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2006-10-19
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.IF DSK1.C3
^^^^^^^^^TEXTWARE, SOFTWARE, and
ELSEWHERE
News and Reviews about the TI
^^^^^^^^^^by JACK SUGHRUE
I have taken to reviewing two or
more things (companies, texts,
programs, funnystuff) each month
because a monthly column can no
longer begin to keep up with all the
new GOOD stuff coming out for our
tiny marvel.
Genial TRAVelER, is a magazine
on disk for the 99. It is a really
good buy for anyone really interested
in how our computer operates. Wait!
That sounds boring.
It is a dynamic, blockbuster
package of neato, peachy-keen
goodies.
Nope. Even that doesn't describe
what you get for your $35. For that
small price you get six "flippy"
disks with over 700 sectors full of
games and printouts and tutorials and
ready-to-run programs and some of the
most bizarre menu configurations I've
ever seen. These articles and
programs are by all the big guns in
the present TI world: Jim Peterson,
Barry Boone, Ron Albright, Mack
McCormick, and a cast of thousands.
And all this is edited (with a
considerable part programmed and
written by) Barry Traver (after whom
the magazine/disk is named.)
Imagine my surprise when my first
issue arrived with two disks
chock-full on both sides. Two
chock-full disks! The second, as
was explained with an enclosed
letter, was a surprise bonus! Not
part of my bi-monthly subscription.
A free, no-strings bonus.
Then, when time passed and my
second disk hadn't arrived, I
received a letter telling me of the
delay and asking my patience.
Gladly. This is the only
subscription service I've ever
belonged to that notified me of a
delay and apologized in advance for
it.
The second (or third, if you
count the bonus) disk is even better.
Then along came a fourth disk. (I am
counting the bonus.) This disk was
also a bonus and included FUNLWRITER
with DM1000 (version 2.3) and the
new 3.0 version of DM1000 and all the
docs for all these things.
A few weeks later came their
official "third" disk (my fifth!).
And I still have three more to run on
my original subscription. Although
it is hard to measure value in
dollars and sense (common sense), it
would be easy to put a $200 price tag
on what I have received thus far
(comparing it modestly to the similar
kinds of things being offered for the
IBM, Apple, Tandy).
And I'm certain they are all
going to get better.
(Tonight I was earlier working on
a program I wanted to use at school
and tried out the
make-your-own-cursor program from
Number Two. And so a little smiling
face cursor grinned and blinked at me
all through my paces. Kind of silly.
Kind of fun.)
There wouldn't be enough room to
begin to list all 300+ files on the
ten disk sides, but the variety is
great enough to please anyone with a
disk drive. I would recommend a
printer, too, though it is not
necessary. I particularly liked the
articles reviewing the books
available for the TI, most of which
were reviewed in these columns and
most of which agreed with my
evaluations (which is probably why I
liked them).
Because this service is so good
and so inexpensive I hope a lot of
people subscribe. Send $35 to Barry
Traver, Editor, Genial Computerware,
835 Green Valley Dr., Philadelphia,
PA 19128
[AUTHOR UPDATE: There is now a
second volume of disks even MORE
interesting (if this is possible),
and both volumes can be ordered for
$65.]
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
With regards ASGARD SOFTWARE
(P.O. Box 10306, Rockville MD 20850)
I can only suggest you send off
immediately for their latest free
catalog, if you do not already have
it.
This company's many diversified
programs have been written up in
MICROPENDIUM, SUPER 99 MONTHLY,
COMPUTE!, HOME COMPUTER MAGAZINE,
and scores of user-group magazines.
It is, justifiably, one of the
fastest-growing companies creating
new and exceptional materials for the
TI.
ASGARD's Disk Data Base program
can store up to 12,000 files on a
single disk! Their award-winning
"Companion" programs for GraphX and
TI Artist are the standard for the TI
industry. They produced the Tunnel of
Doom Editor (and some excellent
programs to go with it, so - at last
- that cartridge has some real
value.
Their Schedule Manager is
wonderful and user-friendly and is
better than many of the highly-touted
and incredibly overpriced programs
similarly created for the IBM and
Apple.
There are also music programs and
games and utilities (like the Screen
Scroll Package) and even a light pen.
They also sell regular and
specialty papers and labels for your
printers and distribute lots of the
great stuff out by other companies.
The price range for all their own
items is between $7 and $20.
Unbeatable! And, like the Genial
TRAVelER, this company has a lot of
the TI programming biggies making
goodies exclusively for them.
If you really want to stretch
your computer out to its full
capacity you could not do better than
invest in G.T. and ASGARD
*************
NO-NO of the Day! Books by
Len Turner for ARCsoft: GAMES
PROGRAMS; GRAPHICS PROGRAMS; 101 TIPS
AND TRICKS; PROGRAMS FOR HOME,
SCHOOL, AND OFFICE; and WRITING
WORKBOOK. All could have been
condensed into one book, which would
not be bad, but each book rehashes
and takes directly from the others.
The programs and approaches are dull
and not enlightening. The prices are
high for what little is offered (up
to $9.95) on the program books, and
the WORKBOOK stinks. Shoddy
publishing.
Some of Turner's programs are
okay and maybe he had no control over
how the books were to come out, but
one should not buy three different
books from the same publisher and
find exact same programs in each
book.
Some programs have line analysis,
some have sample runs, some have good
lead-in descriptions, some have
further options, some are efficient.
But each page is a surprise.
Unpleasant. Look over these books
before buying.
[Jack Sughrue, Box 459,
E.Douglas, MA 01516]
*********
If any newsletter editor prints
these articles, please put me on your
mailing list. Thanks - JS
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