Pieces Of 8 The Newsletter of CCP/M The Connecticut CP/M Users' Group February 1990 1. Meeting Notes, December 1989 By Lee Bradley ....................... 1 2. Z-Node List #57 By Jay Sage .......................... 2 3. The Death of the Hacker (?) By Bridger Mitchell .................. 5 4. Recent Messages Selected "From The Board" ..................... 7 5. For Sale ............................. 15 6. Multitasking, The CCP/M Way By James F. Taylor ................... 16 7. Rare Gems (sm) By David Wright ...................... 20 8. A Glossary of Data Processing Jobs ... 20 Pieces Of 8 The Newsletter of CCP/M The Connecticut CP/M Users' Group -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mailing address: c/o Lee Bradley, 24 East Cedar Street, Newington, CT 06111 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- How To Join CCP/M: Dues are $15/year and may be sent to: Tom Veile, 26 Slater Avenue, Norwich, CT 06360 -=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Future CCP/M Meeting Programs January 9, 1990 -- No formal topic planned. "Free for all" meeting. Bring your questions, answers, computers and friends! Future topics will include Mailing List Maintenance, a review and demonstration of the Z-System compatible BDS C Compiler and Public Domain software. The Connecticut CP/M Users' Group meets the second Tuesday of every month at the Farmington Public Library, Farmington, CT. 6:30-9:00pm Meeting Notes December 12, 1989 We had almost as many computers as people at the meeting! I think there were 3 Model 100 Portables, a Royal, a Kaypro, an Osborne I and an SB180. There was lots of milling around before an impromptu talk by Lee Bradley on some of his favorite aliases. Al Hathway made a list of his aliases available as well as hard copy of ARUNZ documentation. New member Gary Stagliano handed out a sheet on the Silk City BBS (203) 649-9057 which appears to be a unique service provided by the town of Manchester, CT. Give it a call! New member Bill Connolly was soaking in a demo of HOST.COM (software mentioned in the January issue of POE). Bill and Lee have been teaching each other the ins and outs of MOVE-IT and IMP recently. Brian Nalewajek got Z-Fest 2 on the agenda for the Spring of this year. See elsewhere for a message left by him on our Remote Access System. A sub-committee was appointed to organize and advertise. Stay tuned! Help out! Prospective member Bill Cadiz owns a NorthStar Advantage computer and is looking for help getting a CP/M system disk for it. He doesn't know this yet but after the meeting I thought of Drexel Hill NorthStar Z- Node # 6 as a place to call. Any help on this would be appreciated. The aftermeeting drew only Gary Stagliano, Stephen Griswold, my wife and I! Hope your holidays were great! Here's who came: Brian Nalewajek, Stephen Griswold, Gabor Szikla, Jim Taylor, Glen Gross, Al Hathway, Bill Connolly, Gary Stagliano, Bill Cadiz, Lee Bradley Z-Node List #57 December 24, 1989 Sorted by State/Area Code/Exchange This list includes information about accessing the Z-Nodes using the two low-cost data services, PC-Pursuit (PCP) and StarLink (SL). For nodes accessible by PCP, the city code and maximum data rate are given. Where known, the SL code is given. An asterisk with the code indicates that the call to the Z-Node may incur local toll charges. If you know the SL code for any nodes that do not have a code listed, I would appreciate it if you would send me that information. An "R" in the left column indicates a node that has registered with Z Systems Associates. Report any changes or corrections in a message to Jay Sage on Z- Node Central (#2) or Z-Node #3 in Boston (or by mail to 1435 Centre St., Newton Centre, MA 02159-2469). Node Sysop City State ZIP RAS Phone PCP SL Verified Z-Node Central -------------- R 2 Al Hawley Los Angeles CA 90056 213-670-9465 CALAN/24 3173* 12/23/89 Satellite Z-Nodes: ------------------ R 9 Roger Warren San Diego CA 92109 619-270-3148 CASDI/24 9183* 10/25/89 R 66 Dave Vanhorn Costa Mesa CA 92696 714-546-5407 CASAN/24 10/25/89 R 81 Robert Cooper Lancaster CA 93535 805/949-6404 11/06/89 R 36 Richard Mead Pasadena CA 91105 818-799-1632 10/25/89 R 12 Lee Bradley Newington CT 06111 203-665-1100 CTHAR/24 12/24/89 R 17 Bill Biersdorf Tampa FL 33618 813-961-5747 FLTAM/24 5518 ( down ) 11 Carson Wilson Chicago IL 60626 312-764-5162 ILCHI/24 12/23/89 R 3 Jay Sage Newton Centre MA 02159 617-965-7259 MABOS/24 8796 12/24/89 R 73 George Allen Ballwin MO 63021 314-821-1078 MOSLO/24 10/28/89 R 32 Chris McEwen Plainfield NJ 07080 201-754-9067 3319 12/23/89 R 15 Liv Hinckley Manhattan NY 10129 212-489-7370 NYNYO/24 10/25/89 R 7 Dave Trainor Cincinnati OH 45236 513-791-0401 ( down ) R 33 Jim Sands Enid OK 73703 405-237-9282 10/25/89 R 58 Kent R. Mason Oklahoma City OK 73107 405-943-8638 ( down ) R 4 Ken Jones Salem OR 97305 503-370-7655 10/25/89 R 8 Ben Grey Portland OR 97229 503-644-4621 ORPOR/24 10/25/89 R 6 Robert Dean Drexel Hill PA 19026 215-623-4040 PAPHI/24 9581 11/05/89 R 77 Pat Price Austin TX 78745 512-444-8691 10/25/89 R 45 Robert K. Reid Houston TX 77088 713-937-8886 TXHOU/24 4562* 10/25/89 R 10 Ludo VanHemelryck Mill Creek WA 98012 206-481-1371 WASEA/24 12/23/89 R 78 Gar K. Nelson Olympia WA 98502 206-943-4842 10/25/89 R 65 Barron McIntire Cheyenne WY 82007 307-638-1917 10/25/89 R 5 Christian Poirier Montreal Quebec H1G 5G5 CANADA 514-324-9031 10/25/89 R 40 Terry Smythe Winnipeg Manitoba R3N 0T2 CANADA 204-667-5919 ( down ) R 62 Lindsay Allen Perth, Western AUSTRALIA 6153 61-9-450-0200 07/01/89 50 Mark Little Alice Springs, N.T. AUSTRALIA 5750 61-089-528-852 ( ???? ) July 27, 1989 J.D. Hildebrand, Editor Computer Language 500 Howard Street San Francisco, CA 94105 Mark Twain would surely say that Tim Parker's report of the "Death of the Hacker" (Computer Language, July 1989) is greatly exaggerated! In fact, "dedicated, infinitely curious, talented systems programmers" still actively hack at least one operating system -- CP/M! Parker notwithstanding, the emergence of the IBM PC did not halt CP/M system innovation, which continues at a strong pace, and without requiring megabytes of ram. Today's well-equipped CP/M system runs the "Z-System" -- version 3.4 of the ZCPR command processing environment. It installs automatically on any Z-80 CP/M computer without assembly-language changes to the BIOS. The Z-System user interface includes command history; an error handler for catching abnormal terminations and editing previous command lines; a general-purpose script language for both command processor and application program input; conditional command execution; command aliases; named directories and password protection; menu and help subsystems; full-screen command shells; etc. ZCPR34 adapts dynamically to memory requirements of applications. And the same environment runs on both CP/M 2.2 and CP/M Plus Z80 systems. Closely related is a task-switching extension to CP/M 2.2 called BackGrounder ii. It provides full-screen windows for any two active CP/M programs, cut-and-paste capability between those tasks, output redirection, and pop-up desk accessories. The original BDOS from Digital Research has long since been overtaken by improved Z80 versions. The latest -- ZSDOS -- includes integrated datestamping and automatic path- searching. File DateStamping, which has been available for five years, provides full UNIX capability -- create, modify, and access dates and times. Z-System tools and applications are developed by a community of programmers driven to share innovations and discoveries. This sense of purposeful, good-natured system hacking can be readily detected by logging into one of the Z-Node remote systems that provide their electronic meeting places. Perhaps in DOSland the true hacker is a dying breed, but CP/M system development thrives. Tim Parker and others longing for the old challenge are most welcome to (re)join us and push the envelope further! Bridger Mitchell Plu*Perfect Systems 410 23rd Street Santa Monica, CA 90402 Recent Messages Selected "From The Board" Subj: BDS C From: Al Hathway To: Lee Bradley The BDS C arrived today ... a very impressive package. Jay Sage is now handling distribution and support, and has collected the files into crunched libraries to reduce disk usage. Included are the RED editor, and CDB, the C DeBugger. The documentation makes no mention of Z-System support, but the third ( of 3 ) diskettes is entirely Z-System. ORG 100 type 1 programs and type 3 programs are supported. This is a very comprehensive package, but not for the faint hearted ... I've just skimmed the 200+ page manual, and am going have to go back and give it some detailed examination. I did not see any quick, short descriptions on how to do it ... Hopefully, this will come off the project stack pretty soon ... I have a couple of C-80 utilities I wrote, and I am curious to see what BDS C does with them. I also think I have C source code for the computer game COREWARS. Keep you posted, Al. Subj: Programming From: Howard Goldstein To: Lee Bradley Well, most of the complexity and detail in those programs wasn't mine; I just fixed a few things. In LBREXT27, most of what I did was to simplify the original. Talk about complexity! And with all that, a bug has shown up in LPUT17 when running under Z3PLUS. I've just finished LPUT18 and will upload it if somebody else hasn't beaten me to it. Subj: BTW Lee. From: Stephen Griswold To: Lee Bradley In Jan. POE, add a quick note listing the Portable 100 BBS (which Andy mentioned I forgot to put in the article), of: (603)-924- 9770. (300/1200). Its name is the Portable 100 PBBS, though it's running on I think the Beta-version of TBBS for the PC. Subj: bbs: moebius From: Andy Meyer To: Jim Taylor Okay Jim. I ran into Stephen on the Portable 100 bbs. I thought there was other stuff here, not to worry. My bbs is called "moebius" (like the strip, small "m") and I run software called Citadel: 201-968-8235, 1200 baud, 24 hrs daily. Cheerio. Subj: Cuckoo's Egg From: Brian Nalewajek To: All The "Cuckoo's Egg" is the title of a book by Clifford Stoll; the subtitle is "Tracking A Spy Through The Maze Of Computer Espionage". The publisher is Doubleday. I caught a taped interview of the author on CSPAN (yes some people do watch CSPAN). While working at a non-classified computer complex in Berkley, the author noticed that his accounting for computer time expenses were off by $0.75. He said if it had been a bigger discrepancy he would not have payed much attention; but why would the account be off by 75 cents? The answer was that a computer spy working out of West Germany was tapping into the system just long enough to plant a tiny program that would increase the spy's access to the system to a super high level. Stoll began tracing the guy's access and found he was using computer links thru TYMNET, a BBS, and a university to break into military computer nets to sell the goods to the Ruskiis. He called the FBI but they scoffed when he told them his accounts were only off by 75 cents. Stoll was undaunted and the US and W. German governments caught and are prosecuting the spy now. I plan to find a copy of the book myself; looks like it will be great reading for those interested in what can happen when one person pays attention to what's going on. The author seems like quite a character: a holdover from the Sixties; not the kind of guy you'd expect to be safeguarding the nation from hightech espionage. The book may be like the author -a bit out of the ordinary, even includes a recipe for chocolate chip cookies - but I think it may appeal to the out of the ordinary people that frequent this system. BRN.. PS. Cuckoos leave their eggs in other birds' nests for them to hatch and raise as their own. Subj: POE From: Sysop To: Jim Taylor I want this to become a national newsletter. Subj: FBI agents From: Jim Taylor To: Brian Nalewajek Kind of like the guy at M&Ms who turned down E.T. Subj: Z-Fest 2 From: Brian Nalewajek To: Lee Bradley I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the aftermeeting meeting last night. (Please pass along my Holiday wishes to Linda). I had to give someone a ride later in the evening, and I didn't want to cut it close. I hope the Z- Fest idea catches on. Your BBS becoming a Z- Node should give us a big advantage over the last one (as far as contacts in the Z community are concerned). It also adds a certain officiality to the affair. I'll leave a msg to all here asking for names of people interested in helping to organize the event. I think it would be best to use the term 'Spring of 90' as the working date until we narrow it down. That gives us some flexability in selecting the exact date later on. Perhaps we should not even mention a site location until we've had a chance to assess the scale of what we want to cover. I'm glad to see that your board has been so stable, even interruptions have been fixed very quickly. That will help us alot in using the BBS as the clearing house for Z- Fest project information. As soon as we an get a few more people in on the early planning stages, we can begin the decision