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MegaDisc 28 (1992-05)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).zip
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MegaDisc 28 (1992-05)(MegaDisc Digital Publishing)(AU)(Disk 2 of 2).adf
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Readers_Letters
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Readers_Letters
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Text File
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1992-05-26
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40KB
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991 lines
READERS' LETTERS, OPINIONS, BAD ATTITUDES, ETC.
45
¢
AUSTRALIA POST DO
NOT
PUT
RADIOATIVE
PICK UP TIMES:MON-FRI 10:30am MATERIAL
IN THIS
POST BOX
__
|)
|
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SOLICITED HELP
Many thanks to the following people for sending me copies of the article I
was trying to find (which I asked for in a previous Megadisc
Readers_Questions file:
Stanley Peck, NSW
David Boyce, NSW
There were a couple of others who replied as well but I've lost their
letters so I don't know who they are. (See what happens when you clean
your room!) I must be slack but they know who they are and that they exist
so all I can say is sorry, sorry, sorry, thanks!
- Steve Bolton.
Ed: And thanks to you, Steve, for the big ASCII "Thanks" banner, which I
stole and put in the "Thanks" section this issue.
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SNOOKER TO BLAME
Esteemed Ed,
Time goes fast! And Jimmy White's Snooker is to blame.
Enclosed is an impression of WB2.04 installed on my A500. I had some
reservations about the FFS, as I mentioned in our telephone conversion, but
this was resolved by changing the 'buffers' entry in the Mountlist, which
had always been 1 for my ramdisk in WB1.3, and which had not benefitted
from additional ones. What I have not mentioned in the article is that
ONLY the write speed was slow - reading was OK! What may be relevant is
that I measured the time to save a file in my editor, AZ. Textra gave a
similar result. If they use small buffer sizes (ie. 512 byte) the results
are consistent with DiskSpeed 3.1 (and 4.1) EXCEPT for the read speed!
Anyway, 'buffers = 2' is the go! But it is still 40% slower (1.8 sec vs.
1.3 sec) - good enough not to be noticeable, and a vast improvement on
400%.
This aspect of the 'new' FFS will receive additional attention.
Matt Dillon was kind enough to respond to my criticisms of DICE after my
last review of the registered version. His summary was "I thank you for
all your comments, your conclusions are near the same as mine as far as
future enhancements go... the only thing we disagree on is the placement
of the __chip keyword. I really can't stand the way SAS/C does it."
If the article is accepted, I'll get some PD disks after perusing the list
in MD28!
Dave Hooton
Lake Illawarra, NSW
Ed: Your articles always acceptable, Dave, thanks for the on-going
support.
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AUTHOR OF VIEW80 WRITES FROM ITALY
Dear Ed:
Thankyou for number 26 of MegaDisc.
As you may have guessed that I'm already working to a new version of
View80. New features will include:
-Support for ANSI codes (styles and colours).
-Support for interlaced and productivity screens.
-An ARexx port.
-AmigaOS 2.0 look.
-AppIcon.
-Smarter Hot-Key.
-And much, much more...
In particular, I'm using a new "hardware" scrolling technique, so that I
can perfectly scroll ANSI text also with a simple 68000.
Perhaps this version will be too large for inclusion on your MegaDiscs.
However, as soon as I finish it I'll send you a copy of the new version,
but don't expect it to happen tomorrow: I'm going to study in Roma for some
months, so I'll have to suspend my programming.
Federico Giannici
Palermo, ITALY.
Ed: Federico is the author of View80 an excellent text viewer with just
about everything, along with numerous other Amiga utilities.
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OVER-HASTY COMPLAINT
Dear Ed:
I rang and complained about my copy of Megadisc 27 disks showing no DOS
when inserted into my Amiga 2000. I tried these disks in each of the 2
internal drives and 1 external drive with the same result. I then received
my new 2 disk set of Megadisc 27 and tried them with no problem. I then
tried the other 2 and they worked perfectly this time.
I have never had this problem before and I am sorry to put you to the
trouble of sending me another copy of Megadisc. In future I will check
more thoroughly before condemning disks and I can only guess that it must
have been the BBS software that runs 24 hours that affected things.
Duncan.
?? (Details lost, sorry Duncan)
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MORE ON WORD PROCESSING - PITFALLS
Dear Ed:
WOW! Where has this magazine been all my computer life? My biggest gripe
since purchasing an Amiga in 1987 has been the lack of information and the
crumby magazines I've picked up in papershops.... and here it is! As I
said ....WOW!
Now, as regards the article on wordprocessing. I agree with much of what
was said, but, do not believe everyone finds it easier to write essays
straight into a computer. When I was at Uni, I found I had to write most
of it by hand, then could feed it into my totally frustrating KindWords
programme and play with it. I could not think if I say and stared at a
screen!
The argument concerning poor spellers is also not necessarily correct. My
15 year old is such a poor speller that the spell checker gives up, so poor
old Mum has to do it! I also find that when I can convince him to use the
computer to do the work, because it looks good already he will not go back
and edit. He also rarely will print his work out and go through it looking
at ways to enhance or correct his work.
Therefore, yes, wordprocessing is great for some, but I feel it is a trap
for extremely poor spellers and poor readers.
I also don't believe it is necessary to have typing skills. As an eight
finger typist - as long as I'm able to look at the keyboard, I would
estimate that my speed would be at least 40 words/minute. While it might
be good to teach children to type, I believe the great thing about
computers is that it enables someone like me to prepare a presentable
product without the training that would make me a competant typist and this
is why they are ideal for students.
Cheryl Szpak
Bundeena, NSW.
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MEGA FUNNIES
Dear Ed:
What happened last issue to the funny story/ jokes section at the end of
the Megabites document? Loved the light globe jokes two issues ago. I
hope you put a few less serious documents in the next issue. Oh, and as
always the earnest stuff.
Trevor Partridge
Little Bay, NSW.
Ed: Sorry, Trev, getting too serious! Check the bottom of MegaBites this
issue.
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SUGGESTIONS
Dear Ed:
I saw your advertisements in ACAR and have more recently heard MegaDisc
mentioned a few times at the Commodore Hornsby User Group, in what light I
cannot say, as each time I have been involved in another conversation,
however the conversations appeared to be positive.
As for suggestions, might I suggest Starter or Theme Packs like (forgive
me for mentioning them) Prime Artifax at, unlike Prime Artifax, a
reasonable price. I can't see how they can justify charging 60% higher on
individual disks, even taking into account the extra labour involved.
Whoops, sorry about the diversion. Theme Packs (Sets) would, I feel, make
things a lot easier for newcomers to the Amiga (like me) or newcomers to
computers gernerally as the catalogues like yours and CHUG's are a bit
overwhelming until you know what you're looking for.
My compliments on the speed with thich you sent me a catalogue without
even an order.
Mark Dawson
Terrey Hills, NSW.
Ed: Great minds think alike - check the PUBLIC_DOMAIN drawer for a list of
our new MD THEME Packs, Mark.
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GPFAX / SCSI DRIVES / A500 POWER SUPPLY
Dear Ed:
I have bought the Maestro fax modem, bundled with Greg Perry's GPFax
software, but am having deep problems getting it to do graphics. I suspect
the software has a bug, but Greg swears his software is rock-solid and
blames my A500HD setup.
I haven't forgotten you, by the way. As soon as I have something
constructive to say about GPFax/Maestro 9600XR I will go into print. I
have decided to get Fatter Agnus and another meg of RAM installed, and am
seriously thinking of putting my 20MB hard drive from the A590 into the
Tandy 1400LT laptop so as to make room for a bigger SCSI drive.
Tell me if you have any scuzzy drives available at a reasonable price, and
also whisper in my ear if you know anybody who has done the mods to add
serial and parallel ports to the A500.
Incidentally, the local Authorised Repair Centre (Computer Tech) tell me
the A500 power supply brick is not at all underrated, but they find it
usually needs tweaking up to deliver the proper +12VDC, -12VDC and +5VDC.
Interesting, huh?
I trust you enjoyed your Easter break, and look forward to seeing your
next issue of MD. The last double issue was worth reading for sure.
Euan Miller.
Kyeemagh NSW
Ed: See next issue for a review of GPFax which is exhaustive and which has
no problems with graphics at all, by a BBS sysop. And yes, we have SCSI
drives, Euan, call for the latest details.
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MEGADISC TO THE RESCUE
Dear Ed:
Enclosed is my order for another year's set of MegaDiscs. I am always
surprised that I seem to be able to find that perfect utility I need by
searching through my back issues of MegaDiscs.
For instance, I have been browsing through my 100 plus Fred Fish inventory
as wall as my MD supply for a simple program to reverse my font/background
colours. I am tired of burning up my printer ribbon typing a black
background during a graphics dump. there are lots of multi-colour programs
but they are too elaborate and chew up too much space. And then I stumbled
across FlipShadow on MD21. Perfect!! I put it in my C directory. All I
do is type the name and instant results. Type the name again and you are
back at the start.
Dan Meadows
Los Altos, USA.
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LOST ONE TO BIG BLUE
Dear Ed:
I have just received your reminder re MegaDisc Subscription, my original
ran out with MegaDisc 26. As it happens I haven't forgotten about you,
it's just that the Amiga and I have unfortunately parted company. Since I
have enjoyed your MegaDisc for several years I thought I'd pay you the
courtesy of at least replying and getting my name out of your database and
so save you any future postage costs. (every bit helps)
Without going into long-winded explanations.......recently I required PC
compatability with my work files and started looking around for an AT
board. At the same time I was getting tired of waiting around for an hour
or so while my ray tracing images were being rendered (at 8 Mhz) and was
looking at some sort of accelerator. And of course a flicker fixer and
multisync monitor were highly desirable.
When shopping around and adding up the total costs:
33 Mhz accelerator 2 meg $2500
AT board $ 650
Flicker fixer $ 550
Multisync monitor $ 850
TOTAL $4550
At this stage I went out and had a look at the Amiga 3000 which was
somewhat slower ut similarly priced. And of course I would still have had
to fork out extra for a compatability board.
Imagine my surprise when I looked at some PCs.... Ijust couldn't believe
my eyes. A 33 Mhz DX (32 bit transfer), Super VGA monitor, 85 Mhz HD, 2
inbuilt disk drives, MS DOS 5, mouse, 4 Meg memory and other extras ALL for
$1850. Now there is something crook when one can get an entire new
computer system cheaper then just the cost of an accelerator board in Amiga
land.
Until recently the Amiga was FAR superior as far as graphics and sound go.
However, things have changed. The PCs have well and truly caught up with
all the different sound boards and graphic cards that are now available.
And, of course, there is the small matter of software user friendliness.
You may recollect that I wrote an article you published once cencerning the
ridiculous and disgraceful copy protection schemes employed by some 80% of
all Amiga software packages.
AH, what joy, no more disk rattleing or grinding, or NOT a DOS disk
messages or please insert Disk 7 in DFO:..... now absolutely everything I
buy is hard disk enstallable ....... But there I go again, my enthusiasm
for my new machine gets me carried away at the time, and I did say at the
beginning that I wouldn't go into long-winded explanations.
Once again my thanks for your past informative MegaDiscs and I hope that
you continue profitably into the future.
Rudi Kovac
North Dandenong.
Ed: Thanks for doing us the courtesy of letting us know about your
disappearance, Rudi, which means I'm addressing no-one here I guess! See
below for an answer.
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...AND ANOTHER ONE
Dear Ed:
I see it is time to renew my subscription to your excellent Amiga product.
This I would willingly do except that I have sold my trusty Amiga and
bought an IBM Compatible which I must say leaves the Amiga for dead when it
comes to most software and quality of the VGA screen, value for money etc.
You shouldn't feel too badly, though, as I have encouraged several of my
Amiga owning friends to join for your product.
Roger Sinclair
Bellevue Heights.
Ed: Yes, you get good price breaks these days on clones, but there are
features on the Amiga which you can't get cheaply on the clones (desktop
video, speech, multi-tasking, etc.) and they also lack the charm and
attractiveness of our favourite computer.
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ON THE OTHER HAND
Dear Ed:
Although I am very new to the Amiga I have used IBM clones at work for
years. I have wanted an Amiga ever since I first saw one ot the Melbourne
Computer Show in 1985... all this despite what ever one was telling me at
work.. buy a clone! In the end I compromised and bought an Amiga 2000
with a 52 meg hard disk and an AT bridgeboard.
I really am very impressed by the Amiga. It was really bought for "family
Christmas present" so as well as a Citizen GX-140 printer and Philips
CM8833-II monitor. A pile of software was purchased, including "Wordworth"
(which is excellent), DPaint IV and some games for me and the kids! (I'm
hopelessly addicted to "Their Finest Hour!" Need a review???)
I suppose the one thing that puts me right off the whole set-up is that
the AT side of the set-up is hopeless. The disk access time seems to take
sooo long and therefore and software writing to the disk stops dead while
the hard disk whirrs around. Lotus 123 Rel 3.1 takes about 4.5 minutes
just to load. It takes about 20 seconds at work, so it really puts me off
working on the clone side! I wonder whether there is something wrong with
my set-up (even though it was set up at the place of purchase). I wonder
this because sometimes the IBM side does not boot at all and needs about
three resets to get it to boot. I would be grateful for any suggestions or
help. It seems a bit expensive to spend over $800 on an AT emulator that
runs slower than an XT clone with a 4.77 clock. Could it be a problem with
the A2090 SCSI controller board?
Still, the Amiga is a gem. It has 2 meg of memory and everything that it
does, it does well. The Amiga was everything I thought it would be.
Sometime in the future, I hope to hook up MIDI keyboards, video cameras and
other bits and pieces. First, though, I have to educate myself, and that's
where MegaDisc comes in. I don't think that I have touched the surface of
its possibilities yet, but I would like to get into a few more things.
Now, I understand that with the first subscription to MegaDisc there are
four free PD disks available. Personally, I think you're crazy!!! To my
way of thinking, the product is worth the money without the freebies. I'm
still digesting the contents of the sample package, let alone issues 24 to
26! Is there a PD disk that allows you to design your own fonts? I would
be really interested in that one.. I haven't yet got around to reading
everything on the PD lists or even MegaDisc itself. Once I've got through
those, the music side is next. I understand that OctaMED v2 is very good.
Will it be available from you?
But as far as MegaDisc is concerned... Value for money isn't in it!
Maybe at some stage you might consider some articles on creating fonts...
or have I missed something already? The only (small) criticism that I have
with some of the articles in MegaDisc is trying to follow some of the
jargon which computer people inevitably use... I'm as guilty as the rest,
I suppose, but I understand DOS... The boot is on the other foot now!
So there you go. Thanks very much for a worthwhile product. I hope at
sometime in the future that I will be competant enough to submit something
and keep the pot boiling. As someone once said, "It could be the beginning
of a beautiful friendship"!
Rick Ashworth
Yallambie, VIC.
Ed: Thanks for the feedback, Rick - value for money: I have to agree, but
I would, wouldn't I? Font designer - check out FED on your own EXTRAS
disk.
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KNIFE-EDGE
Dear Ed:
,
Thanks for another two-disc issue (27). It is good to see see that you are
at least surviving, and maybe even venturing forward/diversifying; in these
days, it must feel like a constant knife-edge battle, committing yourself
further while watching others dropping by the wayside. You must be doing
the right thing: just hope Commodore keeps up their side (as they seem to
be doing at last; at least the promise is there).
Have fun with your work,
Chris Hussey
Perth WA
Ed: It's nose above water, Chris, but we need every subscription.
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HORRENDOUS NICAD HACK
Thanks for the exceptional value and quality of the MD27 2-disk issue. I
am sure that most people don't realise all the effort that must go into
Megadisc and the lack of thanks that you and other contributors receive for
their work. As an editor myself, I know how depressing it can get when
no-one appears to give a hoot about the latest crash-hot issue. Makes you
wonder if it's all worthwhile doesn't it? I've always felt that a little
thanks and appreciation won't go astray and that more people should do
this. So, thanks again for your continued efforts and to all those people
that SUBSCRIBE and contribute in order to keep Megadisc going. Simply
excellent!
I have some comments on an article from MD27 about kicking the guts out of
the battery-backed clock battery. (BBU_Clock_Fix by Jim Field-Mitchell in
the Hardware drawer).
Firstly, the original problem may have been cured by the instruction
SETCLOCK OPT RESET, as I described in a previous Megadisc article.
Secondly, as Jim points out, "sounds horrendous". Yes, it certainly does.
It sounds downright dangerous. Have we got any electronic gurus out there
who would like to shed light on the safety aspects of jump-starting a
NiCad? I would have thought they could explode! Anyway, to be safe, I
would recommend the use of a face shield and heavy-duty gloves before any
such thing is attempted. Any comments?
John Knight,
Boronia, Vic.
Ed: Yes, it does sound dangerous, and I wouldn't recommend the hack
really. There are two comments about it in the Readers_Hints file.
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MONTHS OF INSOMNIA
Dear Ed:
After several months of insomnia I have finally finished reading the
entire back catalogue of MegaDiscs and can settle back down to writing
programs. What a wealth of information! I now have a much better idea of
what programs to write and for whom. I highly recommend buying the back
issues to anyone, especially programmers and anyone interested in the
history of the Amiga. Thanks for all the work which you (and all MegaDisc
contributors) have put into making the Australian Amiga scene what it is.
I hope you can use some of these programs on future MegaDiscs, or possibly
on your theme disks. In return, please send me as many of your Animations
and Graphics and Sound disks as you think I deserve. Since I don't have
many "demos" there should be little chance of you sending me something that
I already have.
I have created some large ray-traced animations using the public domain
ray-tracer, DKBTrace. Doew MegaDisc have a standard method of packaging
multi-disk animations? Let me know if you want them, and in what format
and I'll be happy to send them in.
My next contribution will include some ARexx scripts, a simple musical
instrument/sequencer program, possibly a tiny terminal program (smaller
than 6k and FREEWARE) and a collection of hints and tips, questions and
answers.
Michael Stapleton
Redfern NSW
Ed: I appreciate your contributions, Michael - check them out in the
PROGRAMS drawer.
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FEEDBACK FOR DUDES AND DUDETTES
Dear
E
d
!
How's it goin' dudes an' dudettes??
Up 'ere 'tis great! I got me brand new wonderful, fabuloso,
you-beaut, amazing and otherwise reasonablly neat, B2000Hd with
WB2.0!!! (Don't be disillusioned - B2000s don't come with 2
installed, YET!) As I've said before, BLISS!
Now 'tis all nicely setup with brand new (well, pretty well,
nearly, a little bit? :-) icons and ready and rearing to go! Yeah
hah!
** UPDATE **
Actuall I've recently got carried away and redesigned the entire thing
to slightly more conformist standards... That is with WB_2.x: and
Work:... And the normal icons also... Oh well, I'm enjoying myself!
PROGRAMS DRAWER
Umm, in the programs drawer it might be better (perhaps) if you
put a little text file describing what each programme is/does, as
per the FISH listing. Or maybe just for when there are tonnes upon
tonnes of proggies?
MEGADISC27A/C/I&C ?? :-)
Ummm, why do we get to see an unfinished version of instructions
and contents??? :-) Gads! I thought we just got to see the
final/perfect product.... Oh well!
Ed: Ah, yes, eagle eyes you have Anthony - I left a little trail there.
MEGA-DISK ICONS
Like the new disk icons! Very interesting! Hmmmm, I wonder if it's
an Ate-Kuller wun? Be back soon.....Phooey! It's not! Oh well.....
Let's have another look... Very interesting! Does it signifies the
following by any chance?
PD (AmigaLibDisks anyway)
Pictures
Programmes - Basic?
Text maybe?
All on Megadisc!
How's that fer sighki... umm, psy.... that's it! Psycho! ;-)
PD GIVEAWAY
That 40 free PD thing sounds like damn fun I must admit! Is it
subscribing for 27 in between 26 and 27 or just subscribing in
between 26/27? I'm a little confused? (little! Bah! Humbug! :-)
SURVEY!
Yo! 'bowt time we had anuvver servey I reckons!! (as per MD 19 I
think)
I for one have got a _LOT_ of different preferences.....
Anthony Towns
Sheldon QLD
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SOME FEEDBACK
Dear Ed:
What topics would I like covered in future issues?
1) Reviews by topics eg. disk managers, monitors, disk utilities,
hardware add-ons, programming languages.
2) Specific language tutorials
3) Basic terminology
4) Hard disk-related topics
5) Discussion on the possibility of a magazine-sponsored international
"bank" by quoting an "account number" for eg. 2 blank disks.
Steven Laurie
Jacana, QLD.
Ed: We'll see if we can sort out some more response to your requests,
Steven. Thanks for taking the time to answer the little questionnaire on
the catalogue.
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AND SOME MORE
Dear Ed:
How did I find out about MegaDisc? I read the advertisement in ACAR, and
being bereft of knowledge on how to get the full benefits from my $2000
investment, thought I'd give you a try.... and was thoroughly impressed.
What topics would I like covered in future issues? Programming in "C".
What the hell is ARexx and AMOS? Being the wrong side of 35, I'm a late
starter in this arena.
What do you use your Amiga for principally? Games at the moment , but
desperately trying to fathom the inner workings of the beast, to understand
how it works, and how I can manipulate the little sucker!
Other comments or hints for MegaDisc users? Incredibly good value for
money. I had to spend $40 for an Abacus manual just so I could read the
one that comes with the computer. Everyone assumes that we all understand
the jargon. I do hope that an exchange facility for burnt out printer
heads will be a future innovation. I would appreciate an explanation of
Setpatch: so far I have no idea what it means or does.
A. Bell
Canberra, ACT.
Ed: ARexx and Amos and C?? You came to the right place, A.B. Check the
PROGRAMMING drawer this issue.
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NEW AMIGA MAG (YET ANOTHER!)
Dear Ed:
Perth has seen the birth of a new Australian Amiga magazine
which I hope will become a national success. The following text explains
it all in detail.
New Amiga Magazine kicks off in Perth W.A
-----------------------------------------
Being out of work did not stop these guys from making a reality out of
their hopes and aspirations. Gary Blackman and David Reeves, two Perth
Amiga enthusiasts, have released the first issue of their new Amiga
magazine, OZAMIGA.
To attract financial backers and advertisers, the guys put out a special
mini edition in black and white which was entirely produced on their Amiga
2000 computer and printed out using an inkjet printer. This 45 page mini
edition comes complete with a companion coverdisk, a first for any
Australian Amiga publication.
Included on the coverdisk is one of the latest virus checkers, several
animation hints and a dos tutorial. The magazine features several articles
written by well known Amiga journalists, including a great animation
tutorial by Dennis Nicholson from the Graphics Palette disk magazine.
Released in early March, OZAMIGA has up to date information about User
Groups, Bulletin Boards, Virus detectors and games.
Software giants, Mindscape and Electronic Arts have supported the new
magazine by supplying samples of their software for review.
