°°°°°°Ü °°Ü °°°ÜÜ°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°Ü °°°ÜÜ°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°Ûß°°Û °°Û °°Û°°Û°°Û °°Ûßßßß ß°°Ûßß °°Û °°Û°°Û°°Û °°Ûßßßß °°Ûßßßß °°°°°Ûß °°Û °°Û ßß°°Û °°°°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û ßß°°Û °°°°°Ü °°°°°°Ü °°Ûß°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Ûßßß °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Ûßßß ßßß°°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°°°°°Ü °°Û °°Û °°Û °°Û °°°°°°Ü °°°°°°Û ßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßß ßß ßß ßß ßßßßßß ßßßßßß =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= JANUARY RELAYNET INTERNATIONAL MESSAGE EXCHANGE NEWSLETTER 1993 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= RIME Times Staff Editor.....................................................Curt Akin ->MORE Editorial Associates: Copy Editor and Design Consultant............J. Barrett ->SYLLABLES Security and Safe Computing..................J. Barrett ->SYLLABLES Jackie's Beanstalk.........................Jackie Jones ->SYLLABLES ShareWare.....................................Patrick Grote ->SHRPT The Inner View..............................Inez Harrison ->MOONDOG Editor of Poetry in Motion distributed by RIME Plunderings......................................Brian Lee ->THEHUB Who's Who....................................Patrick Lee ->RUNNINGB --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Table of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article# Subject Author 1 Frankly, Curt Curt Akin Node ID ->MORE 2 Jackie's Beanstalk Jackie Jones Node ID ->SYLLABLES 3 Writers' Conference Lyn Rust Node ID ->FILEBANK 4 Virus Triggering in January J. Barrett Node ID ->SYLLABLES 5 Conference News James Wall Node ID ->DREAM 6 Who's Who and What's What Patrick Lee Node ID ->RUNNINGB 7 Notices -------------------------------------------------------------------------- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 1 - FRANKLY, CURT From your Editor, Node ID ->MORE =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Yup, RIME Times is terribly late this month. And February's issue is slated for the 13th. Thanks to all who have made inquiries; it's the only feedback we get that tells us that folk do read what's here. There ARE, occasionally, other priorities -- this month it has been an issue that has drained me emotionally, so I have been spending time on restocking. A few mentions in passing: Read _Gates_!! You'll find it as a new release at your favorite bookstore. It's fun, insightful, written with humor, and you'll learn a great deal about Microsoft and DOS's lineage in the process. The December issue of ModemNews contains partial results of their SysOp survey. Jeff has done a fine job with his tabulations, and you'll get an insight into the folk that make networks and BBSs work. If you've ever been curious about public key encryption, how it works, and want to experiment with it big time, find PGP??.ZIP somewhere. The docs are filled with nice chatty discussions of encryption, social implications, technical descriptions. Well written. "PGP" stands for Pretty Good Privacy. Watch for the text of Telecommunications Authorization Act of 1992. I'll try to post either the whole or excerpted parts somewhere. Will be interesting to see what happens when the Feds decide to "target BBSs." Give Phil Katz a break. Understand that he has run headlong into the same memory management problems that Kip had with PostLink in the first releases. PKWARE will release a fixed version of 2.04C. The first of many Conference Spotlights appears this month. Lyn Rust is co-host for writers. What she writes will give you a feeling of the folk who meander in an out of Kent's Place. Put your feet up for this one. Until next month, when I hope to bring you more ramblings from the world of RIME... I remain, Frankly, Curt =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 2 - JACKIE'S BEANSTALK By Jackie Jones, Node ID ->SYLLABLES =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= It's a new year, and what comes to my mind is a tagline I've seen on the net. January is the Monday of the year.... On this year's Monday, the gala circus of politics has culminated in the inauguration of the 42nd president of the United States. The mundane world intrudes as he begins to deal with issues, not fantasies. "....but I have promises to keep, and miles to go...." In the world of RIME as in the world of politics and government, we are examining the past in order to improve on the future. In an effort to clarify policies and procedures that exist on the net, network administration has revised and rewritten the rules and regulations that govern RIME. The revisions have been openly posted on the net in order to solicit comments from the users of the network. Although it may be next to impossible to manage a network with the scope of RIME as a full democracy, the network is making every effort to establish a consensus. I am enclosing a message from Bonnie Anthony concerning this effort. ================================================================= These messages are addressed to all sysops, co-sysops, conference hosts and users on the RIME network. Posted