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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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FeedBack
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Readers_Questions
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Readers_Questions
Wrap
Text File
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1992-05-30
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57KB
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1,477 lines
READERS' QUESTIONS
Thanks to Nic Wilson, Chris Ralph, Andrew Wong and Gunther Frick for being
on hand to answer questions when my limited expertise got stretched beyond
its limit.
If anyone can improve on the answers here, or go into it further, or find
mistakes (not too difficult!) please let us know, preferably on disk.
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REDUCING CHIP MEMORY USAGE
Dear Ed:
The SCRAM and hard disk arrived and installed OK. They are surprisingly
quick, even compared to my NEC 386 and 120MB disk at work.
I have upgraded to 2.0. How do I reduce CHIPMEM use, as I would like to
run Pro Tennis Tour II from the hard disk? It needs 440K of CHIPMEM but I
only have 430K available with nothing else running.
Peter Foley
Flynn, ACT.
Ed: WB2 improves on WB1.3 in handling memory, since it automatically puts
whatever it can into fast memory rather than Chip memory, so your answer is
not to use FastMemFirst (it would be the answer for WB1.3 users). Disk
drives take up nearly 30 KB in chip memory, so take off any external
drive(s).
Glad you like the SCRAM, Peter, it's an excellent unit.
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DIAGNOSIS - VIRAL OR HARDWARE?
Dear Ed:
You may have guessed I have a virus problem! Unfortunately nobody has
heard of my virus (including my (dated) wirus checkers)!
Basically, it freezed the keyboard and makes the Caps Lock key flash in
random patterns. However, it then "attacks" a chip inside, somehow
unsettling it. My local technicians have repaired it three times, only on
the third time mentioning a virus. Have you heard of it?
Can a piece of software "attack" a chip? I always thought not...
Derek Kibble
Blakehurst, NSW.
Ed: It sounds to me, Derek, that your Amiga is showing the precise
symptoms that are addressed and fixed in the "A500_Keyboard_Fix" article in
the HARDWARE drawer this issue - ie, in brief, the PCB (printed circuit
board) attached to the keyboard gets a bit loose and starts to create
havoc. Check it out.
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BURNING QUESTIONS
One burning question for now - does anyone else have problems running Nic
Wilson's Sysinfo or AutoCLI? I have a B2000 rev 6.0 with 2630 accelerator,
and with the accelerator running AutoCLI will sometimes freeze the mouse,
Sysinfo just Gurus!
Also, are you still interested in collecting Shareware fees for overseas
programmers? If so, count me in as a willing contributor! That Hints and
Tips disk sounds like another good idea - put me down for one.
Michael Stapleton
Redfern, NSW.
Ed: I suggest you get in touch with Nic and get the latest version of his
programs - if you send a disk and SASE he'll send them straight back. Call
him on (076) 358539.
I am willing to collect shareware fees, and numerous people have stated
that it's a good idea, but unless there is a big response the problem of
costs of sending cheques overseas just gets passed on to me... See the
editorial this issue for a discussion of the situation. And thanks for all
the excellent programs for this issue, Michael.
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HD HELP
I am operating at the moment with WB2.04 and 1.3 on partitions dh0 and fh1
respectively. At the moment if I wish to boot up from fh1: in 1.3 then I
have to go into the HDToolbox, deselect dh0 as bootable, switch the manual
switch to 1.3, then boot. What I wish to be able to do is to make, say dh1
bootable with a startup-sequence which will decide whether a keypress has
been made and if not boot up in dh0 2.0, and if yes, boot fh1 1.3; thus
negating having to access the hdtools program. HELP!
I also have a problem with my accelerator VXL-30 (no 32 bit ram yet) and an
AdRAM board with 4Mb. If I use WB1.3 to boot, no problems (as alf would
say), however not so with 2.04. I am using the command CPU NoDatacache
NoBurst and this allows a boot but if I use NoBurst only and allow
datacaching the AdRAM tries to write to two locations and crashes. I also
have to switch off the 68030 when using Professional Page 2.1 on fh0, as
this crashes on accessing requesters or creating a page. Any suggestions
will be most acceptable (no rude ones though).
Keith Antoine
Ed: All you need is MouseWarn from MD20 at the beginning of your WB2
startup-sequence and if you press the button (if WARN) you can branch into
a bunch of ASSIGN statements, which transfer control to the other partition.
All this is fully explained by Nic Wilson the author on that Megadisc, in
his "WB2_Hints_&_Tips".
Ed: Sounds like the AdRam is causing the problems here, according to Chris
Ralph - these Ram boards tend to have problems because when they go beyond
1.5 Meg they need to modify addresses via the Gary chip in odd ways, which
can create unforseeable problems, especially of a timing nature. Try an different
kind of memory board, say on the outside expansion buss - if you still have
problems, it's the VXL-30 at fault.
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QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS, QUESTIONS...
Thanx for the info last letter, now:
1) what is this 1960? What happened to the 1950? (monitors dudes,
monitors!) And presumablly I cood git wun from yoo (oh dear..),
at 95% of the recommended retail?
Ed: The 1960 looks different, but is just a replacement for the 1950.
2) Anyone know how I could have a HD and another internal SCSI
device in the 2000's case, both running of the one 2091
controller???? Huh huh? Anyone...? PLEES!
Ed: The 2091 is capable of handling both SCSI and ST-506 (IBM type drives)
and there are two plugs within the machine. So just look for the extra
plug and away you go.
3) Anyone got any ideas what the two new keys on the A500+ are
for? Or are they just gunna be like the F-keys, Help key etc,
or perhaps like shift-ctrl-alt-ami?
Ed: No idea! But there's a look at the A500+ this issue - check the
ARTICLES drawer.
4) Are there any PD ray-tracing programs? Ones that have a useable
interface too! (ie. intuitionised!)
Ed: There is DKB_Render on Fish 513 & 514, which doesn't have an Intuition
interface, and indeed is hard to use. See Classifieds this issue
(Feedback) for getting a copy of Turbo Silver for $10, not a bad deal,
since it has a good object editor along with the rendering capability.
5) With the 1960 monitor does the overscan work well enough so
that I can have a full screen and reboot and have a little
isty-bitsy non-overscan screen, with both reasonably centred
and (this is the important bit) WITHOUT using the damned blasted
H-Pos knob!?
Ed: If you're in the same "sync" mode, such as 31 KHz or 15KHz, then
you'll not have to use the H-Pos knob.
Note that the A3000 Display enhancer will always work at 31 KHz and so you
won't get any shifts at all.
But note that the 1950 & 1960 both are unique in not giving you black
borders.
6) Played Populus II? No? Well PLAY IT!! (Okay so I like it a
litlle bit... :-)
^
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By the way, thas a smiley! it goes `<---' UP
7) Any chance of having a MD catalogue for HD users? Ie uncunched
(if possible, archived to fit on the disk) with ALL the PD MD
has? (ie, FAUG, FISH 1-320, UTILS 1 etc.)
Ed: If anyone wants to put one together, I'd be keen to make it available.
8) On my B2000 HD with 2091/52Q why is the HD at position six
rather than one etc? I realize that it doesn't matter much (or
does it?), but still!
Ed: SCSI has 7 IDs, and the controller card itself is at No. 7. Most
ahrd drives go at 0 or 1; but Commodore put them at 6 (and it doesn't
matter anyway) in case you plug in another hard drive which would be
automatically placed at 0 or 1.
9) Why does Ami just stop accessing the disk, and then in a short
while start again? It has only happened under 2.0 (KS 37.175,
WB 37.67) and doesn't happen every time, but still?
Ed: It could be that WB2 is reading things more quickly from the disk, since
WB2 is using the FastFileSystem for all drives.
10) In the doc for REMRAD (Using the System Software) it mentions,
and I quote (I hope this is legal):
"If you have mounted MORE THAN ONE recoverable ramdrive..."
interesting is it not? Does this mean that I could have DR0: DR1:
DR2: etc? (I call RAD: DR0: - as in Drive Ram 0) And if so HOW?
Ed: Of course it's legal to quote, Anthony. About RAD drives: just make
two mountlist entries in your DEVS: directory, and change the names and
Unit numbers: 0, 1, 2, etc.
11) Ummm, what's the deadline for Megadisc? Like how many days
before the start of da month? Or isn't there one?
Ed: Deadline is about 5 or 6 weeks after the release of the previous,
which turns out to be about half-way through the second month. But you can
always ring to check, and timetables have a way of coming adrift.
12) Any suggestions for a backup drive/"huge" storage capacity
drive? Preferably reasonable large (naturally :-) but not too
expensive..... I've heard of a few things such as floptical
drives, removable h/ds (SyQuest), a 10MB drive from SigmaCom
and tape drives, but which is best and what are the
prices...... (From you anyway...)
If it helps I'd be using it for:
Backing up my H/d (52meg Q/SCSI)
Archiving PD onto (TOPIK etc.)
Storing interesting data on...
And I'd prefer it to be internal if possible (see Q 2)
Ed: Flopticals are too expensive at the moment, in my opinion, considering
that they're about $950 for the mechanism alone without box, and then $35
for each 22-meg floppy. The best bet currently is to get a Syquest
removable hard disk system, which, as a SCSI (Small Computer Systems
Interface) device will attach fine to your 2091 interface. The 44-meg
internal version is about $650, cartridge $165. The 88-meg version (since
you're after "huge" storage, oh greedy one, is $850, cartridges $240.
These are the size of a 5.25" drive, so will fit in the A2000, but not the
A3000, unfortunately (I have one in a box on top of my A3000). Tape drives
are of use for backing up only, so really a waste of time for home or small
business.
13) How about a creative writing competition for the most interesting
story staring the infamous Amiga? Prizes could include instant fame,
not so instant fortune and all sorts of marks on the back after
being patted all of ten or so times.... :-) (Yer I no, in "creative"
writen I rool! :-) No seriously you could have a competition to
see who can write the most interesting/entertaining story and
publish a few of the best (and maybe not-so-best if they're
interesting) in MD too fill all that extra room you leave on
them (A SHORT story cmpetition! :-) or help make up two disk
issues.....
Ed: Yes, by all means - in the meantime, anyone who does any such creative
writing please send in your deathless prose for publication, especially if
it refers to matters furturoid, cyberpunk, computerish, etc. or features
little green entities with large eyes.
14) In MD27 you mentioned a new chip set, with all sorts of interesting
things... will it be likely to be able to be plugged into existing
amigas? If so, how much is an estimated cost? If not, why not?
Ed: If so, here's what - the coming chip set will be backward compatible
with at least the A3000, but as things stand even the A3000 won't be able
to access the 4 meg of Chip ram. There will undoubtedly be hacks, however,
to make it all possible.
15) You said the date Commodore would give out the info was in
April some time.... so I can expect lots of info in Megabites?
Ed: There's only one way to find out, now that you've got MD28 in your hot
little drives.
16) How about a few more suggested PD thingos? Or ain't there enuf
ours in a day and so forf.... (Yike!)
Ed: If you mean, "PD of interest" at the end of MegaBites, you've got it
back. And of course have a browse through all the new listings in the
PUBLIC_DOMAIN drawer.
17) Umm, got any more info on return codes? And how does "why" give you
info that isn't using IoErr() (dos.lib) or the RC? Are there two
return codes as suggested by it being called Result2 in the System 2
manual?? HELP!!!!!
Ed: Return code is just a value that a program sends back to the user.
Usually return codes are meaningless, unless Commodore's rules have been closely
followed. But they are not linked to IoErr() in any way.
18) Can I get an update of my PD disks if I send 'em in? Or should
I just re-order them?
Ed: I've got nothing against updates if you send them in with a stamped
envelope, especially of course if you're a subscriber (as you are).
