-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- THE v.FAST LANE November 1993 (Issue#2) by Steve Meirowsky -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- DISCLAIMER Copyright 1993 by Steve Meirowsky and New World Designs. All rights (known and unknown) are reserved worldwide. You may copy or print this file only if it remains intact and unedited! (316)262-1829. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- TABLE OF CONTENTS - Editorial. - Why was this Newsletter late? - First Wichita Sysop on MARS. - New High Speed Modem Standard. - Hayes OPTIMA 28800 Baud Modem. - Zoom 24000 Baud Modem. - MSDOS 6.2 Released. - Windows For WorkGroups 3.11 Nearing Release. - New Video Card Benchmarks - DSP in PC'S. - Plug & Play Spec. - New Peripheral Data Bus. - New Wireless Digital Networks. - Internet Comes To Wichita. - Internet on Cable-TV. - Not enough CDROM drives in your Computer? - Not enough hard drive space? New monster hard drive. - WheatNet regional mail hub in Wichita. - Kansas BBS List. - How to contact the Author. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- EDITORIAL ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER To get the most recent copies of "The v.Fast Lane", I recommend you call NWIS BBS at 316-262-1829 and download the files or capture the UUENCODED FILES conference #4. All of the following files will be put in that conference: VFAST???.ZIP, KSBBS???.ZIP, CCITT???.ZIP You will need a uudecode program (i.e. UUEXE521.ZIP) to convert the captured messages into their associated files. You can upload this newsletter into message conferences on most BBS's since it's not wider than 72 columns! All future issues of "THE v.FAST LANE" will be included with the file KSBBSymm.ZIP (y is year, mm is month). In case you wondered why this is called "THE v.FAST LANE", you should read the text file in VFAST309.ZIP on my BBS at 316-262-1829. Where do I get my information? Bits and pieces from many different magazines plus I've added my own comments. I don't claim to be perfect so there may be mistakes or typos in this newsletter. See the end of this newsletter for my BBS phone number. WHY WAS THIS NEWSLETTER LATE? I was kidnapped by Beavis & ButtHead or something... (uh huh huh)... Actually, I was very busy in October and November. I do plan to make this a monthly newsletter. Hopefully I can keep my promise. Don't expect the next issue before the middle of each month! FIRST WICHITA SYSOP ON MARS I'll be one of the small percentage of people to have my name on MARS. I am a member of "The Planetary Society". They are putting their list of members on a microdot which will be launched by the Russians in October 1994 and which will touch down on MARS in September 1995. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NEW HIGH SPEED MODEM STANDARD In the last issue, I was talking about the "v.FAST" modem protocol which can achieve raw data rates up to 28800 bps. News announcement in "Electronic Design", October 14, 1993 magazine: Study Group 14, the International Telecommunications Union group charged with developing a standard for higher-speed modem data transmission has come up with a plan for approving the v.FAST protocol by June of next year. In recognition of the new status given to the protocol, v.FAST is now called "Draft Recommendation v.34". "It would not be surprising to see v.34-compliant products on the market shortly after the finalized text is submitted to the ITU in February 1994,"says Dick Brandt of AT&T and vice chairman of ITU-T Study Group 14. Brandt says that although some decisions on feature options are yet to be made, the sections dealing with the mode are essentially complete. The group has now switched its focus to the startup section. By December of this year, the specification is expected to be completed. That will allow for some inter- operability testing prior to putting the final text in the hands of the ITU Telecommuncations Standardization Bureau by late February 1994. Brandt is optimistic that tRecommendation v.34 will be approved by the Study Group in June 1994. Basically what they are saying is: the name will be changing to v.34, the data protocol has been defined, and they are working on the startup modem interrogation definition (what happens when the modem first connects with another modem). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- HAYES OPTIMA 28800 BAUD MODEM November 1st, Hayes Microcomputer Products Inc introduced their new modem claiming 230.4kbit/sec capabilities. Don't get suckered in on their sales pitch... This is ONLY achieved on HIGHLY COMPRESSIBLE files at a theoretical compression of 8 times (don't expect this to happen very often)! Their modem does sound like a good one since they have an advantage because they helped co-design the Rockwell v.FC chipset that many modem manufacturers will be using (i.e. ZOOM). This new Hayes modem is $579 list plus a special serial card is required for the high 230.4kbit/sec interface from the computer which is another $99. Also expect a $50 to $100 upgrade charge when the v.34 standard is finalized. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- ZOOM 24000 BAUD MODEM In September, Zoom introduced their new 24000 baud modem at the ONE BBSCON show in Colorado Springs (I attended that show and saw their booth). This new low cost high speed modem supports the v.42bis theoretical 96kbit/sec capability. Expect to see this mail order for around $200+. I ordered some of the external modems and hope to have them by mid-December at the latest. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- MSDOS 6.2 RELEASED On November 1st, MSDOS 6.2 was released. I helped Beta test the final release of MSDOS 6.2 and can definitely say that it is worth getting. If you own MSDOS 6.0 then you should run out and get the 6.2 upgrade. It is only $9.95 from retail stores or you can download it from CompuServe or MicroSofts BBS for FREE! Like they say "Just Do It!". Microsoft has done some extra work on the DoubleSpace: DoubleGuard - prevent errant software from corrupting DoubleSpace, Uncompress - DoubleSpace can be uninstalled, Surface scan - Disk is checked for defects before compression, Smaller Footprint - DoubleSpace occupies 10K less conventional memory. A new utility analogous to Norton Disk Doctor provides better disk analysis, error detection, and correction than DOS 6.0; cross-linked files can be resolved and damaged DoubleSpace CVFs repaired. Other miscellaneous items added: Interactive boot now steps through AUTOEXEC.BAT as well as CONFIG.SYS, NO-SWAP DISKCOPY - Using the hard disk as a scratch space, floppies can be copied in one pass! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- WINDOWS FOR WORKGROUPS 3.11 (PROJECT SNOBALL) NEARING RELEASE It is rumored that WFWG 3.11 will be shipping around January 1st. After Beta testing this package since spring 1993, I can say it is definitely a better windows than Windows 3.1. Actually it should be called Windows 3.5 but for legal reasons and paying extra royalties Microsoft had to stick with a 3.1x format version number. Many of the new features in WFWG 3.11 were added to prepare for Windows 4.0 (Project Chicago) which we should see sometime mid to late next year. Some of the new features are: VCACHE (32bit SmartDrive replacement), VFAT (32bit DOS file system replacement) expect Windows 4.0 not to require you to have DOS installed on your machine, new user definable button tool bars on file manager and print manager, fax server for fax modems, clip book provides a storage location for multiple items from the clipboard, SVGA 256 color support, and many other minor modifications especially for network support. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NEW VIDEO CARD BENCHMARKS Don't get burnt by misleading video card benchmarks. Many video card vendors have been modifying their video card drivers to show higher benchmark results than real world application. Basically the vendors analyzed the benchmarking programs and determined how to trick the programs into giving better results. PC Magazine really was ticked about these vendors and decided to rewrite their benchmarks in a more random manor so vendors couldn't cheat. I highly recommend you get the new WinBench 4.0 benchmark program to test your video card. Also look for vendors that spec this new 4.0 standard and NOT the older 3.11 standard. Another standard which gives a true real-world benchmark is the Winstone 94. Unfortunately most people won't be able to try this on their computers at home since it requires 12 Windows programs. Basically a script file is used to put these programs through the same pace on each machine. Programs from different categories are used: Business graphics, Database, Desktop publishing, Multifunction, Spreadsheet, Word processing. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- DSP IN PC'S Early in November, MicroSoft introduced an architecture designed to let Windows applications tap additional processing power for multimedia and communications tasks. A DSP (Digital Signal Processor) is designed from scratch with special machine language instructions to handle audio and video tasks. For example, one instruction will multiply and add in one clock cycle. Typically the clock cycles are very short (i.e. 25nS to 50nS). They kick butt and the 486/Pentium family can't come close to doing the same thing. In case you didn't know, there is already a DSP in the new upper-end MacIntosh and Atari computers. At IFR Systems Inc, we having been using DSP's for about 6 years to perform tasks that standard 8088-family processors can't do. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- PLUG & PLAY SPEC In the future, 100% compatible P&P (Plug & Play) computers will automatically configure themselves when boards and peripherals are plugged in. P&P will be a key component of Microsoft's Windows 4.0. Another spec has been defined to make it easier to connect and disconnect notebook PCs from docking stations and LANs. This new concept is being backed by all the major notebook makers. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NEW PERIPHERAL DATA BUS News announcement in "Electronic Design", October 14, 1993 magazine: SCI (Scalable Coherent Interface) will be the new upcoming peripheral data bus. The spec for this standard is called ANSI/IEEE1596-1992. The interface supplies computer bus like services, yet delivers system performance higher than any bus can provide. The new bus will be capable of handling data rates of 1 Gbyte/sec over a few meters, 1 Gbyte/sec over 20 meter coaxial cable, or several kilometers using fiber optics. What's this mean? This could revolutionize the connection between the computer and it's periperals (i.e. hard drive, cdrom, printers) and also other computers (i.e. networks). -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NEW WIRELESS DIGITAL NETWORKS CDPS (Cellular Digital Packet Data) is an open spec developed by IBM that defines how to transmit packetized data over the existing cellular phone network. It enables data to be