*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢¢ NEWSLETTER REVIEWS¢ by Alan Sharkis¢ OHAUG Newsletter Librarian¢¢It's summer. I've been gone from this¢column for a while. The New York¢City Board of Education, specifically¢its Chancellor, recently made some¢moves to seriously impair, if not¢eliminate, the Home Instruction¢program for which I have worked since¢1965. I believe in this program and¢have recently spent all my free time¢on demonstarting in order to keep it¢going. So far there is a reprieve, so¢the vigilance will continue, but it¢won't occupy my time as much as it¢did in the last few months.¢¢Now, to some more pleasant tasks. ¢I've been handed a stack of¢newsletters to review, and some¢changes are evident in the stack. We¢continue to get newsletters from user¢groups that contain nothing of¢interest to 8-bitters, but we also¢get surprises now and then from some¢that have stopped running 8-bit¢articles in the past. There are¢several issues that a local member¢borrowed during my absence, and I'll¢have to catch up with them next¢time.¢¢(FR)Antic for January, 1994 -- The¢newsletter refers to a DOM that¢contains three calendar programs and¢a disk cataloger. It doesn't give¢the source of the disk, but I sure¢hope it's ours, because it sounds¢like it! JAMES G. MARTIN writes an¢article in which he questions the¢necessity of buying an, "*. *. *.¢compatible." The Back to Basic¢column gives a list of commands that¢work from BASIC for simple I/O. ¢MANUEL GARCIA reviews his new Epson¢ActionPrinter 2250. There is a short¢type-in program that does decimal-¢hexadecimal conversions.¢¢XIO3 for January/February, 1994 --¢Atari 8-bit Affairs by ROWLAND GRANT¢is, as usual, stuffed with¢information. In it, he highlights¢the efforts of 8-bit user groups to¢keep information flowing. He gives¢the TWAUG group, their newsletter,¢and their recent book on memory¢mapping as one example. He also¢cites other British and Irish¢luminaries and the work they're¢doing. Rowland also points out that¢Toad Computers has been recycling 8-¢bit hardware and software for some¢time and could be considered a good¢source. Next Rowland talks about¢several German developmemts. He also¢mentions, in passing, that OHAUG is¢the group that packs and mails the AC¢disks. He is very impressed with the¢method we use (Scotch Tape!) to¢insure that the disk isn't damaged in¢its paper envelope. Rowland also¢spends some time discussing the ST¢and PC XFormers, Bellcom as a source¢of shareware and p/d software that¢will be missed, and donations as¢another source that, hopefully, will¢continue. In his Club Meetings¢column, Rowland also mentions the¢Page Editor from ED HALL of¢Yellowknife. Finally, he mentions¢his fellow club-member, JOHN PICKEN¢as finally completing the double-XL¢and RAM disk programs. OHAUG should¢have these programs in its library¢soon. (Ed. We do!)¢¢The DACE Desktop for January/February¢1994 -- Read A Poem for These¢Holidays by HARVEY ERLICH (c) 1992¢and chuckle. Then read JOHN¢DICKERSON's Eight Bit Corner for a¢good deal of news and promises of new¢products.¢¢S.L.C.C. Journal for February, 1994 -¢- There is a blurb about CardStax by¢DAVID PATTERSON in this issue. This¢refers to version 1.0 (2.0 is¢available in our library.) A review¢of AtariWriter + by ALEX PIGNATO is¢reprinted from the 3/4/93 OHAUG¢disk.¢¢(FR)Antic for February, 1994 --¢ RUSSELL STOWE's personal profile¢appears in this issue. There is an¢article about the source of the¢Mitsumi disk drive mechanism which is¢a direct replacement for that in the¢XF551. A type-in program puts an¢American flag on the screen. Another¢column tells how to use the¢DISKFIX.COM utility on your DOS 2.5¢disk to close files that were¢accidentally left open so that the¢disk can continue to work. The Back¢to Basic column gives a detailed look¢at the keyboard of the 8-bit Atari.¢¢¢The SAGE Scroll for February, 1994 --¢ There is an excellent article by¢SHELDON WINICK, (reprinted from GENIE¢LAMP vol.4, issue 65) on Power¢Protection. It's a must read!¢¢The PACEsetter for February, 1994 --¢ JIM PARRISH (as told to WALT LEWIS)¢provides us with an easy way to tell¢which version of Atari BASIC is¢running in your computer. JOHN¢SLEZAK gives a lesson on creating¢macros for TextPro. Corresponding¢member RAY SHARPLESS tells how he¢created a circular icon for the user¢group. He also writes about his¢favorite text adventure, the Atari 8-¢bit implementation of The Colossal¢Cave. Jean Brokaw reviews LOTTOPIK,¢a program from November, 1988 ANTIC. ¢She also provides us with the usual¢(and welcome) cryptogram, rhebus,¢type-in program (this one creates an¢on-screen valentine card), and¢provides a column on computer care. ¢There is an interesting article (no¢author mentioned) which shows the¢result of putting Lincoln's¢Gettysburg Address through a modern¢grammar and style checker. The¢author didn't mention the program,¢but seems to be one with which I'm¢familiar. Read it and laugh! JOAN¢RAIA contributes an article worth¢reading, called. "For Your Eyes¢Only." KATHY SEVERANCE summarizes a¢future demonstration of LJK¢LetterPerfect.