HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: mplumlee@bonnie.ics.uci.edu (Michael A. Plumlee)
Subject: Re: PRODIGY - Speed, Cost, Usefulness, etc.
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sys.mac.misc
Organization: UC Irvine Department of ICS
Date: 29 Aug 92 03:21:35 GMT
Distribution: usa

In <MCGLK.92Aug26181312@bike.rad.washington.edu> mcglk@bike.rad.washington.edu (Ken McGlothlen) writes:

>In article <bond.714758068@khaki19> bond@rtsg.mot.com (Allan Bond) writes:
>+----------
>| I'm seeking PRODIGY users (and especially those who use Macs) who can tell me
>| about their experience with the service.
>+----------

>I'm an ex-Prodigy user.

>+----------
>| My father (basically computer illiterate) signed up for P* and couldn't be
>| more excited about sending e-mail and playing with all the toys.  I, on the
>| other hand, am an experienced software engineer who's accustomed to the joys
>| of Unix, Usenet news and Internet e-mail.  A few questions:
>|

<stuff deleted>

Well I would suggest having your father get Compuserve, (they have a basic
package similar to Prodigy, about 10 dollars a month), then you can send
him mail via Internet!

--
_________________________________________________________________
Michael				|the sore in my soul,
mplumlee@bonnie.ics.uci.edu	|the mark in my heart,
				|her acid reign...
Xref: sparky comp.misc:3397 comp.periphs:1183
From: cohen@GOMEZ.phys.virginia.edu
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.periphs
Subject: Prometheus promodem help wanted
Date: 28 Aug 92 19:08:44 GMT
Reply-To: cohen@GOMEZ.phys.virginia.edu
Organization: Dept. of Physics, University of Virginia

Looking for help- 
Prometheus Promodem model 2400G, external, has a bunch of DIP switches
at the bottom.  What do they control, and what is the factory pre-set
configuration?
Thanks!
Newsgroups: comp.misc
From: russ@meaddata.com (Russ Rahn)
Subject: Technoids BBS; Does it exist?
Keywords: bbs, technoids
Followup-To: comp.misc
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Date: Thu, 3 Sep 1992 13:16:28 GMT
Distribution: usa

Hi,

I was talking with someone who mentioned a BBS called (I believe)
Technoids.  Is anyone out there familiar with this?  Can I access it?
If so, how do I access it?

Please E-mail me since I rarely have time to read the newsgroups.

Thanks,

Russ Rahn



Newsgroups: comp.misc
From: rdippold@cancun.qualcomm.com (Ron Dippold)
Subject: Re: Do X-rays do harm to disks?
Organization: Qualcomm, Inc., San Diego, CA
Date: Wed, 2 Sep 1992 17:24:22 GMT

hal@cs.tu-berlin.de (Eberhart Adam) writes:
>Hello out there,
>a friend of mine will have to travel by plane (to russia) and needs 
>to take his notebook with him.
>Do the x-ray devices on airports do any harm to disks (HD and
>floppies)?

The X-rays shouldn't, but the motors and magnets in the machine may do
a number on the disks - ironically, the x-ray is one of the least
harmful things to your disks in the entire machine.  Also consider the
motors on all the other conveyor belts.

What I usually do is take my floppies in my carry-on (he should make a
backup of his hard drive to floppy) then have the people hand-examine
them. 
-- 
"[On Mars] there are canals, we believe, and water.  If there is water, there
is oxygen.  If oxygen, that means we can breathe." -- Dan Quayle
From: sper1256@altair.selu.edu
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: COMP.MISC
Summary: Help with Imaging uses in Personnel
Keywords: Imaging Systems
Date: 4 Sep 92 09:56:02 GMT
Article-I.D.: altair.1992Sep4.155602.425
Reply-To: sper1256@selu.edu
Distribution: world
Organization: Southeastern Louisiana University

Does anyone have information about using an imaging system for human resource
(personnel) applications? If so please respond to SPER1256@SELU.EDU
Newsgroups: comp.misc
From: Thomas.Retkowski <Thomas.Retkowski@mixcom.mixcom.com>
Subject: Softwe
Organization: Milwaukee Internet Xchange BBS, Milwaukee, WI U.S.A.
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1992 18:35:49 GMT


The actual topic is software.  


