Sunlight Through The Shadows BBS News
Copyright (c) 1994, Joe DeRouen
All rights reserved



Since this is a new column, let me tell you a little bit about Sunlight
Through The Shadows BBS. First and foremost, it's a support BBS for the
magazine. It's also far more than that, as nearly 300 faithful users can
attest.

STTS BBS is ran on TriBBS v5.1 software (registered, of course), a 33Mhz
80386 DX computer, two IDE hard drives (120 meg and 170 meg), a Zoom
14.4k Fax/Modem, and a VGA monitor. Soon, it'll be hooked up via a LAN
to a 50Mhz 80486 DX with half a gig of storage space.

It's run on one phone line, and the number is (214) 620-8793. At some
point in the near future, we hope to add another node as well as a 28.8k
Fax/Modem. 

One last thing - it's entirely free. Donations are accepted (so far,
I've only received one) but you can't buy higher access. Access is
completely, 100% FREE.

STTS BBS carries 30+ doors (games and information), a good deal of them
registered. We also carry four networks (RIME, Pen & Brush Net, World
Message Exchange, and PlanoNet) as well as a large file area. The file
area specializes in electronic magazines (carrying the entire back issue
run of several!), texts on all subjects, and shareware text adventure
games. Of course, there's also a wide variety of other programs to be
had, including BBS doors, telecommunication packages, arcade/adventure
games, offline mail readers, and more! Additionally, STTS BBS is a
support BBS for TriBBS software and carries just about all the programs
available out there for TriBBS. STTS BBS is also a regional HUB for Pen
& Brush Net (P&BNet) as well as a HUB for World Message Exchange (WME).
Lastly, we're a member of the American BBS Association. 

About 70% of the callers are from Texas, as it's a Dallas-based BBS. The
other 30%, however, are from just about everywhere else. Oklahoma,
California, Virginia, Oregon, Kansas, Illinois - you name it. We've had
several people from Canada and the UK call as well. Most of the long
distance callers are SysOps calling to download STTS Magazine every
month (those that don't get it through the net) but there's several
"just plain users" who call to participate in the message base or
download files. 

Now that I've told you a little about STTS BBS, let me tell you exactly
what this column intends to cover:

Each month, we'll discuss additions and upgrades to the BBS as well as
new door games added, nets or conferences added, and just general news
about the BBS. We'll divide it into two sections - BBS News and Net
News. With that said, away we go . . .  


BBS News: 

I've added several new registered door games to the system, including
Seth Able's great LEGEND OF THE RED DRAGON and PLANETS: THE EXPLORATION
OF SPACE games. Just yesterday, I added T&J Software's classic LEMONADE
game. T&J Software's ONLINE LEGAL ADVISOR will join the list soon.

LEGEND OF THE RED DRAGON (LORD) is by and large the most popular door on
the BBS right now, beating out the next closest (PLANETS) by nearly a
two-to-one margin. SCRABBLE, created by Christopher Hall, takes the
third place spot. READROOM (Michael Gibbs' wonderful elec. magazine
reader, without which this magazine would be in a totally different
form) grabs the fourth place slot, and to round out the top five, Jim
Samples' great word game WORD CHALLENGE. CHAT WITH SANTA, a freeware
door by Rich Waugh, (the maker of SHAMPAGE) was also a much-frequented
door during the holiday season. 

The most popular download for December was SUN9312.ZIP, the December
issue of this magazine. Number two was BGI12.ZIP, a full-color tutorial
on the Internet for novices and experts alike. Number three was MCI.ZIP,
a text file explaining MCI's new PC Connect plan. The fourth most
popular file was TBRSH102.ZIP, a companion program for THEDRAW. The
fifth most popular file was CTM9312.ZIP, ComputerTalk Magazine. 

The top five local message writers were 1) Joe DeRouen, 2) Lisa Tamara, 
3) Daniel Nations, 4) Margaret Grace, and 5) Robert McKay.

Not counting myself, Tim Bellomy contributed the most uploads, followed
by Alissa Harvey, Don Bird, Sara Levinson, and Danny Grider.



Net News:   

We've now got STTS Magazine conferences on both Pen & Brush Net
and RIME. Check 'em out! (SysOps: Please consider picking up these
conferences. On RIME, the channel number is 448. On P&BNet, IF you're
using Postlink, it's 1108. If you're *not* using Postlink, ask your HUB
SysOp)

We've also added several new conferences from WME (thanks to finding a
local HUB, Tim Bellomy's Bucket Bored BBS) as well as a few from RIME.
As always, STTS BBS carries the full line up of Pen & Brush Net
conferences.  

The top five netmail message writers were 1) Lucia Chambers, 2) Joe
DeRouen, 3) Robert McKay, 4) Brian Whatcott, and 5) Michael Gibbs. 

The top five requested files via any of the nets on STTS was 
1) SUN9312.ZIP, 2) P&BPOST.ZIP (info packet on P&BNet), 3) RDRM30.ZIP
(ReadRoom v3.0 reading door), 4) ADAMSFAQ.ZIP (text file on everything
you ever wanted to know about SF writer Doug Adams), and 5) LITES29.ZIP
(issue 29 of Bruce Diamond's movie review elec. magazine LIGHTS OUT).  

All in all, December was a great month for the BBS. If there's anything
that wasn't covered in this column that you'd like to see covered next
month, drop me a line.

