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- FARGO IBM-PC USERS GROUP
- NEWSLETTER
- DECEMBER 1986
- Meeting Notes--------------------------------------------------------1
- User Survey: Where do I Go?------------------------------------------1
- Shareware: FASTYP22.ARC----------------------------------------------3
- EGA Notes: ----------------------------------------------------------4
- BASIC: Reading the Clock---------------------------------------------4
- Editor's Corner------------------------------------------------------5
- Need Floppy Disks?---------------------------------------------------5
- User Group Officers--------------------------------------------------5
- Uploads 11/4-12/9/86-------------------------------------------------5
- ** MEETINGS **
- The Fargo IBM-PC User Group meets the third Monday of every month at
- 7:00 p.m. Our current meeting place is the classroom located in
- Bethany Homes, 201 University Drive South, Fargo. Meetings are free
- to the public and new computer owners are encouraged to attend.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- MEETING NOTES
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Our November meeting was an informal dialogue regarding resources
- for hardware, software, and services. We discussed the place of the
- Users Group in the community and ways in which we can better serve PC
- users in our community. We also explored ways to improve our
- relationship with local hardware and software dealers. (See the
- article below.)
- A few individuals brought hardware and software bargains to the
- meeting as part of our swap sale.
- In December Karl Peterson will give us a shake down cruise through
- the Novell local area network operating system. If you want to learn
- how microcomputers can be trained to work together, you'll want to
- make this meeting.
- In January we plan a demonstration of the NorthStar Dimension
- computer, courtesy of Software Solutions, Ltd. This is a multi-user
- PC compatible that is finding a niche where many minis used to
- dominate. Our president expects you will be impressed with the
- performance of this machine.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- WHERE DO I GO?
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- One feature of our November meeting was an informal survey of
- members present indicating reliable sources of hardware and software.
- The sampling was not statistically significant, but for what it was
- worth, here are the results of the users who provided information:
- 1) The average user group member has done business with 4.6
- different local retailers and 1.5 mail order merchandisers.
- 2) Local computer retailers mentioned (in order of frequency) were
- :
- -Computerland of Fargo (12)
- -CBI Computer Services (10)
- -Daytons Computer Depot (8)
- -Radio Shack (8)
- -Computer Associates (7)
- -Digital Hospital (7)
- -Red River Computers (4)
- -Systematics (4)
- -Software House (4)
- -Fargo Paper (3)
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 2
-
- -A-1 Olson (1)
- -Computer 1 (1)
- 3) Mail Order firms mentioned in order of frequency were:
- -PC Connection (3)
- -Logisoft (3)
- -PC's Limited (2)
- -Priority 1 (2)
- -CompuAdd (2)
- -Warehouse Data Products (2)
- -Computer Mail Order (1)
- -Conroy La Pointe (1)
- -Northeastern Software (1)
- -US Disk (1)
- -Bittner (1)
- -Leo Electronics (1)
- -XEBEC (1)
- -47th St. Computer (1)
- If this sample is even somewhat representative, it indicates that
- our Users Group members give local retailers a lion's share of their
- patronage. It also shows that most members buy from more than one
- local retailer. Radio Shack, for example, seems to be the place to
- buy odd parts. Users tend to turn to other major dealers for
- hardware and peripherals.
- Mail order firms seem to grab only a small segment of the user's
- dollar--items line RAM chips and occasional software purchases.
- Local retailers seem to be well-liked, as the following remarks
- indicate:
- Computerland--
- "will make it right"
- "good technical backup if you have problems"
- "best service techs"
- "technical"
- Dayton's Computer Depot--
- "helpful, & I have confidence in Gary Fleltis"
- "good salesmen"
- "good folks--credit card"
- CBI--
- "OK too"
- "[good source of] computer paper and ribbons"
- "very professional"
- "good stock, good employees"
- Red River Computers--
- "good service"
- "friendly staff"
- Computer Associates--
- "[good source of] disk containers"
- "helpful and backup"
- "reasonable"
- Systematics--
- "knowledge"
- Fargo Paper--
- "best prices on paper"
- Software House
- "prices"
-
- These remarks bear out the traditional maxim that customers still
- respond to retailers who care about them and who offer help. None of
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 3
-
- the comments evidenced loyalty to any brand of hardware. Confidence
- in the dealer seems to rank first.
- Another possible trend is that users confined price to discussions
- of purchases like paper, disks, and software. Price was not as
- significant a factor regarding hardware. Again, confidence and trust
- in the dealer seems to be the deciding factor.
- Very few remarks were made regarding mail-order suppliers. The
- clear winner was PC-Connection, which was praised for its fast service
- on software purchases by three of those surveyed.
- One question on the survey asked, "How can the users group make a
- positive impact on local computer retailers?" Responses included the
- following suggestions:
- --arrange mass purchases
- --invite them to meetings (3 responses)
- --include dealers in group activities
- --inform dealers of group "direction"
-
- When asked how retailers might contribute to the users group,
- suggestions included:
- --come to the meetings with demos of products (4 responses)
- --offer discounts or specials
- --make information available on new equipment and products (2
- responses)
-
- What's your opinion? If you didn't get a chance to respond and
- would like to share your viewpoint, drop a note to me or leave a
- comment on the bulletin board.
- -- J. L.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- SHAREWARE: FASTYP22.ARC
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Touch typing is one of those skills high schools should have taught
- all college-bound students. I still remember the helplessness of
- graduate students who could peck along at no more than three words per
- minute. They breathlessly waited for a freshman girl to return their
- typewritten manuscript, only to discover she couldn't spell,
- punctuate, or read their handwriting.
- Though PC's simplify the process, they don't eliminate the need to
- be as efficient as possible with keyboard input. The flagship program
- for typing instruction must be Typing Tutor III. One recent upload,
- FASTYP22.ARC (114K), does an admirable job of presenting various
- levels of drills designed to measure and improve typing speed. The
- ARC file contains 55 independent files, most of them drills.
- The program requires 64K of RAM, a CGA (Color Graphics) adapter
- card, DOS 2.x or higher. It is assumes the user has the original IBM-
- PC style keyboard. For regular typing, any keyboard will do, but I
- found it responding properly to my non-IBM keyboard when I added
- options like the tilde key.
- The documentation is designed for someone who knows very little
- about DOS and is good for the novice user.
- You can toggle the sounds for invalid keystrokes on and off. FAS-
- TYPE also allows you to choose the disk for your files. I couldn't
- run it from my RAMdisk G, however--it only recognizes drives A through
- E.
- FAS-TYPE divides the screen into two windows. The top window
- displays the text you are to type. The bottom window shows your
- keyboard layout.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 4
-
- The program makes extensive use of the function keys. F10 begins a
- drill. You can choose the keys groups you wish to be drilled on by
- selecting between "Letters", "Numbers", "Symbols", and "Caps". In
- addition, you can customize the keys you with to drill on. The
- program will not let you gloss over an error since the cursor will not
- advance to the next character until you successfully type the
- designated character.
- You can add drills of your own design, so long as you place no
- more than 39 characters on a line and use the guidelines in the manual
- to name the file. No more than six lines per file are permitted.
- The one characteristic I didn't like about FAS-TYPE was the way it
- took over the system clock in order to calculate your typing speed.
- You have to reset the system clock when exiting this program.
- FAS-TYPE's 46 page document file covers anything you would want to
- know about this basic program. FAS-TYPE (2.1) is the product of
- Trendtech Corporation, P.O. Box 3687, Wayne, New Jersey 07470. Users
- are requested to provide shareware support of $20 for the product.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- EGA NOTES
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Richard Zaylskie provided me with some information on the enhanced
- graphic adapter (EGA) cards which are becoming increasingly popular
- with users. Though I didn't understand all the technical remarks of
- PC Tech Journal, I managed to glean some useful insights from the
- material.
- One point to consider when shopping for an EGA card is that there
- are basically two different types to consder.
- The first kind of card is the least expensive ($220-$595). It uses
- reverse engineering to emulate IBM's EGA card. BUT this card is only
- guaranteed to work in EGA mode. It will gag on some software that is
- looking for color graphics output. This board will support the EGA-
- specific features of programs like Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Word,
- Lotus 1-2-3, etc. If all your software works with the EGA, you need
- nothing else. Otherwise--especially with games--be cautious! Boards
- in this category include products from AST, Basic Time, Genoa, PCs
- Limited, STB and Techmar.
- The second class of EGA boards emulate CGA and Hercules display as
- well as the IBM EGA standard. If your software is not EGA-specific,
- you may wish to consider one of these higher-priced ($460-$899), more
- flexible boards. Manufacturers producing boards in this category
- include Everex, NSI, Orchid, Paradise, Sigma Designs, Tseng,
- Quadram/Video7, and Vutek.
- Recommendations vary according to the reviewer. PC Tech Journal
- favors Tseng's $525 EVA. PC-World notes that Quadram's $495 EGA+ is
- the largest selling EGA board. PC-Magazine likes Techmar's $395 EGA
- Master.
- One other factor to consider is the longevity of the "EGA
- Standard." Rumors abound that IBM is planning to move frome the 640 x
- 350 resolution of the EGA to a 640 x 480 resolution available through
- faster chips now produced by Intel and Texas Instruments. Will
- software developers migrate to increasing resolution, stick with CGA,
- or settle in at EGA? --J.L.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- BASIC: Reading the Time
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- It's been a long time since we've included anything on basic. If
- you have some good short programs or subroutines, let us know! Here's
- a little program that illustrates how to read the system clock and
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Page 5
-
- display the time. It would be useful as a utility or could be
- modified as a timer in a game program.
-
- 10 SCREEN 0:WIDTH 80:CLS
- 20 LOCATE 1,1:PRINT "TIME: "
- 30 LOCATE 1,46:PRINT "Press any key to end."
- 40 IF INKEY$<>"" THEN END
- 50 IF VAL(LEFT$(TIME$,2))<13 THEN TH$=TIME$:APM$=" a.m." ELSE 80
- 60 IF LEFT$(TH$,2)="00" THEN TH$="12"+MID$(TIME$,3,8)
- 70 GOTO 100
- 80 A=VAL(LEFT$(TIME$,2)):Z=A-12:Z$=STR$(Z)
- 90 TH$=Z$+MID$(TIME$,3,8):APM$=" p.m."
- 100 LOCATE 1,9:PRINT TH$+APM$:LOCATE 1,9
- 120 IF INT(TIMER)<>LAST THEN LAST=INT(TIMER):GOTO 40 ELSE 100
-
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- EDITOR'S CORNER
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- In our discussion at the November meeting, we wrestled with that
- "hacker" stereotype that so often clings to users groups. In contrast
- to the media image, our users group is not a hang-out for teenage
- electronic vandals. I would guess the average age of those who attend
- our meeting would be about 33. Most of us are married. Some are
- retired. We hold positions that would be highly regarded in the
- community (law, insurance, accounting, retailing, advertising,
- education, farming, government service, administration, etc.). More
- than anything, we want good--not free--products. We will patronize
- dealers who will help us get things done with the hardware and
- software they service and sell. No fancy promises. No gimmicks. And
- we want to help other users who are floundering in the electronic
- jungle, duplicating our past mistakes and headaches.
- If we can convey this message to the computer merchandizers in our
- community, all of us will profit.
- --Jim Levitt
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- NEED FLOPPY DISKS?
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- The User Group has a limited supply of DS/DD 360K floppy disks
- available. These come with tyvek sleeves and have a lifetime
- guarantee. Your cost is only 75 cents each. Contact Loren if
- interested.
