WHERE'S THE NEW FRONTIER? Frontier is currently in its wide beta-testing stage, with over one thousand BBS users testing it. Beta-testers have commented that they are very impressed with Frontier. The beta-testers have done an excellent job of testing for bugs and suggesting changes and improvements. Perhaps they've been too efficient, because we've had to delay Frontier's release in order to make sure the bugs they've found are eliminated. The initial release of Frontier will have Internet FTP, Telnet, Gopher, Mail, Usenet Newsgroups, other messaging networks, and access to the local file areas, but it will not include WWW (World Wide Web) or MIME document support. Because of this, we will be extending the trial Frontier subscription from one month to two months. This way, you will have two months to use your 5 hours, giving you the chance to try World Wide Web when it is released during your trial subscription. Apples and Oranges Frontier is a totally separate system from the BBS with its own pricing structure. Frontier is not an option on top of your basic subscription to the PCBoard BBS. This means that once Frontier is released, you can choose to stay with PCBoard and its pricing structure, or transfer over the remaining value of your BBS subscription to Frontier. Alternatively, you can also take a subscription for Frontier, while keeping your PCBoard subscription. Some of the IBM local file areas from the PCBoard BBS will be copied to the Frontier servers. This means you will have access to most of the same files as the BBS, but the Frontier file areas will be presented via easy-to-use Gopher menus. Your Internet e-mail address in Frontier will be different from your current BBS e-mail address. In Frontier, it will be in the format userid@frontier.canrem.com. If you switch over to Frontier, we will keep your PCBoard account active for another month so that you can inform your e-mail correspondents of the change in your Internet address. For those not familiar with Frontier, it is CRS Online's new online service. It is a Windows-based service which is a true client-server application. Frontier provides a seamless integration of existing CRS services and the Internet. This means it delivers an easy to use graphical interface for Internet tools like News, Mail, Gopher, FTP and more. In addition, Frontier provides access to a large database of public domain software and mail networks not found on the Internet. For more information on Frontier, you can download the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file "FRNTFAQ1.TXT" or the November issue of the CRS Online Update,"CRSNOV94.TXT". Both files are available on-line in Conference 0, File Area 1. IT'S TAX TIME Tax season is once again upon us. Here is a partial listing of some resources that you can access from the CRS BBS to help you through this trying season. * Conferences If you have a question or problem with your tax preparation, you may wish to post a message in one of the following conferences which deal specifically with taxes. This way you will get responses from other people who may have had similar problems. Taxes & Accounting RelayNet 1952 Taxes & Accounting NANet 69 * File Areas The following files are available on the BBS for download which may be of some help to you during this taxing time. T4TAX-LT.ZIP 684750 12-21-94 T4 TIMESAVER LIGHT v. 1994.01b - Complete T4/T4A/T5 preparation package including - Discrepancy reports on CPP/ QPP/UI over/under payments - Laser facsimile forms - Diskette submission of returns - Superior fault toler- ance and data integrity maintenance - Bilingual technical support - Relev‚ 1 and Relev‚ 3 support for Qu‚bec users. This is the 'LIGHT' version of the very popular T4 TIMESAVER. CTFIS#1.ZIP 551008 11-28-94 1st ISSUE of TAX FAX November 1994 - This is a PRESENTATION distributed by the Ontario + Canadian Taxpayers Federation outlining the purpose and actions of our organization. Requires Windows 3.x, SVGA monitor, + 4 Megs of Ram, + 1.4 Megs hard drive space. MI1294.ZIP 24597 12-13-94 MoneyPower Interaction December, 1994 - A quarterly newsletter about financial planning for individuals and small businesses. In this issue: 'Twas The Month Before New Year; Items To Watch For; Check Out These Year End Tax Planning Tips; Capital Gains; About Electronic Publishing; How To Reach Us. Contains reader.com for offline viewing. In RoomRoom v3.0 format. TIMCLK11.ARJ 180809 11-14-94 PC-TIMECLOCK v1.1 Tracks and reports your computer usage by project/category (Windows). TimeClock can save you money at tax time by reporting how much of your computer use was for business purposes. It is inexpensive, easy to use, and provides the information you need to document your business deduction for depreciation of your computer. * Internet Gopher If you have the extended Internet services option, you may want to check the following tax-related sites: anet.scu.edu.au The Accounting Network gopher.revcan.ca Revenue Canada OTHER BUSINESS RELATED RESOURCES ON CRS If you have the Information Services Option (Conference 39), you will find that the Reuters Financial Services provides the most-up-to-date business news. The following is a screen capture of the story titles in the Reuters news wire on a particular day. Note that the same articles are also available as messages in the following conferences (only accessible to those who have the Information Services Option): UPI-Business 2385 Reuters-Fin. 2369 * Stock Quotations If you are into the stock markets, the Information Services Option also gives you access to stock quotations for a dozen North American exchanges. You can download stock information and track your portfolio's performance using your favourite stock charting program. Or if you don't have one, you can download one of the many stock analysis shareware programs available on the BBS. There are also several stock market simulation games and other business related files available for download from the BBS. To locate these files, do a key word search using the zippy command (type "Z" from the conference command prompt). * Internet Gopher The following are some business-related gopher sites you can try if you have the extended Internet services option. niord.shsu.edu Economics Gopher Server providing links to over 150 economic gophers (e.g. NAFTA files, United Nations, World Bank, etc.) choose "Economics" talon.statcan.ca Statistics Canada Talon Services malahat.library.uvic.ca choose "Internet Resources", then "Subject- related Resources from University of Water- loo" (or Rice Univesity), then "Economics and Business". umslvma.umsl.edu choose "Library", then "Subject Area Resources", then "Business, Economics, and Marketing" gopher.stat-usa.gov National Trade Data Bank (U.S.) choose "Stat-USA" una.hh.lib.umich.edu U.S. Department of Commerce: Economic Bulletin Board. The same site is also available for anonymous FTP. The "ebb" subdirectory provides current economic and trade information, daily foreign exchange rates for 12 countries. The "census" subdirectory provides U.S. census data for 1990. econwpa.wustl.edu Economics Working Paper Archive gopher.town.hall.org Internet EDGAR project containing 1994 filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission, providing financial informa- tion of public corporations. You can also do an anonymous FTP to ftp.town.hall.org for the same listing. * Conferences The following is a partial listing of business-related conferences carried on the BBS across the different networks, including the Usenet Newsgroups. alt-invest.real-estate 7767 alt.business.misc 5030 alt.business.multi-level 3457 alt.business.import-export 6871 alt.business 7729 alt.business.seminars 7730 biz.clarinet 4674, 4675 k12.ed.business 2720 misc.invest 4136 misc.invest.canada 2919 misc.invest.funds 6397 misc.invest.real-estate 3604 misc.invest.stock 6398, 6399 misc.invest.technical 5383 Business 7321, 976 Economics 1578 Entrepreneur 1046 Finance 30 Financial 7360, 460 Home_Office 1105 Insurance 7389, 1113 Invest 1117 Investing 1601 MultiLevel_Marketing 419, 1166 Project_Management 1935 PC-Consultants 1227 Quality_in_Business 1742 Scams 2312 Consultants 10 Consulting 1007, 1623 Small_Businesses 468, 1659 Work_at_Home 76 Stock_Markets 1320 WorldTrading 699 BBS HUMOUR With tax season upon us and being in the midst of another winter season, we at CRS Online felt you might need a laugh. Although your tax return may leave you in gales of laughter you might want to check out some of these humourous files, conferences or Internet sites which are all available through CRS's BBS. * Conferences rec.humor 4202, 4205 rec.humor.funny 4204 rec.humor.oracle 2818, 3424 sanet.fun 3707 alt.humor.best-of-usenet 3920, 3921 alt.humor.oracle 6202 aus.jokes 2584, 4652 eunet.jokes 5354 Comedy 7388, 1626, 46 Funny 1070 Humor 1109 Monty_Python 670, 1171, 1936 * File Areas In the CRS BBS file database, you can find many joke-related or humourous files. These range from text files of jokes to practical joke programs which you can actually run on your computer. To locate these files, you can do a zippy scan on the words "joke" or "humor" or "comedy". Here are some samples of the humourous files which are available on the system. FBITERM.ZIP 52852 08-16-92 Worlds Greatest Computer Joke! Make your friends think you have the ability to "hack" into the FBI computer to check personal history records. Your history is great but theirs may not be so hot. Warning screen, modem sound effects, simulated trace to your phone, everything! JNQ.ZIP 167825 09-30-92 Jokes Notes Quotes v1.0 Over 700 jokes, notes, and quotes for preachers, teachers and public speakers (or for anyone to enjoy!). Jump start your speech or sermon with fresh and funny jokes, notes & quotes. Fully menu driven with printing and exports to your favourite word proccessor. JOKER12.ZIP 69321 06-18-94 The Joker is a Windows application that gives you a laugh whenever you need it. Just as your day is getting completely boring, a window will appear with a joke to break the ice. If one joke doesn't do it for you, then press the ANOTHER button for more. * Internet Another interesting and often humourous thing to do on the Internet is send a message to the Usenet Oracle. The Oracle will respond to your question and you in turn may be asked to answer someone else's question. If you wish to send the Oracle your question, send a message to "oracle@cs.indiana.edu" and enter the Subject as "oracle most wise, please tell me". You can read some of the funnier responses in the Usenet conference "rec.humor.oracle" which is conference 2818 on the BBS. If you have the Internet FTP/Telnet/Gopher option, here are examples of sites you can access: Dr. Fun (the first daily Internet cartoon) Gopher to "president.oit.unc.edu", select "Worlds of sunsite-by subject", then select "Doctor Fun". Archive of David Letterman Top 10 Lists Gopher to "oscar.cs.byu.edu" and select "Humor" from the main menu. For general Tom Foolery Gopher to "gopher.risc.uni-linz.ac.at", select "Miscellaneous Info", then select "Fun Stuff". Gopher to "amber.ccs.neu.edu" and select "Fun and Humor" from the main menu. Archive of joke files listed in alphabetical order Anonymous FTP to "shape.mps.ohio-state.edu" cd pub/jokes Graphics files of popular comics Anonymous FTP to "ftp.sunet.se" cd pub/comics