Big Blue Disk 16/bbd16.zip/BLUENOTE.TXT

Text File | 1987-11-24 | 11KB | 193 lines

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^C^1Blue Notes

Dear B.B. Disk,

     Well, here I am again.  Thanks a lot for publishing my letter (after you
cleaned up my refinery language) and my recipes in Issue 13.  Many thanks also
to the programmer (whose name I can't remember) who generously took the time out
to talk to me today (10/19/87) and read me the correct Status.dat file after I
somehow butchered it.  He was right - that space at the end of it made all the
difference in the world.  I also really enjoyed talking to him and am looking
forward to trying "KLONDIKE".  It just so happened that I had just mailed in my
renewal about an hour before I called.

     I would like to ask you several questions that may become the basis of some
articles and/or discussion.

     First, I would like to know the difference between the various chips used
in the MS-DOS machines.  My IBM XT has an 8088 chip with a 8087 math co-
processor.  My boss's IBM AT has a 80286 chip with a 80287 math co-processor.
So far, so good.  The new IBM Model 30 has an 8086 chip, as does my Amstrad.  To
top it off, I see clones advertised with "8088-1" or "8088-2" chips, like these
were something different than a plain old 8088.  What are the advantages and
disadvantages of each chip, explained in plain English, not computer gibberish?

     Now, let's hear it for the computer gripe department.

     Why did I have to buy two extra books at 20+ bucks per just to find out the
correct syntax and commands to be used with EDLIN and PROMPT as well as a few
others?  Why couldn't these simple instructions have been put into the original
manual?  They spend 20 pages telling you how wonderful their machine is, how to
plug it in to the wall and how to put a disk into the little slot.  Then they
can't write three pages of documentation to explain those mysterious commands
that make the machine's gizzards work the way they are supposed to work.

     Part of my job in the refinery includes writing manuals for safe, efficient
operation for the units of which I am in charge.  I'm talking about 40 - 50+
million units which supply the refinery with a constant supply of utilities -
note that I said CONSTANT.  An oil refinery runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a
year.  The operators I write these manuals for are great people, but
occasionally there are one or two who are not quite that sharp.  Few, if any,
have more than a high school diploma.  Operating manuals must be written in
plain everyday English, direct and to the point, with nothing left to chance and
with no possible misinterpretations.  With these manuals, I can take anyone who
can read English and have them start or shut down a 2000 horsepower steam
turbine driven pump safely within a matter of hours.  He (or she) will also know
exactly what they did, why, and how to do it again.  I have been doing this for
over 24 years and have never had any trouble.  I don't consider myself any type
of "brain" and neither do my supervisors.  This is normal in an oil refinery.

     Now if a dumbbell like myself can do this, why is my Lotus manual written
in what seems to be some obscure form of Chinese?  The words are English, but
their meanings are something out of Alice In Wonderland.  Why doesn't the "@@"
command work in Lotus macros like the manual insinuates that it should?  What
would be so difficult in providing a "trouble-shooting" chart that we ordinary
mortals could use when things don't work out the way the book says it should?
My favorite is "Error 12".  Just what in the hell does THAT mean?  How do I fix
it NOW?  Sending anything back to the factory or even trying to call them is
usually an exercise in instant insanity.  I think the people they hire to answer
user questions must have majored in "Oral Confusion" or "Non-Communications" in
college.  About the only response I have been able to get is "I can't understand
what seems to be your problem."  Whenever a program doesn't work, I need a
simple and IMMEDIATE fix, or the entire program becomes expensive junk, as far
as I'm concerned.  They could at least provide us with a toll free number to
call in an emergency - manned (personned?) by someone who speaks the same
English you and I speak.  Incidentally, this is why I was so pleasantly
surprised today when I called your number and got immediate help with my
Status.Dat file.  Other people should follow your lead - maybe they just might
sell a few more programs.

     Speaking of selling programs, I have become extremely wary of buying any
program that I haven't seen or tried first.  Software rental stores are booming
in this area.  I'm not crazy about Lotus 123 or Symphony, but all the other
spreadsheets I have tried just haven't cut it yet, especially in the area of
multiple automatic graph generation thru macros.  I bought 3 word processors
before Volkswriter III was forced on me at work.  Now think I will buy my own
copy soon.  As far as Autocad is concerned, the manual is written in gibberish,
the program is overpriced by a factor of at least 10 - maybe 30, and I wouldn't
touch it with a ten-foot pole if it wasn't the only option available at work. It
has some great features that I really like, but too much of it is undocumented,
and sometimes strange things happen without explanation.  Worst of all, the menu
takes up about 1/4 of the screen and most of the rest of the screen is
unavailable for use.  Couldn't they have used a pop-up menu?  I would gladly buy
one of the lower priced CAD systems that are available on the market, IF I could
try it out first - and IF it did what I want it to do without hassle, and IF it
did not require one of my other pet peeves - the mouse.

