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     ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN MICROPENDIUM
     P.O. Box 1343  Round Rock TX 78680
     Phone [phone]
     Internet [e-mail]

     MICROREVIEWS for January 1995 MICROPENDIUM
     by Charles Good

     ----------------------
     REMINDERS and FORGET ME KNOTS by Alfred Malcolm

     I guess Micropendium's publisher John Koloen and I both recognize new
     and interesting 99/4A software when we see it.  We both received these
     programs independently at about the same time.  While John was
     preparing to publish the basic listings and the author's doc file in
     the November 1994 issue of his Magazine I was busy writing the
     following review.  What follows, therefore, is a Micropendium review
     of software already published in Micropendium.

     Imagine this.  Every time you turn on your 99/4A computer and select
     extended basic you are immediately presented with a full screen of
     monthly reminders showing all the important birthdays, holidays,
     appointments, TI user group meeting dates, etc for the current month.
     Press the "any key" and you get a screen showing all the important
     events for the current day of the month.  Press the "any key" again
     and you get your usual startup menu (BOOT or Funnelweb) of commonly
     used TI software immediately available on your ramdisk or boot disk.
     If you are in a big hurry you can press FCTN/9 at the first (monthly
     reminders) screen to bypass the daily reminder and go directly to your
     application menu.  In either case, every time you boot up your
     computer,  the 99/4A will never let you forget!

     "Reminders" and "Forget Me Knots" are the two extended basic programs
     that allow this to happen.  You enter your monthly and daily notes
     into the computer using Forget Me Knots.  These daily and monthly
     notes are saved as separate DV80 files.  If you change the name of the
     Reminders program to LOAD, Reminders will read your notes each time
     you turn on your computer.  To work this magic exactly as I described
     in the preceeding paragraph all you need is this software and a
     computer clock such as PGRAM clock, Myarc HFDC clock, MBP card, or
     Triple tech card.  It also helps to have a ramdisk or hard drive so
     that REMINDERS will always automatically be there right after XB is
     selected.

     You can use Forget Me Knots as a stand alone application even if you
     don't have a computer clock or ramdisk.  From within Forget Me Knots
     you can read screens of previously saved monthly and daily reminders
     by manually entering the month, day, and year.  Forget Me Knot allows
     you to spice up screen displays of your text notes with nice borders
     other graphic patterns.  The results look very professional.

     The only similar 99/4A software I am familiar with is Remind Me.  If
     you have Remind Me daily reminder files, these can be converted to
     Forget Me Knot format from within Forget Me Knot.  For a stand alone
     appointment calendar application I prefer Remind Me over Forget Me
     Knots.  Remind Me provides an on screen calendar display of the
     current (or any) month, something that Forget Me Knots doesn't do.
     However, Remind Me cannot be programmed to run another application.
     When you exit Remind Me you are back at the TI color bar screen.  The
     unique feature of Reminders and Forget Me Knots is the automatic
     display of time specific reminders at the beginning of each session
     with your 99/4A.

     Reminders and Forget Me Knots are public domain.  To obtain your copy
     you can either type in the Basic listings from the November 1994 issue
     of Micropendium, or send the author a disk and paid return mailer and
     a donation for his user group, or send me $1 and I will then send it
     to you on a SSSD disk.  The author requests that if you find the
     program useful you send a donation to his user group, the British
     Columbia UG, whose address is given in the software documentation.
     ------------------------------
     WINDOWS FOR THE TI by John Bull

         No, this isn't the Microsoft graphical interface found on a lot of
     IBM compatible computers.  It is assembly software that allows the XB
     programmer to place multiple text windows on screen without destroying
     the appearence of the rest of the screen.  When you remove the window
     the original screen, which was stored in memory, is restored.

          You can have up to 6 of these text windows and their underlying
     screen stored in memory.  The text windows may all be on screen at
     once overlaping each other, or you can display the windows a few at a
     time.  Call links let you determine the size and position of each
     window.  If you have ever seen the Funnelweb configure utility you
     know what I am talking about in terms of overlaping text windows
     appearing and disappearing from the screen.

          The idea of text windows in extended basic is not new.  This can
     be done in 80 columns (if you have an 80 column card or a Geneve)
     using Alexander Hulpke's X80.   Windows can be done on a 40 column
     99/4A system using The Missing Link.  The nice thing about John Bull's
     software is that, unlike TML, it is free.  Windows For the TI is
     public domain and comes on a SSSD disk.   To get the software send
     $1 to either John Bull or myself and we will mail it to you.  Your
     money pays for the SSSD disk and postage.
     ----------------------------
     ATTACK OF THE CREEPERS by Ian J. Howle

          In his letter to me Ian writes: "I have just finished writing
     this game program in TMS9900 assembly language.  It has taken a little
     over a year to develop.  I would like to put this in the public domain
     so that everybody can enjoy it....Could you put this in your library
     and distribute it to anyone who is interested."