19) I seem to remember reading somewhere that a H/d partition
named WB_1.3 wouldn't boot under WB2?? Am I mis-remembering, does
it only work on 3000s, or aren't I testing well enuf? (I'm
renaming my system2.0 partition to System1.3/WB_1.3.....?
Ed: Note that WB_1.3 is the name specifically given to the boot partition
on the A3000, but there is no reason why it wouldn't boot.
20) Would anyone like to write an article on networking?
Ed: Yes, I'd like to second that suggestion.
21) Or one on UNIX? (And the Amiga - eg. the 3000ux)
Ed: And third that one...
22) And now, mainly to Nic Wilson if he's listening, Nic! Would you
PLEASE make AutoCLI a commodity!!!! Or a version of it a
commodity!!!! PLEASE!!!!
23) Can I send in contributions by the Freepost address?
Ed: Contributors are welcome to use the FreePost address to save
themselves some postage, as is anyone who is making an order.
24)
OUTLINE FONTS
Are there any PD Outline fonts about? (That's what they're called
isn't it? The intellifont things - from CompuGraphic? Gads! Umm,
CGTimes, and so on.... I dunno!)
Are there any PD Outline Font draw prog - ie "Make your own
IntelliFont!" or utils to convert from bitmap to outline?
Ed: Check MegaBites this issue in the DTP section at the bottom for more
on Outline fonts and how you can get Public domain ones from us to use in
Pro Page, PageStream and Workbench 2.04.
Ah, that's enough questions, Anthony! 8>)
Anthony Towns
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FLOPTICALS AND OTHER EXPENSIVE DEVICES
Dear Ed:
Thank you for your prompt reply to my query on the floptical drives for
the Amiga. I failed to mention in our conversation that my interest in the
flopticals was for using the 1.44MB MS-DOS with a bridgeboard and Apple
Mac, as well as the 20MB storage capability for backing up hard disks on
the Amiga.
As I mentioned, the floptical may not yet be an economically viable
proposition just now, so do you sell a high density drive (1.44MB FDD or
greater) for use in the A3000, is it internal/external, and if so, at what
cost?
Oh, just one more query, do you sell modems, and if so, what make, type
and price?
Bernard Toohey
Winmalee, NSW.
Ed: High density drives are a bit of a worry at the moment - the AE HD
which has been available seems to have serious problems with WB2, and to
make it worse, the company which was producing them seems to have got into
trouble and have stated that nothing is likely to be done about it... And
they may even have gone out of business by now. Does anyone know?
What's more, a batch of A3000s in the US went out with high density drives
fitted more or less by mistake - this caused some people to think that all
A3000s would now have them, but not so, I believe. So the state of the
game is currently poor, to say the least.
Yes, we do sell Maestro modems (locally made), all types from the $299
2400 bps model at $299 to the 9600 bps at $599. Call and ask for details.
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UPGRADING THE AMIGA
Dear Ed:
I have been a subscriber to Megadisc for about 12 months now and would
like to thank you for a very good production. Megadisc allows me to learn
to use my Amiga even with the very limited time I devote to it.
As a current user of an A1000 with one external drive and 2Mb expansion, I
am frequently frustrated by the lack of a hard drive. Word-processing
would also be less laborious if only I had higher resolution and faster
screen updates.
I have decided it is finally time to upgrade. Megadisc 27 has started me
dreaming about the possible new models locked away at the Commodore
laboratories. This presents me with the often heard (and answered)
question of "What shall I buy?". Now though, we have a new ball game.
I have recently heard that even the A500 plus which is already available
overseas may be delayed in Australia because of a surplus of the current
A500 packages in the warehouses. As I don't really want to wait another
six months for a shiny new machine I must try to weigh the current models
against the additional features expected in the future models.
Do you have any idea if any of the current models will be compatible with
the AA chip set, the DSP co-processor or the new Alice and Lisa chips? You
can include the A3000 in the equation because it is currently so well
priced that I might even consider buying one. Also, if software becomes
based on VGA graphics, has it been successfully ported to the Amiga to
date? If I rush out and buy a current model and expand it with what I
consider essential hardware, will I be missing out on the wonderful world
of 8 bit or 24 bit graphics etc?
My assumption is that software to make use of these new features will be
even further down the track than the machines. Maybe I'll be ready to
upgrade again by that time and hopefully I can just slot in a new chip-set.
My current leaning is toward an A3000, but even those can be made obsolete.
Thank you again. I hope you can help me with this problem.
Ed: As soon as you buy a piece of equipment in this day and age, it's
obsolete, but the Amiga suffers less from this curse than some others...
Nevertheless, even the A3000 will be obsolete on the release of the new AAA
Chipset, not to mention coming Amiga models. On the other hand, there are
always going to be mods which will bring older models up to the level of
new models (or very nearly). But I suggest that you wait and evaluate the
announcements which will issue from the World of Commodore show - Commodore
will be taking the opportunity to debut a number of new things there - see
details in MegaBites this issue.
UPGRADING TO THE A3000
As this second question has a different slant to the first and may be
outdated or show my ignorance, I am including it separately in case you
publish either of them.
If I settle on the current A3000 as my upgrade, what is the current
configuration? I have read in Megadisc that there are incompatabilities
with some software and that the initial machines had Kickstart and
Workbench on disk to retain access to 1.3. Is this still the case? Does
the current configuration give us Kickstart 2.0 and Workbench 2.0 roms and
still include Kickstart 1.3 and Workbench 1.3 on disk?
There was also mention in Megadisc 27 of high density drives being
included in new release A3000s. Does this mean that if I find a dealer in
town who deals in A3000s, he will be able to order me a machine with the
new drive at the current A3000 price and no premium?
Although Megadisc has included frequent updates on the current state of
the A3000, much has been foreign to me because I don't have a machine to
familiarise myself with. Since the last concise review of the A3000 was on
Megadisc 18, could it be possible to run an article on the A3000 as it
stands today, and what a new purchaser should expect to find under the
bonnet and in the books?
