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┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │ │ │ │ │ C A R R I E R D E T E C T │ │ │ │ The PC Communications Journal For Every Modem User! │ │ │ │ Issue #5, January 1992 │ │ │ │ │ └────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Table of Contents: Welcome and Year End Review ........................ 2 Product Evaluations ................................ 5 Boyan Communications Version 5.0 ............... 5 Potluck ............................................ 8 19 Timesaving Tips for BBS Users ............... 8 Writer's Roundup ................................... 11 Reflections 2 .................................. 11 ByteLine ........................................... 14 Feedback ........................................... 18 Product Information .............................. 18 Advertisements ..................................... 19 Carrier Detect is published quarterly by Michael W. Crosson. Contents may not be reproduced without written permission from the publisher. All brand and product names mentioned in this publication are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective companies. (c) 1992 Michael W. Crosson. All rights reserved. W E L C O M E Welcome to the first edition of Carrier Detect in 1992! This seems to be an appropriate time to look back over some of the major trends and developments of the past year. Plus, every other publication does this so why shouldn't we? 1991 - The Year in Review As I See It * V.32 Modems emerged as the victor in the war of the high speed modems. HST modems begin their slow death in the face of their technically superior competitors. V.32bis modems are released by several manufacturers including Hayes, Intel and USR. * QWK type offline mail doors and readers begin to dominate the offline mail market. By the end of the year the QWK readers are proliferating and a shakeout seems eminent in the future. Blue Wave, MegaMail, SilverExpress and XRS are met with user indifference or resistance. * Remote Access surges ahead of it's inspiration - QuickBBS. More and more QBBS sysops seem to adopt the "too little, too late" attitude concerning the original. * Many begin to call PC Board, "PC Bored." I take it this means that many find calling a PCB system an unstimulating experience? * Echos, echos and more echos... We seem to be in the midst of Echomania. Fidonet seems to be bulging at the seams as the system grows bigger and bigger each year. Hundreds of echos are now offered on the backbone. Does this mean more people are messaging on BBS systems or the same people are posting more? Quoteaholics become a serious problem in the echos and there seems to be more off topic messages than ever. Related to this is the growth of Networks. There seems to be a new one every week soliciting members. * Telix 4.0 turns out to be vaporware in the finest Lotus tradition. * High Speed Link makes its debut. It seems to be everything that Bimodem should have been. It is easy to use and even the pre v1.0 wide release betas are working well! V.32 and V.32bis modems make it more practical than ever. * ARJ makes some headway against ZIP as the preferred compression method. It reigned as the compression king for most of the year. Yet, in December PKZIP v2.0 beta Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 2 appeared to take the lead once again. Yoshi continued to work on LHA but his low key approach stifled its success. PC Magazine gives LHA a product of the year award. * Wildcat! 3.0 is finally released to mixed reviews. Everyone agrees it is a vast improvement, but the conference scheme they dreamed up is flawed. Security options galore were added but was it overkill? The lack of a competent mail tosser hurt business and the 3rd party Wildmail became known as a "backyard" tosser. Neverthe- less Wildcat!'s presence in the BBS world grew tremendously. * Datastorm's long awaited ProComm v2.0 appears and becomes a best seller despite many bugs in the original release. Popular opinion of ProComm in the shareware world plummets. * BBS Systems become enstrangled in legal battles with several phone companies across the US. NY Bell wants to charge sales tax on shareware downloads (I guess they assume every time a user downloads a file they register it... what kind of drugs are they on?). Another of the little Bells contend that all BBS systems are commercial operations and try to force all sysops to pay commercial (read as EXPENSIVE) rates. * Prodigy comes under attack for allegedly transferring personal data off of subscribers hard drives unbeknownst to them. The charges are emphatically denied and technical explanations are offered. * Compucom Speedmodems become the center of various controversies. The company begins to market cheap v.32 modems. * Maximus v2.0 is released and it's popularity grows. The price (Free) is right in our sagging economy and it includes some nifty features like an internal QWK mail reader. * Mustang software makes news again as they go on a buying spree. They buy the rights to the Tomcat! QWK mail door, the popular Silly Little Mail Reader (QWK of course), and most significantly Qmodem. I think the future looks rosy for Qmodem but many feel upset about the takeover. Part of the backlash was caused by the fact that Qmodem will primarily become a $99 dollar commercial program and there will be no more "free updates". * Telegard 2.7 appears at the tail end of the year and only Martin Pollard is credited as author. Don't know what happened to "Martygard." Mr. Pollard claims to have rewritten over 75% of the code, justifying his sole Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 3 authorship listing. At the same time rumors that the real source to 2.5i was leaked (things that make you go hmmmmmmmm?). Martin denounces Telegard sysops and says there will never be another release. The Telegard Echo is killed from the backbone. * 1991 also saw major new upgrades for Boyan, Commo, HyperAccess 5, Qmodem, and Telemate. * Riding the Windows wave of popularity, Communication programs for the GUI became a hot item. Both commercial and shareware terms for Windows became commonplace. * Widespread popularity of WWIV still seems to be largely limited to California. * Novell in cooperation with Federal Authorities began intensive sting operations aimed at prosecuting large pirate bulletin boards across the nation. Systems that offered Network files for download were especially at risk. --- Several new changes to Carrier Detect begin with this issue. Carrier Detect will now be released quarterly. The bimonthly release schedule was proving to be too difficult to meet between work and school. To insure the quality of the journal I felt this change was necessary. The low number of reader submissions affected this decision too. Also, please note my new address and phone number at the end of the journal. Sincerely, Michael Crosson Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 4 P R O D U C T E V A L U A T I O N S Each month Carrier Detect contains several product evaluations. Most of these will be software reviews but from time to time hardware will be discussed as well. The opinions expressed in Carrier Detect are solely my own or the respective author of the article. Carrier Detect strives to be as objective as possible when evaluating software. Judgments to suitability are made with the typical modem enthusiast in mind and are not geared toward the complete novice nor the power user. Exceptions to this are noted as such in the article. * Boyan Communications, Version 5.0 Reviewed by Michael Crosson Pros: Thoughtful little touches abound Excellent dialing directory and queue Internal file manager Cons: Supplied host is simple Internal protocols are weak Oh Boy!... The shareware community was graced with a new release of Boyan last year and it looks to be a real winner! Justin Boyan's communication package has been flirting with greatness for years and with version 5, it may have reached it. Boyan was first released as shareware in 1986 when Justin was still in high school. Subsequent releases have since helped to finance his B.S in Mathematics at Chicago University. Boyan is one of those stellar shareware success stories. From its humble beginnings it has blossomed into a robust package with a thoughtful design. Read on to find out why I like this product. The user interface of Boyan is from the influential ProComm school. The user is presented with a sparse terminal screen after the program loads. It uses Alt key combinations to call most functions. For the most part, the default key assignments are intuitive (E.G. Alt-X will exit the program), but if some seem strange they can easily be changed to an alternative key assignment. A status bar on the bottom of the screen keeps the user informed about current activities and offers short help messages. More detailed context sensitive help is available by using the F1 key. The dialing directory is one of the strongest points of Boyan. Each directory can hold 200 entries and you can have as many dialing directories as you like, although only one can be loaded at a time. For each phone number Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 5 the following default information can be assigned: system name, phone number, terminal emulation, script, protocol, baud, and password. The last connect date is also recorded. Numbers to be dialed are selected with a light bar or by typing the number of the entry. Many useful extras have been built into the directory. Some of these enhancements include the ability to alphabetize and sort the directory, print the directory, search for certain phone numbers and a unique little feature that "Grabs" phone