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1989-04-05
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13KB
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310 lines
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###############################
# #
# NUMBER 13! #
# ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ #
# UNLUCKY OR WHAT? #
# ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ #
###############################
The editorial with Dave Mooney and John Weller.
~~~ooOoo~~~
"Never pick a quarrel with someone who buys their ink in barrels."
Benjamin Franklin
"It is only the half-truths that are dangerous"
George Bernard Shaw
"You want it by WHEN?"
John and Dave
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ WELL I AIN'T SUPERSTITIOUS... ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What with one thing and another, this wasn't the easiest of issues
to put together.... Dave's course work and assignments finally got the
better of him by mid-January, and he was forced to pass all the STEN
files that he'd received onto me. We had ten articles and a handful of
'Who the Hell's - enough for a third of a STEN. Issue 13 was either
going to be very thin, or very late. We decided it would be late.
A begging letter went out to all the usual suspects: "Now is the
time for all Enthusiasts to come to the aid of STEN." The response was
marvellous; articles and offers of help arrived by literally every
delivery, and we're now in the embarassing position of having to try and
squeeze them all into the one issue. This issue is dedicated to all the
contributors who made it possible - * Thank You! *
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The news items that would previously have appeared in the Editorial
have now been moved to separate files. The reason for this is that we
were accumulating so much gossip and juicy hearsay that they would have
crowded out any STEN-specific news. Do you want to know what Atari UK
*really* think of the A1200? Or why the Public Dominator PD Library is
in trouble? Then check out the NEWSNIPS file..
Another new idea is the Deskjet Corner in the Graphix Area. It might
seem odd to have a column devoted to the one printer, but so many users,
myself included, now have a deskjet that it seems a good idea to draw all
the hints and refilling tips for it into the one article. Check out the
GRAPHIX file for the latest info.
Dave Price has been promoted and is now having to commute to work in
London. This has reduced his free time dramatically, so we're especially
pleased to have another installment of his hardware and interfacing
column in this issue. Thanks Dave, it really is appreciated.
This issue also sees the debut of some new STEN writers. We'd like
to welcome Mike Richards of Roche in Cornwall, Dave Hodges of Kettering,
Ron Walker of Bristol, Evelyn Mills of Bristol, and Stephen Ticehurst of
Kings Lynn to the STEN team.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ AIM MAGAZINE ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A limited number of copies of the Atari Interface Magazine are now
being imported from the States. AIM is a quarterly, semi-commercial
magazine made up of user group contributions from throughout the USA.
Each issue includes the latest Stateside information about the ST and the
8-bit Atari machines, and comes with a double-sided disc full of
compressed utilities and applications. The magazine and disc cost £3.95
and are available from the ST Club in Nottingham. (See our PD Libraries
file for the full address and 'phone number.)
I've only seen one issue of AIM, but I was impressed by the
enthusiasm of it and their obvious dedication to the ST scene.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ BLOWING OUR OWN TRUMPET ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
STEN continues its inexorable upward climb with a mention in John
Dalmas's Atari Column in the February 'Computer Shopper'. I quote:
"One of the most interesting things to cross my desk this month was
the ST Enthusiasts' Newsletter, a disc magazine of quite startling
quality. Issue 12 contains a very impressive line-up of articles
and is very professionally produced. Check it out today."
The really interesting thing about this mention was that it was the
only result from the five press releases that we sent out in December.
Evelyn Mills, who writes the Atari Column in 'MicroMart' has yet to see
her copy (we assume it's been lost in their Sea of Incompetence), but
that still leaves three magazines that are strangely silent. Could it be
(as we've heard rumoured) that 'ST Format', 'ST Review' and 'ST User' see
us as competition? Surely not! We don't see ourselves as competition, we
*know* we're better, in every possible way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ TRIP THE LIGHT FANTASTIC ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This issue's Programs folder contains 'STONK!', the world's first
"totally non-interactive psychedelic slideshow generator". This is a
beta-test version of Dave Henniker's 'ZONK!' that has been especially
compiled for STEN readers. Dim the lights, turn up the sounds; Enjoy!
It even runs from the shell... sort of. Trouble is it that yit can't be
stopped and control returned to STEN.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ HOW SINGULAR! ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I couldn't resist this snippet from a recent 'New Scientist':
"A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing. The German hi-fi
magazine 'Stereo' has its own test laboratory where engineers check
the performance of new equipment. Recently the laboratory decided
to develop its own test CD, pressed with a mixture of test and music
signals. "Test" and "musical" were two of the small number of words
the engineers knew in English, so they decided to combine them to
come up with a catchy title. Unfortunately, they only showed it to
a British engineer after printing the artwork.
'Check your HiFi system by having fun with your one and only
TESTICAL,' exhorts the sleeve note."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ ELSPA BOYS PUT THE BOOT IN ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The latest news on the anti-piracy front is that ELSPA (the European
Leisure Software Producers Association) have decided that the fist is
mightier than the writ. The notorious Barrowlands market in Glasgow was
recently visited by an ELSPA representative accompanied by four ex-army
'bodyguards'.
The tactics used involved the illegal seizure of any computer discs
found on any stall, regardless of whether they contained pirated or
Public Domain software. A spectator who was present at this brave show
of force said:
"A legitimate PD library owner had his stock taken without being offered
any opportunity to explain that he was conducting legitimate business.
Another person who refused to hand over his attache case was punched to
the ground and had it removed.
Receipts were issued for all discs taken, but that isn't the point -
who the hell do ELSPA and FAST think they are to behave like that?"
And what did the three policemen who were present do to prevent this
behaviour? If ELSPA and FAST want to be taken seriously in their anti-
piracy campaign then they've got to be seen to be 'legal and honest';
violence is a strange way to advance their moral case against piracy.
__________
LATE AGAIN
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
By the time you get to read this we will be about one month late. A
combination of two factors, my having a very large amount of college work
to do over the Christmas holidays and the late arrival of articles from
friend and foe.
My work has since been cleared up and I'm typing like mad. John has sent
out reminders and requests for articles and these have been pouring in.
Things are beginning to look a lot less bleak than they did a week or two
ago.
It would be niave to think that we could catch up and produce the next
issue on schedule. Therefore issue #14 of STEN will be scheduled for late
April.
____________________________
A CHANGE IS AS GOOD AS A ...
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
This month I have included a couple of articles that are pretty far
removed from computing. The first is an excellent article on goldfish
breeding, the second a tongue in cheek account of the Exodus from Egypt.
I found both to be very readable, but I am also interested in both areas.
What do you think about including articles like these? Write and let me
know.
_____________________
AUSTRALIAN PD LIBRARY
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Dwane O'Dwyer has started a new PD library in Victoria, Australia.
Dwayne's catalogue is filled with programs that can be pick'n'mixed to
fill a disc. That way you only pay for the PD you want.
Costs are $8 (AUS) for every disk (700K) and $2 (AUS) for postage and
handling on each multiple of 5 discs.
Contact:
Dwane O'Dwyer
PO BOX 241
CORIO
VICTORIA
AUSTRALIA 3214
_____________
SUBSCRIPTIONS
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
A few months ago we introduced subscriptions to STEN for one reason. To
try and take some of the distribution hassles of me and allow more time to
work on producing the next issue. This has worked fairly well, but I would
like to ask anyone who intends to get STEN on a regular basis and is not
part of the subscription scheme to think about joining.
The cost is a reasonable £5 for six issues. This includes the discs,
postage and packing.
As an added benefit a subscribers name will be drawn at random every issue
and he or she will be offered a choice of the software that we get sent
for review (as long as we have software to give away).
This month the winner is #17 - John Giblin.
For more information contact:
DAVE COWLING
18 ASPEN MOUNT
COOKRIDGE
LEEDS
Overseas readers should send a disc and enough International Reply Coupons
to myself or Dave Cowling as an alternative to the subscription as it
often costs more to transfer money than the subscription would warrant.
At the moment we are trying to organise distributers which should make it
easier for overseas readers to obtain their copies. If you would like to
help out contact me (DAVE MOONEY).
AUSTRALIA
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
DWANE O'DYWER
PO BOX 241
CORIO
VICTORIA
AUSTRALIA 3214
_____________
STOP PRESS...
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
OK, that's it! I realise I will have left some bits and pieces out, but I
don't want to hold STEN up any longer. As it stands we have 500+K of
articles which should give a day or twos reading.
Just in is a database of all things GFA... Review and release next time.
Also new to the UK is a text/picture displayer & music player, again...
more next issue.
~~~ eof ~~~