*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢There is a trend I've noticed among¢user group publications in the more¢recent batches I've received. The¢groups are beginning to print type-in¢listings with more frequency. The¢programs run from simple routines to¢entire utilities. By typingin programs¢one learns a great deal-It was tedious¢but the results were usually worth¢every keystroke. Take a look at the¢articles I've reviewed here and in the¢past few reviews I've done and see if¢any of these listings strike your¢fancy.¢¢The 2nd Quarter 1992 issue of 8:16 has¢a type-in listing as its 1st article.¢It's a program by TERRY CHAMBERLAIN¢which converts machine code to BASIC¢data statements. Now those convenient¢little snippits of machine code (PM¢graphics routines, etc.) produced with¢an assembler can now be incorportated¢into much easier-to-understand BASIC¢programs. You will need an Atari¢Assembler cartridge or M65 in addition¢to BASIC to use this program. MIKE¢JEWISON reviews the Atari Canadian¢Exposition '92, an 8-bit perspective.¢There is a reprint of BOB WOOLEY's¢(SLCC) review of ChromaCAD. A new¢feature is, NET_News-by COLIN HUNT. It¢has an assortment of important tech¢questions & answers.¢¢The PSAN for June, 1992 has a terrific¢article on producing camera-ready copy¢with an 8-bit by JOHN PICKEN. GORDON¢F. HOOPER's High Technology column¢explains why he owns a computer. Read¢it and laugh.¢¢(FR)ANTIC for June, 1992 is really¢loaded with good information. MANUEL¢GARCIA'S Editor's Notes column¢contains a short type-in program based¢on JEFF SUMMERS'(ACORN) January 1991¢program from AIM with one¢modification. I'll add another and¢use that program myself. It converts¢ASCII files created in MS-DOS¢computers (the ones with each line¢ending in control-M, control-J) into¢Atari-readable files that will work in¢any column-width. Jeff's original¢replaced the IBM-generated carriage-¢return, linefeed with an ATASCII EOL¢(155), which would work for an 80-¢column format. Manuel's modification¢replaces the IBM-generated codes with¢a space (32), and lets the Atari word-¢processor do the rest. RUSSELL STOWE¢reviews Chipmunk and Paul Alhart's AIM¢article about hacking. Congratulations¢to our long-lost member, JOHN HARDIE,¢on his marriage to BEVERLY GRAHAM.¢John is an avid 8-bit collector.¢"SPACE COWBOY" has a list of obscure¢printer control codes for the Atari¢1025 printer. ¢¢The JACG Newsletter for June, 1992 is¢loaded. JOE HICSWA's (a member) 8-bit¢feature column, which, itself, is¢loaded! Joe has included his version¢of "windows" for the 8-bits, complete¢with type-in programs. Another 8-bit¢feature column, this one by JACG¢librarian SAM CORY, is once again¢(you guessed it) LOADED! Included is¢a reference to our ALEX PIGNATO in a¢short story with a happy ending about¢lightning and your computer equipment,¢and how ALEX -a l m o s t- lost his¢whole setup. Still another - LOADED -,¢8-bit feature column by BILL BINGHAM¢concerns Atari 8-bit programming¢languages and has type-in versions of¢the same program in BASIC-Action! & C.¢Features of those and other languages¢are compared. DAVE ARLINGTON attempts¢to answer the question, "What is a¢Macro Assembler?".¢¢The SAGE Scroll for June, 1992¢contains, in its 8-bit section, an¢article by THOMAS TISCH (BCS) on¢transferring text files from one¢computer to another. Although Thomas¢got the mechanics of this process¢right, he could use a little help from¢BobTerm, which does support the baud¢rates he's looking for. HENRY¢MALAVOLTI's article of July 1988 is¢reprinted here and takes us through¢graphics modes 0, 1, and 2 in Atari¢BASIC.¢¢The STATUS Newsletter is back. Its¢June, 1992 issue mentions our club¢among others that "hung in there" with¢exchange articles while the STATUS¢Newsletter was not being published.¢No 8 BIT material.¢¢Update Atari for June,1992 has GEORGE¢IKEN's article on Atari Music. George¢also gives us a complete description¢and program listing for his CAMCORDER¢progam, which can record and play back¢ATASCII animation sequences.¢¢The SAGE Scroll for July, 1992 has all¢of its 8-bit material in the back of¢the issue, but it consists of two¢excellent reprints. One is an article¢by JAMES G. MARTIN, the other is a¢reprint of HENRY MALAVOLTI's May 1988¢article on the Atari Cassette Program¢Recorder.¢¢The July, 1992 MUG Newsletter contains¢THOMAS J. ANDREWS'(ACE of Syracuse)¢article on the IF statement and¢branching in BASIC.¢¢The DACE Desktop for July, 1992 has a¢JOHN DICKERSON review of several new¢Polish 8-bit programs.¢¢The SLCC Journal for July, 1992¢features Bob Woolley's continuation of¢the educational computer suggestion he¢made in the last issue. It also talks¢about using EEPROMS to store the data¢needed for his 1200XL-IDE hard drive¢project.¢¢Between Bytes for July, 1992 contains¢an update on the video digitizer¢project by BOB ELY. There is an inter-¢estng word-search puzzle on the back¢of the newsletter.¢¢Nybbles and Bytes for July/August,¢1992 has an article (author unknown)¢under the heading, "FUNNY STUFF" that¢is sure to elicit a chuckle or two. ¢BILL WILKINSON, brings us a column¢about all of the various disk drives¢and hard disk controllers that were¢produced for our 8-bits. There is a¢reprint of D. R. BRUMLEVE's (Portland¢Atari Club Newsleter) on educational¢software. I disagree with his basic¢premise. BEN POEHLAND's finalreport on¢THE CAMPAIGN is also included. There¢is also a review by DALE WOOSTER¢(NWPAC), reprinted from AIM, of¢Spelunker, (Broderbund) game.¢ *+* END *+*¢