9:00:16 AM PST Sunday, December 20, 1987 (Sysop Tony) Good Morning, Gene. (GENE NESTRO) Hi Tony (Sysop Tony) Are you in a Ho Ho Ho mood? (gene) Never, I don't participate (Sysop Tony) Oh, too bad. ... There's a Magic to Christmas. (gene) RE:NOMENU...nice file, Tony. Xmas is not one of my favorite times Split/Screen & two different conversations!!! (Sysop Tony) Yes, nice file... I was shocked to learn that many folks were not aware they could get out of the menu mode. One of the big problems, I think is that a lot of folks just don't read the many help files in DL1. So, I pointed to this one in the bulletin. (gene) Well using the Set NoMenu command is difficult for many to understand (Sysop Tony) Or find! Guess it's not too well documented. (gene) I,ve been using it for sometime. I don't know where I picked it up. (Sysop Tony) I believe it's mentioned in the DOWNLD.HLP file. Think Dave stuck it in there. Trouble is, I seldom read those files myself. (Unless someone points out that they're out of date.) (gene) Another use that most users dont' use is the PER file area. Good for storing prgs. for DOS initialization. (Sysop Tony) That's an area I haven't explored. Personal opinion is that it's not an economical way to save files. It costs money, and if you don't access the file for 30 days, it disappears. Better to have it locally, on disk, or even cassette, than to store it here. However, I hear that some business users use that area to transfer files and stuff between execs on the road and folks in the home office, using a common PPN. Guess that's useful. (gene) What do you think of an article(s) in Port 100 from this SIG (Sysop Tony) Exactly how do you mean, "From this SIG", Gene? ... Before they stopped publishing last year, they did approach us, and ask if we could provide them an article each month. No money, but exposure. We agreed, but they died before we could get started. New folks want to publicize their own BBS. (gene) Port 100 is so skimpy lately. I think Phil W. would be a good start. (Sysop Tony) Yeah, I noticed the last issue was only 32 pages. Don't know how Terry Kepner is going to manage to have enough info for two magazines each month. Shall we see what Rush has? ga Rush ga (R Caley) ok...I guess you answered I remember you asking about our opinion of P 100 under CW communications when they were going to take it over I warned you guys about how they screwed HOT COCO Now it seems - I heard from Greg Susong- that CW dropped it after a few issues Did Kepner buy it? (Sysop Tony) Yeah... Terry Kepner will now run both PICO and P100. (Phil) I've sorta lost interest in both mags. Neither Pico nor P100 really are very substantial anymore -- given the prices you pay for them (R Caley) [I really liked Laptop User] (M. Shaunnessey) hello, this is mike from chicago (Phil) Typically they cannot answer readers questions that are old hat here. Yeah -- really sorry to see LU bite the dust; had real promise, that one did! (Sysop Tony) And the price was right! (Phil) [Yes!!] (Sysop Tony) I think the slump, when P100 stopped publishing hurt the whole portable users badly. Advertisers, too. With no info, many folks gravitated to other machines, where there WAS info available. (Phil) And it isn't just the Model 100 mags, eiother. There is not a good one covering the PC-type lappers - maybe cuz they get good coverage from the PC Magazine class of pubs. (M. Shaunnessey) hi there, is anyone familier with the em8sig.200 program? (Sysop Tony) Probably no one here this morning. Having a problem? (M. Shaunnessey) keep getting error 83 in line 53 no matter what I enter (Sysop Tony) Suggest you leave a message on the board, and maybe someone can give you an answer. No way to look at the program right now, and give you any advice. OK? (Phil) No error 83, I think (Sysop Tony) Yeah, but it's an undefined error. (gene) Could be a 'Maxfiles = x' error (Phil) Ah! (Sysop Tony) No, that's always a BN error. (gene) ok (Sysop Tony) Anything else, Mike? (M. Shaunnessey) Yes, Is Mr. Miller still around?, I tried to contact him through eplex. (Sysop Tony) Probably not. He was fighting terminal Cancer for several years, and was confined to a hospital. He hasn't been here since middle of September. It's an assumption, but I think he's passed away. (M. Shaunnessey) So, I should just toss a message into the blue for help? (Sysop Tony) That's your best chance for help now, yes. Address it to "All". (M. Shaunnessey) Thank's all, I'll do that. (Sysop Tony) OK Now that I've got you all here Here's my Christmas card. * ^.