numbers off the screen and creates an entry in your directory. Yet, the most useful aspect of the dialing directory for BBS fanatics may be the Dialing Queue. Boyan allows you to tag entries with the light bar and then hit "Q" to enter the dialing queue. The queue looks similar to the normal dialing directory but only lists those systems you want to dial repeatedly until a connection is made. It keeps track of the number of tries and the elapsed time for every entry. When a connection is made, Boyan sounds a loud alarm. The dialing queue found in Boyan is one of the best I have used and is perfect for connecting to busy BBS systems. File transfers can be accomplished with ease when using Boyan as well, but adding an external protocol or two is strongly recommended. Boyan includes several internal protocols, but they are not likely to be used frequently. Xmodem, Ymodem, Ymodem-G and ASCII are your internal choices. All of these are older, slower protocols and none of them allow batch transfers. When using these protocols, Boyan presents a rather plain status box and a thermometer type display to aid in viewing transfer progress from across the room. Again, several innovative features make file transfers more convenient than in other packages. Boyan guesses the filename you are attempting to transfer, and more often than not, it is correct (not so with many other terms that sport this feature). Also, a special protocol for uploading messages is provided. Its use is preferred to using ASCII since it works better with full screen editors that use word wrapping. One last little goody is a feature that checks the free space on the drive before starting a download, just the thing before transferring a huge batch, especially if you own a high speed modem. Without internal Z modem and batch capability, adding external protocols to Boyan is going to be a necessity for most users. Not surprisingly then, Boyan has excellent external protocol support and the process of installing them is as painless as possible. Boyan allows the use of ten external protocols of your choice and once installed, they integrate seamlessly with the rest of the program. The configuration of DSZ, MPt, Kermit and others are Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 6 predefined. All that is left is for the user to do is drop the proper .EXE or .COM file somewhere in the configurable DOS directory. Boyan contains a internal file manager making the most common disk and file commands just a keystroke away. I find internal file managers to be extremely useful during communication sessions and this one is no exception. Some of the commands possible from within Boyan are Copy, Delete, List, Rename, View, Execute, and Edit. A few of these, such as the List and Edit commands rely on user definable external support programs such as Buerg's List, Qedit, or VDE. The file manager also simplifies batch uploads by allowing you to tag a group of files for sending to the remote system. Time estimates for transfers are also readily available. There is more to the Boyan Communications package. It contains a powerful macro/scripting language with over 200 commands. The language consists mainly of a backslash plus two characters and any other information needed to execute the command following in square brackets. As an example, \di[602-741-7401] would tell Boyan to dial my BBS. When you string these types of commands together you can create complex scripts that perform many different functions. \zs \di[602-741-7401] tells Boyan to clear the screen and then dial my system. These scripts support many variables and can be compiled as well. Boyan uses scripts to learn log on sequences to the systems that you call. However, it does so in a fashion that works well but is unique to Boyan. To learn a log on sequence, you would first log on as normal. Then using the excellent scroll-back buffer, you mark the parts of the sequence you wish to include in the script (typically all of it). Boyan then automatically inserts the proper macro commands that will mirror the actions you took to log on to the system. The system works great most of the time and if any editing of the learned script is incorrect, it is easy to alter with a text editor (in fact Boyan optionally gives you the opportunity to do so right as you finish learning each script). Boyan's host mode is also script based. However, I was not overwhelmed with it's power or ease of use. Basic functions are available such as uploading and downloading of files, simple message writing, and chat. Even when I tried an enhanced Boyan host called Mosthost, things were rudimentary at best. Let it suffice to say that no one will ever mistake the Boyan host as a bulletin board system. If strong hosting functions are your priority, a better choice is the Telix/Host v4.4 combo or HyperAccess 5 v2.0. Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 7 All in all, Boyan v5.0 is a powerful communication program that should suit the needs of most. Its intelligent design makes it a pleasure to use. The program is highly configurable, although there is a moderate learning curve involved since most of program's behavior is controlled through macros. Justin Boyan has paid close attention to detail in the design of the program and has automated many of the more mundane details of communication sessions. Frequent BBS callers should definitely give Boyan a try; many of its features seem specifically oriented toward this group. Business users should also find Boyan an attractive alternative subject to the following qualifications: exotic terminal emulations are not important (Boyan only comes with 6), voice technical support is not necessary (support is given by BBS only) and a fancy host is not needed. Boyan is distributed as user supported shareware. Registration of the latest version is $60 with a typeset manual or $40 without. Corporate site licensing discounts are available as are user group discounts. P O T L U C K This department of Carrier Detect contains articles that do not neatly fit into the other departments that appear regularly. Here the articles could be on anything and will vary considerable in each issue that Potluck appears. * 19 Timesaving Tips for BBS Callers Article by Michael Crosson Callers to BBS systems frequently complain to sysops that they do not have enough time to do all the things they want to online. Sysops on the other hand, are hesitant to give callers too much daily time for fear that some users might monopolize the system for hours on end. It is a dilemma that will probably be around as long as there are bulletin board systems. This article offers some tips and tricks for callers to get the most out their daily time on any given BBS system. If you have ever felt frustrated with the amount of time your access level affords you on a BBS, what follows should offer some relief. And if you are calling long distance, you might even save some money in the process too! In no particular order... 1. Use offline mail readers - Most BBS systems now offer offline mail doors that allow you to download packets of mail and messages to read at your leisure offline. On your next call you can upload Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 8 any replies you might have written to the system and begin the process all over again. There are several incompatible offline mail systems currently used. The most popular is the QWK type of mail door. Others include Blue Wave, Megamail, Silver Express and XRS. 2. Use log on scripts - Using automated scripts to log onto a BBS can save a surprising amount of time. Most communication programs have provisions for easily learning logon procedures. Learn how to use this feature and take advantage of it! 3. Learn log on tricks - Many BBS systems have short cuts to log on. A good example is on Wildcat! BBS systems. On a Wildcat! system you can enter your first name, last name and password on the first prompt rather then waiting for each, (E.G. Michael Crosson SecretPassword). 4. Use fast protocols - Some protocols can transfer files much faster than others. A more efficient protocol saves you time and money. Some suggested fast protocols to try are High Speed Link, Hyperprotocol, Jmodem, Mpt, and Zmodem. 5. Download the "allfiles" listing - Download the "allfiles" listing and peruse it offline rather than searching and browsing for files while connected to the BBS. Decide what you want to download and upload in advance of your call. 6. Use advanced file area features - Advanced file area features save much time and frustration when selecting files to download. These features might include file marking, file masking, and wildcards. Few BBS systems support all of these but nearly all will support at least one. 7. Download the BBS User's Manual - Download the User's Manual if available and familiarize yourself with special features of your favorite BBS. 8. Use hotkeys - Hotkeys save time and are convenient. They allow you to select commands without pressing the enter key. Some BBS systems with hotkeys are QuickBBS, Remote Access, RBBS and Wildcat!. 9. Use archive viewers - Ever waste time downloading a huge file only to find out that it was unsuitable for your purposes? If unsure about the usefulness of a file, looking at the contents of the archive and reading a little of the documentation online can give you a better idea what the program does. Better Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 9 to spend 5 minutes looking through the documentation than 30 minutes on an unnecessary transfer. 10. Use the expert mode - Once you are comfortable moving around on a BBS start using the expert mode rather than novice mode. If you don't need to look at all those menus, why waste time watching them display? 11. Turn ANSI graphics and color off - ANSI graphics and color menus take long to display. Shut them off if time is a concern. The slower your modem the more you should consider doing this. 12. Lock your comm port - If you have an error correcting modem or high speed modem, lock your comm port at 19,200 baud or higher. This will result in much faster file transfers with many protocols (including Zmodem). 13. Set file descriptions to 1 line - Most BBS systems allow you to configure how many lines of description you want displayed in the file areas. Choose one rather than 2 or 3. 14. Utilize batch uploads and downloads - Batch uploading and downloading can save time over transferring a file at a time. It saves you the steps required to begin the transfer and lets you leave the computer unattended longer during the process. 15. Use Avitar - If you must use color screens see if your communications program and BBS support Avitar. Avitar screens are in color but display much faster than traditional ANSI. An increasing number of terms and BBSes support this new graphics standard. 16. Newscan selectively - Only scan the message areas and file areas you are interested in. Just about every BBS system supports some form of selectively setting the newscan. 17. Upload files in proper format - Many sysops want all their files to be compressed with the same archiver. Some of the possible archivers include ARC, ARJ, LZH, and PKZIP. If you upload a file in the wrong format the sysop may delete the file resulting in wasted time or you may have to wait several minutes while a conversion utility converts the file to the preferred archive method. 18. Call late night or early morning - These are the times when the majority of systems are least Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 10 busy and some sysops give extra time to callers during these hours. In addition you may find it much easier to get through to your favorite system at these times. If calling a long distance BBS rates are cheaper at night and cheapest after 11pm. 19. If you find that you STILL don't have enough time on the system, consider using the time bank if the sysop has install one. Time banks allow you to "bank" time from the current session for a future one. W R I T E R 'S R O U N D U P Writer's Roundup is a department that features creative writing submissions from readers. Essays, fictional stories, and poems are examples of the kind of reading that you might find here. However, each will share a common theme of computers and communications. REFLECTIONS 2 (C) 1986-87 by Steve Schneider (reprinted with permission) Dateline : The RainForest BBS Time : 12 AM On a Wednesday Excitement galore in the household tonight. Nope; didn't win the daily double but it's close! As time has passed on The RainForest BBS a need has arisen for yet another computer in the household. The Radio Shack M-100 was fine for calling other BBSes to stay in touch but for file work or word processing <as in typing the bimonthly RainForest newsletter, BIRDS THAT WALK (and other trees) or the son in high school typing term papers or special reports..> I, and he, were forced to take the BBS down at slow hours to utilize the system for other tasks. I never did like having to do this. Not only did I take pride in keeping the system =UP= and though I felt somewhat justified in typing the newsletter on the system because it was of, and for, the Members of the BBS, being the somewhat obstinate (and yes, selfish) system operator of the BBS I dreaded the system being down for'schoolwork' and therein lie the battle line twixt son and father for access to the computer, an Apple //e loaded with printer. (In the farthest reaches of the psi ability of my somewhat senile mind I hear the system operators that only do battle with wives or girlfriends or loneliness snicker that they =NEVER- have such problems... <sigh> and I'm Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 11 ashamed to admit that, at times, I envy them and their freedoms..... at times [ worth repeating ] ) Therein lies the rub! Obviously a =THIRD= <gasp!!> computer was of a necessity to maintain peace in the household. <Hmmm...obvious doesn't ever mean easy, you know.> Lest you think my wife runs my household may I remind all that she only runs my life; =I= run the household! So when I whispered to my son (and daughter) to talk up having another computer <but =DON'T= mention my name..