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The 640 MEG Shareware Studio 2
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The 640 Meg Shareware Studio CD-ROM Volume II (Data Express)(1993).ISO
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ADDENDA.DOC
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1992-01-12
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[ QBALL -- Exterior Ballistics -- Add 1 ]
Addenda to QBALL Documentation
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
The intent of this listing of miscellaney is to pass along
hints, kinks, new uses for QBALL, previously-undiscovered bugs,
caveats, and information which is nice to know, but doesn't need
to be included in the formal documentation, and what-have-you.
Users are encouraged to contribute to this mess -- it's not
a newsletter, but it will be updated and uploaded to EXEC-PC
once in a while. Got something that would fit in? Send it to:
BENJAMIN W. HARTLEY
Forest Park Estates #103
Jaffrey, NH 03452
Voice#: (603) 532-6248
____________________________
I suppose I'd better start this off, myself. OK, then, some ques-
tions you might have which aren't answered or are glossed over in
the documentation.
Where does one obtain QBALL?
This must be answered in two parts.
First, and most obviously, through the "normal" shareware
channels: bulletin boards, library companies (the sort that charge
five bucks for a disk), and other users. Now, please believe that
I'm delighted to have that distribution channel. There are, how-
ever, a coupla flies in the ointment: you might not get all the
files that are included in a complete QBALL package, or what you do
get might not be functional, for one reason or another. (There's
at least one version of QBALL out there -- on CD-ROM, yet -- which
won't run without the BRUN45 run-time module, for example.) So, as
is the case with most shareware, ya pays little or no money and ya
takes yer chances.
Second, you can be assured of obtaining complete packages of
the SHAREWARE version from three sources. In decreasing (but only
slightly) order of certainty, they are:
1. Direct from me. Send along a blank, formatted 5 1/4
or 3 1/2" disk, an appropriately-sized mailer, and $1.00 to pay
the postage and for the gas to get to the Post Office.
2. From EXEC-PC Bulletin Board in Elm Grove, Wisconsin,
(Modem phone: 414-789-4210 1200/2400 N81). EXEC-PC is a for-pay
board, but I believe it to be worth every penny of the $60/year (or
$20/quarter) price. (That's a free plug!) I'm VERY unhappy with
CompuServe: it's clumsy, it's slow, and I've played h--l trying to
download stuff from CIS. (And think about it: 60 bucks a year
works out -- best case -- to >1 minute a day on CIS!) Annyhoo, the
latest (released) version of QBALL, and all the updated stuff --
this document, for example -- can be found on EXEC-PC. (Hint: all
QBALL files on EXEC-PC are entitled "QBALL" + something + ".ZIP".
Updates to this document start with "QBALLA01.ZIP", for example.)
[ QBALL -- Exterior Ballistics -- Add 2 ]
More obtaining QBALL...
3. From specifically-authorized individuals or clubs.
Generally, these are folks who have specific places that they'd
like to be able to distribute the SHAREWARE version of QBALL; com-
puter fairs, gun shows, and the like. There's a list of such
authorized distributors further along in this document. PLEASE
abide by the conditions set forth in that listing! (You get to be
a "distributor" by asking me -- a phone call's fine, as long as
it's on your dime; no collect calls, please!) I'll send you a
letter which will serve as your authority to distribute QBALL,
and a copy of the latest SHAREWARE package.
So what's the advantage of registration?
Coupla things. You get a printed manual (prettier than the
on-disk one), and you're entitled to one free upgrade -- auto-
matically, and on MY dime. 'Sides, I like getting money in the
mail, don't you? AND, you get to feel good that you're supporting
the whole SHAREWARE "try-before-you-buy" concept.
Can I get hold of the source code?
Yup. $50.00 if you've previously registered with me, or
$60.00 with and at the time of registration.
May I modify the source code?
To your heart's content, as long as you don't in any way
distribute modified code, or files based upon modified code. (If
you've got a hot idea, maybe we could collaborate?)
Howcum QBALL is so inexpensive (read "cheap") compared to some of
the commercial ballistics programs out there?
Because it's SHAREWARE, and I don't really expect to make any
money with it. On the other hand...
Howcum you don't use ARC (or LHA, or ZOO, et.al.) files?
Because I like PKZIP, and I'm used to it. (If you really
want, I'll send you a copy of PKZIP for your use -- same conditions
as for SHAREWARE QBALL: blank disk, mailer, and a buck. Better
yet, download PKZIP from EXEC-PC...(free plug).)
Is a windows version of QBALL available or planned?
No and never. QBALL started out DOS-based, and b'Gawd, it'll
stay that way!
QBALL won't run on my BoxArox Mk I. Howcum?
Um, just what IS a BoxArox? You need a PC-DOS/MS-DOS compat-
ible with a minimum of one 5 1/4 floppy, and an EGA card/monitor to
run QBALL's graphics. You can run the table parts on a CGA, but I
don't recommend it: it's too easy to ask for graphics, and end up
crashing. If you've got the minimum, and QBALL won't work, give me
a call...on your dime.
[ QBALL -- Exterior Ballistics -- Add 3 ]
So just what makes you, Ben Hartley, a ballistics expert?
Nuttin'. Although eight years in Uncle Sammy's Field Artill-
ery DID teach me something about ballistics. Beyond that, I've
studied all the references in the bibliography in the documenta-
tion...should you do the same, you'll probably end up knowing more
than I do.
-------------------
Authorized Distributors as of January 8, 1992
Don Bosman (East Lansing, Michigan). Don distributes QBALL, along
with other ballistics programs, (Frenchu's "BALISTIC", a good 'un,
among them) at gun shows in the East Lansing area. (Please don't
pester Don for copies, unless it's eyeball-to-eyeball...see "ob-
taining QBALL," above.)