^ ^. .^ ^: .. ^ ^... :..^ ^.. :...::^ ^ . . . ^ [ ] - Season's Greetings (Phil) [Nice, and tks!] (M. Shaunnessey) Merry Christmas to you too. (Ron) Nice tree,Tony. Looks like The WUMPUS dressed to the 9's. (Sysop Tony) Gee, is THAT what a WUMPUS looks like! (grin) Speaking of Wumpii ... (Wumpii???!) (Ron) I hope it doesn't smell like a WUMPUS! (Sysop Tony) (The Tree that Ate Cleveland!) (M. Shaunnessey) I am trying to automatically download the titles from an ENS folder. Any ideas? (Sysop Tony) I don't know what an ENS folder is. Explain? (M. Shaunnessey) Executive News service, It scans newswires for keywords and collects the titles in a file somewhere. Similar to a message (Sysop Tony) Mike... type shorter lines, so we know you're still there. I'm not familiar with the clipping service, although I've seen it mentioned several times. I guess there's a file somewhere ... (M. Shaunnessey) Sorry, I'm new to this. (Sysop Tony) with your clippings in it. Or at least the references. Why not just go to the file, press your F2 button, and download the file? (M. Shaunnessey) Can I get TELCOM to wake up at 02:00? (Sysop Tony) Depends on what machine you have. (M. Shaunnessey) A 200 (Sysop Tony) Yes, the 200 has a wakeup function. ... But considering that the machine consumes practically no power, why not plug it into the wall and have your program set to operate at 2 am, or whatever time you choose? (M. Shaunnessey) Back to EM8SIG or something like it? (Sysop Tony) Yes, something like it. But perhaps more specialized. In other words, a customized version to do just the one thing. (M. Shaunnessey) I've tried to modify the AUTO.YGI program in DL3 but keep getting I/o errors in the input statement from the modem. (Sysop Tony) Well, you probably need something far simpler than that. Take a look at the program in the file 1200BD.PGM, which is a basic shell of how to sign on, and send commands to the system, and wait for responses. You can tailor that to go through whatever is sent, and do your job. Preceed the program with a time loop, like ONTIME$ GOTO 100, which starts the program. (M. Shaunnessey) 1200bd.pgm in dl3? (Sysop Tony) Yep. (M. Shaunnessey) Well thanks for the help, the kid wants to use the phone. (Sysop Tony) OK, we're open for another topic. Send "Q" to ask a question or change the topic, Send a "C" to comment on the current topic. (Phil) I was telling Denny of my "progress" on XMDPW5.200. Current versions of the program all lock up the machine ... (Sysop Tony) Bummmer! (Phil) so that I have to turn off memory over night each time I try it just to be able to use the 200 again. Makes the process impossibly slow so that I have just about said sayonara to THAT project! (Sysop Tony) Whew! What a job. How come you didn't buy that 200 for $350 that was on the board last week as a Christmas Present to yourself? (Phil) I don't like the 200. Screen seems to have less contrast than the 100 and in my work location the light just does not work out well I have better angles with the tilted 100, and it just works out better for me. (Sysop Tony) The 200 has an "anti-glare" screen that makes a difference. And obviously there are a lot of differences between the 100's and 200's versions of TELCOM. Looks like a major job to duplicate the same program for both machines. Maybe a "look-alike" is better than a duplication. (Phil) Well I've been working it both ways, adding stuff from a disassembly of 200 TELCOM to make the term stuff work -- and just have not gotten there it is doable, but not when I can only try one version in an evening! (Sysop Tony) Have you tried different banks? Maybe you could do 2 or 3 an evening? Ha! (Phil) It locks up ALL! And there are other good things like when it says download aborted, it says it over and over scrolling up the screen. CAnnot figure that... either problem is probably some stuff being used in ROM that is outside TELCOM Oh well..maybe a relocatable disassembler or a 0: supporting mini OS would be easier! (Sysop Tony) Heh heh... maybe it's trying to make the point! (grin) ... It AIN'T gonna do that! (chuckle) Right. ... Write us a new DOS. (heh heh) (Phil) Need