*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢¢ This has been a busy period for many¢ of us, myself included. I have added¢ many entries to my list of URLs, most¢ of them concerned with Atari 8-bit¢ activity. The comp.sys.atari.8bit¢ newsgroup has become increasingly¢ active. Unfortunately, some of that¢ activity has involved messages from¢ the dreaded "spammers," who send¢ LOOOOONG messages promising us untold¢ riches if we would only participate¢ in their unabashed chain-letter¢ schemes. Almost as bad are those who¢ waste valuable bandwidth quoting¢ those spams completely and then¢ answering them, point-by-point. ¢ C'mon guys! All you have to do is¢ ignore the spammers and they, at the¢ risk of dating myself, will dry up¢ and blow away. There are,¢ thankfully, no such problems in user¢ group newsletters; some excellent¢ examples of which are summarized¢ below.¢¢ Cenacle Newsletter for June 1996 -- I¢ was handed this newsletter by Ron¢ Fetzer at the December meeting. I¢ really don't read French, the¢ language of the newsletter, but I can¢ make out enough to know what the club¢ is doing. They have reprinted some¢ material from XIO3 (issue unknown). ¢ They are struggling for material for¢ their newsletter. A review of PC¢ Xformer 2.51 takes up about a page. ¢ A member asks about¢ using/transferring files to his PC. ¢ The answer comes back SIO2PC. It is¢ also pointed out that SYNFILE and¢ SYNCALC can save files in the .DIF¢ format which is readable in many¢ other PC applications. Executables,¢ however, will not usually run on a¢ PC, except for those that run under¢ PC Xformer. Others ask about whether¢ Print Shop icon disks in the library¢ can be used without the Print Shop¢ Companion, and why the club will not¢ open up to ST membership. An ad for¢ a member who makes SIO2PC interfaces,¢ charges for printing bck issues of¢ the newsletter. and a blurb on¢ Microcheck 3.05 XE round out the¢ issue.¢¢ Nybbles and Bytes (NWPAC) for¢ July/August 1996 --- This issue was¢ sent to me by its editor, JOHN¢ COLLINS when I informed him during¢ the course of another conversation¢ that we hadn't received it. The¢ first cover front cover contains a¢ short tribute to ALEX PIGNATO by¢ NWPAC President DALE WOOSTER. We¢ appreciate his kind words. I also¢ appreciate that Dale corrected an¢ error that I made in an earlier¢ reference. I had misstated that Dale¢ was the author of the documentation¢ for TextPro, a product of RONNIE¢ RICHIE, but Dale stated that he¢ merely edited documentation that was¢ written mostly by Ronnie and MIKE¢ COLLINS. DALE also gives credit to¢ FRANK WALTERS for writing all of the¢ "Help" sections (see more of Frank's¢ work elsewhere in this issue of the¢ OHAUG Newsletter -- ed.) Lesson 2 of¢ TextPro Macros, by the same Frank¢ Walters, appears in this issue of¢ Nybbles and Bytes, and is most¢ important to anyone who is going to¢ use TextPro. This issue also¢ reprints ROWLAND GRANT's (GCACE)¢ Atari 8-bit Affairs column. Editor¢ JOHN COLLINS gives us a list of URLs¢ that are essential for 8-bitters who¢ wish to visit Web Pages and ftp sites¢ devoted to our machines. Some of¢ this list was incorporated into¢ mine!¢¢ SLCC News for September 1996 -- This¢ issue contains minutes only. We hope¢ the next issues will reflect a more¢ vigorous SLCC.¢¢ (FR)ANTIC (AAAUA) for October 1996 --¢ GREG KOBY, a sysop who corresponds¢ with me via FidoNet, has written a¢ very helpful article for those who¢ use SDX with BobTerm and/or TextPro. ¢ It will load the programs into¢ ramdisk, and make the ramdisk your¢ working disk -- most convenient! ¢ ALVAN SHERRILL's November 1989¢ Beginner's Column is reprinted. It¢ deals with some of the imponderables¢ that beginners often find keeping¢ them up at night. Read it. And be¢ sure to read the article (no author¢ listed) that follows it to learn how¢ to access DOS functions from within a¢ BASIC program and a whole lot more. ¢ On the back of the issue is a list of¢ articles from ANALOG Magazine that¢ deal with programming.¢¢ The PACESetter for November 1996 --¢ President KATHY SEVERANCE,¢ apparently running unopposed,¢ contributes a very funny, tongue-in-¢ cheek campaign message. Be sure to¢ read it AND the editor's comment at¢ the end of the message. The article¢ by JULIANNE WU of the ST. PETERSBERG¢ TIMES highlighting PACE, and shown by¢ me at our last meeting, is reprinted.¢ PAUL KENNEDY is the subject of this¢ month's Getting To Know You column.¢ An article (no author mentioned)¢ reprinted from the L.C.A.C.E. News¢ Journal, Vol. 13, Issue 2, gives a¢ very clear description of what¢ Internet Service Providers do, what¢ their fees usually include, and how¢ to select the ISP that is right for¢ you. This issue is replete, as¢ always, with puzzles, cartoons, and¢ other amusements.¢¢ (FR)ANTIC for November 1996 -- My¢ Internet Web Page list is reprinted. ¢ JOHN POWELL contributed an article on¢ hockey.¢¢ Nybbles and Bytes (NWPAC) for¢ November/December 1996 -- First, let¢ me explain that there was no¢ September/October issue of this fine¢ newsletter, for those of you who¢ track these things. Second, let me¢ congratulate Editor JOHN COLLINS on¢ another very nice format change for¢ the newsletter. (John, I don't care¢ what computer you used to produce it,¢ content is what counts -- ed.) It¢ seems that President DALE WOOSTER has¢ stepped down. He is planning to move¢ back to Texas, and the user group has¢ been considering a change in¢ direction. It sent out feelers to¢ those who might be interested in a¢ general-purpose computer club,¢ thinking that such a move would¢ attract more members. When only the¢ current members showed up, a vote was¢ taken and the result is to continue¢ NWPAC as an Atari 8-bit club. ¢ Meanwhile, Dale's successor should be¢ chosen by the first of the year. ¢ FRANK WALTERS has contributed another¢ article on TextPro -- this one deals¢ with printing tips. It covers printer¢ drivers, creating print drive herp¢ files, disk macro files, printing¢ address labels, and two-column¢ printing. Again, it's one of the¢ essentials. ROWLAND GRANT's (GCACE)¢ Atari 8-Bit Affairs column, this time¢ from the September/October 1996 issue¢ of XIO3 is reprinted/ It deals with¢ emulators again. Looks like that¢ topic is not going to disappear soon. ¢ Rowland has some important tings to¢ say about the current crop of¢ emulators. JOHN COLLINS offers a¢ very good guide to selecting an ISP. ¢ Finally, a type-in program, The¢ Science Fiction Pocket Computer, by¢ THOMS OUGHTON is offered. This¢ program generates typical science¢ fiction plots around some key¢ concepts that you provide.¢¢ XIO3 (GCACE) for November/December¢ 1996 -- ROWLAND GRANT's Atari News¢ and Rumours column is a further¢ explanation of the arrangement¢ between Atari and JTS, its rationale,¢ and its consequences. His 8-Bit¢ Affairs column, as usual, is a¢ potpourri of happenings in the 8-bit¢ world, much of which he has gleaned¢ from the newsgroup. It makes¢ interesting reading. GORDON F.¢ HOOPER's PEEKing Around column¢ mentions new members and renewals,¢ among them OHAUG member DANE STEGMAN. ¢ It also contains some celebrity virus¢ definitions that you can add to the¢ lists you've already accumulated for¢ a good laugh. Gordon, from an ST¢ standpoint (and later, John Picken¢ from an 8 bit standpoint) write about¢ using the latest inkjet printers with¢ those systems. They mention the¢ Hewlett-Packard 680C, which does¢ beautiful work in Windows, but has¢ not a clue in its manual about how it¢ can work in other platforms. I own a¢ 660C, and I can tell you that the¢ control language for the printer is¢ available at H-P's web site, but¢ writing a printer driver for your¢ Atari 8-bit application will take a¢ lot of work. JOHN PICKEN describes a¢ common problem with our 8-bits: some¢ machine language programs will not¢ run a second time unless you cold-¢ boot the machine. Others just don't¢ work at all, although the author¢ claims they will. What happens is¢ that the top of page zero is a great¢ place to put code, but only if it is¢ cleared out in advance. Many authors¢ don't realize that the space is not¢ clear if their program (or another)¢ has previously run. John provides an¢ 8-line BASIC program that in turn¢ generates a machine-language program¢ that will clear the required space. ¢ It can load from your batch file if¢ you're using a command-line DOS, or¢ it can be appended to Atari DOS or to¢ the program you wish to run under¢ Atari DOS. I'd have put it into the¢ newsletter, but I need to contact¢ John to see if I can.¢¢ The PACESetter for December 1996 --¢ The Largo group prints NWPAC's¢ (July/August 1996) list of URLs. It¢ also lists some very useful general¢ information Web sites for checking¢ out long-lost friends, addresses and¢ phone numbers, and AT&T 800 numbers. ¢ JEAN BROKAW devotes an entire page¢ (two articles and a bunch of cute¢ signs) to the process of giving¢ demos. She has also outdone herself¢ in the area of games, puzzles, etc.¢ The PACESetter for January 1997 --¢ Yes, that's correct! We have¢ received the first club newsletter of¢ the new year. JOAN RAIA is not only¢ the subject of the Getting To Know¢ You column, but she authored most of¢ this issue. Her Can It Be True¢ column, written for the club's decade¢ anniversary in June 1995, gives a¢ short history of the club's ups and¢ downs over its then ten-year history. ¢ Her How Did This Happen column is¢ reprinted from October 1992. Her Dry¢ Eyes? column comes from the August¢ 1994 issue. Her Modeming One On One¢ column is reprinted from the¢ September 1993 issue. Joan also¢ reviews Typesetter. So, what did¢ JEAN BROKAW do this issue? Jean¢ provided routine announcements, and¢ MORE OF THOSE TERRIFIC PUZZLES!¢¢ *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢¢¢
