Questions and answers on MobyTurbo(Tm)


Q: Does MobyTurbo disable or reduce error correction?
A: MobyTurbo does not disable or reduce ZMODEM's error correction
capability.  MobyTurbo uses 32 bit CRC and the same ZMODEM logic as
regular ZMODEM transfers.


Q: What problems might occur if it incorrectly identifies a suitable path?
A: If MobyTurbo is used over a path that is not sufficiently transparent,
the transfer will fail at the same point whenever a particular file
is attempted.  MobyTurbo will work over any path that supports YMODEM-g.
MobyTurbo will work over any path that supports XMODEM-1k that does not
suffer from flow control problems.


Q: Why is it just for compressed files?
A: MobyTurbo will transfer any type of file.  Moby Turbo is a performance
enhancement added in response to feedback about YMODEM-g being faster on
compressed files than ZMODEM.  MobyTurbo is optimized for that.  Other
types of files may transfer faster with ZMODEM compression depending on
their data patterns.




As for the word MOBY: (from JARGON.TXT)

MOBY [seems to have been in use among model railroad fans years ago.
   Entered the world of AI with the Fabritek 256K moby memory of
   MIT-AI.  Derived from Melville's "Moby Dick" (some say from "Moby
   Pickle").] 1. adj. Large, immense, or complex.  "A moby frob."  2.
   n. The maximum address space of a machine, hence 3. n. 256K words,
   the size of a PDP-10 moby.  (The maximum address space means the
   maximum normally addressable space, as opposed to the amount of
   physical memory a machine can have.  Thus the MIT PDP-10s each have
   two mobies, usually referred to as the "low moby" (0-777777) and
   "high moby" (1000000-1777777), or as "moby 0" and "moby 1".  MIT-AI
   has four mobies of address space: moby 2 is the PDP-6 memory, and
   moby 3 the PDP-11 interface.)  In this sense "moby" is often used
   as a generic unit of either address space (18. bits' worth) or of
   memory (about a megabyte, or 9/8 megabyte (if one accounts for
   difference between 32.- and 36.-bit words), or 5/4 megacharacters).
   4. A title of address (never of third-person reference), usually
   used to show admiration, respect, and/or friendliness to a
   competent hacker.  "So, moby Knight, how's the CONS machine doing?"
   5. adj. In backgammon, doubles on the dice, as in "moby sixes",
   "moby ones", etc.
   MOBY FOO, MOBY WIN, MOBY LOSS: standard emphatic forms.
   FOBY MOO: a spoonerism due to Greenblatt.