*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢ (Editors Note: While this N/L is ¢ not current, it has never been¢ printed. Because it is still full¢ of too much interesting info and news¢ and to make up for last N/L lack of a¢ review it's being printed.)¢ ¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEW¢¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢ "If you want something done, give it¢ to a busy person." I'm looking at¢ the remainder of this month and all¢ of next month and wondering how I'm¢ going to get through it. Well, not¢ actually wondering. I KNOW how I'll¢ get through it. Planning is the key,¢ and I am planned for every minute of¢ May and June! If something else¢ drops into my lap, there's simply no¢ time for it! But I did carve out a¢ piece of time to do these newsletter¢ reviews. We may lose Atari (the¢ company, not the community),¢ according to some people. Should¢ that happen, some people might be¢ persuaded to give up their 8-bits. ¢ The reality, of course, is that the¢ company has not really supported us¢ for years, and that we have survived¢ very nicely, thank you, without them.¢ I see no reason why that can't¢ continue. If I can spread the word,¢ albeit late, about things other¢ people and user groups in the¢ community are doing, I'm happy to do¢ so.¢ ¢ Talk about late. The first newsletter¢ handed to me for review is one year¢ old. It doesn't matter, though, for¢ the information init is several years¢ older than that. Why recycle this¢ stuff? Its simple. We can't all be¢ expected toremember every programming¢ technique, or every product released.¢ If the material actually solves even¢ one problem for someone, then you bet¢ I'm for spreading the word. But,¢ there's also new material in some of¢ the newsletters. Think of it! Atari¢ hasn't supported us for a few years,¢ but people are always writing new¢ shareware and p/d programs,¢ commercial games are still being¢ imported from Europe, and the large¢ committment needed to produce new¢ hardware is still undertaken by some¢ brave souls. It would be nice to¢ have support and recognition from¢ Atari. But it's also nice that they¢ provided us with the machine that¢ seemingly won't die. Let's not lose¢ sight of that, either.¢¢ The W.A.N.D. for May/June, 1992¢ features a handful of programs¢ and program fragments in BASIC that¢ produce some interesting graphics.¢ On the first page, for exammple, is a¢ reprint of a JAN IVERSON (DACE,¢ 12/85) fragment that scrolls a screen¢ horizontally without resorting to¢ HSCROLL. Several interesting¢ geometric screens come out of a¢ reprint of a FRANK KWEDER article¢ that appeared in the Jan/Feb issue of¢ Current Notes. Frank took IBM Basic¢ programs and translated them into¢ Atari BASIC. He could have used the¢ TurboBasic MOD command, but found a¢ way around it. Also included is the¢ most descriptive review I've ever¢ seen of Video Title Shop. It's a¢ reprint of STEVE HOFFEE's November,¢ 1991 Current Notes review and¢ explains how graphics can be added to¢ the program from outside sources. A¢ reprint of a March 1992 Nybbles and¢ Bytes article, second in their¢ series, on Game Hints for Commercial¢ Software (no author listed) is¢ amazing in its scope. I've found the¢ AT+/SPD Modification Program, from¢ LVAUG to be most helpful over the¢ years. A reprint of CHARLES COLE's¢ November 1991 review of this program¢ is thorough and accurate. For the¢ uninitiated, the AT+/SPD Modification¢ Program allows you to use¢ AtariWriter+ with disk-based and X-¢ Cart versions of Sparta Dos. It¢ adds the ability to access up to ¢ eight drives, so that you can ¢ set up multiple ramdrives on an ¢ expanded machine. A reprint of a¢ ROGER HELLER (JACS) article on how¢ his wife came to use Ataris in¢ her business and a ROLLY HERMAN¢ article on printing in large type ¢ (lots of samples here) round out¢ the issue. ¢¢ The SAGE Scroll for February, 1993¢ reprinted a section from The Secret¢ Guide to Computers, by RUSS WALTER.¢ I had the book out of the library,¢ and especially liked that section.¢ The 8-bit Section features a reprint¢ of a review of YEMACYB/4 that¢ was written by ELDRIDGE STOCKS for¢ the STATUS Newsletter, October, 1991.¢¢ NewsLine (ACE of St. Louis) for¢ Jan/Feb, 1993 is a sight for sore¢ eyes. I was saddened not to see this¢ fine newsletter for what seemed like¢ an eternity. Now, it's back, and I¢ have to tout an article by LEN STYS¢ with the unlikely title, ATARI USER¢ GROUPS -- The Wind Beneath the¢ Falcon's Wings. Len would like to¢ return to the heyday of Atari, with a¢ Department of User Group Services,¢ User Group Information Network, an¢ Atari User Group Newsletter, company¢ presence and sponsorship of all¢ shows, a gift catalog, etc., etc.,¢ all to promote the Falcon. He feels¢ that the strengh of the Atari¢ community today resides in the user¢ groups and that Atari, Corp. must tap¢ that strength to make the Falcon a¢ success. Could it be, Mr. Stys, that¢ Atari, Corp. could not -- has not the¢ resources -- to undertake such a¢ venture at this time? I fully agree¢ that the strength is in user groups. ¢ We 8-bitters have proven that many¢ times over. But, I can't really see¢ Atari, Corp. putting in that kind of¢ effort until they are able to rebuild¢ their company. Meantime, it's up to¢ user groups that support the ST to¢ promote the Falcon, to get dealers to¢ carry it, until Atari can do so on¢ its own.¢ ¢ The February, 1993 issue of M.U.G.¢ Newsletter continues (Part 2) the¢ Derek C. Signorini history of the¢ infamous difficulty at the Pittsburgh¢ show. The February, 1993 issue of¢ (FR)ANTIC contains (no author listed)¢ a listing of filename extenders, ¢ shorter than most, but with some¢ special hints on how to use them. It¢ also contains a very interesting ¢ Tips column by THELMA SUNVISON. ¢ Thelma discusses the STRING TOO ¢ LONG error in AtariWriter+. ¢ This error message isn't ¢ explained anywhere in the AW+ docs,¢ and is troubling, to say the¢ least. Thelma clarifies what it¢ means and how to avoid it. In¢ another column, Thelma announces that¢ the club is selling a $2 for those¢ who wish to play the Texas Lottery¢ and want their Atari to help them¢ pick the numbers. There is a press¢ release that TransWorld Exchange is¢ putting out a $5 disk of Fig-FORTH¢ modules used to create some of the¢ Polish disks. There are also other¢ interesting press releases. Check¢ them out. Speaking of Polish games,¢ ED HALL mentions them in his New¢ Software column, along with¢ announcements of Futra, Space Trouble¢ II, and Megablast. JAMES LAVINIER¢ details the procedure for installing¢ a hard drive on an 8-bit system. ¢ JACK LEA wrote an article that is¢ sure to make some people laugh. ¢ Disregard the bad spelling. It¢ contributes to the charm of the¢ piece. I refer to RED FACED and¢ DOGHOUSED.¢¢ Between Bytes (JACS) for February,¢ 1993 contains a great article by¢ ROGER HELLER on poking numbers into¢ memory from BASIC data statements.¢ It explains not only why this is¢ done, but how the programmer knows¢ what numbers to use and what¢ addresses to choose for them.¢ ¢ The JACG Newsletter for February,¢ 1993 has some interesting articles. ¢ SAM COREY's 8-bit LIBRARIAN's REPORT¢ mentions our club's newsleter as a¢ great source of information. Thanks,¢ Sam. We try. WILLIAM BINGHAM has a¢ super programming column, inspired by¢ his purchase of a Black Box with its¢ built-in Assembly Language Monitor. ¢ With it, he was able to improve the¢ Word Magic program's directory screen¢ routines. DAVE ARLINGTON continues¢ his series on a review of Ultima IV.¢¢ The March, 1993 issue of (FR)ANTIC¢ contains a column on Disk Drives Care¢ and Feeding by RUSSELL STOWE. ¢ Russell provides us with seven great¢ hints on keeping drives working¢ properly. Russell aslo has a column¢ on sector copiers that explains what¢ they do and gives several examples. ¢ In an interesting portrait entitled,¢ "Lighting Candles in the Dark", JACK¢ LEA has highlighted DON BELL, the¢ proprieter of Bellcom (the p/d -¢ shareware company). It's ¢ great reading. Another portrait,¢ this time a self-portrait is ¢ about MANUEL GARCIA and it entitled,¢ "Game Player Bargain Hunter." ¢ THELMA SUNVISON tells us how to¢ merge one file into another using ¢ AtariWriter+. The AAAUA thanks ¢ OHAUG for several programs they ¢ are putting on a library disk ¢ that OHAUG originally supplied to¢ them.¢ ¢ The March, 1993 issue of S.L.C.C.¢ Journal continues with BOB WOOLLEY's¢ series on interfacing the 1200XL and¢ an IDE hard drive. There is also a¢ very amusing article - Computer¢ Virus News- that should get at least¢ a chuckle.¢ ¢ M.U.G. Newsletter for March, 1993¢ continues -- you guessed it --¢ Derek C. Signorini's series on the¢ Pittsburgh debacle.¢¢ Nybbles and Bytes (N.W.P.A.C.) for¢ Mar/Apr, 1993 reprints a Current¢ Notes review by CHARLES COLE of¢ SpartaDOS X. I use my X-Cart for¢ many applications, and I have to¢ agree with Charles on everything he¢ said -- positives as well as a few¢ negatives -- about this cartridge. ¢ JOHN D. KASUPSKI of WNYAUG has two¢ articles in this issue. One is about¢ reasons to connect a hard drive to an¢ 8-bit system and has been reviewed¢ here previously. The other,¢ reprinted from the excellent disk-¢ based POKEY newsletter, is his¢ review of BBS Express PRO. In that¢ review, John mentions the IAN, The¢ New Nest, and Sysop JIM HARRIS¢ who is, as we all know, a member ¢ of LIAUG and OHAUG.¢¢ The L.V.A.U.G. News for April, 1993¢ contains reprint of THELMA SUNVISON's¢ (FR)ANTIC TIPS Column from January ¢ 1993 dealing with the¢ importance of keeping cables straight¢ and untangled. It also contains¢ MICHAEL STOLIKER's fifth SpartaDos¢ tutorial, dealing with disk¢ structure. An article on computer¢ crime, reprinted from The S.A.G.E.¢ Scroll of January, 1993 is also¢ included.¢¢ The M.U.G. Newsletter for April, 1993¢ continues the DEREK C. SIGNORINI¢ story previously referred to in this column. Third installment¢¢ Finally, the S.L.C.C. Journal creates¢ something of an April 1 flavor with¢ its front-page headline. Take a look¢ and see what I mean. But, there's no¢ 'fooling around' in BOB WOOLLEY's¢ continuation of the 1200XL/IDE hard¢ drive series. ¢ +*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+* ¢¢
