Atari 8-bit News-Disk Issue 12¢------------------------------¢¢Editorial by Dean Garraghty.¢¢¢Welcome to issue 12 of the news-disk, our 2nd anniversary issue! It was in March 1991 that issue 1 of the News-Disk went out to the first batch of trusty subscribers. Some had been waiting since the autumn of 1990 for issue 1 to become available. How did it all come about? Well, in the summer of 1990, a certain Paul Allton (no longer an Atari user I'm afraid!), bought a copy of DOS XE which I'd just brought over from the States at that time. He liked it so much that he wanted to write an article about it, but he thought it wouldn't be good enough for publicaton in something like Page 6. He also said it might be an idea to try and start a newsletter of some sorts. For some unknown reason, I said starting a newsletter would be a good idea. The rest is history (as they often say!). The very first article written for the News-Disk about DOS XE can be found on issue 1.¢¢It took forever to get enough articles for issue 1, which is why that issue didn't get delivered until months after!¢¢The original idea behind the News-Disk was to bring detailed reviews and details of PD from my library. I thought this would be too boring, and set out to find people willing to write articles. Luckily, 1990 was my first year at university, and I discovered a wonderful thing call the News Net (or Net News as the Americans seem to like to call it!). I discovered that every day people wrote articles onto this thing, which I had easy access to. With a little help from Mike Blenkiron I managed to get these into Atari format for inclusion on the News-Disk. I also discovered Z*MAG, which was also full of usable articles. Without these two the News-Disk would never have survived!¢¢The first major landmark in the News-Disk's history was when it became available electronically in the US, and all around the world really. People with email and/or ftp access can download issues of the News-Disk in ARC format from a PD archive in the US. If you're reading this after downloading, then drop me a line!¢¢What happens now? Well, we have some ideas. For a start, I have promises of articles from new people, as well as more adverts from people. Also, the disk is likely to be spruced up a little, but not too much! Only genuine improvements will be made!¢¢An idea for a new disk! I am currently working on the idea of a new disk called the Ads-Disk. This disk will contain only adverts, both commercial and private, which will be distributed around the world free of charge to anyone who wants a copy. The idea of the disk is to allow commercial developers and companies from around the world to advertise on the disk for a fee. This fee will cover the cost of sending out the disk for free. In return they get lots of cheap advertising on a disk which will be copied and passed around all over the world, a sort of chain-disk system! The running of the disk could also be sponsored. The sponsor would get their name and logo displayed all over the place, as well as having an advert. As well as commercial ads, we could have some private ads on as well. If you have something to sell, then let me know! If you are a developer or company who would want to advertise on such a disk, then please contact me now! This disk is going to take a lot of letter writing and organisation to put together, but I have enlisted helpers! More details when I have them.¢¢Re-subscription time! If your subscription number ends in /12 then it's time to re-subscribe. Again, I have kept the price at 4pounds for 4 issues despite rising costs. Please re-subscribe if you have to. I need your support! A subscription form will be included with your disk if you need to re-subscribe.¢¢Please note. The News-Disk is NOT public domain software. Some of the articles on the disks are not mine to declare as PD. I make nothing from the News-Disk, but then again I don't want the disk copied by anyone other than me. If you pass copies of the News-Disks on to friends, I will say nothing more now, but get them to subscribe. That's all I ask!¢¢Competition time! As promised on issue 11, I have a competition running for this special issue. A list of questions can be found in the file COMP.DOC on this issue. To enter just answer the questions, write them down on a piece of paper with the question numbers next to each answer, and post it to me with your name/address and subscription number. The prizes: 1st prize - a copy of Digi-Studio worth 13pounds, 2nd prize: BallBlazer and Pole Positon on ROM, 3rd prize - a copy of Atari Macro Assembler on disk. If you already own the prize you win, then don't worry. Just say which prizes you already own when you submit your answers. You will be able to choose PD software instead. The rules of entry are listed along with the questions in the COMP.DOC file. Competition deadline: 7 MAY 1993. Get a move on!!¢¢PD. There are LOADS of new PD disks in the catalogue, and as you should know by now, I have the PD special running again! From now until 26/4/93, you can buy PD software from my library for just 1pound a disk with a minimum order of 5 disks, but no maximum order! You can order as many times as you like during the offer period! American disk-based subscribers: this offer applies to you as well! You can get disks for $2 a disk, minimum 5 disks + $5 shipping (or 10% of value of the disks, whichever is the larger amount). Because it takes longer for the disk to reach you, this offer will run until 7 May 1993 for American disk-based subscribers only.¢¢As you will know by now, the new QUICK programming language and the SAM 80 column desktop system are both now available direct from me in the UK. I have written an article on this issue describing their features in more detail. US readers: both these products will be available in the US soon. They should be available by the time you read this. In the US they are available from: Lance Tatman, 844 Kern Street, RICHMOND, CA 94805. At this time, prices in the US have not been fixed.¢¢I have a question from Joe King about centronics interfaces. Joe has recently aquired some old Qume daisy wheel printers which have a 50-pin interface. He needs help with connecting these up to the Atari. He does have the hand-book with all the configurations for the pin-outs. Alternatively, a special interface called the QS3 is available to make the printers standard centronics. If anyone has such an interface, or can help connect these up, then phone Joe on 081-682-4014.¢¢¢On this issue we have:¢¢ADVERTS.DOC - the adverts!¢¢BSASIM.BAS - a simulation of running a motorbike manufacturer.¢¢GLAGGREV.DOC - a review of the PPP game Glaggs It!¢¢MINEREV.DOC - a review of the PPP game Mine Sweeper.¢¢SAMQUICK.DOC - more detailed information about QUICK and SAM from PPP (available from me in the UK).¢¢JOYSTICK.DOC - get more out of the joystick ports!¢¢ROSETTA.COM | A collection of¢CONVERT.BAS | programs for the¢FDISPLAY.BAS | creation of string¢FONTS.DOC | based fonts. Read¢FUTURE.LST | FONTS.DOC for more¢CURSIVE.LST | information.¢OUTLINE.LST |¢¢COMP.DOC - the competition!¢¢That's all for this time. Please re-subscribe if your renewal is due!¢¢Dean Garraghty.¢14 April 1993.¢¢DEAN GARRAGHTY, 62 THOMSON AVE, BALBY, DONCASTER, DN4 0NU, ENGLAND.¢
