As many know, one of the distribution mediums for Commodore Hacking is USENET, which is a services that operates primarily on the Internet. After dutifully "posting" Issue #13, Hacking Headquarters was informed that the posting had been "canceled". Since normally only the original poster can delete or "cancel" a posting, we were alarmed. The culprit turned out to be a automated program that had been installed on USENET since Issue #12 was published. The program, called a "cancel robot" or "cancelbot" for short, had been created by an individual and installed on one USENET node. This specific cancelbot watches for large postings to non-binary newsgroups (newsgroups that do not have "binary" or "binaries" in their names) that contain large UUencoded binary files. It then "forges" a cancel message by masquerading as the original poster. Since USENET contains very little security, this notion of "forging" postings can be done quite easily.
Without detailing the technical side of USENET, suffice it to say that a posting from one site immediately begins its journey to all other sites on USENET, being replicated along the way. The cancelbot canceled the posting immediately after it showed up on its server. The cancel message then began its journey to each server, canceling the article at each site. Given the propogation delay of USENET, the posting was up long enough for some readers to acquire it, but not everyone. Therefore, a pointer to the location of the issue was posted later.
Along with the pointer posting, Commodore Hacking asked the USENET newgroup comp.sys.cbm how it should ahndle the situation. We offered three suggestions and asked for comment. They were:
Suggestions 1 and 2 received an equal number of votes, with suggestion 3 receiving a couple of votes and 1 person voting to split the issue into multiple parts. Needless to say, the issue is still undecided.
Therefore, for the current issue, we have requested an exclusion from the USENET cancelbot. However, since most readers can now access the publication via the World Wide Web, Electronic Mail, and FTP, we are considering publishing only an announcement in the future. The announcement will highlight the newest issue and detail where to obtain it.
Some of the survey respondents mentioned that a few readers may only have access to USENET as a means of receiving the magazine. If you are one of those folks, PLEASE WRITE US! We are continuing to post the entire issue on USENET for your benefit and may not continue to do so if we don't hear from you. The postal mail address is located in this issue (Reference: legal). If Commodore Hacking does not receive any aformentioned letters or objections, we will consider posting only new issue announcements in the future. Doing so would relieve some burden on the USENET system, which was really not designed to handle a posting of C=Hacking's size. If you have any questions about the potential impact of this change, please mail us at Hacking Headquarters.
Shortly after the release of Commodore Hacking #13, Underground Magazine editor Scott Eggleston informed his subscribers that changes in his life had forced him to cut back on the time devoted to publishing, and that he was merging The Underground with the newly announced LOADSTAR LETTER commercial publication. As reported in the last issue, Scott will co- edit the new expanded LOADSTAR LETTER with Jeff Jones and unfilled Underground subscriptions will be filled with LOADSTAR LETTER subscriptions on a 1 for 1 basis.
In Commodore Hacking #13, Gaelyne Gasson (formerly Gaelyne Moranec), described how to read Internet electronic mail offline by using an offline mail reader like QWKRR128. Hot on the heels of that article,Rod Gasson has announced the availability of a beta of version 5.0 of the QWKRR128 software. Available to all registered users of QWKRR128, the beta includes a number of enhancements and bug fixes, including:
The new beta version is available from the 221b Baker Street BBS in the US and GEOZ BBS in Australia and at:
ftp://ccnga.uwaterloo.ca/pub/cbm/INCOMING/telecomm/qwkrrv5b.lzh ftp://hal9000.net.au/pub/cbm/qwkrr/qwkrrv5b.lzh
More complete information is available at:
http://www.hal9000.net.au/~moranec/qwkrr10.html
The folks at Centsible Software have moved! Well, they are still at the same location, but they have "electronically moved", to sprynet.com. The new information appears below:
Centsible Software PO Box 930 St. Joseph, MI 49085 616-428-9096 (Orders and Information 12-6pm EST) 616-429-7211 (Bulleting Board System and Facsimile) Cents@sprynet.com (Internet Contact) http://home.sprynet.com/sprynet/cents (WWW URL)
On a sad note, Centsible contacted Hacking Headquarters later to note that they will soon be closing down Centsible Software. All outstanding orders will be completed, and the closure won't happen immediately, but soon Centsible will be all but a memory.
Software Support International (SSI), has recently decided that they will start focusing more on IBM compatible sales. In an initial announcement, SSI indicated that they would no longer carry Commodore products after January 1, 1997, but later announced that they would continue to sell products as long as existing stock holds up. However, they will no longer promote the CBM or Amiga product lines. The latest catalog from SSI will be the last to carry CBM and Amiga merchandise.
