±±±±±±±±±±Ü ±±±±Ü ±±Ûß±±Ûß±±Û ±±Ûß ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±±±Ü ±±±±±±±Ü ±±±±Ü ±±Û ±±±±Ü ±±±±±Ü±±Ü ±±Ü ±±Ü ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Ûß ±±Ûß±±Û ±±Ûß ±±Û ±±Ûß ±±Û±±Û±±Û ±±Û ±±Ûß ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û±±Û±±Û ±±±±±Ûß ±±Û ßß ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ±±Ü ±±Û ±±Û±±Û±±Û ±±Ûß±±Û ±±±±Û ±±±±Û ±±±±Û ±±±±±±±Û ±±±±Û ±±±±±±±±±Û ±±±±Û ±±Û±±±±±Û ±±Û ±±Û ßßßß ßßßß ßßßß ßßßßßßß ßßßß ßßßßßßßßß ßßßß ßß ßßßßß ßß ßß SOME NOTES ON MIDILINK MIDI BBS NETWORK and Network BBS Etiquette 1. A LITTLE HISTORY First there was the Washington MIDI Users Group BBS. When then Sysop Chris Bosshardt moved to Chicago and established the Sound Management Music BBS, he got lonely for his friends in Washington, and we set up a network to exchange messages between our two BBS's. Chris left Sound Management in the capable hands of Dave Nosek and moved on to Los Angeles and a vacation from Sysopping. Dave liked the idea of networking and within a year, began adding other boards to the network. MIDILINK has been growing. 2. WHAT NETWORKING MEANS and HOW IT WORKS What the network does, simply stated, is to create common message bases among all the BBS's that participate in the network. Not all participating BBS's carry all of the conferences, but, in general, any message left on this BBS will appear in an appropriate conference on all the other BBS's in the network. This means that you now have access via BBS message to fellow MIDI enthusiasts in other parts of the country. You'll find that people use different software and different computers on other places, and have different sets of problems and interests. It's kind of exciting. The way it all works is that some time in the middle of the night, the BBS runs a utility program which puts all the new messages in a single packet, calls the hub BBS, uploads that packet, and downloads a packet of new messages from other BBS's on the network. It then unpacks them, puts them into the conferences where they belong, and they're there for you to read the next day. Since everything has to go through the hub, there can be up to a two day delay in getting a message turned around, but, heck, it's faster than US Mail. The network relays messages only. We make no attempt to duplicate each other's files, so you might discussions on another BBS which mention some file that doesn't exist here. Files can be transferred through the network, but we don't do it very often, and never on large files, since it costs us money in long distance phone charges. If you're interested in a file that isn't here, leave a message to the sysop of the BBS where it is located, and he'll either ship it over the network or mail it by disk. We try to cooperate. 3. KEEPING IT UNDER CONTROL Along with the advantages of having message exchange with other BBS's throughout the country go some added responsibilities. Remember, with the network growing, the message bases grow, and not everyone will have time to read all the messages. It's more important than ever now to be aware of the different conferences on this BBS, and to be sure that you leave messages in the most appropriate conference. When people call a special interest BBS or join a specialized conference, they expect to see messages about a specific topic. It's difficult to draw clear lines, since there's such a close relationship between software and hardware in our field, but with just a little thought, you can keep messages, for example, about digital copying of DAT tapes out of the IBM MIDI conference and in the RECORDING conference. Just keep this in the back of your mind and nobody's kneecaps will get broken. Also, try to keep message header SUBJECT consistent with the topic of the message. It doesn't take long, through repeated back-and-forth replies, for a message to get waaaaaaaay off the subject unless someone does something consciously to alleviate it. Be aware that on most BBS's, you are prompted for a SUBJECT, even when replying to a message. The default SUBJECT for a reply is always the same as the message to which you are replying. If the default SUBJECT is, say, Cakewalk CAL, but the message you're writing is really about D-10 Patches, please edit the SUBJECT field. You may even realize that the response really should be in another conference. We sysops don't want to be cops, so doing your part to keep the messages on topic will make it easier to read message threads and locate messages on particular topics. 4. PRIVATE MESSAGES, LOCAL MESSAGES, AND RELATED STUFF PRIVATE MAIL: You can exchange private (Receiver Only) messages through the network. Since all messages (unless they're routed, see below) go to all BBS's in the network, the relay software on the receiving end needs to know whether or not to keep a private message. No point in keeping it if it's addressed to someone on another BBS, right? It does this by looking at a "mailbox" file, and dumps the message if the addressee isn't on the list. If you expect to receive private messages, be sure to set up a mailbox. You do this by entering a simple message in any conference, addressed to PCRELAY, with the word ADD in the first line, like this: TO: PCRELAY SUBJECT: MAILBOX _______________________________________________ ADD Some BBS's may give you a message telling you that PCRELAY is not a user on the system. Don't worry, just go ahead and leave the message anyway. The next day (after 4 AM) you'll be on the mailbox list. It's all automatic. Before you send a private message to someone on another BBS, you might want to leave him a public message first, asking if he's set up a mailbox. Otherwise, you might not get a reply, because he won't see your message. NON-RELAYED MESSAGES: If you pay attention to the prompts when you're entering a message, you'll see one that says "Echo to other systems?". The default is , but if you answer , your message won't go to other BBS's. This is useful for messages which are of only local interest, and helps keep clutter down on the network. If you're leaving a private message for someone on this BBS, set the echo off - no sense sending it out only to be dumped by all the other BBS's. If you're using an off-line reader such as EZ-Reader, you don't have this option. Don't worry about it. ROUTED MESSAGES: You can send a message that will go to only one BBS in the network by "routing" it. The routing addresses of the BBS's in this network are listed at the end of this bulletin, but it's also part of the tagline in every message that's come through the network. For example, PCRelay:SNDMGMT -> #618 MIDILINK MUSICIANS' NETWORK This identifies this message as one that originated from Sound Management BBS, and it's routing code is SNDMGMT, the name right after "PCRelay:". To route a message, put the routing address on the first line of the text of the message, preceded by "->" (hyphen, greater-than symbol), for example: TO: DAVE NOSEK SUBJECT: ROUTED MESSAGES _______________________________________________ ->SNDMGMT Hi, Dave. I'm experimenting with routed messages. Did anyone else get this one? 5. CONFERENCES These are the conferences on this BBS, most of which are carried by the other MIDILINK BBS's. Not all boards carry all the conferences. Use this as a guide for deciding where to enter a message. Conference name Subject MAIN Things that don't fit anywhere else IBM IBM MIDI Software and hardware APPLE Apple/Mac MIDI Software and hardware COMMODOR Commodore/Amiga MIDI Software and hardware ST-ATARI Atari ST MIDI Software and hardware FORSALE Musical things for sale or trade - lets try not to load this one up with computer parts, used cars, and dining room tables. Non-MIDI instruments and studio equipment are fine. GENERICS Instruments, utilities, patches, music, and in general, things that are not computer specific RECORDING Recording and Audio PROGRAMMING MIDI Programming (computer) SAMPLING Samplers and sampling PERSONNEL General discussions about computers, operating systems, politics, concerts, software, business, etc. that don't involve MIDI. COLLAB Song writer's/music collaboration conference 6. MIDILINK BBS's Name Location Sysop Routing --------------------------------------------------------------- Sound Management Music BBS Mundelein, IL Dave Nosek SNDMGMT WMUG Washington MIDI Users Grp. Falls Church, VA Mike Rivers MIDI Taste BBS Brooklyn, NY Max Bernard TASTE St.Louis MIDI Users Lake St. Louis, MO Rik Brown TRAVEL Union Lake BBS Millville, NJ UNION Llama Bob's BBS Dallas, TX Tim Hoffman LLAMA HyperLinc West BBS Moraga, CA Jake Essl HYPER A-V Sync BBS Atlanta, GA Bill Tullis AVSYNC Hub-City BBS Nanaimo, Canada George Joubin CITYHUB HOT BBS Tennessee Larry Reeves HOT Fleming BBS Peterborough,Canada Mike Sage FLEMING The MIDI Exchange Toronto, Canada Tom Thayer MIDIEX MIDIMaze BBS Chattanooga, TN Lee Smith MIDIMAZE