FS ś Foresight Version 0.45 BETA through Version 0.5 PUBLIC GAMMA RELEASE including Version 0.47 WIDE BETA Full featured bulletin board software for the Atari ST and STe Copyright (c) 1991-1996 by Brian Hauer, All Rights Reserved. TSO Software ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [0.1] Credits Main program by Brian Hauer of TSO Software Documentation by Brian Hauer and Daniel Gnadt of TSO Software [0.2] Contacts Brian Hauer Internet: bhauer@stdntmail.lmu.edu -or- tmds@ecn.com FSN mail: 1@tso -or- 2@gi0 US Postal: Brian Hauer Campus Box 1542 (Note: NOT P.O. Box!) 7101 West 80th Street Los Angeles, CA 90045-2699 Daniel Gnadt Internet: dgnadt@ecn.com FSN mail: 1@gi0 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [0.3] Table of Contents Section 0. PREFACE [0.1] Credits [0.2] Contacts [0.3] Table of Contents Section 1. AN INTRODUCTION [1.1] Donation Ware information [1.2] Statement of exoneration [1.3] Other important documentation files [1.4] Background information about Foresight [1.5] System Requirements [1.6] Documentation guidelines Section 2. INTO THE PIT! [2.1] Installation Section 3. SYSOP REFERENCE MATERIALS [3.1] The on-line status displays [3.2] The waiting-for-call commands; The "Foresight" prompt [3.3] The doors editor [3.4] On-line function keys [3.5] MiniDOS II Section 4. THE ON-LINE MAIN MENU AND SUB-MENUS [4.1] Command summary of the main menu [4.2] The e-mail and f-mail sub-menu [4.3] The top-ten listings Section 5. THE MESSAGE BASES [5.1] Introduction to the message bases [5.2] How users would access the message bases [5.3] The messages sub-menu [5.4] Reading messages Section x. LOG-OFF [x.1] Thank-yous! [x.2] No-thanks! [x.3] Greetings [x.4] Support re-cap ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Section 1 ž AN INTRODUCTION ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [1.1] Donation Ware information (written circa 1993) Let me just say this right now: Foresight (herein referred to as "FS") is not Shareware in the strictest sense. However, FS is (a) Copyrighted and (b) not to be modified. Distribution is encouraged inasmuch as absurd profits are not derived from said distribution (i.e., let's try to keep PD disks under $5.) If you run FS, you are not obligated to register. If, however, you feel you are willing to pay for FS, you may fill out the registration form found in this package and make out a check in the amount you feel is appropriate (you may opt to leave the "amount" field blank, in which case I will exercise my objective reasoning and try to keep it under $1,000.) Either way, you will find more information concerning registration in the registration form. To summarize: ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ Version 0.5ā (and all previous and succeeding versions, unless other- wise noted) of Foresight is/are DONATION WARE. This means that while the author would greatly appreciate receiving monetary compensation for his work, those users of Foresight who cannot afford to pay may continue using Foresight without obligation. However, if you feel Foresight to be worth your money, please refer to the registration form, FS_REG.TXT. Foresight is a COPYRIGHTED program and must not be altered in any fashion by the user. ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ Who knows what goodies I'll send you if you register. It'll likely be a "latest version" of FS. However, sometimes people may request an assortment of on-line games or other such miscellany, and depending on my general mood, I may oblige. Just a word of caution here, I am one o' them "teenage programmers" and therefore apt to take whatever money you send and migrate to another country. But so far, I've enjoyed my years in the United States, and am furthermore caught up in the quagmire of education, so I don't think that will happen. [1.2] Statement of exoneration ž USE AT YOUR OWN RISK Brian Hauer and TSO Software take NO RESPONSIBILITY for any damages incurred through the use or misuse of this software program. Use it at your own risk. Foresight has been tested on many system configurations and I can confidently say that you won't nuke your hard drive by using this program. However, if such disasters were to arise, I have hereby exonerated myself from responsibility. [1.3] Other important documentation files The following included files should be printed or read immediately: PRINT_ME.1ST - The mini installation instruction sheet READ_ME.2ND - More introductory information FS.DOC - This very early (preliminary) general documentation FS_REG.TXT - The registration form HISTORY.TXT - Version history starting with v0.43į I suggest reading both PRINT_ME.1ST and READ_ME.2ND before reading this document. If any of the above files are not included in your package, don't panic! If they haven't been included by Brian Hauer, they probably were not important for your purposes. For instance, say you're missing the version history--how much good would it have done you anyway? [1.4] Background information about Foresight (written circa 1993) Get ready to choke. FS was written in GFA Basic. But, hey, if it works and you like it, who needs to know? I won't even attempt to plug GFA Basic because I realize it is oft-hated among programmers. I hate to assume a "you get what you pay for" mentality, but in all seriousness, FS is, for all practical purposes, free (but please consider registering). [1.5] System requirements (written circa 1993) FS will have gone through a small bit of beta-testing before you read this. It will have likely found its way onto an 8mhz STe (my own somewhat pathetic machine), a 25mhz (T-25 upgraded) ST, and a standard MegaST4. Each system was outfitted with a hard drive (hint: you'll need one of those.) The modems which will have been used on each of these machines will include, but not be limited to, a USR Courier 14.4k HST, an Intel 14.4k v.32bis, a Viva 14.4k v.32bis, and a Practical Peripherals Inc. PM144MT II. However, FS's only modem requirements lie in a modem's ability to comprehend the standard "AT" command set. Now (1993), of course, Hayes is unleashing a lawsuit against some modem manufacturers for using this same command system without paying homage. Let's hope that the "AT" standard is not thus obliterated. Back to the present day here (1995), looks like all is well in the modem manufacturing world. To get right down to the meat of the requirements section, here's a list of what you'll want to have or buy yourself in order to run FS: ž 2 or more megabytes of memory (1 may work in some cases, but is not guaranteed) ž Modem (You will need to upgrade if you have 300 baud) ž Hard drive, cartridge media, or optical media system ž Lots o' free space on the above