How would I go about sending e-mail to different software companies?


ie. Origin, Broaderbound, Epix etc....

 
-- 
****************************************************************************
** Thomas E. Retkowski              Addr: Thomas.Retkowski@Mixcom.com     **
** DePaul University                      Chicago, Il 60614               **
**                                                                        **
** "Fighting for a world without Liberal causes."                         **
****************************************************************************
Newsgroups: comp.misc
From: bragg@pecan.cns.udel.edu (Aquatic Joe)
Subject: Re: PRODIGY - Speed, Cost, Usefulness, etc.
Keywords: prodigy macintosh
Organization: The Green Circle Of Vengence
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 04:27:06 GMT

>This would cause Prodigy to go out of business,
>(which in my opinion would be a GOOD THING.)

Me too!  I had Prodigy before I discovered Internet!  I feel Prodigy is the
BIGGEST waste of money I ever seen for what you get (0).  You'd do better 
buying the Brooklyn Bridge
>
>(I would ***LOVE*** to hear from Prodigy regarding this analysis.)

I'd like to ask them!

>Supporting Prodigy is retrogressive and counter to the growing tide of 
>information service users who demand real service.

>Support the Internet Society, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and 
>the rest of us dedicated to bringing real, mensurate and usable services
>into the hands of every citizen of the world, for little or no money.
>
By far the best thing you can do!  And big deal if you can't do online shopping
on Internet!  You'll have more of an inclination to go outside and play!  I know
I need that inclination ;)!
-- 
Adam Bragg                  |Tick: Hand Grenade Man? What are your super-powers?
bragg@freezer.cns.udel.edu  | HGM: Super powers? Bah!  Who needs 'em? I've got a
darkwing@ravel.udel.edu     |      HAND GRENADE!
                          SPOON!
From: raju@dcs.qmw.ac.uk (Daryanani)
Newsgroups: comp.misc
Subject: Re: Taken delivery of an old PC... now what?
Date: 3 Sep 92 08:47:18 GMT
Distribution: comp
Organization: Computer Science Dept, QMW, University of London

In <25430@castle.ed.ac.uk> asr@castle.ed.ac.uk (Angus "Fluffy" Rae) writes:

>wiegand@rtsg.mot.com (Robert Wiegand) writes:
>>asr@castle.ed.ac.uk (Angus "Fluffy" Rae) writes:

>>>that will fit in that blank socket? Does the AddRam board need some sort
>>>of boot software, as the Basic startup said I had 62k which seems a
>>>little low...? And why the heck am I bothering to do this?
>>If only 62K show up than I don't think its seeing the RAM board. I'm not
>>sure what you need to make it work.

>That's what I thought...Okay, has anyone out there had experience with
>this board, or something similar? I'm assuming that the board is either
>faulty or incorrectly set, or needs some sort of boot software (which
>would explain the clock problem, as I assume the board clock would need
>copying to the internal clock on boot...)

You should see it counting up the RAM on bootup.  ROM Basic only uses a 64K 
data segment, hence the 62K free message.  The AddRam board sounds like a 
multi-function board to me, i.e., RAM + clock + serial port + game port.  But 
on the old PCs you needed a program to read the clock and set the system dat 
and time, as on your Atari, because IBM only built a clock into the AT and at 
that point they started providing ROM support for it.  Your Addram board 
sounds like it's loaded with RAM and you should see the startup memory tests 
count up to 640K at the most.

>I expect nothing, to be quite honest - my current goal is to get
>something semi-substantial running on it, perhaps moria or just larn -
>Ultima Underworld is right out....! And Windows? Pah... can you even get
>windows to run on an 8088?

You should be able to get Windows versions up to 3.0 to run on it.  Win3 you 
have to run in real mode - startup with win /r.  But I think you can't use any 
version after 1.x off floppies only.  I'm don't remember if I tried runnng 2.x 
off floppies.

Raju
--
Raju M. Daryanani
raju@dcs.qmw.ac.uk
Newsgroups: comp.misc
From: weller@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Bonnie Weller)
Subject: PCPLUS Question
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Distribution: usa
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1992 21:11:01 GMT

First question is "Is this the right group to post questions
regarding PCPLUS?"  If not could someone please stear me in the right
direction.

Now on with the real question.

I am trying to load a file from my hard drive at home onto a computer
at work.  I am remotely logged in via a modem (Telebit T1000).  When I 
do an ALT Z and select page up, I get the prompt for a selection.  I 
select ascii since the file is written in ascii, then I write the file 
name at the next prompt.  It sends the file to the remote computer, but 
it is not sent as a file.  Instead the words in the file are read as 
separate commands.  (i.e., the first word in the file I am trying to 
send is "Dear", the computer at work reads this as a command "Dear" and 
I get back the message "Cannot find this command".)  When the file is
finished being sent, the computer locks up and I have to hang up the
line.  BTW, I can download a file from my work computer onto my hard
drive, if after I make my selections I 'cat' the file I am trying to
receive.  

Soooo, How do I send files in PCPLUS as files.  What small but
important detail am I missing?  My PCPLUS documentation is buried
beneath a mound of boxes (we just moved) and since I am 8 months
pregnant I do not want to go lifting all these to find it.

Thanks for the assistance in advance.

Bonnie
Newsgroups: comp.misc
From: slice@gagme.chi.il.us (Steve Steiner)
Subject: Re: PCPLUS Question
Originator: slice@gagme
Organization: Gagme Public Access UNIX, Chicago, Illinois.
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1992 12:05:50 GMT

In article <drice.714872789@ponder> drice@ponder.csci.unt.edu (Keith Rice) writes:
>In <BtM06F.p4@news.cso.uiuc.edu> weller@osiris.cso.uiuc.edu (Bonnie Weller) writes:
>
>>First question is "Is this the right group to post questions
>>regarding PCPLUS?"  If not could someone please stear me in the right
>>direction.
>
>>Now on with the real question.
>
>>I am trying to load a file from my hard drive at home onto a computer
>>at work.  I am remotely logged in via a modem (Telebit T1000).  When I 
>>do an ALT Z and select page up, I get the prompt for a selection.  I 
>>select ascii since the file is written in ascii, then I write the file 
>>name at the next prompt.  It sends the file to the remote computer, but 
>>it is not sent as a file.  Instead the words in the file are read as 
>>separate commands.  (i.e., the first word in the file I am trying to 
>>send is "Dear", the computer at work reads this as a command "Dear" and 
>>I get back the message "Cannot find this command".)  When the file is
>>finished being sent, the computer locks up and I have to hang up the
>>line.  BTW, I can download a file from my work computer onto my hard
>>drive, if after I make my selections I 'cat' the file I am trying to
>>receive.  
>
>>Soooo, How do I send files in PCPLUS as files.  What small but
>>important detail am I missing?  My PCPLUS documentation is buried
>>beneath a mound of boxes (we just moved) and since I am 8 months
>>pregnant I do not want to go lifting all these to find it.
>
>>Thanks for the assistance in advance.
>
>>Bonnie
>
>I assume by your use of the 'cat' command that your office system is
>running some version of UNIX.  See if your system has Kermit installed.
>If so, start Kermit on your office system in server mode (check with
>your system administrator for the info).  Then when you have started
>Kermit on the work system, press Alt-K to bring up the PCPLUS Kermit
>Server command menu and press 2 to send.  When prompted for a filename
>enter the name of the file you wish to send.  When the transfer is
>completed, press Alt-K again and then select 3 from the menu to shutdown
>Kermit on your work system.
>
>--
>Keith
>drice@ponder.csci.unt.edu
>

Or, on the host side(remote) if its unix, type rz at the unix prompt and
select Zmodem when you pres page-up.  You will be prompted for a file name
on youe machine.  Give it the full path ie. c:\memos\myfile and it will be
sent to the remote as a file.



-- 
Steve Steiner             Preferred address   | Telephone: (708)860-2754 (home)
slice@gagme.chi.il.us   slice@seswho.chi.il.us|            (708)773-5864 (work)
If the elevator to success is out of order... |   Address: 564 Gilbert Drive 
Use the stairs                                |            Wood Dale IL 60191
Xref: sparky comp.misc:3426 comp.periphs:1188 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:22956 comp.sys.misc:647 misc.consumers:15827
From: ben@yenta.alb.nm.us (Ben Klausner)
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.periphs,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.misc,misc.consumers
Subject: Re: Mail Order Hate Letter about USA Flex in Illinois
Date: 29 Aug 92 19:16:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: yenta.1992Aug29.191640.16695
Distribution: na
Organization: Department of Redundancy Department

holmes@cheshire.oxy.edu (Mark Holmes) writes:


>  I wanted to tell you all about a bad experience with USA Flex.  It has
>caused me to cut off the company from all of my 'support' and not buy 
>anything from them again.  
>  In the beginning (oh no...) I ordered a Twincom 14.4DF modem.  They said 
>they had them in stock for $384 plus shipping...

