**>> SPYNET BULLETIN  
**>> EARTHDATE 91.04.21  
**>> AN H-by-A SERVICE  
  
  
**>> UNRELIABLE EQUIPMENT! 
 
Never trust guarantees. As you probably remember, it was only a month or so
ago that the H-by-A newsdroid broke down and had to have a complete overhaul.
On that occasion, Samantha kindly stepped in at the last minute and wrote the
news. The mechanics assured us they had fixed the problem, and guaranteed
their work against further breakdowns. 
 
You can imagine our suprise, then, when last weekend we pressed the Big Red
Button that normally causes the newsdroid to spring into action, and instead
of another scintillating, fact-filled news report all it would produce was
some bad poetry! We were not amused. 
 
We contacted the mechanics about their so-called guarantee, and they promised
to get someone out to look at the droid. Unfortunately, this left us without a
news reporter for last week's bulletin. 
 
Such was our desperation that we were forced to let Our Illustrious Leader
write the news! We do apologise for this. We realise that what she produced
was just not up to the high standards you are used to seeing from the H-by-A
team, but she did her best, mediocre though that best is. 
 
Anyway, the mechanics poked around inside the newsdroid, and declared it fixed
again. When we pointed out that they had guaranteed it wouldn't break down
again, they just laughed! You just can't get the staff these days... 
 
Anyway, without further ado, here is this week's news. 
 
 
 **>> BIRTHS, DEATHS AND PROMOTIONS 
 
George made Explorer and is now starting to design his very own planet. 
 
Mouse made JP. We haven't heard any screams of anguish yet, so we assume he
hasn't started on the fiendish GM puzzle. 
 
Ghost, returned from the dead, is back to GM already! That's impressive; it
just goes to show that you should never underestimate the power of experience. 
 
Jimhuge is reputed to be "ready for JP". Look out for large smoking craters
where the Martian Ruins used to be! 
 
Sadly, both Otoole and Samantha have left Fed Data Space. Samantha left her
huge wealth to a lucky Poor Person (not so poor now!) but Otoole, the meany,
decided not to distribute his money before he died. Bad luck to all you who
were waiting with a begging bowl in one hand and a knife in the other! 
 
We hope they will, one day, decide to visit Fed Data Space again. 
 
Masher is also leaving, but we hope it is only for a few months. Hurry back,
Masher! 
 
 
 **>> BELLA'S BIT 
 
Our Illustrious Leader is continuing to make changes to Fed Data Space.
Perhaps the most noticable change is to the WHO list. Far be it from us to
mock, but have you noticed that every time Bella decides to change the way the
WHO list is displayed it goes through about six different incarnations before
she gets it right? 
 
This time, she wanted to leave room for the name of a player's planet to be
shown. So it's out with the double-column look, back to the old way with one
person on each line. But she's also managed to get it back to front! The ship
name comes first, followed by the player name - and channels they are tuned to
are right on the left! Or do we mean left on the right? She assured us that it
is deliberate. 
 
If you are spying on someone, and you ask for a WHO listing, the name of the
person you are spying on will appear in CAPITAL LETTERS - just in case you've
forgotten! 
 
You'll also notice that a person's sex is indicated when you ask for a Spynet
Report on them. 
 
When your ship bumps into another in space, you will not only be told the name
of the ship, but also the class. The classes are as follows: 
 
     HULL SIZE          CLASS 
        a)              Fleet 
        b)              Harrier 
        c)              Mesa 
        d)              Dragon 
        e)              Guardian 
        f)              Mammoth 
        g)              Imperial 
 
So if you get told that a Mammoth has just entered the sector, it does not
mean that a large woolly elephant has somehow learnt to fly! 
 
 
 **>> PROBLEM TIME 
 
A strange problem suddenly appeared a few days ago. People were getting timed
out as soon as they entered Fed Data Space. This was a symptom of the general
s-l-o-w ness that GEnie has been suffering recently, and with any luck the
problem has now been solved. 
 
