*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢ Some people call this time of year¢ the "dead" of winter. Although I¢ know how the expression originated, I¢ think it's a misnomer in these times¢ of ours. There is much happening in¢ our Atari 8-bit world, as there is in¢ the natural world. Some of the¢ developments that affect our Classic¢ Ataris is hidden to us, as the¢ activities of deciduous plants and¢ hibernating animals is hidden to us¢ in the "dead" of winter. But if we¢ discover something new, and make it¢ known to all of our user group --¢ perhaps to the rest of the community¢ as well -- everyone will benefit.¢ Once again, I urge all of our members¢ to rejoin, and to add to their¢ checks, a little note containing¢ their name and their Internet or¢ FidoNet e-mail address. At this¢ time, I'd like to remind those of you¢ who didn't note it that mine has¢ changed. It's now:¢¢ asharkis@erols.com¢¢ and I'd really appreciate hearing¢ from you via e-mail if you use it.¢¢ I'm going to ask Ron Fetzer, when he¢ promulgates the next member list, to¢ include e-mail addresses if he can,¢ even if it means typing up the list¢ at my house, on my PC, so that we can¢ take advantage of a smaller, but¢ still readable font. As you may¢ remember, I don't balk at using my PC¢ in service to the Atari community.¢¢ With all that the Internet and BBSs¢ have to offer, there is still a lot¢ of 8-bit news that comes out of user¢ group newsletters, whether in print¢ or on disk. I allow the disk-based¢ newsletters to be reflected in our¢ minutes, since I demonstrate them at¢ meetings. Print newsletters are¢ reviewed here, as most of you know.¢¢ SCAT President's letter for Autumn¢ 1997 -- The Suburban Chicago Atarians¢ welcomed Eric Cron as an 8-bit member¢ as well as a couple of new ST members¢ during the summer. It's nice to see¢ a user group grow when some groups,¢ including the heavy hitters, are¢ complaining about dwindling¢ membership. SCAT president, NICK DI¢ MASI seems to have some some of the¢ same beefs common to other user group¢ presidents. He seems not to enjoy¢ people who come to the meeting with¢ their own agenda, merchandise to¢ sell, etc., without first discussing¢ it with the president. Nick feels¢ that meeting time, limited as it is,¢ shouldn't be taken over by a surprise¢ "sale" of surplus equipment. But he¢ does plan to have a swap meet in the¢ near future. (Since OHAUG meetings¢ are on Saturdays and run long, we¢ don't have as acute a problem as SCAT¢ -- ed.) He also made a plea, similar¢ to mine above, for the members to¢ make their e-mail addresses available¢ to the club, to notify the club if¢ they aren't getting expected e-mail,¢ and to use the BBS as a means of¢ contacting the club and its officers¢ in the absence of e-mail access. A¢ list of ST DOMSs was enclosed. If¢ any of you owns and uses an ST, Mega¢ or Falcon, you might find this list¢ useful.¢¢ LVAUG News for September/October 1997¢ -- There is an article on buying a¢ computer by CHUCK MELVIN (Newhouse¢ News Service.) It refers, of course,¢ to terminology you should have at our¢ fingertips if you are going to buy an¢ IBM-compatible computer. Much of it¢ is outdated, even in the short time¢ since it was written, but with a¢ little imagination you can extend¢ some of the specification numbers to¢ see what applies today. (I've¢ included this, even though it's not¢ Atari-related, since some of you¢ might want to buy a PC now or in the¢ near future to ENHANCE what your¢ Atari can do -- ed.) GARY CONDON's¢ Hartford Courant article discusses¢ the benefits, dangers, maintenance¢ and possible successors of the¢ computer mouse. There is also a list¢ of filename extensions used in the¢ LVAUG library.¢¢ TWAUG Newsletter for¢ September/October 1997 -- DENNIS¢ FOGARTY had previously asked about¢ the TARI-TALK interface to enable him¢ to transfer files from his 8-bit to¢ his ST so that they could be backed¢ up on another platform. He couldn't¢ find one, but instead found an 850¢ interface. The story of how he used¢ it and a homebrew null-modem cable¢ with Kermit software to do the job¢ makes for a fascinating and very¢ complete article. Dennis raises¢ questions in the article, and they¢ were answered at the end of the¢ article. DAVID RUSSELL's excellent¢ series on graphics modes also¢ continues in this issue.¢¢ (FR)ANTIC for October 1997 -- Editor¢ MANUEL GARCIA has included the Star¢ Trek/Microsoft parody I put into our¢ last OHAUG newsletter. Elswhere,¢ Manuel has also reprinted a version¢ of the famous Microsoft helecopter¢ story. (Knocking Microsoft seems to¢ be a common pursuit these days. I¢ know that the Atari 8-bit will never¢ represent a threat to the IBM-¢ compatible platform, but don't be¢ surprised if cloned STs do make a¢ dent, particularly in Europe. Read¢ on ... Ed.) Librarian RUSSELL STOWE¢ has asked the user group for thoughts¢ on putting together a Web page. A¢ Nybbles and Bytes article by DALE¢ WOOSTER and JOHN POWELL on adapting¢ Nintendo controllers for the Atari 8-¢ bit rounds out the issue.¢¢ IMAGE for November 1997 -- I seldom¢ include material from this¢ newsletter. The Indiana-Michigan¢ group supports all Atari products,¢ but there is seldom 8-bit news in it.¢ However, for those of you who got the¢ feeling that ST owners were suffering¢ a greater decline than we 8-bitters,¢ I'd advise reading this newsletter --¢ particularly this issue and the¢ next, which I will review in this¢ column. If you own a Jaguar, IMAGE¢ is also a reliable source of¢ information on that machine, too. ¢ Editor ED BAIZ and President STEPHEN¢ ELEK, JR. are the most frequent¢ contributers.¢¢ JACG Newsletter for November 1997 --¢ It is with great pleasure that I¢ welcome this newsletter back! It had¢ been missing for quite some time.¢ SAM COREY had done a great job with¢ it, but after some medical problems,¢ Sam switched roles and is now the¢ club's 8-bit librarian. Assuming the¢ editorship of the JACG Newsletter is¢ TOM LASKOWSKI. Tom reports that a¢ motion was made to disband the JACG¢ at their last meeting, and that the¢ motion has caused some soul-¢ searching. He also reports that¢ there is now a two-way race for the¢ presidency of the JACG. SAM COREY,¢ meanwhile, writes an article¢ explaining why he had proposed the¢ motion to end the JACG. In the¢ article, Sam speaks about stimulating¢ members to contribute their time and¢ talent to the club. It was not his¢ intention to see the club end, but¢ simply to redirect its focus and get¢ more member participation. Current¢ President JOSEPH HICSWA goes far to¢ explain why he doesn't want to see¢ the club disband. There are other¢ letters concerning the controversy¢ that Sam created, the coming¢ election, the club's not-for-profit¢ status in New Jersey, and a¢ particularly amusing letter from PHIL¢ GREENHUT regarding the new Pentium¢ machine in his house. There is also¢ a reprint of part 5 of DON THOMAS'¢ (Compuserve) article, "Did You Hear¢ Anyone Say Goodbye?", and a reprint¢ of parts of the Atari 8-bit FAQ that¢ deals with the features of the¢ 400/800 and te development team that¢ produced them.