*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢ Summer is most definitely here. The¢ usual suspects (user group newsletter¢ editors) are at it again, and they¢ have been prolific.¢¢ TYNE & WEAR for March/April 1998 --¢ This issue is a hardware hacker's ¢ dream. Although the articles are¢ old, there are probably many who¢ would be interested in them. First¢ of all, there is a reprint of the¢ KENNETH L. SIDERS article on building¢ an RVerter type of modem interface. ¢ The user manual for the XL-It! Atari¢ 8-bit emulator, which runs on a PC,¢ is reprinted. MARKUS GIETZEN is the¢ proud author. RICK MICHAEL (Rick¢ Cortese?) contributes a one-chip¢ design for an SIO2PC cable. CHAD R.¢ KNUDSON gives us construction plans¢ for a dummy cartridge. Also included¢ is a reprint from the A.C.E.C. BBS¢ describing the construction of THE¢ FREEZER, a device to cold-boot a¢ computer from a ramdisk and protect¢ that ramdisk. From KONRAD M.¢ KOKOSZKIEWICZ comes a detailed¢ description of the Polish IDE Hard¢ Drive Interface built and marketed by¢ him and Jacek Zuk.¢¢ The PACESetter for May 1998 -- From¢ the now-defunct AtariTech BBS in¢ Clearwater, FL, comes an article¢ about adding resistance to fix the¢ console keys (HELP, START, SELECT and¢ OPTION) in the 130XE. The 130XE¢ makes use of low-resistance contacts.¢ The resistance of these contacts¢ tends to increase as the computer is¢ used. But unlike the other keys¢ (including RESET,) the console keys¢ are read by a different chip and¢ resistance is critical. The solution¢ is to add resistance (how much may be¢ a matter of experimentation) in¢ parallel with the keys. The author¢ takes us through the process. ¢ Valuable for those of us who use¢ TextPro is a wall-chart of commands¢ for version 5.20X authored by DALE¢ WOOSTER in 1995. ROBERT FASOLDT¢ concludes his tutorial on Flight¢ Simulator II. A reprint of TOM¢ ANDREWS' article for the OHAUG¢ Newsletter on USENET also appears,¢ along with the usual puzzles,¢ humorous quotes, and PACE¢ happenings.¢¢ IMAGE for May 1998 -- Edtor ED BAIZ¢ reports that Hasbro intends to¢ release 75 classic Atari games as an¢ "Atari Platinum" series for the PC,¢ and that the Playstation will also be¢ supported. He has heard rumors that¢ Wizztronics would like to buy the¢ rights to TOS, which would mean that¢ the STs and beyond will again have¢ ample support. He also doubts that¢ Hasbro will do anything with the¢ Jaguar aside from selling some¢ completed, but unreleased games, but¢ might bring out a revised version of¢ the Lynx. Ed also reports¢ demonstrating ST Xformer at a¢ meeting, running ANSITERM and a¢ graphics program on it.¢¢ JACG Newsletter for May 1998 -- Part¢ 3 of DON THOMAS' Catnips Epilog is¢ reprinted. OHAUG Newsletters are¢ being printed out and sold at ten¢ cents per single-sided page at JACG¢ meetings. Information on the Atari¢ World 98 show in Las Vegas is¢ included. JOE HICSWA does an in-¢ depth review, with examples, of the¢ LVAUG Newsletter. There are lists of¢ Atari-related Web sites, other¢ important sites, Atari dealers and¢ developers, and an interesting¢ cartoon.¢¢ XIO3 for May/June 1998 -- ROWLAND¢ GRANT's 8-Bit Affairs column reports¢ that Andre Fachat is still working on¢ his GeckOS/A65 operating system. ¢ This is an operating system that will¢ run on the Gecko Computer (popular in¢ Europe, seldom seen here) and the¢ Commodore 64. He hopes that somebody¢ will be able to port the system over¢ to the Apple ][ line and to the Atari¢ 8-bits. This OS contains some Unix-¢ like features, such as¢ multithreading, task priorities, and¢ support for an Internet connection¢ via SLIP. ICD will put up 8-bit¢ history pages on the Web, and plans¢ to make some 8-bit hardware and¢ replacement parts available once¢ again. BOB KLASS (K-Products) has¢ released a CD-ROM with lots of what¢ the first Pool Disk has, plus some¢ material from A.C.E. of Utah and¢ S.P.A.C.E., along with the demo