     I think that mice are nice where they belong - in traps, not in computers.
Wasn't it bad enough for computers to have bugs in them - now they have mice? Is
there no end to the vermin infestation?  What's next - chipmunks? The meeses I
have tried were slower and less accurate than a keyboard.  They may be nice for
games, but who cares?  What's the matter with WORDS?  Have we forgotten how to
use plain, simple words?  This brings me to my other pet hate -the infamous
Icon.

     Why Icons?  Can't we all read English?  Must we have cutesy little pictures
to tell us what to do next?  Are we raising a nation of people who are computer
literate but English illiterate?  One of the programs I bought and threw away
had a picture of of a hammer in it.  I never did find out what it was supposed
to mean, but I know what I thought it meant - I should have hit myself on the
head with a hammer for buying anything so childish and inane.  Expensive trash!
And just EXACTLY what do the scissors mean?  Cut & Paste?   Cut what?  Paste
what? Paste what to what?  What is the matter with simple words like "insert" or
"delete" or "move"?  If I wanted to see a picture show, I'd turn on the Boob
Tube and let the over-paid, shallow minded fools like Merv Watchamacallit do my
thinking for me.  My opinion is, if you MUST have pictures to run your computer,
you should really take up something that fits your mental aptitude better - like
knitting - or sky-diving, sans 'chute. One of the great strengths of Volkswriter
is its simple menu, ready to use at any time.  No artsy-craftsy pictures of
garbage cans and scissors - as they used to say on "Fishnet": "Just the facts,
ma'am."

     Well, I guess I've bent your eyeballs enough and made enough enemies for
one session.  If you decide to use any of these meanderings, I'd be grateful and
be interested in any reader reaction.  I love a good word fight - only feelings
get broken and the hospital bills are less.  Don't say it - I know - I talk too
much.

P.S.   As I am writing this, I hear the stock market has gone bananas.  I sure
am glad that I have all my money tied up in something with real value -something
that always goes up, never down - - -  DEBTS! P.P.S.   My opinion of stock
brokers is that they all "make money the old-fashioned way" - they steal it!

^RBob Talley
^RNederland, TX
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Dear BBD:

   I just purchased BBD #12. All works well, except for Blueline Editor.  The
reason I am not requesting a replacement is that the problem may have been my
fault. I started Blueline and, when it asked for my file name, I had forgotten
it. I went in to SIDEKICK to get a directory to find out the name. Then the
whole system croaked. Any further attempts to run the editor continued to lock
up the system. As it is, I have Fred, PC_WRITE, SIDEKICK, and, of course, EDLIN;
so I don't really need another editor. Everything else on BBD seems to be OK. I
will be interested whether you can read this, or if it looks normal, under
BLUELINE.

   The point that you don't have room for source code is well taken. Yet many
of us like to mess around with code. Perhaps it would work to put requested
code on self-addresed stamped disk (SASD). Source code for VERY simple-minded
word processor, data base, and spreadsheet (just enough to show how one goes
about such things) would be of interest to many of us, especially if the
structure of the program made it easy for us to modify and add our own
features.

^RJerry Bryson
^RRichmond, VA

^1> I guess Sidekick does something that messes up BlueLine.  Any other readers
^1> have experiences of this sort?
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Dear sir,

   I found ExpressCalc great.  The disappointment came when I found in the
files programs that cannot be used (Budget, Amort, Function, Craps).  Try as I
would, I could not get the programs to run, and I found no instructions on how
to run them.

^RLamar Moriss
^RLayton, UT

^1> Those files are templates, which must be loaded into ExpressCalc in order
^1> to run them.  With ExpressCalc loaded, type the slash key (/), followed by
^1> the command L for Load.  Then type the name of the template to load, and
^1> follow other prompts.  It will then pop up on the screen for your use.
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To BIG BLUE DISK:

   I would like to know why you are putting recipes in a computer disk magazine.
If I wanted recipes I would have bought a cookbook.  Instead of recipes, I
suggest you put more games, utilities, or better business software that will
run on a 128K PCjr.

^RDavid Poage
^RYukon, OK

^1> We're sorry you didn't like the recipes; others appreciated this change of
^1> pace.  We plan on keeping such all-text material to a minimum, though, so we
^1> can concentrate on what we do best: ready-to-run programs.  Next month's issue
^1> has a program that will be of interest to recipe fans: the first in a series
^1> of sampler disks from Vanilla Software's Diskette Cookbook series.  This
^1> contains a number of recipes, presented by a program which lets you search for
^1> the one you want, and even prints a shopping list for you.
^1>
^1> We require a minimum of 256K, so we do not support 128K PCjr's.  Sorry.