>[stuff deleted]

>  Please, anyone with experience with USA Flex or MidWest Micro, followup
>post or Email me with something.  I'd like to hear others' stories.

There are is a moral to this story. Always order on the credit card, since
this gives you whatever little protection you have.

The only place I have ever in my _extensive_ never had any real problem with
is PC Connection (800) 243-8088. I don't know how they do it, but there
service is incredible, and their prices competitive. Try the PPI PM14400FXSA
fax/modem from them for $399. That's what I'm using now.


 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  inet: ben@yenta.alb.nm.us                    | My opinions are my own.
  CI$:  76337,1730                             | Who else would want them?
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-- 
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  inet: ben@yenta.alb.nm.us                    | My opinions are my own.
  CI$:  76337,1730                             | Who else would want them?
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.sys.mac.misc
From: thorn@bnlux1.bnl.gov (craig thorn)
Subject: Re: PRODIGY - Speed, Cost, Usefulness, etc.
Keywords: prodigy macintosh
Organization: Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 27 Aug 1992 23:38:39 GMT

In article <bond.714758068@khaki19> bond@rtsg.mot.com writes:
>I'm seeking PRODIGY users (and especially those who use Macs) who can
>tell me about their experience with the service.

I subscribed to Prodigy _briefly_ and was rather dissapointed.

>My father (basically computer illiterate) signed up for P* and couldn't
>be more excited about sending e-mail and playing with all the toys.  I,
>on the other hand, am an experienced software engineer who's accustomed
>to the joys of Unix, Usenet news and Internet e-mail.  A few questions:
>
>** Prodigy is painfully slow.  While I'm sure modem speed plays a role
>   in this, it appears to me that the intense graphics processing
>   (including text which are really graphics) is a significant
>   contributor to its slowness.

I got the impression that the rate-limiting step was modem speed.  But
then, I was running on a slow PC, so that might have had something to do
with it.

>   Since I'm using a simple Mac SE with 1 meg RAM + harddisk, would I see
>   a major improvement by adding a math coprocessor to my system?  What
>   about more memory?

I don't think either would help, but that's just a guess.

>** Is there any way to customize the service from my end to reduce the
>   amount of useless advertisements & graphics being dumped to my screen?

I didn't see any, and I doubt they'd want one, since that's probably how
they make a lot of money.

>** So far I haven't found anything on Prodigy that I can't do more
>   quickly over the phone.  For example, I can make my own flight
>   reservations using the "Eaasy Sabre" tools, but it takes forever to
>   pull up all the screens necessary to find the flights, fares, and pay
>   for the tickets.  Why not just call a travel agent?


>** Are there services on P* that people really find useful?

I didn't see any.  I felt that it was basically a very slick system
designed to do a few things, none of which were to useful.  Now USENET<
FTP and they like give you access to real information, but I felt that
Prodigy did very little that was useful, was very slow, and too
expensive.  That's my opinion.  Hope it's useful.
>Thanks for the info...  Allan   <bond@rtsg.mot.com>


Xref: sparky comp.misc:3572 comp.periphs:1217 comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware:23454 comp.sys.misc:674 misc.consumers:16163
From: jim@n5ial.chi.il.us
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.periphs,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.misc,misc.consumers
Subject: Re: PC Connection, was: Re: Mail Order Hate Letter
Date: 4 Sep 92 13:00:40 GMT
Reply-To: jim@n5ial.chi.il.us
Distribution: na
Organization: me?  have you seen my desk?  : -)
Originator: jim@eddie

[lots and lots of articles talking about how great PC Connection is...]

QUESTION:  why, if this company is so great (and from the previous posts,
I have no doubt that they are), have I never heard of them before?  do
they advertise much?  or do they just advertise in trade rags I don't
read?

oh well, I've got their phone number (I'm calling for a catalog).  :-)
   --jim

\input std_disclaimer                     % 73 DE N5IAL (/9)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"[...] the plural of `mongoose' ought to be `polygoose'." [Jargon file 2.9.10]

INTERNET:  jim@n5ial.chi.il.us  |  grahj@gagme.chi.il.us  |  j.graham@ieee.org
ICBM:  41.70N 87.63W            UUCP:  gagme!n5ial!jim@clout.chi.il.us
AMATEUR RADIO:  n5ial@n9hsi (Chicago.IL.US.Earth)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: jimh@hpfcmgw.FC.HP.COM (Jim Haselmaier)
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 14:39:04 GMT
Subject: Re: PRODIGY - Speed, Cost, Usefulness, etc.
Organization: HP Fort Collins, CO
Newsgroups: comp.misc


If your expectations have been set (in terms of functionality and
capability) by Usenet, then you will have a hard time with P*.  

Because I like to spend time browsing, and I want to keep a good chunck
of my money for other things besides computer services, I like P*.  The
primary things I use it for is the bulleting boards and e-mail with my
in-laws.  We've drastically reduced our phone bill.  Granted, the
bulletin boards are not the speediest, nor do I like the "censorship",
but it does give you access to wide variety of folks.

I think its worth it, even if you do have to watch the dumb ads.

Jim
Newsgroups: comp.misc,comp.periphs,comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware,comp.sys.misc,misc.consumers
From: holmes@cheshire.oxy.edu (Mark Holmes)
Subject: Mail Order Hate Letter about USA Flex in Illinois
Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA 90041 USA.
Distribution: na
Date: Sat, 29 Aug 1992 05:02:31 GMT

  I wanted to tell you all about a bad experience with USA Flex.  It has
caused me to cut off the company from all of my 'support' and not buy 
anything from them again.  
  In the beginning (oh no...) I ordered a Twincom 14.4DF modem.  They said 
they had them in stock for $384 plus shipping.  I called in later to order, 
and they said the price was $399, but they honored the $384 price anyway.
That's nice, but....  I ordered it COD, and they sent it to the wrong address
THREE TIMES, and I had to call them back each time and spend 10-15 minutes
on the phone correcting them.  The third time I sent them a nasty letter 
telling them I wanted it shipped overnight mail (It had already been near
three weeks of waiting) at their cost.  I also decided that the third should
be charged to my credit card.  When it finally arrived, the invoice showed 
a $35 charge for overnight shipping.  I called and complained, and they 
credited the error, but ONLY after I complained.
  Now my modem is having problems, and I tried to get a replacement.  I   
requested a replacement twice and haven't gotten anything.  The first time,
they said I'd have to send mine in first, even after I told them I wanted to
have the price charged to my credit card temporarily.  The second, I was told
the same, but I reminded them of the credit card.  A week later, I called to 
tell them that nothing had arrived, and they said "We don't have any in stock.
They're on backorder and were due a month ago."  Great.  Now I'm not going
to get my modem, eh?  Well, the tech support person told me that I could 
return my modem and buy a more reliable brand, such as Practical Peripherals,
for a slightly higher price.  I have decided to cancel my order and buy a 
Zoom modem of an equal model for $100 less from MidWest Micro.  
  Does anyone have experience with MidWest Micro?  I'm really pissed at USA
Flex/Comark Inc, because they are so incompetent.  I'm sending a nasty letter
to the head of Customer Service telling that I'm angry and am posting to
national newsgroups.  I really hate incompetence.
  Please, anyone with experience with USA Flex or MidWest Micro, followup
post or Email me with something.  I'd like to hear others' stories.
--Mark Holmes

Newsgroups: comp.misc
From: bdm3@Ra.MsState.Edu (Billy D. McNair)
Subject: Need Scientific Clip-Art
Organization: Mississippi State University
Date: Tue, 1 Sep 1992 00:13:28 GMT


Hi.  I need clip-art of any format.  Stuff like different parasites,
worms, well, you get the idea.

Any info on where to look (archive sites) would bappreciated.

Thanks,

Dewayne McNair
bdm3@ra.msstate.edu


Xref: sparky comp.misc:3340 alt.bbs:5410 comp.bbs.misc:660