    Willie's DYM Node 3     979-7743   300-1200             Oracomm Plus
    Willie's DYM Node 4     979-8156   300-1200             Oracomm Plus

Boards with a "*" before their name are members of our local network,
EzNet, and public messages left in the EzNet Conferences of any of these
boards will be echoed to all members.

Boards with a "+" before their name are members of FidoNet, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.

Boards with a "-" before their name are members of MetroNet, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.

Boards with a "^" before their name are members of WWIV-Net, an
international network that provides a variety of public forums as well
as private mail services all over the world.

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

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

EzNet Multiple Echo List

     EzNet now supports multiple conference echoing but there are a few
things you should be aware of regarding private mail.

  A. You have one 'address' for private mail.  If you are registered for
     private mail on Channel 8250 and someone sends you a private
     message in the MS-DOS conference from Crunchy Frog it will wind
     up in the Hardware conference on Channel 8250 as it should.

     However, if you were registered for private mail on Magnolia and
     someone sends you a private message in a conference that Magnolia
     does not support (echo) then the message will wind up in the
     twilight zone.

  B. If you go by a handle on one BBS and your real name on another even
     if the private message goes where it is supposed to, you will not
     be able to read it because it is addressed to someone else as far
     as PC Board is concerned.  PC Board has no way of knowing that Red
     Foxx and John Doe are the same person. No tickee, no washee.

     Advice on sending private mail: If you don't know if the person you
are sending private mail to is registered for private mail then keep a
copy of the message in case you have to find an alternate route. EzNet
Central will delete your private, undelivered message and inform you
that the user you attempted to reach is not registered for private mail
on any EzNet Node.

     This is a list of the current echoes that I am aware of.  More are
in the making and will be posted in future issues.  If you are a sysop
and are running an echo not listed for your board, please make us aware
of it so we may correct it next issue.


                    Eznet  Program   IBM    Adult  Scitech  BTNWA

Alter-Ego ........... * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..
American BBS ........ * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..
Bus System BBS ...... * ..... * ..... * .....   ..... * ..... * ..
Byte Me! ............ * ..... * ..... * ..... * .....   .....   ..
Channel 8250 ........ * ..... * ..... * .....   ..... * .....   ..
Crunchy Frog ........ * .....   ..... * ..... * .....   ..... * ..
Joker's Castle ...... * .....   ..... * ..... * .....   .....   ..
Lands Of Brittania .. * ..... * ..... * .....   .....   .....   ..
Little Kingdom ...... * ..... * ..... * ..... * ..... * .....   ..
Magnolia BBS ........ * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..
Radio Free Troad .... * .....   .....   .....   .....   .....   ..
ST BBS .............. * .....   .....   ..... * .....   .....   ..