mentioned drive ž Color monitor (May be substituted with a colour monitor in England only) ž Printer is optional ž Mouse is optional As of yet, FS has not been tested on any "upper class" Atari machines ("Upper class", of course referring to what we consider high-end in the year 1993.) In that, I mean that we have not tested FS on a TT030 nor a Falcon030. But rumors would lead me to believe it works JUST FINE on a Jaguar, Lynx, or Portfolio. [1.6] Documentation guidelines There are a few things to keep in mind while reading this documentation. First, it is important to realize that writing useful documentation is a horribly difficult task. Moreover, making any organization present in the documentation is just that much more difficult. Therefore, I apologize for any apparent or actual lack of organization. Throughout the documentation, there are a few "markers," if you will, which are used universally. Whenever a command letter is surrounded in tildes (~ marks), it should be understood that the command is not yet implemented and is intended for a future version of Foresight. Brackets ([ and ] marks) are used to enclose command letters whenever referenced. The exception is those command letters which are in tabulated lists. You will probably immediately recognize the difference once you begin reading. If a series of keystrokes is necessary to perform a task, then the series will be denoted as a series of keys in brackets, such as [A, B, C]. This would signify that the user is to type A, then B, then C, in order. When the control key is required, it is denoted by a caret (^). That is, control-Q would be denoted as ^Q. This is an accepted standard in the world of computers, but of late I have become shocked by the number of people who are unfamiliar with this symbol and its meaning. Therefore, I thought it would help to explain. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Section 2 ž INTO THE PIT (getting into the important stuff) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [2.1] Installation (note: Beta-test users see PRINT_ME.1ST for installation instructions!) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Section 3 ž SYSOP REFERENCE MATERIALS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [3.1] The on-line status displays While a user is on-line or when you are locally online the status bar can be changed by pressing the CLR HOME key. The various status displays available are cycled among the following: Default: Standard 1 line status bar. 1st keypress: 3 line extended status bar. 2nd keypress: 8 line extended status bar. 3rd keypress: No status bar (Full screen). 4th keypress: Sysop Help screen. 5th keypress: Return to default (1 line status bar). [3.2] The waiting-for-call commands; The "Foresight" prompt When run, Foresight will undergo the initial process of system initialization (loading user files, initializing modem, etc.) When this is done, you are presented with a screen at which a flashing cursor is positioned next to a "Foresight vx.xx Ķ" prompt. This is frequently referred to as THE FORESIGHT PROMPT. The following commands can be accessed when the BBS is in the waiting- for-call status (that is, from the Foresight prompt). A list of these functions can be called up by pressing ?. Adding a /h after the command name will call up a built-in description of each command. Example: "LAST /H". Note: Any extended / commands must be preceded by a space as shown in the example above. BACK Saves and backs up all critical files. Note: data files in backup path are actually PRIMARY COPIES. FSLD Loads function key set file [File.FKS]. This command allows you to change the function keys by loading in a text file (can be created with any text editor) with a different set of function keys from the default. Type FSLD /h to locate your DEFAULT.FKS file. Note: any of the waiting-for-call commands can be assigned to a function key. QUIT Will exit Foresight. Extended commands: /b = Busy the modem /e = Run EXIT.FSB BATC Executes sequence of procedures in a batch file. Proper usage of command: BAT [filename] GEM Access the GEM Menu Bar (Desk accessories). When using the GEM menu bar, pressing the RIGHT mouse button will return you to the Foresight prompt. REIN RE-initializes the modem. CHAT Will toggle the chat availibility on and off. Extended commands: /m = Change the "Sysop is not available" text. That is, you can write specifics, such as "I'm out to lunch" if you're so inclined. HOOK Toggles the modem on and off-hook. SEND Will send text direct to the modem with NO carriage return. CRTN Will send text direct to the modem WITH a carriage return. Proper usage: CRTN [text] or SEND [text] CLS Clears the screen. INFO Displays Foresight internal information. SETT Set time and or date. Extended commands: /t = time only /d = date only LAST Shows the "last callers" log. SPEA Toggles the modem speaker on and off. DARK Toggles the pseudo screen saver on and off. LOC Locally logs in to the BBS. Extended commands: /s = Sysop quick log in (requires that you have already established a sysop account on user #1) /r = Emulate-remote log in (act on a user's access level) SYSM Will force the system to perform the "Daily System Maintenance" now. The function automatically is performed at 12:00 midnight. DOOR Will activate the DOOR (online game) installation and maintenance. See the section on Doors for more information. LOGO [/12, /24, /48, /96, /19] = Will initiate the remote log in procedure. Parameter is [Baud Rate] where 12 = 1200, 24 = 2400, 48 = 4800, 96 = 9600, and 19 = 19200. TIME Displays the current date and time. EDIT Will edit a text file with the full screen editor. Proper usage: EDIT [Full path and file name]. LTEX Will activate the Log on text list editor. See Log on text list editor for more information. TITL Will display the waiting for call title screen. EXEC Will execute a program. Proper usage: EXEC [full path and file name] MAIL Executes the read ALL mail feature. USER Activates the internal user editor. See user User editors for more information. FEED Read feedback to sysops. MDOS Activates the Foresight MiniDOS II shell. WIPE Will clear a message base(s). Note: Must be done when message base(s) are installed for the first time. FILE Activates internal file maintenance. MENU Re-check menu existence status. FSEL Calls up the file selector. POIN Pulls up the last read pointer reset screen. FSET Shows current function key set. PROT Activates transfer protocol installation. See Transfer protocols for more information. [3.3] The Doors Editor The doors editor will allow you to install just about every online game or door program out for ST BBSs. I have successfully installed 50 doors on my BBS so I know