in the Relaynet USERS conference, the ADMIN and the HOSTS conference are five messages containing the revised new rules for conference management. They are identical in each conference. We are very interested in whatever feedback you would be interested in offering about these revised rules. These rules are getting closer to final form but are not yet set in stone and this is the moment to have your opinion about the rules of this network heard. Discussion of the proposed new rules are limited to ONLY the USERS, ADMIN and HOSTS conferences. No discussion of these proposed new rules are permitted in any other conference but those three conferences. Please join us in whichever conference is appropriate for you and help us hammer out the last details! ================================================================= The issue of government, whether it be of a nation or of a bulletin board network, is an issue of relationships. Our relationship with those in authority, as well as their relationship with us, will help an effort to succeed....or fail. In order to have a voice, you must choose to speak. Next month brings with it Valentine's day and romance, as well as thoughts of spring. In keeping with the holiday, I'll toss in another request for YOUR story, whether it be romantic or just with hope for the future. The relationships formed on RIME take many paths. How did YOU get here? What do YOU find here? Where do YOU want to go from that point? We are a world-wide community, with many diverse interests. Please share your stories with us! Talk to you later!  Jackie =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 3 - WRITERS' CONFERENCE - RIME CHANNEL #140 By Lyn Rust, Node ID ->FILEBANK =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 'Wanna see a pterydactyl fly? Never mind that they're extinct. This one is mechanical and it's at Kent's Place. There's an old, really, really old, geezer who comes in every once in a while and sits over in the corner by himself taking potshots at the flying mechanical pterydactyl with a BB air rifle. Pay no attention to him--he's written more than 70 non-fiction books, and that explains why he acts that way. The tall, wacky looking guy in the tophat and long black cape lined with red silk is a famous--uh, make that infamous--New York playwright. He comes in most evenings to get away from crazy actors, he says; why he'd want to hang around with a bunch of crazy writers is beyond me. That cute blond chick at the table in the corner over there lives on the left coast; she recently finished a book about how to be Jewish in Los Angeles, so everybody in the place is buying her shots of Staggering Highlander to help her celebrate. The good looking guy with her recently retired from a long and distinguished career of writing about computers and he's now in the process of going native on Kauai; that explains that funny looking grass thing he's wearing around his waist. The old guy sitting by himself at the bar nursing his twelfth marini of the evening is known only as The Raincoat Man. We call him that because that's all he ever wears to Kent's Place--literally. BTW, that's not a typo there. They don't serve martinis at Kent's Place, they serve marinis. It's like a "ya had to have been there" kinda thing. Trust me on this. A couple of stools down at the bar is the Native American guy. He's a shaman and lives in Georgia. His first name is Doctor; history, I think, but he writes about it. That's how he got his Ph.D. He's talking to that guy who just got out of the joint--drugs or something, and he's helping him to try to write about that. The biker lady standing next to them is scribbling furiously, taking notes. She's an investigative reporter in Florida who's got a weekly column now and you never know what she'll come up with next. Some of it's been pretty wild, like that expos‚ novel of Southern politics she did. Rumor has it that she almost got murdered for doing that one. The woman has no fear. Don't worry about the guy who keeps trying to hangglide off the balcony in that homemade contrapion he's got strapped to his back. As long as he doesn't land on your table, you're safe. He writes about computers, too. I guess writing about computers 'll do that to you. The kids helping him up right now from his latest crash landing are underage, still in school, actually, but Kent only lets them drink Coke. 'Kids say they want to learn to write and figure the best way to do it is to hang around with a bunch of crazy writers'. Kent's an okay guy, so he helps the kids out when he's not behind the bar. Suddenly raised voices are heard from the table near the door. Whoop! It's those same three guys again--arguing *politics*! All eyes turn to look at them, staring stern disapproval. Startled, they fall silent, with guilty looks on their faces. If there's one thing that's not allowed here, it's politics. Actually, there are two; the other's religion, but thank goodness nobody's shown much interest in that lately. We're a heathen lot, we are, at least when we all get together. The distinguished looking foreign gentleman sitting right down in front is about the only one in the place bemusedly watching Ruby Begonia, Kent's featured act of the night, doing her disgusting dime trick center stage. Every once in a while he smiles broadly to himself and looks down to scribble something on his drink napkin. This usually turns out to be a hilarious and dead right on tagline. Ruby pays no attention and just keeps on clinking those dimes. The woman has no class at all, she's an outrageous slut, but she fits right in with this crowd. BTW, it's okay for me to call Ruby Begonia a slut because she isn't real--except at Kent's Place. Kent's Place isn't real, either, except in an alternate universe called the RIME Writers' Conference. There were a couple of snooty types on here who wanted to characterize the Writers' Conference as a "literary salon," but most of the guys here prefer to think of it as a "writers' tavern." Hence, Kent's Place. It's where all literarily inclined RIMEers go when they want to write, talk about writing, or just read some. And our idea of writing is pretty broad--everything from diary entries to published fiction. Sometimes it's even hard to tell it's "writing," but we think everything is writing, even laundry lists. That tends to confuse people who come to the Writers' Conference for the first time. They'll often say to us, "I've read through the last hundred messages, and I haven't seen *anything* about 'writing.'" But that's the charm of the Writers' Conference--it really *is* about writing, because everything we say to each other *is* writing, because we've written it--even if only into the electronic ether. Of course, the odd query about copywrite laws, screenplay formatting, the subjunctive case, how to find an agent, and so on, are randomly answered, but that's not really what we spend a whole lot of time on at Kent's Place . . . uh, I mean, the Writers' Conference. Examples of what we've said to each other lately include threads on antique cars, UFO sightings (some of us have seen 'em and others have not, and each group thinks the other is crazy), Howard's End (no, that's not an allusion to an anatomical part of one of RIME's most esteemed members, it's about movie criticism), how to be a good hunter as opposed to how to be a bad hunter, The Ongoing Adventures of Ruby Begonia (see Ruby's Pearls, an electronically published online fiction magazine for further details of this neverending tale of degradation and depravation), weapons and munitions specs (which, BTW, is not accidentally juxtaposed to the reference to the infamous Ruby here), child welfare, homonymic antonyms, sexy music, physical chemistry (no, no, forget the juxtaposition here--we're talking about a super alien being who has the power to transmutate molecules into different states of existence to fight her enemies, something we'd all like to learn about, right?), "suicide doors," the welfare state, television comedies, cats, the Civil War, vegetarianism, obesity, live goldfish worn in lucite high heels as performance art, sexual harrassment, smoking and antismoking, handicapped access, etc. Well, you get the idea. If you have something to say on any of these subjects, or any others that haven't been mentioned here (but chances are, they have been mentioned on the Writers' Conference), come to the Writers' Conference and say them--or, more accurately, write them. If you want your daily BBSing fix to be happy, sad, thrilling, infuriating, touching, annoying--but never boring--the Writers' Conference is the place to enjoy (or suffer) that experience. Oh! We also have strangers, stranglers, stragglers and strugglers. But if you want to find out who they are--or which one you are--come to the Writers' Conference. Your first drink's on Kent. -30- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 4 - VIRUS TRIGGERING IN JANUARY By J. Barrett, Node ID ->SYLLABLES =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Activation Date Virus Information After Dec 31, 1992 OMT .COM growth, long disk accesses, system hangs, HD overwritten after 1992. Jan 1 - Sept 21 Plastique-TSR, .COM and .EXE growth possible system slowdown or bomb noises after 9/20 Jan 5 Joshi-BSC, machine hangs and message. Jan 15 Casino-.COM growth, decrease in total system and available free memory, file allocation error, slot machine game, FAT damage. Jan 25 Jerusalem (Jan 25)-TSR, .COM and .EXE growth, system slowdown, deleted files on Friday 13th, 'black window'. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= [ Note: The following list will only be in every other issue of RIMETIME. Most articles are directly from the VSUM??? program. ] Activation Date/Day of Week Virus Name Sundays (any) Sunday Sunday-2 Mondays (any) Carfield I-B (BadGug) I-B (BadGuy 2) I-B (Exterminator) Mondays the 28ths Crazy (Eddie) Tuesdays (any) Ah I-B (Demon) I-B (Demon-B) Kamasya Tuesday the 1st Jerusalem (JVT1) Tuesday the 13th Jerusalem (Anarkia) Wednesdays (any) Victor Thursdays the 12ths CD Fridays (any) Frere Jacques Smack Friday not the 13ths Jerusalem (Payday) Friday the 13th 1720 Friday the 13th COM Jerusalem RAM Virus Surlv 3.00 Westwood Friday the 13ths (starting in 1992) Hybryd Fridays after 15th of Month Jerusalem (Skism) Jerusalem (Skism-1) Saturdays (any) Italian Pest (Finger) Jerusalem (Phenome) Migram Saturday the 14ths Saturday The 14th 2nd day of any month Flip