¢¢ (FR)ANTIC for November 1997 -- The¢ AAAUA has elected a new slate of¢ officers. Congratulations to all. ¢ It's good to see the user group¢ continue. The AAAUA has elected to¢ become a multiplatform club, and this¢ is reflected in their election of a¢ PC Vice-President. A rather long¢ article, concerning lack of member¢ attendance at meetings and a general¢ lack of enthusiasm for the Internet¢ as a communication facility is¢ reprinted from AELian Transmissions. ¢ It was written by JAN D. WILT. The¢ AAAUA asks if the article fits their¢ group. (I might ask the same¢ question of OHAUG local members with¢ one or two exceptions. Seems as if¢ our out-of-town members are more¢ Internet active than our officers -¢ Ed.) Also in the issue are¢ photographs of some AAAUA members,¢ and an article by CRAIG LISOWSKI¢ describing the additon of an internal¢ speaker for the 800XL.¢¢ XIO3 for November/December 1997 --¢ GORDON F. HOOPER continues the jabs¢ against the computer industry. No,¢ his target is not Microsoft this¢ time, but rather those "friendly"¢ tech support representatives you¢ speak to on the phone from time to¢ time. Elswhere in the article,¢ Gordon also provides a very humorous¢ dictionary of computer terms. DOUG¢ SKRECKY reports a mention of the¢ Atari name in the February 1986 issue¢ of Isaac Asimov's science fiction¢ magazine, in a story called,¢ "Salvage," Doug prints a synopsis of¢ the story, which describes a game¢ being played on an "ancient" Atari. ¢ If you request this newsletter,¢ please read the article and try to¢ answer the question at the end. Doug¢ wants to know which Atari game was¢ being described in the story. On the¢ back cover, Doug also reprints¢ another Bill Gates joke. Although¢ there is little 8-bit news in it,¢ ROWLAND GRANT's Atari News and¢ Rumours column makes interesting¢ reading this month. He covers JTS,¢ the Jaguar, the loss of Compuserve's¢ Run Luks, and with him, the Atari¢ Forums and software libraries. He¢ also reports the obvious loss of¢ Current Notes. However, Rowland also¢ writes the 8-bit Affairs column, and¢ in this issue he discusses several¢ interesting developments and projects¢ for our 8-bits, including the return¢ of Austin Franklin to CSA8, STEVEN¢ (A.P.E.) TUCKER's interest in¢ developing another PC keyboard¢ interface for the 8-bits, the release¢ of STEFAN DORENDORF's Version 4.0¢ QMEG+OS chip, the development (in¢ Poland) of an 8-bit version of UNIX¢ (called ANIX,) ANDRE FACHAT's OS/A65¢ which can be ported to any 6502¢ machine, WILLIAM KENDRICK's release¢ of Gem Drop, and the release of¢ ABBUC's 50th Magazine.¢¢ LVAUG News for November/December 1997¢ -- A LEIF B. STRICKLAND (KNT News¢ Wire - Allentown Morning Call¢ 10/7/97) describes the way students¢ are taking term papers from the¢ Internet, rather than doing the work¢ necessary to produce their own¢ papers. The article raises some¢ interesting points, and is certainly¢ worth reading. Editor LARRY¢ TISCHBEIN has included some¢ interesting material. On page 5 of¢ this issue are come interesting short¢ anecdotes and cartoons that you¢ should also read.On the next two¢ pages he has reprinted some material¢ that he has obviously obtained on the¢ Internet regarding 8-bit Atari¢ computers. He has included a simple,¢ 8-line program to produce the famous¢ Atari rainbow. More cartoons and an¢ interesting frog story fill out the¢ issue.¢¢ The PACESetter for December 1997 --¢ Another editor is giving up the¢ newsletter? Well, here's a¢ difference. JEAN BROKAW is doing it¢ with style and good humor. Just¢ check the first page of this¢ newsletter to see how she¢ accomplishes this. Jean expresses no¢ sadness at leaving, no bitterness¢ about the conditions that make her¢ leave; just thankfulness for the¢ experience, which, she admits, was¢ difficult but rearding. We welcome¢ WALTER LEWIS to the position. Walter¢ has a difficult act to follow and we¢ trust he'll do it well. (For those¢ of you that think I'm quitting too,¢ NO SUCH LUCK :-), Ed.) Jean goes on¢ to bring s some holiday-based web¢ sites, among other familiar features.¢ There is a reprint of a STEPHEN MANES¢ story from the December 1995 issue of¢ the JACG Newsletter. This story,¢ "Rip Van Digital's Software¢ Hangover," is certainly worth¢ reading. There's a message hidden in¢ it; see if you can tell what it is. ¢ The series on PCs and Windows 95 tips¢ continues, this time concentrating on¢ the shift key and its hidden¢ functions. There is a review of an¢ old Atari 8-bit favorite, "Winter¢ Games."¢¢ IMAGE for December, 1997 -- As¢ promised, I am reviewing this issue,¢ even though 8-bit material is scant. ¢ I'm doing this to show that the ST¢ community, which we often consider¢ more disheartened than our own by the¢ PC's dominance, is making a great¢ comeback. There are manufacturers of¢ Falcon clones in Canada and Germany. ¢ One particular machine, the German¢ Hades, uses a Motorola 68060¢ processor and has fantastic¢ capabilities. Editor ED BAIZ has¢ recently discovered a BBS in his area¢ that carries FidoNet. At Ed's¢ request, the BBS is now carrying both¢ the 8-bit and ST national echoes. ¢ Now, I see Ed's messages several¢ times a week when I log on to another¢ FidoNet BBS that I call daily. ¢ FidoNet's National Atari Echo, the 8-¢ bit echo, used to carry as many as¢ sixty messages daily. The average in¢ recent days has been one daily¢ message. The bulk of the remaining¢ 8-bitters prefer the¢ comp.sys.atari.8bit newsgroup on the¢ Internet. Speaking of the Internet,¢ Ed reminds us that a new Atari 8-bit¢ mailing list now exists. I've¢ subscribed, to find out that messages¢ can be in a great variety of¢ languages. Ours IS an international¢ community, after all. To subscribe,¢ mail a message to:¢¢ majordomo@zwieracz.pse.pl¢¢ and put the line "subscribe atari8-l"¢ in the body of your message, (not the¢ subject.) There is, as I stated¢ before, lots of news about the ST and¢ Falcon clones, but the major themes¢ seem to be Web browsers for these¢ machines and PC emulation on them.¢¢ SCAT for December/Holiday 1997 --¢ President NICK DiMASI reports that¢ the group had an exceptionally good¢ year. They recently did a joint ST-¢ 8-bit demo showing how to transfer¢ files via null-modem connection¢ between the two machines. They used¢ XModem protocol because it's¢ universally available. (I'd advise¢ all 8-bitters to look into LARRY¢ BLACK's Atar-Z-Modem add-on or to run¢ ITAY CHAMIEL's Ice-T 2.72, if¢ possible, since both of these allow¢ for ZModem downloads -- ed.)¢¢ JACG Newsleter for December 1997 --¢ The club's election has taken place. ¢ RON CARLSON is the new president, SAM¢ CORY continues as 8-bit librarian,¢ and THOMAS LASKOWSKI is now editor. ¢ JOSEPH E. HICSWA promises to be a¢ rather active president emeritus. ¢ This month, the club will vote on¢ whether or not to disband. (Judging¢ from the material in this newsletter,¢ my money is on the JACG being a force¢ in our community for the next several¢ years -- ed.) Tom reports that he¢ stumbled across a web site put up by¢ B. and C. ComputerVisions, and there¢ learned that there will be an Atari¢ World 98 next summer in California. ¢ Inside the issue is Part VI of DON¢ THOMAS' "Did You Hear Anyone Say¢ Goodbye." JOE HICSWA, as president¢ emeritus, is te same old Joe, part¢ cheerleader, part historian, part¢ diplomat. Read his column. He's¢ also an OL' HACKER! SAM CORY¢ contributes an interesting article. ¢ I will simply quote the first line,¢ and then hope that it prods you into¢ reading the article: "Reality is¢ always catching up to Science¢ Fiction."¢¢ *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢¢