*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢ Spring has sprung in the New York¢ Metropolitan area. A long-range¢ weather forcast for "significant¢ snow" in April heard on a local radio¢ station turned out to be an April¢ Fools joke. As far as I can see,¢ temperatures are finally climbing out¢ of the mild, but still wintery range¢ they occupied for the last several¢ months. With the increase in¢ daylight hours hibernation is also¢ ending for many species, including¢ Atari 8-bit user group members! This¢ is reflected in some of the following¢ newsletter reviews:¢¢ LVAUG News for January/February 1999¢ -- There is a reprint of Subject 1.2¢ from the faq on Atari 8-bit computers¢ (ftp://ftp.cs.ruu.nl/pub/NEWS.ANSWERS¢ atari-8-bit/faq) -- a well-written¢ piece entitled, "What Can I Do With¢ An 8-Bit Atari?" The article not¢ only covers what can be done with the¢ computer, but why our Classic Ataris¢ are a good choice for doing those¢ activities. There's another reprint,¢ this time of an article by HENRY¢ YANOSHAK (The Intelligencer Record,¢ 10/23/98.) The article describes a¢ law, proposed by Representive James¢ Greenwood, and signed by President¢ Clinton, that makes it more difficult¢ for children to access pornographic¢ Web sites. The law has already been¢ challenged, and even the Justice¢ Department feels that it has serious¢ flaws. Read the article and form¢ your own opinion about the chances¢ that the law will survive legal¢ challenges. A third reprint (LOU¢ DOLINAR writing in Newsday as carried¢ by the Allentown Morning Call,¢ 12/8/99) deals with the reasons why¢ disk drives in PCs keep getting¢ bigger and bigger for less and less¢ money, and why the author thinks this¢ is a good idea. There is another¢ article (author unknown) dealing with¢ filename extensions. There are also¢ many cartoons and one-liners that¢ will have you laughing.¢¢ (FR)ANTIC for February 1999 -- This¢ is the source of "Two Digits For a¢ Date," which is reprinted in its¢ entirety in this issue of the OHAUG¢ Newsletter. Strangely enough, the¢ same faq article in the above review¢ of the LVAUG Newsletter appears in¢ the February (FR)ANTIC as well. So¢ does a reprint of TOM HUDSON's review¢ (7/98 issue of The PACESetter) of¢ MINER 2049ER. My son used to spend¢ hours and hours playing this game.¢ To end the issue, there's a reprint¢ of the November/December LVAUG¢ Newsletter article on fixing the¢ console keys of 130XE keyboards.¢¢ IMAGE for March 1999 -- Editor ED¢ BIAZ discloses a Web site called XL¢ Search that holds an index of 16,000¢ Atari 8-bit files. I've just got to¢ go to that site¢ (http://www.sonic.net/%7Enbs/xlsearch)¢ right now and check it out...¢¢ (several minutes later ...)¢¢ Well, the page is no longer on the¢ server. I did a site search for the¢ term "XL," and came up with nothing. ¢ But when I tried a site search for¢ "Atari," some 45 pages were returned.¢ Most of them were not 8-bit related,¢ but some were, so if you want to try¢ it, you just might find something¢ interesting. I'll do the same AFTER¢ I write this column.¢¢ SLCC Journal for April 1999 -- I¢ assume that BOB WOOLLEY wrote the¢ small blurb in the upper right hand¢ corner of the first page (just above¢ the picture of the 1200XL.) The¢ blurb states that if the author gets¢ it finished, he will bring that¢ heavily-modified machine to the next¢ meeting. What are the modifications?¢ How about something called SmartOS¢ that lets you modify the OS code, a¢ 512K memory upgrade with battery¢ backup and an IDE hard drive? We'll¢ see next issue (I hope -- Ed.) Also¢ in this issue, we learn with sadness¢ that former SLCC librarian, BOB¢ SCHOLAR lost his wife. We send our¢ sincere condolences, Bob.¢¢ PACESetter for March 1999 -- This¢ issue reprints an article by ROBERT¢ PUFF (12/15/97) in which he describes¢ how Atari 8-bit computers like the XL¢ and XE series work fine by¢ themselves, but become flakey when¢ connnected to other devices via the¢ PBI or are modified to accept very¢ large memory upgrades. Among the PBI¢ devices is Mr. Puff's own BLACK BOX.¢ The article goes on to describe three¢ modifications that should make these¢ computers rock solid. In another¢ article, PACE member TOM RUSSELL has¢ written a series of beginner-type¢ questions to editor WALT LEWIS, which¢ Walt proceeds to answer. In another¢ article, this one reprinted from the¢ OHAUG Newsletter of 5-6/92 by JOHN¢ PICKEN (originally from PSAN 4/90)¢ entitled, "Your Other Computer." No,¢ John is not talking about a PC or a¢ Mac. He's talking about your¢ printer. Indeed, a printer is very¢ computer-like, and the article¢ explains just how this is so. It¢ then goes on to explain how you can¢ get more out of your printer through¢ software control.¢¢ Cenacle Newsletter for March 1999 --¢ This is issue number 13 for the¢ French group. I've dusted off my¢ High School French again (allergy¢ victims beware) and I'm attempting a¢ synopsis of this issue. Editor REMI¢ GALLOPIN has set some priorities for¢ the Year 2000, and using 8-bits is¢ clearly one of them. To that end,¢ there is a list of games with their¢ descriptions on the last page of the¢ issue. The games include many that¢ were first released for the 2600 game¢ console and then enhanced for the¢ Atari 8-bit computer:¢¢ Miss Pacman¢ Pengo¢ Pole Position¢ Space Invaders¢ Megamania¢ River Raid¢ Moon Patrol¢ Super Cobra¢ Spy Hunter¢ Jungle Hunt¢ Pitfall¢ Miner 2049er¢¢ There is also a list of several¢ programs in the club's library (on¢ page 2.) The user group has¢ definitely branched into supporting¢ PCs, as the rest of the issue shows.¢¢ XIO3 for March/April 1999 -- ROWLAND¢ GRANT's 8-Bit Affairs column has some¢ very interesting news. He states¢ that ATARI CLASSICS Magazine is down¢ to one issue per year. He also¢ mentions the PROJECT PHEONIX, which¢ is supposed to provide PPP¢ connections and a Web browser for our¢ 8-its some time this spring. If¢ successful, it might be marketed as a¢ cartridge by Video 61. CRYSTALWARE¢ INC. has joined a number of software¢ game houses that are now producing¢ older games in more modern clothing¢ for the PC and Mac markets. EDWARD¢ WILLIAMS is using upgraded 600XLs in¢ industrial control applications.¢ CURT VENDEL has more pictures of rare¢ and almost-produced Atari hardware at¢ his site. As we all know, some very¢ talented people worked for Atari in¢ the early days. One of the engineers¢ who developed the SIO bus is now¢ working for Microsoft and is one of¢ the patent holders for the USB.¢ Rowland also states that your editor¢ is leaving the Atari 8-bit world in¢ December to devote more time to¢ Linux. This is not quite accurate,¢ as I explained in another article in¢ this issue of the OHAUG newsletter.¢ Perhaps the innacuracy is partially¢ my fault. I happened to mention, in¢ a posting in comp.sys.atari.8bit and¢ other places, that one of my user¢ groups (LIAUG) may convert to Linux.¢ But the real reason that I must give¢ up the 8-bit is that the time and¢ room it now occupies will be taken up¢ with my becoming a consultant in¢ adaptive technology.¢¢ PACESetter for April 1999 -- PACE has¢ a Website! It can be found at:¢¢ http://pace.atariworld.com¢¢ and it's loaded! Atariworld.com, the¢ parent site, is shared by ABUG (Atari¢ Boise User Group) and is a member of¢ the Atari WebRing. In addition,¢ there are links to all the PACE¢ officers' e-mail addresses at the¢ PACE site. This issue also contains¢ a review and instructions for¢ SHANGHAI, some information on¢ printing out BASIC programs using¢ pokes, and several articles reprinted¢ from the March/April OHAUG¢ Newsletter.¢¢ JACG Newsletter for April 1999 -- The¢ JACG has set up (via President JOE¢ HICSWA) a free computer chess setup¢ at one of their local restaurants.¢ Joe has, of late, been very¢ interested in setting up surplus¢ equipment to solve various local¢ social needs. Read about it on page¢ 5 of this issue. Joe has also¢ contributed an article (and most of¢ his articles are in the form of¢ letters) on how to load programs.¢ Joe also plans to take anoter cross-¢ country motorcycle trip this summer.¢ But unlike other trips, when he would¢ send out postcards describing his¢ activities, this trip will be¢ documented on a laptop and modemed¢ into a JACG member who will volunteer¢ to type up and send the postcards for¢ him. Sounds interesting, Joe! A¢ large (two-page) ad for the Trenton¢ Computer Festival was run in this¢ issue, as well as a full listing of¢ the sites on the Atari WebRing and a¢ screen dump of the Atari Central¢ site, which replaced Toad Computer's¢ site.¢¢ SLCC Journal for May 1999 -- Because¢ of the changed date in our own¢ meeting calendar, I am able to break¢ the suspense you are probably all¢ feeling about BOB WOOLLEY's 1200XL¢ project. It's described in this¢ issue. The machine's memory has been¢ boosted to 576K, including a 512K¢ ramdisk that cannot be erased by a¢ power-down. Bob states that the OS¢ and and memory locations $D600¢ through $D7FF are "programmable,¢ permanent and write-protectable." He¢ has also included an internal 1.2-¢ gigabyte IDE hard drive which is also¢ programmable, backed up by a battery¢ and write-protected. The hard drive¢ is divided into seven active¢ partitions, all designated as D1:. ¢ How can he do that? I don't know¢ precisely, but Bob states that he¢ uses <CTRL-F1> to select the¢ partitions and that there are three¢ front-panel LEDs that allow him to¢ see which one is selected at any¢ moment. The issue also has some¢ rather interesting PC-related¢ material. Take a look.¢¢ AND SNEAKING IN AT THE LAST MINUTE:¢¢ The PACEsetter for May 1999 -- This¢ issue is heavily involved with¢ hardware issues, reflecting the¢ club's many demonstrations in the¢ past few meetings. However, the¢ hardware goes beyond Atari hardware¢ and begins to touch on the PC. Read¢ the minutes for details. There is an¢ excerpt from IAN CHADWICK's MAPPING¢ THE ATARI which explains how PEEKS¢ and POKES are used in BASIC¢ programming and how values get¢ stored in memory. One of the members¢ (not identified -- I think it may be¢ WAL T LEWIS -- Ed.) wrote a funny¢ piece about his (or her?) experiences¢ with a PC. There is a reprint of a¢ rather important website (if you have¢ a PC and are looking for device¢ drivers.) It's <WinDrivers.com>, and¢ it seems to contain important¢ diagrams as well. There is also a¢ screen dump of a website maintained¢ US Robotics (now a division of 3COM.)¢ This site gives directions for¢ troubleshooting WinModems. Since the¢ WinModems are internal (PC) modems,¢ what is at that site is of limited¢ value for the Atari 8-bit. But since¢ the WinModem line is included in many¢ stock PCs, it's good information to¢ have. The URL is:¢¢ <http://www.usr.com/home/online/¢ trblshot/10551.htm>¢¢¢ *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢¢¢
