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Keyboarded by Gloria Church.CIG Notes
January 11, 1996
Notes from the January 11, 1996 meeting of the Rochester Genealogical Society / Computer Interest Group:
There were 38 members in attendance. The attendees were reminded to pay their dues, as the cut-off date was Jan. 6th.
CIG leader, Mark Bewicke, reviewed the new handouts, and noted one on GENTECH, a program for data exchange replacing GEDCOM (which has some problems).
J. Hall noted that there are about 330 members in the reduced RGS membership list, with 130 in the CIG. He also reported on FROG, encouraging CIG members to visit/attend a meeting. FROG has a goal to have all its members become BBS and Internet literate in 1996. Early attendees (6:30 PM) can bring up their particular needs for assistance.
Jim also reported on the FGS Conference in 14-17 Aug 1996, noting that HearYe has several articles on the conference. RGS members will get a copy of the program and registration form automatically.
Debbie Barnes stated that the PC disk library list is being expanded to include the files downloaded from Flower City Central.
Fred Kolb announced that the Feb. 14th meeting of the Kodak Genealogy Society will include a talk on what genealogists can learn from maps and also a discussion on Scottish ancestry.
Ken Veneron reported that RGS gave FROG POND a 105 MEG hard drive for use as a Genealogy Area, if enough RGS/CIG members join FROG. The FHC at Kraeg Road is not taking more film orders, and until some of their readers are moved to Westfall Road, Westfall Road may have to restrict film reader usage. There are many extra films being delivered.
Larry Naukam of Kraeg Road noted that they will probably shutdown in mid March, but in the meantime, their facility is on a normal schedule.
Mark reported that the Brockport FHC has expanded hours, now Tues. and Wed. at 9am-3pm & 7pm-9pm., and Thurs. at 9am-noon. Call 637-2030 to confirm.
Mark stated that he had a back-up program on PAF for this meeting, and he has many hand-outs for the new user, etc. He would also like to develop a program on multi-media, and requested those involved to sign-up or contact him.
Jim Paprocki requested additional articles for HearYe, preferably on disk, PC or MAC. He also can scan typed or printed articles for OCR conversion. He asked for digital articles for posting on an RGC/CIG Homepage under construction.
Mark noted the appearance of a FREE income tax software package from Parsons Technology, available by calling 1-800-4TAX MATE, toll free. (FREE requires a $8.95 shipping fee).
The Feb. 8th CIG meeting will be in another room, #314, on the 3rd floor, northwest corner. The program is being developed.
Jim Swarts reminded the audience of the RGS program for Jan 18th, "Research in Eastern Europe." He also reported on the beginning genealogy courses available this term.
The speaker was Wayne Howard, leader of the Telecommunication Special Interest Group for FROG, and operator of a special interest bulletin board, ENVIROLINK, collecting common interest in the environment. The BB phone number is 359-0008. He noted that the FROG Sysop plans to set up a separate area for genealogy on that BB. Currently, plans are underway to change the FROG BB to the same system Wayne uses, i.e. WILDCAT!, so don't rush to get familiar with the existing FROG system.
Wayne presented a description of bulletin boards in general, and telecommunications, the same as he gave to FROG in December. He used a 386 with 4 meg RAM. Some reasons for using a local BB vs. the Internet included they are generally FREE, and share information locally.
A description of modems noted the conversion of sound to electrical signals, and back again, for communicating between or among computers. The parameters of telecommunications were briefly described, including revising settings. As stated, fortunately, most of the modem set-up have default values to get the operation going. "When all else fails, read the manual."
The beeps and chirps encountered when dialing up a computer is called handshaking, or negotiating a connection. Typically 8-N-1 is used to connect between BB's, with 7 bits for some commercial servers like Compuserve. LIBRA for the Monroe County Library System is very tolerant of parameters. These settings can be pre-set, with 95% using 8-N-1.
He described protocols, error corrections, transmission speeds (28,800 baud recommended for Internet connections),and UR chips (16550 for external, usually built-in on internal modems). The information on the parameters is usually found in the file MSD for DOS 6+ or Windows 3.X. To select communication software, try to get a demo copy. Communications are handled well by Windows95. DOS programs do not always run well in Windows 3.X.
Next, he called up his bulletin board from his address book, displaying the WILDCAT! software. He displayed a SCRIPT file to automatically download his E-mail for reading on an off-line reader, a great time-saver of log-on time on the bulletin board.
He described the sequence of operation of the bulletin board menus, going into a FIDONET echo. (FIDONET is a network of many bulletin boards, transferring files and messages, on an as available connection basis, to a file server called MOTHER which connects to other links around the country, to get to the destination. This is FREE, but uses much longer time (vs. a few seconds for INTERNET connection on commercial servers). The mail is not confidential. Zone mail connections prohibit acceptance of mail between 4-5 AM, to allow transfer of data at least once per day. Files are usually sent as soon as a connection is available.
A conference was displayed, for exchanging mail, etc., noting that the conference type must be adhered to, or you can get FLAMING mail chastising you. He walked through the process of reading mail, and responding as desired.
A full screen editor is available. All commands are available by hitting ESC. Other's mail can be quoted by a specific line or lines. This helps identify the question and the reply. This takes much time on-line, therefore, messages can be downloaded for review by an off-line reader, usually compressing before saving as a .ZIP or .ARJ file. Blue Wave is a popular off-line reader, with DOS, OS2 and a 386 versions. This is shareware. (Ken Veneron noted that Blue Wave is one of the files from Flower City Central). These are also available from Enviro List. Blue Wave can be used under Windows.
When many messages are received, a search filter can be used to select desired messages.
Most bulletin boards have a 5 minute time-out to disconnect if there is no activity.
Off-line is desired to read, respond, and up-load mail to save time on your personal and BB telephone lines. QWK is an industry standard for off-line reading. Blue Wave is unique, but can read QWK, cannot do file requests. There are the equivalent download/off-line programs for use with commercial systems (less expensive too, unless you are on-line to them more often).
The on-line HELP system in WILDCAT! is reported to be very useful. Wayne continued describing the menu for using the conference, even attaching or detaching files, if the sysop approves. Usually attachments are allowed for local BB operation.
Next, Wayne discussed the initiation of WILDCAT! on FROG POND. Existing scripts (pre-planned commands) will need to be retyped on the new system. He noted that he uses a U.S. ROBOTICS modem, although there are other good devices.
Logging-on to FROG POND (he uses a frog for an icon) on the members line, ( because it is less busy), he got the frontdoor or entrance message. Twice using escape is needed to distinguish between MOTHER (delivering mail) and a human. The logon contin-
ued with giving your name and password. You are asked to check for mail or new files (not operational now). News is usually given, then you go to the Main Menu.
The file section General contained the files CGXXmmyy.ARJ for the RGS/CIG meeting announcement and previous month's meeting notes.
The WILDCAT! will allow you to mark a file (instead of having to write down or remember the file name) and download using the space bar. The exclamation point is the entry for Blue Wave.
Then, Wayne went to the National Genealogy Conference, message area #48, and no messages were found, unusual. The Blue Wave Support Area listed 100+ messages, showed typical messages, with initials of the sender/respondent. A message from Canberra, Australia (03 FIDO Area vs. 01 FIDO Area for U.S.) was intercepted. Messages to ALL are thus addressed. He wrote a brief message and sent it to the Conference. Longer messages are written off-line. This also has a built-in spell checker for on-line prepared messages, called SS or Share Spell.
Next, Wayne explored Blue Wave, with the interactive system for the initial set-up. Due to a problem with the data screen/projection system, the commands were not readily understood. But, he showed how settings can be selected to customize for your personal use.
Returning to the FROG POND, using the members line, the two escapes were not needed. The first time on the system, you need to enter the non-members line to get access. Then, the sysop will soon get you onto the members list for access. It was pointed out that Logan's List (of local bulletin boards) is available on both FROG and EnviroLink as BBSmm_yy.ZIP.
More on FIODNET mail, he described how Internet mail can be sent from conferences, showing the Internet access code.
A hearty round of applause was given.
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Keyboarded by Gloria Church.
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