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MegaDisc 06 (1988)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)[m][WB].zip
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EDITORIAL
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1988-03-28
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EDITORIAL
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MEGADISC NOTES
Megadisc's sixth issue and still going strong! Subscriptions are
increasing as are general sales, and people are making good use of the
Public Domain library. All this is thanks to you good people buying the
disk, sending in submissions, providing feedback and support in
general. The quantity and quality of contributions keeps improving, and
it's one of the pleasures of the day to go to the Post Office and find
yet another disk full of programs, articles or whatever. Once again,
thanks a lot and please keep them coming (check out CONTRIBUTIONS on
this disk).
Some people have suggested that MD is a bit too text-based, and
they're right! The reasons are that your editor is a bit too text-based
himself, but also that the main idea of MD is to explain and give
information pointing to other sources - why put Public Domain programs
on which can easily be got through the extensive library, which can be
checked out through recommendations here, or by looking through the
Catalogue-on-disk? On the other hand, we're very keen to include any
locally produced programs which mightn't otherwise get wide
distribution, such as Dutils on MD5. You'll find quite a few good PD
programs on this disk, however, in the PROGRAMS drawer.
The format is more streamlined this issue, mainly due to the use
of Opher Kahane's PRINTEXT utility, an updated version of the one in
the Fish List. It does just about everything, so have a look in the
PROGRAMS drawer for a full explanation (and check out the menu bar now
to see what's available). Some people got the impression that the flash
boot-up title screen of MD5 was somehow connected with the dreaded
Virus - NOT so, since the very existence of that boot-block screen
meant that no virus could be living there (a good virus-checker,
however, would report a "non-standard boot block" if checking MD5). So
just to avoid any and all misunderstanding, it's been left off this
issue, since most people already realise that they have to use their
Workbench to access MD, and anyway, it is written on the package.
VIRUSES
Speaking of viruses, a subject currently creating a lot of real
and imagined havoc on all types of computers, it's worth knowing that
those viruses existing on the Amiga to date are not really very
harmful. As far as is known, they are "boot-block" viruses and apart
from the occasional annoying message, the worst they can do is write
over the boot blocks of certain protected games disks which boot from
those blocks. This is damaging, but you can guard against it happening
by using the two Virus Utilities on this disk to check for their
presence in any bootable disk that comes your way. The danger in this
whole situation is that some irresponsible jerks will deliberately
create a "worm" or "trojan horse" which can do serious damage to a
computer system, such as wiping out the data on a hard disk, etc. The
price of data integrity is eternal vigilance, and there are vigilantes
watching for any developments. In the meantime, be careful - and go
through all your disks with "Vaccine" and/or "VirusX". (And if you
think the Amiga's got problems, give a thought for those poor people
who run IBMs and the like! They've really got the full viral vexation.)
MEGADISC PRICES - SHOPPING BY PHONE
For those who like to shop via phone - we now have Bankcard and
Mastercard facilities, either by phone or mail, for the convenience of
those who prefer not to use the post (with good reason at times). Anyone
who finds his or her order not filled within about 10 days should
give us a call on (02) 9593692 - it may have got lost in the post, or
somehow mislaid. And the current prices/offers are as you'll see on the
insert in the Megadisc package, available to all, especially including
subscribers whose subscriptions have expired
- 6-issue subscription (any 6, start anywhere) with 4 free Public
Domain disks, $90;
- 3-issue subscription (again, any 3) with 2 free PD disks, $50;
- all Public Domain disks cost $5.50 each which includes postage,
packaging, disk, etc (the cheapest anywhere!).
If there is any great impatience about receiving orders, a
courier delivery can be arranged for about $10 in the Sydney
metropolitan area, and according to the usual rates outside Sydney.
And of course if you ever get a disk which has any kind of problem,
just call or send it in and it'll be replaced immediately. Another
point - if you should have received a subscription or know someone who
should have, and it hasn't arrived, please get in touch - there was
a hard disk crash and I think a couple of subscribers got lost in
the resurrection (the hard disk also reads "Lazarus" after a rescue
operation). Final note: would the person who ordered some disks with a
cheque on the "Strickland Trust" please get in touch - you forgot to
say who you were!
GROWTH OF THE AMIGA
Meanwhile, the Amiga is going from strength to strength. It's
a machine which provokes great enthusiasm, and can be anything from a
simple high-quality arcade games machine to a full fledged turbo
developers' environment to a desktop video/publishing workstation. It
seems that the Amiga is the biggest-selling computer in Australia at
present, so the word is finally getting through. Improvements are on
the way too, particularly with the approach of the 1.3 system software,
now in the testing phase - check out the article on 1.3SOFTWARE for
details, and "COMMODORE NEWS" in "Megabites". The arrival of 1.3
software along with the solution of the various hardware/software
compatibility problems of the 500 & 2000 will make the Amiga a really
mature machine with a deep user base. And the next generation of
Amigas will be something to look forward to.
OUR CONTRIBUTORS
Special thanks go to our contributors who are proving that they
can write and program with the best of them - there's a high
level of quality in these contributions from people who are already
very busy and do it to share whatever knowledge they have acquired with
other users. In no special order, many thanks go to:
Opher Kahane for "Printext" and "Shortcut"
Terry Gintz for his shareware contributions
Henk van der Graaf for graphics and "PaintHints" tutorial
Greg Ford for his in-depth "HardDrive" review
George Vokalek for info from Adelaide and Audio Digitiser
Pete Goodeve for his support, especially with Xicon
Rob Englander for submissions of graphics
Peter Hanrahan for reviews and information
Paul Chatfield for unstinting hardware and software support
Gunther Frick for help in many ways, including title icon
Richard Wynn for constant help and contributions
Ross Kellaway for constant support and contributions
Jim Bolf for his two reviews
Tim Hogan-Doran for reviews and support
Gary O'Connor for his quality disk submissions on programming
Daniel Dacey for a couple of good reviews
Chris Mountford for the same
Mark Underwood for numerous reviews
Andrew Draper for information about happenings in Queensland
Tony Oxenham for his submission of "Cols"
Anthony Layland for submissions of Basic programs
Graeme Whybrow for general feedback and submissions
Eric Holroyd for his submissions of "Sayings" and his databases
Peter MacKellar for support with Megadisc's catalogue
Ken White for his programming contributions (AbortCommand)
Dave Waters for a variety of contributions
Mike Hansell for software contribution of "Vaccine2.0"
Martin Boyd for software contribution of "Vaccine2.0"
Eddie Stevens for his "AceDrive" hardware hack
Steve & Brian Parker for their hardware modifications and programs
Justin Trevena for submissions of graphics and articles
Guy Burkitt for regular feedback
Carl Osterley for a disk full of contributions
Other un-named people have given their support in various ways, also
much appreciated.
Megadisc was produced on an Amiga 1000 (version 1.3), using a
2-Megabyte Ram expansion board from Proton Microelectronics, Expansion
Systems' X-1000 and 20-Meg hard drive, 3.5" and 5.25" disk drives by
Paul Chatfield, and Bit Blitzer from Mike Boorne Electronics. Software
used included "Professional Text Engine" by Zirkonics, TxED by
MicroSmiths, SuperBase Professional by Precision Software, Deluxe Paint
of course, and a great many excellent public domain utilities by
numerous talented authors.
DISCLAIMER: All Megadiscs are produced with as much care as
possible and with the aim of spreading useful information through the
Amiga community. All contents of Megadisc are checked thoroughly, but
we hold no responsibility for use of programs or implementation of
advice or modifications contained in Megadisc, which are the
responsibility of the user. (This legalese can be countered by the fact
that to date there has been no report of any mishap from use of
Megadisc - on the contrary, all the feedback has been very supportive
and positive, and thanks for that.)
Should anyone receive a disk which does not perform as it should,
please send it straight back and it will be immediately replaced -
there are always a few dud disks in every bunch, which you'll recognise
by "Read/Write Errors" or the disk icon showing as "DFx:BAD".
Having said all that, we hope you enjoy Megadisc - if you do, why
not write in and tell us, along with any suggestions you might for
improving it? Megadisc can only keep going with your support.
Tim Strachan
Editor
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ END OF EDITORIAL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~