process for date, site, size, etc. At least this will start the ball rolling. BRN ... PS. When we get the other people to help out, it may help to set up a seperate section (folder) of the board just for the Z-Fest. Subj: PBBS Problems From: Ian Cottrell To: Lee Bradley Glad that all is working fine now, Lee. That PMNT function 8 can be very useful at times, but few sysops seem to understand its use. I'm working on a clock for my system, so that I don't have to set the time so often (I forget sometimes, too!). The POE arrived yesterday. I read it cover to cover before supper and enjoyed it very much. After reading Rick's article about contributing to the newsletter, I've been thinking about doing a little article on PBBS. If I can find the time, I'll send you a copy as soon as it's done. Thanks again for the newsletter; maybe I can get down your way someday and attend a meeting (I go down to Trenton, NJ each year for the Computer Faire; maybe we can work something out on the way through!). TTYS ... Ian Subj: Cuckoo's Egg From: Andy Meyer To: Brian Nalewajek I caught that interview too, and the guy's not all that weird if you have friends in the Berkeley area. The reason he went off on tangents is because the "interviewer" (not much of one, if you ask me) allowed him to, and didn't ask any specific questions, probably because he didn't understand the topic. It reminded me of the NightLine where Ted Koppel had Steve Wozniak on and a couple of other guys, and they were talking about "viruses". In true uninformed media fashion, Ted asked "Well, suppose I had a virus. Could I break into a bank with it?". Pul- eeze. Ted also had lots of trouble keeping everyone on the topic when he didn't understand it himself. The book does sound interesting, and I may eventually buy it, after I finish "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynmann!" (about the late Nobel laureate Richard Feynmann) and "The Real Frank Zappa Book". Subj: FBI guy From: Brian Nalewajek To: Jim Taylor That must look real good on his resume'. BRN.. Subj: Stoll and Feynmann From: Brian Nalewajek To: Andy Meyer Stoll is weird, and that's not a putdown. I think he'd fit in fine on this BBS. I agree, the interviewer was out of his depth. I don't think that's uncommon either. A lot of the news anchor people show the same grasp of subject material. It's probably expecting too much to think that they could have a knowledge base as broad as the PR guys would like us to believe. Feynmann was great. I didn't read the title you mentioned but have read a couple of books by him. Was the book you mentioned an autobiography or written by someone else? BRN.. Subj: CC Cookies From: Brian Nalewajek To: Stephen Griswold I don't know! You'll have to read the book or wait for the movie. BRN.. Subj: Addictions From: David Wright To: Jim Taylor Uno! Pass! Reverse! Draw Two Cards! Draw Four! Green! Red! Yellow! Blue! More! More! Hello, I'm Dave, and I'm an Uno addict. I never thought I could get hooked, but it happened so slowly, so insidiously ... It began with Go Fish. Go Fish was an ok game for ordinary cards, but it got dull fast. Then someone introduced me to Crazy Eight. I couldn't get enough of it! I wore out many decks doing Eight, and the nerves of my friends when I kept bothering them to play. They just couldn't understand. This was during the days of generic, over-the- counter cards. Everyone could get them, and they were no big thing. It was inevitable that there would one day be a new twist on cards: Designer Decks. Uno was one of the first of the designer decks, and it didn't even need any gateway games to hook people. It didn't really affect most people, but I fell hard, really hard, because of my history with Fish and Eight. I hate myself. I'm so ashamed. Want to play a game? --:Dave Subj: CCPM Newsletter From: Jay Sage To: Sysop I was delighted to receive the newsletter and the formal application to be a Z-Node. Consider it done. Congratulations, you are now Z-Node #12. In the message of over a month ago to which I am now replying, you ask how I find the time for all this. The answer is that I don't -- that is why it has been so long since the last call (and why it is now close to 2:30 am). I particularly enjoyed reading Dave Barry's column, as I always do. My favorite is "The Board". There is no copyright notice but also no statement in the newsletter about copying rights. I would like to reprint the piece on electricity in the Boston Computer Society KUGEL newsletter. Would this be OK? Do you have a computer- readable form of the article here on the system (or otherwise available)? I'll call back in a day or two to see if you have an answer for me. Thanks. Subj: Aha! A Miracle? From: Daryl Gehlbach To: Jay Sage In our last correspondence I had told you that I couldn't seem to get ZCPR3 working with the Trantor system on the Osborne I. You (and FOG) gave the impression that nobody else had done so. I had the same frustration with Z2. I couldn't get a workable CCP that Trantor liked. I rechecked the recipe I had received. I realized that I was doing one thing different, that is using MLOAD when the instructions called for LOAD. When I followed the recipe (this time using LOAD from DRI) I got a working Z2 CCP. Well ... I still had the ZCPR3 source files on line, so I recompiled ZCPR3 (again using LOAD). I developed what should have been the correct CCP for Trantor's purposes. I reset the computer and booted with (a two floppy) ZCPR3. I made sure that I loaded the segments into their proper places. I executed WL (Westwind Loader). To my surprise I got the named directory prompt (A0:BASE>) logged into the hard drive A. I could do aliases, multiple commands, named directories, paths, wheel, etc. I seem to have ZCPR3 and Trantor cooperating. I spoke with Jack (from FOG). He said that this is the furthest anyone to his knowledge has progressed. He advised me to make sure how I did it, so I can pass it on. He also suggested that I give the Z-System a real workout, put it through its paces. In this way try to expose any hidden bugs. Do you have any suggestions on how to do that? The only files I altered were the Z3BASE and Z3HDR to configure the system. I used MAC followed by DRI's LOAD. Then used the proprietary program to make the required bit map, and installed the loader file as told to do. I did make sure that my expected configuration of ZCPR3 was booted from my floppies, that all segments were loaded prior to invoking the Westwind Loader. I did not diddle with any code in the main file. I'll type up a complete list of my steps and forward them to you and FOG. Due to the holidays I probably won't have anything for you until after January 1st. Peace..... .....Daryl For Sale Ray's H-89 System List 1. H/Z-89 with 64k, Kres DSM-240 2/4 Mhz, 2-5 1/4" TEAC 55F half height 96 TPI drives, Analytical Real Time Clock and Auto Key Repeat, TMSI Superset, SuperFont and SuperClock mod and a detached keyboard. External 10 mb hard drive with power supply, with extra 10 mb drive. 64k printer buffer 2. Printers: Legend 808 9 pin (Epson). Cosmo 2600 daisywheel with tractor and sheet feeder (Diablo). Centronics 306 commercial impact (old and heavy) 3. Software. CP/M and Z-System OS. Too many applications to list 4. Misc. HUG Remark magazine 1984-89. Sextant magazine 1984-88. Staunch 8/89'er 1986-present. SEBHC Journal Vol. I, II to present. H89 technical manual. Books: CP/M Bible, CP/M Primer, ZCPR3, WordStar, WordStar 4, dBase II for the First Time User, dBase II System Design Guide, dBase II Guide for Small Business, BASIC Programming, SuperCalc Primer, FORTH Programming, Complete FORTH, Turbo Modula-2, Mastering MultiPlan Any reasonable offer will be considered. Ray Durette, 29 Burlington Rd, Unionville, CT 06489. (203) 673-4728 Multitasking: The CCP/M Way by James F. Taylor There is a lot of talk in the computer world these days about multitasking. Users of the "other" systems look down upon devotees of small systems as being behind the times. True multitasking, as described in current computer magazines, allows you to do several operations simultaneously. (Word processing, telecommunications and game playing, for instance.) However, the computers that do these wondrous things are incredibly expensive and quite difficult to justify for anything other than business. Sure, we could go out and spend gigabucks on the latest technofix that guarantees us electro-nirvana. But what's the point? As I write this, I'm also printing out the hardcopy to be used in the January club newsletter and playing a game of computer backgammon. The interesting thing is that I *don't* own a multitasking computer. How do I it, sports fans? Simple. I'm multitasking by using multiple computers. My