Another strange problem is proving a little more baffling. Some people have
been reporting that long messages from the game are getting truncated - for
example, if they check their cargo or their warehouse, the response gets cut
off before the end. What seems to be happening is that if you send a BREAK
character (usually a CTRL-C) it shortens the amount of space allocated to
messages - so they get shortened as well! The break can be sent if you have
bad line noise. 
 
If this is happening, the only way to cure it is to log out of GEnie
completely. Just leaving Fed won't fix the problem. 
 
Frankly, we're stumped by this one. It is something to do with the
interactions between GEnie and Fed itself, but we just don't know what. Comms
truly IS a black art! 
 
 
 **>> EXTRACTS FROM THE TYPO FILE 
 
Here are some of the questions players have left in the typo file. 
 
     Please have a flag to turn off maydays!!!! 
 
If your ship gets shot at, either by another player, or by a mobile, and your
computer is on manual, then you will send out a mayday message. All other
players will receive this message - provided they have their comms units on!
If you are doing something and you really don't want to be interrupted by
maydays, just go <COMMSOFF> and you won't be disturbed. 
 
     Whenever I try to fire my Twin Lasers, it says something like " 
     NO POWER AVAILIBLE FOR LASERS" 
 
Lasers and twin lasers need power to run them. This power is drawn from the
engines of the ship. Shields also draw power, and a certain amount of power is
needed to drive the ship itself. If your engines are not big enough then you
won't be able to fire your lasers. You will need to install larger engines. 
 
Bear in mind, too, that if your engines get damaged in a fight your lasers
might suddenly not work. 
 
     My shields keep switching off when fighting 
 
See the above answer. If your engines get damaged, there might not be enough
power left to drive the shields. 
 
     I had a spybeam and now its gone -  I did not sell ship 
 
When your ship gets shot at, there is a chance that the shot might hit some
other part of your ship - including your spybeam! If this happens, you will
see a message telling you that it has just melted into a pool of molten metal.
You'll just have to buy a new one. 
 
      If I send a tight-beam to someone who isn't online that contains 
      another persona's name in the tight-beam sentence, the tight-beam 
      goes to the person in the sentence, rather than saying "your comms 
      remains obstinately silent" 
 
That could be extremely embarrassing! It is a known bug, and will be fixed
Real Soon Now. In the meantime, you'll just have to be a bit more careful
about not talking to people who aren't there! (It used to be worse... once
upon a time, the tight-beam would go to the person you were talking about,
instead of the person you were talking to, even if they WERE online! We all
had to make sure we mis-spelt people's names when talking about them.) 
 
      Whenever a reward is posted, it debits 30-60 times what the reward 
      is!!!! 
 
Yes, it's supposed to. The bigger the difference between the ranks, the more
the reward will cost you to post. In addition, if a higher player posts a
reward on a lower player, it costs ten times as much. This stops people
putting rewards on unless they really mean it! 
 
 
 **>> NEWS, GOSSIP, SCANDAL AND LIES 
 
We need your stories! Please tell us about your promotions, and about anything
else you think would interest the other players. Our sources are assured of
anonymity if they so request. If you give us a really HOT story, we'll pay you
in groats! 
 
 
 **>>CONTACTS   
   
The following information will appear at the end of every News Bulletin, so  
you don't have to read it if you already know it.   
   
In the event of a problem or question, you can:   
   
 * talk to Hazed, Cryptosporidium, Bella or Clem in the game   
   
 * leave a <TYPO> message in the game log   
  
 * send mail with the Federation Feedback option from the main menu   
   
You can order a copy of the unexpurgated printed Idiot's Guide to  
Federation II by typing ORDER at any GEnie menu. Cost - a mere $12.95.   
   
Federation II has a category in the new MPGames RT. To get there, type M1045,1  
from any menu prompt and SET category 14. The Federation II Leader in the 
bulletin board is Occy (Mail ID: OCPAC).  
  
The MPGames RT also has a Federation II library in the files area, Library 5.   
   
 **>> BULLETIN ENDS