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The LOADSTAR Forum
by Dave Moorman
[Introduction:] I get quite a number
of requests for a return of the Forum
and the STAR BOARD.
Well, here's the Forum, including a
number of letters I have accumulating
around my desk. The easiest way (for
me) to get a letter to the the Forum
is when it is in electronic format. An
Edstar/Mr. Edstar file is great. I can
also handle TXT files and emails.
For my answer to STAR BOARD, check
out BILLBOARD.
DMM
--------------------------------------
Hi Dave,
I think I got the right address.
You're LoadstarDave!
I just wanted to let you know that
got the Wraptored issue of LOADSTAR
205, and got it unpacked and it runs
beautifully. I haven't used Wraptor
for quite awhile so I was nervous that
I wouldn't be able to get it done.
Keep up the good work. I hope your
endeavor works out as you planned. I
have been following your chats (in
newsletters and maillists) and think
it is a good plan. I hope others will
give LOADSTAR (and you) the chance.
Sincerely,
Rob Snyder
Rob,
Your know, the one thing I miss now
is receiving LOADSTAR each month. That
was always a big day. I would reset my
schedule so I could go through the
disk. However, being editor does have
its charms!
We just keep plugging away. We don't
have the final figures for the year
(many of you are good through LOADSTAR
211) but so far, we have recieved as
many or more new subscribers as we
have lost. In other words, we are
gaining on it a bit. I think.
Many are like you -- getting their
LOADSTAR issues through email. For
those with Internet access through
your Commodore machines, using Wheels
and The Wave, Wraptoring seems to be
the best way to get the issue to you.
However, Maurice Randall says that
soon, The Wave will be able to
download D64 files and immediately
translate them to 1541 disks. We will
keep tabs on that development and let
you know.
If you use a PC for Internet access,
the D81 file is the way to go. With
1581COPY, a D81 becomes a 1581 disk in
about 90 seconds on your PC.
And again we want to assure you -- we
have [no plans] whatsoever of giving
up on LOADSTAR. We may get overloaded.
We may get behind. But we won't be
quitting for quite some time.
DMM
--------------------------------------
Dave,
Fender mentioned he prepared his
Diskovery article using PC Windows
Word. How did you adapt it for use on
LOADSTAR?
Ken Barsky
Ken,
Fender had Word save the file in TXT
(pure ASCII) format. I had a Q&D Basic
program that did the conversion from
ASCII to PETASCII. But now we have
Mr.Edstar. In fact, this column began
as a TXT file.
One note of caution. The TXT file
really needs two wasteable bytes at
the beginning (because it is not a C=
PRG file). So put an extra carriage
return at the top of the document.
That generates two bytes (CHR$(10) and
CHR$(13)).
Also, each paragraph should begin
with one or more spaces indented (not
TAB). And be sure there are no long
lines of unbroken characters. Mr.Ed
cannot handle 40 or more columns of
hypens.
We have found a few bugs. If you
don't have JiffyDOS, Mr.Ed may not
save correctly. I forgot to turn off
the sprite. Also, when you click INFO,
you have to click the OK with the
mouse to close it. So Version 1.1 will
be coming out in a month or so. We
also will include a SEARCH function,
and maybe REPLACE.
If anyone else out there finds
problems with our major utilities, let
me know. We cannot be perfect, but
over time, we can become quite good!
DMM
--------------------------------------
Greetings D.M.!
Issue 206 had some strengths and
some weaknesses.
LOADSTAR Library v7.3 -- GLORY
HALLELUJAH! I have made a copy and am
using it tremendously. However, when a
copy is on a separate disk, the return
to LOADSTAR is a bit obsolete, don't
you think?
Some texts have misspelled words.
One needs improved sentence structure.
All programs worked when executed
except Mr. Edstar. The opening SID
music could be composed with a more
definitive melody -- it seems to run
together at a fast tempo.
Mr. Edstar has a problem. All the
menu functions work from the bar
except INFO. When the Info box appers,
I cannot OK the box. The program locks
up. The cursor moves ok using a
joystick in port #2 after program lock
up.
I would like to see the FeedBack
Machine return to LOADSTAR.
Stephen Beigle
Stephen,
I need to tell you that I was a
rotten speller until I attended
seminary at age 32. There I had a
professor who marked a paper with an
"A" at the top. But with each
misspelled word, he pulled down the
grade a whole letter. By the end of
the second paragraph, he stopped
reading.
I got the message. Spelling is still
not my strong suit, so I send a beta
copy to a couple of people by email.
Their corrections help a lot. But we
still miss words. All I can say is
that we are and will continue to do
our best to track down the little
beasties and kill 'em!
Concerning putting LOADSTAR Library
on a separate disk -- Excellent! When
I find a program I want to see, I put
the issue disk in the drive and choose
Library option 7 -- Return to
LOADSTAR. Boom! The issue is up and
running and I have to program I
wanted.
I thought the music was cool. There
is not much I can do with songs,
except choose them. We will try to
pick something a little less hyper.
Thanks for the Mr.Edstar bug. As I
said above, V1.1 will be out in a
month or so, and this problem will be
fixed.
And, I will take a look at the
FeedBack Machine -- which was an
Edstar program that lists the programs
on the issue. I surmise that it was
dropped one time when Side 1 became
too full, and just stayed dropped.
My dearest wish is that I could get a
month or more ahead of my deadlines so
I could send a beta copy to you,
Stephen. Your critiques are solid and
to the point.
DMM