trusty Kaypro 4 chugs along happily, attached to its daisy wheel printer. My PC patiently waits for my next move (playing games *IS* what the PC was invented for) and I'm writing this article on my "calculator," a Radio Shack Model 100 laptop. (An aside to those interested, the damn PC just beat me in round 1: 32-zip.) When the newsletter finishes printing, I'll transfer this article to the Kaypro for additional editing and spell checking with WordStar 4.0. From there it will go to paper for still more editing, and the corrections will be made with the Kaypro. (Round two: score 38-6) Once I'm satisfied that this piece is as good as it's going to get, off it goes, through the phone lines, to the Xerox BBS that hums ever so gently in a corner of Lee Bradley's den. (Round 3: score 38-10) If all meets with Lee's approval (and it's doubtful you're reading this if it hasn't) it'll be packed into a CP/M library file and either written to disk for hand delivery or sent back over the phone lines into my Kaypro and then out to my daisy wheel, which will chug along while I fight this infernal clone, thus completing the circle. (Round 4: score 38-12) Hey, don't get me wrong. I'd love a 386 laptop and a 486 desk-top computer to play with. Christmas is coming up and so is my birthday. I'll be happy to send my mailing address to any of you who want to play Santa for me. (Round 5: score 38-20) Let's get real. (Round 6: score 54-20) My setup, except for the PC (which you could buy cheaply if you didn't get all the bells and whistles I did), cost about 500 bucks. With it I can "multitask" to my heart's content. I can compute at the park or the beach, format disks in any number of sizes and shapes and use more software than I can afford. Not to mention doing my own work while my son plays "Reader Rabbit". (Round 7: score 55-20) So all-in-all, I think I've got the best of all possible worlds. I can have my cake and eat it too. And it hasn't cost me the equivalent of the national debt to get it. Give it some thought. Do you want to run with the pack or follow a different drummer? Either buy a multitasking computer or become a multitasking computerist. The choice is yours. (Round 8: score 61-20, game called because of operator aggravation.) Copyright 1990 James F. Taylor All rights reserved [ photograph placed here ] Trenton Computer Fest 22 April 89 Left-to-Right Jay Sage Hal Bower Howard Goldstein Bruce Morgen Steven Gold Rare Gems (sm) by David Wright One hundred thousand lemmings can't be wrong. --Unknown I put a humidifier and a dehumidifier in the same room and let them fight it out. --Steven Wright I used to work in a fire hydrant factory. You couldn't park anywhere near the place. --Steven Wright A Glossary Of Data Processing Jobs Data Processing Manager: Leaps tall buildings in a single bound, Is more powerful than a locomotive, Faster than a speeding bullet, Walks on water, Gives policy to God Assistant Data Processing Manager: Leaps short buildings in a single bound, Is more powerful than a switch engine, Just as fast as a speeding bullet, Walks on water if sea is calm, Talks with God Senior Systems Analyst: Leaps short buildings with a running start and good wind, Is almost as powerful as a switch engine, Is just as fast as a speeding bullet, Walks on water in an indoor swimming pool, Talks with God if special request is approved Systems Analyst: Bearly clears a quonset hut, Loses tug of war with locomotive, Can fire a speeding bullet, Swims well, Talks with God only when spoken to Lead Programmer: Makes high marks on wall when trying to leap over tall buildings, Is run over by locomotive, Can sometimes handle a gun without inflicting self injury, Dog paddles, Talks with animals Senior Programmer: Runs into buildings, Recognizes locomotives two out of three times, Is not issued ammunition, Can stay afloat with a life jacket, Talks to walls Maintenance Programmer: Falls over door step when trying to enter tall buildings, Says "look at the choo-choo", Wets himself with a water pistol, Plays in mud puddles, Mumbles to himself Programmer: Lifts up buildings and walks under them, Kicks trains off their tracks, Catches speeding bullets with his teeth and eats them, Freezes water with a glance, He is GOD!!! From: Pieces Of Eight c/o Lee Bradley 24 East Cedar Street Newington, CT 06111 To: ------------------ First Class Mail