¢FUTURA EDITORIAL - MARCH/APRIL 1993¢¢¢Futura 7¢¢ Please remember that Futura 7 - May/June 1993 and all subsequent issues will ONLY be available direct from NOSAUG! Send to: S.J.Murray, NOSAUG, 71 Walker Road, Torry, Aberdeen, AB1 3DL, Scotland. The 8-Bit goes marching on!¢¢¢Inside Atari Basic¢¢ I have discovered that B&C ComputerVisions in the USA (see InfoFile) are now selling copies of this excellent book for newcomers to programming in Atari BASIC. The book was released back in 1983 and has been unavailable for many years. I decided to serialize a small part of this book in Futura due to this unavailability (see Inside Atari Basic 1-4 in Futura issues 2-5). However, now that I've discovered that B&C are selling it for only $5 (about 3.50 pounds) I have stopped my serialization. The book has lots more to offer including a excellent section on graphics and sound. A new intermediate-level programming column will begin in Futura 7 (depending upon a positive response to Question 5 in the survey, see COMP.DOC).¢¢¢Advertising for Futura and NOSAUG¢¢ You may have noticed lately that I have been advertising Futura in a few 8-Bit publications. I have placed ads in the Page 6 Contact Column, Atari Classics Swap'n'Shop and the TWAUG Newsletter. These ads have brought Futura to the attention of many 8-Bitters. I have now decided to begin a determined advertising campaign to ensure the growth of Futura subscriptions throughout 1993.¢¢ I have started by placing an advertisement with Page 6 Publishing for inclusion in Page 6 New Atari User 61 (April/May 1993). This was possible because of the increase in the number of subscribers over the past few months. I hope to gain a few more subscriptions with this ad. If this happens, I plan to place a quarter-page ad in Atari Classics as well as another small ad in Swap'n'Shop. Further ads will be placed in various 8-Bit publications throughout 1993. I will also send issues of Futura to these publications for review. Finally, at the end of this year I hope to organise a NOSAUG stand at the All Mirco Show 7 down in Stafford. There will be more details about this in future issues.¢¢ With the advertising and reviews of Futura I hope to increase the amount of subscribers throughout 1993. I complete my Honours Degree at the beginning of June and would like to concentrate on Futura and NOSAUG on a full-time basis. This remains dependent on the amount of subscribers to Futura and the level of PD sales from the NOSAUG PD Library. This is where you come in. If you know of anyone who may be interested in Futura or NOSAUG please ask them to get in touch with me. The more sales I gain, the more time I can devote to the development of Futura and NOSAUG. However, whether it be part-time or full-time, I can guarantee you 100% effort on my part.¢¢¢Hypocrisy & The Grim Reaper¢¢ I have just received issue 7 of this PD disk magazine and feel I must respond to comments made by the editor about Futura and the NOSAUG PD Library.¢¢ "If you no longer subscribe to Page 6 then you may not have heard of a new disk mag titled 'FUTURA'. The disk is double sided, single density and contains programs, articles and the like. When first advertised 'FUTURA' was free if you sent a SAE, but now I think it costs #1.95. It is a good disk mag but one thing I must bring up is the PD Library the editor runs. Putting commercial programs like Barkonid and Phantastic Journey into it is just not right. Since when did PD programs have bad sectors? To order the disk mag..." John E., Editorial, The Grim Reaper 07, January 1993.¢¢ There are two central points of concern here: the price of Futura and the inclusion of commercial programs in the NOSAUG PD Library.¢¢(i) The price of Futura, as you probably already know, is indeed #1.95. It has ALWAYS been #1.95! Issue one was also available if you sent me a blank disk and a SAE. However, I did not receive one single reply to the blank disk & SAE offer - only orders for #1.95 arrived. I therefor decided to offer Futura for #1.95 only. Anyway, I'm sure you will all agree that this is a very reasonable price. The TGR Editor has implied that the first issue was free and that the price then increased to #1.95. There has NEVER been a price increase for Futura - it has always been #1.95! The TGR Editor forgot to mention that Futura 1 was available at this price.¢¢(ii) The comments made by the TGR Editor concerning my operation of the NOSAUG PD Library are most unwelcome! The two programs of concern are Barkonid and Phantastic Journey. He uses these disks as passing examples instead of as the only two case examples, thus implying that the NOSAUG PD Library contains more than two commercial disks. This is not true! I received UNPROTECTED versions of Barkonid and Phantastic Journey from one of my contacts just before the release of Futura 3. There were no bad sectors on either of the disks. Both myself and the contact believed these disks to be in the public domain. I therefor placed them both in the provisional PD listing in Futura 3. Just after the release of Futura 3, I received a telephone call from the contact explaining that both disks were not PD and that they were, in fact, commercial programs. I then closely examined both disks and noticed the words "DE-PROTECTED BY JOHN E." on each title screen. They were indeed commercial programs which had been pirated. As soon as I confirmed this, I took both disks out of the provisional PD listing and formatted over them both! I then decided to completely reorganise the whole NOSAUG PD Library to make sure such a mistake would not occur again. This reorganisation has only just been completed! Not one single copy of Barkonid or Phantastic Journey was ordered or sent out.¢¢ I do not like to criticise the Editor of TGR within Futura but I felt I had to respond to his mistaken comments. I did write a letter to him at the beginning of February detailing the true facts and requesting a response but no reply was forthcoming. I detailed in my letter that if he had written to me for the full facts the whole matter could have been avoided. Criticism is only valid when the full facts are available!