In the past few articles I have been writing about how to communicate using modems. While a lot of ground has been covered there, we have been assuming that you are calling from one place to another via a direct telephone call.This is OK if you are talking about calling within the same city, since it is just a local call. Once you start communicating with computers that are in another city, a new (and nasty) factor shows up – long distance phone charges.

“Aaaaarrrrrrggghhhhhh!!!!!!”

The above expletive is heard in most offices at least once every two months – the time when the phone bill arrives.

Phone bills are so high due to two factors – the totally unreasonable tariff that our phone company places on us, and our own incredible desire to talk/communicate for as long as possible once we make a connection.

The first factor is something we can do very little about (apart from praying daily for privatisation in the telecom business). Unless all of us decide to shift office hours to after 10pm at night (when phone rates are at their lowest), it is unlikely that we are going to see any lowering of the phone tariff.

The second factor is human nature, and I am no judge of mankind, so I won’t try and discuss that here.

Instead, I’ll introduce you to another way of extending your reach that doesn’t cost as much as a STD/ISD call.

The Big Controversy

No aspect of Indian Telecommunication has created so much controversy and misunderstanding as the facility introduced by the D.O.T in 1992 – INET.

The controversy arose from the fact that no one, including the D.O.T. people themselves, could clearly say what INET was all about – was it a service, was it a facilty, what could one do with it, was it cheaper than STD, etc.

The misunderstandings arose when the above questions were not clearly answered.

I am not the D.O.T., but I hope that by the time you finish reading this article, you’ll understand and appreciate INET much more.

Understanding INET

To make things very simple to understand, let’s look back at how a modem works – it converts a computer’s digital signals to audio tones so that it can send them over the phone line, and at the far end another modem turns these audio tones back to digital signals.

This convoluted process is necessary because the telephone lines were not meant to carry electrical (digital) signals.

But imagine that someone rigs up a bunch of phone lines across the country that can transfer digital signals (data) instead of voice. And, because this data was controlled by computers, it could maintain many connections over a single line. And, because of this “multiplexing”, the rates were MUCH lower than a STD call.

Seems like a dream ? But it isn’t ! What I have just described is an X.25 carrier network. (As usual, X.25 is YET another CCITT label for some standard or the other, and in itself tells you nothing except that it is official.)

INET is such an X.25 network.

X.25 – looking under the hood

How does an X.25 network perform this miracle ?

Actually, it is quite simple. What happens is that the network uses an X.25 Packet Assembler-Disassembler (PAD) to break the data it receives into little packets, each one carrying “address” information that can be used to guide it to its final destination.

Then the network throws these little packets into a big stream of data that flows throughout the country. The stream consists of thousands of data packets. As the stream of data flows through each city, the local PAD examines each packet’s address information. If it is meant for that city, then it diverts this packet to it’s final destination within the city, and lets the other packets continue on their journey.

This sounds complex and slow, but in reality it is fast – VERY fast – because the PAD-to-PAD links are pure digital lines that let the PADs talk to each other at upto 64000 bits per second, or almost 30 times the speed of your ordinary 2400 bps modem ! This is in theory – in India, INET PADs are linked by 9600 bps lines as I am writing this, which is late March – but at a recent INET meet, we were promised 64Kbps links between PADs sometime in June/July. Pity they didn’t specify which year.

Anyway, this speed is divided over the users connected to the network, so that the net throughput is not much less than a direct modem connection. And, because the X.25 network is servicing many people at the same time, the line costs per user are much lower, since physically only one line is in use !

Sounds great ! So lets throw away our modems and use INET instead !

Er…nice try, but no cigar.

Connecting to INET

To connect to INET, you still need a modem. INET PADs are spread across the country, in all the metros (Bombay, Delhi, Madras and Calcutta) plus a few non-metros (Pune, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad). Yep, there is one even in Bangalore (hurray!) which is STILL classified as a non-metro (booooo!).

So to get connected to your nearest INET PAD, you have to fire up your modem and call to a local INET number. That’s not too bad, because it is a local call.

OK, so once you are connected to INET, what do you do ? Can you directly log into my BBS in Bangalore from Delhi ?

Unfortunately – no. At least not yet.

INET Connections

There are three kinds of INET connections -

- X.28 Dialup lines – X.28 Leased lines – X.25 leased lines

INET X.28 dialups allow you to ORIGINATE calls, but not receive any.

X.28 leased lines DO allow you to receive calls, but the provided X.28 leased lines are so terrible, under-featured and useless that they can actually be only used for calling out, by people who don’t like making phone calls with their modems. If you have an X.28 leased line, you’ll know what I am talking about. If you don’t have one, count your blessings. X.28 leased lines are SO useless that I will not sully my column any further with any reference to them.

You have to have an X.25 leased line to be able to RECEIVE calls via INET. X.25 leased lines are phenomenally expensive, and getting worse. I took a nap the other day, and when I woke up, INET had raised its tariff for X.25 leased lines. To top that, you need to buy expensive X.25 equipment. The whole exercise can cost you as much as 1.5 to 2 lakhs, not counting line rentals.

So what CAN you call using INET ?

Well, to start with, you can connect to many international services such as Compuserve, MCI Mail, Bix and Dialog. Many of these require you to have a means of paying by a credit card valid outside India (which at this time is not possible unless you have benefactors abroad). The tariff for international calls via INET is Rs.200 per 64 KB of data plus Rs.4 per minute. The same 64 KB would cost you about Rs.350 if you were to call ISD.

Also, many companies in India now are setting up X.25 hosts accessible via INET. All but a few of them are completely private, meant for intra-company communications only. But some have recently thrown open their services to the public. At least three software companies I know of are planning to make their support BBS available on INET.

And finally, there is something new brewing.

INET “DialOut”

INET recently announced that they would allow “dial-out” from INET connections to non-INET subscribers. This would be something like dialling from Delhi to Bangalore on STD, but at the lower rates that are typical of INET. For example, a call from Delhi to Bangalore would cost you Rs.50 per 64 K of data. During daytime, such an exercise would cost you about Rs.160 on STD, so the savings are obvious.

Now THAT will really add a new twist. You would be able to connect to any communication host in the country at a tariff much lower than STD, even if the host itself is not running on INET.

How will this work ? Simple, actually. You connect to INET in your city, provide the phone number in the remote city along with a special code, and the call is routed to the INET PAD nearest to the called number. From there, the PAD will use a modem to dial out to the requested number, and that’s it.

At the time of writing, this facility is not yet available, but is under test in select locations in India, and is expected to be available to the rest of the country sometime this year. (To quote the king of computer journalists, Jerry Pournelle – “Real Soon Now”).

Where do you go from here ?

Well, to begin with, I’d suggest that you get yourself an INET X.28 dial-up account in your city. This will cost you about Rs.2000 initially, and will take you between 2-3 months, though INET is known to spring surprises – a friend of mine recently applied and got his account in a month’s time !

If you plan to set up a host yourself, you got the choice of blowing 2 lakhs on an X.25 connection, which will take you about a year to get.

Or you could wait for the INET DialOut facility, which we hope to see this year.

There are about 150 companies at this time who have X.25 leased line connections in India, and about 1000 X.28 dialup subscribers. The latter is likely to increase by a factor of 5 over the next year, making it more and more difficult to get such connections, so better get cracking right away.

If you are in charge of the communications department of a largish corporation, earn brownie points by investigating the use of X.25 lines. You will need one X.25 leased line to your head office (or wherever you plan to install the host), and X.28 dialup accounts in the various cities where you have your offices. The total cost of setting up the host should be between 2-3 lakhs, plus about Rs.2000 per for each outstation office X.28 dialup account.

One bonus for corporations is that if you have an X.25 host running, you can accept “Reverse Charge” calls. This means that you remote office places the call and connects to your host, but the INET charges are debited to you central account ! It is almost as if the central host has originated the call, so effective INET charges at the remote office end will be almost nil (apart from minimum charges).

INET Issues

There are some issues that you should be aware of when dealing with INET. INET is a “new kid on the block” and, though already active and useful, will show up with a few problems every now and then.

The biggest one you’ll run into is network congestion, caused by the “slow” inter-PAD connections of INET. This should be resolved soon.

The second one concerns file transfers. INET X.25 operations are not as transperant as one would wish them to be, so you may have trouble while transferring files using XMODEM or YMODEM. ZMODEM and KERMIT are fine, but still require some special setup. Work is afoot to resolve this, and I’ll keep you informed through this column on its progress.

The third problem is that of confusion. The INET staff at times cannot help you because they themselves do not have sufficient information at hand. This problem, too, should be history once INET settles in properly.

Winding up

Yikes, page three already ?

OK, time to wind up. Next month, I take a break from “monologing” and will provide answers to a whole bunch of questions that I have been receiving via my BBS, post and phone calls. After all, if PCQUEST and myself don’t answer your questions, who will ?

Beep, beep !

Many of you who have attended my seminars across the country will be very surprised seeing an article by me that actually acknowledges faxes. My (opiniated??) stand about faxing seems to be legendary – I don’t like faxes, and I don’t hesitate in saying so.Yet I must accept the fact that faxing is a way of life, especially in India, where the concept of electronic mail is yet to get widespread acceptance.

And as my job is to make you more productive, I must show you how to get the most out of faxing.

The first step is to junk your fax machine.

Ha ! Gottcha !

The Fax of the case

There is a lot to be said about faxing, and if you don’t pull the reigns on me now, not much of it is going to be complimentary. [Whoa! - Ed]

Well, let me do a Keith Timmons (of Santa Barbara fame) and state the facts of the case:

Dig out one of the more recent faxes you have received. Look at it closely. Does it look very nice? Is it at all legible ? No ? Well, there you have the first problem. Unless you are using one of those phenomenally expensive plain paper fax machines, you are looking a fading image. The thermal paper that is used by your fax machine over time loses its image, fading to a point of oblivion.

Next, look at the image itself (if you can). See those dropouts, those blurs, those smudges ? Well, that’s what you can expect with a fax machine. You see, the fax machine is really WISIWYG. Yep, no spell goof there – WISIWYG stands for “What IT sees is what YOU get”. The fax scans your printed page, and anything it “sees” is sent as part of the image – including the dirt on the scanning element, the fingerprint on the page, the ink smear in the typed matter, etc.

Then dig out the reception report that your fax machine generated after the page was received. You mean you can’t find it ? Well, go on and look for it, I’ll wait….

Got it ? OK, look at the column that tells you how long it took to receive that page. Hmmmm, almost 90 seconds ? For that single sheet of paper that didn’t have much matter on it in first place? Seems a bit much, doesn’t it ? Oh, you say it isn’t your problem, since you weren’t paying for the call ! How nice. Keep that in mind next time you send a fax.

You see, since the fax machine picked up everything that wasn’t white on the original page, it also sent a whole lot of things the sender didn’t want to send (the smudges, the stains, the dirt on the scan element, etc.) Sending all that takes time, and that is why it took so long to send the page. Add to that the fact that most fax machines only work at 9600 bps, and the seconds add up. If you are doing the sending, seconds=money.

There has to be a better way.

Enter the Fax Modem

A modem is really meant for sending data (like text, files, programs, ZIPs, etc.), but most modems today can send and receive faxes too. As a matter of fact – if you haven’t been careful, you may be the proud owner of a modem that is useless for anything else but faxing.

Fax Modems come in a variety of flavours (internal/external, cheap/expensive, good/bad), but that is a point we will discuss some other time. For the moment we will assume that you have a working fax modem.

The fax modem is effectively the same thing as your fax machine, except that it doesn’t have a scan unit, and it doesn’t print on that flimsy thermal paper.

Consider for a moment where your original printed page came from. From your word processor, right ? OK, in that case, why print it on paper, then run it through the fax machine, where the scanner’s quality can really muck things up ? Why not send the text itself ?

That’s what fax software does. It takes your text (or graphics), turns it into a fax image, then sends it on its way. Since the scanning step is bypassed altogether, there is no chance of any smudges, fingerprints or dirt on the scanner ruining the page, or adding extra overhead to the transmission time. Just because all the “scanning errors” are eliminated, you may cut your transmission time by almost 30% !

And, because of this speed increase, you will be more tempted to send high resolution faxes (which normally take more time), resulting in much better output at the far end, which is much more likely to make your customer release the payment that you asked for in the fax message.

Anyway, to look further into the case of fax modem v/s fax machine, consider the fact that most fax modems today can transmit and receive faxes at 14400 bps, which is 50% faster than most fax machines can handle. That adds up to quite a lot if you are a frequent faxer. The page that takes 90 seconds to send via a fax machine may go out in under 60 seconds if both ends are equipped with 14400 bps fax modems. If you send on an average 10 faxes a day from Bangalore to Delhi, that could mean savings of 30×10 seconds, or about Rs.150 a day !

Finally, if you receive faxes using a fax modem, then the received image isn’t printed on flimsy fax paper, but lands on your hard disk in the form of a file. This file can be printed out on just about anything capable of graphics printing, including your laser printer, ink jet printer or plain old dot matrix printer. More savings ! With the added advantage that you don’t have to print it out at all – you can view it on your screen, anytime you want. Or print it out – any number of copies, anytime you need them.

Naturally, the quality of your fax software is very important – there is good and bad stuff out there. Make sure that you choose the right fax software. Bad fax software can make even your fax machine look good and cheap.

Fax Software

Over the past two years, I have used a variety of fax software packages. And I have generally arrived at the conclusion that DOS based fax software is simply not good enough. These packages (such as QL2FAX, BITFAX, DOSFAX, etc.) simply don’t have what it takes in the modern world of fonts, italics, graphics, etc. Sure, they are quick and convenient, but there is more to life than just sending text – you want to give the message a touch of class.

Thankfully, we are not stuck with that – nowadays we have Microsoft Windows, which makes faxing a delight (if you like faxes).

Windows based fax software (such as Winfax Pro, Winfax Lite, Bitfax for Windows, etc.) treat the faxmodem as a printer, and supply printer drivers to make the job easy. You simply fire up your copy of Word for Windows (or even better, Q&A Write for Windows) or Windows Write or Ami Pro or even PageMaker or Ventura, create a document (with fonts, italics, underlines, drop caps, flourishes, kerning and what not), add graphics (such as letter heads, signatures, logos), then tell your application to print, after selecting the fax software’s printer driver. Voila ! What you see is actually what you get ! The fax software (disguised as a Windows printer driver) takes it from there – it asks you for the phone number to send it to, and the document goes out crystal clear and faster than you can say “Department of Telecommunications”.

The Fax of Life

Now that we have you sending faxes with abandon, we can look into more important things – like managing your faxing.

If you own a fax machine, then you must have used the “delayed send” feature at some time, in order to send a fax message late at night in order to save on costs. But the drawback is that you can set up only one message like that. What if you want to send a number of messages, to different people, all in the middle of the night ?

Well, fax software does that for you. You can schedule fax transmissions (any number of them to any number of destinations) so that they go out after 9 pm (so that you pay 25% of the long distance costs). And no fancy stacking of pages required, either – the fax software will do all that for you.

And then there is this problem of fax numbers – can you really recollect every fax number you need without looking at that directory of yours ? Well, fax software lets you maintain phonebooks, so that when you are ready to send a fax, you simply point at the number it should go to – the software will pick up that number and get to work.

Good fax software (like Winfax Pro) also have a “failed pages” feature, meaning that if in the middle of a multi-page transmission the line goes chop, the software will call right back and continue from that page onwards, instead of sending everything all over again.

Even better, all fax software packages will allow you to produce reports of fax transmissions and receipts, so that you can use the data in another packages (say, your accounting system) to analyse the costs.

And if you need to quickly find that fax you sent to someone a few months back, with the keyword “PAYMENT” – well, good fax software will let you find and view the desired fax document in a jiffy.

Getting under the Covers

Windows based fax software will also let you do something more – you can send “intelligent” fax cover pages, which will have all the required data automatically filled in (such as name of sender, addresseem date, time, number of pages to follow, etc.). Winfax Pro even lets you create “designer covers”, which lets you choose a cover page with some fancy graphic most suitable to the occasion (such as a guy with boxing gloves, with a message below it “Pay up, before we get tough”).

Cover pages can actually replace the need for a separate message – you can simply fill in your message on the cover sheet, and send it, rather than going the multi-page way with a cover page, followed by a page with the message on it.

Some tips and tricks

The biggest complaint about fax modems is that you can’t get your signature on the sheet.

Sez who ?

Two years ago, I simply signed on a sheet of paper using a black sketchpen, then used a scanner to get that image onto disk. After that, all I have to do in my word processor is to add the signature graphic in the right place. I have been using this signature file (which I have heavily encrypted using a custom crypt program to avoid misuse) ever since. No one knows the difference.

You say you don’t have a scanner. Heck, that’s no problem ! Just set up your fax modem for reception, then hoof it over to a place where you can use a fax machine. Fax your letter head with signature to your fax modem, then save the received image. Next time you need your letterhead/signature, just dig up this file !

Another tip is to avoid “Standard Resolution” faxes. If a bit of noise on the way junks part of the line, a standard resolution fax (100 DPI) is almost impossible to read. On the other hand, a High resolution fax message (200 DPI) sends more info about the line, increasing the chances of the page being readable even if the line is very noisy. Naturally, a HighRes fax takes a wee bit longer to send, but if it saves you from having to retransmit the message because of “line hits”, it will pay for itself.

If you are buying a new fax modem, make sure that you get good fax software along with it. If you are offered Bitfax or QL2FAX (or any other DOS based fax software), look for another modem or vendor – nothing less than a true Windows based fax package will do.

When using a Windows based fax software, always use TrueType fonts in your document, since they usually turn out best in the final fax image.

Some of you are still using pre-historic computers (like 8088/80286 based machines) which cannot run Windows properly (or at all). In such a case, try various DOS based fax software packages before you decide which to use. Look for a well known name (such as Delrina, who produce DOSfax) or at least good references from existing users. Don’t even consider clunkers like BitFax or QL2FAX, which are outdated and unreliable.

Though I do not want to make faxmodem selection a point in this article, I should tell you that there are four kinds of faxmodems:

1. Fax Only cards : The JTFax card is a typical one. Since it isn’t a real modem, you cannot use it with software like WinFax Pro. Avoid these cards.

2. Class 1 FaxModems : These are true modems with fax capabilities. But because the Class 1 fax operations depend on a really fast machine (80386 preferred), and is a pain to implement. Because of its timing-sensitive nature, the Class 1 standard tends to produce more failed faxes than others. Not all Fax software packages support Class 1.

3. Class 2 FaxModems : Again, these are true modems. The Class 2 implementation is very sturdy and is widely accepted. 99% of all fax software packages support Class 2. It is excellent when working in an environment like Windows, because the modem does most of the work.

4. Class 2.0 FaxModems : A true modem, but with a fatal flaw. The Class 2.0 “standard” is in reality completely unsupported at this time. No Class 2.0 fax software exists. Until some appears, lay off such modems.

Finally, consider abandoning faxes altogether. E-Mail is much better, faster, more convenient, more secure, cheaper, widely accepted, etc. etc.

There – I did it again.

Cheerio !

Author’s note: This article, from 1994, was probably the first “electronic activism” article that ever appeared in the Indian media, though I didn’t know it then. What I *did* know was that I was thoroughly misusing my technical column – with pretty stupendous success. I never regretted it.

Before continuing with this particular article, I must first state that the views and opinions that follow are strictly my own, and that the PCQ management may not necessarily endorse them (though I sincerely hope that it does).

A bolt from the blue

A month back, I received a VERY disturbing e-mail message from the sysop of one of the BBSs we have running in India. It said, and I quote :

“One of the main things that got me writing to you is about the apparent new policy of DOT. From the papers and from people talking, it seems that DOT has specifically mentioned BBS as one of the items to which one would have to get approval for and then pay some ridiculous fees like Rs. 15 Lakhs and give them Rs.1,000 per user etc. etc. What do you make of this and what is your gut feeling on this issue? I thought with Mr.Vittal’s entry into the DOT things would get better! He sure is one dynamic man and with a very clear vision of the future, hence this short-sited view and back-to-Licence-Raj kind of surprised me. Would like to hear your views.”

Over the next few weeks, I received dozens of messages from other people who have also heard the same thing, and have also read things about this in various newspapers. I also heard that one BBS in a metro has decided to shut down because of this threat.

Then, the final blow : I received a message from a lady working for an American megacorp, whose company was planning to do business with India but was now reconsidering its stand based on this proposed policy. She wanted me to confirm that such a policy really existed. She wasn’t really interested in the BBS part of it, but said, and again I quote :

“What really troubles us is this – if your government can even think of doing something like this, what other surprizes is it capable of springing on people ? Does it [the Indian government] not realize that the advanced state of information technology in our own country [the USA] owes a lot to the free flow of information that passes through services such as BBSs ? Does it not realize that we [the Americans] would hesitate to do business with a country that does not have a healthy communication culture that operates at grass-root levels, the way BBSs do ?”

She was echoing my very thoughts.

But let me get things into perspective.

The “Policy”

First of all, at the time of writing, the government has not YET announced any policy that proposes to tax BBS operators with license fees. But it HAS indicated that it has identified BBSs as “value added services” that should be taxed, in a fashion similar to the idiotic way they tax Fax operators.

Apparantly, the method of taxing is going to be double-edged.

First of all, the BBS operator will have to pay a license fee. It isn’t likely to be to the tune of 15 lakhs, but indications are that a figure like Rs.30,000 to Rs.1,00,000 is being played around with.

Secondly, the operator will be asked to pay an amount per user-account that his BBS handles. The figure that is streaking across some greedy government-walla’s mind seems to be Rs.100 to Rs.1000 per account.

Ergo, supposing a BBS has 200 accounts (not all of which may be active), then the operator will have to get a license, pay upto Rs.1,00,000 for it, then cough up upto Rs.1,000 per account, or, in the case of this example, another Rs.2,00,000.

Naturally the BBS operator isn’t going to pay these amounts out of his own pocket. He will ask his users to “share” the costs – over and above the small fee that most BBSs usually charge for access.

This will put the cost of BBSing into a realm out of reach for most people interested in communication of this sort, resulting in the death of a concept.

The real costs

Remember that most BBSs charge only enough to cover their own costs. Typically, this is a small amount per online hour (ranging between Rs.30 to Rs.100 per hour, depending what services are offered), plus in some cases a small contribution towards equipment costs (between Rs.100 to Rs.1000 – again dependant on what facilities are offered).

Also consider the fact that most BBS run on expensive equipment. A single line BBS usually needs a 80286 PC with at least 80MB hard disk, plus at least a 2400 bps modem. This totals to about Rs.50,000. Add to this the cost of “locking up” a phone line, and you will soon realise that the small amounts asked for barely cover the costs of the operator.

Finally, ALL BBSs running in India today are on an amateur basis, i.e. they are NOT being run by people who treat it as a full time job. I run a BBS, but that is not my main job. I spend about an hour or two a day maintaining it, but my real job is software development, writing articles and doing consultancy work.

What do we stand to lose ?

Consider for a moment just what is at stake here.

BBSs in India today are what the government has repeatedly promised us, but has been unable to give us because it has been too busy with elections and “dollar hunting” – a cheap and reliable way of electronic communication that allows a rapid exchange of ideas and knowledge.

Let’s look at a few examples:

A guy in Bombay had major problems with some modems he had bought a while back. He had repeatedly asked the manufacturer for help, but was getting nowhere.

Hearing about my BBS, he logged in and posted a query in our COM forum. As luck would have it, one of the Bangalore engineers of the modem manufacturer was also a member, and she read this message. Not her problem – right ? Wrong. Ms.C. knew what to do to resolve the issue, and a few messages later, the Bombay man’s problem was solved. Result ? Smiles all around.

Or take the example of a guy who developed a small phonebook utility. He didn’t have the resources to market it, nor did he think that he could. But he posted the utility on a Bombay BBS, from where it eventually found its way to other BBSs, including mine.

Today, hundreds of people across the country use this free utility, and someone’s career may have just taken off.

And there is the case of the stolen hard disk. Someone had his hard disk stolen in Delhi. He spread the word through one of the BBSs. I do not know whether he got the hard disk back, but the message thread that followed the original message brought to light a number of ways one can use to protect oneself against things like this. For example, did you know that ALL IDE hard disks have a unique, unalterable serial number in ROM that can be queried by software, and that this serial number can be used to identify stolen goods if they are offered to you ?

If, all of a sudden, such free flow of information was to disappear into the tangle of red tape and licensing, then we would all be stranded.

When I wrote my first article for PCQ in January ’93, few people knew what modems were and how they could be useful. Today, less than a year later, thousands of people across the country use modems as an integral part of their work. And most of them have had their first taste of computer communication by logging into a BBS – and liked it.

Just plain greedy

What prompts the DoT to even consider another License-Raj of this sort ? To me, it looks like plain, old-fashioned, callous greed.

It isn’t that the DoT loses money when someone operates a BBS, for which it must be compensated. Everyone who uses a BBS pays his phone bill. Nowadays, even local calls are timed, and one new call is charged every 3 minutes. When a user calls into a BBS across the country, he pays STD charges.

All modem users have to pay the DoT for the use of modems on P&T lines, at the rate of Rs.1,800 per modem.

And every BBS user and operator has paid Rs.3,000 to Rs.30,000 for his phone connection.

And all citizens are expected to pay taxes, which are supposedly used for sustenance of public utilities (like the telephone department, for example).

All these are earnings, but it seems the DoT wants more. Much more. And it doesn’t care if it kills the entire information industry in India in its quest for more money.

Being rational

If the government WANTS to show some degree of reason, then it should think twice before slamming such a TechnoHorror onto BBS operators.

If it thinks that it should get a “share of the profits”, then it should only consider taxing such setups that cross a particular slab of NET BBS-oriented profits, the way excise duty or income tax is levied. And this slab better be in the range of Rs.10 lakhs or above. This way, it gives the “small” guys a chance to survive, and letting the industry grow in the way God intended.

If it tries to do something like the Fax-operator levy of Rs.30,000, irrespective of whether the operator is even earning enough profits to justify this, then we will very quickly see many modem lights blinking off, the telephone lines getting very quiet, the industry grinding to a halt, computers getting isolated and useless, and international interest in business with India disappearing.

Your move, Mr.Vittal

I am sure that Mr.Vittal is not going to take very kindly to this article. If he has anything to say (provided that he even reads industry mags like this one), then an open letter in this magazine, clarifying the proposed DoT policy, would really be welcome. Even more welcome would be a flat statement that says that BBSs are tax free, just like $$$ earnings and election campaign contributions, because of their benefitial effects.

Do YOU have anything to say ? Do it ! What do you think ? Send Mr.Vittal a letter, and tell him. If you are one of the many people in the USA or Europe who read this magazine, write to the Indian Government telling them how important a healthy communication culture is deemed by those who are considering business with India.

Unfortunately, I cannot give you Mr.Vittal’s e-mail address – I doubt if he even has one. Strange, considering that I can even send E-Mail to B.Clinton, Inhabitant, White House, Washington DC, USA, telling him what I think of the cost of his haircuts. Obviously, he cares to know what the people think.

And he doesn’t tax BBSs, either.

Author’s note: Following this article, all hell broke loose in Indian cyberspace, resulting in the DoT hurridly removing the relevant sections from the proposed “Guidelines for Value Added Services”. The “Modem Tax”, as it became known, had been successfully squelched, thanks to electronic activism.

I got a call this morning. All the way from Bombay. Wow !The gentleman at the other end had a very interesting query – what’s Compuserve’s Bombay phone number ?

Oh oh.

Many moons ago I wrote a full article on Compuserve. I never had so many responses to anything I wrote in my life before ! Not even after that unfortunate incident I had with a cheque I once issued without checking my bank balance….

But the phonecall gave me reason to think – Compuserve seems to be indelibly on the Indian businessman’s mind. Am I to blame for that ? Yes ? What a nice feeling !

Anyway, I went back and dug up that issue of PCQ (the one I had to steal from Dayanand at PCQ Bangalore because I couldn’t get a copy on the newsstands), and re-read what I wrote in those days.

Woefully inadequate. Surprising that you dear people still read my column. OK, let me make amends – here’s the inside dope on how to get to Compuserve.

Modemer’s Paradise

Everytime I log into Compuserve, I have this warm feeling washing over me. It’s like coming home. The sight of the “You have Electronic Mail waiting” notice is like seeing my dog sitting on the doorstep wagging its tail seeing me approach. And, on entering the the various forums I frequent, being greeted by “11 messages waiting for you” feels like my daughter running down the garden path, arms outstretched, yelling “Papa!”.

Not for nothing does the world speak of Compuserve as “the biggest communication service in the universe (unless proven otherwise)”. With almost a million people frequenting the place, it is the world’s biggest meeting place. And it is just a phone call away.

It is surprising how easy it is to meet people on Compuserve. An innocent query in a forum, and you get responses from all over the world, from people who want to help you, who want to know you, who want to interact with you…

I have made it a habit of signing my name as “Atul Chitnis [India]” in forums. That country tag alongside my name is almost certain to get me responses – simply because people can’t believe that I am calling from India (where people supposedly still live in caves and use smoke signals to communicate).

And it also helps in business – especially since India’s markets are opening up, and there are plenty of people out there who want to do business with our motherland, but were scared because of the lack of communication facilities. The very fact that I am able to communicate via Compuserve gives them hope.

Yes, Compuserve is a modemer’s paradise.

Let me get you there.

Getting to Compuserve

There are three steps you must take to get to Compuserve.

1. You HAVE to have a modem, a phone line and a PC of sorts. 2. You have to have a line of communication to Compuserve. 3. You have to get a Compuserve account.

Let’s take them one at a time :

Getting a modem, etc.

You’ll have to have a PC (or a Mac, or a…), you have to have a phone, and you HAVE to have a modem.

The first two are usually already in place (else you wouldn’t bother reading this article).

The third part is important, because this is where most people goof. Buy a GOOD modem (not a cheap Taiwanese “deal”). The better the modem, the better the returns. Make sure it has error correction (MNP/V.42), and make sure it is fast. If you haven’t bought a modem yet, but are about to do so, do NOT buy a 2400 bps modem. Those old clunkers are outmoded and will be history in a year or so. Buy a 14400 bps, V.32bis modem.

Do NOT buy an internal modem – they are cheaper, but much more trouble. Make sure that your PC’s serial port has a 16550AF UART chip – without it, you cannot communicate at high speeds.

Do NOT buy/acquire/steal an imported modem – believe me, you’ll be sorry (unless, of course, the modem is made by a VERY reputed manufacturer such as Hayes, Multitech, Motorola, US Robotics, Supra or AT&T – just remember that the Indian P&T may not allow you to use an imported modem). And don’t judge the modem’s quality by the fact that “it sends faxes just fine” – sending a fax is not a real test – it hardly strains the modem.

Getting a line of communication to Compuserve

There are a number of ways to connect to Compuserve. Some are expensive, some are more expensive, some are ridiculously expensive.

The cheapest way is retiring to the Himalayas and establishing contact via meditation. That’s cheap, but has been know to fail, so don’t bank on this option.

A more reliable (but also more expensive) way is calling Compuserve directly with an ISD call to the USA. One of the 14400 bps numbers is 001-614-764-2917. Remember that the tariff is one pulse (local call) a second.

Cheaper than a call to the USA is calling the Compuserve node at Hong Kong. Since HK is a SAARC country, the tariff is only one pulse every 1.2 seconds. The number is 00852-30025332. The number takes both 14400, 9600 and 2400 bps calls.

Cheapest (relatively) is INET (provided you use it wisely). To get an INET account, contact your local Telecom office. It costs Rs.1820 for registration – what you need is a X.28 dialup account. INET will not give you an account unless you are using a modem cleared for use in India by the DoT – another reason for buying a reputed modem of Indian manufacture. INET is now available in 89 cities in India. INET usage charges are Rs.200/64kb of data, plus Rs.4 per minute.

Once you have your INET account, connect to the local INET node using your PC and modem.

When you get to the “*” prompt, type “Npppppp,uuuuu-03132″, where “pppppp” is your INET account’s password, and “uuuuuu” is your INET account number.

In a few seconds, you’ll see the word COM on your screen, and a few seconds later you’ll be prompted for a host name – enter “CIS”. Next you will be asked for your Compuserve User ID and password – enter them and you are on.

But we are ahead of ourselves. Let’s first of all get ourselves a Compuserve account.

Getting a Compuserve account

Actually it is very easy getting a Compuserve account – you can register online. But there is a fatal hitch – Compuserve will only let you register if you have a credit card (VISA/MasterCard/AmericanExpress) that is valid in the USA. This rules out your local credit card – the RBI rules forbid it, except for a few rare exceptions (such as when you are a registered, $$$ earning exporter).

So how do you get around this ?

One way is to ask your contact abroad to open the account for you, based on his/her credit card, and give you the user id and password. You’ll have to come to some arrangement to pay back the money. If your contact abroad has difficulties getting an account, ask him to call Compuserve’s service centre (voice) at 1-800-848-8990. Or you can call them from India at 001-614-457-8650. The service centre will give you all the help you need.

Another way is to ask someone abroad for the use of his/her credit card number *you’ll aslo need the date of expiry and the bank on which it is drawn). This is dicey, and usually works only if your contact trusts you completely (son/daughter studying/working abroad, relative, VERY good friend, etc.) Then you can use that credit card number to register online.

Connect to Compuserve using one of the ways mentioned above. When the connection to Compuserve is established,enter “177000,5000″ as User ID and “PC*MAGNET” at the password prompt. When asked for the agreement number, enter “Z11D9200″. (This may have changed, check a recent copy of PC Magazine). Enter the information that will be asked off you, (including the credit card number).

Once you have registered, you’ll be issued a user id, but not a password. The password will be sent to you by post after about 10 days, after Compuserve has verified the credit card information. Once you get your password, go online and change it immediately (GO PASSWORD).

At the end of all this, you will have a valid Compuserve account. Congratulations. Sit back and have a ThumsUp (while it is still available). Now don’t call Compuserve. You ain’t ready for it.

Using Compuserve effectively

Before you call Compuserve (after you get your own account), please sit down and think. Communication of any form can be expensive unless you do it right. Standard Compuserve rates are $12.80 per hour at 2400 bps, $24 at 9600/14400 bps. If you use only e-mail and some selected services, then these rates can be $8.95/$16.00 per month, but it is easy to go outside these selected areas.

Go out, and buy all the back issues of PCQ you can find that have 1993 in the masthead. Read my past articles. I have spent a good part of the year writing about effective communication methods, bone up on them. While you are at it, get a PCQ subscription so that you don’t miss out on anything in the future.

Get a copy of OzCIS 2.x (the world’s best Compuserve automation program). OzCIS 2.x is shareware, but you can download it only from Compuserve (GO CIS:OZCIS) or get it from a friend. BBSs (including mine) CANNOT offer OzCIS 2.0 or later because the author, Steve Sneed, does not permit it. OzCIS saves me thousands of dollars a year, because it accepts all input from me before calling Compuserve, then goes online and rips through all requested actions and logs off, allowing me to peruse the results offline. You’ll need a special script to use it with INET – you can pick it up from my BBS in the PCQ forum (filename OZINET2.ZIP).

Getting help

Once online to Compuserve, the best place to ask questions about Compuserve is in the Practice forum (GO CIS:PRACTICE). This area is free of Compuserve charges (but you will still be paying for communication costs).

Ask your questions, and you are sure to get answers. Just remember the following golden rules when posting a message :

1. Do not send a message that is ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. This is considered rude and may get you banned off the area.

2. Be brief and to the point. State your question in a couple of sentences – long messages are frowned upon.

3. Don’t send unsolicited messages to anyone using e-mail. You usually will make friend with people in the forums, then can carry on your relationship with them using e-mail if they indicate that this is desirable.

There are various other ways of getting help.

The best way to learn about Compuserve is to pick the brains of a friend who has a Compuserve account.

There are also consultants who can help you (yup, guys like me), but since it is their profession, they’ll charge you for it. Dependant on how good the guy is, a consultant can very quickly get you up to speed. Make sure that HE has a Compuserve account himself and verify this on Compuserve by checking the membership directory (GO CIS:DIRECTORY) for his name. I know a number of conmen who say that they have “extensive Compuserve experience” after having seen a distant acquaintance log in once, and who’ll gladly take you for a ride at your expense. Beware of such parasites. And NEVER divulge your INET or Compuserve passwords to anyone, even your friends. Always type them in yourself when needed. A “shady” friend/consultant will show his true nature when he asks you for the password instead of asking you to type in the passwords yourself.