Once again, hoping to hear good news!
Yours sincerely,
NEIL GORDON
Ed: The current configuration of the A3000 is that Kickstart in ROM is now
being shipped.
About high density drives: I got that information from the US, where it
accidentally happened to one batch which went out. As for in
Australia...there's no news at present. See the answer above in this file
about them too.
See numerous articles on Workbench 2 in the ARTICLES drawer this issue.
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PROGRAMS FOR THE HEARING IMPAIRED
Dear Ed:
A colleague of mine has a 10-year-old son with good reading and writing
skills, and a recent interest in computers. But he has severely impaired
hearing, and this seems to dissuade him from other activities - reading,
writing, computing - at which he could probably succeed if his interest
could be stimulated.
I have been asked if there are any computer programs designed with the
needs of such people in mind, other than the obvious text editors and
games. Can anyone make suggestions or recommendations please?
John Collett
54 Cambridge Rd
Hillcrest
Hamilton, N.Z.
Ed: Can anyone help John?
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NON-DUD DISKS
Dear ED:
Thanks for your speedy dispatch of my new subscription to Megadisc. I
thought MD27 was just great - much more "hands on" than most other
magazines.
Unfortunately, the catalogue disk won't open its disk icon: all I get is a
"no default icon" error message from the Workbench (2.04). Curiously, it
does come up as a default icon, but with the name "DF2:TuBu" - very
strange. I tried a DIR from the shell, but only got a "not a DOS disk"
error message. I would appreciate if you could send a replacement and have
enclosed the "dud" one for your interest.
Geoff Farrell
Holder ACT
Ed: That "Tubu" name is an odd one - I finally worked out that for some
reason, my copying program TUrboBackUp puts the name under disks which it
can't quite copy for some reason. I presume that's true - see the capitals
I've inserted in the name of the program above.
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ASTRONOMER WRITES
Dear Ed:
On a journal of MegaDisc there's reference to a service known as TOPIK
disks. I have a very serious interest in acquiring ALL the public domain
and shareware Amiga software available in the area of astronomy. A search
of the Fish Disk lists and other sources has netted me a short list,
however, I am not able to sift through all the images and slideshow
material. For such a task I'm sure your expert opinion is all that I need.
I would like to provide you with the background to why such a request
could come about. The Astronomical Association of which I am President
distributes software (PD and shareware) at Astronomy Opern Nights held at
Macquarie University. All of this software is IBM-PC MS-DOS and is
acquired by us through a BBS service we run, known as Vulcan's world (it
used to be the Black Hole). As a result of our activity at these open
nights we receive enquiries about astronomy software and some people ask
about Amiga software. To add my two cents worth, my machine is an Amiga
2000 and I would like to be able to provide similar software to the Amiga
users.
I'll give you my list of software as a starting point (I'm not completely
lazy).
Fish Disk 27 Science Demos
80 AmiGazer 1573 stars
219 Deep Sky - Non Stellar Database
223 GravSim - 6 Planetary masses
250 GravityWell - 20 Bodies in Newtonian Universe
280 CM - Celestial mechanics
289 Orbit - Satellite tracks
422 Gravity - solar system simulator
482 Ephemer - Ephemeris, Sun, Moon, Planets
485 Drawmap
FAUG Disk 4
FAUG Disk 19
FAUG Disk 3 Star chart
Michael Chapman
Sydney Observatory, NSW.
Ed: I'd like to help you Michael, but it would be a matter of my time
going through the catalogue disk searching for keywords, something I hope
users will do (for that reason and others, I send out a free
disk-catalogue). But there is an Astronomy Theme disk, UT110 with a bunch
of excellent prgrams, including a couple by Keith Neighbour, a local
programmer. Has anyone got any more? Perhaps we can make up an Astronomy
Theme Pack if a few suggestions come in.
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QUERY ON A HOME BREW DATABASE
Fairly soon I intend to commit my "Home Brew Recipes" to disc or hard
drive. The recipes are for not only beers of all kinds and stout (beer
with colouring and flavouring), but wines, spirit like and spirit based
drinks, some of which date back to late last century. Most of them are
handwritten and are deteriorating, which is why I intend to embark on this
venture. Do you think that anyone in Amiga world out there would be
interested in such a miscellaneous sort of info to get their minds off
games and to the more serious side of life?
I would most likely make the thing as entertaining as I can, to appeal to
the widest audience as possible.
The format would be similar to this document, rather than Superbase or
File_IIsg formats.
Yours sincerely,
Beau Rice.
Ed: Sure thing, Beau! I'm sure the many tipplers out there will rush to drink
it all in, so go ahead.
I would suggest that you enter the info in a database, and then you can do
anything with it - including outputting it as straight text, like this file.
See Beau's article on home slides and databases in the ARTICLES drawer.
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KAOTIC PRODUCTS / FLOPTICALS / RAM CARDS /
I've got a couple of questions I'd like to ask, so maybe you or one of
your tech team can come to the rescue.
1. There was a hardware add-on advertised in the April ACAR issue (I
subscribe to that, too) called the Sound Enhancer, from a UK firm called
Omega Projects. It is supposed to allow CD-quality sound from your Amiga
by smoothing-out the frequency response curve. It is available for $109
through Kaotic Koncepts. Do you, or anyone else, have any ideas on this
product?
Ed: I have just been sent a unit for review by Dave Campbell, ex-Kaotic
person, but there's been no time to get it into this issue - certainly
it'll be reviewed for the next if you can wait, or call me and get an
opinion.
2. While on the subject of Kaotic products, they also advertise the
Kaotic Kruncher - a 14MHz accelerator for $95. In view of all the articles
and comments I have read on the issue of 14MHz accelerators, can this
product do anything worthwhile as far as speed is concerned?
Ed: For news on the Kaotic Cruncher, check out the article on that very
subject in the REVIEWS drawer this issue. In short, there have been
problems with the first version of this unit.
3. Can you give me any information on floptical disk drives and the speed
comparisons with hard drives? Are they a viable alternative? Are they
likely to be cheaper than hard drives in the future?
Ed: For a reply to this, see the answer to Anthony Towns' question above.
4. Have you seen any evidence of the existence of battery-backed RAM
cards, or battery-backed RAM in general? This might be an alternative to
Hard Disks for those of us who have to watch their pennies. It seems like
a simple concept.
Ed: Yes, I notice that Intel has resolved most problems associated with
these devices with their Flash Cards - a 20MB version is already being used
in their Notebood computer in place of ROMs for the Bios (system software).
I'm sure they'll end up replacing the current hard disk technology, being
100 times faster, and less likely to cark it, lighter, more rugged,more
secure, less demanding on power, etc. At present the price is high, but
that will melt away over the coming years - 1993 is estimated to be the
cross-over point at which they will become feasible as mass-market devices.
Can you dig a 400MB ram disk with all that speed?
The coming A600 also has been designed to take Flash cards, though I know
of none yet in existence. See the info on the A600 in MegaBites.
5. MD27 contained another nice little utility from Nic Wilson, called
IINFO. Since I like this better than the standard INFO, I have copied it
across to my C directory and renamed it INFO (so I don't forget). Now,
when you select (single LMB click on) any article from Workbench and then
use the INFO facility to see what utility is being used by the article
(Fullview, in this case), it appears as though nothing has changed with
THAT INFO. OK, so the question is, are the CLI command INFO and the
Workbench facility called INFO, one and the same, or different? (ie.
Where do they operate from and why is their output different?)
Ed: The two "info"s are different - Workbench's INFO gives info about the
icon you've clicked on, while the CLI INFO gives info about the system as a
whole. Under the new Workbench 2, Info has become "Information" in the
ICONS menu, perhaps to avoid any confusion.
John Knight,
Boronia, Vic.
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A FEW PROBLEMS
Dear Ed:
Well it's been a while since I wrote to you, I missed
my computer too. I'm only up to Megadisc 15, I know I've been slack.
Following are some questions I hope you can
help me with.
1. I've had my A590 for about a year, no probs, runs like a
dream. I'm probably illiterate, but why the hell do I partition the
drive? The manual sort of explains it, so I did it and I ended up
with two harddrives DH0: and DH1: 10 megs on each. Next I ED'ed my
my own SUS so I had all my drivers and commands in one drive and
Wordprocessor, Spreadsheet, Database, PaintIII and Utilities on the
other. Next I ASSIGNED and PATHED all that was required and it works.
So why did I do it?
Ed: I give up, why did you do it? Perhaps to make backing up an easier
proposition?
2. Last year there was a dreaded lightning storm approaching
so I unplugged the lot, but I forgot to disconnect my modem from the
telephone line, you guessed it 40,000+ volts through my modem, then
it kept on going through the serial port and finally went on to see
what it could destroy on the mother board. All I blew was the modem,
one capacitor and two resistors. It was PAULA that saved MOTHER,
unfortunately she was sacrificed. I replaced the lot, but the modem
still dosen't work. It plugs in, it turns on, das blinken lite test
works, but all I get is CARRIER DETECT and RECEIVE indications.
Using DIGA!, ACCESS or JRCOMM (FISH) doesn't work, so I looked in the
phone book and no companies are listed that repair the SUPRA 2400
External Modem, so I hope you can help in either what chip have I
blown or can you give me a contact number for repair work.
Ed: Does anyone know of a specialist Modem resuscitator? A CommCare
Centre (Commodore's technical places) should be able to help you, or give
me a call and I'll put you on to a local techie.
3. I have World Atlas and there is an icon for installation
onto the harddrive and the manual says to rename 'World_Atlas.noinfo'
to 'World_Atlas.info' I've done that and it still doesn't work.
I can't take it back to the shop, because I bought at an AMIGA store
in USA while I was over there.....their AMIGA stores are like our
K-MART...BIG, wouldn't you have fun. The same happens to 'BATTLE
CHESS".
Ed: More info is required here, Phil - perhaps you should ring me and give
more details. Has anyone else had a problem with this program?
4. What hardware and software do I need for FAX conversion?
Ed: When you say "fax conversion", it's hard to know what you mean. You
can send and receive faxes by purchasing a Fax-Modem and the appropriate
software to drive it, namely, GPFax by GPSoftware. Or you can receive
weather-faxes and similar vibrations in the ether by use of the LISTENING
POST package, reviewed in this issue.
5. If I go 'NEWSHELL CON:0/0/600/260/DPAINT/MED-RES/MENUID'
why don't I get a 4 bit-plane picture as a back drop in my SHELL?
Ed: Phil, what made you think that you were supposed to? Are you running
Workbench 2? Where did you see this recommended? In short, the CLI was
never designed to allow for backdrops in that manner. There is a PD
program called "DropCloth" which does it on the workbench, and you can do
it on Workbench 2 with one of the new Preferences editors, but that's about
it.
6. Is there a way to connect an AKAI REEL to REEL to my
SCUZZY (SCSI) port on the back of my A590 so I can have GIGABYTES of
storage space, if not why not and if you ask me to do it I'll need
assistance in schematics, signal speed and software programming.
Ed: Not that I've heard of - you'd need special interface software and
hardware, not to mention other problems. But I have heard of an interface
which lets you backup to videotape, which seems like a very sensible idea.
Has anyone got such an interface?
Phil Brew
Engadine
N.S.W.
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A QUESTION OF LABELS
I am after a supplier for 3 1/2 inch disk labels or labels of around the
right size. I have quite a few disks with labels liquid papered and
written over again, or just crossed out and written on. I would like
to tidy things up a bit.
If you know where I can get them, please let me know.
Ray Markham
Port Macquarie NSW
Ed: You can get them from JAC Labels, Ray, if you need a lot - they sell
labels in boxes of 200 sheets, 12 labels per sheet, costing $60 or so a
box. Or you can get them in smaller quantities from me - call and enquire.
Jac's number is (02) 748 4033, but they have representatives in most
states.
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BITMAP KEY VIRUS ??
Has anyone heard of a virus that scrambles your 'bitmap key'? The reason
I am asking is that I have been using my workbench (a copy)
un-write-protected (de-write-protected?) recently, and now, when I put in
another disc with WB loaded, it refuses to validate the disc and
Quarterback Tools shows it to have a scrambled bitmap key. I'm in a bit of
strife because I don't even know what a bitmap key is! I tried checking
both the affected disc and WB with all the virus killers I have
(Kill-da-virus III, Zerovirus, and NoVirus) but they didn't show up a
virus!. Common sense tells me I should recopy WB from my master, but I
haven't yet for two reasons:
1) I'm curious as to this possible new virus (which is like
looking at the wonderful patterns on the cobra's back as
it rears up to bite you!) 8-)
2) I believe there may be a widespread infection among my
discs.
///
/// Help!
\\\ ///
\\\/
Gwyn Morfey
Adelaide SA
Ed: You're talking about the Saddam virus here, which can be handled by
our resident Virus_Checker (see the VIRUS drawer on this disk).
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ACTION REPLAY III AND RAM PROBLEMS
Dear Ed:
I've read in one of the English magazines that the Amiga Action Replay
MkIII will not work on machines with more than 4 meg of RAM fitted. Other
articles I've read do not mention this limitation. Does anyone know the
true facts?
Eric Fraser
Newcastle, NSW.
Ed: I've heard nothing about this problem, and nor have my sources. Does
anyone know?
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NEW CHIPSET // 1960 MONITOR AS A TV
Dear Ed:
I have just recently purchased a 3000 and after seeing the article on the
3000 Plus and AA Chipset was wondering how the new Chipset and the other 2
new Chips will be adapted to existing 3000s.
I have also upgraded to a 1960 monitor and was wondering whether, like the
1084s I was using as a TV monitor via a video recorder, I could use the
1960 as a TV monitor through a Genlock?
Please keep up your excellent work.
Michael Dulihanty
Bradbury NSW
Ed: The new AA Agnus will give a total of 4 Meg of Chip Ram, of which
the A3000 currently will only be able to access 2 Meg - but I'm sure there
will be a mod to enable full access eventually. Check the "Workbench_2.1"
file in the ARTICLES drawer for more info about this and other future
matters.
About the 1960 monitor - no, you can't use it as a TV monitor under normal
circumstances, but yes you can use it with a genlock because a genlock has
composite video (R, B, G & horizontal and vertical sync in one signal).
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WB LINK PD PROBLEM
Dear Ed:
I have found that "WB Link" (FF disk no 546) is incompatible with
Quarterback Tool's hard disk "defragment" function. When used it creates a
plethora of checksum and header errors in my drawer where I keep my links!
Help?!
K.C.Loke
Sydney, NSW.
Ed: Suggest you get the latest version of "WB Link" in the latest batch of
Fish disks (Fish 654 to be exact) - it has numerous bug fixes.
Andrew Wong suggests that the problem is more to do with Quarterback
Tools V. 1.5, which does not support linked files. He says you'll probably
have the same problems if you use the MAKELINK command in the shell.
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A BUNCH OF QUESTIONS
Dear Tim,
A few problems:
1. Is there any way to change the flashing red on black Guru screen? I
have some great PD icons to substitute, but I have no idea what to do?
Ed: Not really - it's built into the system software, so to change it
you'd need to dig deep into Kickstart and change things - can be done, but
hardly worth the effort. Best to just avoid Gurus!
5. I have read in Megadisc that Quarterback 5.0 is out, but I could never
find the address of the Australian distributor: the manual has only the USA
manufacturers. Can you supply it?
Ed: Australian distributor is ComputerMate, but you can get it through us
at Megadisc, when it's available - they keep advertising it, but I haven't
had any upgrade notice yet.
6. Is there a good PD music program, for someone who only wants to
produce some simple tunes, save them and play them back? Or can you get
something commercially for rather less money than DMCS?
Ed: Recommend you get MED or SoundTracker or OctaMED 2 (licenceware
program for $50). Check the Music&Sound listings on the Catalogue for
details. And check also our new THEME PACKS in the PD drawer - lots of good
packs of disks, particularly relating to Music.
7. In the same vein, what is the most user-friendly PD/commercial
spreadsheet/data base? Nothing fancy is required - just household
accounting.
Ed: Check our BUSINESS THEME PACK -lots of good programs including a
database, spreadsheet, organiser, memopad, etc. Or get the licenceware
program AMYBASE III PRO from us.
8. I have heard that there is a game compilation called "Lost Treasures
of Infocom" around. As I rather like a good text adventure, can you tell
me where to get it?
Ed: You've got me there - does anyone know? Check out the review of 20
Infocom games this issue, perhaps you'll find it there.
9. I am rather confused by the plethora of animation formats around:
Movie, Anim 5, etc. Do they fall into a few
interchangeable categories, or are they all mutually exclusive? I am about
to upgrade to DPaintIV - what animations can be imported into the program?
Ed: Anim 5 is the de facto standard; Movie is a file format used by Sculpt.
Hash Enterprises had a program which did manage some conversion capability
but there is no real ART DEPT PRO for animation formats. DPaint IV will
import and create Anim 5 formats, and that's it.
10. Again, I have the same problem with sound files. What systems use
standard IFF format? What use SMUS? I would like to build a PD music
library, but I am confused by the variety of programs.
Ed: Sonix uses SMUS, DMCS uses its own format for the ritzy bits but will
load and save SMUS as well (though sounds a bit strangled). Bars&Pipes and
SuperJAM are designed to use MIDI, but will save as SMUS if pushed. It's
all a bit of a mess, really. Can anyone sort us out more thoroughly on this?
11. I have been having problems with my IBM scanner (I have a
bridgeboard). Is there any Amiga scanner which has OCR, and if so, does it
cost an arm and a leg?
Ed: Yes, MiGraph are bringing out OCR (Optical Character Recognition)
which will be usable on both their hand scanner, and that of Golden Image.
We may have a review next issue.
Hayley Hummerston
Roseville NSW
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INSTALLING K/S 2 ROMS
Is it true I can buy the K/S2 ROM chip for AUST$68 and install it myself?
I've already voided my warranty by replacing the 1.2 chip for a 1.3 chip so
I'm beginning to find my way around the mother board.
And did you know that about 1100 personnel in the Department of Defence
(NAVY) use Amigas for their personal use, so you should have a few NAVY
subscribers to Megadisc, god knows I've told them all. Why aren't I
subscribing you ask? Well I go away a fair bit and the only chance I get
to buy Megadisc is when I'm in Australia and if I waited to get back to
Aust to look at all the Megadiscs you've sent me I be at the terminal
constantly, so I get the latest issue then I read comments that refer to
other volumes and if there's something I don't know about I'll buy that
disk. When I win lotto I'll buy all issues after No.15 in one hit.
Phil Brew
Engadine
Ed: Yes, if Commodore has the supplies you can get the Rom chip and
install it yourself, but they are often out of stock. Commodore in New
Zealand get their supplies direct from Germany and have plenty - hence our
supplies of our Kickstart Switch boards with K/S Roms included. However to
run Workbench 2 you will also need the Enhancer disks with the system
software, as well as the Manual, all of which come with the Enhancer Pack
for round $150.
By the way, Phil, back issues of Megadisc are $11, not so much really, and
even less if you get a bunch of them.
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DARTS RECORD MANAGER & LABEL PRINTER
Dear Ed:
Could you please HELP me to find out if there is a program available that
will keep DART RECORDS, e.g. players' names, high scores, total scores,
total darts and averages. If anybody has a program that does this, pleases
write to me and let me know about it.
Could you also give me the name of a really good Label Print Program for
mailing purposes, P.D. or commercial, thank you. I have a few of these
programs (P.D.) but they seem to freeze up on me and will not save data or
print the labels. I have made sure that there is a printer device
available on the disk.
Garry Simmonds
55 Mahogony Cres
Gateshead West, NSW. 2290
Ed: What you need is a simple database, Garry, of which there are a few in
the Public domain - check out our Business 10-Pack, which has that and
other organisers, spreadsheets, reminder programs, etc. But UT 307 has
AmyBase II Pro, a very good database.
For Label Printing, try DisPrint on UT 214, Label Creator V. 2.1 on UT
227, and QBase on UT249, a database with a label printing feature.
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MD AND PD
Dear Ed:
Enclosed are the two PD disks which were incorrect. Thanks for sending
the correct ones so promptly. As you are probably aware, I have recently
subscribed to Megadisc. I just thought I'd write and let you know that it
has proved invaluable in helping me with some of the problems I have been
experiencing. Many of the readers' questions were exactly what I was
wondering myself and the answers were just what I needed. As a novice to
the computing world every bit of help is appreciated.
I am having some problems, though, with some of the PD that I bought from
the Megadisc PD library. On UT 150 there is a video database which won't
work when I transfer it to another floppy or my hard disk even though I
copied "PPMORE" and "ICONX" across as instructed. I keep getting a message
which says "can't open setup". It works fine on the original disk but I
can't use it here as the disk is full. Can anyone help with this problem?
Also, does anyone have any documentation on how to use this program as I am
finding it a bit confusing, thanks.
Moira Hewitt
Springwood, NSW.
Ed: Moira, I tried this and it did come up with the message, but clicking
on "OK" let me into the program. Once running, there is a menu option
"save setup" which presumably saves the way you've configured the program
to disk. When next you run the program, it'll find the setup configuration
file and you won't get the message coming up.
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BUSINESS CARD CREATOR
Dear Ed:
Would you have, or know of, a program that one can create and print out
"Business Cards". I really need a program that can but can't seem to find
one anywhere. I would be very grateful to you if you could let me know of
any.
I'm glad you put those cards with all the information on them in the
MegaDisc package as I have all your MegaDiscs from MD1 and often refer to
them to help me find what's on what disk very quickly. Please keep it up.
All the best to you and your helper at MegaDisc.
N. Mason
Gordonvale, QLD.
Ed: What you really need is a Desktop Publishing program - there are no
such programs in the Public Domain unfortunately (too big and
time-consuming), but there are good commercial ones, such as PageStream and
Professional Page. I suggest either get one of those, or find an Amiga
user who will help you out by doing it for you on his.
Glad you like our Fact-Cards - if you ever have any suggestions for what
you'd like to see on them, please let me know.
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SAVING AS 'TEXT ONLY'
Dear Ed:
I recently purchased my first issue of MegaDisc (27). I do not subscribe
(when you're 12 going on 13 money's a bit scarce) but I plan to buy any
interesting issues that I see from my local computer dealer. I am writing
this letter to congratulate you on a great mag. Also, could you recommend
a business program with invoice, spreadsheet etc. (for my father),
preferably PD.
Last of all, when I try to write a letter to you on disk I don't know any
other way than to save with Kindwords. Could you explain to me what you
mean by saving as text only, because if I save it with Kindwords you would
be asked to insert Kindwords and I thought this might be a bit
inconvenient. Sorry to trouble you, but I am only learning. Anyway,
Kindwords is on the blink at the moment and will not save, so I apologise
for sending this in on paper.
Nathan Ariss
Gracemere, QLD.
Ed: Nathan, get our Business 10-Pack (see the PUBLIC_DOMAIN drawer), it's
full of excellent business programs.
When I say, save your article/letter as text for sending in, I mean that
most word processors have their own special format in which they save their
documents, and interspersed amongst the text are numerous "control codes"
which are odd characters which tell the program about indentations, styles
(like bold and italic) and so on. But all good word processors give you
the option of saving your document as "text only", ie with none of those
odd codes, so that the document can then be loaded into any other word
processor or text editor without the need of removing the offending codes.
Sometimes in the requestor for the SAVE AS option, you'll see a box that
says ASCII or TEXT ONLY, and that's what you use. Check your manual for
details of your particular word processor.
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FAKE INFECTIONS
Dear Ed:
Thankyou for sending the disks I ordered so promptly and for the
information regarding C Tutorials and compiler.
As you can see from the above, I would like all the disks you suggested
(the GAS disks?). Well as they say, all work and no play, besides I'm a
Pink Floyd Fan from way back and this I gotta see, that's my excuse anyway.
Now the bad bit. One of the disks you sent me (UT 244) may be infected.
As I am not really sure of I what I am doing here, I thought I had better
send it back to you for your opinion. I use KDV 5 (2.10 1.36) as my
primary virus program and when I loaded this disk I got, for the very first
time, the Big Red Box at the top of the screen telling me that the
Disk-Validater may be a new virus. I would be grateful if you could check
it out for me. Sorry to mark your return from the break with a problem.
Mark Dawson.
Terrey Hills NSW
Ed: KDV in my experience has a habit of finding viruses where they don't
exist - ie, its searching and identification functions are not stringent
enough. In this particular case, there is certainly no virus. I suggest
you convert to VIRUS_CHECKER on this disk, it's PD, thorough and reliable.
What more can you ask?
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BROWSING THROUGH MEGADISC
Dear Ed:
While I was browsing through MegaDisc #12, the "H-Ware_Mods" drawer, I
noticed an article about sound digitizers written by a Mr Errol Thurgar.
In this article, Errol states that there is an article in a magazine that
tells you how to build a sound digitizer. The magazine is called "Amazing
Computing", volume 4 number 5. I was wondering if you have the magazine.
If you do, could you please send it to me or tell me over the phone how
much it costs, how much the postage will be and I will send you the money.
If not, could you please put me in touch with Errol Thurgar/tell me his
address and phone number?
Paul Kuvener
Fairfield, NSW.
Ed: Yes, Paul, I'm sure to have it - give me a call, I'll track it down.
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PD PAYROLL PROGRAM
Dear Ed:
Is there a Public Domain payroll program available?
Yvonne Faber
Macksville, NSW.
Ed: Does anyone know of such a program? You could create one with a good
spreadsheet program, but you may not want to get so involved.
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AMAX
Dear Ed:
Do you know anything about a Macintosh emulator - I remember reading about one
ages ago, and have seen references to something called AMAX in the catalog
with cryptic remarks about the Macintosh O/S.
Peter Youll
North Epping, NSW.
Ed: Yes, there is such a device, a full emulator for the Mac, and many Amiga
users have it. Get in touch and I'll put you onto someone who's using it.
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IN SEARCH OF ORGANISATIONAL PROGRAMS
Dear Ed:
I own an Amiga 2000 computer and am looking at doing things on it for my
personal use. I was wondering whether you would have any programs available
and suitable to enable me to accomplish the desired goals. If you do have
anything that is suitable what are they called, what can I do with them and
what would they cost?
Following is a rundown of the things I want to achieve. I do not know
whether they would involve several programs or whether some of them can be
grouped together and run off one program under different titles and/or file
names, or whether there is something available to enable me to make up what
I want to do, or whether it would involve a different program for each
idea. Below is an outline of what I would like to do, how I would like to
lay them out, and what each consists of.
1) A simple name and address book.
2) A bit more involved than the first one: to be able to list bills when
they come in and possibly get a reminder when they are due. Also, I would
like to be able to include when they are paid, how they are paid. E.g.
12/04/92.Water rates. Due 18/04/92. $110.00. I would also like to be
able to list monthly and yearly and/or between two dates the total of the
bills and the total of the amount paid, with a printout option.
3) Show a listing of important dates coming, like birthdays, weddings,
appointments etc - I suppose something along the lines of a diary (maybe
even something that puts a message on the screen saying "tomorrow so and
so's birthday" or similar).
4) Keep records of all bank accounts like name, account no., bank branch,
deposits, withdrawals, balances, with a list for showing what the
withdrawals are for. Something along the lines of a bank book I suppose,
but something that does not involve a chequebook. Definitely not involving
a chequebook, as this would be unsuitable for my needs. If it has a
chequebook it must have someway of either deleting or over-riding it. I
would also like a print-out option like #2.E.g. Date;Name;Bank;A/c
No.;Dep;Withdrawal;Bal;Reason;Balance;
5)Similar to the above but adapted for home loans and/or personal loans
with a record of payments, interest, balance, with the ability to adjust
the interest rate if need be and with the same as No2.
6) Keep records of employment details including things like hours worked,
overtime, pay, tax, takehome pay, name of firm, starting date, duties
performed etc. E.g.Date;Hours worked, Overtime, Duties paid, Tax, Nett
pay, or something based along these lines.
7) To be able to keep records of different sporting codes e.g. rugby.
8) One for the car/cars, things like car expenses, cost, rego, repayments,
insurance, repaires, fuel costs (with, if possible, the fuel side split
from the other car costs).If possible I would also like due dates for rego,
insurance etc.(probably a two part program with the option to add up the
figures similar to No.2).
Part 2 will require the ability to calculate the litres/travelled into
mpg. I would also like a printout option, say monthly, yearly, or between
two selected dates.
I must point out that I do not know anything about programming computers,
so they would have to be not involved nor involve mass alterations on my
part.
Derek Stagg
St. Clair, NSW.
Ed: Derek, I can recommend that you get our Business 10-Pack, which has
programs which should cover most of what you need. All have explanatory
docs, but as with all computing ventures, you must be willing to learn and
persevere. No. 4 request would be best addressed by the Ami-Cash program
on UT 306. Also MD22 has MONEYMATTERS (budgeting program) and WHEN
(reminder program) by George Knight which would be useful to you.
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