Hi Mark,   
      
   >> This is what shortith should look like:   
      
   >> cat shortith   
      
   >> _`/"".-.     Light Snow   
   >> ,\_(   ).   21 - 28 #F   
   >> /(___(__)  ? 8 mph   
   >> *  *  *  9 mi   
   >> *  *  *   0.0 in   
      
   > i do get all of that except i also have ANSI sequences so the sun is yellow,   
   > the clouds are grey and the snow is white...   
      
   Yes, same here.   
      
   > instead of using awk, why don't you just use   
      
   > head -n 7 ithaca   
      
   That does work well, thanks :)  I am not sure though that head is going to   
   work for all OS's that may be running bbbs.  I am pretty sure curl works for   
   all though (I think ).   
      
   > or even   
      
   > head -n 7 ithaca | tail -n 6   
      
   > if you do not want the "Weather for City: Ithaca, United States of America"   
   > line?   
      
   I do, though I figured without it, it's not a problem to use a printf to put   
   it there once I get this darn thing going Lol   
      
   Take care,   
   Janis   
      
   --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-3   
    * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38)