Carina II / communications / commercial
From: Michael Current (aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 05/18/92-09:12:08 PM Z
From: aa700@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Michael Current)
Subject: Carina II / communications / commercial
Date: Mon May 18 21:12:08 1992
Reprinted from Atari Interface, Vol. 4, April 1992
Carina II BBS System v2.5
-------------------------
A Great 8-bit BBS
Phillip Keen
HACE
[Note: Excerpts from the Carina literature used in this article are done
with permission of David Hunt and Shadow Software.]
Carina II represents an enormous step forward in the development of
electronic bulletin board systems (BBSes) for the Atari 8-bit computer. It is
an expandable, full-featured, customizable and easily modifiable bulletin board
system that offers power to its users and its SysOp as well!
Carina II uses what are known as Special Interest Groups (SIGs for short).
A SIG is like a mini BBS within the major BBS, which is Carina II. Each SIG
has its own message base, database, file area, game area, voting poll,
bulletin's, etc. SIGs are definable by the BBS Sysop to cover whatever topics
he/she wishes. Carina II offers 26 SIGs with up to 255 messages on-line per
SIG. The maximum number of files online is limited only by the size of the
system, which means you may store as many files for download as your drives
allow.
There are hundreds of on-line games available for the system, and many
other types of external modules available as well. A couple of handy ones
which come to mind are the On-Line Area Code Locator and the On-Line Biorhythm
Analyzer. You can even run many non-BBS programs written in BASIC with little
or no modification!
Carina Features
Among its other fine features, Carina II offers graphics support for
ATASCII, VT-52, Color ANSI and Commodore Color Graphics. Some of the Commodore
PetASCII screens are better than that of _any_ Commodore BBS itself. Plus,
with Carina, it is easy to offer almost any type of graphics online that the
Sysop should desire. It is truly a very flexible system.
Now for the Sysop's options and support. Carina II is _guaranteed not to
crash_ ( due to the fault of the program, of course)! On-line BASIC and
SpartaDOS capability let you modify the BBS or do DOS activities from
_anywhere_, with password protection for maximum security in accessing these
Sysop Commands.
Nineteen modules (programs) make up the Carina II Bulletin Board System,
with the Modem Operating Environment (MOE) and other machine language routines
giving Carina II its speed.
SigOps (people with sysop powers only in specific SIGs) and SysOps can
write "form letters" where the current user's name (or any other item of the
user's status) can be substituted in a specified location of a message or text
file.
While the user is online, there is a full-page, multi-tasking Sysop window
that allows the Sysop to modify the current user's status while they are online
without them even knowing about it.
Software and Hardware
Carina II supports 300, 1200, and 2400 baud using any Hayes-compatible,
XM301/1030, Supra or SX212 modems. And 9600 baud support is in the works. The
software supports the R-Time 8 Cartridge (which is _highly_ recommended due to
SpartaDOS bugs in the date at the end of the month), ICD's MIO, the Black Box,
850 Interface, P:R: Connectionm, and possibly many other configurations as
well. Carina II has a Printer Support Option and works with any drive that
SpartaDOS supports.
I have been working with computers for over 13 years and with bulletin
board systems for over 11 years. Carina II is by far one of the best, if not
_the best_ BBS I have seen. It is very sleek, and if you do not like the
present format, you can always modify it or use an option to style it to your
own imagination.
Drawbacks to Carina
However, with any BBS program there are always a few negative points.
Carina II is no exception. I dislike the SysOp's User Editor in the fact that
two of the prompts in the Editor are so close to identical that it is easy to
delete a user quite by accident. I did this once to one of my best friends and
did not even realize it until he left me a message complaining that his login
information would not work.
Another drawback is that Carina II is just a tiny bit slower working in
local mode than it does remotely. Although it isn't hardly noticeable, I do
notice it a tiny bit.
Carina II is also a bit more tedious and harder to set up than other
BBSes in its class. It is not a system that can be up and going within an
hour. It took me almost two weeks before my Carina II system was up and
running perfectly. It would have taken longer if it were not for the help of
Carina II's current author, David Hunt. He helped me out a great deal in
setting up Carina II. Other than these few drawbacks, Carina II is a fine BBS
program and I highly recommend it to anyone.
Carina Support
In addition to all the above, Registered Carina SysOps get _free_ access
to both US and Canadian support BBSes:
Atari Clerk BBS (713) 941-5467 (3/12/2400 baud)
Ace Of America (503) 285-4417 (3/12/2400 baud and the main Carina Support
BBS)!
The following has been excerpted from the Carina II sales literature, so
you can see a few of Carina's fine features, and also how you may order the
software.
Here is a list of _some_ of Carina II's features not mentioned previously
in this article:
o Maximum of 65,536 users
o Over 1,000,000 combinations of access
o Self-Compacting message bases
o 40/80 column support
o Page Breaks configuration
o File descriptions, keywords, etc. are displayed along with download
filenames
o Files can be marked and downloaded using a batch protocol!
o The contents of ARCed files can be viewed when Browsing or doing a
Directory of download files
o Six file transfer procotols include XModem, XModem CRC, YModem (1K X-Modem
CRC), YModem Batch, C-Modem Batch and ASCII. Other transfer protocols are
available
o Free upload time given
o Files can only be downloaded if the user has enough time
o Up to 26 voting polls can be online within each SIG (676 polls total)
o Message bases have full threading and "random access" capability
o Messages are tagged as "received" after the recipient has read them
o True Electronic Mail and Electronic File-Mail (files can be sent to
individual users just like E-Mail)
o Databases and Games using submenus (up to 3,328 databases)
o Single-letter (hotkey) input now available as well as macros or English
input!
o Built-in terminal program with file transfer capability
o Networking ability is available free! Multiple Networks to choose from!!
To run Carina II, you need SpartaDos 3.2 or greater and at least 500K of
storage capacity. (Two XF551 floppy drives, for instance.) An R-Time 8
Cartridge is highly recommended (it's nice to have an accurate clock and
proper date setting).
Carina II was originally developed by Jerry Horanoff. The software is now
owned and programmed by David Hunt, owner of Shadow Software, with
modifications available from a wide variety of other Sysops who run Carina II.
Carina II v2.5 is now available for only $50 plus $5 S/H, and that is less
expensive than it has ever before been offered. Shadow Software has been
bringing you the best for _less_ since 1979. In the Shadow Software tradition,
with the purchase of Carina II, the price was _lowered_ while support took a
_large step forward_. There is now more support for Carina II than there has
ever been in the past, and at a reduced price!
To order Carina II:
David Hunt
8023 N. Berkeley, Box 2
Portland, OR 97203
[About the author: Phillip Keen is the SysOp of Atari Clerk BBS in
Houston, Texas, Phone: (713)-941-5467.]
--
Michael Current, Cleveland Free-Net 8-bit Atari SIGOp -->> go atari8 <<--
The Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG is the Central Atari Information Network
Internet: currentm@carleton.edu / UUCP: ...!umn-cs!ccnfld!currentm
BITNET: currentm%carleton.edu@{interbit} / Cleveland Free-Net: aa700
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