Tormentor-1072 (Nuke) 5th day of any month Frog's Alley 8th day of any month Taiwan 10th day of any month Day10 13th day of any month Monxla 18th day of any month FORM-Virus (Form-18) 20th day of any month Day 10 24th day of any month FORM-Virus 30th day of any month Day 10 =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 5 - CONFERENCE NEWS By James Wall, Node ID ->DREAM =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= New Conferences: NAME: SILENT PC (SilPC) NUMBER: 406 DESCRIPTION: A place for the hearing impaired to meet and discuss computer services which would help solve problems they may face. In general a place to talk over things that are common to all. HOSTS: Gilbert Pence Node ID ->MERRIBBS #1123 Bobb Waller Node ID ->FIAWOL #977 NAME: SUNRISE DOOR SOFTWARE (Sunrise) NUMBER: 407 DESCRIPTION: This conference features direct author support of the Sunrise Door Collection. It will cover problems, ideas, suggestions and tips for current/future Sunrise Doors, Sunrise Utilities and Sunrise Standalone games. SsyOps and USERS are welcome to participate. HOST: Al Lawrence Node ID ->SUNRISE # 868 NAME: BACK ALLEY (BckAlley) NUMBER: 408 DESCRIPTION: A place to vent your anger, carry on heated flaming debates, and generally let-your-hair-down! Rules are simple and few. HOST: Rick Welshans Node ID ->WARPED #1875 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Conference Hosts Thomas Mahnke ->SMUGR (#790) is the new host of PHONES. Michael Meacham ->GRAPEVINE (#318) is the new host of Psychology. Peter Larsen ->CAVE (#334) is the host of Astrology. The LEGAL Conference #119 has a new host and co-host. Christina Capurro Node ->HIGHER #41 is the host and Kelly Keniston Node ->OLDTOWN #203 is the Co-Host. Michael Solinas ->THECHAIR (#104) is the new host of SPREADSHEETS. David Groome ->ACTION (#56) is now hosting Laser Printers --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Conference Changes: The name of the Advertising Conference #361 hosted by Kelly Keniston has been changed to AD CAMPAIGNS (AdCampaign). The name of Conference 136 ROOTS has been changed to GENEALOGY. The Description of LAPTOP COMPUTERS has changed. The new description is as follows: This conference discusses portable computers which include laptop, notebook, palmtop, and handheld computing devices. Questions and answers with manufacturer representatives and other users of all levels available. Limited advertising of related equipment is also allowed. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 6 - WHO'S WHO AND WHAT'S WHAT By Patrick Lee, Node ID ->RUNNINGB =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= The following is a list of "Who's Who" in RelayNet: Steering Committee: Bonnie Anthony RUNNINGA Rex Hankins IBMNET Howard Belasco RUNNINGB JThomas Howell MORE Mike Glenn PARTY Conference related: Rick Kingslan OMAHANET Marketing Coordinator (PR) Patrick Lee RUNNINGB Statistician James Wall DREAM Conference Manager Penny Plant BOREALIS Conference Moderator Lana Fox MODEMZNE COMMON BBS software that currently has an UTI interface with PostLink Auntie MajorBBS Remote Access dBBS Maximus Searchlight EIS PowerBoard PCBoard/ProDoor Spitfire GAP RBBS Executive Host QuickBBS TriBBS GT Power UltraBBS Wildcat! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= 7 - NOTICES =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= RIME TIMES is now dispatched to all PostLink nodes in the network. No AUTOSEND list is required. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- To make life easier for the staff, the following submittal guidelines are suggested: 1) To be included in the next month's newsletter, articles must be received by the 15th of the current month. 2) A routed, receiver-only (private) message in the COMMON conference is acceptable. Please route general material and queries to: Curt Akin Node ID ->MORE. Submittals to Jackie's Beanstalk should be sent to Jackie Jones Node ID ->SYLLABLES. 3) When submitting articles or sending other messages to the Staff of RIME Times, don't assume receipt until you've heard from the recipient. We will acknowledge your message, and if you don't hear within 3-4 days, resend it. Don't depend on return receipts. 4) Your name as used on RIME. 5) Your Node ID if you are a RIME SysOp or your "home" board ID if you are a RIME user. 6) Any special instructions. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Notice: 1. RIME distribution files which used to be identified with MMYY in their file names are now identified YYMM. This change makes RIME files appear in date sequence in sorted listings. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- RIME TIMES is published monthly by the membership of RelayNet International Message Exchange as its official newsletter. Users and SysOps are encouraged to contribute. (c) Copyright 1993, The RelayNet International Message Exchange. Permission is hereby granted for unlimited distribution and duplication, provided such distribution and duplication are strictly for non-commercial purposes and that no alterations are made to any file contained in the distribution archive. All other rights reserved. RelayNet and RIME are registered trademarks. PostLink is Copyright 1992 by Kip Compton.