Big Blue Disk 22/bbd22.zip/BLUENOTE.TXT

Text File | 1980-01-01 | 22KB | 392 lines

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^C^1Blue Notes

Dear BBD:

   We just got your Issue 19 of BBD in the mail today.  On the whole we have
found BBD to be quite entertaining as well as informative.

   However, we find the supplementary program for this issue is of no use to us
whatsoever.  We feel it was very short sighted on your part to send us a Bible
program without first determining whether or not we were religious!  We
certainly do not appreciate having to pay--sight unseen--for this program.  We
don't all have the same morals, ethics, etc. so it is not logical to just assume
that since some people read the bible that EVERYONE ELSE does too.

   We can understand your putting in Christmas music, etc. as almost everyone
celebrates something that time of year.  (Yes, even we Atheists celebrate the
Winter Solstice.)  And there are over ONE MILLION Atheists in this country.

   We hope to be more satisfied with the rest of our subscription since we
really would not like having to cancel it.  There have been only a couple of
your programs that have not worked on our machine.

^RThe Brenners
^RAuburndale, WI

^1>   Our intention in publishing "Gospel Godspeed" was not to impose a religious
^1>viewpoint on anybody.  (Our staff runs the gamut from Agnostic to Mormon, so
^1>we wouldn't even be able to agree about which religion to impose on our
^1>readers!)  Rather, in selecting that program, as with all other programs we
^1>choose to publish, we aimed to find programs of high quality that are likely
^1>to be of interest to a large number of our readers.  Obviously not all of the
^1>things we publish will interest everyone; if you're not involved in a
^1>business, you might find the accounting package in issue #14 to be completely
^1>useless, while a businessman might find that to be just what he needs, but
^1>consider games to be a waste of disk space.  It's a truism that you can't
^1>please everyone; what we try to do is provide a well-rounded variety likely
^1>to contain enough items of interest to each reader to make the purchase
^1>worthwhile for all.  I try, as much as possible, to make editorial judgments
^1>of what to include and what to reject based on an unbiased assessment of the
^1>quality of the program, and how likely it is to be of interest to a large
^1>segment of our readership, rather than basing such decisions on my personal
^1>religious, political, or other prejudices.  In fact, I won't even state here
^1>what political or religious affiliations (if any) I might have, since they
^1>are completely irrelevant to my position as editor of a computer publication.
^1>
^1>   In the case of Gospel Godspeed, the Bible is the all-time bestselling book
^1>(hence, it is likely to be of interest to many readers), and this particular
^1>program is well written, having a much faster lookup time than any other such
^1>program on the market.  Thus, we surmised that it would go over well, and
^1>indeed, both we and the Godspeed publishers have received many favorable
^1>comments since our publication of the four-Gospels version.  It should be noted
^1>that the Bible is of great historical importance to Western culture, so even
^1>nonbelievers can gain something from reading it.  But if you have no use for
^1>it, simply ignore the program, or reformat the disk and use it as a scratch
^1>disk.  You'll still have a full disk of other programs, which should prove to
^1>be worth the cost of the issue if even a few are of use to you.
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Dear BIG BLUE DISK,

   I have just finished going through my first copy of the BIG BLUE DISK and I
am impressed by the quality of the programs included and the quality of the
programs themselves.  I am especially impressed by CHECK KING, which is one of
the reasons I decided to buy the BIG BLUE DISK.  I am sure I will subscribe
shortly.

   I have one question.  I have the PRINT SHOP by Broderbund and also NEWS-
ROOM PRO by Springboard.  I am wondering if you have ever had a program in-
cluded on one of your disks that allows the exchange of graphics between the
two programs.  Or, do you know if it is possible to do that exchanging.  It
seems like I saw something somewhere that made it possible but I can not think
of where that was.

^RDoug Diehl
^RBritton, SD

^1>Our PRINT SHOP UTILITIES program allows interchanges between Print Shop and
^1>PrintMaster formats.  However, Newsroom Pro is not supported.  Since we wrote
^1>the utility program, users like yourself have been deluging us with letters
^1>asking us to support conversions from Print Shop images to any of a whole
^1>host of other graphics-based programs.  A subscriber sent us a copy of one
^1>of his PrintMaster graphics files, and we deciphered the way in which
^1>PrintMaster stored graphics to write the program.  We'll consider all such
^1>requests, and may release a new utility on a future issue that will take care of
^1>these things.  (After that, some more users will write to us with yet more
^1>formats that still aren't supported; our work is never done.)
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Dear BBD:

   I have been a subscriber to to BIG BLUE DISK since issue # 11 and I am
thorougly pleased with what I have received so far and intend to renew my
subscription when it runs out.

   There is a little of something for everybody on the disks, including my wife.
Until issue 16 and "KLONDIKE" she used to give the "little TV with a typewriter"
a wide berth and a few nasty names whenever she came in the same room as my
"toy". Then suddenly, she, who is an avid solitaire player, watched me trying
Klondike, and lo and behold, I came home from the office one day and there she
was staring at that screen and punching keys. I never thought I'd see the day.

   Cannot help but like "Alfredo", I guess he is a little bit of all of us, a
typical day sometimes.  Anyway I have received hours of entertainment so far and
really look forward to the next month's issue.

   The Print Shop Images get well used, so don't stop putting those in. I tried
making my own but that's mission impossible.

   Issue 17 and the cookbook is terrific - one thing I am good at is eating and
love to try food from all over.  The recipes in this issue looked great and I
look forward to trying them on my weekends.  Looking forward to future issues
with additions to my new cookbook.

   Well thanks for taking time to "read" me -- Keep up the great job you are
doing.

^RKenneth Laesser
^ROscoda, Michigan
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Dear Sirs,

   WOW! I just got my first copy of Big Blue Disk. I love it! The table of
contents is just fantastic and the layout and colors are very clear and easy to
read.  I enjoyed every article in BBD #17 from Diskovery to Last Things Last.  I
knew nothing about computers until just two months ago when I decided to buy one
for Christmas.  Now I am writing my own batch files and feel very comfortable
with word processors, DOS, and my hard disk.  I don't know what I did
B.C.(before computer), but whatever it was, it wasn't as easy or as much fun as
I'm having now, and BBD is something I am going to look forward to every month
as one of the most enjoyable aspects of my computing activities.  BRAVISSIMO!

   My computer-related question is as follows.  When I have a memory resident
program loaded in memory, it caused BBD to not return to the main menu but to
the pictures in the Print Shop section.  Also some of my software will not run
in color, and others such as Flight Simulator will not run at all until I
disinstall the memory resident program.  Is this normal, and in simple language
why does this happen?  Is there anything I can do to keep my utility program
loaded in memory (it is loaded on my autoexec.bat file) and still run the other
things without the glitches?  I have a PC\XT clone, 20meg hard drive, CGA, and
RGB monitor.

^RTimothy Durbin
^RLexington, KY

^1>   Memory-resident software can sometimes have adverse reactions to other
^1>programs.  For instance, two different programs might both be trying to use
^1>the same interrupt call at once, or there might not be sufficient memory in
^1>your machine to fit both programs (and their data) at once.  Not knowing
^1>what memory-resident utility you're using, I can't give any more specific
^1>information.  At any rate, the best solution is what you're already doing:
^1>disinstall the memory-resident program that's causing interference.
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Dear BBD,

I just wanted to say that I do enjoy your monthly issues coming in my mail.  I
look forward to them getting here.  One comment, though, is that for us who do
not have Print Shop or similar program, there is not much use for the graphics
that have been included, (twice just since I've been receiving, and that is only
in the past 3 months).  How can we get this program, or is it just available
commercially?  Is it available at just about any retail outlet?  I have been
wanting to get started with just that sort of program for quite some time now
but can't decide which of the NUMEROUS advertised programs is best.  I have a
Tandy l000 EX and I know Radio Shack has a program similar, called "The Print
Shop" and sells for $59.95.  Is it the same program that you refer to?  Is there
one with a lower price, possibly?  I would love to be able to use these
additional graphics or be able just to save them for future use and build a
library.

Any comments or help greatly appreciated!!

^RAndrea Ariola
^RClewiston, Florida

P.S.  Also, any information on BBS's around this small town of mine. Coming from
Houston, with thousands of local numbers to call, to the country, with NONE, has
been quite a change for me.  EVERYTHING is long distance, even the GENIE BBS
access number, that I subscribe to.  I have literally had to cut down, and some
times completely STOP calling, which is probably one my favorite pastimes,
because of the outrageous phone bills.  ANY SUGGESTIONS, PLEASE???!!!

^1>The Print Shop program we're referring to is the one from Broderbund Software.
^1>It's sold at Radio Shack (among other places), so it's the one your dealer was
^1>referring to.  We sell it also: you can order it from us for $47.95, which is
^1>20% off of the $59.95 list price.  Just call [phone] to place a credit
^1>card order.
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Dear BBD;

   I am writing to request a copy of the program "SIMCGA" available on your BBS.
I am a new owner of a P.C. and am having a lot of fun with your BBD issues.
However, I only have a mono display.  To my delight, I discovered you have a
program on your BBS that will simulate a CGA on a Hercules card.  Because I
don't have a modem, I hope you will be able to send a copy to me on this disk.
I am looking forward to running all your programs if you are able to send the
program.