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- USER GROUP OFFICERS
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- President & Sysop-----Loren Jones
- Vice-President------James Grettum
- Librarian----------Calvin Paulson
- Newsletter Ed.---------Jim Levitt
- Treasurer-------------Loren Jones
- Printing----------------TLC Press
- Address: Box 9121, Fargo ND 58109
- Newsletter Address: c/o Jim Levitt, Box 97, Wolverton, MN 56594
- User Group Phone: 1-701-280-2608
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------
- HACK.ARC 252K UNIX Hack game for PC. Super game!!!
- TIMSAV26.ARC 130K *IME Saver v2.6 Calendar/Appt. Mgr - VG!!
- DB3LOGO.ARC 1K Make the logo stuff disappear
- MARKS.ARC 34K *Teacher's grading recorder
-
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- Page 6
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- DYNAPACK.ARC 17K Fast pack dBase files from DOS
- DB3PLUS.PAT 1K Remove startup/ending message for dB3+
- RISK.ARC 100K Risk - Just like the board game
- RATKEY20.ARC 8K TSR key redefiner v2.01, 10/23/86, A.Lin
- BOX.COM 2K Rotating box on screen
- 720KDISK.ARC 6K How to use 360K disk as 720K on AT w/DOS 3.2
- MTASK.ARC 16K Two partition multi-tasking
- PC-ARENA.ARC 50K *Play Othello with a friend by modem!
- FILEIT.ARC 23K Pop-up quick reference bibliographic tool
- SST-V201.ARC 44K *SeekStopper to unfragment hard disk files
- FIXFAT.ARC 32K Recover lost files & repair damaged FAT
- ZOOPLAN1.ARC 19K Response to critics by author of ZOO
- MTGPAY.ARC 19K Mortgage calculator - Lotus .WKS worksheet
- PCPURST.ARC 11K Info on Telenet's PC-Pursuit - cheap modeming
- NT.EXE 10K BestDirectory Tree program around!
- WRDPRF42.ARC 11K Brief description of WordPerfect 4.2
- GALXY13.ARC 105K Galaxy V 1.3 Great Word Processor
- GRCP2.ARC 27K TSR Graphics Cut & Paste Ver. 2.0
- PCOPY51.ARC 58K Artiquin's COPY util ver. 5.1 - GREAT for HD
- COOKIE.ARC 30K Collected wit for software engineers
- CONSTIT.ARC 19K US Constitution (latest ver.) full text
- QDR26.ARC 5K Vern Buerg's Diskette Reformatter-update
- LBARGEN.ARC 19K Generates lite-bar menu code for dBase III
- QMOD-KER.ARC 7K Use Kermit protocol with Qmodem 2.x RdB
- ASDKEYS.ARC 13K Keyboard macro utility
- OPTMENU.ARC 2K Adds Lotus style menus to dBase iII+
- HEADER.ARC 16K Prints dBaseIII file structure to a file
- DB3STR.ARC 10K Display DB3 file structure without DB3
- DB3SCR1.ARC 4K Makes boxes fast in dBase III
- GT1012-1.ARC 95K GT PowerComm v10.12 comm prg - 1 of 3
- GT1012-2.ARC 95K GT PowerComm v10.12 comm prg - 2 of 3
- GT1012-3.ARC 45K GT PowerComm v10.12 comm prg - 3 of 3
- LASTRUN.ARC 5K Nice IF..GOTO date check for autoexec.bat
- QFILER23.ARC 87K QFILER v2.3 - great file/disk mgmt util!
- LAWBBSFD.ARC 6K Frolic & Detour listing of law BBS's
- FLIP.ARC 4K Flips graphics screen after n minutes!
- DEDMATIC.ARC 126K Deduct-a-Matic computer usage tracker
- FASTYP22.ARC 144K Fas-Type v.2.2 typing teacher
- INSULTS.ARC 25K Generates 22 million insults for pranksters
- CHECMATE.ARC 198K Great Checkbook/home financial manager!
- CTSA1186.NWS 29K Newletter & BBS list CenTex Sysop Assn.
- COBOL.ARC 61K NPS Micro-COBOL v.2.1 - COBOL for 8088
- PCOLIGHT.DQC 1K Use Lightning with PCOutline.
- DYMV.ARC 4K Monitor memory while program is active.
- INV1.ARC 17K Inventory program for dBaseIII+
- CHXWRITE.ARC 110K Checkbook Manager/check writer
- HBMS13.ARC 85K Home Budget Mgmt. Sys v1.3 easy,complete
- MAXICRAS.ARC 98K Best Checkbook/home finances manager !
- MORCOST3.ARC 20K Mortgage Cost Calc. w/ points/taxes/etc!
- KEYS.ARC 13K Interesting graphics demo - nicely done!
- GOLDEN.ARC 31K *Collection of handy DOS utilities
- COMSH.ARC 72K *Comm.Shell-enhance comm. capabilities
- MC.ARC 20K *MultipleChoice-keep three programs in memory
- PCGAZ109.ARC 79K PC GAZETTE Electronic Magazine - Nov 86!
- MONOP60.ARC 74K *MONOPOLY v6.0 10/86 c/g game - best seen
- IMPRT132.ARC 115K IMPRINT v1.32 LQ fonts for IBM/Epsons VG
- ROLEX.ARC 40K Watch Display for EGA 256K only!
- CHIWRITE.ARC 148K Scientific editor with 10 fonts
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- Page 7
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- NOVNEWS.ARC 13K Nov 86 Fargo Users Group Newsletter
- PCSHELL.ARC 66K UNIX-like shell for DOS
- QFONE223.ARC 81K Qfonedit 2.23: THE Qmodem 2.2/2.3 utilit
- QFONE223.TXT 2K Qfonedit 2.23: ASCII description of it
- ARCBENCH.ARC 8K Katz's benchmark tests of major ARC pgms
- KERM229.ARC 41K Vers 2.29 of MS-Kermit
- XMAS.ARC 120K Animated xmas card - best on ega
- WILDPROC.ARC 1K Clipper wildcard search prodedures
- T.ARC 8K View WS/ASCII files w/spd cntrl & redr
- LINEAR.WK1 4K Linear regression Lotus 2.0
- EXPL.ARC 40K Explorer game--Graphics and text
- BGMN.ARC 48K Backgammon game-computer versus you
- IOLITE.COM 1K Red light in U/R when hard disk active
- FARGODIR.ARC 89K Master List of Fargo files as of 11/1/86
- PAGES2.ARC 15K DB3+ Paging routines
- JBGAME3.ARC 132K *Castaway/SA Advnture;JimButton game disk 3
- PCO322.ARC 113K PC-OUTLINE 3.22 from Brown Bag
- COMDEX86.ARC 11K Review of Fall Comdex by Detroit Lawyer
- FTETC125.ARC 141K *Family-Tree, Etc. v 1.25 Genealogy program
- DMASTER.ARC 65K Diskette Label Sys - complete with HELP
- LMASTER.ARC 65K Label Utility System with many EXTRAS!
- WORDFIND.COM 20K Create Wordfind crossword puzzles
- XONE21.ARC 11K Buerg's make ARC off files frm anoth (ASM)
- UGALL.ARC 15K Nationwide Listing of PC User Groups
- PCPARK.ARC 3K Generic Head Park Pgm--Includes AT Disks
- VFAT.ARC 9K See the structure of your disk/files
- ARCTYP12.ARC 4K Type a text file directly from an ARC (8/86)
- GSTBSTRS.BAS 1K Ghostbusters Logo
- TF-BOOK.ARC 88K Electronic telephone book
- UPDATE50.ARC 88K Update Ver 5.0 Hard Disk Backup Utility
- FEDTAX86.ARC 34K 1986 federal tax worksheets for 1-2-3 Rel. 2
- ANSP22.ARC 55K Ansipaint 2.2,make ANSI,ASCII,BLOAD screens
- FCON200C.ARC 45K Fansi-Console ANSI device driver ver. 2.00C
- AM-TAX86.ARC 122K *AM-Tax 1986 tax preparation software
- DIAGS.ARC 58K PC diagnostics by originators of Z80MU
- MOVBITS.ARC 11K Bit mover subroutine in 8088 Asm-Turbo Pascal
- DSEEKER.ARC 1K Floppy drive diagnostic-Turbo Pascal
- DTCQTEST.ARC 3K Daisy wheel printer QA/exerciser-Turbo Pascal
- GT700.ARC 145K Generic Terminal 7.00 communications program
- ABM.EXE 35K Defend the cities from nukes-good color
- STAR-NET.PUB 3K Info, new phones, PC-PURSUIT
- QUBECALC.ARC 160K Shareware multi-dimensional spreadsheet
- DD121.ARC 52K *Daily Diary, excelletn appoint scheduler
- KILL14D.ARC 82K 'Doors' program for RBBS Ver. 14.1C or D
- GUESS.EXE 30K Guess the Algorithym (or crack the code)
- PCW27-1.ARC 107K PC-Write 2.7 - 1 of 2
- PCW27-2.ARC 138K PC-Write 2.7 - 2 of 2
- PCPM.ARC 91K PC Project Management (Critical Path)
- PCDESK32.ARC 96K PC-Desk 3.2 - complete desk manager
- COMPCHEF.ARC 60K Computer Chef 2.17 - for high tech kitchens
- TXTMUSIC.ARC 22K Program to write, edit and play music
- ANIMATOR.ARC 9K Animation maker w/ sample graphic (BASICA)
- 3DGRAPH.ARC 39K 3D Function Plotter/Hires w/print, Turbo src
- PDFLOW.ARC 20K Flow chart utility for programmers
- TIMEPARK.COM K Auto park hard disk - memory resident
- AMMAZE.ARC 39K Multi-level Maze game - very good
- TEKTERM.ARC DELETED NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN! PD OR USER SUPPORTED ONLY!
- TIME2.ARC 29K Another clock, more fun than useful.
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- ENVED.ARC 16K Edit DOS environment strings.
- HHGT1-6.ARC 24K Guide to the net 1 - 6, humor!
- COPYWRIT.ARCDELETED NOT PUBLIC DOMAIN! PD OR USER SUPPORTED ONLY!
- SRS.ARC 76K Still River Shell (graphic tree display)
- LIN-PROG.ARC 176K Linear Program - Max.Profit or Min.Costs
- RAM.ARC 2K RAM disk that can be resized or deleted
- 3DTICTAC.EXE 37K Three dimensional Tic-Tac-Toe (4 levels)
- DISPLAYQ.ARC 26K ASCII/EBCIDIC display/patch utility
- EMSDISK.ARC 16K Uus EMS board as a RAM disk
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- LBLBJOKE.DOC 2K Worlds Greatest Light Bulb Joke
- RLA10.ARC 11K *Appointment by Alarm 1.0 - MemRes alarm prgm
- BACKALLY.ARC 33K *Backalley pinball - nice!
- MSTKEY.ARC 77K *Master Key 1.5 - Like Norton's NU utility
- PCB9600.ARC 7K Use of 9600 baud on BBSs.
- PATDOS32.ARC 88K Patches to DOS 3.2 from IBM!
- SIMCGA.ARC 2K Run some CGA files on Hercules graphics board
- MEMBERS.ARC 32K Membership manager for Dbase III Plus
- MAILMEN5.ARC 18K Personal mailing list manager-Dbase III
- CANJETDL.ASM 12K Print screen utility for CANON PJ1080A
- XMEM.COM 1K Checks status of Lotus/Intel memory
- BACH.ARC 21K Music program plays Bach excerpts
- PACGAL.EXE 39K Game just like PAC-MAN
- KBFLAG.ARC 1K AUTOEXEC branch util - PC Mag Dec. 23,'86
- POLYMUSI.ARC 6K 3 voice music for the PC
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