> the subterfuge was in place. I sit back and huff and puff that three computers (HA!) in =THIS= household are -not- necessary and here are the two beautiful little sweethearts with tears in their eyes sniffling that they can't do their very best without a system that's available whenever they need to use it. (Emotion expended by children with moisture in their eyes is a very powerful elixir). BAM! You! Yes you, you brute! How dare you deprive the children of doing their very best in school? (I just love it when a plan comes together ...hehehehhehe) Who?? Me dear?? You really think that it's in the best interest of the children to have another computer in the house?? [This is the =BEST= part; being =FORCED= to buy another computer..... oooooooooooo; how sweet it is! ] I'll start looking into it right away.... [ RIGHT AWAY!! ] Well; "right away" turned into a =BIG= project. Do =YOU= have any idea how many brands and types of computers are out there? Let me tell you; a bunch! Being weaned on the Apple, so to speak, I naturally went to what was available from Apple first. Unfortunately, even with the advent of the IIgs, I was left wanting. I =LOVED= the demos for the IIgs but when it came down to the practicality of the matter I didn't really need sound or graphics. I seriously considered the //c as well as another //e.... The problem?? The //c and //e technology was old hat and my son and I wished to learn more of this mysterious monster called MS-Dos (or PC-Dos). I firmly believe in what I've written (notice how I can't bring myself to say -post-?) on my BBS when the "My computer is better than your computer" stuff hits the CRT. I think the =BEST= computer for a 'user' is one that does what he, or she, expects of it. There is no =BEST= computer... If it does what you want it to do and you're happy with it, then you have the =BEST= computer! Actually, I lie a bit... a CRAY II is the =BEST= computer whether it does what you want it to or not... (ppffftttt! so there!) So with demos of Apple IIgs looking beautiful (but not doing what I need for the buck) I started searching for Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 12 the IBM compatibles. <GASP!!> [ He mentioned IBM on an Apple subsystem .......................................... ......................... s o w h a t ?? ] I needed something I (and my kids) could type on, and try a different programming language on (to stay current with the real world) and since I couldn't afford the =BEST= IBM made (which is a COMPAQ; don't let them kid you!) I had to look elsewhere.... and I did. I read so darn many magazines my head is still spinning. I researched and looked and viewed every system made in the free world and I'm here to tell you that there is -nothing- out there that does =EVERYTHING= for $728! Absolutely =NOTHING=!! (As far as that goes; there ain't nothing on the other side of the curtain either!) Finally (says I with desperation in my voice) I'll go for price. Hhmmm; guess what hombre'?? Even true compatibles cost a bunch of moola. <damn!> As head spins at five revolutions per hour and I've worn out the Computer Shopper as well as the last two issues of BYTE Magazine and then P.C. Magazine I make a decision. =HELP=!!!???!! I've narrowed it down to seven systems... <geez> The newspaper and it's Monday business section is there and I quit. I see that Epson Equity I is $995 (complete) and I say, "WOW.. neat". I speed down to the dealer (who also sells IBM, COMPAQ, and Apple) and soon learn that "due to the special deal, there is a two week wait, etc,etc" and as is all too true still in the computer world he was only able to =CORRECTLY= answer about 50% of the questions about the Epson system. Would you buy a used Camel this man?) A friend asks "Have you checked with our (the company I work for) employee price on our IBM compatible??" "No", I answer since the last time I checked our price was about $2800 for the $4000 system. "Well" he says, "call our telemarketing and check on today's prices". I did.... THANK GOD they were out of Epsons! (Does an AT&T 6300 with 512K and one floppy and a TEN meg rigid drive plus a color monitor -and- MS-Dos 3.1 as well as GW BASIC for..... are you ready??) $1260 <<= put a pucker in the ole purse string?? <Damned straight!> I lied again earlier, you know. The reason why I wanted to get into the IBM compatible section is things like a 30 Meg hard drive (with controller) for $490... Try getting the same break on our Apples. I'm still smiling (as I type this out on the BBS Apple //e). My IBM compatible will be arriving in three weeks. Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 13 It's GREAT!! But I'll never forget my =FIRST= love (and best love) the Apple. No one ever forgets their first love..... but how many wound up married to it?? (chuckle... trick question, I know) I'm =STILL= an Apple BBS sysop.... don't =EVER= forget it.... not ever! And The RainForest BBS is staying the way it is. I like it that way. I, however, will be expanding my horizons.... that's the way life is. --- Steve Schneider is the System Operator of RainForest BBS in Cooper City, Florida. He can be reached at his BBS, (305)-434-4927. B Y T E L I N E Fast facts, tips, comments and rumors on all kinds of computer related topics. * BYTELINE By Tom Garcia and Michael Crosson WORD PERFECT is beta testing a new version of their OFFICE program. It has been almost five years since that one was revised or updated. The new one will include their nice "slim & trim" word processor (Letter Perfect) plus communications, a basic spreadsheet, database, FAX program, file manager, etc. WINDOWS 3.1 (release version) will not have a REAL MODE is the latest rumor. One that I find hard to believe..... I guess everyone and their brother has seen one or another of the beta versions of 3.1 by now. Each version was better and the final version (for sale to the public) should be very well debugged. WORD PERFECT FOR WINDOWS (everything installed) takes up 9 megs of HD space. OS/2 Version 1.3 comes on 19 1.44 meg disks. To install a "base" version (single user) you only use 8 of the disks. DID YOU HEAR about Borland's demo of QUATTRO FOR WINDOWS at Comdex? The crowd broke into applause/laughter when the demo screen lit up with Unrecoverable Application Error. PsL NEWS arrived (I should have written this up last month but I ran out of time to do it) and said on page one, Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 14 "Someday virtually everyone will be using Windows (or its off-spring or future clones.)" If PC MAGAZINE had tried to shove that down my throat I would have taken offense but coming from Nelson Ford at PsL I have to sit up and take notice. He is probably right. Sort of like the old "DIESELS FOREVER" bumperstickers and patches that the submarine guys had when nuclear subs first came into the inventory. It was a losing battle. PsL has had a new disk of WINDOWS utilities and routines every month for the past six months now. The flood of shareware and PD programs has really accelerated since the introduction of Microsoft's Visual Basic last June. You can get lots of interesting stuff from PsL such as WinSpell which Ford calls "The best Windows spelling checker" (it works inside any Windows application) to ---- WinRoach, "When you close or move a window on the Desktop roaches scurry from under the window to hide under other windows." I THINK YOU CAN STILL get a free sample of PsL NEWS (I think) by calling 1- 800-242-4775. PC TOOLS 7.1 is out and all you should have received a FREE update in the mail by the time you read this. Seems CENTRAL POINT rushed the release of 7.0 and it was chock full of BUGS. Call 1-800-445-4178 if you didn't get it. SPEAKING OF PC TOOLS, I got a free copy of the latest version with my INTEL 14.4EX MODEM. Not a bad promotion eh? I already was a registered PC TOOLS owner, but stopped upgrading after 5.5...the last version without menu overkill. I think the promo is off but maybe INTEL has extended it or replaced it with something similar. I SURE LIKE THE software outfits that put a README file (or something in the manual) telling what each file is and does. Like Microsoft MONEY for WINDOWS. I like to delete files I don't need to save disk space. TWO WEEKS PASSED and no computer parts in the mail from Florida. So, I called there and was told, "We have no record of you having ordered anything from us." Called my bank and they said my credit card had not been charged.... Guess I'll buy locally, thought I. Called store number one and was put on hold for a long time. Gave up and called store number two. I had recently received a flyer from them (I seemed to remember) which listed controller cards on sale. "Not here" they told me. Called Fast Micro in Phoenix. "How fast can you get a controller card down to Tucson?" I asked. "About a week" was the reply. . . ) UPDATE: Called them again on 4 Dec. to try again to buy from them. They offered to ship by air but only charge me for ground shipping. So, I decided to give them another Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 15 chance. It's now 12 December and I have no parts. Called Florida (800 number) Was put on hold briefly and listened to a company promo that said, "Order by three PM and we will get your order to you the next day via over night shipping." The next time I'm going to order parts from someone in California that ships Federal express. MUSTANG SOFTWARE is offering registered Wildcat! sysops the forthcoming QMODEM 5 at a greatly reduced price. QMODEM 5 is scheduled to hit the stores before long and will feature a built in QWK offline mail reader based on SILLY LITTLE MAIL READER. Retail price is $99 but WC! sysops can get a copy for $35. UPDATE Number Two: The parts finally arrived from Florida's Verticom. Took about 5 minutes to setup and install the controller card. That confirmed that I have a bad 1.2 meg floppy drive. Another five minutes to put in the new drive. Sure glad I have a "flip-top" computer case. ... The controller ($19) is a four drive job made in China. It has such good markings on the board that I can throw away the instruction