***+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢ ¢ DEAD? NOT BY A LONG SHOT!¢¢ Classic ATARI users just don't get¢ it! We were supposed to have rolled¢ over and died a long time ago. But¢ unlike other orphaned computer¢ communities, we are priveleged to¢ have not only software support within¢ our community, but hardware support¢ as well. Fine-Tooned Engineering has¢ announced several products lately. ¢ Computer Software Services continues¢ to support us. ¢¢ WE COULD HAVE TOLD YOU!¢¢ In hindsight & As a reflection of¢ how well our 8-BIT is missed by¢ former users, just take a look at¢ what BRANCH ALWAYS SOFTWARE has¢ released recently. Not only are there¢ freeware 800 and 800XL versions of¢ the PC Xformer (which emulates an 8-¢ bit on a PC) but there's a¢ commerically-available 130XE version.¢ I guess those appeal to people who¢ have a nostalgic need to run Classic¢ ATARI software on their IBM-¢ compatibles. Darn. They could have¢ kept their 8-BIT systems and not have¢ had to put up with the shortcomings¢ of machine emulation. (The emulators¢ ARE good, but far from complete.) On¢ the other hand, the dream of a¢ portable 8-BIT system (via an IBM-¢ Compatable and PC Xformer) would¢ probably appeal both to former and¢ current 8-BIT'ers. That being said,¢ let's see what the user groups have¢ been doing. ¢ ¢ O.K., NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!¢¢ The L.V.A.U.G. News for May/June,¢ 1994 -- I don't remember reviewing a¢ LEHIGH VALLEY newsletter for a while.¢ I was wondering if that user group¢ had stopped publishing one. Then,¢ via a phone call from JON MORDOSKY, I¢ found out that there was a mailing¢ problem that had been straightened¢ out. Sure enough, shortly after that¢ call ALEX handed me a batch of¢ newsletters that includes three from¢ L.V.A.U.G., as well as a flyer¢ advertising that the group would be¢ running an ATARI Nostalgia Night at¢ their November 3rd meeting. ¢ Unfortunately, the flyer was given to¢ me at the November 12th meeting of¢ OHAUG. Sorry about the digression,¢ folks. The May/June newsletter¢ reprints a THOMAS. M. JOHNSON Action!¢ tutorial about pointers and records. ¢ There is an announcement of a toll-¢ free Atari customer support line (-¢ 800-GO ATARI). There is also a¢ reprint of an article by TOM¢ STEINERT-THRELKELD, actually one of a¢ series of columns he writes for the¢ Dallas Morning News called CyberTalk.¢ This one describes the Cleveland¢ Free-Net.¢¢ CINATARI for July, 1994 -- We¢ received this newsletter, and it's¢ the first I can remember reviewing,¢ although it's obiously not the first¢ the organization has published. We¢ welcome it to our exchange. There¢ were no specifically 8-BIT articles¢ in it, and the list of software¢ developers and dealers on the back¢ cover would lead one to believe that¢ the club is heavily into ST and¢ beyond. However, there were¢ references to both the LYNX and the¢ JAGUAR. I hope there will be 8-BIT¢ articles in this newsletter in the¢ future.¢¢ The L.V.A.U.G. News for July/August,¢ 1994 -- This issue carries reprints¢ of a "BACK TO BASICS" article that¢ appeared in the November 1993 issue¢ of (FR)ANTIC and a very informative¢ article on Power Protection by¢ SHELDON WINICK that first appeared in¢ GEnie Lamp, Volume 4, Issue 65. ¢ There are also multiple references to¢ the "ATARI NAVY." I guess some of¢ the LVAUG members have and use¢ canoes. Several amusing cartoons¢ round out the issue.¢¢ Messages from S.P.A.C.E. for¢ September/October, 1994 -- There are¢ no 8-BIT articles this month. There¢ is an article by editor JOHN CASSIAS¢ on using a spreadseet to track stocks¢ when a stock-tracking program is not¢ available.¢¢ MVACE News for October, 1994 -- We¢ welcome MVACE Newsletter to our¢ exchange. This is another one I¢ haven't seen before. According to a¢ brief history on page 7, this user¢ group began as the Huber Heights¢ (OHIO) ATARI USER GROUP 1n 1982, but¢ expanded to the entire Miami Valley¢ as time went on. This user group¢ covers all Atari products. The issue¢ seems to spend a lot of space writing¢ about other platforms and ATARI's¢ position in the general computer¢ market. It reprints an article by¢ JOHN COLLINS of N.W.P.A.C. on how to¢ ship hardware to others. Anther¢ article, of general interest,¢ describes a device called a MODEM¢ SAVER that tells you if you can¢ safely use a modem with your portable¢ computer. It's available from IBM¢ and a phone number is given.¢¢ Update ATARI for October, 1994 --¢ We've been receiving this newsletter¢ since long before I started to write¢ this column. HACE is a very active¢ club in the Houston area. Lately¢ they've looked like an ST-exclusive¢ user group, at least as far as their¢ newsletter reflects. This month is¢ an exception. GEORGE IKEN has begun¢ a series on DOS's for the 8-BIT and¢ this month's installment features¢ those that were produced by ATARI¢ Corporation. (George, if you're¢ reading this, ATARI did produce a DOS¢ 1. It's available on a few scattered¢ BBSs around the country, and I have a¢ copy, sans documentation. I won't¢ use it and don't suggest that anyone¢ use it.) George thorougly summarizes¢ DOS 2, 2.5, 3.0, DOS XE and DOS 4.0. ¢ It's a very informative article.¢¢ (FR)ANTIC for October, 1994 -- The¢ AAAUA acknowledges a potential future¢ visit from former Vice-President and¢ now OL' HACKER JOHN HARDIE. His name¢ came up when the computer drew his¢ name for a prize. Alas, JOHN wasn't¢ physically present and couldn't¢ collect. JOHN, if you ever do get to¢ visit those guys, please give them my¢ best. I've never met them, but I've¢ been reviewing their excellent¢ newsletter so long that I feel I know¢ them. This issue contains a type-in¢ BASIC program that creates a 101-¢ sector RAMDISK. MANUEL GARCIA does a¢ write-up on Bolt's Electronic Repair¢ Service, a company that does service¢ on ATARI 8-BITS and older ST¢ machines. BOB HUDDLESTON writes a¢ retrospective on strategic wargames¢ for the 8-BIT line.¢¢ IMAGE for October, 1994 -- This issue¢ contains no specifically 8-bit¢ articles, but it does contain an¢ interesting piece of news. ST¢ chairman and librarian ED BAIZ¢ intercepted a post on FidoNet saying¢ that ATARI is going into electronics¢ manufacturing for telecommunications.¢ It's an interesting development, if¢ true. I was last led to believe that¢ Atari was getting away from computers¢ and returning to gaming. Now,¢ there's this message that further¢ states that ATARI and BELL ATLANTIC¢ are going to put a telecommunications¢ technology together and that the¢ Jaguar is the perfect engine for¢ "settop" communications. Ed feels¢ that such news doesn't indicate that¢ ATARI will also move away from games,¢ but Ed also doesn't believe that¢ Atari is moving away from computers. ¢ After following Atari for many years,¢ I often wonder if Atari management,¢ from BUSHNELL through WARNER and now¢ the TRAMIELS, knows what it's goals¢ are for a period of more than ten¢ minutes! There is also an article¢ about the SEGA-ATARI agreement (more¢ about that later.) Finally there's a¢ reprint of an article from the May¢ 1993 issue of The Nutshell on¢ preventing repetitive stress¢ injuries.¢¢ L.V.A.U.G. News for¢ September/October, 1994 -- This issue¢ features a reprint from Diablo Valley¢ ACE of California (PACE) of a LARRY¢ MAGNUM review of DJINNI. If you¢ regularly call GEnie, and if you¢ remember an AC Magazine "wish list"¢ article in which one of the items was¢ for an "Aladdin-like" navagation¢ program for the 8-bit, you'll be¢ pleased to find out that DJINNI fills¢ the bill. LARRY's article explains¢ it all. The Beginner's Column¢ contains an article by JOHN W.¢ DASHNER about SYNFILE. The Back To¢ Basics column, reprinted from the¢ March 1994 issue of (FR)ANTIC,¢ reviews the commands in DOS 2.5.¢¢ The SLCC JOURNAL for November, 1994 -¢ - Most notable in this issue is a¢ review of TextPro, version 5.20x. ¢ This version is so new that the¢ review, and the suggested articles it¢ mentions, should be read by anyone¢ who uses older version of TextPro. ¢ TextPro, of course, started out as an¢ improvement on CHARLES BRANNON's¢ Speedscript, underwent multiple¢ further revisions by RONNIE RICHE and¢ MIKE COLLINS and has been written¢ about extensively by FRANK WALTERS. ¢ Beyond that, there is a great deal of¢ space devoted to a JAGUER review, a¢ list of hints for playing Nightshade,¢ and some humorous pictures of SLCC¢ personalities.¢¢ Now, a little about that ATARI-SEGA¢ agreement. As you may remember,¢ there have been countless court¢ battles among game-machine¢ manufacturers in the past few years. ¢ ATARI and SEGA, in particular, have¢ sued and countersued each other over¢ patents, software licenses,¢ copyrights and the like. According¢ to the press release that Alex handed¢ me, ATARI and SEGA will actually work¢ together from now on. The basis of¢ this relationship is an agreement¢ which was announced on September 28,¢ and given governmental approval only¢ this past week. Under the agreement,¢ SEGA will get many of ATARI's¢ patents, in exchange for royalties. ¢ Some of those royalties will be¢ prepaid by SEGA in the form of¢ approximately $50 million dollars. ¢ SEGA will buy about 4.7 million¢ shares in Atari common stock, about¢ another $40 million dollars. The¢ companies will enter into software¢ license agreements on games that¢ would be made available for game¢ systems produced by both companies. ¢ Atari will drop legal proceedings¢ against SEGA, and both companies will¢ release claims against the other.¢ You are free to make of it what you¢ will. I believe the agreement will¢ infuse cash into ATARI, and will be¢ used in designing, but not¢ necessarily promoting or¢ manufacturing, games and gaming¢ equipment. It was my hope that ATARI¢ would again be tempted to produce, or¢ allow others to produce, computers¢ that were logical extensions of the¢ FALCON 030. I just can't see that¢ happening.¢¢ *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢ << End >>