to get james Yi interested in XMDYI5! [I said easier, not possible!] (Sysop Tony) Yeah, but then it would come out, Y5XDMI.200. (grin) Well, anyone have something pressing to talk about? (Sysop Tony) Denny... You've got line noise today. ga Arnie (Sysop Denny) [too much noise today] (ARNIE/EX) HAS ANYONE USED THE REAL CHEAP VIDEO OUTLINED IN PORTABLE 100?.. (Sysop Tony) Not that's been reported yet. I read the article with interest but haven't gotten around to doing anything with it. However, It's on my "To-Do" list for "One of these days". (ARNIE/EX) Would the video suggested permit modification of text or simply viewing? (Sysop Tony) Probably viewing whatever was in the LCD buffer, which would mean whatever was put on the system buss. ..... One of our members did play with that video board, but in another application. He connected it to the RS-232 port, and a big-screen monitor so an entire class could see whatever he sent to the RS-232 port. (ARNIE/EX) sounds like a good idea. I take my 102 to class with me all the time I'd like details if they exist. (Sysop Tony) Well, there's a basic info file in DL13, called VIDEO.100. He reported success with the board on the message board. But no further detailed file came from that. Basically, you just get the board, connect it between the RS-232 and the monitor, and send whatever you want displayed to the RS-232 port. No big deal. (ARNIE/EX) is that the device called "snatcher?" (Sysop Tony) No. .... The "snatcher" allows you to send data to two RS-232 devices at once, or to "monitor" a line; either incoming or outgoing, or both. But the output is still 232. It has to connect to something with a 232 input. (ARNIE/EX) Thanks for the info (Sysop Tony) OK.... Good luck. Let us know if you get it working. Anybody else? (ARNIE/EX) will do. Has anyone used Traveling Softare's Rombank Can it be used with ram expanders? (Sysop Tony) Denny is probably most familiar with those things... Denny? (Sysop Denny) yes It should be able to be used with a RAM bank, but the problem wouldn't be with hardware (they use different sockets) but with software hooks. The ROM bank is very 'hooky' and takes over the machine pretty much completly. Seems that Phil tried to use it with a PG ram bank, Phil? (Phil) Yes works fine with the PG Design Banks of RAM -- though I think it may turn off 0Menu on the way out; no big deal tho, just need to type 0menu at the main menu to get it back. (Sysop Denny) One thing it won't work AT ALL with is the Chipmunk disk drive. You have to do a cold start to get the 'Munk back after running the ROM bank. You should be able to put the Node rom in the bank and run it from there. (Sysop Tony) Denny... isn't TS's ROM Bank the same as PGD's Safe? (Sysop Denny) yep, but PG doesn't have Sardine+ (Phil) My impression is that Node is a little tougher re compatiblility but I have not used it, just based on msgs on the board. (ARNIE/EX) I thought the safe needed to attach to the system bus on the 102. (Sysop Denny) No, you might be thinking of the Vault. (Sysop Tony) (Gee it's getting hard to keep track of the players!) (ARNIE/EX) thanks for the comment! (Sysop Tony) Any more on that subject, guys? (Sysop Denny) [nope] (Sysop Tony) OK (ARNIE/EX) Is there a New York area users group? I am tired of having to listen to msdos and mac talk from my colleagues! (Sysop Tony) Yes there is ... (Ron) Yes, Arnie. NYLUG (Sysop Tony) they make a monthly announcement on the bulletin board of upcoming meetings. (Ron) The New York Laptop User Group (NYLUG) ... (ARNIE/EX) thanks... (Ron) meets every month at a RSCC in midtown Manhattan. Do you want to sign up,Arnie? (ARNIE/EX) Yes, if the meetings are at a reasonabletime.... I have two kids and a wife writing a dissertation. (Ron) We meet at 6PM to 8PM, OK? (ARNIE/EX) what day? (Ron) Usually on a Wed. (ARNIE/EX) I'd like to sign up. I'd find some difficulty being on time. I teach at an LI college till five. (Sysop Tony) (Not necessary to be "on time", just be there) (Be there or be square) (Ron) Stop in at the Radio Shack CC at 385 5th Ave.