   I am a new subscriber since March when I received the "BEST OF BBD".  I have
found the"Dos Command History" program to be of infinite value.  Issue 19, my
first issue, has the program I have been hoping to get my hands on, "THE
COMPLETE FILER".  Because I am new at using the computer, I am in great need of
disk management programs and was looking into purchasing a utility program. TCF
is such a good program I have decided to wait and see if BBD has a few more disk
management utilities under their sleeve.

   One final request.  I would like to know about the program "Print Shop
Images".  Your BBD issues do not let us newcomers know anything about this
program.  Will you please fill us in.

^RMichael Perez
^RE. Detroit, MI

^1>   We've sent you a copy of SIMCGA; it, and BWVID (a shareware program that
^1>improves display on monochrome monitors with CGA-compatible adapters), are
^1>available free on request as a service to our readers who require these
^1>programs to make better use of BIG BLUE DISK.  Ask for our "BBD Video Utility
^1>Disk."  Note that the version of SIMCGA we supply is an early, public-domain
^1>one; the author has released a new version as a commercial product.  The
^1>new version supports more machines with greater CGA compatibility.  Contact
^1>the author (Chuck Guzis, 3730 Penitencia Creek Rd., San Jose, CA 95132) for
^1>information on purchasing the newer SIMCGA.  One note:  While you're running
^1>SIMCGA, it's best to invoke BIG BLUE DISK by typing "GO M" instead of "GO";
^1>otherwise, some problems occur regarding the format of our menu.
^1>   Our Print Shop images are designed to be used with the program Print Shop
^1>from Broderbund Software.  (See reply to above letter for ordering
^1>information.)  Print Shop is a program that lets you design greeting cards,
^1>stationery, and other such things using images like those on some issues of BIG
^1>BLUE DISK.
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Dear Editor,

   I have now received four regular issues of "Big Blue Disk" plus two bonus
issues and thought is it time to let you know what I think of your fine
publication.

   I started Home Computing as a hobby back in December of 1980 with a 4K Radio
Shack Color Computer.  After typing in over 100 programs from magazines , I
bought my first magazine on 'TAPE' . It was called "Chromasette" and cost $45
for 12 monthly issues. Each tape had 8 to 10 ready to run programs on them. Most
of them were in BASIC with a few Machine Language programs each month. When
"Chromasette" went under (a sad day for me) I subscribed to "Coco Cassette" for
$50 a year. After a few years I started to write BASIC programs for them and
would get 1 year free subscription in return. All together I have over 60 months
of tapes from these two magazines.

   To say the least I have seen a lot of programs over the years so I feel
qualified to comment on your publication. Its "G-R-E-A-T"...... Its OUTSTANDING,
its FANTASTIC.  I really look forward each month for the the next issue .

^1>(What followed was a lengthy review of all programs in the BIG BLUE DISK issues
^1>he had received so far.  Space doesn't permit including it all, but here are
^1>a few highlights.)

              Family Tree.............. This was a answer to a prayer.
                   With this program I was finally able to get all the
                   info together that I had gathered over the years into
                   one place and make it look neat at the same time.
                   This one program was worth the cost of my three month
                   trial subscription (just kidding).  Just like Buddy Belle
                   I would also be pleased with any improvements to this
                   program in the future.
              Gospel Godspeed .......... A very interesting program. I am
                   not into Religion all that much but I was fascinated by the
                   speed which this program searches and finds words and
                   verses.  Again a great program but one that will get little
                   if any use.
              Bits'n'PC's  and
              On the Editor's desk....... Interesting reading
              Blue Notes................. Great way to find out what other
                   people think of your publication.  Now that I have 4 issues
                   I really look forward to this section.

   Talking about cost of subscribing to your Big Blue Disk you may want to check
your math a little closer.  Your "In The Mail" has the following prices.

                 3 months ( 6 disks)  $19.95 ($6.65/issue)
                 6 months (12 disks)  $39.95 ($6.49/issue)
                12 months (24 disks)  $69.95 ($5.83/issue)
                24 months (48 disks) $119.95 ($4.99/issue)

$39.95 divided by 6 equals $6.66 not $6.49.  As you can see, your math is a
little off.  Just thought I would let you know.

   I really like a publication that seeks out feedback from its subscribers. And
on top of that your coupon good for $5 towards any of your products is a great
idea , both for you and for me.
^RMichael B. Kromeke
^RAlbuquerque, NM

^1>You have indeed caught us in a math error.  We have fixed it now.
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Gentlemen:

   I have just received my second issue of Big Blue Disk (Issue 19), and I am
really pleased with the contents.  I especially appreciate the variety of
useful, easy-to-use programs, such as Check King, Print Shop Graphics, Find It,
Family Tree, etc.  I am glad that your focus in games is educational and family-
oriented instead of violence and shooting.  Please keep up the good work!  I am
really delighted with Gospel Godspeed.  I am planning to purchase the entire
Bible on disk.  Thank you for bringing these useful programs to my home.

   I have had three minor problems with Big Blue Disk.  1) In Issue 19, the F3
Silence option beeps, while F3 Sound is silent.  2) In Best of Big Blue Disk, I
could not get the Color Command to work on my color screen using an EGA card.
The screen just locks up and nothing happens.  3) Big Blue Disk Issue 19 disk 2
says on the cover: "Type go, press return."  Upon doing so, I get a screen
message saying: "Insert disk 1."  I have to pull out disk 2, insert disk 1,
select Gospel Godspeed, then I get a message saying: "Insert disk 2."  Now that
is a lot of runaround, especially in my situation.  I am paralyzed, having no
use of my fingers.  All that disk swapping requires all kinds of difficult
maneuvers on my part.  After many frustrating disk swapping experiences, I
found that I could get Gospel Godspeed by typing "GS".  Why not place that
information on the outside cover and save your customers a lot of frustration?

   I plan to move to southern Mexico to teach Computers at a mission school in a
few months.  I have decided to continue subscribibg to Big Blue Disk, and am
glad you have reduced the rates!

^RFred Adams
^RRedlands, CA

^1>   You misunderstand the prompts of Sound vs. Silence.  What "F3 Sound" means
^1>is that you must press F3 to get into Sound mode; hence, you are in Silence
^1>mode when this is displayed.  What is displayed is the mode you can get into by
^1>pressing F3, which is the reverse of the mode you're actually in.
^1>   There is usually not room for our menu system on disk 2, so you must swap to
^1>disk 1 to start BIG BLUE DISK.  (This month we found room, so you can start on
^1>either disk.)  The method of running a program outside our menu is always
^1>indicated near the end of its "Read It" text.
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Dear Sirs,

   I am a spare-time programmer (at only 14!) and I write many programs in BASIC.
I have written three good programs to date and I am working on a fourth.  Can I
submit BASIC programs, and if so, how?

   On the suggestions issue, can you find some way to protect your programs from
being erased (ex. READONLY.COM, write protect tabs) and include this in your
future issues?  Also, I had an idea for a Big Blue Disk readers club.  This club
would have a section in each issue and would allow readers to answer other
reader's questions, and this section would also include some tips and hints on
better computing, things like helpful batch files and new SHAREWARE programs
made available to the public.  This section might also include addresses of
software distributors so that we users can buy directly from that source instead
of from stores where prices are high and the quanity of products is low.

^1>   We accept submissions; write to us for guidelines.
^1>   It won't work to run BIG BLUE DISK with a write-protect tab on; our menu
^1>system must write to disk to keep track of your menu position.  Your best bet
^1>is to make a backup (using the DISKCOPY command of DOS) and only run that; you
^1>can then write-protect the original disk and keep it in a safe place.
^1>   This "Diskussion" section can serve as a readers' club; we're open to any
^1>sort of comments, feedback, hints, tips, and other notes from readers.
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Dear Editor: {or whomever}

   Well, after reading all your "APRIL FOOL" phony letters and not enjoying
them, I had to write to you and tell you that this space could and should have
been used for a program or game or utility or whatever.  I enjoy your format and
your excellent programs, but the FAKE letters really let me down.

   I also want to make a recommendation to your RE: "READ IT". I think it would
save us all a lot of time and effort by listing all the files a certain program
uses including the one that is currently being read. Another helpful feature is
a Table Of Contents which tells the user where the programs are located, i.e.
disk #1 or disk #2.

Thanks for all your hard work and keep all these terrific files coming.

^RArt Hazboun
^RHarbor City, CA

P.S. I really was joking when I said I hated those phony letters.
     haha April Fools'.  I think they were the best letters I read
     in a long long time.

^1>   We don't include the "Read It" file in the file lists, since it's designed
^1>to work from our menu rather than as part of the program; these text files
^1>can be TYPEd from DOS, but have various embedded commands specific to our
^1>system which make them fairly ugly when used that way.  It's better to print
^1>them out from BIG BLUE DISK.