*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢ If I had to describe the weather on¢ Long Island so far this winter, I'd¢ have to say that it has been a¢ blessing for those who hate shoveling¢ snow and a bust for those who love¢ skiing or sledding on it. I know¢ that's not what's been happening in¢ other parts of the world. We hope¢ that the winter has been treating you¢ well, or at least that it has been¢ kind enough to allow you to pursue¢ what you wish to do with your Atari. ¢ (Notice that I studiously avoided¢ those other stories that have been¢ occupying the news!)¢¢ (FR)ANTIC for November 1998 -- The¢ AAAUA has announced the result of an¢ election and some of the officers are¢ new. We congratulate all. It also¢ seems as though AAAUA meetings are¢ taking place in AL BLOCKER's¢ residence form now on. RUSSELL STOWE¢ contributes articles on 1020 plotter¢ repair and on the care and ffeing of¢ disk drives. Finally, there's an¢ article, complete with screen shots,¢ of The Last Starfighter. This game¢ was never officially released by¢ Atari, but the beta version has been¢ making the rounds of late.¢¢ LVAUG News for November/December 1998¢ -- There's a reprint of an article¢ from the CompuServe Atari8 about¢ adding resistance in parallel to the¢ console keys on a 130XE when they¢ fail to operate. Other articles¢ include one on Santa Claus in¢ cyberspace and advice to students to,¢ "Surf the Web With a Grain of Salt¢ (both from the Allentown Morning Call¢ -- authors listed.) There are other,¢ humorous articles and cartoons, and a¢ calendar of 1999 with meeting dates¢ circled.¢¢ (FR)ANTIC for December 1998/January¢ 1999 -- Editor MANUEL GARCIA¢ questioned Hasbro on what they intend¢ to do with the Atari software rights.¢ He was interested particularly in¢ what, if anything Hasbro intended to¢ do with non-game and hardware-related¢ issues. They referred him to¢ <www.atarihq.com> for more complete¢ answers to his questions, but the¢ answer that Hasbro gave leaves little¢ room for doubt. Hasbro will¢ concentrate on games, as they run on¢ the Sony PlayStation, the PC, and the¢ Nintendo 64. At AGH, Manuel probably¢ saw the familiar name of JOHN HARDIE,¢ but got few hardware and/or non-¢ gaming questions answered. Also in¢ this issue are screen shots of Rodent¢ Revenge, a PD game by BILL KENDRICK,¢ hints on selecting graphics by number¢ when using The Print Shop, hints on¢ playing Ghost Busters, a reprint of¢ DAVID RICHARDSON's Exploring the Wild¢ FONTier, and a 1999 calendar with the¢ club's meeting dates boxed in.¢¢ JACG Newsletter for January 1999 --¢ This is a packed issue. It starts¢ off with Part 2 of MARSHAL M.¢ ROSENTHAL's fine Atari history¢ article. JOE HICSWA does fine reviews¢ of New Atari User and the OHAUG¢ Newsletter. According to the minutes,¢ the JACG has voted to accept members¢ who own other computers. In an¢ article a little later in the issue,¢ SAM CORY takes issue with that stand¢ and sees nothing to be gained by the¢ change. (Of course, I would have to¢ remind Sam that my forays into the¢ comp.sys.atari.8bit back me up.¢ Emulating an Atari 8-bit on a PC¢ seems to get many former 8-bitters¢ interested in their old computers¢ again. The hours that my SIO2PC¢ interface and my null-modem¢ connection between the two machines¢ have saved me as editor of this¢ newsletter are somewhere in the¢ thousands! The two machines can¢ coexist and help each other¢ considerably. -- Ed.) The issue ends¢ with a humorous list of bumper¢ sticker slogans, a financial¢ statement for the JACG, and a list of¢ members with their names, addresses¢ and phone numbers.¢¢ PACESetter for January 1999 -- Editor¢ WALT LEWIS starts off with an article¢ called, "ANTIC DISK HELP!" He uses¢ the ANTIC Magazine's list of¢ extenders to launch what is probably¢ the best-written article for¢ beginners on loading files from a¢ disk I've ever seen. (And Walt, the¢ device name "E:" stands for "screen¢ Editor." -- Ed.) The rest of the¢ issue is devoted to descriptions of¢ several disks from the club's¢ library. They're too numerous to¢ mention here, but please pick up a¢ copy of this issue and look it over. ¢ Some of these disks are most¢ interesting and useful!