--- TIPS AND TRICKS FOR THIS SYSTEM ---

NOTE:  This article gives some detailed
information about this system.  It will
enable you to do things faster and with
less  effort.   However,  this  article
does not cover techniques for composing
messages.   If you want to  learn  more
about that subject, please refer to the
GIMMICKS article.

In any case ... here are a few pointers
to help you use this system...


COMMAND COMPLETION
------------------    You don't have to
type  the  whole  command.   Just  type
enough  to  be  recognizable.    As  an
example:  to use the READ command,  you
only  have to type "R".


MESSAGES
--------   Messages  and  time  on this
system  are  identified  by a  DAY TIME
combination.  For example, if you wrote
a message at noon on day 1000, the mes-
sage would be known as 1000 12:00.

By the way, the DAY value is the number
of days since Jan. 1st, 1988.   We keep
track of our messages this way  because
it's a little more  meaningful  than an
arbitrary "bulletin ID number".


READING TEXT
------------    You can halt the output
of  messages  and  other text  (such as
this article) by pressing either  CTL-S
or the  P  key.  To re-start, press any
key.

Whenever you're  reading,  you can also
"gear-shift" the speed of the output by
typing  a number.   0 is  "Top  Speed",
while  1 to 9  give you speeds  between
"Slow and Fast".

You can also  cancel output  altogether
by  pressing  some other key.

When  reading  messages,  however,  the
spacebar  has a  special function:   it
will skip what you're reading, and jump
to the  next message.   For informatory
text (like this),  it will  cancel  the
print-out.

In fact, ANY text  on  this system that
runs on for a while can be skipped over
with  the spacebar.   This includes the
message you see when you first connect.


TEXT, NAMES & SET
-----------------   These powerful com-
mands enable you to  restrict  how much
text you'll  get  when you  do a  READ.
The NAMES command  can be used to limit
the messages to  only those  that  were
written by certain people.  TEXT can be
used to  limit  the  messages  to  only
those that contain certain text.  Using
all the message selection commands, you
can  greatly reduce the amount of read-
ing you must do.  For example:

==> NAMES MARY/HARRY/JOHN
==> TEXT PIANO/PIZZA/HOT DOG/CABBAGE
==> SET 150 0
==> READ B

The above  commands,  if used together,
result in the command, "Show me all the
messages in the  Basic Membership base,
in which Mary or Harry or John happened
to mention,  since midnight of day 150,
a piano, or several types of food."

In fact,  NAMES, TEXT and SET,  used in
combination,  affect  many  of the com-
mands that are available.

LEARN TO USE THEM.   They will give you
an enormous amount of control  over the
information you get from this system!