?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?¢¢Transferred from Z*MAGAZINE, Atari¢On-Line newsletter, by Mike Blenkiron.¢Reprinted by OL' HACKERS AUG NY, with¢thanks!¢ ****** ¢¢ RUMBLES...RAMBLES...RUMORS...¢ =============================¢ by Stan Lowell¢¢¢ Ever hear "There's nothing new for¢eight bits?" Maybe not mountains, but¢new hardware and software are still¢kicking! Refinements are being made to¢what is out already too! Not on as¢grandiose a scale as in the heydays of¢course, but they are out there!¢ The biggest problem as I see it:¢communications. Spreading the word¢around. I have seen messages from¢people who know NOTHING of ICD,¢SpartaDos, the Black Box, and on and¢on. These were not posted by new¢comers to the Atari arena, these were¢from people who have been using their¢machines for a few years! We just¢lost the Antic "insert" in STart¢Magazine, but that is the not the last¢commercial stateside resource left.¢We have CURRENT NOTES, and ATARI¢EXPLORER, and ATARI INTERFACE MAGAZINE¢This on-line magazine, ZM/A\gazine, is¢a good source. Where does ZMag get its¢material? From user groups and readers¢who submit articles, reviews, letters,¢or just information to it. In short,¢YOU the readers, help to support it.¢ There are other resources around. ¢User Groups are a VERY GOOD resource¢for both problems you may be having and¢for information about new things which¢may be "out and around" someplace.¢ Bulletin Board Systems(BBS) are¢another good resource for information¢and help. Many ST Bulletin Boards¢feature message networking to some¢degree. Even 8-bit Bulletin Boards¢have message networking. My BBS,¢FoReM-XE Professional, has had it for¢well over a year. Express Pro!, Carina¢][, and I believe Puff BBS have message¢networking.¢ Networked messages are a fantastic way¢to find out about new things, get help¢with problems, answers to questions, or¢just have a good conversation. Most of¢you probably know about a BBS. ¢Otherwise, you wouldn't be reading¢this! <Grin> If you don't, then you¢are missing one heck of a good time! ¢Get a modem, get a terminal program,¢and jump on-line! ¢ Most new commercial software for the¢eight bit Ataris comes from overseas. ¢I have heard of a place or two in the¢UK which will mail order to the U.S. ¢Don't know of any stateside places¢which carry any kind of inventory for¢us 'old timers.' If you know of some,¢let me know!¢ Public Domain and Shareware programs¢are still alive and well. New¢revisions are out for TextPro and¢DaisyDot3. John McGowan in Saint¢Louis, Mo. has written several programs¢which will let you print icons in your¢text using DD3. New Versions of¢Snapshot are out. Snapshot allows you¢to have 2 different programs in an¢expanded XL or XE and switch between¢them. There is a version for hard disk¢owners which allows for up to ten¢programs on your hard disk. SUPPORT¢SHAREWARE!¢ On the hardware side, TransKey has¢been out for some time. TransKey¢allows you to hook up a standard PC¢type keyboard to your XL/XE, and¢includes keyboard macros! From all¢reports I have seen, it is an excellent¢product. The prolific support given by¢CSS' Bob Puff continues. Rumored to be¢in the works is a chip for an XF551¢which will allow both the 5-1/4 and¢3-1/2 drives to be on-line at the same¢time! Also coming is a controller for¢the Black Box which will allow reading,¢writing, and formating of PC, ST, and¢8-bit formats!¢¢ WEll, that's about it for now. As I¢find out about, or remember new¢"things," I will pass them on in a¢future article. If you know of, or use¢a product or program, let me know about¢it. I can be reached on the Z*Net BBS,¢GEnie(S.Lowell), or on my BBS(Blank¢Page BBS - 908-805-3967, 3/12/2400). ¢'Til next time... Editors Note: Stan¢Lowell is a long time friend and¢supporter of Z*Magazine. His guidance¢in the early days helped Z*Mag stay on¢course during rough times. Stan has¢also been a support sysop for¢Z*Magazine BBS systems during the past¢5 years and his assistance with the new¢Z*Mag is greatly appreciated. Please¢leave Stan a message and encourage him¢to continue writing!!¢¢ [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]¢
