*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢¢ by Alan Sharkis¢¢ Ol' Hackers Newsletter Librarian¢¢I have reviewed many newsletters this¢issue, and I beg your patience in¢trying to get through the reviews.¢The information coming out of that¢pile of newsletters is amazing both¢in its quantity and its quality.¢¢Status Newsletter, Volume 10 Issue¢2&3 -- I wondered, as I read this¢newsletter, what STATUS has been up¢to lately. Then, I went back to the¢editor's column and found out. ¢Here's a club that went from¢bimonthly meetings to monthly, thus¢bucking a trend that has,¢unfortunately, befallen many clubs. ¢Staying active in light of a lack of¢direction from the parent company¢(Atari) and in this economy is¢difficult at best, and STATUS is to¢be congratulated for the increased¢activity level they've achieved. ¢Their one complaint, and it can be¢made in every club, is the LACK OF¢ARTICLES FROM MEMBERS! I can use¢that as a hint to our own membership.¢STATUS also gets a nod for their¢longevity. The club was ten years¢old in April. Articles include a¢reprint of one of their older¢articles, a review of YEMACY B/4 by¢ELDRIDGE STOCKS. For those of you¢who aren't familiar, YEMACY B/4 is a¢software system that allows true 4-¢color printing from 8-bit computers¢from any 62-sector MicroPaint or¢Micro Illustrator file. The rest of¢the newsletter consists of reprints¢from our own newsletters. They¢include A review of Labelmaster and¢Small Business Systems (Black Moon¢Systems) by CARLOS HURTADO, RON¢FETZER's article on color printing,¢our reprint of Calamity Jane's¢M.A.G.I.C. D.O.M article on¢shareware, and a very useful More¢Little Bytes 'N' Pieces by ALEX¢PIGNATO. The STATUS Newsletter has¢returned, and we welcome it heartily.¢I would suggest, however, that STATUS¢can identify the issue with a month¢as well as a volume and number.¢¢The W.A.N.D. for July/August, 1991 --¢ We congratulate Dr. Roland Herman,¢admittedtly belatedly, on the birth¢of his grandchild. Rolly has, in¢spite of a busy summer, put together¢a great list of reviews of articles,¢all reprinted from onter newsletters.¢Because I have reviewed most of them¢before, I'll skip the details here.¢¢Clevatari Newsletter for August, 1991¢-- I usually don't say much about¢this publication, since the Cleveland¢ACE seems not to publish 8-bit¢articles. However, when they do¢publish an article of general¢computer interest, I am glad to share¢it with you. In this issue there is¢mention of a service provided by the¢local (Northeast Ohio) telephone¢system called Touch Four which allows¢you to get recorded answers to simple¢computer questions. If the service¢(part of Ameritech) is provided in¢our area it would go very far toward¢helping with specific problems. You¢must dial an area code and number¢from a touch tone telephone. When¢the connection is made, you punch in¢a four-digit code from a list of¢topics and simply listen to the¢recorded information. If this¢service is not available in our area,¢it should be!¢¢LIAUG Light House for September, 1991¢contains my review of DAN ELEK's¢BobTerm Phone List Utility, which¢most of you have undoubtedly read in¢our own newsletter.¢¢Between Bytes for September, 1991 --¢ The JACS has had to auction some of¢its 8-bit hardware and software to¢members because it owned more than it¢needed. What a happy circumstance! ¢The article of most interest to us as¢8-bitters is Part 3 of ROBERT S.¢ELY's fine series on SpartaDos. In¢this article, Robert describes the¢archive and attribute functions built¢into the SpartaDos X cartridge.¢¢MUG Newsletter for September, 1991 --¢ There are a couple of articles here,¢but without the usual NAPCO masthead.¢One is a reprint of JIMMY BOYCE's¢(CACE) Atariwriter series (part II)¢and the other is DAN LOY's review of¢Joust.¢¢Newsline (ACE of St. Louis) for¢September, 1991 -- the loss of the¢only Atari dealer in town has put the¢club into a blue funk, of sorts. ¢They wonder about the future of the¢owner of that store who is a vice-¢president of the club and a prolific¢contributor to its activities. There¢is a rather sad article, "8-Bit¢Blues" (no author named) that seems¢to sum it up. The pessimism drips,¢but I'll bet that each and every¢member of Ol' Hackers can come up¢with solutions to the problems that¢the author anticipates. Read this¢article and put your brain to work! ¢Better still, let's pool our¢suggestions and write to them about¢it. Afer all, we are in a similar¢situation, and we're not quitting!¢¢BCS Computers for September, 1991 --¢ following the pessimism of the last¢review is an entirely upbeat article¢by SUE FITZGERALD of the BCS Atari 8-¢bit User Group. Her "rediscovered"¢8-bit is serving her quite well. ¢But, rediscovery is a continual¢process with computers, as long as¢you let the rediscovery happen. ¢Maybe Sue can write to St. Louis?¢¢Update Atari (HACE) for September,¢1991 proudly anticipates their show,¢the Atari Safari '91. GEORGE IKEN¢has written two articles, one¢describing the 8-bit Safari Pack, a¢collection of gift items to attendees¢at the show. In the pack will be an¢8-bit disk containing TextPRO+ 4.54¢together with BOB PUFF's Super UnArc.¢If more than one family member¢attends, there are also limited¢amounts of disks to be given out¢containing BobTerm (configured for¢SX-212 modems) and Express 850¢(configured for Hayes modems, and a¢whole collection of BASIC utilities. ¢George's second article concerns¢TextPRO's startup screen and a¢collection of the commands that make¢this program run.¢¢(FR)ANTIC for September, 1991 -- The¢AAAUA always has something to see in¢their newsletter and this month is no¢exception. An announcement that the¢club will particiate in Computer¢Education Month is always welcomed by¢this educator, and that the club will¢do this by participating in a Girl¢Scout Computer Exhibit is¢particularly welcome news. The Atari¢8-bit's value as an educational¢computer has always been evident to¢me, and this chance to show it off¢shows good planning and community¢awareness by the AAAUA. ED HALL, the¢club's corresponding member in¢Canada, has prepared a description of¢KE-SOFT's entries and has also put in¢plugS for New Atari User, the English¢magazine-and-disk from Page 6, EXCEL,¢a disk magazine from Scotland, and¢some excelent offerings from American¢Techna-Vision (they do sell software¢as well as hardware). It seems as if¢the club is doing a lot with¢cassette-to-disk transfers, and¢RUSSELL GIBSON's column continues the¢trend and gets into a discussion of¢sector copiers. President ALVAN¢SHERRILL's Beginner's Column begins a¢series on word processors with a good¢overview of the selection process and¢the importance of word processor¢programs for computers as contrasted¢with stand-alone word processing¢machines. ANDREW BUONGIORNO's¢program to set up a 15K ramdisk in an¢800xl, reprinted from the MAY/JUNE¢1989 issue of Ol' Hackers A.U.G.¢Newsletter also appears here.¢¢The W.A.N.D. for September, 1991 --¢ Again, this newsletter has combed¢other newsletters and Current Notes¢to reprint some of the best articles¢produced. And, again I have reviewed¢most of them, but strongly suggest¢that you read this issue, anyway.¢¢The SAGE Scroll for Septenber, 1991 -¢- This newsletter, produced by the¢Spectrum Atari Group of Erie, seems¢to have mostly ST material, but¢occasionally produces general¢interest and 8-bit news. The club¢still maintains an 8-bit disk¢library, and has several 8-bit and¢24-bit members. Inside the front¢cover is the eulogy to "someone Else"¢that has been making the rounds, but¢there is also a reprint of "How to¢Kill a User Group", which they¢apparently reprinted from WNYAUG¢Pokey and from Portland Users of¢99's. (See, even the TIs still have¢user groups! Are we a vanishing¢breed?) We and our newsletter are¢mentioned in ROBERT BUMAN's column¢which updates their newsletter¢exchange program. The mention is¢very positive.¢¢The JACG Newsletter for October, 1991¢-- The front page "From the Editor's¢Desk" article is entitled, "The Atari¢8-Bit, 1979-1991, R. I. P." I have¢to disagree with the title of the¢front page article. In fact, the¢editor makes it clear in the article¢that he is merely writing about¢Atari, Corp.'s seeming orphaning of¢the line; official with the November¢Chicago AtariFest and the dropping by¢ICD of their 8-bit line. He also¢makes it clear that until now the¢future of the machine has been¢guaranteed by user groups, third-¢party resellers, and BBSs. It is¢sad, indeed, that the editor's¢feelings are colored by the six-month¢absence of the club's BBS. I do wish¢that they can get a BBS up and¢running soon. I also see that the¢issue is really full of mention of 8-¢bit activity, including visits to the¢club by Ol' Hackers RON FETZER and¢KRIS HOLTEGAARD. Ron's contributions¢are highlighted, with his interview.¢¢(FR)ANTIC for October, 1991 -- Vice¢President BILLY WASHBURN discusses¢what he presented at the Girl Scouts¢Computer Exhibit. It sounds great,¢Billy. President ALVAN SHERRILL¢presents the second in his series on¢word processos in his Beginners'¢Column. Featured in this installment¢is the original AtariWriter¢cartridge. RUSSEL STOWE presents a¢terrific tutorial on disk drive¢maintenance. Another column by¢Russell brings in possible answers to¢printer problems and a number of¢other hints.¢¢Update Atari for October, 1991 --¢HACE's HAROLD GAILEY did double duty¢with the file PICDEMO.ARC. He not¢only demonstrated the file, from AIM,¢but he wrote up the file for his¢club's newsletter. While I am not¢suggesting that the same be done by¢our members, since all demos are¢covered in the meeting minutes, it¢would be a good idea to have someone¢do the same thing with an especially¢important piece of software or¢hardware. Harold was not without his¢problems. The program came without¢any documentation. Harold searched a¢number of sources and finally called¢the author for help with a number of¢aspects of the program. He was well¢rewarded in that effort, as were the¢members of H.A.C.E. who saw his¢demonstration. I'd like very much to¢see the program. The magazine also¢mentioned a new online service that¢seems to have at least a few Atari¢public domain files. The service is¢called The Public Data Network. I¢missed the article in October AIM,¢but GEORGE IKEN's writeup of the¢service has me curious. I'd recently¢joined, then dropped America OnLine¢when they rejected my request for an¢Atari file section.¢¢Keeping PACE for October, 1991 -- The¢Pittsburgh group has reprinted an¢important list from ZMAG196, possibly¢the same as printed by BEN POEHLAND,¢8BIT EDITOR of CURRENT NOTES. It is a¢list of sources of Atari 8-bit¢support. It includes software¢distributors, both p/d and¢commercial, hardware manufacturers¢and retailers, and magazines that¢carry 8-bit articles.¢¢Te W.A.N.D. for October, 1991 -- This¢newsletter continues to carry a great¢selection of reprints. One that I¢haven't reviewed, and most¢informative, is a reprint of BEN¢POEHLAND's (Current Notes, April¢1991) writeup of the Innovative¢Concepts 24-pin driver for Print¢Shop. I can personally kick myself¢in the head for buying a nine-pin¢printer just MONTHS before IC came¢out with that line of drivers. Ben¢walks us through the process of using¢this driver after describing what¢life was like before having it.¢¢M.U.G. Newsletter for October, 1991 -¢- NAPCO reprints article 7 from¢JIMMY BOYCE's series on AtariWriter+,¢in which the process of creating a¢printer driver for the Panasonic¢1080i is described.¢¢The W.A.N.D. for November, 1991 --¢ President Rolly Herman has written¢an extensive article about the¢process of using the 8-bit in¢conjunction with a VCR. The article¢starts with a review of Video Title¢Shop and plans for constructing a¢computer-to-VCR patch cable. A¢construction project for a hutch,¢taken from an old (date unknown)¢issue of B.A.C.E. Newsletter by¢HOWARD WEN, shows careful and¢practical design and should be easy¢to build. Reprints of other articles¢I reviewed previously are also¢included.¢¢SLCC Journal for November, 1991 --¢ It's always a treat to see this¢newsletter. Sometimes, there isn't¢even an 8-bit article in it, but I¢enjoy reading it anyway. This month,¢Michael St. Pierre brings us a very¢technical, but fascinating article on¢a design he developed. It's a¢genlock for the 8-bit! What's a¢genlock, you say? Well, since the¢above W.A.N.D. article has whetted¢your appetite for video, consider the¢problems in trying to synchronize¢computer-generated graphics with an¢outside video source. You may have¢heard that this can be solved with¢STs or Amigas, and you can bet that¢many people scoffed at the idea of an¢8-bit machine doing that. Well,¢Michael has presented the first part¢of a two-article series on the¢problem and his solution, complete¢with schematic. Construction details¢will follow next month. The editor¢of the SLCC Journal remarked that¢Michael demonstrated his genlock at¢the October meeting and it was a¢successful meeting. BOB WOOLEY has¢explored the 1400XL's voice¢synthesizer and found it to be a¢Votrax SC-01. He cannot identify the¢voice chip in the 1450XLD. Can any¢of us help him out? ROBBIE BRIDGES¢explains how he modified a program to¢fit the needs of his young children. ¢None of this would have been possible¢if the original author had not¢released the program into the public¢domain, and that, my friends, is the¢real essence of computing as a¢hobby.¢¢¢+*+*+*+*+* THE END for NOW! *+*+*+*+*+¢¢