Only available directly from the editors, the next issue of the magazine
will be in full colour and if it has as many interesting articles as the
first, then it it is sure to be a national success.
Anyone who wishes to contact the magazine and offer support can phone
( 09 ) 247 1971, or leave a message for Gary and Dave in the OZAMIGA area
of the KAOS BBS. Phone ( 09 ) 300 2680
I have been dabbling with the SCALA program and will send you a review
soon. It's an unusual program. Essentially a slideshow presentation
sort of package, it behaves much like a word processor and is very easy to
use. The package is full of fancy screen wipes, fonts and text tricks.
Thanks for answering my telephone queries so promptly,
and keep up the good work with MEGADISC,
Peter Furey, W.A.
Ed: Ah, where's my copy, Pete? Surely for a free plug I can get a freebie
to curl my lip at, sneer contemptuously at, etc.?
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MONITOR FAULT
Firstly, I wish to thank R Mills for his article on dry joints in 1081
monitors. My frustrations arose on the very evening I brought home a
hard-drive for connection to my previously reliable system. I knew I had
seen the article on Megadisc but each time Murphy thought I was getting too
close to finding it he would work his magic and have me gazing at a blank
screen. When I finally got to read the article, days later, I was
delighted to find the symptoms described to a tee. Repair done, I regained
sanity, praising how timely Megadisc had been in printing the article. I
have since spoken with another contributor, Lindsay Swadling, who repairs
Amigas in Mittagong and he has had no fewer than six monitors with the same
fault. It would appear the problem is on the increase as 1081's age.
Thank you again Mr Mills, the money saved has renewed my Megadisc
subscription.
THE ON-GOING SHAREWARE SAGA
I have been following with interest the subject of Megadisc acting as
agent for shareware writers and the difficulties with transferring funds to
other countries. Why not set the ball rolling in Australia and ask local
writers would they make full discs available of their works including
source code, if they agree? Jonathon Potter's works come to mind, programs
such as the final version of Image-Ed, and now Fullview, programs we have
all toyed with and had the benefit of using from Megadisc with Jonathon's
unrewarded generosity. I admit to having used Image_Ed on occasions, (and
wished it retained WorkBench colours), but I never quite got around to
sending him some cash and obtaining the answer to my requirements. Part of
the reason is that I would need to organise a cheque and accompanying
letter and I guess I have just been too lazy. Do you fit that image? Now
if I could call or fax Megadisc and use plastic how much easier it would
be. I know Megadisc has 3000+ public domain discs at an unbeatable price
but I would be happy to pay more for works such as Jonathon's because they
suit my needs and I could learn from the source code he offers. If
programmers are Mega-proved, readers have no fear of sending money knowing
they will receive the goods. This is in no way a reflection on Jonathon's
integrity but it would leave him more time to cut code and not worry with
filling orders. If the idea proved profitable, Megadisc and programmers
could come to some arrangement. The idea hinges largely on whether readers
are prepared to just rely on the quality of Megadisc continuing with the
generous support of contributors who may fade away, or whether readers are
prepared to inject some funds so these blokes can keep their
girl-friends/wives happy and take them to dinner occasionally.
Ideally, programmers worldwide should be seeking to show their wares on
Megadisc and expect to derive some reward. I cannot believe that Wicon
from MD8, for example, was the only program Steven Sweeting ever wrote.
Could he fill a disc? Can we get him back? Is there anybody else out
there who feels we may have been taking the offerings on Megadisc for
granted and that we might owe something to these guys? They certainly
don't show any greed. Our tireless editor can pump out PD discs, why not
more useful material from those that will keep Megadisc at the top. I
would love to arrange a copy of this to fall into the hands of Preben
Neilson, (Fish396 from Megadisc). I like his style and if we could
get him to contribute it appears he has much to offer. He is in Denmark.
As an example of his coding, in assembler, my fiddle can be found in the
program drawer under the name 'Buttons'. Once run it uses no memory, it
just makes a few things a little more cosmetic. If you like it, put it in
your startup-sequence where it performs best and it will provide interest
on screens other than just WorkBench. Run it a second time to return to
normal. (It is not suited to WB2.) Now if only I could make those arrows
look better.