Arkanix Labs, a West Coast hardware and software developer, recently announced that they had acquired Threshold Productions International. Petar Strinic (note the 'a' in Petar) announced that the acquisition would expand their presence in the market. Arkanix Labs develops for the MS-DOS and C64/128 systems, and is working on SuperCPU products. To find out more about the company, visit their WWW Site at: www.arkanixlabs.com or contact Mr. Strinic at: petars@arkanixlabs.com
Scott Eggleston, editor of The Underground, has recently sent notice to all Underground readers that recent changes in his life have prompted him to discontinue publishing of The Underground. Determined that Underground subscribers would not be left in the lurch, Scott has arranged for each subscriber to receive issues of the newly launched commercial LOADSTAR LETTER publication (See Newsfront in C=H #13). While the size of each issue will be smaller, the issues will arrive monthly, as opposed to The Underground's bimonthly schedule.
Scott, not bowing out of publishing entirely, will be brought on as Associate Editor of LOADSTAR LETTER. Subscribers should expect to receive their first issue of the merged publication at the same time The Underground #15 would have arrived.
As well, Scott will continue to offer back issues of The Underground for US$2.50 per issue. The Underware disk will no longer be available from Eggleston, although reader Tom Adams (tom.adams@neteast.com) has agreed to copy the disks as long as he is able to do so.
If you need to contact Scott Eggleston, you may do so at: egglest1@cougarnet.byu.edu
Ghislain deBlois (dh374@freenet.carleton.ca) is currently releasing a number of games and utilities for the avid Commodore VIC-20 user community. Intending to release them in "cassette/disk of the month" fashion, deBlois' first installment contains:
Future installments promise titles like: Realms of Quest, Ice Hockey, Bosing, and Screen Magic (a multi-color hi-res drawing program). All programs are written for the unexpanded VIC-20 computer system (VC-20 in Europe) to better serve VIC enthusiasts. For more information, contact deBlois at his electronic mail address.
Brett Tabke, of PHD Software, has created a mailing list for owners of the CMD SuperCPU accelerator cartridge. To subscribe to the list, send a message to:
listserve@giga.or.at
with a message body of:
subscribe super-cpu firstname lastname
For those who live in on the OTHER side of that little pond from the US, or if you just want to keep up on the developments there, there is a new electronic mailing list for European 64 enthusiasts. Simply send email to:
listserv@lentil.demon.co.uk
with a subject of:
MAILSERV
and a body of:
subscribe 64EUROPE END
The list address is: 64europe@lentil.demon.co.uk
Nick Rossi has recently announced that patch "A" for the latest version of Novaterm (9.6) is now available. Citing the help of early purchasers of the product, Nick noted a list of bug fixes that have been incorporated in the new release, including:
If you have already purchased Novaterm 9.6, you can receive a free upgrade by making a backup of your master disk and sending the master disk back to:
Nick Rossi 10002 Aurora Ave. N. #3353 Seattle, WA 98133 U.S.A.
Copies of the latest release are available in either 1541 or 1581 disk formats for USD$29.95 plus USD$1.50 for shipping and handling. The software is accompanied by a 90 page user manual.
For more information on the upgrade or Novaterm in general, visit the http://www.eskimo.com/~voyager/novaterm.html or contact Mr. Rossi via email at: voyager@eskimo.com.
That is a very good question. Ever since Commodore was sold to ESCOM GmbH, Commodore 8-bit users have wondered who owns the intellectual rights to the Commodore 8-bit line of computers. Now that ESCOM has declared bankruptcy and initiated the sale of the Amiga line to US based Visual Information Service Corporation (VISCorp), CBM enthusiasts are even more curious. The sale, evidently drawn up before the bankruptcy declaration, would place Amiga technology into the hands of VISCorp, which was started by several ex-Commodore engineers. However, even if or when the deal is finalized, who owns the rights to the CBM 8-bit line may still be a mystery.
Tom Adams, president of the mail correspondence club called Meeting 64/128 Users Through the Mail, asks that all electronic correspondence for either him or the club be addressed to:
tom.adams@neteast.com
Karl Hildon, one of the producers of the now-defunct _Transactor_ publication, has announced that he is now able to provide electronic copies of any issue of the technical magazine for USD$5.00. Issues can be scanned in the format of your choice, and will be electronically mailed to the purchaser.
To order, mail Karl Hildon your Visa Card account number (visa only) and expiration date and issue number request to karl@inforamp.net. If you need to consult an index first, there is one located at: http://vanbc.wimsey.com/~danf/cbm/transactor.idx
Mr. Hildon also mentioned that if demand warrants, he will also make available the _Transactor_ companion disks.
Also, Mr. Hildon has announced that he can also make available copies of _The Inner Space Anthology_ for USD$20.00 or CAN$20.00. Follow the above directions to obtain copies of this out of print resource.