(near 36th St) and leave your name and phone # with a rep. We will be meeting there on Jan 13 for our next meeting Lots of good people. We're having a Christmas party tonight in the Village. Want to come? (ARNIE/EX) Fine, I'll sign Thanks, but we have plans. Must go join family for breakfast. Thanks (Sysop Tony) So, how many times have you watched "It's a Wonderful Life" this year. (Ron) OK (Sysop Denny) [my all time favorite movie!] (Sysop Tony) (now we know what to get Denny for Christmas!) (Phil) [PC desktop!] (Sysop Tony) (Nah... a video tape with all 3 versions of the film on it) (gene) q (Sysop Tony) OK.... ga Gene (gene) What was the BEEP I just got? Who or what sent it? (Sysop Tony) Don't know. Maybe someone sent you a message? (gene) the prefix was % ? (Sysop Tony) Well, maybe they'll send it again. Meantime, if no one has any questions, I will now sing a medly of my favorite songs... Carols, actually. (gene) (Let's exchange passwords & ID numbers for Christmas) (Sysop Tony) Silent Night ... Jingle Bells ... Oh Come all Ye Faithful ... that brings up another subject... About the recent contest. You notice that all the entrants got something? And did you also notice that the big winners were decided on a matter of one vote or so? And did you also notice that there were only 19 vote files (or so) counted? Question is, was the contest really worth while? And considering the small turn out, six or seven entrants got free access time. Does that mean winning is almost "easy"? Or a "semi-sure thing". Was it rigged? Is there a Mafia connection? Does Santa sleep with his whiskers over or under the blankets? Is all this important??? (norm l) Topic?? (Phil) [Huh??] (Sysop Tony) No special topic today, your choice. ga (norm l) Just listening! (gene) I think the "best" prgs were alredy uploaded & consequently a lot of Siggers didn't really have anything they thought were worthwhile (Sysop Tony) That's just it. ANYTHING won a prize! All you had to do was upload something good or not, to win a prize. And if you got five of your friends to vote for your upload, you could have won the grand prize! Somehow that doesn't seem reasonably "contesty". (gene) Now you tell us!!! (Phil) I agree - especially since the best programming efforts may not have won. I don't recall the winners, but I thought James Yi did one of the best ones, and being for a 200, likely it was not highly scored. I really think you need judges, not a popular vote; in fact one fellow unabashedly voted for his own program as the best and with a small number of votes, that could swing it! (Sysop Tony) Good point. Maybe we should "weigh" the votes, so that 200 programs get a vote and a half for each vote, or something. Or, as you say, a panel of judges. Problem with that one, is that so few folks have both a 100 and 200 to try out all the programs. We're planning another contest for next summer, you know. (Phil) Well, it's not whether it works or not -- it's programming quality that counts (grin!). Seriously, I never did run James program, and it could not be converted to the M100, but from looking at the code, it was superior! (Sysop Tony) Ah, but you're an exceptional person; A quality programmer, a connoisseur, and an insightful judge of programming technique. (Phil) [make that quantity, not quality!] (Ron) On the subject of quality programs I just uploaded my review of "LCdraw" from Lonestar Software to DL13 last night. (Sysop Tony) Oh yes. With Xmodem protocol I see. It's been merged into the DL, and noted in the New files list in the DL1 DES. Thanks. (Ron) No problem! It was fun. (Sysop Tony) Did you look this morning, to see how many folks had already downloaded it? (Ron) No. Why? (Sysop Tony) Just wondered. Many authors (blush) check almost daily for a week or so to see how well their file has been received. (Et tu, Phil?) (Ron) Ah yes, ... (Phil) [Sure do; only reason I ever log on! ] (Ron) I sent a long file to the "Scripture Studies" DL on the Reigion SIG. Mea Culpa! (Sysop Tony) It's fun watching the access counter creep up. My new file NOMENU.HLP had 40 by this morning... in less than 2 days. Surprised that so many users are still hooked on the menus. Forgot that ... (gene) [I erronouesly downloaded it 5 times] (Sysop Tony) while we say get off the menus, we didn't tell newcomers HOW. So are you saying the count is OFF? Bah Humbug! (gene) grin!!! (Ron) Where's NOMENU.HLP? (Sysop Tony) DL1, Ron. Saves time, frustration and $$$$. One of our members pointed out to me half the things we say to do, never show up on his menus. THEN I got a glimmer of understanding that the menus were confusing folks. I've been off them for so long, I wasn't familiar with their current form. (Phil) [[LFUTL.PW1 has managed to creep up to 1002] (Sysop Tony) Congrats. That's a major file, then. I noticed the first of the TDDTIP files outweighs all the rest, too. Strange count though, on the spelling checker files, the accesses sort of dwindle off towards the last few files. Almost as if they get tired of downloading about half way through. (Phil) It is interesting to watch the count. The programs I really think are nifty (MONTOR, RECOV3) don't get much play while others do. My tastes and needs are untypical, I guess! (Sysop Tony) Yeah... some of the ones we really put time into, don't seem to be popular while short little "knock off's" seem to get "hot". (Ron) What we need is a new "Best of" by PW! (grin) (Sysop Denny) But Phil, Your Kyo-85 stuff has been downloaded by fully 10% of the available machines! I think your market penetration has been very good there! (grin) (Sysop Tony) Yes, maybe a few "Best of" files would be a good idea. (Phil) True I have a monopoly! (Sysop Tony) I note that the "Best of Model 100" book released last year is much out of date, as far as any "best of" list would be now. And apparently no plans for an update of the book. (Phil) Ron may have been referring to BSTPGM.PW1 in DL1 which was done fully four years ago! A bit out of date, alright!! (Sysop Tony) Right. I know. Thinking maybe we should all prep a Best of" file for the DL's. (gene) You know, ... (Phil) [good idea!] (Sysop Tony) (BESTOF.SIG file - DL1) (gene) it's interesting to see the differences in prg style from '83 to the present. (calls, peeks, pokes ets). (Sysop Tony) Yeah. More info has become available on what those peeks and pokes do. We're still a lot short of completely understanding these machines, though. (Sysop Denny) BESTOF.DT, BESTOF.PW, BESTOF.TA, etc. Maybe we should take a poll. (Roman Kowalczuk) breaker, breaker (Sysop Tony) Roman, this is not CB. If you want to ask a question, send a "Q" to get in the question lineup, or a "C" to comment on the current topic. We take turns, and you'll be called on when your turn comes up. (Ron) The Witching Hour approaches! (Roman) ...'Lo from Toronto. Check, Tony (Sysop Tony) I like the best of idea. But a poll would be like the contest vote files. Inconclusive. (Phil) RE styles of pgming: In mid 1984 I, Phil W, left a series of messages about machine language programming. Looking back on them now, they were a bad idea. Hows that for a turnaround?? (Sysop Tony) Good thing we aren't holding you accountable for what has already scrolled away and been forgotten. (grin) Re programming styles: ... (Phil) [no archivist then!] (Sysop Tony) I'm a utility programmer... write it so that it works, does the job, and don't get fancy. (Phil) [amen!] (gene) July 2, 1984, ... (Sysop Tony) [Gad! He's got all the old messages on paper!] (Phil) [Oh oh!] (gene) I d/l a program called "Program Via Menu". Does any one remember whose it was ? (Sysop Tony) (Whew!) (Phil) [safe!] No (gene) I thought it was the best thing I ever saw (Sysop Tony) Do you remember the exact file name? "Program Via menu" dont sound like anything of ours. (Phil) [what did it do?] (gene) Tony Anderson 70506,1261 sig100 xa4 Hows that!!! (Phil) [Teehee!!!!] (Sysop Tony) Yeah, but "Program Via menu" still doesn't ring a bell. (gene) It is a call etc to make sch, telcom, ets visible or invisable (Ron) Ding-a-ling!(grin) (Sysop Tony) Ah! CALLS.MNU. To make unused programs invisible. Yeah, I never use SCHDL or ADDRSS, so don't have them on my menu. (gene) remember XA4 ETC (Sysop Tony) Yeah, a while back... Well, we're running overtime here... I'm having a White Christmas up here. Neat experience for a So. Calif. kid. So Season's Greetings and best wishes to all of you how ever you celebrate the season. We've run out time this week, so just let me say, A Merry Christmas to All, and to All, a Good Night. *** END OF CONFERENCE *** (gene) cu Phil, Denny, Tony and all (Sysop Tony) See you all again. Bye. (Sysop Denny) [Bye guys, Merry Xmas. List of Participants: 71266,125 Phil 71310,705 BILL BADGER 72216,512 GENE NESTRO 72300,3645 Ron 72316,647 R Caley 72327,1025 norm l 72407,3224 Martin J. Toombs 73117,1035 Fish 73310,1475 M. Shaunnessey 74136,2520 BOB WILSON 76672,2222 ARNIE/EX 76701,40 Sysop Denny 76703,4062 Sysop Tony