FULLVIEW FEEDBACK
My next subject is in relation to Jonathon Potter's FullView program. I
am trying hard to like it based on its local production and the fact that
Jon has produced many fine programs for Megadisc. Might I be bold enough
to raise the following issues.
1. Five methods of exiting have been provided. Keys q, x, and ESC, -
click Q in the right bottom corner and Quit from the menu. I miss the
Intuition standard of clicking in the top left corner, but for some obscure
reason a final click of the left mouse button, at any position, now seems
more natural.
2. I have no trouble with forward and reverse but I have trouble finding
neutral. Can the central position where scrolling stops be made wider?
3. When wanting to load another file, the files menu could be deeper to
hold more than five filenames and reduce the need to scroll as often, but
do we stop there? The program can be iconified. Could Jon steal the march
on other file viewers and allow for obvious Wimps like me. Is it possible
to allow for clicking on the title bar, when it is iconified, and then on
the icon of the next file to be loaded? If that were possible, reading the
wealth of information on Megadisc from WorkBench would be much easier as
FullView would not have to reload with each new text file chosen as an icon
from WorkBench. I suspect the majority of readers do use WB and this would
make reading Megadisc even more enjoyable.
Rod Humphreys
Moorebank, NSW
Ed: Thanks for the very thoughtful and thought-provoking ideas, Rod.
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HOLY FOOTREST
Dear Megadisc,
Howdy! I just yesterday received Megadisc(s?) 27 in the mail and was
amazed to note the MED module on disk number 2. Stuffing around with MED
is one of my favourite pastimes, so I thought I might send you some of my
newish modules and let you see what you want to do with them.
The module called Holy Footrest is an attempt to write a small song that
would not take up too much room on a Megadisc, should you see fit to
include it. It is a bit larger than the module on MD27 but still pretty
compact. The other couple are probably out of the question as they would
take up about 200K each I think. All the songs are written in MED 3.21, so
they only have 4 tracks and should optimally be played by MEDPlayer and not
OctaMEDPlayer.
Even if you don't use any of the songs, shove them in your PD archives or
something (as if there weren't enough modules in the PD already). If you
do like one of the songs but want it altered a bit then ring me up (3993807
after business hours).
Richard Booth
Randwick NSW
Ed: Thanks for the songs Richard - it did happen that space was short at
the end but it might be there next issue.
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FOR THE SUGGESTION BOX
COVER PICTURES -> MD DISK
Now that you are going to 2 disks more often (?always), how about
including in the Art Gallery the full-colour version of the gorgeous cover
pictures (the ones on the fact-card packaging around each Megadisc). The
recent ray-traced ones are wows, even in black and white. And I loved the
nebula/galaxy/whatever on MD25 and the Mandelbrot on MD23 too. Great
though these pictures look in black and white, they must look SO much
better in full glowing colour; on the disk, they'd be a real bonus.
If it isn't feasible to put the pics on the disks, could you at least tell
us where they come from and how to get them?
Leigh Murray
Queanbeyan NSW
Ed: Leigh made many of our icons this issue, including the main one, for
which many thanks.
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SOME HELPFUL(?) COMMENTS:
12. Graphics41 is exactly the same as Topik28, except that the latter has
more Clip-Art on it. Under the circumstances, I believe you should
consider deleting the former from your catalogue, or at least warning
people. I am returning my copy - could you please replace it with
something else? I am also returning Topik28, which I have accidentally
ordered twice - can you send me another (pretty please with sugar on top)?
13. The only thing about Fullview that I dislike is not being able to
save a page as ASCII text (which can be done with Most), rather than the
whole file. I often come across tidbits, especially in Megadisc, that I
wish to keep, and at the moment it's awkward to save the whole file and
then edit it later.
Hayley Hummerston
Roseville NSW
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