¢¢ IMAGE for January 1999 -- There is no¢ 8-bit-related news in this issue, but¢ there are two items of note. First,¢ NICK DiMASI, president of of SCAT,¢ has joined IMAGE. Second, Hayes, the¢ modem manufacturer that at one time¢ set the standards and command set for¢ all others to follow, has filed for¢ reorganization under Chapter 11.¢¢ SCAT President's Letter for December¢ 1998/January 1999 -- This issue lists¢ a URL for the SCAT Website, which¢ I've visited and enjoyed¢ <http://www.fujiman.com/scat>. It's¢ also significant that in thier last¢ election, former 8-bit librarian JOE¢ CHIKO was elected vice-president and¢ ERIC CRON was elected 8-bit¢ librarian. (Eric is a frequent¢ contributor to comp.sys.atari.8bit¢ and his Web site¢ <http://www.pcc.net/dzone/atari8.htm>¢ includes html versions of De Re Atari¢ and The 850 Operator's Manual, as¢ well as a .ZIP file of The Atari¢ Hardware Manual. -- ed.)¢¢ The PACESetter for February 1999 --¢ This issue seems to be a music¢ issue. It includes reviews of the¢ Music Composer cartridge and Music¢ Construction Set by Editor WALT¢ LEWIS, the instructions for ANTIC¢ Music Processor by STEVEN LASHOWER, a¢ description of Music I, II, and III¢ from the APX catalog, and a¢ description of Bank Street Music¢ Writer by GLEN CLANCY of Mindscape.¢ Walt mentioned getting a year's worth¢ of OHAUG disks and printouts from JOE¢ HICSWA. (This is the obviously the¢ same package that Joe sent me and¢ which I showed at the last meeting. -¢ - Ed.) There are also articles about¢ how to keep junk e-mail out of your¢ PC and how to tell how fast your PC's¢ connected on line (both from the¢ LCACE News Journal.) Finally,¢ there's an article, reprinted from¢ the OHAUG Newsletter of 3-4/92 on¢ repairing and modifying and Indus¢ disk drive.¢¢ XIO3 for January/February 1999 -- Our¢ member, JOHN POWELL, has joined yet¢ another user group. This time, it's¢ GCACE! GCACE, by the way, has had¢ another election. Many familiar¢ names are among the officers. Our¢ congratulations to all, and best¢ wishes to ROWLAND GRANT for a¢ contined speedy recovery from serious¢ surgery. ROWLAND still took time to¢ write two very informative columns --¢ his usual 8-bit affairs column and a¢ reivew of Pool Disk Too. Both cover¢ many interesting points and should be¢ "must reads."¢¢ JACG Newsletter for February 1999 --¢ Edlitor TOM LASKOWSKI has obviously¢ been following the gaming scene. A¢ lot of former Atari employees have¢ been working on something called¢ Project X and something called Nuon.¢ These very secret projects are about¢ to bear some fruit. Read all about¢ it in Tom's column, in two press¢ releases from VM LABS also reprinted¢ in this issue, and from a column¢ entitled Pecking at the Scraps, by¢ DONALD A. THOMAS, JR. Also see the¢ final installment of MARSHAL M.¢ ROSENTHAL's "Thanks for the Ecstacy¢ Atari" column. JOE HICSWA is back as¢ president, and has a column called,¢ "From the Opal Office." Joe uses¢ this month's column to talk about¢ what the user group has done to¢ enhance his confidence. Joe also¢ reviews several newsletters,¢ including the November-December LVAUG¢ Newsletter and the December¢ PACESetter. SAM CORY raises some¢ very interesting points in a column¢ on the next-to-last page. There's no¢ title, but is name appears at the¢ bottom. Sam does a fine job of¢ explaining why Internet messages,¢ including e-mail are split into¢ packets which are then sent in many¢ different directions, and finally¢ assembled into the original at the¢ ISP of the intended recipient. You¢ didn't know that? You're used to¢ sending and receiving files _AS A¢ WHOLE_ while working with a BBS? Sam¢ will explain why packets, which look¢ like a more dangerous way to send¢ messages, actually improve the¢ efficiency of the Internet. He also¢ poses some questions for PC users. ¢ Perhaps Sam is changing his mind¢ about the wisdom of JACG bringing in¢ PC users? Hmmm....¢¢¢ *+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢¢
