     Digital Communications
     by Hank Volpe
     The 1992 "Hankies"

     Once again, friends, it's time to cross the barriers of space, time, 
     good taste and transcend all the politically correct review 
     processes. It's time for a breath of fresh air, time for a change, 
     time for a new world order (sorry, living so close to Washington, 
     D.C. makes one ramble a bit). As I was saying, it's time for 
     something we've all been waiting for: the annual Hank Volpe awards 
     of merit, better known as the Hankies. Unlike an author's receipt
     of meaningless industry awards from computer magazines and trade 
     shows, the receipt of a Hankie represents an achievement beyond 
     compare! Most authors who have received Hankies have been 
     astonished, with comments ranging from "thank you, but my nose is 
     not running" to "God, I've finally made the big-time." 

     The Hankies have been known to produce even more emotional 
     responses than these, for they spotlight the software authors who 
     keep the BBS's alive and running: the shareware authors of America. 
     Shareware and shareware authors go unheralded by most of the 
     mainstream press. The reasons aren't clear to me; it could be due to 
     lack of advertising, lack of publicity, or lack of really good, 
     exotic, and expensive-to-throw parties for reviewers. In any case, 
     it's a shame, for usually the best software products you can find 
     are shareware.  Some of the past winners of this award speak to that 
     fact: Qmodem, Procomm, Telix, PKZIP, Hard Disk Manager, Auto Menu, 
     Mahjongg, Vacation Planner, Funnels--these and others are great 
     examples of shareware. Although some packages have worked their way 
     into the commercial market, they started on BBS's, being downloaded, 
     used, and registered by people like you and me. Their excellence 
     kind of explains how the Hankies got started. 

     Now before we go any further, you must understand that the 
     selection and voting process for such a prestigious award must 
     always be above reproach and founded on high moral grounds. Each 
     year, as the operator of a BBS, I receive thousands of files to look 
     at and evaluate. Out of this group, I search for the best file, 
     disk, video, and communication programs. Games and educational 
     software are also important on my list (for I have two nintendo
     addicted rug rats who need constant guidance and distraction from 
     the evils of MTV). After the review process comes a lengthy trial 
     period during which the software is run through its paces. I check 
     to make sure the program is well-written, well documented, and well
     supported. I've also been known to like poorly written stuff because 
     it looks pretty neat! 

     With all that in mind, I select the finalists, make myself a really 
     strong cup of coffee, and ask my wife what she thinks. As we all 
     know, that is the safest way to make sure you have not made an error. 
     My motto is "If it works for the President, it works for me"! So now, 
     without further ado, the 1992 winners! 

     Best Disk Utility The best disk utilities you can find have always 
     been shareware. Be it a disk compactor, disk organizer, or disk 
     duplicator, shareware ventures have always out-classed anything 
     commercially available. This year's winning entry fills a need all of 
     us have: the need to make quick, accurate disk copies. "Disk Copy 
     Fast" (distributed as DCF40B.ZIP) is a one-pass diskette duplication 
     utility which makes copies of 1.44 MB, 720 KB, 1.2 MB, and 360 KB 
     diskettes. Bench tests (assuming you aren't switching disks in and 
     out of your machine) have shown that Disk Copy Fast will format and 
     duplicate a disk up to 57% faster than any other DOS utility. 
     According to the author, Chang Ping Lee, all this increase in speed 
     is accomplished by precise timing without sacrificing compatibility. 
     Mr. Lee states that "Every single read, write or format is done 
     following the industry standard, strictly, no compromise!" In one 
     pass, Disk Copy Fast performs the DOS commands FORMAT, DISKCOPY and 
     DISKCOMP. Designed for both the occasional user and a mass 
     production environment, Disk Copy Fast makes extensive use of Hot 
     Keys and includes many command line switches that make it easy to 
     run from a batch file. The program loads as much of the original 
     disk into XMS memory as possible, thus speeding up disk duplicating. 
     If XMS memory does not exist or is insufficient, Disk Copy Fast 
     automatically buffers this storage to your hard drive. If you shy 
     away from switches and command lines, Disk Copy Fast has a nicely
     constructed pull-down window environment for you to interact with. 
     Disk Copy Fast comes complete with documentation and registration 
     information. Those who register receive a copy of Disk Fast Plus, a 
     utility that contains several extra features and some customizing 
     ability for hot keys. If you need to make backup disks, especially 
     for archive purposes, give Disk Copy Fast a try. 

     Best File Utility

     Do you need more disk space? The ZIP'R utility, when used in 
     combination with PKZIP, ARJ, or LHA, automatically compresses entire 
     programs into a single compressed file, saving valuable hard drive 
     space. Zip'r (distributed as ZIPR22.ZIP) is a safe, totally DOS
     compatible method of compressing more space out of your hard drive. 
     As you know, there are commercial programs available that compress 
     space. However, some of these programs have bizarre side effects 
     or refuse to work in certain environments. For example, none of the 
     commercially available space compression products will run on a 
     Novell Network file server. File servers always need more space. In 
     addition, none of the commercial on-the-fly compression/expansion 
     utilities possess compression algorithms that approach what PKZIP, 
     LHA, and ARJ offer. Zip'r has the ability to offer the disk 
     compression and expansion you desire by working with your favorite 
     archiver. 

     Zip'r compresses directories, subdirectories, and the files 
     contained in them into one smaller compressed file on your hard 
     drive; so now you work with an entire subdirectory, filled with 
     files, stored in compressed form when not in use. When a program is 
     executed, Zip'r expands the desired directory and executes the 
     requested program. While your program is running, Zip'r swaps itself 
     to disk or EMS memory (only keeping a 2.5k TSR hook behind). When you 
     exit the program, Zip'r automatically re-compresses the directory, 
     saving any changes you've made to the archive. 

     Zip'r does not offer you on-the-fly compression found with commercial 
     programs, which means there will be a slight delay when starting or 
     ending programs (while your programs are being expanded or 
     compressed). However, as you know, there are many files on your hard 
     drive that you do not use every day. Zip'r reclaims that valuable 
     real estate. While testing, I compressed my entire hard drive with 
     quite startling results. Treating every subdirectory as a file, 
     Zip'r reduced my overall storage requirements by nearly 53% with 
     PKZ204G and 52% with ARJ. Effectively, I've doubled my disk storage 
     capacity. Zip'r has been tested under Desqview, Windows 3.1, and 
     other multi-taskers; however, you can see some real potential 
     problems if multiple windows are compressing and extracting data. For 
     these special situations (and for use on a network), use the network 
     version called Zip'rn. This version has features that places limits 
     on simultaneous access while compression/expansion is taking place. 
     If you need space and on-the-fly compressors make you nervous or 
     don't work because of a hardware/software compatibility problem, 
     give the job to Zip'r and your favorite file compressor. 

     Best hardware utility

     My favorite category! As most of you know, I'm an engineer by 
     profession. Computer programming has always been only a hobby. For 
     me, then, hardware is the most exciting part about computers next 
     to talking to the hardware. (Of course, the worst part is when the 
     hardware talks back!) 

     During the last few years, we have seen dramatic breakthroughs with 
     video display adapters, modems, and hard drive units. With each of 
     these improvements has come the unenviable task of installation. I 
     have witnessed first hand the frustration of men who can send 
     rockets to Mars but can't install a serial port. Even for the 
     seasoned professional, installing or adding to a hard drive system 
     from scratch can bring tears to the eyes. The documentation makes it 
     all <U>soooo<D> simple. After all, you just need to answer a few 
     simple questions: what's the drive type? how many cylinders? how 
     many heads? what are the sector counts? ... Heck, what's a sector? 
     All these values are stored in your computer's CMOS memory. What 
     happens when the battery goes dead or the memory gets corrupted? 
     It's enough to make a hardware guy go back to pen and paper, or 
     better yet, carve notches on posts! The winner of the best hardware 
     utility can solve these hard disk configuration problems for you if 
     you are using an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) hard disk drive. 

     IDE Identify v1.40 (distributed as IDEI140.ZIP) returns information 
     on all IDE hard drives attached to your system. IDE Identify shows 
     head, cylinder, and sector counts for CMOS setup parameters. Unlike 
     other utilities, your IDE hard drive only needs to be properly 
     cabled. Even if the drive has not been prepared (including CMOS 
     parameters), IDE Identify will give you a listing of all the proper 
     values you need to enter into your system's CMOS memory. IDE 
     Identify is Freeware (no registration fee required), and is 
     distributed by Micro House International. If you have an IDE 
     controller and drive, this file is a must for your utility 
     collection! 

     Best Video Utility

     On the whole, I really love my 486-DX 50mhz, supercharged, super
     slick, all function, 4-on-the-floor, all-wheel-drive computational 
     wundermachine--that is until I do a chkdsk *.* /f/v. At that moment, 
     I feel as if I'm watching the end of a cheap cable movie, where the 
     credits are rolling by at such breakneck speed that you cannot 
     possibly read even one entry. Of course, I know I can filter the 
     output via "more", or redirect it to a file (to view later in some 
     other way), or take a speed-reading course at the local community 
     college. But who has time for these things? If you feel like I do, 
     or you have occasionally felt like screaming when something 
     important scrolls off the top of your screen, then you will 
     appreciate the winner of the best video award, Scrollit. 

     SCROLLit 1.5  (distributed as SCRLIT15.ZIP) is a screen scrollback 
     buffer utility. It lets you scroll back, in full color, through 
     lines of text that have scrolled off the screen. SCROLLit includes 
     such features as searching, block-writing, 43/50 line mode, and 
     XMS/EMS support. Compression is used to squeeze more  than twice the 
     number of lines into the available buffer space. SCROLLit is 
     Desqview-aware and only takes 9K of memory (which can be loaded 
     into the UMB area) as a TSR after installation. To activate 
     SCROLLit, just press the Scroll-lock key on your computer (see 
     Virginia, someone finally did use the Scroll-lock key for 
     something). While in SCROLLit, you can mark blocks of the buffer and 
     send those blocks to a printer or file. SCROLLit would be "the 
     perfect" video utility if it wasn't for the fact that it is 
     distributed as something I affectionately call "annoyware". 
     Annoyware is shareware that starts with an annoying commercial, 
     making it hard to use out of an autoexec.bat file. Believe me, as a 
     shareware author myself, I have nothing against an author enticing 
     people to register. However, I urge the author of SCROLLit to 
     consider using a carrot instead of a brick. Nevertheless, as I said 
     earlier, the Hankies are firmly rooted in high moral principles, and 
     SCROLLit deserves your attention and more, regardless of the 
     "political views" of the Awards Committee. Once you start using it, 
     you'll register it for sure. 

     Best Communication Utility

     A communication utility is something that improves the ability to 
     communicate with your computer, or saves you invaluable amounts of 
     time and effort while doing so. Often in the past, this award has 
     been won by a communications program (such as Procomm, Qmodem, or 
     Telix), or a file transfer engine (such as DSZ). This year, I feel 
     an interesting "new" need has emerged, primarily due to the 
     "commercializing" of Qmodem and Procomm. Since these programs are 
     no longer distributed as shareware, many of us are trying out new 
     communication programs for the first time. Now quickly, what is the 
     absolute worst thing about a new communication program? ... 
     <U>Quickly<D>, I said! OK, a hint: it involves typing all your phone 
     book numbers over and over again to use with different communication 
     programs. YECH! Sometimes I think the deficit will be balanced 
     before I finish entering all that information into another program. 

     Wouldn't it be great if someone could do all that for you in a neat, 
     easy-to-use package? (Cue the offstage announcer.) Well, look no 
     further, for help is on the way! This year's Hankie award winner in 
     the communications utility category goes to FONDIR (distributed as 
     FONDIR59.ZIP). Granted, FONDIR is not the type of program you'll run 
     every day, but it does save endless hours of entry into 
     communication program phonebooks every time you try out a new comm 
     program. FONDIR reads from a list of phone numbers, such as a BBS 
     list, and creates a communications program dialing directory.  It's 
     very fast, and it does a bundle of translations. It supports over 20 
     different comm programs, including Boyan, Procomm, Procomm Plus, 
     Qmodem, Gt-Powercomm, Telemate, Telix, Pibterm, PC-Talk4, Rcomm, 
     K9-Express, Mirror 3, PC Anywhere, Carbon Copy Plus, A Dialer, Commo, 
     Unicom, Ultiterm and Pilot. FONDIR performs long distance, local, 
     and metro EMS dial conversions, handles modem speed adjustments, 
     transfer protocol selections, and allows you directly to import or 
     export phone numbers from those national BBS phone number lists 
     you've seen around on BBS's. If the only thing keeping you from 
     trying out a new comm program is the fear of typing in all those 
     phone numbers, then download FONDIR and let your fingers do the 
     walking ... somewhere other than on your keyboard. 

     Best Games and Educational Software

     This year, I'd like to combine these two awards into one, general 
     achievement award for Apogee's software. Apogee makes some of the 
     most entertaining and graphically sophisticated game software you 
     can find. Most Apogee games are distributed in this form: #1NAME.ZIP. 
     <U>#1<D> identifies the program as the first of a multi-part game. 
     Usually, <U>#1<D> is shareware, while other numbers are mailed to 
     you after you register the program. The kids have enjoyed playing 
     "Captain Keen" probably the most of all the non-educational games 
     that Apogee distributes. If you're tired of Mario, or you've had too
     many turtles, try one of Apogee's different and challenging games 
     for your kids. 

     Now, as any parent knows, finding educational software that can 
     teach and also can be configured for your child's developmental 
     level is a tough chore indeed. Years ago, one of the local computer 
     stores would let you open up the software (in the store) and try it 
     out before you bought it, just to see if your child could 
     understand how to use it. Well, those days are gone, and the only 
     try-before-you-buy-it software that exists is shareware. There are 
     many educational games out there, but most revolve around the old 
     "drill and practice" approach. 

     If you're looking for something a bit different, try Math Rescue by 
     Apogee (distributed as #1MATH.ZIP). Episode #1 (shareware) allows 
     your child to follow the Gruzzles into space. Depending on the game 
     level (and the age of your child), you can configure Math Rescue to 
     present up to 100 new word problems, including multiplication, 
     division, addition, and subtraction. There are fifteen new worlds to 
     explore, with each requiring a bit of hand-eye co-ordination and 
     math skills in order to advance. There are three levels to play, 
     including one perfect for the pre-schooler because it doesn't require
     any math at all in order to play. Math Rescue is programmed by Karen 
     Crowther, the author of two other games, "Word Rescue" and 
     "Talking ABC's." The artists, Jimmie and Dale Homburg, and the 
     writer, Maya Watson, are students working on college degrees. What 
     I like most about Math Rescue is its excellent use of graphics, the 
     ease with which it plays, and the lack of a time-clock. Without time, 
     a pre-schooler feels quite comfortable both playing and learning from 
     Math Rescue. It would be hard to imagine a better game for your child 
     that you could buy in a store. 

     Hankie Award Considerations

     As a winner of a Hankie, each software author receives my gratitude 
     for writing programs that have saved me time, helped me solve a 
     difficult problem, or made me laugh a bit. Please, if you like any of 
     these programs, or use shareware regularly, take the time to 
     register your program with the author. This keeps the shareware 
     concept viable for all of us. If you're interested in any of these 
     programs, check your BBS for the filenames I listed above. If you 
     have any questions about modems, computer hardware, or digital 
     communications, drop me a line. Write to Hank Volpe, PO Box 43214, 
     Baltimore, MD 21236. You can also reach me on the Modem Doctor BBS 
     at 410-256-3631, where you will also find the files I mentioned in 
     the review above. 

