The Learning Curve/The Learning Curve (Weird Science, 1996).iso/computers/noahs.arc/part1

Text File | 1995-10-05 | 12.8 KB | 245 lines

                                                   First writing:  2/89
                                                 Latest revision:  9/95

  So, howdy!

  First off, this tutorial is for True Beginners only.  If you're already
familiar with computers, go on, get out of here...you'll only ask viable,
pertinent questions and confuse EVERYBODY!  If you really want to stay...
fine, sit in the back row there, keep it down...and no spitballs.

  Second, I can only show you how I do things and let you take it from
there.  Everyone customizes their system differently.  For now, do as I do
and after you understand what and why you're doing it, you can change things
to suit your own tastes.

  Third, the same goes true with software; I'm not making any product
endorsements here.  I had good advice when I bought Online!, Deluxe PaintII
and ProWrite and was more than happy with them.  So all I can do is mention
the software I use and you can do with it what you want.  If I KNOW a piece
of software is the best, or worst, I'll tell you.

                                       *

  As you can see by the length of this thing, well, I like to gab.  Or maybe
more to the point, there's a heck of a lot to gab about.  If you like short,
quick summations, I'll probably drive you crazy as I'm going to try and
cover the subjects in depth, hopefully answering the bulk of the questions
that are brought up by (seemingly) every new project.  And, as you may have
already noticed, I love long sentences.

  What I'll do here is try to retrace my own computer evolution and at some
point you'll fit right in.  I have a printer, modem and hard drive, so when
I start talking about them, if you don't have one yet you'll have to put
things on Hold 'til you do.  I also have a meg of Ram, so if you didn't buy
the extra memory, shame on both you and the salesperson, go hock the VCR
and buy it.  If you also don't have df1, the second drive, well, I don't
know what to say...I mean, it's an outrage.  Both the second drive and the
meg of Ram are considered just part of the basic computer.  You don't buy
a graphics-oriented computer with only a little bit of memory, and you don't
buy an Amiga if you only want to "run", as referred to "use", a computer.
If you can only get the Ram or drive for now, get the drive.

  If you have a 1000 you might be frustrated with the "permanent" 512K, but
not much of the tutorial deals with big-memory stuff anyways, so settle back
and have fun with the rest of us.  We won't giggle.  Promise.

  I guess I won't assume you've got a modem as this could have been given
to you by a friend.  Between a modem and a printer, well, it's close, but
you should get the modem first.  You CAN always use a pencil <gasp!> until
you get the printer.  The reason I say "it's close" is because at the
beginning it's REALLY nice to be able to copy files like the startup-
sequence or program documents to paper so you can have them in front of
you.  Even if it's an ultra-cheapie, try to dig up an old printer somewhere.

  Strange as it may sound, being as nice as they are, I actually don't
encourage you to get a hard drive just yet.  My roommate, my neighbor,
countless people I see in their homes (I'm a handyman by trade), few of
these people know anything about the actual operation of their systems.
Why?  Because they went out and spent the three or four grand, bought the
half-assed Mac, Apple or IBM, got the hard drive with the original package
and have absolutely no idea what bytes, storage, disk space, etcetera is all
about.  As an example, my roommate doesn't even know how many bytes one of
his silly five-inch floppies holds!  We, by contrast, will be very tuned-in
to those 880 Kbytes our diskettes hold.  We'll balance a new program's worth
by both its merit as well as its byteage.  Hard drives are great but there's
a tremendous education in NOT having one for a while.

  Remember that, when people insist a hard drive is an integral part of
any "real" computer.  A hard drive is a more convenient storage system, no
more.  Anything that can be stored on a hard drive can be put on our disks.
Consider that Myth #1 shattered.

  When and if you DO get a hard drive, try-try-try with all your financial
might to swing a deal for the biggest drive you can afford, period.

                                       *

  I'd always thought personal computers were, like, the thing you had to
have if you wanted to project your water bill through the year 2016, and
other goals of that magnitude.  And, I admit, I was right.  Unless you had
a small business, of course, which is Myth #2.  The bottom line is that
you're really much better off just hauling all the paperwork down to the
accountant, letting him/her do the work, and use the computer for which
this computer in particular was meant to do..which is, of course, to have
fun.  When using your Amiga ISN'T fun, or at least interesting, even when
learning *%$!&%! CLI language, then it's time you started up something new.

  My own beginning was seeing Starglider being played at a house I was
working at.  I was just kind of peeking over the guy's shoulder, and sure,
the graphics looked good, but it wasn't until he spotted some yellow thing
and hauled over on the joystick that I said "Wow!", as the spaceship was
yawing, pitching, rolling, the whole deal.  If you have the game you
definitely know what I mean.  Well, I still figured $1000 was a bit much for
a <cough-cough> "video game", so I mosey'd on down to Federated to check out
this Nintendo I'd been hearin' so much about.  Hey, shoot a pistol at the TV
screen?  Sounds modern to ME!

  Suffice to say I was, well, disappointed.

  That was when the salesperson booted up...Silent Service.  And on a
Commodore 64, no less.  Then on a 128.  Then...on this little rascal.

  It was the instrument panel that wowed me.  I mean, how do you argue with
graphics like that after just playing a Nintendo game??

  But it was the Reality levels (as referred to "Difficulty" levels) that
really caught my eye.  It was at that moment, reading how EVERYTHING was in
scale (ship speeds, turning radii, torpedo ranges, etc, etc), thinking about
altering part of the scenario to increase the difficulty rather that just
the same old fewer shots, smaller paddle, etc, that I realized computers had
finally made it to the modern day, game-wise speaking.

  I mentioned that I was also interested in a computer for music appli-
cations, so the salesperson then had the audacity to boot up Activision's
Music Studio and I was a goner.  You may have had a similar experience.

  And then starts the confusion...what is this "Amiga"?  Where's IBM?  What
about good ol' Apple, the one you secretly thought you'd own someday?  For
that matter, where was EVERYBODY ELSE???  (I keep trying to get the Atari ST
honorable mention in here..but keep failing miserably)  Well, that whole
story is yours to make heads or tails of as you can.  The little rascal is
still so obscure and STILL so few shops sell it!  I honestly feel lucky to
have chanced upon it.  If I'd been looking for a "computer" instead of a
"fancy video game", chances are I would have ended up over at ComputerLand,
buying a Mac.

  I won't even say "perish the thought".

  Hey, some things are obvious.

                                    *

  Since then I have had the, perhaps rare, good fortune of being able to
spend every day from about 2 or 3 in the afternoon until I drop that night
at this console, barring occasional movie jags.  Admitted, there aren't many
advantages to not having a girlfriend, wife, buddy, pet, child or debts, but
one of them is definitely having oodles of time.  So I feel I have mastered
the Workbench operations.  Indeed, I, perhaps laughingly, call myself The
BenchMaster in the mini-tutorials I've written and in the little help-notes
I've included with programs that had need for some extra documentation.

  It's a given that the people who write the programs and the docs for them
don't know beans about being a True Beginner at this stuff.  I mean, we're
sitting here scratchin' our heads over bits, bytes and blocks..and these
jokers expect us to know stuff they learned so long ago they've forgotten
they know it.  So if you chance upon some undocumented command or helpful tip
while using a program, don't hesitate to include your own little helpnote
with the program when you re-arc it for uploading.  If it's pretty sizeable
and/or important, feel free to upload it as a separate textfile to the BBSs.
With all the crazy aspiring hackers out there, I'm kind of surprised there
aren't more helpful-tip files around, mini-tutorials if you will.  I was also
disappointed not to find something like THIS floating around when I was just
starting out on this thing, and a year later I STILL hadn't seen anything
like it, so figured okay, might as well be me.

  So much for history.

                                    *

My stuff:

  Amiga 500, 3 megs      One meg sound like a lot?  Wait 'til you start
                         creating animations..surprise, you want two!

  Amiga 1084S monitor    Standard issue.  There are nicer ones around
                         but big $$.

  Amiga 1010 drive       Couldn't claim it to be any better than other
                         external drives.

  VIVA 2400 modem        Seems to work pretty well, they're all about the
                         same.  2400 baud is quickly becoming passe, so if
                         you can save for a bit and get a 9600+, do it.

  Epson EX-800 printer   Color printer, not graphics-oriented but higher
                         quality black & white.  The workhorse.

  Sony STR receiver      40-watts, don't want much less than 30.

  I.M.Fried speakers     Transmission-line bass very smooth, only 2-way,
                         but okay for bench.  Yes, the name's for real..and
                         it's pronounced "freed", you bozos.

  Teakwood disk rack     Three rows with roll-top cover, holds about 120
                         disks.  Sounds like YOU'LL never have THAT many
                         disks, right?  Ha ha ha.

  Allsop disk racks (3)  See above editorial comment.  These are for storage.

  Wico joystick          Gotta have a non-clicky type for games like
                         Starglider and MarbleMadness.

  Suncom joysticks (2)   Gotta have a clicky type for Firepower and
                         FaeryTale.  Extra one's for Firepower partner.

  Suncom monitor base    It's okay, I guess.  Had to re-glue the anti-skid
                         pads back down, like that makes sense.

  3-ring binders (5) for docs, drop-in files for game/program booklets, foot
     of books including DOS, Basic, hardware and software manuals, and...
     ...a tiny, insignificant, seldom-used, itty-bitty little 30-meg hard
     drive.  Hardly ever bother with it.

                                    *

  Okay, let's look at your set-up.  Suffice to say that you definitely
want a bench all to the computer; none of this placing-it-on-the-side-of-
the-desk business.  Go find six to eight feet of wallspace somewhere and
claim it as your own.  Glare will eventually become a serious problem, so
keep that in mind.  Don't put it opposite a window, or you'll end up buying
yourself the same expensive birthday present I did, $300 worth of blackout
curtains.

  For now, you're probably still cussing at Commodore for making the
thing so deep so that you need either this HUGE desk or you have to prop the
dang monitor up on the edge of the Amiga and the whole thing is screwy.
Well, not to worry!  It's GREAT that it's so deep..it gives us table room!
Obviously I'm talking about a 500 here..if you've got a 1000 or 2000, well,
never mind.  We're going to make a plexiglas table, complete with little
legs, to sit across the top of the 500.  It's simple, fun and cheap to
make, it'll wow the crowd and completely MAKE your system.  It gets rid
of the one major fault with the mouse, that it hogs your writing space.
Neat, eh?  The instructions are a separate doc called SysCon, for System
Construction.  In it I've drawn up the plans for the entire computer bench
as well as the plexitable.

  You go to the "trouble" (since no actual physical work is involved, I
hesitate to use the word), you actually round up the plexi stuff, the glue,
the cute little rubber feet, actually MAKE the dang thing, and you will feel
very very clever and proud and modern and practical and a whole bunch of good
smart things.  You will want to send me donations for the grueling trail-
blazing I had to do, for the year of toil and perseverance and sacrifice
I had to make so that I could write this great tutorial for you.  You will
want to send poor semi-destitute me some of that extra cash you have in
sheer gratitude and gratefulness for the knowledge and wisdom and joy I
have brought into your life.  You will WANT to send me money...

   but you can't.

   Sorry, kid.  I'm not shareware.

                                    *