¢¢(FR)Antic for March, 1994 -- The Back¢to Basic column lists the DOS 2.5¢commands and explains them. A type-¢in program prints the Atari¢characters in their default colors¢for text modes 0, 1, and 2. HARRY C.¢WOLFERTH explains how an Atari 8-bit¢system can satisfy the needs of a¢small business or home office. JAMES¢MARTIN makes a suggestion on how to¢neatly store cartridges. Finally,¢two pages are reprinted from The¢PACESetter. One is from September,¢1993 and explains the use of¢DISKRX.BAS (NOT the SpartaDos tool!) ¢The other is from August, 1993 and¢contains Jean Brokaw's article¢stressing how incorrectly-set two-¢column margins in AtariWriter+ can¢cause text to appear jumbled, and how¢it can be avoided.¢¢The SAGE Scroll for March, 1994 --¢ There are two articles of interest. ¢The first concerns a press release by¢the Cleveland Free-Net Atari SIG. ¢This fabulous service, available¢through InterNet or directly (if you¢don't mind dialing long-distance with¢your modem) boasts new and improved¢support areas for all Atari users. ¢Of special interst to us is the¢expanded "8-bit Computers Support¢Atea", which now contains all issues¢of Z*Mag and has improved technical¢forums for 8-bit programmers and¢hardware hackers. The other article,¢by LARRY HAUS, was reprinted from the¢UFF-DA Newswire of January 1992. ¢It's title, "You Can't Have Too Many¢8-Bits," is self-explanatory.¢¢Nybbles and Bytes for March/April,¢1994 -- This NWPAC publication has a¢new look and reflects a club that has¢been reborn and is looking eagerly to¢the future! Congratulations, guys¢and gals! The first page describes a¢library catalog on a disk that sounds¢extremely ingenious. The catalog¢program is available to their club¢members at meetings. DALE WOOSTER¢describes how the club will use¢special cables to connect three¢computers, one disk drive and three¢joysticks for a contest based on The¢Maze of Agdagon. DON and JEAN JUDD,¢new members of NWPAC and new¢Atarians, describe all their joy with¢the computers and the club to date. ¢So do JOHN AND JENNIFER POWELL. They¢especially like the idea of user¢groups communicating with each other,¢and mention OHAUG as one of the¢better clubs around.(Ed. JOHN has now¢joined OHAUG! WELCOME to JOHN and¢JENNIFER! A.P.)¢¢The DACE Desktop for March/April,¢1994 -- JOHN DICKERSON's Eight Bit¢Corner is replete with descriptions¢of new products and, in some cases,¢how he is using them. He mentions¢the PC XFormer, the Newell 1-meg¢upgrade, a patch from MyDos to¢AtariWriter, and a new menu program¢called Creator.¢¢XIO3 for March/April, 1994 -- Atari-8¢Affairs by ROWLAND GRANT is loaded¢with news about the new products from¢FTe and that CSS will be selling¢them. He mentions some of the¢hardware and games being produced in¢both England and Poland, and gives¢due recognition to the user groups¢and authors, both foreign and¢domesitic, that are providing him and¢GCACE with lots of software. ¢Included, of course, is the OHAUG¢calendar and disk-catalog disk.¢¢(FR)Antic for April, 1994 -- I've¢finally found out who was writing the¢Back to Basic column, because this¢month, the author is identified. ¢It's RUSSELL STOWE, and this month he¢talks about cassette drives. He¢describes the operation of the Atari¢410 and 1010 drives in detail. He¢also provides us with three short¢type-in programs. ED HALL gives us a¢checklist with which to compare the¢features of all the 8-bit DTP¢programs with which he's familiar. ¢It's an extensive list. MANUEL¢GARCIA tells us about a new Atari¢magazine, Atari 8-bit Alive,¢published by DAMON WALKER. The¢premier issue is free, and I've sent¢for it. Damon frequents the FidoNet¢Atari National Echo, and I've traded¢messages with him over the years.¢¢S. L. C. C. Journal for April, 1994 -¢- This issue contains reprints of¢documentation from three classic¢programs. The first, CGM by DAVID¢CASTELL, is reprinted from Analog's¢Atari 8-Bit Extra. The second,¢Anticpub, by NADAV GUR, is reprinted¢from Antic, 12/87. Finally, the¢there's an excerpt from the APX¢Manual on Dandy, by JOHN H.¢PAVELICH.¢¢The S. L. C. C. Journal for May, 1994¢devotes a great deal of space to a¢shareware game called The Maze of¢Agdagon. It allows up to eight¢computers, and therefore eight¢players to participate at the same¢time, using a special interface¢device. Only one disk drive is¢needed in this system, but each¢computer must have its own joystick¢and monitor. A single-player demo¢version is available. The game and¢the multi-computer setup were devised¢by a heavy-hitting crew that includes¢JEFF POTTER, CHUCK STEINMAN and JEFF¢CASBEER. (Ed. Now in our library.)¢¢*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*¢