¢¢ The Atari 8-Bit needs all the support it can get just now. However, mistaken comments, such as those in the Editorial of TGR07, are not the kind of support I wish to see! The inclusion of pirated commercial programs in PD libraries is indeed "not right". I agree with this 100% and it is one of the main reasons I have spent many hours reorganising the NOSAUG PD Library. What John E., the TGR Editor, forgets to mention is that the actual pirating of the programs in the first place is what caused this whole situation. The pirating of commercial software is the central cause of the decline in support for the 8-Bit Atari! We have lost the support of dozens of software companies over the last few years (Datasoft, Origin, Electronic Arts, Tynesoft, Zeppelin, Hi-Tec, etc.) due to these pirates. John E. conveniently forgets to mention this in his Editorial. But, then again, who was it who de-protected Barkonid and Phantastic Journey? Hyprocrisy or what?¢¢¢Sound Monitor Professional Docs¢¢ Many thanks to those of you who wrote in offering to translate the German SMP Docs - I was very surprised when I received four offers of help with the translation. I wrote to the author of SMP a few weeks ago requesting documentation in English but have not yet received a reply. I will give him another two weeks to reply and then send out the Docs for translation to the 'Futura German Translation Team' (Hee! Hee!). Check out Futura 7 for more details. The Docs may even be included along with all the new .SNG files.¢¢¢Futura Competitions¢¢ Thanx for the suggestions for new Futura Competitions. Here are some of them:¢¢- A competiton with a question about an adventure problem. Whoever sends in the answer/clue/map first wins the prize. (Steve Phillips, Bristol);¢- How many angels can dance on the head of a pin? Answer: 1.4 x 10^27! (Alan Hitchen, Runcorn);¢- An Atari Classic wordsearch (sent by John McIntyre, Broxburn).¢¢ Keep the feedback coming - Futura is YOUR magazine! Let me know if you have any suggestions for future issues.¢¢¢Communications¢¢ A couple of Futurians have recently written to me requesting information on how to get on-line with their Atari 8-Bits. Here is what you need:¢¢(1) A Modem. Modems are rated by baud and range from 300 baud to 14400 baud! The higher the baud, the greater the speed of sending and receiving data (and the greater the price!). A good value example is the Supra 2400 which retails for 79.95 pounds (First Computer Centre - 0532-319444). For those with a lot of spare cash, the top of the range Supra-Fax 14400 is 270 pounds!¢¢(2) An RS232 interface (to connect the modem to your Atari 8-Bit). Gralin International (see InfoFile) sell the Datari RS232 Interface for 29.99 pounds + 1.50 P&P.¢¢(3) Communications software. Page 6 sell Mini-Office II for only 9.95 pounds + 1 pound P&P.¢¢ I am very interested in beginning a new column dealing with communications and the Atari 8-Bit. Would anyone be willing to produce two or three articles? I can offer a free NOSAUG PD disk for each Comms article published in Futura. Please get in touch if you can help. I hope to be on-line this summer and will detail my adventures in the world of communications in future issues of Futura.¢¢¢Correspondence & Submissions¢¢ From the beginning of NOSAUG back in 1991 I have replied to all NOSAUG and Futura letters and orders by personal letter. I believe it is essential to let people feel that they are involved in NOSAUG and Futura even though they may live some distance away. I have no intention of changing this policy; if anything, I wish to see everyone even more involved. However, I must ask you to understand that sometimes I have very little spare time from my university, work and NOSAUG commitments. This occasional lack of spare time may lead to a slight delay in the reply to your letters. I make a concerted effort to answer all letters within seven days and I manage this about 90% of the time.¢¢ I prefer including personal replies to letters and orders rather than just throwing the disks in an envelope. However, this does sometimes add to the time it takes to reply. I write about 20-30 letters every week and this will increase if subscription numbers increase. This is why I have decided to make a commitment to all Futura subscribers. From Futura 7 (May/June 1993) I will do my very best to reply to ALL orders, letters and questions within seven days. Most will be sent within three days! My girlfriend has agreed to assist in the copying of disks - this will help a great deal. A prompt and efficient service can gain many new orders.¢¢ I have decided to begin a new column within Futura entitled 'Futura Feedback'. If I can answer some of your questions within Futura the information will be available to all Futurians. After all, the answer to a question may help many other users with similar questions.¢¢ I would like to see many more Futurians and NOSAUG members becoming actively involved with Futura. This is why I have decided to conduct an annual survey (see COMP.DOC). Your views and opinions are essential to a successful and interesting disk magazine.¢¢ Articles and programs are always welcome. I can offer a free NOSAUG PD disk or cassette for each article published. One Futurian has already offered to submit a couple of articles for Futura 7. If an 8-Bit subject is of interest to you it will be of interest to other Futurians too.¢¢ Any news or information, no matter how small, can be of great interest to fellow Futurians. Many of the points mentioned in the 8-Bit News column have come from Futura readers.¢¢ Reviews of commercial and PD programs are also most welcome. Two Futurians have already agreed to produce reviews of NOSAUG PD software for inclusion in Futura 7. More reviewers are needed. Why not review your favourite program, book or hardware add-on?¢¢ I prefer to receive submissions as .DOC files on disk but hard-copies are fine. Don't worry about spelling mistakes, paragraphs, etc. - I'll tidy-up the text before I place it in Futura.¢¢ I believe Futura has a future - a long and interesting future! I would like to thank you all for your support over the first six issues - it is very much appreciated! I hope you will continue to support Futura well into the future and join me on a wonderful journey of Atari 8-Bit computing. 2001 - here we come!¢¢¢Yours Atari-8-Bitly,¢¢Stuart J. Murray, Futura Editor.¢
