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1997-04-16
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~ MAGAZINE REVIEWS ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John Weller and Raymond Mortimer have a look at some of the magazines
still available from the newsagent.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ ATARI ST USER : 1 ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The new look Atari St User comes with 2 cover disks - and a price tag of
£3.75. I used to think that ST User was pretty bland but the new page
layouts feature more graphics and colour and make it nicer to read. They
have an EXCLUSIVE news story about an new ST with a PC emulator fitted
inside, and articles on DTP & upgrading your ST.
All the games coverage, including reviews, tips and quite a few game ads
have been put together in a 32 page pullout, which leaves the rest of
the mag free for the serious stuff. Generally STU seems to be more
serious (and therefore more interesting) than ST Format.
Raymond Mortimer
~~~OOOO~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ SHAREWARE SHOPPER : 1 ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shareware Shopper is one of two magazines covering the PD & Shareware
scenes for 16 bit computers. The other is Public Domain, published
by the same people as ST Format, and so comes with a cover disk. Share-
ware Shopper doesn't and costs half as much (£1.50). There are dozens of
reviews and features on PD & Shareware for PC, ST & Amiga, and most of
the adverts are, predictably, from either PD libraries or Blank Disk
sellers.
The centre of the mag features a 64 page Shareware directory contain-
ing details of Shareware programs - this section will feature new
programs every month to build into a reference of Shareware programs.
It was a more interesting read than I thought it would be, and the wide
range of PD library adverts make choosing your next batch of PD disks
much easier.
Raymond Mortimer
~~~OOOO~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ MONDO 2000 ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
How do you describe MONDO 2000? Well, it's a glossy American
magazine (175 pages) that appears very two to three months, and aims to
provide serious coverage of new technology, Virtual Reality, the New
Frontier, Cyberpunk, mind nutrients and Smart Drugs, hacking and
cracking, computer-produced art, futuristic literature, fashion and
music.
So how does it deliver? Well, the issue I've got in front of me is
the #3 (Winter 1991) one, and it contains an Editorial by William
Burroughs, an informed and lively letter column, articles on Fibre
technology in the Silicon Valley, anti-ageing chemicals, growth hormones
for increased mental and sexual performance, Drug-free mind expansion,
recent Hacking busts in the States, Mitch Kapor and John Barlow on
Civilising the Electronic Frontier, Phone Freaking, a Chaos Computer Club
meeting in East Berlin, how Steve Jackson RPGs got raided by the Secret
Service after publishing a Cyberpunk game, August Bequai on Computer
Security, Debby Harry and 21st century fashion, Heavy Metal, Frank Zappa
for President, Talking Heads, Psychic TV, Genesis P. Orridge on Muzak,
cutting-edge computer graphics, Chaos and Gaia, Real Aphrodisiacs,
Fanzine reviews, and a cracker's guide to breaking into the Mac version
of Sim City.
The overall impression you get from Mondo is of California craziness
crossed with New York coolness, and with a large slice of MIT technology
worship thrown in for good measure. I hate to say this, but this is one
mag that you'll either love or hate! Mondo's in very limited supply in
Britain, but you can usually find it in Forbidden Planet in London, or at
the Mind Gymnasium at 11, Gerrard Street, London (071 837 7986). Each
issue costs approximately £4 - £5. <Reviewed by John Weller>
~~~OOOO~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ FACTSHEET 5 #40 ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Factsheet Five is an American fanzine-reviews magazine that appears
every couple of months. If it's a fanzine, comic, alternative music tape
or video, then it'll probably be reviewed in Factsheet Five at some
time. Issue 40 runs to 134 low-grade pages and contains thousands of
short, 5 - 10 line, reviews of all sorts of American craziness:
"THE CHAOS NETWORK Vol 2 #4 ($39 for 4 issues from People Technologies, PO
Box 4007, Urbana, IL 61801): these folks are interested in taking the
developing science of chaos and applying it to the social side of things,
particularly to organisational development. #4 is another nice issue, with
summaries of the main speakers at a recent conference and a glossary for
beginners. Expect this stuff to show up in College courses any day now."
"CYBERTEK #4 ($2.50 from OCL/Magnitude, PO Box 64, Brewster, NY 10509 NY):
"The Cyberpunk Technical Journal", this one brings forth all sorts of
dangerous ideas - for informational use only, of course. They talk about
BBS operator rights, new uses for ATM help phones, interesting radio
frequencies, and so on."
"FURNOGRAPHY vol 1 #3 ($20 for 5 issues. Send Age Statement to Robert and
Brenda Daverin, PO Box 2464, Redwood City, CA 94064): a well-produced
'zine of explicit drawing and stories featuring "furries" - sapient bio-
engineered creatures, well-hung horsemen and busty otter women, for
example. They feature lots of furry critters in standard porno poses, hot
letters, an advice column and more."
or even:
"THE WEASEL HELP MONTHLY Vol 3 #6 ($20 membership from PO Box 11216,
Boulder, CO 80301): The monthly magazine for ferret owners and
lovers.This covers a lot of ground - from the legality of owning a ferret
(it's illegal in some states) to rehabilitating an errant ferret, to
building shelters. This is obviously a tremendous labour of love for a
select group, and those who own these unusual pets will benefit from it."
If you liked the Whole Earth Catalogue, then you'll love Factsheet
Five - there's the same mix of libertarian optimism and obsessive
collecting of any addresses and information that could be of use to their
readers. A marvellous 'zine for browsing through, and seeking inspiration
from. It's available every two months or so from Forbidden Planet in
London, price approximately £2.50. <Reviewed by John Weller>
-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ooOoo-~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~