of¢ BBS Pro and some user-written¢ extensions and games. DAREK MIHOCKA¢ (Emulators, Inc.) has released PC¢ XFormer 98. The Atari800 emulator¢ has also been upgraded in Europe and¢ is available for download. ¢ OMC/HeiroGraphics is working on an¢ original Atari game, the Assassin. ¢ It will be available to emulator¢ users. MATHY VAN NISSELROY has¢ successfully connected an Iomega Zip¢ drive to his Atari through his Black¢ Box. Rowland Grant also notes that¢ the Universal Serial Bus (USB) now¢ being touted so strongly in the PC¢ world, is strongly reminiscent of the¢ SIO daisy chain idea that Atari¢ pioneered all those years ago.¢¢ IMAGE for June 1998 -- Although there¢ was nothing that was 8-bit-specific¢ in this issue, there were some¢ interesting general and ST-related¢ happenings reported.¢¢ The PACESetter for June 1998 -- We¢ note that PACE is celebrating its¢ 14th anniversary, and we congratulate¢ them for their longevity and fine¢ work. We also note that we'll soon¢ be in that same 14-year category! ¢ PACE notes that JOHN FRIZZOLA, a¢ recent transplant from Long Island,¢ has just joined their club and has¢ contributed many items. We wonder¢ why we haven't heard that name¢ before, but we know that John has¢ joined a good group in Florida. ¢ Editor WALT LEWIS writes an article,¢ complete with illustrations, about¢ printing mini-icons from The Print¢ Shop. Walt also uses an article¢ originally by KEN WICKERT of ACE of¢ Syracuse (updated by Ken and THOMAS¢ J. ANDREWS and published in the OHAUG¢ Newsletter, Sept./Oct. 1994) which he¢ includes, to inspire further findings¢ of his own on disk and file copying¢ programs. All of the Print Shop¢ icons from the club's April and May¢ DOMs are printed in this issue, as¢ well as the usual puzzles, etc.¢¢ JACG Newsletter for June 1998 --¢ Editor TOM LASKOWSKI provides us¢ with several Atari happenings. He¢ states that Hasbro will show off a¢ line of computers at the upcoming E3¢ show. Nowhere but in this newsletter¢ have I heard that Hasbro is going to¢ produce computers, but we can always¢ hope. Tom also states that JTS had¢ been actively negotiating regarding¢ the Atari properties with Activision¢ before the Hasbro purchase. It's¢ interesting that the properties were¢ valuable to others. JTS didn't seem¢ to do anything with them. As a¢ result, Tom reports, a class-action¢ suit has been filed against JTS on¢ behalf of former Atari Corp.¢ stockholders for failure to keep the¢ Atari lines alive. Apparently, JTS¢ had made such a promise and never¢ lived up to it.¢¢ There is also a mention of the¢ intended release of made-over and¢ modernized Atari games to run on the¢ PC and Playstation platforms by¢ Hasbro. The information came from¢¢ www.atarihq.com/news/1998/980316.html¢¢ which is a site partially produced by¢ OHAUG member JOHN HARDIE. JOE HICSWA¢ contributs an in-depth review of the¢ LVAUG News (an apparent continuation¢ from last month -- Ed.) SAM COREY¢ gives us a potpourri of interesting¢ technology-related items from various¢ news sources. There is also what¢ appears to be a dump from a Web¢ search engine on Atari-related¢ articles. This is extensive -- it¢ takes up four pages. There are also¢ reprints from a variety of non-¢ traditional sources regarding¢ Hasbro's re-release of the games¢ mentioned above and a reprint from an¢ ST magazine that analyzes the Hasbro-¢ JTS deal. Finally, on the back¢ cover, is a tongue-in-cheek (I hope!¢ -- Ed.) "news item" stating that one¢ Joseph E. Hicswa was grounded after¢ destroying several aircraft, tearing¢ up uninhabited land and terrifying¢ other pilots while trying to teach¢ himself to fly from a manual. This¢ report, was, of course, generated by¢ Flight Simulator II, which Joe had¢ reviewed in previous issues. Joe¢ stated that, "The FAA grounded me. I¢ have 'NO COMMENT.' The Judge issued¢ a Gag Order. See my lawyer."¢¢ *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢¢