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DECNEWS.TXT
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1986-12-10
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Page 1
FARGO IBM-PC USERS GROUP
NEWSLETTER
DECEMBER 1986
Meeting Notes--------------------------------------------------------1
User Survey: Where do I Go?------------------------------------------1
Shareware: FASTYP22.ARC----------------------------------------------3
EGA Notes: ----------------------------------------------------------4
BASIC: Reading the Clock---------------------------------------------4
Editor's Corner------------------------------------------------------5
Need Floppy Disks?---------------------------------------------------5
User Group Officers--------------------------------------------------5
Uploads 11/4-12/9/86-------------------------------------------------5
** MEETINGS **
The Fargo IBM-PC User Group meets the third Monday of every month at
7:00 p.m. Our current meeting place is the classroom located in
Bethany Homes, 201 University Drive South, Fargo. Meetings are free
to the public and new computer owners are encouraged to attend.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
MEETING NOTES
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Our November meeting was an informal dialogue regarding resources
for hardware, software, and services. We discussed the place of the
Users Group in the community and ways in which we can better serve PC
users in our community. We also explored ways to improve our
relationship with local hardware and software dealers. (See the
article below.)
A few individuals brought hardware and software bargains to the
meeting as part of our swap sale.
In December Karl Peterson will give us a shake down cruise through
the Novell local area network operating system. If you want to learn
how microcomputers can be trained to work together, you'll want to
make this meeting.
In January we plan a demonstration of the NorthStar Dimension
computer, courtesy of Software Solutions, Ltd. This is a multi-user
PC compatible that is finding a niche where many minis used to
dominate. Our president expects you will be impressed with the
performance of this machine.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
WHERE DO I GO?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
One feature of our November meeting was an informal survey of
members present indicating reliable sources of hardware and software.
The sampling was not statistically significant, but for what it was
worth, here are the results of the users who provided information:
1) The average user group member has done business with 4.6
different local retailers and 1.5 mail order merchandisers.
2) Local computer retailers mentioned (in order of frequency) were
:
-Computerland of Fargo (12)
-CBI Computer Services (10)
-Daytons Computer Depot (8)
-Radio Shack (8)
-Computer Associates (7)
-Digital Hospital (7)
-Red River Computers (4)
-Systematics (4)
-Software House (4)
-Fargo Paper (3)
Page 2
-A-1 Olson (1)
-Computer 1 (1)
3) Mail Order firms mentioned in order of frequency were:
-PC Connection (3)
-Logisoft (3)
-PC's Limited (2)
-Priority 1 (2)
-CompuAdd (2)
-Warehouse Data Products (2)
-Computer Mail Order (1)
-Conroy La Pointe (1)
-Northeastern Software (1)
-US Disk (1)
-Bittner (1)
-Leo Electronics (1)
-XEBEC (1)
-47th St. Computer (1)
If this sample is even somewhat representative, it indicates that
our Users Group members give local retailers a lion's share of their
patronage. It also shows that most members buy from more than one
local retailer. Radio Shack, for example, seems to be the place to
buy odd parts. Users tend to turn to other major dealers for
hardware and peripherals.
Mail order firms seem to grab only a small segment of the user's
dollar--items line RAM chips and occasional software purchases.
Local retailers seem to be well-liked, as the following remarks
indicate:
Computerland--
"will make it right"
"good technical backup if you have problems"
"best service techs"
"technical"
Dayton's Computer Depot--
"helpful, & I have confidence in Gary Fleltis"
"good salesmen"
"good folks--credit card"
CBI--
"OK too"
"[good source of] computer paper and ribbons"
"very professional"
"good stock, good employees"
Red River Computers--
"good service"
"friendly staff"
Computer Associates--
"[good source of] disk containers"
"helpful and backup"
"reasonable"
Systematics--
"knowledge"
Fargo Paper--
"best prices on paper"
Software House
"prices"
These remarks bear out the traditional maxim that customers still
respond to retailers who care about them and who offer help. None of
Page 3
the comments evidenced loyalty to any brand of hardware. Confidence
in the dealer seems to rank first.
Another possible trend is that users confined price to discussions
of purchases like paper, disks, and software. Price was not as
significant a factor regarding hardware. Again, confidence and trust
in the dealer seems to be the deciding factor.
Very few remarks were made regarding mail-order suppliers. The
clear winner was PC-Connection, which was praised for its fast service
on software purchases by three of those surveyed.
One question on the survey asked, "How can the users group make a
positive impact on local computer retailers?" Responses included the
following suggestions:
--arrange mass purchases
--invite them to meetings (3 responses)
--include dealers in group activities
--inform dealers of group "direction"
When asked how retailers might contribute to the users group,
suggestions included:
--come to the meetings with demos of products (4 responses)
--offer discounts or specials
--make information available on new equipment and products (2
responses)
What's your opinion? If you didn't get a chance to respond and
would like to share your viewpoint, drop a note to me or leave a
comment on the bulletin board.
-- J. L.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
SHAREWARE: FASTYP22.ARC
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Touch typing is one of those skills high schools should have taught
all college-bound students. I still remember the helplessness of
graduate students who could peck along at no more than three words per
minute. They breathlessly waited for a freshman girl to return their
typewritten manuscript, only to discover she couldn't spell,
punctuate, or read their handwriting.
Though PC's simplify the process, they don't eliminate the need to
be as efficient as possible with keyboard input. The flagship program
for typing instruction must be Typing Tutor III. One recent upload,
FASTYP22.ARC (114K), does an admirable job of presenting various
levels of drills designed to measure and improve typing speed. The
ARC file contains 55 independent files, most of them drills.
The program requires 64K of RAM, a CGA (Color Graphics) adapter
card, DOS 2.x or higher. It is assumes the user has the original IBM-
PC style keyboard. For regular typing, any keyboard will do, but I
found it responding properly to my non-IBM keyboard when I added
options like the tilde key.
The documentation is designed for someone who knows very little
about DOS and is good for the novice user.
You can toggle the sounds for invalid keystrokes on and off. FAS-
TYPE also allows you to choose the disk for your files. I couldn't
run it from my RAMdisk G, however--it only recognizes drives A through
E.
FAS-TYPE divides the screen into two windows. The top window
displays the text you are to type. The bottom window shows your
keyboard layout.
Page 4
The program makes extensive use of the function keys. F10 begins a
drill. You can choose the keys groups you wish to be drilled on by
selecting between "Letters", "Numbers", "Symbols", and "Caps". In
addition, you can customize the keys you with to drill on. The
program will not let you gloss over an error since the cursor will not
advance to the next character until you successfully type the
designated character.
You can add drills of your own design, so long as you place no
more than 39 characters on a line and use the guidelines in the manual
to name the file. No more than six lines per file are permitted.
The one characteristic I didn't like about FAS-TYPE was the way it
took over the system clock in order to calculate your typing speed.
You have to reset the system clock when exiting this program.
FAS-TYPE's 46 page document file covers anything you would want to
know about this basic program. FAS-TYPE (2.1) is the product of
Trendtech Corporation, P.O. Box 3687, Wayne, New Jersey 07470. Users
are requested to provide shareware support of $20 for the product.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EGA NOTES
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Richard Zaylskie provided me with some information on the enhanced
graphic adapter (EGA) cards which are becoming increasingly popular
with users. Though I didn't understand all the technical remarks of
PC Tech Journal, I managed to glean some useful insights from the
material.
One point to consider when shopping for an EGA card is that there
are basically two different types to consder.
The first kind of card is the least expensive ($220-$595). It uses
reverse engineering to emulate IBM's EGA card. BUT this card is only
guaranteed to work in EGA mode. It will gag on some software that is
looking for color graphics output. This board will support the EGA-
specific features of programs like Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word,
Lotus 1-2-3, etc. If all your software works with the EGA, you need
nothing else. Otherwise--especially with games--be cautious! Boards
in this category include products from AST, Basic Time, Genoa, PCs
Limited, STB and Techmar.
The second class of EGA boards emulate CGA and Hercules display as
well as the IBM EGA standard. If your software is not EGA-specific,
you may wish to consider one of these higher-priced ($460-$899), more
flexible boards. Manufacturers producing boards in this category
include Everex, NSI, Orchid, Paradise, Sigma Designs, Tseng,
Quadram/Video7, and Vutek.
Recommendations vary according to the reviewer. PC Tech Journal
favors Tseng's $525 EVA. PC-World notes that Quadram's $495 EGA+ is
the largest selling EGA board. PC-Magazine likes Techmar's $395 EGA
Master.
One other factor to consider is the longevity of the "EGA
Standard." Rumors abound that IBM is planning to move frome the 640 x
350 resolution of the EGA to a 640 x 480 resolution available through
faster chips now produced by Intel and Texas Instruments. Will
software developers migrate to increasing resolution, stick with CGA,
or settle in at EGA? --J.L.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
BASIC: Reading the Time
----------------------------------------------------------------------
It's been a long time since we've included anything on basic. If
you have some good short programs or subroutines, let us know! Here's
a little program that illustrates how to read the system clock and
Page 5
display the time. It would be useful as a utility or could be
modified as a timer in a game program.
10 SCREEN 0:WIDTH 80:CLS
20 LOCATE 1,1:PRINT "TIME: "
30 LOCATE 1,46:PRINT "Press any key to end."
40 IF INKEY$<>"" THEN END
50 IF VAL(LEFT$(TIME$,2))<13 THEN TH$=TIME$:APM$=" a.m." ELSE 80
60 IF LEFT$(TH$,2)="00" THEN TH$="12"+MID$(TIME$,3,8)
70 GOTO 100
80 A=VAL(LEFT$(TIME$,2)):Z=A-12:Z$=STR$(Z)
90 TH$=Z$+MID$(TIME$,3,8):APM$=" p.m."
100 LOCATE 1,9:PRINT TH$+APM$:LOCATE 1,9
120 IF INT(TIMER)<>LAST THEN LAST=INT(TIMER):GOTO 40 ELSE 100
----------------------------------------------------------------------
EDITOR'S CORNER
----------------------------------------------------------------------
In our discussion at the November meeting, we wrestled with that
"hacker" stereotype that so often clings to users groups. In contrast
to the media image, our users group is not a hang-out for teenage
electronic vandals. I would guess the average age of those who attend
our meeting would be about 33. Most of us are married. Some are
retired. We hold positions that would be highly regarded in the
community (law, insurance, accounting, retailing, advertising,
education, farming, government service, administration, etc.). More
than anything, we want good--not free--products. We will patronize
dealers who will help us get things done with the hardware and
software they service and sell. No fancy promises. No gimmicks. And
we want to help other users who are floundering in the electronic
jungle, duplicating our past mistakes and headaches.
If we can convey this message to the computer merchandizers in our
community, all of us will profit.
--Jim Levitt
----------------------------------------------------------------------
NEED FLOPPY DISKS?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The User Group has a limited supply of DS/DD 360K floppy disks
available. These come with tyvek sleeves and have a lifetime
guarantee. Your cost is only 75 cents each. Contact Loren if
interested.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
USER GROUP OFFICERS
----------------------------------------------------------------------
President & Sysop-----Loren Jones
Vice-President------James Grettum
Librarian----------Calvin Paulson
Newsletter Ed.---------Jim Levitt
Treasurer-------------Loren Jones
Printing----------------TLC Press
Address: Box 9121, Fargo ND 58109
Newsletter Address: c/o Jim Levitt, Box 97, Wolverton, MN 56594
User Group Phone: 1-701-280-2608
----------------------------------------------------------------------
HACK.ARC 252K UNIX Hack game for PC. Super game!!!
TIMSAV26.ARC 130K *IME Saver v2.6 Calendar/Appt. Mgr - VG!!
DB3LOGO.ARC 1K Make the logo stuff disappear
MARKS.ARC 34K *Teacher's grading recorder
Page 6
DYNAPACK.ARC 17K Fast pack dBase files from DOS
DB3PLUS.PAT 1K Remove startup/ending message for dB3+
RISK.ARC 100K Risk - Just like the board game
RATKEY20.ARC 8K TSR key redefiner v2.01, 10/23/86, A.Lin
BOX.COM 2K Rotating box on screen
720KDISK.ARC 6K How to use 360K disk as 720K on AT w/DOS 3.2
MTASK.ARC 16K Two partition multi-tasking
PC-ARENA.ARC 50K *Play Othello with a friend by modem!
FILEIT.ARC 23K Pop-up quick reference bibliographic tool
SST-V201.ARC 44K *SeekStopper to unfragment hard disk files
FIXFAT.ARC 32K Recover lost files & repair damaged FAT
ZOOPLAN1.ARC 19K Response to critics by author of ZOO
MTGPAY.ARC 19K Mortgage calculator - Lotus .WKS worksheet
PCPURST.ARC 11K Info on Telenet's PC-Pursuit - cheap modeming
NT.EXE 10K BestDirectory Tree program around!
WRDPRF42.ARC 11K Brief description of WordPerfect 4.2
GALXY13.ARC 105K Galaxy V 1.3 Great Word Processor
GRCP2.ARC 27K TSR Graphics Cut & Paste Ver. 2.0
PCOPY51.ARC 58K Artiquin's COPY util ver. 5.1 - GREAT for HD
COOKIE.ARC 30K Collected wit for software engineers
CONSTIT.ARC 19K US Constitution (latest ver.) full text
QDR26.ARC 5K Vern Buerg's Diskette Reformatter-update
LBARGEN.ARC 19K Generates lite-bar menu code for dBase III
QMOD-KER.ARC 7K Use Kermit protocol with Qmodem 2.x RdB
ASDKEYS.ARC 13K Keyboard macro utility
OPTMENU.ARC 2K Adds Lotus style menus to dBase iII+
HEADER.ARC 16K Prints dBaseIII file structure to a file
DB3STR.ARC 10K Display DB3 file structure without DB3
DB3SCR1.ARC 4K Makes boxes fast in dBase III
GT1012-1.ARC 95K GT PowerComm v10.12 comm prg - 1 of 3
GT1012-2.ARC 95K GT PowerComm v10.12 comm prg - 2 of 3
GT1012-3.ARC 45K GT PowerComm v10.12 comm prg - 3 of 3
LASTRUN.ARC 5K Nice IF..GOTO date check for autoexec.bat
QFILER23.ARC 87K QFILER v2.3 - great file/disk mgmt util!
LAWBBSFD.ARC 6K Frolic & Detour listing of law BBS's
FLIP.ARC 4K Flips graphics screen after n minutes!
DEDMATIC.ARC 126K Deduct-a-Matic computer usage tracker
FASTYP22.ARC 144K Fas-Type v.2.2 typing teacher
INSULTS.ARC 25K Generates 22 million insults for pranksters
CHECMATE.ARC 198K Great Checkbook/home financial manager!
CTSA1186.NWS 29K Newletter & BBS list CenTex Sysop Assn.
COBOL.ARC 61K NPS Micro-COBOL v.2.1 - COBOL for 8088
PCOLIGHT.DQC 1K Use Lightning with PCOutline.
DYMV.ARC 4K Monitor memory while program is active.
INV1.ARC 17K Inventory program for dBaseIII+
CHXWRITE.ARC 110K Checkbook Manager/check writer
HBMS13.ARC 85K Home Budget Mgmt. Sys v1.3 easy,complete
MAXICRAS.ARC 98K Best Checkbook/home finances manager !
MORCOST3.ARC 20K Mortgage Cost Calc. w/ points/taxes/etc!
KEYS.ARC 13K Interesting graphics demo - nicely done!
GOLDEN.ARC 31K *Collection of handy DOS utilities
COMSH.ARC 72K *Comm.Shell-enhance comm. capabilities
MC.ARC 20K *MultipleChoice-keep three programs in memory
PCGAZ109.ARC 79K PC GAZETTE Electronic Magazine - Nov 86!
MONOP60.ARC 74K *MONOPOLY v6.0 10/86 c/g game - best seen
IMPRT132.ARC 115K IMPRINT v1.32 LQ fonts for IBM/Epsons VG
ROLEX.ARC 40K Watch Display for EGA 256K only!
CHIWRITE.ARC 148K Scientific editor with 10 fonts
Page 7
NOVNEWS.ARC 13K Nov 86 Fargo Users Group Newsletter
PCSHELL.ARC 66K UNIX-like shell for DOS
QFONE223.ARC 81K Qfonedit 2.23: THE Qmodem 2.2/2.3 utilit
QFONE223.TXT 2K Qfonedit 2.23: ASCII description of it
ARCBENCH.ARC 8K Katz's benchmark tests of major ARC pgms
KERM229.ARC 41K Vers 2.29 of MS-Kermit
XMAS.ARC 120K Animated xmas card - best on ega
WILDPROC.ARC 1K Clipper wildcard search prodedures
T.ARC 8K View WS/ASCII files w/spd cntrl & redr
LINEAR.WK1 4K Linear regression Lotus 2.0
EXPL.ARC 40K Explorer game--Graphics and text
BGMN.ARC 48K Backgammon game-computer versus you
IOLITE.COM 1K Red light in U/R when hard disk active
FARGODIR.ARC 89K Master List of Fargo files as of 11/1/86
PAGES2.ARC 15K DB3+ Paging routines
JBGAME3.ARC 132K *Castaway/SA Advnture;JimButton game disk 3
PCO322.ARC 113K PC-OUTLINE 3.22 from Brown Bag
COMDEX86.ARC 11K Review of Fall Comdex by Detroit Lawyer
FTETC125.ARC 141K *Family-Tree, Etc. v 1.25 Genealogy program
DMASTER.ARC 65K Diskette Label Sys - complete with HELP
LMASTER.ARC 65K Label Utility System with many EXTRAS!
WORDFIND.COM 20K Create Wordfind crossword puzzles
XONE21.ARC 11K Buerg's make ARC off files frm anoth (ASM)
UGALL.ARC 15K Nationwide Listing of PC User Groups
PCPARK.ARC 3K Generic Head Park Pgm--Includes AT Disks
VFAT.ARC 9K See the structure of your disk/files
ARCTYP12.ARC 4K Type a text file directly from an ARC (8/86)
GSTBSTRS.BAS 1K Ghostbusters Logo
TF-BOOK.ARC 88K Electronic telephone book
UPDATE50.ARC 88K Update Ver 5.0 Hard Disk Backup Utility
FEDTAX86.ARC 34K 1986 federal tax worksheets for 1-2-3 Rel. 2
ANSP22.ARC 55K Ansipaint 2.2,make ANSI,ASCII,BLOAD screens
FCON200C.ARC 45K Fansi-Console ANSI device driver ver. 2.00C
AM-TAX86.ARC 122K *AM-Tax 1986 tax preparation software
DIAGS.ARC 58K PC diagnostics by originators of Z80MU
MOVBITS.ARC 11K Bit mover subroutine in 8088 Asm-Turbo Pascal
DSEEKER.ARC 1K Floppy drive diagnostic-Turbo Pascal
DTCQTEST.ARC 3K Daisy wheel printer QA/exerciser-Turbo Pascal
GT700.ARC 145K Generic Terminal 7.00 communications program
ABM.EXE 35K Defend the cities from nukes-good color
STAR-NET.PUB 3K Info, new phones, PC-PURSUIT
QUBECALC.ARC 160K Shareware multi-dimensional spreadsheet
DD121.ARC 52K *Daily Diary, excelletn appoint scheduler
KILL14D.ARC 82K 'Doors' program for RBBS Ver. 14.1C or D
GUESS.EXE 30K Guess the Algorithym (or crack the code)
PCW27-1.ARC 107K PC-Write 2.7 - 1 of 2
PCW27-2.ARC 138K PC-Write 2.7 - 2 of 2
PCPM.ARC 91K PC Project Management (Critical Path)
PCDESK32.ARC 96K PC-Desk 3.2 - complete desk manager
COMPCHEF.ARC 60K Computer Chef 2.17 - for high tech kitchens
TXTMUSIC.ARC 22K Program to write, edit and play music
ANIMATOR.ARC 9K Animation maker w/ sample graphic (BASICA)
3DGRAPH.ARC 39K 3D Function Plotter/Hires w/print, Turbo src
PDFLOW.ARC 20K Flow chart utility for programmers
TIMEPARK.COM K Auto park hard disk - memory resident
AMMAZE.ARC 39K Multi-level Maze game - very good
TEKTERM.ARC DELETED NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN! PD OR USER SUPPORTED ONLY!
TIME2.ARC 29K Another clock, more fun than useful.
Page 8
ENVED.ARC 16K Edit DOS environment strings.
HHGT1-6.ARC 24K Guide to the net 1 - 6, humor!
COPYWRIT.ARCDELETED NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN! PD OR USER SUPPORTED ONLY!
SRS.ARC 76K Still River Shell (graphic tree display)
LIN-PROG.ARC 176K Linear Program - Max.Profit or Min.Costs
RAM.ARC 2K RAM disk that can be resized or deleted
3DTICTAC.EXE 37K Three dimensional Tic-Tac-Toe (4 levels)
DISPLAYQ.ARC 26K ASCII/EBCIDIC display/patch utility
EMSDISK.ARC 16K Uus EMS board as a RAM disk
FORMGEN.ARC 58K Form letter generator (v 1.2) for PC-FILE III
LBLBJOKE.DOC 2K Worlds Greatest Light Bulb Joke
RLA10.ARC 11K *Appointment by Alarm 1.0 - MemRes alarm prgm
BACKALLY.ARC 33K *Backalley pinball - nice!
MSTKEY.ARC 77K *Master Key 1.5 - Like Norton's NU utility
PCB9600.ARC 7K Use of 9600 baud on BBSs.
PATDOS32.ARC 88K Patches to DOS 3.2 from IBM!
SIMCGA.ARC 2K Run some CGA files on Hercules graphics board
MEMBERS.ARC 32K Membership manager for Dbase III Plus
MAILMEN5.ARC 18K Personal mailing list manager-Dbase III
CANJETDL.ASM 12K Print screen utility for CANON PJ1080A
XMEM.COM 1K Checks status of Lotus/Intel memory
BACH.ARC 21K Music program plays Bach excerpts
PACGAL.EXE 39K Game just like PAC-MAN
KBFLAG.ARC 1K AUTOEXEC branch util - PC Mag Dec. 23,'86
POLYMUSI.ARC 6K 3 voice music for the PC