sheet and will still be able to reset the dip switch & jumpers five years from now for a new combination of drives. The sheet is not all that hot, as in: "The following is some drive blands for you computer is setting." ... The no-name drive (the ad said Chinon & maybe it is) ($55) works fine and formats 84 tracks, my normal setup via MaxiForm. FROM OUR SECRET software testing laboratory in North Dakota comes the following: "Stacker takes 23K of my conventional memory. If I had the hardware card as well as the software I'd lose less memory. Deleted the Stacker program and not only gained 23K but my system speed increased noticeably, back to the way it was before Stacker." FREE DEMO of Micrografx Designer - 1-800-659-2151. FREE MEMBERSHIP & software from AMERICA ONLINE (nice BBS with neat GEOS interface) call 1-800-827-6364, Ext. 5668. TIMELINE 5.0 demo from SYMANTEC. 1-800-228-4122, Ext. 314P. THE PRICE CLUB sent a folder on their Positive line of computers. A 33MHz 386 at $2,999 looks to be about the same (configuration & features) as a ZEOS that sells for $400 more. Tax at the price club would run $210. I don't know what ZEOS shipping charges would be. INCREDIBLY FAST is what the Price Club sez about their SONY CD ROM drive (It's probably 340ms or so, the average CD speed). It is $450 for the internal version and $500 Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 16 for an external unit. Five free CD's come with it. It's installed free in a Positive brand computer if you buy the computer from them. The ad doesn't mention an interface card for clone installation, ie., if an interface card comes with the drive or not. ONCE I GET a 720K 3.5 inch disk formatted to 1.44megs on my desktop computer (the 1.44 drive has a switch that I flip to fool the drive into thinking that the extra hole in the disk shell is there when it isn't) I can use it in my laptop at the higher density. Turns out that the only thing you need the extra hole for is the FORMATTING. After that it's a free ride. WANT TO START WINDOWS without the welcome (logo) screen? Do this: WIN : and make sure there is a space between the WIN and the colon. Won't start any faster but at least it's a little different for a change. FREE DEMO disk of Q&A Ver. 4.0 database program 1-800-228-4121, Ext. 104-D. Upgrade price from 3.0 has been reduced to $79. FREE DEMO disk of MATHCAD Ver. 3.0 - 1-800-MATHCAD. FREE DEMO disk dBFast for Windows 1-800-645-3003. From Computer Associates. FREE DEMO of Freelance Graphics for Windows by Lotus. Call 1-800-872-3387 if you want one. THERE ARE 15,000 beta testers out there for WINDOWS 3.1 plus a number of others who are "volunteer" testers, ie., got their copy some back door way... There is a compatibility problem when you run WINDOWS 3.1 with DR DOS 6.0 and I wonder if Microsoft did it that way on purpose? WORD 2.0 for WINDOWS tends to crash (itself and WINDOWS) when checking spelling in 1.1 files that have been loaded into 2.0. Fortunately, its mostly documents that have footers, not any others. SEIKO has upgraded their label printer to the Smart Label Printer Plus and they have a free demo disk (which I suppose runs a little movie about the product.) Call 1-800-888-0817. Buy the product by 1/15/92 and get a free copy of Instant Recall. F E E D B A C K I am interested in getting as much feedback as Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 17 possible regarding Carrier Detect and welcome suggestions or any other comments you may have. If you are a software publisher or shareware author and want to submit your program for possible inclusion in future issues you are welcome to do so. Finally, if you are interested in writing an article or review, please let me know! Prospector BBS - The Home of Carrier Detect (916) 921-9949, 24 hours, 2400 to 14.4K (v.32bis) First call access to Carrier Detect Related Files and shareware programs reviewed in the current issue. Home Mailing Address: 811 San Juan Road #199, Sacramento, CA 95834 P R O D U C T I N F O R M A T I O N Following is product information for the products reviewed in this issue of Carrier Detect. If you are interested in purchasing or evaluating any of the products please note the publisher's address listed below. In addition, all current shareware programs featured in Carrier Detect will be made available to first time callers on the Carrier Detect Support BBS. BOYAN COMMUNICATIONS distributed as shareware version 5.0 registration - $60 with typeset manual or $40 without published by - Boyan Communications P.O. Box 71 Woodstock, MD 21163 Phone Orders: (301) 805-7168 Fax Orders: (301) 805-7168 22# Support BBS: (301) 730-2917 A D V E R T I S M E N T S Advertisments cost $15 dollars for a each issue (3 months). If you are interested in placing an advertisment, please contact me through the US Mail or my BBS system. Carrier Detect - Issue 5 - page 18