As a Compuserve member, you will also receive a free subscription of the Compuserve Magazine, which is also an invaluable resource.

There are some excellent books in the market – browse through your local computer bookstall, you are sure to find something.

Become a member of a BBS near you. Many Compuserve members also frequent BBSs, and you could ask them.

And finally, explore Compuserve online (carefully). Make sure that you have your capture/log file open, so that you can read everything that happened later when you are offline. Do not spend time online reading what appears on the screen.

Logout

I hope that this time round I have really given enough details on how to get to Compuserve. And I hope this article helps all those people abroad who wish to have their Indian counterparts contact them via Compuserve, but didn’t know whether (and how) it could be done.

This article completes one year of my writing for PC Quest. I hope that, in a small way, I have helped my readers get into computer communications. Beginning January ’94, I will be changing the scope of this column a bit to address a number of specific issues that have come up during the past year.

I wish all my readers a Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Productive New Year.

See you on the other side.

You know that feeling when you have spent the past hour hunting for your glasses, only to find them perched on top of your head ? I mean, a really serious situation (I am blind without my glasses) that has a perfectly stupid and simple answer ?Well, you won’t believe what I have seen people come up with when it comes to file transfers. While this article may seem funny, it is also dead serious. Read on…

“Nothing wrong on my side”

The above is probably the most common thing I get to hear when I try to figure out why some user’s file transfers keep crashing when he calls into my BBS. People rarely (if ever) accept that something could be wrong at their end – they always blame it on the other side. This makes it all the more difficult to track the real problem. The old saying that goes “you need two hands to clap” also holds good in the field of data communication. OK, here goes…

“Every time I try to download a file from an online service such as a BBS or Compuserve, the transfer crashes within seconds.”

The most common reason that I have come across that causes this is an incorrectly set download path. Communication packages like Procomm have a setting which dictates where downloaded files are to be stored. This is usually called the Default Download Path (DDP). Setting this to a non-existing directory will cause the transfer to abort the second the protocol tries to create the file. Check your settings. One of the easiest ways of testing for this problem is to wipe out the DDP setting, causing all downloaded files to land in the current directory. If this works, then you know what the fault was.

Also be aware of the way the shareware versions of Procomm (versions upto 2.4.3) want the DDP to look. For example, if you want to have all downloaded files to land in the directory C:PROCOMMDOWNLOAD, then you have to set the path to C:PROCOMMDOWNLOAD. The final backslash is important, because Procomm simply appends the filename to this setting and tries to create that file, i.e. if you are downloading 1HARRY.ZIP, Procomm will append it to the DDP so that the full pathname is C:PROCOMMDOWNLOAD1HARRY.ZIP. If you do not have the backslash at the end of the DDP, it will try to create C:PROCOMMDOWNLOAD1HARRY.ZIP, which naturally doesn’t work, and KABOOOM.

Thirdly, check if there is space on your hard disk. Some protocols like Zmodem and Ymodem Batch send the filesize along with the filename. If the size of the incoming file would be too large for the amount of free space you have, the protocol will abort immediately.

“I try to download a file using Ymodem, but it always crashes. I am using Procomm 2.4.3.”

This common problem is due to the insane nomenclature the old Procomm versions used for file protocols. Version 2.4.3 has a protocol called YMODEM (option 5). If you tell Compuserve to send you a file using YMODEM and select the YMODEM in Procomm’s protocol menu, things crash. The reason is because option 5 in Procomm 2.4.3′s protocol menu is, in fact, not Ymodem at all, but Xmodem-1K. The real Ymodem is option 6, which is called YMODEM BATCH. This anomaly was fixed in Procomm Plus.

“The transfer starts OK, but halfway through, the errors start building up and finally the transfer crashes.”

The most common reason for this is COM port overruns – the incoming data is simply too fast for the machine. However insane that may sound – be aware that almost 90% of all PC’s face this problem.

The solutions to this are to use a faster machine, a faster hard disk or a 16550AF UART chip. The best solution is to get all three, especially the last one. Communicating at speeds higher than 2400 bps is a strain that the old 8250B and 16450 UART chips cannot take. If you are going to be operating at 9600 bps and beyond, you NEED a 16550AF chip.

Check this out by using a slower protocol. For example, if you have been using Ymodem-G Batch (a fast, flowing protocol that sends data with no stops at all), switch to YMODEM BATCH instead and see what happens. Or even try XMODEM. If a switchdown solves the problem, then consider one (or all) of the above solutions.

“I can transfer files, but the protocol shows lots of errors that had to be corrected”

This can be due to two reasons – you are using a non-error correcting modem (in which case you asked for it), or you have faulty flow control. The first one can only be fixed by openig your chequebook and buying a good MNP or V.42 modem.

Faulty flow control is when your machine is unable to tell the modem to stop a sec while it does something (like write data to disk). In the days before 2400 bps modems, people used XON-XOFF for flow control. This means that when the machine wanted the data flow to stop for a while, it would send a XOFF (Ctrl-S) down the line. To restart it, it would send a XON (Ctrl-Q).

This sort of flow control has no place in highspeed communication. Instead, you have to use hardware flow control (RTS-CTS). This requires three things – your communication software must have RTS-CTS flow control enabled, the serial cable to the modem must have ALL 9 critical wires connected, and the modem must be setup to recognise hardware flow control. Check your modem and communication software’s manuals for details.

“My file transfers are error-free, but incredibly slow”

You are probably using an extremely slow protocol, such as Xmodem or Kermit. Both these protocols send data in small packets, then stop and wait for an acknowledgement before sending the next packet. Because the packet has to travel to the other end of the connection, get validated there, then an acknowledgement is sent, which has to ravel back to the sender’s side and get checked there, a small-packet protocol like Xmodem or Kermit may spend more time waiting for the acknowledgement than it takes to send a data packet.

Things are made worse by compression features of modems, which wait for a set number of bytes before compressing them and sending them on their way. The small packets of Xmodem or Kermit will not fill the modem’s buffer, so the modem has to timeout before it send the data off, causing even more delay.

Try using a flowing protocol (such as Zmodem or Ymodem-G Batch), or a protocol with larger packet sizes (Xmodem-1K or Ymodem Batch).

“I start a Zmodem download which aborts immediately, but the remote end syas that the transfer was successful”

Zmodem is a crash-recovery capable protocol. When the transfer starts, the protocol checks if a file by that name already exists. if it does, and if the file size and CRC check match that of the incoming file, then it tells the sender to skip the file, which is NOT an error.

Check if you have a file in your DDP that has the same name as the incoming file. If so, rename it to something else before retrying the transfer.

“I have mixed results using Ymodem-G Batch – sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t”

In general, try and avoid Ymodem-G Batch. While it is a very fast way of transferring files, it has a fatal flaw – it cannot recover from errors, but simply aborts if one takes place.

Try using Zmodem instead or, if Zmodem is not available, Ymodem Batch. Zmodem is as fast as Ymodem-G Batch, but is much more robust – it can easily deal with errors and can even restart a crashed transfer from the point of breakdown. Ymodem Batch is about 80% as fast as Ymodem-G Batch, but can recover from errors.

“I have downloaded about 50% of a file when I lost carrier. Since I wasn’t using Zmodem, I will have to start all over again.”

No, you don’t have to. If both sides of the connection support Zmodem, you can restart a crashed file transfer from the point of crash by using Zmodem the next time you attempt to transfer the file. Zmodem does not care what protocol was used to transfer the first part of the file – if it can find the truncated part of the file, it will take off from the point where the previous transfer had crashed.

“I try to download a file from a mainframe, but Xmodem and Ymodem always crash”

Most mainframes and minis operate using 7 data bits and Even Parity as communication parameters. Xmodem and Ymodem need 8 bits, no parity, so they cannot be used on such connects. However, Kermit can transfer 8 bit data over 7 bit lines (newer version of Zmodem can, too). If you find yourself in such a situation, you will HAVE to use Kermit, inspite of its slow performance.

“My faxmodem can send faxes just fine, but fails during file transfers”

Many people believe that if a modem can do one thing correctly, it can do everything correctly. Wrong. As a matter of fact, sending a fax is such a trivial task in terms of strain on the modem that it is not a real test at all. Always test a modem for its datacomm performance before declaing it as functional. Testing is just for fax performance is useless.

“Inspite of using an error correcting modem and achieving a MNP connect, my file transfers crash or are very slow”

MNP (and V.42) work by sending packets of data to the remote modem with extra information attached that allows the remote modem to check the data packets integrity. If an error takes place enroute, the receiving modem will tell the sending modem to retransmit the data packet.

By default, MNP modems usually send 256 byte packets. But on extremely noisy lines, MNP-packet retransmits can be more frequent. Since it takes longer to resend large packets than smaller ones, try setting your modem’s MNP packet size to 64 bytes (most modems use the ATA3 setting for 256 byte packets and ATA0 for 64 byte packets. Some modems use the AT&BS1 and AT&BS0 settings).

Also, some modems have a setting that allows the modem to “give up” if it cannot transmit correctly within 12 tries – try changing this setting.

“I use a V.42bis modem with 1:4 compression, but my file transfers are still slow”

This can be due to two reasons. The first is that the incoming data is already pre-compressed (such as a ZIP file), in which case the modem cannot compress the data further and hence you will see no benefit from the compression feature.

The other reason is that your software is set to work at the modem’s rated speed (e.g. 2400 bps). For compression to produce benefits, your port speed must be at least twice the connect speed (e.g. 4800 or 9600 bps). Also make sure that neither your modem nor your communication software attempt to adjust the port speed based on the connect speed. This is called AutoBauding in most communication packages, and should be turned off. Your modem will probably use a setting such as ATJ0 or AT$BA0 – make sure that this is set.

Logout:

That’s it for this month. I hope you are now able to resolve your file transfer problems. If not – keep reading this column. More tips are on the way. Remember, in the world of computers, nothing can really go wrong…go wrong…go wrong…go wrong…go wrong…go wrong…go wrong…

Darn. Something went wrong.

The brain behind the brawn

It is the software that makes a powerful PC, and things aren’t any different on the data communication front. While your modem may be the latest and greatest, with a zillion bits per second and industry-strength data compression, it is going to sit there on your desk quietly occupying space and being thoroughly unproductive, unless you tell it to do something useful. And to tell it something, you need to be able to talk to it. You do that with datacommunication software. Now, before I set out, I have to apologise to the Macintosh, Unix and Amiga users out there – I am going to talk strictly DOS and Intel-based PCs here. Not that there aren’t any great packages available on your platforms – it is just that I have enough trouble keeping up with the PC side of things.

Long ago and far, far away…

When I stepped into this facinating world of communications, the de-facto communcation software in use was good old Crosstalk. It was great – you could talk to the modem and through it to other modems and you could transfer files. It wasn’t sold here, but in those days nothing was, so my copy was pirated. Sure, things took time. Crosstalk wasn’t the easiest software to use, and the file transfer protocols it supported weren’t state-of-the-art, but it was functional. Crosstalk supported Xmodem, Kermit and a proprietory protocol, plus half a dozen terminal emulations, but that was it. But it worked, and for a long time, I couldn’t think of using anything else. I had a short romance with PC-Talk – a shareware comms package written in BASIC, but we soon parted company. If you are a student of ancient history, pick it off your nearest BBS. What really was the issue here was that I didn’t know what makes a good communication package, since at 1200 bps, you weren’t really asking questions. As I progressed, though, things began to take different hues. One does begin to ask questions when you use a 2400 bps modem, but can transfer files at effectively 1200 bps. One starts asking bigger questions when you just got to see drab screens with no colour and sound. And one really sits up when your software starts bombing at high speed. So I set out to find something better.

Evolving feature greed

What was I looking for ? Well, ease of use was obviously a major factor, but I was also looking at speed, reliability and features. One of the first features I looked for was support for a variety of file transfer protocols. Xmodem and Kermit were too slow and under-featured. What I wanted was support for faster protocols, which allowed me to transfer more than one file to my machine in one swoop, without having to supply all the file names again this side. Ymodem Batch had just made an appearance, and it just had to be there. Then I wanted this new-fangled thing called ANSI graphics, that allowed the remote host to clear my screen and change colours on my terminal. This meant that my dream package had to have terminal emulation support, and I wanted lots of emulations. I also wanted support for scripts, so that I could automate some aspects. I finally found DataStorm’s Procomm 2.4.2 – a shareware comms package that covered my wishlist pretty nicely. For a while, it was a marriage made in heaven. Procomm and I were a perfect team, until I got my first 2400 bps MNP modem and started having crashed file transfers when my serial port was set to 9600 bps. Investigation showed that the issue was flow control, and Procomm 2.4.2 didn’t have any settings for that. I dug around and finally got an updated version – 2.4.3 – which supported hardware flow control and also this high-speed protocol called Ymodem-G Batch. This was 1988 or thereabouts. A year or two later, I was getting greedy. I wanted more – much more. In particular, I wanted Zmodem, that wonderful file transfer protocol that was as fast as Ymodem-G batch, but as robust as a Sherman tank. I also wanted a more powerful script language, external file transfer protocols, scroll back, a Host Mode, etc. So I coughed up some money, and got myself my first legal comms package – Procomm Plus 2.0. By now, I was deep into the development of a communications host, and wanted something industrial strength and standard that I could use for testing my Mona Lisa.

End of a romance

Procomm Plus 2.x, even today, is one of the best known comms packages, and with good reason. PCPLUS (as it is known) has everything but the kitchen sink, but you can write a script to fix that. It has Zmodem, hardware flow control, a functional host mode, a built-in editor, and much more. The script language is powerful, very much like C in some aspects, very much like BASIC in others. For a long time, PCPLUS was my favourite battle-axe. I (for a short time) played with the idea of writing something like this myself, but the sight of PCPLUS is an awe-inspiring one – not a very easy act to follow. And as time progressed, I found myself in a quandry.

Going the ShareWare way…

For one, more people were getting into communications. They needed software, and I hated the idea of them using pirated stuff. PCPLUS in India costs a phenomenal (and completely unreasonable) Rs.8000++ – the combination of a short-sighted customs policy (recently rectified) and a seemingly greedy local vendor. Few people (if any) bought it here – they pirated it. The other problem was that of specialisation. There were certain communication scenarios where even Procomm Plus was useless. For example, non-MNP modems. There were plenty of these obnoxious curses on mankind around, and there were a lot of people who deemed datacomm in India unfeasible because of the junk they saw on their screens. The other angle of specialisation was Compuserve. I was getting very deep into this, and saw Dollars flowing like speeches during an election campaign. I needed something that got me up to speed, and that didn’t cost too much because I wanted others to have it, too. So I set out to find myself yet another datacomm package, but this time there wasn’t any one package that could handle all these factors. Finally, things settled down to three packages.

General Data Communcation

The pirated software angle was solved when I came across the mmmmarvellous Telix 3.21. This amazingingly feature rich package had everything that Procomm Plus had, plus an absolutely great Host mode (a fully functional BBS !) and, unlike Procomm Plus 2.0, it didn’t have a problem talking at speeds higher than 19200. It was “commfortable” even at 115200 bps ! The script language was compilable, so there was no speed loss because of interpretation, and it was so much like C that one could learn it in a jiffy (if one knew C). For those who (rightly so) thought of C as a language fit only for nerds and corporate job hunters, there was another script language called SIMPLE that lived up to its name. And Telix is shareware, meaning that you can try it before you pay the ridiculously low registration fee of $39 (or about Rs.1200). It was freely distributable, came with a whoppingly detailed manual, and was simply great. PCPLUS was banished from my hard disk forever, and I recommend use of Telix for all general communcation activities. Pick it off my BBS (COM forum, TLX321-1.ZIP, TLX321-2.ZIP, TLX321-3.ZIP and TLX321-4.ZIP) or any BBS near you. Use it, love it, pay the shareware fee – the authors deserve it.

Software for Non-MNP Modems

Yes, these terrible pieces of equipment actually still exist. Non-MNP modems are those modems that have either been bought a long time ago or were recently sold by some corrupt, uncaring cheat who conned the customer into buying them on the basis of the customer’s ignorance of such matters. Since error correction (MNP or V.42) is necessary for communication in India, there had to be some way of getting around this, and the answer is Odyssey 2.0. Ody (as it is affectionately called) is a regular communications program with a twist – it provides software-based MNP if your modem doesn’t have error correction. It is very well equipped with all the things one needs for communication, including Zmodem, terminal emulators and a script language. Our editor PKR swears by Ody, even though all his modems have built-in error correction ! One potential problem, though – Ody (like all software MNP emulators) used the public domain MNP2 error correction standard. Recently introduced high speed modems (like the ZyXEL, for example) no longer implement this protocol because it is obsolete – locking out non-error correcting modem users with Ody. Also, Ody (when emulating MNP) does not work very well on long distance lines. Ody, like Telix, is shareware, so you can try-before-you-buy. It is available on most BBSs.

Compuserve Communication

Compuserve is the place to be connected to (as many of my articles must have told you), but it is expensive. The longer you stay on, the more money you spend. If you use regular communication software like Telix, you’ll find yourself piling up a massive bill in no time flat. Along comes a knight in shining armour, in the form of Steve Sneed and his OzCIS 2.0. OzCIS is a communication program that is dedicated to Compuserve-usage. It needs at least a ’286 based machine with 2MB of FREE RAM, but once you get it up and going, you won’t know how you have ever lived without it. OzCIS takes all your “orders” from you before it connects to Compuserve, then goes online and rips through the requested actions and logs off before you realise what has happened. My Compuserve bill dropped so fast that I, in sheer awe, went and registered my copy of OzCIS twice because I felt that the $20 asked for was far too little. This software miracle requires that you use a MNP/V.42 based modem, so make sure you have one. You also (of course) require a Compuserve account and preferably an INET account. To use OzCIS on INET you need a special script which you can pick off my BBS, but you cannot get OzCIS from there. Steve has (very rightly so) prohibited distribution of OzCIS via BBSs, though you may take a copy from a friend or download it from Compuserve or order it from him directly. The reason why he does not allow distribution via BBSs is because BBSs tend to strip things down to the bare minimum to save download time, causing support havoc if a vital file is missing. And OzCIS is BIG – the ZIP file alone crosses 1 MB ! For file transfers to and from Compuserve, OzCIS uses only the CIS B+ protocol, which is found only on Compuserve and is specifically designed to work with it. It isn’t as fast as Zmodem, but does have crash recovery and auto-download/upload.

Winding up

Check your hard disk and see what you are using for communications. If you don’t have any of the above programs, make sure you get them. All three are highly recommended for their intended purpose, and will serve you well. Notice that I didn’t cover any Windows-based programs. That has a reason – Windows isn’t really meant for communications – it tops out at 19200 bps terminal speed (which is far too low these days) and is highly unreliable to boot when it comes to servicing COM ports. Stay clear of anything under Windows until things become more stable (such as a new version of Windows) or until you switch to OS/2 2.1 (which is a communicator’s heaven).

Hi there ! You still with me ? Amazing ! Even more amazing is the fact that you are probably still using a 2400 bps modem.

Picture this:

You just logged into your favourite online host (possibly a BBS, Compuserve or your company’s mainframe) from across the country. There is this massive file you just HAVE to download. The remote host graciously informs you how long it is going to take – just over an hour ! Hmm, let me see – that is 60 minutes multiplied by 60 seconds divided by 2 (being the pulse rate from Bangalore to Delhi). That is 1800 smackeroos ! Wow! Who is going to pay for this ? Your company ? Then that’s OK. What ? You mean YOU are paying for this? Are you out of your mind ????? Stop mumbling about “2400 bits per second is the fastest one can go here”. That was in January this year (when you read my first column in PC Quest). Times have changed – high speed modems have arrived.

Improvements all around

1993 is probably going to be the year when low speed modems finally get to be consigned to the museum here in India. Earlier this year, modem manufacturers introduced reliable 14400 bps modems in this country. I myself was a bit skeptical – how were these speed demons going to perform on our “miserable” phone lines ? Actually, they perform quite well – amazingly well, as a matter of fact. You see, not only have new modems brought in new and improved technology that is better equipped to handle our lines, the Indian telephone system itself has seen quite a number of improvements. For example, most telephone exchanges in the metros (and Bangalore, the metro-that-the-powers-refuse-to-call-a-metro) have gone electronic. The clicking, popping, crackling crossbar exchanges that were once the bane of Indian datacomm are historical relics in many of these cities. Also, the P&T seems to have woken up to the fact that phone lines have a finite life, and need to be replaced at least once per century. Finally, with more exchanges in the circuit, the infamous “last mile” has been reduced considerably, thereby reducing the pickup of noise along the way. Quality of long-distance lines has improved noticably. Today a call from Bangalore to Delhi is normally clearer that a call to an office across town.

Welcome to the Fast Lane!

So what’s the current definition of high speed according to Atul Chitnis ? The simple answer is – anything faster than 9600 bps. This effectively means 14400 bps or better. With V.42bis compression, that can be almost 57600 bps or 5.76 kiloBYTES a second ! One nice thing about high speed modems faster that 9600 bps is that many (if not all of them) are compatible with each other. When 9600 bps modems first arrived here, there were a lot of problems, with different makes of modems refusing to talk to each other. No such problem at 14400 bps – ALL of them use the V.32bis standard for transmission, ALL of them have V.42 error correction and ALL of them use V.42bis compression. There are NO non-error correcting 14.4K modems. Three cheers for standards ! Communicating at 14400 bps is a nice feeling. Six times faster than a 2400 bps connection, things seem to fly. The one hour transfer described at the beginning of this column drops down to 10 minutes, or about 300 bucks STD cost. Since we are talking V.42bis compression here, things could be faster than this, and even ZIP files (a nightmare to transfer using MNP5 when the protocol tries to compress something Phil Katz’s PKZIP 2.04G couldn’t compress any further) trundle along at a respectable rate.

Here is the good news…

Modems in India tend to be expensive, but luckily it has always been a “you get what you pay for” situation – the more expensive modems tend to perform much better than the cheapos. Until recently, a decent 2400 bps modem cost around Rs.20,000, with a few low-cost guys robbing you for around 15K. Today, a decent 14400 bps modem will cost you about 34K (and dropping). That’s six times the speed at about 1.5 times the price ! Not a bad deal, what say ? If you consider the savings in transmission time, you don’t have to be Shakuntala Devi to realise that you make up the cost of the modem in a very short time.

Resistance to change

Sad, but true. Many large corporates still follow the beaten path of being “penny wise, pound foolish”. Recently, a HUGE corporate I know went and bought a stack of 2400 bps MNP modems, thinking that they saved a lot of money in the bargain. Oh really ? Look at these figures: 20 modems x Rs.20,000 = Rs.400,000 Assuming 100 KB data transmission per day per modem (typical in corporate setups), then at 2400 bps it is 20 x (100 x 1024 /240) = 8533 seconds a day, or about Rs.4266 per day at 2 second pulse rates. (2400 bps is 240 BYTES per second) If they would have bought 14400 bps modems instead, it would have been 20 modems x Rs.34,000 = Rs. 6,80,000 and 20 x (100 x 1024 /1440) = 1422 seconds a day, or about Rs.711 per day at 2 second pulse rates. Now multiply transmission costs over a year of 200 working days, and you get Rs. 8,53,200 when using 2400 bps modems and Rs. 1,42,200 when using 14400 bps modems. So the sum total for the “2400 bps wallas” is 12.5 lakhs in the first year, while the “14400 bps wallas” pay only about 8.22 lakhs. Also consider that the 2400 bps modems may seem “state-of-the-art” to your finance department, but a year down the line, they will feel like 8088, 4.77 MHz single-drive CGA PCs do today. The 14400 bps modems, though, will continue to hold their own over a couple of years. 19200-to-24000 bps modems are already available in the USA, 28800 bps will be here before mid-’94, so that 14400 will very soon be entry level. Consider, too, that most of the new 14.4K modems also incorporate fax capabilities, some at 14.4K – much faster than current stand-alone fax machines, and the savings add up, especially when a good fax machine alone costs almost 50% more than a 14.4K fax modem.

The downside

“OK, Mr.A. So 14.4K modems are faster, but who guarantees that they will work consistantly at that speed ?” Not me. Not today. I CAN virtually guarantee sustained performance between metros and within the city, but if your trunk line goes through a couple of lousy crossbar exchanges, then things are likely to slow down. To maybe 12,000 bps, 9600 bps or even 4800 bps. But even in a worst-case scenario, that’s twice as fast as the 2400 bps relic you are planning to purchase ! And many 14.4K modems have a feature thats allows the modem to fall back when the line goes bad, and fall forward again when conditions improve. I CAN guarantee that with improvement in line conditions (as it is happening almost daily), it will be more than likely that you will be able to transfer at maximum speed. One factor that MUST be considered, though, is handshake time. High speed modems tend to take a much longer time to establish a connection initially, typically from 5 to 15 seconds as opposed to 1-5 seconds for 2400 bps modems. So all that high speed may not really pay off if you are only transferring a kilobyte or two of data per day, since the total of handshaking and actual transfer in a 14.4K modem may be longer than the handshake and transfer of a 2400 bps modem. But the, any 14.4K modem can be forced down to 2400 bps if needed, and will perform better than any 2400-only modem can.

Cheapos and Foreign returns…

“Phoren ish besht !” is the accepted credo in most circles. Sez who ? Pick up that incredibly cheap modem in the USA, and you’ll soon understand why it was so cheap. Cheap performance, cheap components and no after-sales support all add up to a disaster. Also remember that 99% of cheap American modems are made in Taiwan or Korea, so the “Made in the USA” tag is no guarantee of performance. And don’t forget the P&T watch dogs who are just waiting to hear that 14.4K carrier tone on your line before slamming you for using a non-TEC cleared modem. Foreign modems are NOT cleared by the P&T, so this is not a game of roulette you should play. If I am beginning to sound like a salesman for a modem company, forgive me, but I am stating facts that I gathered from experience. So before you ask your friend/relative/associate/well-wisher in the USA to pick up a modem for you, think twice. You are likely to end up paying twice as much as it would cost you here. Remember – there is nothing like a free lunch.

Fast Modems need Fast Machines

A critical issue in high speed modem usage is the speed of your machine. You CANNOT use a 14.4K modem on a XT with an 8250B UART, a 20MB ST225 hard disk and a 3-wire serial cable. Period. An 80286 or better machine IS required, and preferably a 16550AFN UART (serial communications) chip. And the serial cable must have all nine critical connections wired up to allow hardware flow control. Anything less, and you are asking for trouble.

Which modem is the best ?

On an average, I am asked this question about 50 times a day, via e-mail, snail mail and telephone calls. I have used high speed modems made by a number of manufacturers, but to date haven’t really sat down to do a complete evaluation. I did ask some manufacturers for evaluation pieces, but all of them seemed to think that modem evaluation is a 30 minute job. No way. Anyway, as soon as I have done a fair and comprehensive evaluation of some of the 14.4K modems available in India, PKR and I will sit down and have a “modem special” that tells you of our findings (provided you are interested – write to The Editor, PCQ, and let him know). Until then, I can only say “no comment”.

Saving money

One of the objectives of my articles is to help you save money. If you are a reasonably heavy Compuserve user, then a high speed modem is likely to help you save. The trick is – call the Compuserve node at Hong Kong (00852-3041332). This is a 9600 bps node with V.42 error correction (as in all carrier networks, it does not support compression, so make sure you disable it with AT%C0 or AT&E14 before calling). If you have a fairly long Compuserve session ahead of you, calling Hong Kong is mucho cheaper than using INET, which charges you Rs.200/64K. The call to Hong Kong is tariffed at 1.2 seconds per pulse (at least something good about being a SAARC country), and you will get an effective throughput of about 750 chars per second as opposed to about 170 chars per second via INET. A 1 MB file transferred from Compuserve will cost you about Rs.1200 via Hong Kong, and about Rs.3200 if transferred via INET. It will also take a lot less time via Hong Kong.

Bombay modem users, please note:

The Bombay MTNL people have introduced an innovative(?) way of telling you that you have crossed the 5 minute limit for a local call – it gives you a loud BEEP. Unfortunately, the decision makers up there don’t seem to use modems. A beep like that immediately breaks any modem connection. A gigantic BOOOO! is called for, and is herewith given. Until the people at MTNL come to their senses, you can avoid the cutoff by setting your modem’s S10 register to a value of 25 or higher. The default value of 14 stands for 1.4 seconds, which is too short to handle the MTNL folly. Setting it to a higher value will keep the connection alive inspite of the beep. You may have to experiment a bit to get the right value. By the way, from the appearance of things, the telecom people at Bangalore DO use modems – no beeps here. Makes you want to move, doesn’t it ?

Gimme a break

I have said it before – I’ll say it again. Writing for PC Quest is one thing – answering personal letters and queries via e-mail and phone calls is another. PLEASE do not flood me with letters and calls asking me questions. I am being bombarded with queries ranging from modems to networks, from DOS to games and from programming issues to requests for pirated software ! I do not wish to sound like a mercenary, but my company does professional consulting – if you are willing to pay for the information that we provide, by all means call. If not, please write to me c/o The Editor, PC Quest, New Delhi. Or, even better, make sure you have a PC Quest subscription – most of your questions are likely to be answered in future columns. At Rs.149 a year for a subscription, that’s a steal. As far as bouquets and brickbats are concerned – I am open to any suggestions or criticisms. Feel free to fire away. Writing to The Editor, PCQ will give you the added advantage of having PKR on your side – he’ll soon set me right. This time, I’ll say bye in the Bombay MTNL way…. BEEEEEEP NO CARRIER

IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT….

It is late at night. I am sitting at my desk at home, my daughter is finally asleep, my wife is grumbling something about “Computer Widows”, Eric Clapton sings the blues on the Walkman, and my computer hums along quietly.

All of a sudden, I have this terrific urge to reach out and communicate.

Now unless you know of more “night owls” like me, calling someone up at 2 a.m. is likely to make you enormously unpopular in no time.

But if you have access to a phone line and a modem, then there are places that will not only welcome you – they are eagerly awaiting your calls !

I am talking about your local (or not so local) BBS (Bulletin Board Service).

Instead of trying to describe a BBS technically, let me take you through a brief tour of my local BBS, and I am sure you’ll get the idea.

A BBS TOUR

Using my modem, I dial the BBS phone number. A few squeals later, the modem connects, and I am greeted by a sign-on screen that welcomes me and prompts me to “log in”./

I type in my User ID and password, and seconds later, the world opens up to me.

A flashing sign tells me that my Electronic Mailbox has new messages for me. Bulletins tell me what’s new on the system, and a scan of the system tells me that there are dozens of new messages and files in the various forums.

First of all, I go and read my mail. I make the appropriate selection from the menu that appears, and find myself in the E-Mail area of the BBS.

I read the messages waiting for me. There is one from Raju, saying that he’ll be coming in late tomorrow since he he has some work lined up for the morning. And there is a message from Kishore in Delhi – he’s hopping mad because I haven’t sent him the promised upgrade!

OK, enough of mail – let’s see what’s happening in the forums.

I exit from the E-Mail area, and enter the PCQ forum.

A bunch of new messages, including one from Mahi – he suggests that I should upload the utilities mentioned in my articles into the forum library for others to download. “Good idea” I respond in a message of my own, and proceed to upload the said utilities. I also leave a message for all members, asking them if they know of any way by which one could make PKR from PC Quest get a modem and join the BBS.

Over at the Virus forum I find that user Bhargava has uploaded the latest versions of McAfee’s shareware anti-virus programs. A few minutes later I have transferred them to my computer.

Suddenly I remember that I need to find out who sells UPSs in Bangalore – a trip to the Electronic Yellow Pages database soon gives me all the info I need, complete with addresses and phone numbers.

Right – enough of this tour. After a quick trip to the NEWS room, where I pick up the latest computer industry news file, I disconnect from the BBS, and “surface” to find myself back in my room at home again.

Just a couple of years ago, all of the above would have been possible only if I was in the USA, but today even India is getting its fair share of BBSing. A new BBS seems to spring up every day in Bangalore, Bombay, Delhi, Madras and even smaller towns. Some of them are strictly private, meant for use of company staff, some, like the one I just described, are open to the public, either completely free or on semi-commercial (i.e. cover the running costs) terms.

And a good thing it is, too. BBSs have been, to a great extent, responsible for the information explosion in the USA. Now the same thing is beginning to happen in India.

Let’s rewind a bit, and see what a BBS is and how it works.

WHAT’S A BBS ?

For those of you who have been using modems to communicate with another person at the far end, a BBS will be a sort of a surprise – there is NO human at the other end !

Instead, all your interaction with the system is handled by the BBS software and the modem – that includes all the prompts, menus, file transfers, message handling and other operations. As a matter of fact, the only time you’ll actually have human contact on a BBS is if you go into “chat” mode with the System Operator or another user who may be online.

Many of you will have heard, or even used, E-Mail and Information Services such as Compuserve, MCI Mail and British Telecom Gold. These are gigantic commercial communication services that you can log into from anywhere in the world and access a vast range of services, including Electronic Mail, databases, forums, specialised information services, etc.

Well, a BBS is something very similar to, say, Compuserve, but instead of running on huge mainframe computers servicing thousands of people at a time, a BBS runs on a plain-vanilla PC, servicing a couple of users at a time, one after the other. Instead of running somewhere in the world, the BBS runs in your local neighbourhood – a sort of electronic club house. In fact, even the venerable Compuserve started off as a multiline BBS at one time !

WHAT DOES A BBS OFFER ?

Facilities available on a BBS range from simple E-Mail to complex database services, from simple file areas to massive libraries of information.

Unlike a commercial information service, a BBS is VERY easy to set up – all you need is a phoneline, a computer and the necessary software. And, of course, someone to call in.

Instead of a dedicated team of people, a BBS is usually run and maintained by a single person, usually known as the SYSOP (System Operator). He or she is the lord of the domain, and decides what goes on.

What sets BBS apart from commercial information services is (apart from the obvious difference in size) the fact that most of the people using the service know each other (or soon will), and tend to interact as friends, usually on first name terms.

Forums on a BBS (sometimes known as conferences or SIGs – Special Interest Groups) form areas where specific topics are discussed. For example, the PCQ forum I talked about earlier is used by BBS members to publicly discuss my articles, as well as make suggestions or throw a few brickbats. A message posted in the forum can be read by all members having access to the forum, and any member can reply to or comment on a message, thereby continuing what is known as a “thread” of messages – a sort of sub-topic to the forum.

Most BBSs have file areas – places where members can place or retrieve files. Generally known as libraries – these areas are normally grouped along with the message areas of the same topic – i.e. the Anti-Virus Library is right there with the Virus message base. This makes it easy for members to locate particular files.

A not-so-common feature is databases. Some BBSs provide tons of information in such databases, which can be queried similar to the way you would query, say, a dBASE file. For example, you could tell the BBS that you are looking for UPS manufacturers located in Bangalore, and the BBS software would, based on the given conditions (PRODUCT=UPS, CITY=BANGALORE), filter out the required records for you from among thousands of other records. Private, company-run BBSs make available pricelists, stock status and customer information to their staff.

A BBS is also a great place to make friends. Since you can hide or reveal things about yourself just as much as you want to, you do not have be bothered about things such as age, sex or occupation. For example, I have made friends with a retired Test Pilot, a computer consultant, an 11 year old schoolboy, a financial consultant, a magazine publisher and a brewery owner via BBSs. Some of them have now started their own BBSs, thereby helping with “spreading the culture”. Months (sometimes years) passed before I ever got to meet any of them face to face, but when I did, we were already the best of friends.

THE LOOK AND FEEL

A lot of a BBS’s character stems from the way it is run, meaning that it more or less reflects the Sysop’s own personality.

For example, the Kishore’s BBS in Delhi is a great place to be connected to – messages, though mostly serious in nature, tend to have a hint of humour to them. Some of them are hilarious enough to bring the house down. I recall a particular discussion in the Windows forum, where a couple of Macintosh and PC users had a slug-out that went on for months, and every message was funny enough to drive tears of laughter to your eyes.

Being the Sysop of my own BBS, I will refrain from commenting on its character – you’ll have to log in and judge for yourself.

GETTING CONNECTED

OK, enough of drooling – let’s get you connected. First of all, find out the number of your nearest BBS. Set your communication parameters to 2400-N-8-1, and dial the number. If you hear a modem answering, you are getting there.

Some BBSs (like my own) use a device that detects a voice or modem call and routes the call accordingly. It does this by saying “Hello” a couple of times. If a human voice responds, it rings the phone, else it’ll ring the modem. If you DON’T get connected to a modem, don’t dial again repeatedly – some BBSs run only during certain hours of the day – call voice and check with people at the other end.

Once the modem has connected, you will be prompted for a User ID and password. Most BBSs allow you to register online by entering “NEW” as the User ID, after which it will take you through a short registration procedure. Be honest and complete while answering the questions that will be asked – don’t enter a fictitious name or address. Most BBS Sysops will check the details and may even call back on the supplied phone number to verify them before granting access to the BBS. The real name and address of the member are rarely made public unless the member specifically requests it.

If a BBS charges a small amount for the access, it usually gives you some free time to explore the system before you decide whether you wish to pay. The amount payable is normally very small – just enough to help cover the costs of running the BBS. Many BBSs are completely free.

A BBS rarely assumes anything special at the caller’s end – any computer with a modem and some sort of communication program, such as Procomm, Telix or Crosstalk, will do.

As a matter of fact, this creates another bonus – the people calling into the BBS need not be using PCs at all ! For example, I have used my PC and modem to communicate with Niyam in Delhi, who uses a Macintosh (and HATES PCs!) But I can send him a graphics file that I have created on my PC, and he can view that file on his Macintosh – a process not easily achievable if you want to use diskettes, since there is a disk compatibility problem. All I have to do is to upload the file into the BBS, and he downloads it from there.

LOOKING AROUND

Working with a BBS online isn’t any more difficult than using most PC software today. Usually, the entire works is menu driven, meaning that you only have to pick the right selection to have something done. Many BBSs use ANSI terminal sequences to generate bright and colourful screens and menus, pleasant (and sometimes amusing) to look at and easy to use.

Once you are online, feel free to explore. If you need help, use the help function or leave mail for the Sysop. Some BBSs have a chat facility, which allows you to “page” the Sysop. If the Sysop is around, he may come online and you can “chat” via your keyboards and screens.

Don’t hesitate to say something in a forum or conference. The sooner you do, the faster you are likely to feel the real power of “BBSing”.

While many BBSs will have large selections of files available for downloading, don’t call the BBS just for that. Try interacting with other members, and upload files yourself. Just make sure that the stuff you are sending is not virus infected or pirated – something that could cause your account to go down the bit-bucket very quickly.

WINDING UP

Oh, oh. Out of space again. OK, before quitting for the day, here is some info for you. Many readers have written or called me, asking me questions about this column, and also where they can get the utilities that I sometimes refer to. For this purpose, I maintain the PCQ forum on my BBS. You can pop your questions and comments there, as well as download the said programs. You can also send me e-mail on the system – address your messages to SYSOP.

Next month, I continue this thread by telling you how to call long distance without wrecking the budget.

Until then – Cheerio !

In my past articles, you will have found some reference to Compuserve. After each one, I have been bombarded by questions from readers on how to access Compuserve, what one can find there, how much it costs, etc. Finally, PKR from PC Quest called saying, in effect, that I had teased my readers long enough, and that it was time to cough up the goods. OK, your wish is my command. So, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the world’s biggest, best known and most popular Online Information Service – Compuserve.

A little background:

Most of my readers will not really be interested in Compuserve’s history, but let me quickly cover the essentials. Compuserve Information Service (CIS) began as a large computer time sharing setup that made computer time available to people who otherwise had no computing resources. It gradually grew into an information service that today acts as a host to almost a million users world-wide. Initially utilising computer time on various mainframe computers during off-time hours, it now runs on a bank of powerful mainframes located in Columbus, Ohia, in the USA. It has been around for almost a decade, something that is easily recognisable from the name – “Compu” is a prefix that was being used to death in the 80′s in the USA, and even today in India. What makes Compuserve so popular is the mind boggling array of subjects that are covered by hundreds and hundreds of forums and special service areas, including Electronic Mail, Online shopping malls, airline guides and, of course, computing support forums.

Please login:

Compuserve works more or less like you local BBS – you call it with your modem, login using a User ID and a password, and then use the menus to navigate around. To access Compuserve, you’ll have to have a terminal of sorts (PC, Mac, Unix terminal with CU, etc.), a modem and a credit card. You will also need a phone line to either call the USA direct (rattle, rattle, more cash down the bit-bucket) or an account on INET or GPSS. Assuming that you have all these, all you need to do is connect to Compuserve, and register. One of the easiest ways to register is through the ZiffNet gateway. To do this, set your modem to 2400/1200 bps, Space parity, 7 databits and 1 stopbit, connect to INET or GPSS, enter your password and account number followed by the Compuserve NUA. On INET, this means entering “Npppppp,uuuuuu-03132″, where “pppppp” is your INET password, and “uuuuuu” is your account number. On GPSS, enter “Npppppp-3132″. When the connection to Compuserve is established, enter “CIS” at the HOST prompt, “177000,5000″ as User ID and “PC*MAGNET” at the password prompt. When asked for the agreement number, enter “Z11D9200″. Enter the information that will be asked off you, and have your credit card ready (VISA or MasterCard). You will be registered and given a User ID, and about a week later you will receive an access password by post, after which you can get on with the show. Another way is to ask someone in the USA to pick up and send you a Compuserve starter pack (about $25), which gives you a direct Compuserve account without having to go through the ZiffNet gateway. Compuserve steadfastly refuses to offer pre-paid accounts, so unless you have a credit card valid in the USA (or have access to a card of an obliging friend or relative in the USA or Europe), you can skip the rest of this article and get on with reading the ads. This credit card business rules out virtually every aspirant in India, thanks to our government’s rigid foreign exchange policy. Booo!

The Bill, please:

Compuserve has two billing methods – the Standard and the Alternate Billing Plan. Under the former, you pay a fixed charge of $8.95 per month for the use of certain basic items, such as Electronic Mail, some reference areas and areas included under the Standard Plan. Provided you utilise only these services, your Compuserve bill will be $8.95 a month. If you stray outside these areas (as you will, believe me – ALL the interesting forums are outside the Standard Plan), you pay $8.00 per hour while you are in these areas. The Alternate Plan has no fixed charges per month, but you pay $12.80 per hour online. Unless you specify otherwise, you will be billed under the Standard Plan when you join, and there should be little reason for you to change that. If you are accessing via the ZiffNet gateway, you pay and additional $2.50 per month under either plan. Some areas on Compuserve are “Premium Services” that carry an additional charge. For example, you pay $1.50 per magazine article that you request from the Magazine Database. Finally, if your credit card is not issued by a bank in USA (for example, if it is issued by a bank in Europe), then addition $10 per month will appear on your bill to cover international transaction charges. Please note that all these are Compuserve’s usage charges – the factor not covered under this is your communications charge, i.e. your phone bill if you call direct ISD (Rs.1.10 per second), or your INET/GPSS bill (Rs.200/64KB plus Rs.4 per minute). And these charges are the ones that are really going to drive you bankrupt! The recent hike in Indian Telecom Tariff doesn’t help, either.

You’re on!

OK, assuming that you now have a Compuserve account of your own, let’s see what we can find there. Before you go online, a word of caution – time is money. Turn on your communication software’s capture facility (Alt-F1 in Procomm, Alt-L in Telix, Escape/CA ON in Crosstalk). Don’t spend your time reading online, let it all flow into the capture file, then log off and read it at leisure. A good way of keeping your bills down, even if you are calling a BBS. Like I said earlier, Compuserve works more or less like your local BBS. But this “BBS” is much more than a single line host running in someone’s home or office. At any time, you’ll find hundreds and thousands of users from across the planet online with you. Make the “mistake” of asking for a list of available forums (specific interest areas), and you’ll be treated to a list of hundreds of such areas, ranging from Apple Computer Support through Human Sexuality down to Zen and The Art of MotorCycling. (An uptodate list is available on my BBS, call in and pick up CISAREAS.ZIP from the PCQ or COM forum libraries). In the list, you’ll find virtually every computer oriented organisation worth its salt, including IBM, Microsoft, Lotus, Novell, Borland, Apple, NeXT, TurboPower, and many, many more. Compuserve’s Electronic Mail facility is also very powerful, allowing you to send mail to not only Compuserve users, but also to other networks, such as most Internet sites, MCI Mail, many X.400 services such as AT&T Mail, and more. You can also send fax and telex messages worldwide. Massive databases are at your disposal, including the Official Airlines Guide (OAG), online encyclopedias, magazine databases that contain virtually EVERY article published in the past 10 years, and many more. An online “chat” area called the CB (Citizen’s Band) simulator allows you 40 channels that you can access to “talk” live with thousands of people on as many subjects. One of the most interesting areas for first time CIS users is an area called IBMFF (or MACFF if you are a Macintosh user). This area catalogs the hundreds or thousands of files that are available in the CIS forums. Search on a keyword for something that is of interest of you, and you are bound to come up with at least a couple of choices. Try the keyword “shareware” and you are going to get flooded – most of the files available on CIS are either free or shareware.

Foraging in Forums:

When I first joined Compuserve, it was primarily for the use of its E-Mail services, but soon I was seduced into hopping outside the scope of my Standard Plan’s “Basic Services” and go scouting around in the forums. Being a software developer, the first forums that caught my attention were the developer support forums of Borland, IBM and Microsoft. Each of these companies maintains five to ten forums on Compuserve to service various aspects of their activities. For example, Borland has the BPASCAL (Borland Pascal), BCPPDOS (Borland C++ under DOS), BORAPP (Borland Applications) and dBASE forums, amongst others. Each forum is again divided into “sections”, with each section dealing with various sub-topics. For example, the BPASCAL forum has “From Borland”, “TurboVision”, “Windows Programming”, “Vintage Pascal”, etc. Each section, in turn, has a message and a library section. The libraries are the ones that are going to catch you attention when you first come in through the door – thousands of vendor and user supplied files! If you are human, you are probably going to try and download every item in sight, and this will probably continue until you get your first CIS and Phone/GPSS/INET bill, at which point you will spend a lot of time trying to pay the latter, foregoing less important things like food, water and shelter. After you have got past you initial “download frenzy”, turn your attention to the messages posted in forums, because this is where the true value of Compuserve lies.

The Soul of Compuserve:

“How do I…”, “What is…”, “Where can I find…” Questions, questions. And each one is likely to get a dozen answers, from vendors, users or bystanders. Almost immediately. Yes, this is really where Compuserve shines. The forum message sections. This is where you go when you have a problem. Post your question, and you are likely to be inundated with answers. Try getting the same effect by calling you local vendor for support. What a contrast! The soul of Compuserve is its users, and the fact that they are always ready to help out, no matter how arcane, complex or silly your problem may be. People spend their time and money helping YOU, a person they have never met before, a complete stranger. No “Indian Crabs” syndrome here. One of my first attempts at getting help on Compuserve was when I ran into a problem with Turbo Pascal 6.0 – one of my libraries simply stopped functioning when I switched from TP 5.5 to 6.0. I posted my problem in the Pascal forum, and “went home”. When I logged in later that day, I had dozens of replies, complete with explanations, sample code and pointers to further references, all supplied by users from across the face of planet Earth. If I would have tried to solve the matter myself, I would have spent days, if not weeks or months, trying to resolve the issue. But via Compuserve, my problem was cleared up in under a day. As a matter of fact, the first replies had started pouring in within minutes of my posting the question! This phenomenon is not unique. On Compuserve, every user logging in is a potential support person. It may be that the user had faced a problem before and got an answer, and now he or she, in turn, does his “good deed for the day” by helping you out when you face the same problem. The willingness of Compuserve users to help is incredible! Lord Baden Powell (founder of the Boy Scout movement) would have approved, and would have definitly been a Compuserve user.

Getting the most out of Compuserve:

Compuserve (and INET/GPSS/P&T) make their money out of your presence online – the longer you stay on, the more you pay. In my first few months on Compuserve, I used to regularly rack up around $200-$300 a month, because I was going around doing things manually. Today, my average Compuserve charge per month is about $40-$70, yet I am doing more online than ever before. How do I achieve this ? Simple – I use an automated program to do all the scanning, downloading, posting and reading for me. This program is another pointer at the attitude of Compuserve users. OzCIS (as the program is called), is a “gift” from Steve Sneed, a TurboPower programmer, to Compuserve users – a massive, comprehensive and easy to use program that does almost everything for you automatically, spending the least possible time online. And here is the miracle – it is completely free. Yes, not even shareware – it is free! OzCIS works by accepting all message and file requests from you before you call, then goes online, does all the work, then logs off and lets you savour the results. It is very reliable, and is the “navigator” of choice by thousands of Compuserve users. On Compuserve, it bypasses menus and works in command mode, and option available on Compuserve. Since no menus are used, less characters flow down the line, further lowering your bill. (OzCIS is also available on my BBS. Go to the COM forum and download OZCIS1.ZIP, OZCIS2.ZIP, OZCIS3.ZIP, OZCIS4.ZIP and OZTOOLS.ZIP. The last file contains some utilities and scripts written by me for Indian OzCIS users to make it work properly with INET and GPSS. Like OzCIS, they are also completely free). Compuserve itself offers a program called CIM (Compuserve Information Manager), but it is slow, and favours Compuserve, i.e. it tries to keep you online as long as possible. Though quite easy to use, I wouldn’t recommend it to Indian users. CIM is a commercial product available from Compuserve, and costs about $50. A Windows version has also been recently made available. Yet another Compuserve navigator is TAPCIS, the first of such programs. Though essentially similar to OzCIS in operation, it has a pretty outdated interface and can be quite beastly at times. Besides, it doesn’t work with GPSS or INET. It is shareware, and costs $79 on registration. All the above programs are for DOS and require a hard disk and DOS 3.3 or later, with 640 KB RAM except OzCIS, which works only on 80286/386/486 based machines with 1 MB RAM. All of them are supported online on Compuserve in their own forums. Similar programs are also available for the Macintosh, so Niyam and Ajay (and PKR, of late ) get your hackles down.

Logging off:

OK, OK, I know that I am out of space again. But before I log off, I would like to say that if you can manage to get access to Compuserve, then you will never regret it. If you ever run into a problem, send me E-Mail (my Compuserve ID is 70620,563) and I’ll try and help. Next month, I will cover a few more online services, including BIX (The Byte Information Exchange), British Telecom Gold and MCI Mail. Oh, and before I forget, here is the command for disconnecting from Compuserve: Bye

Login:

My apologies for last month’s “disappearance” from PC QUEST. I got hit by a virus (of the human kind) that kept me non-productive for quite a while.

It looks like my readers aren’t going to let me keep my schedules. In June I talked about about Compuserve, and briefly touched upon Electronic Mail (as I have done in previous articles). Promptly my mailboxes are full again, this time with requests for more details on E-Mail.

OK, so let’s talk about E-Mail.

Making History:

One of the most mundane and irritating duties of my secretary is taking messages for me. A call comes in, it is for me, and I am not there. So she takes a message, which asks me to call back. I get back, return the call, and find that this time THAT person isn’t available. So I leave a message…

What I have just described is known in Corporatese as “Telephone Tag”. In future generations, it will be clubbed in historical essays with AIDS and taxes as a factor that led to the downfall of modern civilisation.

Many times, my secretary tells the caller to “leave an E-Mail message if it is urgent”, to which (at least for now), the caller more often than not replies “uuuhhh – E-Mail???”

Changing norms:

In this age of computers, the very least you’d expect is that computers are smart enough to take a message for me, keep it private, forward it to me whereever I may be in the world, and carry back a reply.

Surprisingly there is such a way of communication, and it is called Electronic Mail (or E-Mail).

It works in a ridiculously simple fashion – you use your PC and modem to connect to the E-Mail service, leave a message in my account, and quit. I will call in 3-4 times a day to check for mail from whereever I may be, find your message, read it and reply in the same fashion.

The beauty of this all is that neither party needs to know where in the world the other one is. And, because only I can read the messages sent to my account, messages remain completely private.

This definitly beats the Fax and Telex (or even telephone messages) which require you to know my exact location, and also will not keep the message private (since anyone can read an incoming Fax or Telex message).

It is hardly surprising then that American business took to E-Mail like a fish to water. And now, in a more leisurely fashion, Indian business too is getting in on the game.

The advantages of E-Mail:

As I have stated before, one of the biggest advantages of E-Mail is the fact that neither the sender nor the recepient need to know where the other is located. This completely and permanently kills the dreaded Telephone Tag Syndrome that is bogging down Indian business.

Secondly, it is much more private than a Fax message, since only the intended recepient has access to the message.

Thirdly (and probably of most importance) is the fact that E-Mail, if properly used, is likely to be much faster and convenient than postal mail or even a Fax. This is because the rerouting of a verbal, written or faxed message in itself will take time to reach the addressee, while an E-Mail message remains in a fixed place, and the recepient knows that any message meant for him will be available at this location, so there is only one place to check.

Getting into E-Mail:

There are primarily two ways by which you can get into E-Mail – subscribe to a commercial E-Mail service (such as MCI Mail, Compuserve, etc.) or set up your own.

The first option if probably the most convenient, since you are likely to achieve the widest reach. A service such as Compuserve is used by hundreds and thousands of people, so it is very likely that your intended correspondent already has an account there. Also, most commercial E-Mail services have gateways to other mail services. For example, from Compuserve, I can send mail to MCI Mail, InterNet, AT&T Mail, etc., and can also receive mail from these services.

The disadvantage is that unless you have access to a Dollar account, it is going to be difficult getting onto one of these services. Though one or two E-Mail services in India are just beginning to get active, it is going to take a long time before any of these come up to scratch. The ones that I know of here are more or less just electronic courier services, and are not very convenient to use. But I suppose things will improve. If they don’t, then I guess I’ll have to do something about it…

A cheaper way of getting access to e-mail services is using the InterNet – a massive, international network of computers linked to each other that are theoretically supposed to service educational institutions, but are also “mis”used by non-educational entities (like me, for example). To get access to InterNet e-mail services, you have to get an account with one of the many educational institutes that have InterNet access. Once you do, e-mailing is essentially free, but getting an account like this is extremely difficult.

Rishab Ghosh covered InterNet in an excellent article in the June issue of PCQ (CyberSpace) – check it out for more details on InterNet. You can also pick up the file INTERZEN.ZIP from my BBS – it contains the text article “Zen and the Art of InterNet”.

Rolling your own:

The other option is to set up your own, private E-Mail service.

This is probably the only way to fly if you are part of a large organisation an have a lot of intra-office messaging. The advantage is that things will really remain private (i.e. it is unlikely that the Government is going to read your mail), convenient (since you can setup things to suit your company’s requirements rather than having to adapt to someone else’s idea of E-Mail) and cost effective.

There are a number of schemes that you can use to set up your own mail service – all of them involve modems. There are BBS-like solutions that have a central host (which have the advantage of being location and operating system independant), and there are point-to-point solutions (which DO have the disadvantage of having to know where the recepient is located).

One thing is clear, setting up your own E-Mail network is not a black art anymore – in most cases, all it involves is calling the vendor and asking him to install the thing for you. (It does involve a minor detail like paying for it, though…)

Using E-Mail:

Using E-Mail isn’t any more difficult than using a WordProcessor.

If you have problems using a WordProcessor, maybe you should consider learning to use one – even if you are the boss of the company and tend to say “I have people to do this for me”. Remember that the “people who do this for you” then also read your private mail, so no one will send you any.

You get online using your modem and communication package, supply your user ID and password, put in your message and the user ID of the intended recepient, and get off.

There are a few tips, though, that will make the use of E-Mail easier:

- Don’t type your message online: Many people tend to do this, and it is stupid. The editing facilities available on most E-Mail services tend to be awkward – why fight them ? Use your text editor (like Teddy or Norton Editor or WordStar in non-doc mode) to prepare your message beforehand. Take your time to make the message worth reading. Then, when you are satisfied with it, save it, call the E-Mail service and, when asked to type in your message, simple use your communication software’s ASCII upload feature to send the prepared message (in Procomm, press PgUp, then select ASCII). Much faster, much more convenient.

- Don’t read messages online: Another weird habit – just because you are online doesn’t mean that you should do everything online. Reading online wastes connect time. Instead, open a capture file before calling the service (in Procomm, press Alt-F1). Everything that appears on your screen will be saved in that file. Now ask the E-Mail service to display all messages to you non-stop. Things will flow past you faster than you can read, which is fine. After all messages have been shown, log off, then read the captured text file at leisure without having “your meter down”.

- Delete messages after receiving them: People tend to be packrats – they never throw anything away. Similarly, people tend to keep all their messages in their Electronic Mailboxes because “they want to refer to them later”. While the argument is fine, the method is wrong. Most E-Mail boxes have finite limits to storage capacity (for example, on Compuserve, you can have no more than a 100 messages pending). Instead of keeping all the messages online, capture them in a text file (as shown above), then delete them from the mailbox.

- Keep using it: I know of many people who have e-mail accounts, but never use them, or at least use them very rarely. This has the negative effect of discouraging your correspondants from using e-mail to contact you. Make sure you check your mail at least once a day, and to reply promptly, even if it is just to say that you will be replying in greater detail soon. If people know that you use your e-mail account regularly, they will use it to contact you, thereby giving you all the benefits that e-mail has to offer.

- KISS!: This (modified) acronymn stands for “Keep it short and simple!” and is, in effect, the guiding rule that governs effective emailing. When you send a message, be concise and to the point – don’t repeat yourself over and over again and make your point in the clearest and shortest manner. If you are replying to a message, make it a point to quote from the original message (easy to do with cut’n'paste) in your message before making your reply – this way the reader will be able to keep track of the context without having to refer back to his own message, which may have been sent some time earlier. For example, supposing you are replying to a message that extolls the merits of email. Your reply would look something like this:

> I think that E-Mail is a very effective medium of > communication. What do you think ?

I agree completely. Without E-Mail, things would be very difficult…

In the above example, lines beginning with “>” are lines quoted from the original message. Lines without this sign are your comments on the quoted material. This convention is very commonly used and you too should employ it.

- Emote: It is sometimes very difficult to get across the actual meaning of a sentence using e-mail. For example, if I say “PKR is too miserly to buy a modem” it will probably cause a rift in my relationship with him, but if I say “PKR is too miserly to buy a modem ”, he will know that I am saying this tongue-in-cheek.

In case you haven’t understood this – look at the “:-)” sideways – it is a face smiling at you. This is called a “smiley” or “emoticon”, and there are thousands of them available that can give your messages the right flavour. For example, here is the emoticon for a bespectacled man smoking a cigarette, whose hair stood up on seeing his latest phone bill:

=B-Q

Pick up the file EMOTICON.TXT from the PCQ forum on my BBS for more samples). Usage of emoticons will avoid unintended insults or hurt feelings.

Getting the word out:

Email is catching on all over the world and is today the preferred way of communication. But how do you let people know that you have an e-mail address ?

Actually, that is simplicity in itself. Display it prominently on your letterheads and visiting cards (and even fax messages). Most mail services can be addressed in the InterNet fashion. for example, my Compuserve ID is 70620,563. To send me mail via InterNet from any other service (such as MCI, America Online, ERNET, etc.), just send the message to achitnis@exocore.com. This address appears on my visiting cards and correspondence, and you will be amazed if you would see how many people prefer to communicate with me this way !

Logout:

OK, I am out of space again. But before I sign off…

In my June article on Compuserve I had mentioned the program OzCIS, and that it is available on my BBS. Steve Sneed (the author of OzCIS) has informed me that he is releasing a new version on or before July 15th. Because of this I have temporarily taken OzCIS off the board to prevent you from blowing major money on downloading a soon-to-be-outdated program. The new version will be available for downloading by 3rd week of July.

Also, I have been receiving TONS of mail (e-mail and snail-mail) from my readers. I try to answer ALL my e-mail, and even some snail (postal) mail, but there are limits to how much of my professional time I can spare. So please understand if I cannot answer every letter or message personally.

The “recommended” shareware of the month is FONEBOOK, a phonebook-cum-dialler written by Varun Arora of Bombay. Neat. Keeps track of names and addresses, and dials the phone number if you have a modem attached. Can be found on most BBSs around the country (including mine).

Finally – this month I will NOT tell you what I am going to write about next month ! Make sure you get your PCQ issue as it hits the stands if you want to find out ! (Take this seriously – I have had to STEAL a copy for the past few months because they are sold out within a day of appearing on the stands!)

Ciao for now !