Commodore Zone and Tim Wright have announced the Commodore 64 Golden Fleece Award 1997 contest. An award of $100.00 will be presented to the author of a demo program that represents the best in demo construction and captures the spirit that have made demos a staple of Commodore history. The deadline for entry is February 1, 1997, and entries should be sent to "Binary Zone P.D. Entries must fit on a single side of a 1541 disk, and will be judged as complete works. Authors can enter as many works as they wish. Entries will be judged on programming ability, graphics expertise, and musical content as well as overall presentation. All entries must be previously unreleased material. Entries should be accompanied by contact details, and the winner will be featured in Binary Zone P.D. For further information, or to enter the contest, contact:
Jason 'Kenz' Mackenzie Binary Zone P.D. 34 Portland Road Droitwich Worcestershire England WR9 7QW
PROTOVISION, a game development company, is currently working on compression tools for the SuperCPU, as well as some utilities for the new unit that are designed to take full advantage of the 16 bit processing power of the 65C816. In addition, the company is investigating the possibility of developing a new graphical operating system for the unit that will run in 16 bit mode and take advantage of the 16 megabytes of addressing and the new opcodes available in the accelerator. The new system will be able to multitask and offer several graphics modes and capabilities.
For those who enjoyed reading about Andre Fachat's OS/A65 operating system in the last issue of Commodore Hacking (Issue 13, Section: os), Andre has updated his multitasking OS to version 1.3.10b. New in this version is:
It is available on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.tu-chemnitz.de/~fachat/csa/
Computer Workshops, Inc., is currently distributing NewView, an image effects generato, and HyperLink, a hypermedia authoring system. More information on these titles and their upcoming 3D Game, "Nether", are available at:
http://www.armory.com/~spectre/
Sandy Bay Software, Incorporated has selected Commodore Hacking's World Root WWW Site to be included in a virtual encyclopedia of WWW sites. Visit the PC Webopaedia at:
http://www.sandybay.com/pc-web
J and F Publishing has announced that LOADSTAR Issue #148 has been selected to be a "pass-around" issue. This issue is available for free and is intended to allow non-subscribers a chance to see what is in the disk-based monthly magazine. Issue #148 is available at:
http://www.loadstar.com/pass.html
Wraptorized and ARCed versions are available for 1541 and 1581, while Compression Kit, .d64 images, and PKZip version are available in 1541 format.
Screen shots of the issue are available at:
http://www.loadstar.com/148contents.html
The issue is packed, filling over 700 kB, and includes articles like:
Download the issue today, and share it with your friends and user groups.
If you're in the market for some used equipment or require some service on your CBM system, contact:
Jon Searle, The Commodore Man Service and Software 1307 Golfview Drive Grain Valley, MO 64029
Jon offers over 1000 titles, documentation, books, magazines, and hardware. A catalog can be requested for a nominal fee. Until December 31, 1996, Jon is offering a "Buy 3, Get 1 Free" offer on software titles. Write for details and restrictions.
Maurice Randall, creator of such GEOS offerings as GeoFAX and many utilities for CMD, has announced that he is formally working on GEOS 3.0. He has successfully reverse engineered GEOS 2.0 and is now working to incorporate changes into the OS that will provide more seamless support for peripherals announced since the release of GEOS 2.0. Among the changes is a number of bug fixes to the original GEOS OS code and some enhancements to allow shortening of the OS code or faster execution. A time or formal name for the project has not been determined, but the new version will require some type of RAM expansion.
At a recent Lansing Area Commodore Club meeting, Maurice demonstrated some of the changes that may show up in the final GEOS 3.0 system. They include:
These changes are incorporated in new disk driver code that can be used by any existing GEOS application. The new drivers utilize a radically different Configure program with more options than the current setup application of the same name.
Maurice stated that he will likely take a half-written desktop replacement he has written titled "Dashboard" and develop it into what will become the replacement for DeskTop in GEOS 2.0.
Although the new system will require the use of RAM expansion, the system will not require a SuperCPU or other speed enhancement unit to operate.
Brain Innovations, Inc., recently announced that they had revamped the popular WWW Links pages on Jim Brain's Commodore home Page. The new site, completely automated, offers many advantages over the older set of pages. The new site, called CaBooM!, can display links in either HTML TABLE or UNORDERED LIST format, include or exclude graphics, and include or exclude link descriptions. The site is organized into categories and sub-categories. Surfers can automatically add new sites to the system and specify which categories fit the site. Users can also update sites at a later date by specifying their user ID and password used to create the site. New and updated entries are identified with appropriate comments, and sites can be listed in multiple categories. Check out the new system at:
http://www.msen.com/~brain/cbmlinks/index.html
C= Hacking Home | Issue 14 Contents
Copyright © 1992 - 1997 Commodore Hacking
Commodore, CBM, its respective computer system names, and the CBM logo are either registered trademarks or trademarks of ESCOM GmbH or VISCorp in the United States and/or other countries. Neither ESCOM nor VISCorp endorse or are affiliated with Commodore Hacking.
Commodore Hacking is published by:
Last Updated:
1997-03-31 by Jim Brain