transmitted on dedicated 30kHz cellular bands or inserted onto idle voice channels. It lets data be sent in 128 byte packets at up to 19.2K bit/sec. The most important issue is it allows usage-based pricing, which is more cost-effective than typical per-minute cellular charges. McCaw Communications expects to have it ready by mid-1994 for 6 large cities (San Francisco, Las Vegas, Seattle, Dallas, Miami, New York). PCS (Personal Communications Services) will be an exploding wireless network that you should expect to see in the future. In September, the FCC allocated radio spectrum for emerging PCSs, setting the stage for a new generation of wireless voice/data offerings. The agency's decision to allocate more then 3 times the total frequency spectrum for cellular services represents tremendous confidence in the new technology. PCS will operate in the range of 1.85GHz and 2.2GHz. Don't expect to see PCS operations before 1997. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- INTERNET COMES TO WICHITA Several bulletin boards in Wichita have started providing limited Internet support. NWIS BBS will be one of these early providers. I already have my Internet Domain name approved and I just received the software to import/export messages for Wildcat BBS software. Something you should be aware of when looking for Internet. BBS's do not provide the live interactive Internet. You will still have access to the basics: Email and Newsgroups. Email is messages to and from you. Newsgroups are basically message conferences similar to ones found on bulletin boards. There are about 6000 newsgroups on the Internet system. The only problem is that most BBS's will only bring in select newsgroups because of obvious cost reasons. I expect most bulletin boards to bring in only what their users want and NOT everything. This will be an obvious cost savings approach. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- INTERNET ON CABLE-TV A large Internet provider has announced Internet data on Cable-TV in Boston. It will provide the data at about 10 Mbits/sec over a video channel. Other mega large companies (i.e. AT&T, US West, Time Warner) are investing large $$$ to provide a network infrastructure to ship their products (i.e. Data, Software, Movies, Interactive TV). Why Cable-TV? The reason is the coaxial cable coming into your house has a very high bandwidth for moving data vs an extremely low-end bandwidth for phone lines. Also, Cable-TV is already wired into most houses and won't require additional $$$ to run new wires. Most likely we will be required to rent or purchase a box to support these new capabilities. Also expect to pay higher $$$ for this! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NOT ENOUGH CDROM DRIVES IN YOUR COMPUTER? Do you complain about not having enough CDROM players? You can't gripe any longer (except for the price). Pioneer recently introduced an 18-disk SCSI CDROM jukebox for $2995. Wow! -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- NOT ENOUGH HARD DRIVE SPACE? NEW MONSTER HARD DRIVE. Seagate announced 35 new hard drives last month. The new monster drive they will be shipping is a 9.1 Gigabyte SCSI 5.25" hard drive. at around $3450 OEM evaluation price in 1st quarter 1994. Also they plan to ship new 2.5" 341Meg and 455Meg drives for lap top computers plus many new higher capacity drives for home computers. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- WHEATNET REGIONAL MAIL NET HUB IN WICHITA A fairly new mail net has been in Wichita for a few months. NWIS BBS at 316-262-1829 is the hub for Wichita. This hub was created to share messages between towns in southern Kansas. Currently the following towns are being connected by WheatNet: - Wichita - Hutchinson - Salina (Moved from McPherson) - Wellington - Arkansas City (New in October) Other BBS's are coming online as this newsletter is being written. This net was not designed to compete with the national nets. If you need to send mail to friends in these towns, this is the way to do it! I will follow up on this subject in future issues of this newsletter. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- KANSAS BBS LIST I have been assimilating all of the Kansas BBS's into this list since 1991. The 316 area code seems to be fairly accurate but the 913 area code needs more work since I don't live in that portion of Kansas. The most important information to me is the BBS name and phone number! It it extremely important for me to know when a BBS has changed its phone number or has "gone out of business". I've had a few BBS phone numbers re-issued to unsuspecting people who installed a new phone. All BBS's must meet the following criteria: - Must have a dedicated BBS phone line for public use. - Must run the BBS 24 hours/day. - Must NOT be an adult-only BBS. - Must NOT allow distribution of pirated software. If you know any BBS that does not meet the above criteria, please tell me so I can remove them from the list! I really don't want any first time callers giving BBS's (in general) a bad name because of a few pirate or x-rated boards. The x-rated issue is extremely important to parents to prevent their children from coming in contact with it! This list is specifically created for the first time caller. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- HOW TO CONTACT THE AUTHOR Steve Meirowsky New World Designs PO Box 12217 Wichita, KS 67277-2217 New World Information Service (NWIS) BBS (316) 262-1829, v.32bis, 24hrs/day. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-