*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢ I'm writing this on the first day of¢ summer. The weather is cool, the sky¢ is overcast, and the rain is coming¢ down. Things HAVE to get better in¢ the months ahead! Actually, I know¢ they will improve over the next¢ several days. But the rain gives me¢ an opportunity to write.¢¢ IMAGE for May 1999 -- I guess this¢ announcement will be repeated in¢ many, if not all user group¢ newsletters. It will certainly get a¢ lot of play around OHAUG, since our¢ own JOHN HARDIE is one of the¢ organizers, but the CLASSIC GAMING¢ EXPO for 1999 was first mentioned in¢ IMAGE. The show will take place at¢ the Plaza Hotel-Casino in Las Vegas¢ on August 14-15. This is a major¢ event, and IMAGE editor ED BAIZ¢ suggests that you look at:¢¢ http://www.egexpo.com¢¢ for details.¢¢ SLCC Journal for May 1999 -- There is¢ a description of BOB WOOLLEY's highly¢ modified 120XL and how well it¢ worked.¢¢ XIO3 for May-June 1999 -- ROWLAND¢ GRANT relates this rather positive¢ development. After stating that they¢ would not do anything with their¢ Atari properties than use the rights¢ to the games that were developed¢ under the Atari name, HASBRO has¢ agreed to open up Jaguar development¢ by releasing the encription code to¢ game developers. The developers will¢ no longer have to sign a license¢ agreement with Hasbro. This and many¢ other ST-related developments occupy¢ the News and Rumours column this¢ month. In his 8-bit Affairs column,¢ Rowland does a very good description¢ of the Atari Historical Society¢ Website, run by ex-Ol' Hacker, Curt¢ Vendel. He also mentions the¢ collaboration between TOM HUNT¢ (Closer To Home) and Lance Rindquist¢ (Video 61) on the newest version of¢ BBS Express PRO and how it's being¢ tested in emulation on a PC, along¢ with Tom's Proxy Server so that the¢ 8-bit can browse the Web and the¢ Telnet-able version of Closer To Home¢ BBS. TORSTEN KARWOTH's 130XE+ Makro-¢ Assembler for the 8-bit is described,¢ along with a mention of our own RON¢ FETZER's role in translating the¢ documentation for this programming¢ tool from German to English. STEFAN¢ BIRMANNS of Germany has reportedly¢ designed an IDE interface for our 8-¢ bits that will not only allow us to¢ use IDE hard disk drives, but CD-ROM¢ devices, too.¢¢ IMAGE for June 1999 -- Editor ED BAIZ¢ echoes what was stated about Hasbro¢ and the Jaguar platform in the above¢ review, but also tells us that the¢ source of his information was our own¢ JOHN HARDIE. John, in turn, credits¢ our community with asking Hasbro to¢ do so in numbers large enough to be¢ heard. Hasbro, in turn, feels that¢ it doesn't want to leave our¢ community out, and thus complied.¢¢ The PACESetter for June 1999 -- The¢ club has reprinted an article that¢ was originally done in February 1996¢ and describes several 8-bit-PC¢ connections and utilities. Of course¢ the information is old and has been¢ surpassed on many fronts, but it's a¢ start for members who need it. A¢ review of GHOSTBUSTERS occupies a¢ page in the issue. A review of KOALA¢ PAD/ATARI ARTIST PICTURE PRINTER by¢ TED BURGER is reprinted from the¢ May/June 1996 OHAUG Newsletter. ¢ Windows 98- and general interest¢ website-information complete the¢ issue.¢¢ JACG Newsletter for June 1999 --¢ President JOE HICSWA reports that¢ the JACG has finally received a¢ refund from the New Jersey State¢ Government of a fee that they paid¢ and didn't really need to pay. Their¢ persistence was rewarded. He reviews¢ The PACEsetter for April. He also¢ reviews our May/June issue in which¢ he refers his members to me as a¢ source of information on lots of¢ issues. (Really, Joe, they should¢ read the OHAUG Newsletter to get the¢ primary sources; I'd just refer them¢ to those primary sources -- Ed.) Joe¢ also reviews the April issue of¢ Orphaned Computers & Game Systems.¢ Seems like Joe is really the primary¢ author in this issue. He also¢ describes a process by which he fixed¢ some disks he obtained at various¢ places, answers some questions for a¢ JACS member (now, THERE's a switch! -¢ - Ed.), and, according to the minutes¢ of the JACG May meeting, gave a very¢ positive report of the JACG's Senior¢ Citizen Project. The JACG is¢ supplying 8-bit equipment and¢ training to senior organizations¢ (something OHAUG might also want to¢ consider -- Ed.) One thing that came¢ out of the JACG minutes was a report¢ that I'm giving up the editorship of¢ this newsletter to pursue a job¢ opportunity in Canada.¢¢ HUH????!¢¢ The JACG May minutes are really chock¢ full of important developments, and¢ should be read.¢¢ *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢¢
