Hi Errol,

 ES> RG>Methinks you should be a bit more
 ES> RG> specific when you talk about "ibm"
 ES> RG>otherwise you are doing C64 users a
 ES> RG> great dis-service by leading them
 ES> RG>astray into thinking that "ibm"
 ES> RG> automatically means super-speed with
 ES> RG>supurb graphics and sound. We both know that this isn't true.

 ES> Yep, I apologize for that. I've got a

I'll accept your apology only if you promise to never do it again. (at
least not in the CBM echos).

 ES> 386dx 33 with a fast disk and it
 ES> flies. When I say 'ibm' I usually mean that.

Yeah, you know that, but the C64ers don't..  all they hear is the
"wonderful" things that are *possible* with "IBM"
machines. Unless you
clarify that they need to spend in excess of $1000 (generally $2000+)
to achieve these things, when they see a 286 being sold off for around
$200 they think they are getting a bargain..  only to realise that in
most cases they would've been better of staying with the C64.
'Corse by then it's to late..  they are committed to the eternal
upgrading required to run the latest IBM applications, and another
C64er is lost forever :-(

 ES> ES> Well if you have the programming ability,
 ES> ES> what do you use it for? (:
 ES> RG>Are you serious ???
 ES> Yes - what do you do with your programing ability?

Sh*t, you really are serious aren't you !

Methinks this is another good time to plug my "creation". :-)

   ---------------------   Text Import Start   ---------------------
            QWKRR V4.1 offline mail reader for the C128.

QWKRR is a full featured C128 offline mail reader supporting the QWK
format.

Features include:

       * Full screen text editor
       * Insert/overstrike modes when editing
       * Wordwrap
       * Onscreen help
       * Import text into any part of a message
       * Full quoting facilities
       * ASCII/PETASCII translations
       * Cut/paste functions
       * Save messages/text to disk in several formats
       * CMD HD and Ramlink subdirectory support
       * 1541/1571/1581 drive support
       * Read/reply/enter messages to any conference
       * Cross post mail from one conference to another
       * Carbon copy messages to send to multiple users/conferences
       * Supports Alias's (BBS permitting)
       * Multiple drive support.
       * Full featured tagline support - including capturing/editing
       * Online clock/timers
       * Automatically sets clock/date from CMD RTC equipped drives
       * Automatic netmail formatting
       * User defined address book for netmailing
       * 10 user defined colour settings
       * Twit/VIP lists.
       * Function (macro) key support
       * No limitations to mail packet size
       * Inbuilt ZIP packer (PKZIP 2.04 compatable)
       * Re-edit or kill replys
       * Printer support
       * Joystick control for reading messages
       * Full DOS support.
       * User definable Character sets
       * Mark messages for instant retrieval
       * Instant retreival of personal messages
       * Header mode displays message headers only.
       * 100% machine code for maximum speed
       * PAL/NTSC compatible
       * Adjustable screen size
       * Fully menu driven
       * Over 30 pages of documentation included.
       * Unbelievably cheap to register ($20 Aust).


All of this and more.......

Available now on most BBS's dedicated to CBM support (and others) !
   ---------------------   Text Import End   ---------------------

Now are you seriously going to tell me that you've never heard of this
program ?
I'm the author :-)

 ES> RG>I was running a BBS over here for about 3 years (Thistle Dome).
 ES> RG>Before I pulled the plug on it I had
 ES> RG> about 150 regular callers and was
 ES> Interesting - why did you pull the plug? Too much hassle/expense?

Both of the above, but the crunch came when I lost my job. I didn't
think I'd be able to afford to maintain the dedicated phone line, and
of the 150 users I had there was only about 3 of them that even offered
to help out. I got a bit dishearthened about this 'cos if they couldn't
be bothered to help themselves then I didn't see why I should either.
(This is why I have a *lot* of respect for people like Mick Lazic,
Glenn Thompson, Steve Elwood etc that are *still* prepared to take all
the crap that goes with running a BBS for CBM users).

Closing the BBS down was one of the wisest decisions I ever made, not
only for my sanity, but it gave me the time I needed to carry on with
other things (such as this OLR).

 ES> RG>As far as I can determine I am now the
 ES> RG> only active CBM BBS user in SA.
 ES> RG>:-(
 ES>
 ES> Yeah, its a bit depressing isnt it..

The most depressing part about it is that I *know* there are a lot of
CBMers over here with modems but when I pulled the plug on Thistle Dome
they just dissappeared into the woodwork again.

Cheers
Rod
___ QWKRR128 V4.1 [R]

--- EzyQwk V1.05