          This is a "make your man climb ladders from the bottom up through
     several screens to the top of the maze" game.  The game comes as EA5
     files with an optional extended basic loader.  I don't usually get
     excited about arcade games with fast action but little strategy.  I
     must admit, however, that this game has held my attention for several
     days now.  This is mainly due to the very complicated joystick action
     required to finish the game.  The scenerio is this: The creepers have
     attacked your mineral mine and completely suprised your defenses.  You
     have to escape from the bottom of the mine to the surface where a
     spaceship awaits.  Along the way you have to make sure that you don't
     come in contact with creepers (they look like spiders) as they move
     through the mine and that you don't fall off one of the many narrow
     ledges in the mine.

          You need a really good responsive joystick to succeed in this
     game.   The official TI "wired remote controllers" really arn't good
     enough.  I have had best luck with a prostick.  This game has the most
     complicated sequence of joystick movements I have ever encountered in
     a TI game.  Of course if you move the stick up/down your man moves
     up/down the ladders and if you move the stick left/right your man
     walks along the ledges in those directions, and if you press the fire
     button he shoots his gun in the direction he faces.  But there are
     more possible types of man moves, most of which require a particular
     sequence of stick and firebutton actions.  Your man can be made to
     move left/right at double speed in order to to run away from a creeper
     and then turn around and fire.  He can slide under obstacles and come
     to a rapid stop.  He can also jump left or right either short
     distances or long distances.  Jumps are used to get up and down from
     one ledge to another in the mine.

          Part of the fun is figuring out the complete repertoire of
     movements your man can make and the exact sequence of joystick
     movements need for each type of movement.  Without giving away any
     significant secrets I can tell you that two of these man movements
     requre a specific sequence of three joystick actions.  First you do
     this with the joystick, then do that with the joystick, then do the
     third thing with the joystick at which point your man will make his
     move.  If you mess up on any one of the three joystick actions either
     the wrong thing happens or nothing happens.

           Once you have figured out how to get your man to do this and
     that it is still a challenge to predetermine which action to take in a
     given situation.  There are two levels of difficulty, and the easier
     of the two usually gives you plenty of time to think about what to do
     next.  Should you jump short or long to get across a gap to the next
     ledge? Should you go down in order to later go up? A fair amount of
     strategy is required.  The harder level of difficulty gives you less
     time to think because you have many more creepers to contend with.  I
     havn't managed to get very far under these harder conditions.
     Nevertheless I find this a highly entertaining arcade game.

          Send me $1 and I'll send you the game on a SSSD disk.  Include an
     extra $1 and I will send Ian's source code on a second DSSD disk.
     ---------------------------
     PICTURE SHOW by Bruce Harrison

          Here is another of Bruce's simple and useful public domain
     utilities.  It is designed for people who do not own TI Artist.  My
     user group software library has lots of disks full of TI Artist
     pictures.   How do you view these pictures?   Well, you can load each
     picture into MaxRLE, but you have to know and type in the picture file
     name.  Or you can use one of several "slide show" programs to display
     all the pictures on the disk, but such programs don't tell you the
     file name of the pictures you are viewing and you only see each
     picture for a few seconds.  Or, you can use Picture Show, the most
     full featured TIA picture display utility anywhere.

          Picture Show is an EA5 assembly language program with an XB
     loader.  Once loaded, it asks you for a drive number (1-9 or A-Z) and
     then displays on screen the file names of all TI Artist pictures
     (names ending in "_P") on that disk.  Other types of files on the same
     disk are ignored.  Use the arrow keys to move the cursor next to a
     picture name, press <enter> to mark the name.   You can mark any or
     all names for display.   You then decide whether to display marked
     pictures manually by pressing a key to go on to the next picture, or
     automatically using a time interval you specify.   Selected time
     intervals can be between less than a second up to 5 minutes per
     picture.  Pictures can be included in a sequence up to three times,
     and you can have a picture sequence automatically repeated as many
     times as you specify.  You can at any time get back to your list of
     pictures or specify a new drive to bring up a new list of pictures.
     Talk about versatility and multiple options!

          There are North American and European versions of Picture Show,
     each on a separate DSSD disk filled with a nice selection of sample
     full color TIA pictures.  Accuracy of the automatic timing feature is
     based on whether you have 60 cycle or 50 cycle electricity, hence the
     need for two versions.  I'll send you either version if you send me $1
     ($2 for both).  Each version comes with Bruce's user friendly
     instructions.
     ----------------------
     ACCESS:
     Alfred Malcolm (Reminders and Forget Me Knots author), 216 10th Ave.,
     New Westminster, British Columbia Canada V3L-2B2.

     John Bull (XB Windows author), 409 Blue Valley Lane, Knoxville TN
     37922.  Phone [phone].

     Ian J. Howle (Attack of the Creepers author), 3707 SW Southern St.,
     Seattle WA 98126. Phone [phone].

     Bruce Harrison (Picture Show author), 5705 40th Place, Hyattsville MD
     20781.  Phone [phone]

     Charles Good (your humble reviewer and sender of $1 software), P.O.
     Box 647, Venedocia OH 45894.  Phone [phone].  Internet
     [e-mail]