See an unfamiliar term? Check the newsletter glossary.
News from:
M V C o m m u n i c a t i o n s , I n c .
P.O. Box 4963
Manchester, NH 03108-4963
(603) 429-2223
May 1992
Note: text copies of all issues of the monthly newsletter can be found
on mv in the public archive; look in /news2/pub/mv/inews.
New News
We have set aside a newsgroup, mv.forum.dynafeed, to talk about
dynafeed; specifically how it could be made better. (Dynafeed, as you
may know, is the system we use that gives you the option of control-
ling your newsfeed parameters remotedly. It allows you to add and
delete newsgroups from your feed, specify what distributions you
receive, and select what new newsgroups you want to see as they are
created in the future.) So far we have been the only ones talking.
This *will* affect the way dynafeed works, so if you have any thoughts
on the matter, please join in. Got any ideas for improvement? Off-
the-wall suggestions?
Another new newsgroup is mv.info.nhcourt, to which we post
selected recent opinions of the NH Supreme Court.
Read any Good Books Lately?
Among the things available via FTP (by making requests to mv-
admin) are the archives of Project Gutenberg. Project Gutenberg, as
we understand it, keeps a number of "e-texts" (electronic texts)
online: texts for which there is no copyright and may therefore be
distributed freely. Included in the archives are works of Shakespeare
and books by Lewis Carrol, Moby Dick, the Bible, the Book of Mormon,
various political texts, and a lot more. A complete directory of the
archive may be found in the file etext.dir in /news2/pub/etext on mv
-- various samples may also be found from time to time in this direc-
tory (/news2/pub/etext).
Public FTP area now accessible via UUCP
We have assimilated MV's public FTP area into the public UUCP
archive area. The directory /news2/pub/ftppub on mv is now the public
FTP area. It contains, among other things, the recent files and pro-
grams from Doctor Dobbs Journal. The nightly directory listing of the
UUCP area, which is kept in /news2/pub/ls-lR and /news2/pub/ls-lR.Z,
MV Communications, Inc. May 1992
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reflects this addition. Thanks to JK Martin (jkm@uscore.mv.com) for
reminding us to do this.
V.32/V.32bis, and the T3000->PEP upgrade
Because we're still awaiting the PEP upgrades for the Telebit
T3000 modems, our modem pool is still in a compromise state. The main
hunt group (that you reach by calling 603-429-1735) is still populated
by Telebit Trailblazer Plus modems, which offer the PEP protocol as
well as 1200/2400 baud mode. The other line (603-424-0202) supports
V.32/V.32bis with a Telebit T3000 modem. The PEP upgrade to the T3000
will allow us to put more T3000 modems into service, and offer PEP and
V.32/V.32bis on all modems, but until then we have to have the modems
segregated in this way in order to make sure you get the protocol you
want. This segregation causes more contention on the lines than oth-
erwise -- particularly on the V.32/V.32bis number. We hope that you
will bear with us, and by all means let us know if contention is too
severe.
Latest news, directly from Telebit, is that the PEP upgrade
(which effectively turns the T3000 into a Worldblazer modem) will
require a hardware change on most of the T3000 modems already shipped.
A few of those with serial numbers above 302170000 can be field-
upgraded by a ROM replacement. The exchanges will be performed for
those who have sent in the upgrade coupons, on a first-shipped first-
upgrade basis. Upgrades will not start before June, and will not be
completed for at least two months. Telebit will contact each modem
owner just prior to the exchange, in order to arrange the details.
MV Archives
New arrivals in the MV archive (as always, check out the ls-lR
file for a complete directory):
/news2/pub/mv/nren is a directory containing information about
NREN, the National Research and Education Network being proposed and
built by the US Government. Latest additions to this information are
recent plans for the further implementation of the network. See the
README file for more information.
Special services
MV can arrange to perform special services for you if needed.
For instance, most everybody takes a vacation. If yours is a personal
node, you might want to shut down your system while you are away. We
can cover for you in a number of ways: we can keep your mail fresh (so
that it doesn't get returned to the sender while you're away). We can
set up special mail-return functions so that any mail addressed to
your site will be returned to the sender with a "vacation" notice (or
any notice you designate), or have your mail forwarded to another site
during the interim. The same applies if your system is down for any
MV Communications, Inc. May 1992
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other reason.
MV Addresses
Some mail addresses at mv (address@mv.mv.com) to remember:
mv-admin For requests, complaints, reports, etc.
mem Mark Mallett
marta Marta Greenberg
getactive Automatically returns a copy of our "active" newsgroup
file
getfeed Gets feed information for your system; include the sys-
tem name in the subject line
helpfeed Automatically returns help on the "dynafeed" system
info Automatically returns the MV brochure
setfeed Use this to change your newsfeed parameters (see
helpfeed)
Miscellany
NH Public Utilities commission is currently entertaining a peti-
tion from N.E. Telephone to institute "Phonesmart" in New Hampshire.
Phonesmart is another name for initiator party number forwarding ser-
vices, which include Caller ID, Call Return, Call Trace, and Repeat
Dialing. Hearings before the PUC have been scheduled for June 2-4.
Remember that notes from the April 1 NH conference "Twenty-First
Century Telecommunications Infrastructure: Meeting the Needs of New
Hampshire Citizens", sponsored by the New Hampshire Public Utilities
Commission (NHPUC), are available on request.
Looking for 386/486 systems? Check with us, we often have access
to good deals.
Are you running news and/or mail on a system that isn't UNIX? Or
do you know of somebody that is? We're always interested in hearing
about these things, and in making alternative software available in
our archives.
MV Communications, Inc. May 1992