that most doors work fine with Foresight. Only Express script games will not work with Foresight. Note: FoReM games can be run using the Foresight "FoReM Sheller" program. The Doors Editor can be accessed by typing "DOOR" from the waiting for calls screen of the BBS. The commands available in the Doors Editor are as follows: # Edit door #. Just type a door's number to edit it. This command is akin to [E] (see below). A Add a new door program. This will take you to the Edit/Create Door menu. The Edit/Create menu is outlined below: Edit/Create Commands ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ N Door name (Name that will appear for users in the Doors menu). P Door path. This option well pull up the file selector. Select path -only- and click on ok. Note: For door programs that have a "SET" (settings) file that is supposed to be in the BBS program path, you should actually put the "SET" file in the folder you specify with [P]. Foresight directs the path to this folder when launching doors. If the "SET" file is in the Foresight BBS program path ("FS System Path"), the door will not be able to locate it. L Door local program. Same as door path except that this time you must select the program to be executed when run locally (when you as a sysop are logged on to your computer). R Remote door program. Same as local door program except that this is the program executed when door is accessed by a remote user. For most door programs, this is the same as the local program. S Door sysop program. Doors that have separate sysop maintenance programs will use this. Use the file selector to choose the program. Note: in order to execture this program you must be in the Door Edit/Create screen and then choose [E]. 1 Last-used. Allows you to change the last-used date. This date is maintained merely for reference purposes. It allows users to determine the last time a door was "played". 2 Uses today. Allows you to change the # of uses for this door today. A Minimum access level. Lets you set the minimum access required for a user to access this door. B Bit toggles. Lets you set the status bar to on or off when a user is in a door. Note: Status bar will not display time left when a user is in a Door program. F Required Flex UR. Not used at this time. C Custom file sequence. From here you can create your own custom text file to emulate almost any method of passing user information ont to the door through a text file (Express, DORINFO.DEF, etc...) Note: Some FoReM games (those that require FOREM.DAT) will need the "Foresight FoReM Sheller" (FSheller) to run properly. T Type of door. Sets the type of door execution. If the type chosen is any sort of file-pass, another option will appear which allows you to set the path and filename of the file to pass to the door. ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ E Edit an existing door. Similar to just typing a door's number. L List installed door programs. Pulls up a list of the doors that have been installed. R Remove a door. S Save all changed doors. Must be done for doors to work. [3.4] On-line function keys While a user is on-line your BBS, there are special keys you can press in order to invoke various functions. These keys will function any time at which Foresight is the "active" program. In other words, these keys will not function while the user is in the full screen editor, or while in chat, or any other external program. In fact, the chat program supplied (the FreeZe Dried Software Two-Way Chat) has its own special keys. The keys defined in Foresight for on-line features are: F1 Toggle sysop chat availability. The status of chat availability can be determined on most of the status displays. In the default status display (one line), chat availability is denoted by a double-line, that is a Ķ, and non-availability is denoted by a single-line, or Ä, at the right. In other status displays, chat availability is shown with a highlighted "C". Toggling chat availability with F1 will allow you to stop the playing of a chat MOD if this feature is enabled. F2 Subtract 10 minutes. Subtracts ten minutes from the user's time remaining. F3 Add 10 minutes. Adds ten minutes to the user's time remaining. F4 Toggle modem speaker. Allows you to toggle the status of the modem's speaker for forthcoming answers. This feature may be worthwhile if you generally have the modem speaker ON and wish to sleep. You merely press F4 and Foresight will turn the modem speaker OFF from the next answer forward. F5 Disconnect. Hangs up on the user via a drop in DTR status (in other words, very quickly). F6 - no function - Any suggestions? F7 Display system maintenance warning. Displays an artificial warning to the user requesting the user's immediate departure. F8 Jump to MiniDOS. Jumps to the internal command processor, MiniDOS II. Two questions are asked of you before the command processor appears. First, you are asked if the user should be allowed to view and take part in your activities within the command processor. Second, you are asked if this session should be spawned in "Restricted Mode". See the section on MiniDOS for an explination of Restricted Mode. F9 Jump to quick-validation. Allows you to quickly validate the user via the quick-validation menu. F10 Jump to sysop menu. Jumps to a on-line sysop menu from which you can alter various information about the user such as handle, phone number, etc. You can also read your feedback and e-mail from this menu. [3.5] MiniDOS II MiniDOS II is Foresight's internal command processor shell. It allows you and remote cosysops/sysops to perform file functions in an environment similar to DOS on PCs. Many of the commands can be abbreviated for quicker usage. For instance, "AVAI" can be abbreviated as "AV". You should experiment with various abbreviations to see which work and become familiar with them in order to allow yourself to accomplish more while typing less. Foresight allows for MiniDOS II to consider portions of your hard drive(s) (or floppy drives) to be restricted from cosysops. When these restrictions are in place, MiniDOS II is said to be in "Restricted Mode." In Restricted Mode, cosysops are unable to change to, copy to, delete from, list, etc. directories or drives which have been restricted. To enable this restricted mode, you must have an ASCII file named PATHREST.D8A in your system path. Each line in PATHREST.D8A must contain any string of characters which should denote a path or drive to be restricted. For instance, "F:" would restrict the entire F: partition. "F:\FS\" would restrict only the FS directory on F:. "FS" alone would restrict FS directories on all partitions at any depth. That is, "F:\FS\" would be restricted, as would "E:\BACKUP\FS\". In addition, because "F:\FSPL\" contains the letters "FS", it too would be restricted. Restrictions also apply to all subdirectories of restricted areas. For example, "F:\FS\" would not only restrict F:\FS\ but also F:\FS\EMAIL\. NOTE: "Restricted Mode" only applies to cosysops with access levels below 50. Access level 50 is "(Remote) Sysop" rather than "Cosysop," and Restricted Mode only applies to users with cosysop status. Cosysop levels are 48 and 49. The commands available in MiniDOS are: ? Displays a menu of commands. x: Changes the current drive. The drives available are always displayed when MiniDOS II first starts. "x:[path]" is also possible. For instance, to quickly change from "E:\GAMES\" to "F:\FS\", you could simply type "F:\FS\" rather than changing drives and then changing directories. AVAI Toggles sysop availability status. CD Changes directory. CD will only allow you to change to a directory on the current drive. In other words, "CD \FS" will change to the FS directory in the root of the current drive. But "CD F:\FS" will not work. The latter is easily accomplished, however. See the "x:" command above. "CD \" will change to the root directory and "CD .." will change to the previous directory. In fact, "CD ..\.." will change to the directory two levels lower. CHAT Enters chat mode. All of the chat modes supplied with Foresight allow the user to exit chat by typing control-E (^E). If you use a different split-screen chat program, your cosysops may not be able to quit from chat if they use this command and you are not around. COPY Copies file(s). The syntax of this command is: COPY [source] [destination] Such as: copy a:\*.ans f:\menus\ In order to copy multiple files, some sort of wildcard must be supplied. Furthermore, the destination must be terminated with a backslash (\) if it is a directory. That is, "F:" will work for a destination (files will be copied to the current directory set for drive F:) and "F:\FS\" will work (files will be copied to the FS directory in F:), but "F:\FS" will NOT work because the \ is missing. If missing from the command line, the source and destination will be prompted for. DEL Deletes a file or directory. Confirmation is required. Can be substituted with "KILL" if desired. DIR Shows a directory of files. This listing is organized into four columns of files. Each file is shown with its filename, size in kilobytes, and, in the case of directories, a "\" (backslash). Directories are shown in all UPPERCASE while files are shown in all lowercase. "DIR" can also be substituted with the easier to type "LS" (which stands for "list short"). DIB Displays a listing of files similar to "DIR" except that only three columns of files are displayed in order that the precise number of bytes in a file can be shown. "DIB" can be substituded with "LL" (which stands for "list long"). DOWN Allows the user to download or batch-mark files directly. DRIV Re-lists the drives which are active. EXEC Executes an external program. If enabled, an execution password will be required before Foresight will allow external programs to be launched. Furthermore, launching external programs from MiniDOS can be completely disabled. Parameters and confirmation are requested if the execute is allowed. EXIT Returns to the calling menu or prompt. Can be substituted with the far-shorter "X". FREE Displays the amount of free space on a drive. HUP Hang-up. Disconnects the user. MD Make directory. Allows the user to create a subdirectory. PATH Tabulates and displays the active directories on all on-line drives. REN Rename a file. REST Toggles Restricted Mode. In order to disable restricted mode the sysop MUST be present. Foresight will ask the sysop to press [Y] if Restricted Mode can be disabled for this session. RFREE Displays the amount of free reserved memory. SHOW Displays text files to the user. As with all text displays, Foresight will convert ANSI to VT52, VT52 to ANSI, etc. "SHOW" can be substituted with the perhaps more familiar "TYPE". SYSR Displays a table of system resources. The table includes the free reserved memory and the bytes remaining on all attached hard drives. UP Upload files to user batch directory. Akin to [U] from the Batchqueue Operations sub-menu. Allows a user cosysop to upload files without leaving MiniDOS and going to Batchqueue Ops. USB Changes drives and current directory to the user batch directory. VARC Uses the interal ARC view routine to view the contents of an ARC archive file. VER Displays version information for Foresight and MiniDOS. VLZH Uses the internal LZH view routine to view the contents of an LZH archive file. VZIP Uses ST-Zip Jr. (Postcard-ware) to view the contents of a ZIP archive file. If any one has GFA source code for viewing ZIP files, it could be incorporated internally into Foresight and would be appreciated. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Section 4 ž THE ON-LINE MAIN MENU AND SUB-MENUS ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [4.1] Command summary of the main menu The main menu is the first menu users encounter after logging into your BBS system. The main menu allows the user to select many functions and jump to an array of sub-menus. The commands available are: ? Display the main menu. A Doors. Jumps to the "arcade" sub-menu at which users can list and launch the various doors your BBS has installed. B Bulletins. Jumps to the root bulletins sub-menu. Bulletins are organized in a hierarchical way. That is, they can be grouped into "directories" just as files can be. [B] brings the user into the "root" bulletins directory. C Call for chat. If you, the sysop, are available for chat, [C] will initiate a chat call. If you do not have a chat MOD file installed, [C] will ring a "door-bell" like noise for a few seconds. If you DO have a chat MOD installed (with Paula-tracker for the STE), then [C] will instruct Paula to begin playing the MOD file. Since Paula plays MOD files in the background, this method allows the user to continue using the BBS while the chat call is in effect. You can stop the MOD file play by toggling your availability [F1] or by entering chat mode. The MOD play is also stopped if the user uses the [C] command again or if an external program is launched (such as the FSE). D User defaults. This sub-menu allows the user to configure various settings for themselves. E E-mail and f-mail. Jumps to the "post office" sub-menu at which the user may send mail and read incoming mail. The Multi-Mail menu can be reached through the e-mail sub-menu. F Send feedback. Allows the user to send a feedback message to the sysops. Feedback can be read by any cosysop or sysop with access level of 48 or above. G Log-off. H Help display. If the help menu is available, it will be displayed. I Information. Displays Foresight information and information about your BBS if the information file(s) are present. Also displays your FS ID number. J Jump to New User Voting. New User Voting allows your users to "vote" on new user applicants. Through the NUV menu, your users can read the "New User Questionnaires" (NUQs) of new applicants and vote YEA or NAY according to what they read. New User Voting has not been thoroughly tested as of version 0.5gamma due to the fact that none of the beta- test systems make use of this feature. K Toggle fast-menus. [K] will enable or disable the user's fast-menus setting (which can also be changed in the [D] "Defaults" sub-menu). Fast-menus are the menu sets which use the "FST" extension. They are ideally non-graphical and provide only the necessities. L List users. Displays to the user a listing of all other users and their last-call date. The list is in user-number order. M Messages. Jumps to the messages sub-menu. N New files. Initiates a Zipscan of the file areas ONLY. Contrast this with [Z] "Zipscan" which will first perform a Zipscan on the message bases and then proceed, according to the user's [D] "Defaults" settings, to the file areas and/or graffiti wall. O Other systems. Jumps to the other systems sub-menu. P System policy. Displays the system policy menu file. Screen pauses are enabled during the viewing of the system policy regardless of the user's [D] "Defaults" settings. Q Batchqueue operations. Allows the user to maintain his download queue and user directory. This menu can be used to download or remove files in the download queue. It also can be used to upload files before they are to be used. R Rumors. Jumps to the rumors sub-menu. Rumors are the one-liners which appear under the main menu prompt. S Top-ten listings. Jumps to the top-ten listings sub-menu. T File transfer areas. Jumps to the file areas, from which users may download and upload files. U User log. Displays the last few callers to your system and the various activities they engaged in (such as number of messages posted, number of e-mails sent, etc.) V Voting booth. Jumps to the voting booth sub-menu. W Graffiti Wall. Jumps to the graffiti wall sub-menu. The graffiti wall allows users to write brief one-line messages which can optionally be anonymous. X Time information. [%] will perform the same task. Y Your information. Displays a summary of the user's account. Z Zipscan. Initiates a global Zipscan. Zipscan will unconditionally and first scan the message bases for new messages. Only those message bases which have been selected by the user will be searched. Selecting message bases is acheived either through the message bases [M, E] or the Defaults menu [D, B]. * Read/write user-header. Allows the user to re-read and/or change the system's user header. The user-header is a logon bulletin which is open to the users' whims. It can, however, be "locked" by cosysops and sysops. ! Jump to sysop maintenance menu. Allows remote sysops and cosysops to jump to the on-line sysop menu. / QWK-mail operations. Jumps to the QWK-mail mini-menu. [/] is available at the main menu for convenience--allowing users to quickly download a QWK message packet or upload a REP reply packet. $ Jumps to the time-back mini-menu. The time-bank allows users to store unused time in a "bank account" for later use. The maximum contents of the time bank can be configured by the sysop. New users can also be "awarded" an initial time-bank balance. [4.2] The e-mail and f-mail sub-menu The e-mail and f-mail sub-menu allows users to send and read private e-mail messages. E-mail and f-mail can be sent across the FSN to other nodes in the network. The following commands are available to the user at the e-mail sub-menu: ? Display menu. A Read all system mail. This function is only available to users who have this bit-toggle set in their account. This function presents a tremendous amount of power to a user and should only be granted to your most trusted cosysops. With this function, the user can read ALL of the e-mail and f-mail being sent through your BBS. C Check user-list. Allows the user to easily pull up the listing of users on the local system. [C] is akin to [L] at the main menu. D Destroy ALL incoming mail. Allows the user to quickly eliminate all of his incoming mail. The user is asked for confirmation before Foresight performs this task. F Send file-mail (f-mail). Allows the user to send e-mail with a file attached. If the user has files in his user directory, he will be asked to choose a file to attach before composing his mail. If he does not yet have files in his user directory, he will be asked if he would like to upload file(s) now. F-mail can be sent over the FSN to users at other nodes just as e-mail. For network f-mail sending, see the directions below under [S] "Send e-mail". G Log-off. K Kill ALL outgoing mail. Allows the user to quickly eliminate all of his outgoing mail. Confirmation is requested. L List incoming mail. Displays a reference listing of incoming mail. M Multi-Mail. Jumps to the Multi-Mail sub-menu at which the user can construct a queue of up to 50 users to which he may send e-mail or f-mail. Multi-mail DOES NOT allow for networked e-mail to be sent. When sending Multi-Mail, the user will be asked if he would like to include a "carbon copy" listing which can be used by the recipients to easily identify a piece of mail as Multi-Mail. N View FSN user-lists. Allows the user to reference the user-listings of other FSN nodes. User-lists are exchanged by FSN nodes whenever mail is sent from a node to another. FSN user-lists only include handle and last-call date. (No critical information is exchanged.) O Read outgoing mail. Allows a user to read mail he has sent. Mail which has been deleted either by sender or receiver (or by sysop) will not be shown. As with all mail-reading, a reference listing of mail will be initially shown. R Read incoming mail. Allows a user to read his incoming mail. Before the first piece of mail is displayed, the user will be presented with a reference listing (akin to [L] above). S Send e-mail. Allows a user to send e-mail to another user. E-mail can be sent to users on other nodes via the FSN. To send a message, the user is asked to supply the user's number or a portion of their handle. If the user supplies a portion of the recipient's handle, Foresight will search the user list and ask the user whether or not the matches found are the right person. To send network e-mail (or network f-mail via the [F] command above), the user should type the recipient's number or FULL HANDLE followed by an "at" symbol (@) and the node's FSN ID. For instance, to send e-mail to user #1 at TSO, "1@tso" would be typed. To send mail to The Skipper at Gilligan's Island, "the skipper@gi0" would be typed (Gilligan's Island's FSN ID is GI0). "the skip@gi0" will not work unless there is a user who goes by JUST "The Skip" at Gilligan's Island. V View list of outgoing mail. Similar to [L] above, except that [V] displays a listing of outgoing mail. X Exit to the previous menu. [4.3] The top-ten listings The top-ten listings sub-menu allows users to view a listing of the "top ten" users in various categories. For instance, the "top ten most calls." The terminology "top-ten" is used only as a metaphor herein. In fact, the sysop can configure these listings to supply a different number of entries. An important characteristic of the "least" categories is that to qualify for any listing, a user must have participated at least once in the decisive factor. For instance, to appear on the "least posts" listing, a user must have at least posted one time. Therefore, users who have posted ZERO messages will, in fact, not appear on the "least posts" list. The following listings and commands are available to the user at this sub-menu: ? Displays the menu. 1 Most calls. Displays the users who have called your system the most. 2 Most posts. Displays the most frequent writers of messages on your system. 3 Least posts. Displays the least active message writers. 4 Best post-to-call ratio. Displays the best users in terms of posting the most messages per call. 5 Worst post-to-call ratio. Displays the worst users in this field. 6 Best average message length (AML). Displays the users who write the longest messages. The AML is calculated by dividing the total number of bytes (characters) posted by a user by the number of times that user has posted. 7 Worst AML. Presents a listing of those users who write the shortest messages. I Provides a little bit of information about the listings to the user. X Exits to the previous menu. ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Section 5 ž THE MESSAGE BASES ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [5.1] Introduction to the message bases The message bases in Foresight have been designed with ease of use in mind. Many efforts have been made to allow users to perform tasks with as little input as possible. The various message data files created by Foresight contains a variety of information about each message--the following is a overview: ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ TO Who the message is addressed to, including user number. May be "All." FROM Who the message is from, including user number. DATE When the message was posted SIZE The size of the message in bytes and lines. SUBJECT The topic of the message. TEXT The body of the message. OMN The original message number. This number can be used by users to reference a particular message without being concerned with the "wrapping" Foresight performs as message bases exceed their maximum size. ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ In summary, a typical message would appear as so: Base: (2) Storage Shed (Foresight Supp Num: 35 of 45 ł (OMN #35) From: The Marquis de Sade (#1@TSO) [Director of The Organization] To: All Info: 07:13:06pm ł 04/14/1995 ł 580 bytes ł 11 lines Subj: New file area at TSO ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ I have added a Foresight Support file area to TSO. This area, currently #16, will serve for a distribution point for all files which can be of assistance to anyone running Foresight or looking to do so. The first file is FreeZe Dried Software's full screen editor version 1.73 by Aaron Hopkins. This version has been slightly modified for greater use with Foresight. If you do not yet have file points, leave feedback and I will give you some. ±± TMdS ±± ÄÄÄ FSN/Mpack v0.5 ž The Sybarite Organization ž 310/543-5483 ž FSN: TSO ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [Read] - <35/45> ?!#.'^ <>[]{} ABCEFGIKLMNPQRSTUVWXZ Ķ [5.2] How users would access the message bases The message bases are available to a user in a variety of ways, each of which provides a different viewpoint: 1 Via the [M] command at the main menu. This brings the user to the messages sub-menu. 2 Via the [Z] "Zip" command. The universal Zipscan unconditionally contains the message bases, and optionally may also contain the file areas and graffiti wall. 3 Via the [/] "QWK-mail" command. QWK-Mail is available from the main menu and from the messages sub-menu. [5.3] The messages sub-menu The messages sub-menu allows the user to easily navigate through the message bases. The commands available are as follows: ? Display menu. # Change active message base. By simply typing the number of the base disired, Foresight switches the active base. E Edit bases in Zip. Allows a user to select which message bases to be included in his Zipscan. This selection screen also impacts which bases are included in QWK-mail packets produced by Foresight/QWK. G Good-bye/Log-off. H List which users have access to the current base. Displays a listing of users who have this base enabled in their Message Base Restrictions. [^] will perform the same task. I Information about the current base. Shows information about the current base. Also displays the base's description file. Description files are stored in the base's directory and named [base-id].DES, for instance if you had a "General discussions" base with an ID of "FGEN" and the base's directory was F:\MESSAGES\FGEN\, the description file would be... F:\MESSAGES\FGEN\FGEN.DES [&] will perform the same task as [I]. L List bases. Displays a listing of bases, grouped by conference. Also shows the number of messages on each base and the number of new entries. N Network user-lists. Allows the user to view user-lists from other FSN networked BBSs. O E-mail base-operator. Quickly allows a user to send e-mail to the operator of a message base. If more than one users are base-operators for a particular base, a pick-list will be presented. P Post message. Write a new message on the current message base. This command will prompt for recipient and subject. Q Read new messages; this base only. Starts reading the new messages on the current base only. Constrast this to [Z] "Zipscan" which reads new messages on ALL bases. R Read messages. Prompts user for a starting message number and initiates the reading of messages. User may specify "N" as the starting point to indicate "new" messages only (akin to [Q] above). T Post private message. Similar to [P] above but immidiately flags the new message as PRIVATE. U Upload message. Allows the user to post uploaded text as a message. If the user already has files in his user directory, he will be presented with a pick-list. Otherwise, Foresight will prompt the user to upload a file. Uploaded messages can only be up to 32000 characters in size. V View and edit message pointers. Allows the user to view and/or edit his message pointers. Message pointers are records which are kept by Foresight indicating the last message seen by each user. The [V] command allows a user to manually alter these records kept by Foresight about themselves. W Work with message flags. Allows a user to modify the message flags of a message he has posted. For instance, a user could use the [W] command to make a message ANONYMOUS or PRIVATE, among other things. X Exit. Returns to the previous menu. Z Zip. Initiates Zipscan. This command will search for and read new messages on ALL bases which have been selected by the user. By default, all bases are marked until the user uses [E] (see above) or its equivalents (the selection screen is also in Defaults and QWK-Mail configuration). Contrast this [Z] to the [Z] at the main menu: [Z] from the message bases performs Zip on ONLY the message bases REGARDLESS of the Defaults settings, where [Z] from the main menu will also search for new files and read the graffiti wall if so instructed by the user's Defaults. % Time information. [%] is available from the main menu and many sub-menus. It shows a brief summary of time information such as the current time and date, the date in calendar format, the user's time remaining, and sysop availability status. / QWK-Mail operations. Spawns the QWK-Mail sub-menu. \ Batch-queue operations. Spawns the Batch-queue operations sub-menu. > Foreward one message base. Changes the current base to the next. < Backward one message base. Changes the current base to the previous. [5.4] Reading messages While reading messages, the user is presented with a [Read] prompt after each message (unless Foresight is in non-stop mode--see below). The prompt looks much like this: [Read] - <35/45> ?!#.'^ <>[]{} ABCEFGIKLMNPQRSTUVWXZ Ķ At this prompt, the following commands are available to the user: ? Displays a help screen with a summary of the commands available at this prompt. [H] ("help") will also do the same. # By typing any number, the user can jump to that message. For instance, if the user types "40", he will instantly jump to message #40. A Show message again. Redisplays the current message. B Back-up one message. This jumps to the previous message. [<] will also perform the same task. C Call for chat. If the sysop is available, [C] will initiate a chat call. D Download attached file. Allows the user to download the file which is attached to a message, if applicable. Users are NOT charged any file- points for downloading files which are attached to messages, nor are they awarded file-points for attaching files to messages. E Edit message. Allows the authors of messages to edit their message if they so desire. Also allows the author to change the subject of the message. This feature is unconditionally available to cosysops, sysops, and subops. F Send f-mail to author. Allows the user to quickly send file-mail to the message's author. Similar to [S] below with the addition of attaching a file to the e-mail. G Good-bye/log-off. I Show information. Shows a brief summary of information about the current message. J Jump to message replied-to. Commonly known as "thread backwards," this command allows the user to quickly jump to the previous message in a reply thread. That is, say for instance message #29 is a reply to message #14. If the user pressed [J] while reading message #29, he will jump automatically to message #14. The ['] "most recent" command is useful when using [J]. See ['] below. K Delete (kill) the current message. Allows the author of a message to delete it. This feature is unconditionally available to cosysops, sysops, and subops. L Jump to last message. Quickly allows a user to jump to the last message on a base. ~M~ Move message to another base. This feature is not yet enabled. It is scheduled for inclusion in Foresight 0.51 and above. N Next message. Jumps to the next message. This is the default action at the [Read] prompt, therefore the user can merely press RETURN in order to jump to the next message. [>] will perform the same task, as well. O E-mail base-operator. Quickly allows a user to send e-mail to the operator of the current message base. If more than one users are base- operators for the base, a pick-list will be presented. P Post a public message. Allows a user to post a message immediately. Contrast this to [R] "Reply". [R] automatically tags a message as a REPLY and does not prompt for addressee. [P] "Post", on the other hand, is akin to [P] "Post" from the messages sub-menu--it asks for recipient and subject. Q Quit message read. Stops reading messages on the current base ONLY. During regular message reading, this will return the user to the previous prompt. Regular message reading includes that which is spawned by the [R] and [Q] commands at the messages sub-menu. However, during a Zipscan, this command will stop reading the current base and allow the Zipscan to continue to the next base. Contrast this to [X] "Exit" below. [X] will unconditionally stop message reading. R Public reply to message. Allows a user to easily reply to the current message. This command does not prompt for recipient (it is assumed to be the author of the current message). [R] does allow the user to edit the subject of the message, however. S Send e-mail to message's author. Quickly allows user to send e-mail to the author of the current message. If the user desires to attach a file to the mail, he should use [F] "Send f-mail" instead (see [F] above). T Private reply to message. Allows a user to reply PRIVATELY to the current message. Contrast this to [R] above: [T] will automatically flag the reply as PRIVATE. U Upload public reply. Akin to the [U] command available at the messages sub-menu, this command allows the user to use uploaded text as a public reply to the current message. V Validate/unvalidate message. COSYSOPS/SUBOPS/SYSOPS ONLY. Toggles the validation status (flag) of the current message. W Work with message flags. Allows the author of a message to change the message flags of that message. Akin to [W] at the messages sub-menu. This feature is available unconditionally to cosysops, sysops, and subops. X Exit Zip-read. Ends message reading regardless of status. Contrast this to [Q] above: [X] will exit from a Zipscan whereas [Q] will only stop reading the current base. That is, if the user is Zipscanning message bases, [Q] will skip to the next base and [X] will stop completely. Y Personal message base information. Displays a brief summary of the user's message statistics such as current post-to-call ratio. Z Non-stop mode. Instructs Foresight to not prompt the user following each message. The user can end this mode by pressing SPACE. ! Download this message. Allows a user to download the text of the current message (including header information such as author, recipient, etc.) As with all files to be downloaded, this file can optionally be batch- marked for later downloading. ' Jump to most-recent. This allows a user to jump BACK to the last message read. This can be used in a variety of ways. Say the user jumps from message #20 to #45. Using ['] would jump back to message #20. This feature is of particular interest while using [J] "Jump to message replied-to". See [J] above. % Time information. ^ Users with access. This command is similar to [H] at the messages sub- menu. It displays a listing of users who have this base enabled in their Message Base Restrictions. & Display information about the current message base. Akin to [I] at the messages sub-menu. . Drop to main menu. Special cases: ] Chain-jump one message forward. [ Chain-jump one message backward. } Chain-jump five messages forward. { Chain-jump five messages backward. The chain-jumping commands allow a user to chain together multiple instances of any of the above in order to produce a desired jump. For instance, in order to quickly jump TWO messages forward, the user would type "]]". To jump four messages forward, the user could type "]]]]" or "}[" or "[}". A maximum of five chain-jumping characters can be chained together. That is, "}}}}}" is valid (jumps forward 25 messages), but "]]]]]]" is not (Foresight will not allow the user to type the sixth "]"). ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Section x ž LOG-OFF ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [x.1] Thank-yous! Thank-yous from Brian Hauer go to the following people, organizations, companies, and musical accompaniments: ž Michelle (my girlfriend) For being so proud of this strange endeavor I took on so long ago. ž Daniel Gnadt (sysop of The Outer Limits) For being a terrific beta-tester and such an enthusiastic supporter of this Foresight project. And for helping with the docs. And for the suggestions. And... and... ž Paul "Nurmix" Nurminen Thanks for the monetary support. And for the suggestions. Very nice music you compose there, too. ž Ray Earley Also a great supporter of the project. And an enthusiastic programmer. ž David Gnadt (Dan's brother) Definitely a great source of suggestions. And another champion of the project. ž Aaron Hopkins For all the great appletts which Foresight makes use of, such as the FzDS FSE, Split-screen chat, and FzDS Protocols. Where-ever you are these days, good luck. ž My buddies from LMU No, you'll probably never see this, but if you do: this is the sort of nonsense which produced a computer-science major. To Michelle Porter: nice mouse pad, eh? To Amy Smith, Heidi Lee, and Walter Hammerwold: No, it's not $3,000 a week, but it's fun nonetheless. ž The users of TSO and The Outer Limits (formerly Gilligan's Island) Having you guys there to test things out first-hand has always been a useful tool. ž Atari? Well, it's a great computer even if you guys are a vapor-company. That new game thing, what is it? The Jaguar? Yeah, it's pretty dang nice. Looking forward to Rayman. (Okay, so this was written a while ago...) ž My CDs Testament, Overkill, Exodus, Megadeth, Pink Floyd, Voivod, Queensryche, Malmsteen, Fates Warning, Dream Theater, Pantera, Anthrax, Contagion... Can I really put into words just how useful "Low," "The Ritual," "WFO," "I Hear Black," "Force of Habit," "Animals," "The Wall," "Meddle", "The Outer Limits" (the CD!), "Promised Land," "Rage for Order," "Trilogy," "No Exit," "Perfect Symmetry," "Inside Out," "Parallels," "Images & Words," "Awake," "White Noise," "Stomp 442," and "Contaminant PCB" have been? Probably not. ž Fred Hauer (my brother) For furnishing so many CDs at such low prices. ž The Reason Foundation, Reason Magazine, Dave Barry, F.A. Hayek, and P.J. O'Rourke For keeping me politically sane through the years. ž The Coca-Cola Company No, not for your namesake beverage but for Sprite. I'm just not one of those caffeine kinda guys. [x.2] No-thanks! Brian Hauer furnishes the following list of people, organizations, companies, and bands which are or should be in everyone's worst interest: ž Microsoft The world just wouldn't be the same without Microsoft to hate. The hype over Windows 95 alone is enough to make me puke. I can't imagine the hell that awaits when the thing hits the market. (And now it has... bluergh!) ž Bill Gates Conspiracy theory? Nah. He's just a slimy punk. ž IBM Oh yeah, Warp is a great operating system. I use it, sure. But the support STINKS! Never have I had such horrible troubles getting my complaints heard. And that INSTALL program you've got yourselves... oh my! The worst piece of programming I have encountered since, well, DOS. ž Quantum Cheap SCSI drives, sure enough. Great warranties, true enough. But the problems I've had with them! ž Nirvana I must be among the few in my generation who hate this "grunge" crap. ž Dr. Paul Harris Oh... I don't even know what to write. The horror of your class is simply too incomprehensible to even classify. Suffice to say that I am glad I'll never have to read Marx again. ž GTE (General Telephone) Lousy service, lousy line quality, lousy features, high prices... Why, you'd almost think you guys had a monopoly. Oh! I forgot, you DO! God forbid the PUC would allow us lowly customers to decide, for once, what local phone company we would like to use. [x.3] Greetings Greetings are extended by Brian Hauer to the following people: ž Sledge Hammer of Random Noise BBS ž Micro-Chip of Masatek BBS ž Nemesis of Mindbomb Development [x.4] Support re-cap Support is available on the FSN message base titled "Foresight Support". The FSN base ID of "Foresight Support" is "FFSS". This message base can be found on any BBS which partakes in the official FSN network, but can definitely be found on the two current support systems: 1 THE SYBARITE ORGANIZATION ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 310 / 543 - 5483 ž v.32bis ž 1,700 megs ž Home of TSO Software Sysop: The Marquis de Sade Cosysop: The Skipper 2 THE OUTER LIMITS (formerly Gilligan's Island) ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ 310 / 523 - 1644 ž v.32bis ž 650 megs ž Primary Foresight beta site Sysop: The Skipper Cosysops: Mr. Howell, Noise, The Marquis de Sade ĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶĶ ÄÄÄ·ÄÄÄ·ÄÄÄ· FORESIGHT ž Copyright (c) 1996 by Brian Hauer ŗÓÄÄ·ŗ ŗ SOFTWARE All Rights Reserved ½ÓÄĽÓÄĽ